On 8/9/2018 at 1:37 PM, Mangod said:

Or... he's deliberately abdicating, knowing it'll start a civil war of succession that will see the office of Emperor discredited, just as his fellow Masters had intended.

#EmperorIsKolat

Amazing how a theory can become much more credible a single day after it's published.

New theory:

Remember what Kaede saw in Smokeless Fire?

I think I've figured out what it was.