The Puppet Emperor

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Episode 22 of The Trigan Empire

The Puppet Emperor
aka The Brief Reign of Trigo the Second
De plaatsvervanger (Dutch title)
The Substitute (Dutch title, translated)
De valse keizer (Dutch title)
The False Emperor (Dutch title, translated)

Written by Mike Butterworth
Illustrated by Don Lawrence

The Puppet Emperor was originally published in 14 instalments in issues 425 (7 March 1970) to 438 (6 June 1970) of Look and Learn magazine.

It was reprinted in 1976 in 1 issue (3 April 1976) of Vulcan comic, and thereafter in highly abbreviated form in 3 issues (10 April 1976—24 April 1976) of Valiant comic.

It is reprinted in Volume 6 of The Trigan Empire—The Collection (the Don Lawrence Collection).

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

Plot summary

At the market, Marinda goes with her son to the fortune teller Yenni Hassar. He predicts that her son will one day be emperor of Trigan. Therefore, she raises her son for eighteen years as if he were an emperor. Trigo decides to cut back on the army. There has been peace for a long time. The military leaders, led by Marshal Rocha, decide to carry out a coup and replace Trigo with someone else. They take Janno to the island of Zeth in the Sea of Marmar. Trigo and Brag are imprisoned in a cell beneath the palace. Rocha tells the people that the three have died of an illness. On the deserted island, Janno sees figures dressed in white. He thinks they are ghosts. Rocha looks for a successor to Trigo, but all the leaders of the surrounding small states refuse. Some resistance arises in the city, and Rocha orders his men to keep a close watch. This way they discover Marinda and her eighteen-year-old son, who behaves like an emperor. Rocha decides to make him Trigo’s successor and names him Trigo II. The people accept him, and he is crowned emperor.

Janno discovers that the figures are ordinary men—murderers and thieves who live on Zeth. Life on Zeth is good, but Janno still wants to escape. He builds a boat, but the others prevent him from leaving with it. Because he tried to escape, they want to kill him, but he now claims to be the emperor’s nephew and offers them a pardon if they come with him. They decide to sail together on a large raft to Trigan. Pilot Danno wants to undermine Rocha’s authority and fires rockets from his aircraft at a Trigan fort. However, he is shot down and Rocha sentences him to death. During his trial, he calls the emperor a puppet. The emperor’s mother now sees that this is true and repents. She frees Danno and drugs her son so that he can no longer sign documents.

Janno’s raft is caught in a severe storm, and they are attacked by a sea monster, but they are picked up by a pirate ship and forced to work as slaves. Danno returns and says that the people are ready for an uprising during the Festival of Vorg. Peric, Marinda, and her son want to leave the palace by ship but are stopped by Rocha. A Trigan aircraft flies over the pirate ship, and by starting a fire, Janno draws the plane’s attention. The pilots from the plane rescue Janno and his men.

During the Festival of Vorg, Trigo II regains consciousness and gives a speech. In it, he admits that Rocha has been using him and calls on the people to resist. They do so and storm the palace. The army does not stop them. Janno also arrives in the aircraft. Trigo II is shot by Rocha, who is himself captured. Trigo and Brag are freed as well. In remembrance, Emperor Trigo II is given a statue.