And given that in Sepia World I presume Hurricane localizes their biggest product for more languages than just English, it seems reasonable to believe that residents of Arkerra speak no Sepia World language and are magically translated for the convenience of the players and us.

I’ve nothing against Syr’Nj, of course. She tries to be the best person she can (as does Bandit…). I just noticed that with the right kind of music in the background, and some slightly different stakes, that earlier scene could be interpreted in a rather sinister light, and so could the one here.

The very real, dark implication is that there’s no “hard” difference between them, it’s mostly a matter of framing. Which is of course one of the most important sources of political controversy, and a reason why unchecked authority (political, personal or otherwise) will be abused sooner or later, no matter in whose hands it ends up and whether that person believes they were doing anything wrong. See Galadriel’s speech to Bilbo in the first LoTR movie: “They shall love me and despair”.

Syr’Nj is of course miles away from Galadriel’s scenario, but imagine for a moment her carreer was on the way to making her the sole ruler of Arkerra — an alternate timeline where she maintains her friendly way for a quite some time after starting down the incredibly well-paved road to hell she has built for herself.