Sab Than

Sab Than is the Prince of Zodanga, son of Than Kosis, and the prospective husband whose marriage to Dejah Thoris is presented as the price of peace between Zodanga and Helium. His rise to the throne is sudden and short: during the ceremony intended to bind him to Dejah, John Carter intervenes; Than Kosis dies in the fighting, Sab Than becomes Jeddak of Zodanga, and Sab Than is killed before the battle ends. His role joins a diplomatic bargain to a personal contest, then makes the wedding procession the setting for a change of ruler.

Identity and Political Position

Than Kosis identifies Sab Than as his son and the Prince of Zodanga, and describes him as having fallen in love with Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Helium. Sab Than is also commander of a division of Zodanga’s navy. These positions place him at the intersection of the story’s courtship and state conflict: his proposed marriage is not merely personal, but has been made part of a negotiation between two warring countries.

According to Kantos Kan, Than Kosis has made Dejah’s voluntary marriage to Sab Than the price of peace. Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, refuses the demand, declaring that he would rather see his daughter dead than married to someone other than her own choice. Kantos Kan says this answer deepens the Heliumites’ affection for their ruler and strengthens his political standing. Sab Than’s intended marriage therefore remains contested before he appears in person: it is bound up with his father’s diplomatic policy and the opposing commitment of Dejah’s father to her choice.

The Marriage Bargain

When Dejah appears before Than Kosis with Sab Than at her side, she tells the jeddak that she has changed her mind. Two days earlier, she had said she would prefer Tal Hajus to Sab Than; now she claims to be sure of Sab Than’s love and promises that she will marry him. Her explanation invokes the accepted prerogative of women on Barsoom to change their minds and conceal matters of the heart. The scene presents Sab Than as the object of a promise made in public, though the evidence does not give his own account of the exchange or establish what he knows about Dejah’s intentions.

Dejah also proposes that Than Kosis postpone announcing the marriage until the war is over. A proclamation in the middle of hostilities, she argues, would look strange to both peoples if the Princess of Helium gave herself to the enemy. Than Kosis accepts the delay. The exchange lets the promise appear to satisfy the Zodangan court while keeping its public confirmation suspended; Sab Than is present with Dejah, but the terms and timing remain under his father’s authority.

The Ceremony and Intervention

Later, a formal procession enters the palace hall where Than Kosis sits with his consort, officers, and state dignitaries. Officers carry a gold chain with collars and padlocks, as well as the ornaments of a Zodangan prince and princess. Two figures, concealed in scarlet silk, stand before the throne. When the veils are removed, one is Sab Than and the other is Dejah Thoris. Than Kosis places a gold collar around his son’s neck, and the ceremony makes clear that Dejah is about to be joined to Sab Than.

John Carter breaks the hall’s window and enters the ceremony, then strikes the chain intended to bind Dejah to another. Sab Than springs at him with a jeweled dagger. Carter could kill him, but holds Sab Than’s wrist instead, restrained by the age-old custom against killing a member of the opposite sex. The confrontation thus turns on both immediate force and a rule that limits it: Sab Than attacks, while Carter’s response is to disarm and hold him rather than kill him.

Accession and Death

As the hall erupts into fighting, Carter announces that Zodanga has fallen and points to the arriving force of Tars Tarkas and his fifty warriors. Sab Than is thrust from the platform, while Carter draws Dejah to his side. Than Kosis confronts Carter with a sword, and the two fight as the invasion and the struggle inside the throne room converge.

Sab Than rushes up the platform steps to aid his father. Dejah springs between them; Carter’s sword strikes Sab Than, and Sab Than becomes Jeddak of Zodanga at the moment of his father’s death. He pulls free of Dejah and faces Carter again, now joined by four officers. Carter is forced to fight while trying not to kill Sab Than, because Sab Than’s death would remove the last possibility Carter sees of winning Dejah. The newly proclaimed ruler is consequently both an opponent in the battle and a living obstacle to Carter’s hope of marrying her.

The fight continues as more Zodangan defenders join the attack. Tars Tarkas reaches the platform through the crowd and fights beside Carter; when the battle ends, only the Tharks, Dejah, and Carter remain alive in the great hall. Sab Than lies dead beside his father, and the hall is covered with the bodies of Zodangan nobles and fighters. The story does not show Sab Than exercising power as jeddak: his accession lasts only through the continuing fight, and his death accompanies the destruction of the court gathered for the wedding.

Narrative Role

Sab Than’s place in the plot is defined by the convergence of marriage and sovereignty. The proposed wedding is the political condition attached to peace; the later ceremony presents that arrangement as nearly complete, with the gold collar and chain making its binding purpose visible. Carter’s intervention breaks the chain before the marriage can be completed, while the battle that follows destroys the ruling household and kills both father and son.

The evidence gives Sab Than little independent speech or interior perspective. His love for Dejah is reported by Kantos Kan, while Dejah’s promise is spoken to Than Kosis and the decisive actions attributed to Sab Than are his attacks on Carter and his attempt to aid his father. This limited viewpoint makes him primarily a figure through whom the novel brings together courtship, diplomatic coercion, and succession. His brief elevation from prince to jeddak sharpens that function: the ceremony meant to secure a political future becomes the scene in which the Zodangan succession ends.