Build a topical hub that actually interlinks

I want topical authority for "{{topic}}". My existing pages: {{paste list of URLs and titles}}.

1. Map the topic into its real subtopic tree, three levels deep, based on how practitioners actually divide it.
2. Slot my existing pages onto that tree. Mark each: keep, rewrite, merge into X, or delete.
3. Identify the gaps that break the tree — the pages that must exist for the hub to be coherent, ranked by whether they unlock other pages.
4. Design the pillar page: what it must cover itself versus delegate to children.
5. Give me the internal linking matrix: for each page, which pages it links to, with anchor text, and why that direction (not both ways by default).
6. Name the two pages that should collect external links, and why the rest shouldn't be link targets.
7. Publish order, with the reason each step comes when it does.