An Empire Divided

**An Empire Divided** is one of the episodes in The Four Empires. The episode's plot revolves around the backstory of the Empire of Flames, and how the Warped and Crimson Kingdoms became rivals. It is 50 minutes long.

### Plot

The episode begins in the Nether in a soul sand valley biome, where two young piglins are running around with a teenage vindicator girl who was visiting to do trade with the Warped Kingdom. While she is heading to the bastion with the children, she meets the brute who invites her into the large bastion. The vindicator sits down and out of her own curiosity, she asks the brute why the Empire of Flames was divided, why the empire's two kingdoms: The Warped and Crimson Kingdoms were rivals. He responds to her explaining the conflict.

He tells her that the Empire of Flames was over a century and a half old. Ever since the dawn of the empire, there were two kingdoms; The Warped and the Crimson Kingdoms. The Warped Kingdom was based in Warped Forests and Soul Sand Valleys. Because of the close proximity to soul fire, the Piglins of the Warped Kingdom were not bothered by soul light. The Crimson Kingdom was based in Crimson Forests and Nether Wastes. Since the two kingdoms had easy access to their respective fungi and their byproducts, they would trade with one another. The Warped Kingdom would breed striders, and the Crimson would breed hoglins. The two kingdoms were allies. One day, around 40 years after the establishment of the Empire of Flames, the Warped Kingdom went to trade with the Crimson Kingdom. The Warped Kingdom provided the Crimson side with their goods, but the piglins of the Crimson Kingdom did not give any goods to the Warped Kingdom in exchange. The Crimson Kingdom piglins stated that they would give the goods during the next month's trade day, but on the following trade day the next month, the Crimson Kingdom still did not trade anything back, only taking that month's supplies from the Warped Kingdom, but not giving them either that month or the previous month's trades. After an entire year of the Crimson Kingdom not fulfilling their side of the trade with the Warped Kingdom, the other side had enough. Soon after, the Warped Kingdom staged several strategically planned raids, assisted by the Illagers, who were masters of raiding, against the Crimson Kingdom. Not all of the sieges were successful on the behalf of the Warped Kingdom, however. Despite the Illagers' assistance, the Warped Kingdom lost several soldiers, and were even attacked back. This was the spark of the Pyro Civil War, where the Warped and Crimson kingdoms attacked each other. The Warped Kingdom used soul fire as a key weapon against the Crimson kingdom, who ultimately lost the war. Following the war, the two kingdoms became rivals, and never traded with each other again. While there once was a United Kingdom Flag, each kingdom halted the usage of the united flag, only using their own. All signs of the former alliance were gone, and the only evidence of it was by written records to be taught to the young.

The narritive of the conflict is told in present tense, and ends with the brute from the present pulling out a forbidden artifact - a United Kingdom flag. The united flag depicted segments from both kingdoms, united by a black line and a flame symbol in the center. The flag that the brute pulled out of the chest was torn down the middle, barley connected at the top. This possibly is a symbol for the divided empire, and possibly one final chance to reunite and become allies once more.

The episode ends with the brute standing at the top of the bastion, raising the united flag. He looks towards the distant Crimson Forest, where the outline of a bastion is suggested. The view pans back to a landscape shot showing the Warped bastion in the left corner of the screen, and the vindicator girl is breifly seen walking back through the soul sand valley toards the portal.

### Refrences

* The brute raising the United Kingdom flag may suggest a desire to reform the alliance between the Warped and Crimson Kingdoms