Reading through M2 terminals a moment ago, I came across this little bit that as far as I can tell has never been anylized:
But it was convenient for me to be absent, as Thoth might not have been so helpful had he known I still lived— that’s something I’ll have to explain later when we have more time. Thoth is now trying to aid the Pfhor, but they are obstinate and continue to ignore him.
-"Feel The Noise", Terminal 0, Unfinished, Page 2
The first though that occurred to me that I never really gave much notice to before is "why would Thoth try to aid the Pfhor"? The easy answer I'd always taken before was "Thoth is obsessed with balance." But how exactly does aiding a slave empire to reconquer the slave race which he was created to serve help to balance anything? If anything, the return of the S'pht'Kr shifts the balance back and sets up a strong check against the Pfhor.
But what of the W'rkncacnter?
Reading it again this time, the same question occurred to me, but after discussing the actions that I've attributed to Thoth in Ch3 of Eternal, a new and far better answer has dawned on me. Thoth realized that if the Pfhor were stopped here, they would deploy the trih xeem, and unleash the W'rkncacnter. Thus, he tries to help them win by more conventional means, but they ignore him and deploy the nova device anyway. Then he takes more desperate action, and sends you back to right these wrongs.
(I know the popular conception here from the original Volunteers trilogy is that the player sends HIMSELF with his "Jjaro Boxers" across time, but I cannot believe that in face of the evidence that every jump in Infinity happened immediately after someone uncovered or activated the "S'pht AI", which is obviously intended to be our old buddy Thoth).
Had Durandal been around, Thoth might have seen no particular imbalance or need to recall the 11th Clan. Durandal's a tough enough ally that he could liberate the S'pht here himself; or at least, Thoth would probably give him the chance to try himself first, before undertaking drastic measures like recalling the S'pht'Kr.
