It might have been an attempt by Banks to address some of the criticisms of the Culture - that it was &quot;too good&quot;. Also the Culture&#x27;s revenge attack by their terror weapon (literally) on the Chel who planned the attack on the orbital show&#x27;s how nasty they can be if they think it is justified (&quot;good&quot; doesn&#x27;t necessarily, it seems, imply &quot;nice&quot;).