Prince Kadaman, also referred to as Kadaman of the Dawn's Rising, [1] was the firstborn son of Sun-King Jiran.
History[]
Kadaman grew up with his younger brother Prince Avad in the Palace of the Sun in the Carja capital city of Meridian, where they presumably witnessed their father’s degeneration from a respected leader into a brutal tyrant. Both were dissidents of their father’s policy of atrocities, and abhorred the Red Raids and sacrifice of its victims in the Sun-Ring as pointless bloodshed. Kadaman presumably and erroneously believed that his place as Jiran’s eldest son and heir meant that Jiran would end the Raids if Kadaman voiced his objection to them. Instead, Jiran had him sacrificed in the Sun-Ring as well.
Legacy[]
Kadaman's execution demonstrated to Avad that Jiran was beyond reason and had to be deposed for the atrocities to end. On the first night after Kadaman’s execution, Avad and his honor guard, all dissidents themselves, fled Meridian to the Oseram homeland of The Claim. There he formed an alliance with the Oseram that eventually returned to Meridian and overthrew Jiran. Avad became the new Sun-King, and ended the Raids and other atrocities. Kadaman therefore served as the catalyst for the end of his father’s brutal tyranny, even if he did not live to see it himself.
Trivia[]
- In the datapoint The Mad Sun-King, Kadaman is described as being fair-haired. However, in Horizon Zero Dawn: Liberation #2, he is depicted with the same dark hair as his father and brother.