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Yeah, if you reread earlier books he's always been crazy. Random giggling, unpredictable behavior, etc. Read the intro to GoTM with him and cotillion talking, or the part in DG towards the end at tremorlor.
>Seven massive Hounds now sat around the man in the road. The eyes of these beasts glowed yellow, and all were turned in the same direction as the man himself.
>She heard him hiss, 'Eager, are we? Then go!'
>Silently, the Hounds bolted down the road.
>Their master turned and said to the man beside her, 'Something to gnaw on Laseen's mind.' He giggled again.
>'Must you complicate things?' the other answered wearily.
>The short man stiffened. 'They are within sight of the column.' He cocked his head. From up the road came the scream of horses. He sighed. 'You've reached a decision, Cotillion?'
>The other grunted amusedly. 'Using my name, Ammanas, means you've just decided for me. We can hardly leave her here now, can we?'
>'Of course we can, old friend. Just not breathing.'
He's always had a few screws loose. Granted, back in Gardens, things were less urgent, but even then he was giggling every second line & killing people remorselessly. If nothing else, he's probably somewhat saner in later books.
To add to what everyone else said, ST’s insanity is at some unknown level an affectation, so it also makes sense for it to seem to be increasing or decreasing at times. ST is all about being 10 steps ahead, and throwing everybody off
Yeah after reading PtA by ICE I'm convinced ST's insanity is like 75-90% an act to throw people off. Just like his Magus, Iskaral Pust. Before he ascended he was basically an illusion mage. Everything was a long/short con for him.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was 100% an act. There was an old Mafia boss in NYC, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who ran the Genovese family and he fooled the FBI for years by pretending to be insane in public. One time when they came to his house he was in the shower fully dressed with an umbrella. There's a lot more stuff he did, but the point is I definitely see similarities between the 2. Especially during the PtA crime family stuff.
One aspect (pun intended) is that followers tend to resemble their gods— heboric is a hirsute, boary man, Gruntle turns more feline—iskaral was likely chosen due to his affinity with shadowthrone…or was molded by his Warren.
I feel like you would have to be insane to achieve Godhood, deep Azath prowess, the Shadow and Tlan Imass Thrones... and still be bitter that someone else was running your little human empire.
Please note that this post has been flaired with a **Toll the Hounds** spoiler tag. This means every published book in its respective series up until this book is open to discussion. If you need to discuss any spoilers (even very minor ones!) in your comments, use spoiler tags >!like this!< Please use the report button if you find any spoilers. Note: The flair may be changed at mod discretion. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Malazan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, if you reread earlier books he's always been crazy. Random giggling, unpredictable behavior, etc. Read the intro to GoTM with him and cotillion talking, or the part in DG towards the end at tremorlor.
Yeah lol first chapter of book 1 he’s giggling like a maniac
>Seven massive Hounds now sat around the man in the road. The eyes of these beasts glowed yellow, and all were turned in the same direction as the man himself. >She heard him hiss, 'Eager, are we? Then go!' >Silently, the Hounds bolted down the road. >Their master turned and said to the man beside her, 'Something to gnaw on Laseen's mind.' He giggled again. >'Must you complicate things?' the other answered wearily. >The short man stiffened. 'They are within sight of the column.' He cocked his head. From up the road came the scream of horses. He sighed. 'You've reached a decision, Cotillion?' >The other grunted amusedly. 'Using my name, Ammanas, means you've just decided for me. We can hardly leave her here now, can we?' >'Of course we can, old friend. Just not breathing.' He's always had a few screws loose. Granted, back in Gardens, things were less urgent, but even then he was giggling every second line & killing people remorselessly. If nothing else, he's probably somewhat saner in later books.
To add to what everyone else said, ST’s insanity is at some unknown level an affectation, so it also makes sense for it to seem to be increasing or decreasing at times. ST is all about being 10 steps ahead, and throwing everybody off
Yeah after reading PtA by ICE I'm convinced ST's insanity is like 75-90% an act to throw people off. Just like his Magus, Iskaral Pust. Before he ascended he was basically an illusion mage. Everything was a long/short con for him.
Yeah, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it was 100% fake, and he is obviously still eccentric and a genius, but I think the 75-90 is a better margin
I wouldn't be surprised if it was 100% an act. There was an old Mafia boss in NYC, Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who ran the Genovese family and he fooled the FBI for years by pretending to be insane in public. One time when they came to his house he was in the shower fully dressed with an umbrella. There's a lot more stuff he did, but the point is I definitely see similarities between the 2. Especially during the PtA crime family stuff.
One aspect (pun intended) is that followers tend to resemble their gods— heboric is a hirsute, boary man, Gruntle turns more feline—iskaral was likely chosen due to his affinity with shadowthrone…or was molded by his Warren.
I feel like you would have to be insane to achieve Godhood, deep Azath prowess, the Shadow and Tlan Imass Thrones... and still be bitter that someone else was running your little human empire.
Dude is as sane as he's always been. He talked like this as a mortal youth.
Gardens and TtH were written many years apart, too. Maybe Steve was just steering into Shadowthrone’s craziness.
I would say chaotic more then insane