This can be expanded to question the entire character's motivations and relationships - how far do Tarquin's The End Justifies The Means tendencies in relation to his Evil Plan extend? Does he really care about his relationship with colleagues like Malack, or is his seemingly reasonable and emotionally intelligent response to Malack's fury about Tarquin's actions during the battle for Girard's Gate merely a continuation of his willingness to manipulate everyone around him in order to achieve his, Tarquin's, desired goals? Malack's status as a divine caster of equal level relative to Tarquin's Crazy-Prepared melee fighter, in a world in which Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards is in full effect, leaves the question open-ended it's in Tarquin's interests to make it seem to Malack that Tarquin understands that his actions are selfish and unreasonable, regardless of whether he actually does recognise this.