The king has complete power because he controls who is accused. Although the king contends that his "semi-barbaric method of justice" is perfectly fair, once someone is accused, he is in effect already punished. Of the two choices, of course, death is worse, but either way, the accused's life is forever changed. Guilt or innocence does not play a role here. The narrator indicates that the amphitheater, where the choice of two doors is made, "was an agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance." All the king has to do is to accuse someone, and the king's problem is solved. He is "semi-barbaric" so the concept of a jury trial does not even exist. The king actually absolves himself of the responsibilty for the fate of the accused by using his method based on chance.
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