#also I am laughing now at the idea that deirta covered the treason up after he left

[essektheylyss]

As much as it is fun to joke about how absurd Trent's plan was (and on its face, considering just his perspective alone, it was!), I do think we need to acknowledge that it wouldn't have worked as a threat if it had not been reasonably concerning to Caleb.

When you think about how little the Nein know at this point about the Solstice (meta pigeons notwithstanding), there are a lot of factors that play into this being a credible threat. For instance:

The collars are no longer working, as are some wards, in which case it's not unreasonable to wonder if any of the Amulets of Nondetection are out of commission.

It's possible that the Dynasty genuinely does not have that much evidence to go after Essek—that he managed to fake his death and cover his trail that way, or he left well before the pressure really began to encroach, as a preemptive measure, and with him out of sight the rumors died down (or were even quashed by his mother for political reasons, regardless of her feelings on the matter).

There's no good way to know what information or evidence Trent may have stashed away in the event that it was necessary later, which could be delivered anonymously to the Dynasty and not rest on Trent's credibility.

Regardless of Trent's relative ability to capture Essek on his own, which is probably low, he is enough of a loose cannon that he could seriously hurt him simply in a one-on-one duel, because Trent has clearly gone beyond any considerations of self-preservation and is trying to inflict maximum damage, which makes him dangerous all on his own.

It doesn't have to be any one of these, but the important thing is that the plot hinges upon Caleb believing this is at least a semi-credible threat. If there really was no danger to Essek, then it would be reasonable for Caleb, who is very intelligent, to dismiss it and focus on something more important. We've seen that Caleb is perfectly capable of shutting Trent out in the face of larger priorities even when his threats were very affecting, and Caleb's had an extra seven years since then to move past that trauma.

But given that the point of threatening Essek, on a meta level, was to ensure that the plot of the one-shot moved at the pace it needed to, then Caleb needs to believe that this is a credible threat. Regardless of the efficacy of the particular plan outlined, we must be willing to believe that, if he is not confronted now, Trent will make good on his threats in one way or another.