Contents
SECOND INTERLUDE: The Two Thrones
Overview
This interlude recounts the Warring Sisters period, born from a hostage exchange between the northern Jan and southern Tiedo kingdoms. A Jan princess married a Tiedo prince and drove him to invade Jan, prompting her sister—trained in jade—to lead Jan’s defense. Jan ultimately unified Kekon. The famed play The Two Thrones frames the era’s lesson: small resentments ignite great wars.
Summary
The interlude looks back to the end of the Three Crowns, when Jan in the north and Tiedo in the south traded royal children to keep peace: Tiedo’s second son went to Jan, and Jan’s eldest daughter went to Tiedo.
In Tiedo, the Jan princess and the Tiedo heir fell in love and married. After he became king, the queen urged an attack on Jan—whether out of ambition, faith in her husband, or resentment at being traded away. Following the suspicious death of the Jan king’s younger brother, the Tiedo king declared war.
Jan’s prince was intelligent but frail, so his younger sister trained in jade and married a warrior who rose to fame as a Jan general. Together, they became central to Jan’s campaign against the Tiedo couple.
After generations of conflict, Jan prevailed and unified Kekon under a northern capital. The long war depleted jade warriors and invited foreign incursions, but the romance and rivalry endured in culture.
The era is memorialized in the classic play The Two Thrones, which opens with the Deitist-inflected warning: “Out of small resentments, spring great wars.”
Who Appears
- Jan Princess (Eldest Daughter)Sent as a hostage to Tiedo; marries the Tiedo prince and urges war against Jan.
- Tiedo Prince (Later King)Falls for the Jan princess; spurred by her and a suspicious death, declares war on Jan.
- Jan PrinceIntelligent but sickly heir of Jan; his rule relies on his sister’s martial leadership.
- Jan Princess (Younger Sister)Trains in jade, marries a future general, and becomes key to Jan’s military success.
- Jan General (Husband of Younger Sister)Rises to fame leading Jan’s forces alongside his wife during the Warring Sisters conflict.