The kithrak flying off is just eye-rollingly silly. I mean, I know he’s acting in the tradition of a long line of villains with an unwarranted confidence in their underlings’ ability to take care of things, but still. I do like the scene with him, and the ability to recognise detect thoughts and resist it is fun, but I think it really needs to be rewritten so that the kithrak and dragon fly off after flaming the Flaming Fist and it’s another character who you speak to, who is then part of the fight should it come to that.
