He sits in judgment, holding the unsheathed sign of his suit. He recalls, of course, the conventional Symbol of justice in the Trumps Major, and he may represent this virtue, but he is rather the power of life and death, in virtue of his office.
the plate, in waite's words · the painted card will hang here in time
In divination
Whatsoever arises out of the idea of judgment and all its connexions—power, command, authority, militant intelligence, law, offices of the crown, and so forth.
Seated in judgment with the suit's blade unsheathed across his lap, the King draws a comparison Waite makes explicit: he "recalls, of course, the conventional Symbol of justice in the Trumps Major," though the office he holds is narrower, "the power of life and death, in virtue of his office" rather than the trump's broader moral law. He carries swords' force as authority made judicial, the suit's only court card Waite ties directly back to a named figure among the twenty-two Greater Arcana.
a young page · the keeper's voice pass on the note is still to come