Everyone keeps forgetting that this Warlord has another Starfish attached to the front of his chest with its tentacles wrapped around his muscles. Bedard has already explained the pecking order for the Starro Drones:
Face-Starros = Mindless Slaves/Worker Ants Back-Starros = Loyal Bodyguards With Minds Intact/Queen-Guarding Soldier Ants
If it's structured more like an anthive, couldn't we extrapolate that the HUGE Starfish are like the larger Soldier Ants...and this Warlord is the Queen Ant, possessing a particularly powerful body and ready to move on when it dies?
If anything, this all reminds me of Doug Tennapel's excellent "Creature Tech".