Why did the T'lan Imass Onos T'oolan helped to destroy a certain character towards the ending of GotM?

Question

I am a newbie in the Malazan series and I only have read the first book "Gardens of The Moon" and just started the second one "DeadHouse Gates".

Spoilers follow regarding the ending of GotM:

During GotM, Adjunct Lorn was tasked to reincarnate the Jaghut Tyrant Raest. In her journey the T'lan Imass Onos T'oolan helped her greatly to accomplish the task. After fighting the dragons, Raest was confronted by Kruppe and Tool, where Tool tried to kill Raest. Again Tool and Raest battled each other in front of Paran where finally Raest was consumed by that House (I don't know what that is yet).

Are there any specific reasons for Tool to destroy this particular character? If yes, then why did he help Lorn to do the opposite in the first place?

Answer 1

Welcome to the wonderful world of Malazan.

You will find out the hard way, that a lot of what's going on in the series - just like real life - doesn't have a clear explanation, as every character has his or her own agendas and may have a change of heart. Or, that a lot of things get their answers in the later books. But, this is the way it supposed to be. Steven Erikson wants his readers to think and guess. He won't give anything on the plate.

Now, in regards to your actual question, let's examine the facts:

Obviously, SPOILERS regarding GotM follow:

• Tool has made a pact with Empress Laseen to free Raest
• The original goal was to free Raest only to weaken Anomander Rake (if not kill him) and then to kill him (Raest). You wouldn't want an ancient Jaghut Tyrant to roam Genabackis.
• Tool is clanless. This means that he answers only to himself. Think of him as human in terms of ethics. He may be a T'lan Imass, but he's not an automaton. He has feelings and acts through critical thinking.
• Tool had expressed his feelings towards freeing the Jaghut. He wasn't exactly ok with it.
• Almost nothing went as planned for every side of the participants.

Baring all the above in mind, my feeling is that Tool helped in the destruction of Raest to make amends for freeing him, as well as because it was the most logical thing to do based on the actual events (in comparison to what Lorn was expecting to happen).

p.s. Deadhouse Gates will provide you tons of information on the Houses of the Azath, so the ending of GotM regarding Raest will make a lot more sense, as well as a lot of things happening in that book. But, as I said, this is exactly the way it supposed to be. Erikson writes for the patient readers.

Answer 2

Note that Tool actually isn't fighting Raest, but is instead (somehow) fought the Finnest. Recall, Tool instructed Paran to "defend the Azath" because "the Finnest seeks to destroy it" and later Raest spoke to the Azath saying that it already destroyed his Finnest which is consistent with Paran fighting the Finnest and not him.

Also, at least according to Kruppe, the chosen answer is potentially incorrect in its conclusions about Tool's motives. Kruppe acknowledges that while Tool is indeed "Clanless" and "unbound and beyond binding" he says "the ancient call commands him still- to his dismay" and "is called upon by the blood that once warmed his limbs, his heart, his life, of so very long ago".

To me Kruppe seemed to imply that there was potentially an older magical binding on the Imass, which even after being unbound and clanless, compelled them to attack Jaghut within a vicinity. Kruppe also seemed to imply Tool didn't know that such a binding would still be in effect on him, and so caused him to act in spite of his previous intention to simply hide and observe.