The more I've watched Bannerfall, the more I've started to notice something. Which is that I think the Red Kingdom has actually been losing the war for a WHILE now. Like "this is the most equal the 2 kingdoms have been in a while" type losing.
#1- The Blue Kingdom has the ability to be picky. There's at least 2 different characters who were rejected from the Blue Kingdom, and this has happened both before and after the most recent battle. I DOUBT the Blue Kingdom would be turning down people willing to fight for their cause if they thought that they were at risk of losing.
Meanwhile, anything ANYONE has said about the Red Kingdom is that they are willing to let in anybody who's willing to fight Blue. If Blue's even slightly annoyed you- you're in- welcome to the kingdom! This kind of gives the impression that the Red Kingdom is in much more need of extra hands than the Blue Kingdom is.
#2- The Blue Kingdom also has more people generally, or at least more survivors of the recent conflict. There are at least 4 people in the Blue Kingdom who have lived there a majority of their lives, and more who are implied to have been residents for at least a little while (a few months/years).
Meanwhile, the Red Kingdom is a collection of travelers and outcasts. Martyn, Cherri, Apo, and Cam are all new to the Red Kingdom. Kitty has been there for a few weeks/months, arriving just before the battle (which she completely avoided.) Katie may have been in the Red Kingdom longer, but reminder, she's FROM THE BLUE KINGDOM ORIGINALLY.
That means that the only 2 people who are actually from the Red Kingdom are Sausage and Bek. And the center of Bek's story is that she MISSED the big battle and feels very guilty about that.
It seems HIGHLY likely that there were only 1-2 survivors of the battle that took place in the Red Kingdom. Everyone else is dead. (And yes, Blue also faced a lot of causalities, but in a numbers game this small 4+ is a LOT more than A MAX OF 2. ESPECIALLY WHEN ONE OF THOSE POSSIBLE 2 WAS A DEFECT FROM THE OTHER KINGDOM)
#3- The Blue Kingdom has external resources. In the past, they've been able to send powerful people to 'take care of' deserters (see Kitty's backstory), send knights out for bounties (Nom+4C), and conscript mages from surrounding villages (Scott).
There's... nothing like this about the Red Kingdom. All of the people they've had join either just happened to show up there or have reason to not be in the Blue Kingdom instead.
#4- So, we've established that the Red Kingdom was almost fully wiped out during the recent battle, has no external resources, and has been needing extra hands for at least a little while now.
Now, I think this fact actually makes a lot of sense, lore wise. First of all, the Blue Kingdom has MUCH better natural fortifications than the Red Kingdom. (Mountain range, stone buildings, portcullis, etc.)
Why is it unbalanced like this? Well, fun fact; when the 2 Kingdom's were one, they used to be IN THE BLUE KINGDOM. The Red Kingdom were ALWAYS the ones who left. Their castle is in an open field; it's made of wood instead of stone. They're newer! And at a big disadvantage because of it.
#5 (Conclusion)- So as we can see, things are not as balanced as they have been presented. The Red Kingdom is pulling themselves back from the brink of oblivion. They brought their rival down an apparition of its former glory- but almost lost everything in that gamble. Now they have to quickly pick up the pieces to keep up the fight.
So then it's kind of funny- That their only surviving mage is a necromancer, And the new king they chose to rule is a healer.
