>I'm not sure anybody's pulling his strings.
>
>Yes, Surtur is the one who raised him up to his current position - but
>I think he's just let Akio loose, figuring that somebody who hates
>that strongly, and particularly somebody who hates Gryphon's family
>that strongly, is worth having around, regardless of what he does.
>
>Arguably, this makes Akio a bit dangerous to Surtur, since there's no
>controls outside of "I made you, I can break you," but Surtur is
>probably confident that Akio can't create a power base sufficient to
>be a danger.
>
>It makes me wonder if Surtur knows about the Oriphos project.

Honestly, I suspect Surtur is a lot sharper than even demons tend to think of him being. I strongly suspect the Castellan of working under different constraints than Akio realizes--especially that her ultimate loyalty doesn't lie with him. Not that she has the slightest intention of interfering with him, but she may be reporting to one of Surtur's subordinates on the side.

Also, come to think of it, she looks demonic and reasonably attractive, but we got no description beyond that. I wonder if she's another plant from Midgard? There's a small but nonzero chance she answers to Illyana, maybe? Not as if Akio would recognize the accent.

------
Fearless creatures, we all learn to fight the Reaper
Can't defeat Her, so instead I'll have to be Her