H ( is that a Hannibal reference? ): "a New System is needed" ... why would he conclude that if he didn't care? A new system for whom? The people he doesn't care about? Altuism is not necessarily the same thing as "liking". It appears he at least likes humanity, otherwise, why bother? The joy of power over the ants? That seems beneath him. But remember, K felt empathy for the defective he was studying and then consciously cast it aside "deciding" it was weakness to feel for a "defective" ... it appears he was born with empathy - did the horror of the world kill it? Does he try to kill it off, himself? Can he ( or anyone ) kill off their emotions or do our emotional state simply changes when we try to kill it? If you're suggesting elevating humans to thwart the gods he hates, now that is interesting.
The name doesn't really reference anything too specific, it's just a short, easy-to-remember call-sign. If it was, it would be to the Tool song H., but it's just where I got the idea, not really the song itself (although I do like that song).
On your point. It's not really that he doesn't care. My theory is not that he doesn't
have emotions, or that he doesn't consider them, but rather that they are all just data to him. This isn't really how we work, but it is how he works. He doesn't just do something because it "seems right" or because he "feels it is right." He simply does what must be done, because it must be done. Sometimes, that is in line with how he feels. Sometimes it is not. I don't really buy that feeling is what is guiding him. In fact, I don't beleive it is his "rational mind" or the Probability Trance that guides him either. The Thousandfold Thought is at once him and beyond him. He is a gear in it's working as much as he is the engine driving it.
To attempt to summarize my position more succictly, I beleive he is something of "emotion considering" not "emotion driven."
I still get confused about what the Consult actually are - I think I learned from my posts 3 years ago that they are humans/magi who teamed with the aliens and learned Tekne and now don't age and therefore have taken up the charge with the aliens to rid Earwa of humans ... please feel free to correct me on this, I'm still unclear.
Basically, yes, but there is a little more to it. Have you read the Atrocity Tale,
The False Sun yet? It's
free on Bakker's Blog. I think it will give you a little more understanding of who they are.
Think the book stated "hundreds" of shriekers perished in the thousand thousand halls ... seems like an incredible blow to the Consult to lose so many. Perhaps Kellus lured the Consult to Ishual whereby a battle with the Dunyain would whittle down their numbers to make them weaker, easier to defeat? Even if smart tactics, K had no intention of returning to the Dunyain - at the very least shirking his homeland if not outright ridding himself of the pursuit of the Absolute. Either there are bigger fish to fry or he came to same realization his son did, just reacted differently to the realization, which makes sense since their first interaction with the "real" world were so different ( K met hordes of humans, but didn't encounter the Eye for years ( maybe not at all, not sure if he knew of Mimara's Eye ), while Survivor only met 2 who were hellbent on killing him, but meets the Eye right off the bat ). Circumstance plays a bigger role in our identity than we would own up to or like it to have.
I've posited elsewhere that the Dunyain are simply tools, no different than the Sranc, in the grand scheme of things. In fact, TGO even parallels the two for us conveniently. The Consult really doesn't understand Kellhus' motivation and so, in thinking that the Dunyain still had a role to play, they threw everything and the kitchen sink at them. They simply where too much of a threat to leave out in the open. But it was a honey-pot.
Kellhus had no intention of ever "reusing" the Dunyain. Still, that is a risk that the Consult couldn't take. A legion of meta-Gnositics is nothing to scoff at. Bad enough as it is. However, Kellhus already knew that, so it was a free move for him.
The Thousandfold Thought is prepared for all these eventualities, because it is predicated beyond Before and After. Things happen before that only make sense after, a distinct violation of the natural laws. And yet, that is why Kellhus is so wildly successful. The Consult cannot precede him, because he has already preceded their every move. The Thousandfold Thought comes not from the Here and Now, but they There and Future. Only something outside (Outside) of time completely could really stand a chance.