Content Warning: The section of the guide contains mentions of sexual abuse.

“The child was already a skilled thrower of pots and bowls and had learned an important lesson, which was that there was no such thing as man’s work.”

Even before she is orphaned, Pampa learns to challenge the assumptions that structure her social world. Much later, she raises up a kingdom and presides over its golden age, showing definitively that a woman can rule at least as effectively as any man. Though Pampa may not believe in distinctions between men’s and women’s work, the world is not quite so egalitarian. Pampa’s belief in equality will cause much of the tension that drives the plot forward, as she battles against reactionary forces demanding that power remains exclusively with men.

“But if the ruled continue to be unruly it won’t be easy to rule them.”

The citizens of Bisnaga emerge into existence in a very sudden way. They are immediately unsure of themselves and how to live their lives. The brothers worry more about being able to rule over these citizens than about how to make them happy, so their first priority is to ensure that their subjects are placid. For all the complicated history that is about to unfurl in Bisnaga, the immediate concern of the first dynastic rulers is to ensure that their rule is unquestioned. The city was not founded with the citizens’ best interests in mind.