Spoilers but let's talk about someone that re-appears

[Kesey]

We either have the whole story, and they're gonna leave it disappointingly unbelievable, or we've been lied to, and there is a game afoot! Personally I hope there's a game afoot, but I don't think any of them are Ascian, mainly because when he fights alongside Estinien against Zenos, Zenos makes no remark about it.

Up until the Terncliff reveals, I had been under the impression that SHadowhunter had soaked up some power from experiencing Ultima, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Idk, I feel that you're wanting to much from this story.

I believe the point of this storyline is to humanize the murderous dictator from ARR. Most likely he will be the "new" leader of Empire in some future storyline. He is very much the lesser of the other evils that the empire has produced, and needs vindication before he ascends the throne.