The Brief Reign of Sennos the First

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Bonus episode of The Trigan Empire

The Brief Reign of Sennos the First
aka De tirannie van oom Sennos (Dutch title)
The Tyranny of Uncle Sennos (Dutch title, translated)

Written by author(s) unknown
Illustrated by Ron Embleton

The Brief Reign of Sennos the First was originally published in the 1968 Ranger Book.

It was reprinted in 4 instalments in issues 678 (11 January 1975) to 681 (1 February 1975) of Look and Learn magazine.

It is reprinted in Volume 2 of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire (Rebellion).

Plot summary

On General Karrar’s orders, a man sabotages the plane that Trigo, Brag, and Janno are scheduled to fly to Daveli the next day. En route, the plane explodes and crashes into a swamp. The emperor goes missing, and the council proposes electing a new emperor. Karrar says that Trigo still has family. It is Sennos, Trigo’s great uncle. They make him emperor, and Karrar believes that Sennos, who is very old, has gone senile. He has Sennos sign all the new laws and thereby confiscates half of every citizen’s possessions.

In the swamp, Trigo, Brag, and Janno are found by soldiers from Hissar, a small warlike province. They are cared for by the priests and recover. Sennos is not as dumb as he pretends to be and asks the council members whether they have already handed over half of their possessions.

In Hissar, Trigo, Brag, and Janno are forced to participate in the games in the amphitheatre. They must fight three massadins, the largest and wildest beasts of Elekton. They are on the verge of being defeated, but Trigo grabs a large brazier. He throws the brazier at the massadins, who panic because of the fire. They break out of the arena and run through the city. This allows the three to escape and leave the city.

After a long journey, they return to Trigan City. There, the Trigans are busy, under Sennos’s orders, building a large statue in his honor. Sennos felt the Trigans could use a bit of work because their lives had become too easy. He has saved the amassed wealth for worse times. Trigo says that his father used to say Sennos was the wisest member of the family.