Theories about the Crimson Empire (Warning: Spoilers)

I've previously made a post, explaining why I believed the Crimson Usurper is the real villain of Maggie the Undying series instead of Sauven, Silveren, or the Crimson Empire.

Here's the link if you want to check it out (it's long!):

https://www.reddit.com/r/IlonaAndrews/comments/1vv9uou/theory_about_the_real_big_bad_of_tkwnkm_warning/

I'm making more posts about theories regarding TKWNKM.

1. The Crimson Empire's Battlehounds

When I first read TKWNKM, I wondered about the creatures the real Reynald encountered in Gassargand.

Here is the scene:

“A creature came out of the tunnels. It walked upright like a man, and it wore armor and carried a battle hammer, but it was covered with gray fur*, eight feet tall, and its head was the* head of a monster. It smashed Mertio’s skull with a single blow, and you saw his head crack like a broken egg. The three of you fought it until the mortar bombardment resumed, and the sounds of explosions drove it back into the darkness.”

However, I have a theory that the creature in Gassargand may be what Everard was referring to when talking about Empire's battlehounds to Maggie.

"Most of what you've said is accurate and true. Except for the murdering of the pets and salting of the fields. Salting the soil is a massive waste, and the only dogs I've ever killed were the Empire's battle hounds. Calling them pets is a stretch*."*

If my theory about the Crimson Usurper being the final boss (and secretly controlling the Crimson Empire from the shadows) is true, then I wouldn't be surprised if that monstrous creature that killed Mertio (Reynald's friend) are the Empire's battlehounds.

After all, the Crimson Usurper had no qualms about practicing slavery and human sacrifices. Using monsters as weapons of war would be among the least of his long list of troubling sins.

Or...it could be something else (food for thought).

2. The Plague

I also think that the Crimson Usurper might be behind the outbreak of the plague that decimates Rellas' population.

“A civil war and everything that brings. Slaughter, atrocities, famine. A complete breakdown of society*, aided by the invasion of the Crimson Empire and* a plague*.”*

In this world, there are monsters, giant ghost hands, people coming back from the dead or destroying meteorites, engineering a magical plague that wipes out most of Rellas (including the knights, which only benefits their enemies like the Crimson Empire) and then invading the country is not out of the realm of possibility.