ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cycles of the Kings

Okay kiddo, so back in the olden days, there were special people called kings who ruled over kingdoms. These kingdoms were usually big areas of land with lots of people living in them.

Now, the cycles of the kings refers to a time when lots of stories were written about the different kings and their reigns. These stories all followed a similar pattern of how the kings were born, how they ruled, and how they died.

Each cycle usually began with a king who was the son of a previous king. He would become king too after his father died. Then, he'd rule over the kingdom for a while, doing good things like building things and making sure everyone was happy and safe.

But as time went on, the king would become old and not quite as good at ruling anymore. Sometimes, he'd even become a bit mean and start to mistreat his people. This was when things got bad for the kingdom.

Eventually, the old king would die, and a new king would take his place. This new king usually started out really great, but would eventually become just like the previous king – old, mean, and mistreating his people.

So, the cycle of the kings describes how the kingdom would go through periods of good rulers and bad rulers, with each new king repeating the same pattern as the ones before him.

Today, we don't rely on kings to rule our countries anymore. Instead, we have democracies where everyone gets to have a say in how they're governed. That's a good thing because it means we don't have to worry about the cycles of the kings anymore!