Or, to put it bluntly, the treatment of Kim's uncle means "North Korea's absolute ruler is a volatile man-child with a small nuclear arsenal and no adult supervision," writes expert Joshua Stanton on his One Free Korea blog.
Jang's dismissal and execution comes after what appears to be an ongoing purge of North Korea's top military ranks, further signifying that big changes are underway. Since July 2012, four separate army chiefs have been thrown out, a move that experts across the board agree is incredibly unusual.
What's next? If we accept this narrative, such a loud, public haranguing could be sending a chill throughout the top ranks and could soon foment defections.
In an extreme case, discontent could lead to a plot against Kim Jong Un himself. On Friday, North Korean state media accused Jang of scheming against the top marshal, although this may have simply been a way of scapegoating the second-in-command, experts said.
Regardless, the supposed power struggle probably would have come about from an ideological schism between factions affiliated with Jang and more conservative security bodies, reports New Focus International, a website that tracks events based on sources in the country.
With a crack at the top, the future of North Korea is increasingly uncertain.
Kim Jong Un has tried to reconcile market-oriented and militarist rivals with his dual policy of economic and nuclear development, called byungjin. But if the elite coterie is indeed becoming more fractious, the dictator may be in line for an upheaval down the road.
Scenario 2: North Korea is surprisingly stable
Far from signifying the decline of the Kims, this theory notes that the ruling dynasty has repeatedly emerged victorious from all manner of calamities in the past three decades. This episode is probably not so different.
The reasoning?
The three Kims' rule has persisted despite the collapse of their main economic patron, the Soviet Union - followed by a famine that wore down the apparatus of total control. North Korea has never fully recovered. Today, the absence of a well-functioning official system has given rise to all sorts private trading activities and so-called illegal exchanges near the Chinese border.
According to this theory, the ruling elite suddenly doesn't look like a camp split between Stalinist ideologues and economic reformers.
Regardless of their leanings, the biggest concern is survival at any cost.
As such a bevy of pragmatists has emerged, acting more rationally than meets the eye and ensuring the regime does not fall apart.
This significantly alters the backstory to recent events.
Kim Jong Un, the young despot - he's believed to be in his early 30s - may simply be doing what so many autocrats have done before him: Taking the reins from a bossy regent and ushering in a new generation of lieutenants, explains Lankov, the North Korea expert.
"No king likes a cranky old regent telling him what to do," he told GlobalPost. "In the coming years, we will see many more of the older leaders lose their positions," making this affair one of many.
Lankov admitted, though, the Kim Jong Un's decision to publicize the purge may have been a serious error.
"But if Kim Jong Un survives another five, 10 or 15 years, he is set," Lankov said.
