coffee. legend: a summary ! (it got kind of long, oops)
primarily, the series takes place in los angeles, with visits to las vegas, denver, and a few other places in colorado (lamar, pierra). there’s also a brief visit to what’s probably kansas, but it’s never actually mentioned by name.
however: the united states does not exist. in 2046, the world was virtually destroyed by floods and now looks like the image below (offical map from champion).
what used to be the united states is now divided into the republic and the colonies. neither one is democratic or remotely resembles the US as we know it. the world superpowers are now africa and antarctica.
the republic is a military state, controlled by a dictator (with thrown elections) called the elector primo. it’s sometimes a hereditary position, but not always. the elector primo controls everything. his word is law. as it’s a military state, the military and police have absolute power. police brutality is extremely common, and most of the poor classes live in fear of the military. middle classes do not exist.
the republic does not discriminate based on gender or race. positions in the republic are determined by a mandatory test, called the trial, taken when you turn ten. your score determines your future. the highest number of points is 1500. only two people have ever scored that high.
the highest range is 1450-1500 (typically scored by elite classes) which will get you 6 years of high school and four years of college. these people will typically enter the military or politics.
the next range is 1250-1449 which will get someone four years of high school, then they join the work force.
after that is 1000-1249. these people are barred from any further schooling and are forced to join the poor, working as trash collectors, in factories, etc.
anything below 1000 is considered failing. these people do not return to society. the government says that these children are sent to labor camps to serve the republic, but in reality, they are sent for human experimentation and left to die.
there is no freedom of speech, press, or assembly. protests are violently put down and anyone suspected of betraying the republic is tortured or killed.
the people in the republic are entirely ignorant of the outside world and believe the republic is an all-powerful military state instead of an isolationist rogue nation as the world sees them. the history of the united states is not told, and most people do not even know it existed.
now the colonies are in what used to be the eastern half of the united states. compared to the west, much more was submerged in the floods. in the year 2046, the United States government suffered from too much debt and was forced to sell out. 13 corporations overtook the government and, after a series of mergers, became four mega-companies: DesCon (military and police), Cloud (food), Evergreen (entertainment), and Meditech (medicine).
ads plaster the colonies and its people, and everyone must be sponsored by one of these four companies. it’s hardly any better than the republic though, as everything revolves around money and payments. if you’re late on a payment, don’t expect any sympathy. it’s a country run like a business.
the colonies and the republic have been at war since the 2050s. there is no way to migrate between the two (very few, dangerous routes exist), and anyone discovered as being from the enemy side is either deported, killed, or tortured for information.
legend takes place in the years 2131-2133. america is no longer the supreme world power. it’s actually one of the weakest nations. antarctica has become a center for technology and medicine, with one of the strongest armies in the world. after them is africa.
