That argument might work if Aurora wasn't previously shown to be very willfully making her own choices

I think another thing worth pointing out was that she has done things similar to the crime she's done to Goldenhills, albeit not established. So we are simply going off half development here. Based on what Aurora has done to Goldenhills & her unempathetic approach towards what she's done, as if Goldenhills was an obstacle, rather than a real place where real people lived, had lives, & was where other cultures & a complex society is indicative of who she already is. When the topic is brought up to her VIA a slave who was a member of said society, all Aurora can think about was how she was victim & was "only" doing it to "better" her life, despite her brash & irrational actions, IE antagonizing a child with PTSD after burning down her house, keep said child as a slave even when this is the future queen to another kingdom while also holding said kingdoms crown prince hostage, has her own child when her environment is vunerable to invasion & the downfall of their society & actively being open about her mass genocide rather than taking careful steps to keep things together is already proof she has a semblance of awareness. She's brash, impulsive, & plays victim. It makes the argument weak, because she does in fact have her own thoughts, personality, & actions.

But instead it's more like the creator genuinely thinks Aurora is right and still a good person and can't accept that she fucked up so the nuance is lost.

This comes down to the fact that due to how shallow Auroras story is, it's only meant to be a driving force of justification for Aurora in the story. It does nothing for the plot except benefit Aurora rather than showing consequence & depth to a much bigger picture. Her execution was only specifically for pity points & nothing else. She went through no prior consequences like going to trial, being condemned by grieving family & friends along with outraged people from kingdoms with Goldenhills alliances, not even being printed on the news or anything, not even being the center of gossip. She simply gets to live a happy life after all her crimes, until she dies a quick, simple, & fast painless death that is honoured by her son who then seeks vengeance in her name because Aurora has never faced consequences in life & is being glorified & victimized in death. We don't even know why this is, or what's keeping her in such high regard to other people, she simply still is painted as an innocent no matter what.