I like this ibn Tamiyyah fellow quite a bit. To stand up to the Emperor himself and declare himself an enemy of him takes a certain amount of guts that indeed only one in ten thousand might have. Whether I agree or disagree with his philosophies is irrelevant, I respect his iron will.
As for the sons of the Emperor Andronikos, I think that Manuel turned out as expected, competent, with all the benefits and problems of being a bastard child included. The rest seem rather much like brats, with Nikephoros being a possible exception.
And lastly, addressing the death of Doryotta.
Unexpected so soon, but I see no real possibility of murder. Yes, the Pope had much to gain from it, but weak as he is, I doubt he could have had her killed. And unless we have not been told the full story, (as may very well be the case) I doubt that Andronikos or any other party has the means AND the motive combined. Andronikos seemed to like her well enough, she didn't seem to be the type to cause problems, and Persia had no real reasons for murdering her, nor did Sortmark, the Mongols, the Germans or the French. And no other state has even the possible capability to send agents to Constantinople and succeed in assassinating an Empress.
Whether Hesso realizes this, however, is another matter altogether, and there may very well be chaos in the West as a result. We haven't heard from Spain yet, and I suspect we'll hear from the boy of Barcelona in the next few chapters, and we'll also get a chance to see how strong the roman fetters in the Duchies of Toulouse and Aquitaine really are.