E-Merl gets to save Syr’Nj’s life in this chapter, just as Sundar did. That’s not enough to remove the “almost got the whole party killed” stink from his shoes (and there’ll be some consequences of that), but it does make his arc a bit more nuanced. If Syr’Nj had thought of the blinding strategy a little earlier, while E-Merl was still running up to help her, then he might’ve been blinded himself and have to be carried off the battlefield…but even we had our limits in terms of how mean we wanted to be to the guy.

Ulak did not need much encouragement to go “running to the hills” after the sky elves showed up.

I’m getting a real “early Guilded Age” vibe off this whole adventure. Feels like we’re back to basics. Maybe it’s the fact that our heroes are just fighting to survive, without any immediate political responsibilities, which hasn’t been the case since…maybe the flooding prison incident? Aside from E-Merl’s lingering guilt, their personal arcs are resolved or on hold, too.