Welcome the Guests

The king went to all that trouble (sending our servants, letting them be killed, sending troops, burning cities, sending more servants and all the while keeping the banquet warm) just so someone would come, and when they get there he starts throwing them out. Hardly the most intelligent of actions, unless the throwing is not part of the story. Unless the king has begun to slip perhaps the story should end when he goes in to see and welcome the guests.