I'm listening to an audio book of Plato's Republic. In it, he describes that potential leaders be tested from a young age. Tests for resistance to magic, to beguilement by sex or riches, and only those that pass when they think nobody is witness shall be elevated to rule. When questions of character are fully answered.
What we're about to see exposed are those who tried to rule without the requisite character and, like the Kwisatz Haderach in Dune, the failed attempt to rule when unworthy carries the price of death.