"Don't Screw This Up."

[Ionathus]

I think this is pretty reasonable, and it wouldn't even stop TDO from granting Redcloak spells. TDO probably also recognizes that, for better or worse, he's not finding a higher-level cleric who is this committed to the Plan. So it might be "Don't screw this up" in part as "Everything you've cost our people, you'd better get this done."

Yeah, admittedly the "well if [god] is angry at [cleric/paladin], then why don't they revoke their powers?" argument can only ever give us a binary switch. Good talent is hard to find (has been for the past 5 years, at least in my country), and you're not going to fire your highest-performing employee for the slightest transgression...or even a few significant ones. I wonder what other "tools" the gods have in their toolbox for handling errant clerics or paladins without "firing" them.

TDO knew Redcloak would be a *terrible* leader, whose hatred and neuroses would pit Gobbotopia against any nearby human territory and fall victim to the same problems Tarquin faced on the West Continent. While Redcloak was an effective war leader, he wasn't the right goblin to rule peacefully. Getting Redcloak out of Gobbotopia and back on the campaign was the best chance of Gobbotopia surviving indefinitely.

I like both of your interpretations but this one is more impactful character-wise for me. Without bringing too much attention to it, that's definitely what's happening in Gobbotopia: complete with a more charismatic and diplomatic leader who might be more palatable to neighboring nations when they hit the negotiating table. And Redcloak doesn't get to live in the better world he created...

I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there, any more than there is for you. Malcolm... I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.