Had an interesting thought with regards to King Jupiter Goodson and figured it might provoke some interesting discussion.

We know that Jupiter was the third son of King Walter Good, after Bleston and an as-yet-unnamed middle brother. Bleston, by all indications, seems to have expected that he would succeed their father as king, and was outraged when Walter declared Jupiter to be his heir. A considerable amount of drama in The Green Ember series stems from Bleston's inability to accept this decree and his subsequent efforts to claim what he considered to be his birthright. So great was his rage against both his father and brother that Bleston actively plotted against his fellow rabbits and sought to deliver his own nephew and niece into the talons of Morbin Blackhawk. Failing that, he was also perfectly willing to bring about their deaths himself.

But while we're told that "hard words were said, and no peaceable solution managed," we really know next to nothing of how Jupiter himself reacted to Walter's decision, at least in the beginning. He clearly submitted to the will of his father and king, unlike Bleston. And Jupiter seems to have embraced the role. But I'd wager to guess that he probably grew up without expecting that he would ever be king and may well have found it an unwelcome prospect when it was thrust upon him.

It is somewhat understandable why Bleston figured he would become king, as the whole "oldest direct male heir" thing seems to have been the norm among rabbitkind even as it has been with many real-world monarchies. As the third son, Jupiter-under this system-would not be either the heir to the throne or even the "spare" heir to the throne, but a spare spare. The only way he was ever likely to be king, barring a break from tradition as Walter did, would be if something happened to both his older brothers. Jupiter, from what we know of him, doesn't seem like the type who would wish for anything of the kind.

Part of me can't help but wonder if Jupiter's original attitude towards learning he would be king may have been not unlike what his own daughter Emma displayed when she found herself in the same position. Could it be that, in the midst of the "hard words" exchanged between Bleston and Jupiter, they may have had a conversation much like that between Emma and Kylen in Ember Rising?