I just think Tom wouldn't have been able to change on his own. He needed someone like Marco to call him out on his bull, to explain to him that he egocentric behavior was wrong. Obviously the life coaching wasn't working. He kept trying to take short cuts. It had to be someone close to him to tell him these things. Without Marco Tom wouldn't be the better person he is today.

1) Amazing post, very well written. 2) I feel like Marco could really use this sort of person in his life; Star doesn't often call him directly on his mistakes and is normally pretty forgiving ("RwS" comes to mind). He has from time to time proven to be every bit as egocentric as Tom (it just stems from a different source in the both of them).