Gaunt may be one of the primary PC antagonists to Mal in this, depending on the situation. But there's a bit more to it than that...
Gaunt has actually successfully led a resistance movement that ended in victory. (of a sort) So he may initially be putting the beatdown on Mal to train him up for a non-failure later on.
In general I think this could make for some delicious CR, so please, contact me. Do you need my plurk or AIM?