Upon returning to the capital, Ras Mikael immediately killed a troop of travelling actors who had performed a satire of him.
Emperor Tekle Haymanot managed to avoid his mentor's fate at that time, and Wand Bewossen only brought him into his power when the warlord surprised him at Qaroda, capturing him while he and his men were eating.
Yet Wand Bewossen's control of the Ethiopian government was short-lived; he was defeated in 1772 by the coalition of Fasil, Ras Goshu, and Dejazmach Hailu Eshte at Checheho and forced to retreat to Lasta.
[3] Over the subsequent years, Tekle Haymanot struggled against the shifting conflicts between the four paramount nobles of Ethiopia—Fasil, Ras Goshu, Hailu Eshte, and Wand Bewossen—who would form alliances against each other, only to break them and join with their former enemies whenever it was to their immediate benefit.
[4] Weary of the continuing power struggles with his nobles, and after a final conference with Ras Haile Yosadiq, Wand Bewossen and Kenfu Adam failed to gain a plausible promise of their support for his rule, he repudiated the throne 13 April 1777.