Branch A: Kraethe is captured after Aegir collapse and exiled to Gaerath rather than executed. The thematic appeal is that he must inhabit the damaged world whose history he weaponized.
Branch B: Kraethe avoids the central confrontation, escapes to the outer system, and begins assembling ideological remnants at abandoned Gaian infrastructure, preserving a future antagonist/spin-off possibility.
These cannot both occur. Neither should be imported into canon until the ending architecture is chosen.
Open questions
- Choose exile, escape, a third outcome, or deliberate unresolved absence.