What I find the be the mystery is this notion of Dan as the designated successor and the rightful king. There is something that marked him as the next king, otherwise he would not have been prevented from entering Dreamlands his whole life. But what is it? Or who? Given what we know of Dan, I would assume that the individuals selected have some qualities that set them apart for the role.

The security of the sword necklace is another issue. As you mention, Alex’s mom was able to deprive Dreamlands of its king just by confiscating it. However, if an individual like Dan had the necklace (ignoring for a moment the restrictions), perhaps he would have been clever enough to hold on to it (that being a reason for selection for kingship?).

As for having a kid as the king…that may come back to ‘what is the purpose of Dreamlands?’ Why are human children sent here every night for some of their younger years, and then never again? I have no idea why, but I suspect the tolerance for all these human children may be related to tolerance for child kings, especially if the brightest or most qualified are chosen for the role.

Given that we’ve not seen anyone younger than maybe 6, 6 to 12 (plus/minus a bit) seems to be the age range here.

Of course, Ramses was a fantastic fabricator and rewrote the history of the war with the Hittites, so I could see how Nivianne simply is going off Ramses’ self-indulgent lies, with no better evidence since he was King of Dreamland at the time, and no other adult human could pose evidence to the contrary.

In any case, this is a pretty annoyingly negative portrayal of the Hittites, who were the first nation to have an elected voting body equal in power or greater in power to the King, and also especially since the contemporary Hittite ruler was said to be just and have codified law in an extremely ethical manner compared to the far more ruthless and cruel Ramses and their other contemporaries.

Not only that, but how exactly does it get transferred from one king of Dreamland to the next, if the new king can’t even enter Dreamland while the current king is alive? Wouldn’t the current king have the necklace in their possession, at the time of their death on earth? Does the necklace revert back to being the sword in Dreamland, upon the king’s death on Earth? (But how would it, since it was implied that the person going to sleep was the means by which the sword traveled?) And if it does not revert back to Dreamland, then how does the next person get it? (Especially if they come from such diverse geographical locations? e.g. Pharaoh in Egypt, David and Solomon in Israel, Cesar in Rome, and Arthur in England)

Not only that, but since it’s been established that the next in line for kingship can’t even enter Dreamland until the death of the old one, does that mean that the next king suddenly gets to experience Dreamland upon the death of the previous king, having never been there before, or is the next in line not selected until the previous one dies? And if so, that would mean that only newborns, or whatever age it is that kids start dreaming at, would get selected as the new king? How would that even help Dreamland at all? Don’t they need a king who can manage the land?

So many questions, so few answers…