...two options: 1)Kellhus fucked up and got salted, didn't plan for this possibility and is uber-fucked (though Ajokli still can't find him) OR 2)Kellhus fucked up and got salted but has a contingency plan and is hiding, which is why Ajokli can't find him.
I'm completely on board with this line of reasoning.
Already discuss, but quoted for context.
There is, though, one notable possibility. Kellhus needed Ajokli in the material world as some kind of tool (a spanner in the works, perhaps), but could only accomplish this by being possessed. From that point on he needed to end the possession, which was accomplished in the Golden Room.
I had not considered this. That Kellhus' goal for Ajokli, specifically, was to remove him from the outside, which he planned to do by materializing him in Earwa, which unfortunately required him to be possessed.
That does re-frame his actions a bit. Maybe then his whole goal was to switch places with Ajokli, like the heads, except that he'd now be in the Outside (descending as a hunger) and Ajokli playing Apocalypse with his Four Horseman in Earwa.
I'd still say that his returning to Earwa just in time to get salted was not part of that plan.
It's unclear that Kellhus actually wanted to defeat the Dunsult at that moment. Many of his statements seem to imply he actually wanted them to succeed, at least partially. Then it's conceivable he might use their success to his own end.
I'd have to go back to confirm, but this is also and interesting contingency. That he actually wanted the Consult to win to a degree - though ending up in the sarcophagus was also probably not part of that plan.
It certainly ties in nicely with the above - bring Ajokli into the world, have him stuck in the sarcophagus and effectively seal him into the world, giving Kellhus time to plunder the Outside.
Unlike devices of Tekne, which need to be scrutinized to gain understanding of them (as opposed to the Dunsult, Kellhus had no opportunity to do so), the No-God has metaphysical significance; Kellhus potentially could have surmised its nature and effect and planned for them.
To suggest that Kellhus hadn't pondered the No-God is ridiculous of course, so certainly he had some theories.
The only thing that seems to contradict this theory is Kellhus's surprise when he sees Kelmomas in the Golden Room. But we can't really trust Kellhus. On the other hand, there were four other Dunyain there, who could have seen through his deception and work out his overarching plan from there.
Kind of touched on this already, but in this case it seems probably that Kellhus did not intend to return to the World and get salted.
Though I'll note that Moenghus meets much the same fate - maybe Moenghs Sr. and Kellhus ghosts are sitting around a la Star Wars, continuing to usher the next generation into enlightenment....
All of this also doesn't mean Kellhus is on the side of humanity. As a Dunyain, it's very likely his goal is to master his circumstances completely.
Indeed. Kellhus', or at the very least the dunyain's, true existence is means
without ends. To dominate all circumstance.
I do think Kellhus is not done for, but next time he appears, it would be in a diminished state. By design or by contingency, though, I cannot presently say.
At least some of Bakker's response to this seems relatively straightforward - he isn't dead. That Ajokli can't find him, and that he isn't dead, does not necessarily lead anywhere clear yet.