One of my favorite things about Honor Among Thieves is that Solfina is so much smarter the more you think about her.
Why does she make sure Holga and Edgin get captured? Because if they get out clean, the Harpers Guild only has the stolen artifacts to figure out the motives of the crime. The Horn of Kazgaroth and Tablet of Reawakening stand out! Diabolical plot is afoot! Except Edgin swears that the Tablet of Reawakening was to be used on his dead wife and the rest of the loot was to sell. He does so, so convincingly that the council was willing to pardon him and Holga. The Harpers Guild is going to be looking for black market auctions not a red wizard taking over Neverwinter. Diabolical plot? What diabolical plot? Edgin gave Solfina a better cover story than she could have ever managed herself.
Why didn’t she just kill Lord Neverwinter so Forge could take over? Because the pair never meant to keep Neverwinter. It was always going to be a stepping stone. Keeping Lord Neverwinter in a coma gives pacifying hope (”one day the REAL Lord Neverwinter will wake up and things will be okay”), a distraction (”Clearly we need to go on a quest to find what can wake our TRUE Lord”), and avoiding dealing with a succession crisis. Forge becoming Acting Lord Neverwinter despite the age of the current Lord Neverwinter points to Lord Neverwinter not having an heir. Solfina and Forge only have to hold power long enough to revive the High Sun Games. Something that took less than two years and was greeted with enthusiasm by nobles and commoners. Dangling Lord Neverwinter as a carrot was far more effective than just killing him.
Why does she insist that Edgin’s crew take part in the games? She doesn’t know about Xenk or Themberchaud! What she does know is that Edgin and crew tracked down a powerful helmet missing for a century and defeated her assassins. Something that shows far more power and cunning than she thought they had. Of course she’d want to take the opportunity to gain that for herself! As far as she knew, there was no way for them to get out of the maze before she cast Beckoning Death.
Why does she let Forge go when she hates his guts? She could be Lawful Evil. Or she could have realized that Forge is not going to become a hermit. He’s going to use the treasure he stole from the gamblers and set himself up as a lord again. A lord that Solfina knows can be convinced to do awful acts if it gets him power.
Is Solfina Hannibal Lector smart? Nah, but she’s not stupid. She just wasn’t expecting the Thieves. But nobody expects the thieves.
