Mappo's Travelling Sack, on May 4 2009, 12:32 AM, said:
I agree, it's a bit weird to have an almost-extinct race commanding Death, but perhaps that is what is needed - an acute experience of the nature of Death itself. Although I guess it's not so believable. The Jaghut fought againt Death itself, so why would a Jaghut end up commanding it? It doesn't make much sense, unless Hood was a powerful Ascendant beforehand, fought, died and then rose to prominence in the House of Death, which seems a little unbelieveable. Then again, stranger things have happened.
I took Hood's role to have been assumed by dint of the fact he was one of the few that fought for death to remain as a part of the world. SE's very good about not making every individual in his races uniform in their beliefs. Some Imass disagreed with the Ritual, for example.
I think Hood's Realm is now free to whoever gets there first and has the power to keep it -- Kellanved and Dancer basically ended up with the then-masterless Shadow because they walked into Deadhouse and it was first come, first serve (I think this was speculated in the beginning of MoI by Silverfox). The obvious successor, at least based on candidates we know of, is Rallick and/or Vorcan, which probably means it won't be. : )
As for what happens to Toc, eesh. That is just a guy with no luck whatsoever. Interesting to see what happens, though -- in RG, Hood met him not just because of Toc's repeated death-dodging, but because he had claim over Toc's soul predating the Wolves'. The Wolves, however, still had a claw in him, because Toc's eye didn't make it across with him. I think that, with Hood gone, his claim over Toc (pledged to Hood by his father -- man, what was that, a fad? Dassem's daughter, Dunsparrow, Toc . . .) is now dissolved, and he's gone to the Wolves. Which, when you think about it, is also a pretty high irony-placement. He's linked to the House of War, and by his own admission he stopped being a soldier around the fourteenth time the Matron crushed his ribcage.