He was born first. He was found by a charioteer and raised by his family on a riverbank. He is the greatest archer of his era. He is fighting for the wrong side. And his birth mother has known where he was the entire time. He is Karna.

SOURCES CITED THIS EPISODE:

• Bibek Debroy — The Mahabharata (10 vols.), Penguin Books India, 2010–2014

• Devdutt Pattanaik — Jaya

• Ramesh Menon — The Mahabharata (retelling)

EPISODE CALLBACKS:

• Kunti's boon from Durvasa — full story: Ep 10 (go listen if you haven't)

• Duryodhana's origins and Gandhari: Ep 9

• The three brothers and the Kuru house: Ep 9

• Hastinapur and the world the boys grow up in:Ep 8

NEXT EPISODE:

Season 2. The boys are in the palace. A teacher arrives. A rivalry takes its shape. And the women of this story are extraordinary. They mastermind the narrative, the men execute it.

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