If one compares the maps of The Shattered Imperium (1122) and Peace Finally Comes (1125), one of the first things that jumps out is that two of the factions have disappeared: Strephon’s stronghold in Gushmege and Margaret’s stronghold in Delphi. This suggests one of three things: 1) Strephon was not, in fact, assassinated and he has regained control 2) Lucan has managed to defeat both Margaret and Strephon or 3) Margaret has ascended the throne.
Option 1 seems the least likely. The possibility that Strephon survived and wasn’t just a body double or an android never felt very plausible and the territory that served as his stonghold has collapsed into a frontier claimed by no one. Had Strephon re-claimed the throne, that area would not have been abandoned.
Option 2 also has its problems. The first is the personality of Lucan. He is not presented as someone who would accept anything but victory. A peace treaty that so radically reduces his territory is not something I imagine Lucan would willingly accept. There is also the oddity of the Imperial Starlane. I interpret this as an establish trade route connecting the Imperium with various independent worlds and clusters in Massila, Diaspora, and the Solomani Rim, Daibei, and, most importantly, Vega (now surrounded by the Solomani Confederation). This is the strategy of someone capable and with enough patience to play the long game. Lucan is neither.
Option 3 is the most likely and (for me) the most attractive. Margaret has familial ties to the Imperial family. She is also a moderate who wants to return to the values of Strephon’s Third Imperium: “an efficient well-run government that encouraged trade, industry, exploration, and stability.” She has support within the Moot. She also strikes me as the most likely candidate to get the support of the Brother’s of Varian who seek justice for the assassination of Strephon and Lucan’s brother (and rightful heir) Varian. Finally (and most importantly in terms of interpreting the map), she is married into the family that runs Tukera Lines, a megacorporation that reached every corner of the old Imperium.
For me, this last piece of information is convincing. The existence of the Imperial Starline on the map is most easily explained by Margaret’s temperment, outlook, and resources. She would play the long game, using trade and stability as beacons to bring back lost territories into the fold. She would also be one to maintain a connection to Vega and see their existence as a necessary counterweight to a much expanded, if not stronger, Solomani Confederation. Strenghtening that tie and helping to maintain a ready defense of that territory would put a lot of pressure on a Confederation trying to strengthen their hold on new territories unused to the centralized and authoritarian mechanations of the Solomani Party.
That leaves me with one mystery: how was Lucan deposed? I am sore tempted to believe that the Brotherhood of Varian convinced Lucan that Strephon survived and that this information was being leaked throughout his territories. Given his temperment, I would imagine Lucan would try by any means to have Strephon (or his body double) killed.
While it is tempting to have Lucan be coaxed into a battle to destroy Stephon’s remaining fleet only to be overwhelmed and killed by ambush is tempting, I don’t see Lucan putting his own safety at risk. Rather, I think that a second assassination tied to Lucan would be too much for the moderates of the Imperium to bear. A coalition of moderates, the Brotherhood, and an Admiralty sick and tired of incompetant and selfish leadership could dethrone Lucan with evidence that he assassinated both his father and his brother and illegally seized the throne.
This helps explain why Strephon’s stronghold has yet to be re-intgrated into the Imperium: they are still angry with a system that let them down on multiple fronts and multiple occasions.
While certainly not the only way to interpret the map of Peace Finally Comes, it is the one that gets me more excited about Traveller than I have been in decades.
