Ista--great heroine or greatest heroine?

My favorite book of all time is Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold. The first time I experienced it, I listened to it in audiobook format. It was the first book of Bujold's I read, and the only reason I picked it out was because it was on sale, and like ~20 hours long.

I didn't listen to it until months later when I was on a 10 hour-long bus ride and I was too queasy to fall asleep or read a book. I was pretty much immediately hooked, and over the course of the next year, I devoured Bujold's backlist.

I love Paladin of Souls because I adore Ista. She's 40, but that doesn't mean she's too old to have her own coming of age story! She's 1000% done with everyone's bullshit, she doesn't let anyone intimidate her. Ista has lived through a lot, but she still has so much more room to grow and truly comes into her own by the end of the story.

Everytime I read this book, I come across a new insight that I never thought about before. I really want Cattilara's story once she's had a chance to recover from her grief and has matured more emotionally. I would also love to read what happens to Gorem (sp?). I have a feeling that the gods aren't done with him.

Finally, I will leave you with a crack theory.

Spoilers

My secret head canon is that Gorem is the corrupt Baocian guard captain from The Curse of Chalion. I've never gone over the books in sufficient detail to know if the timelines work out, but I feel like from his conversations with Ista there is some history there. Her mental state during the curse combined with his change in station, bearing, and speech patterns could have prevented her from recognizing him earlier in the story. Tell me how right/wrong I am!