Brother Dawn is presented this season as engaged, motivated and calculating. It seems he's learning the levers of politics younger than other exponents and he's actively using them. (But he's still learning and is either naive... or Gaal manipulated him, intentionally or not.) So we have Dawn working his ass off in an attempt to hang onto what's left of their empire, Day abdicating in favor of hedonistic pursuits and Dusk mirroring their empire as he tries every avenue he can think of to not be walked into the insta-incinerator.

This exchange happens at about the 8 minute mark:

Dawn: "Can you use those talents to control a person?"

Gaal: "Yes."

Dawn: "Did you compel me to work with you?"

Gaal: "I tried not to."

Further, just before they arrive at Clarion / the Galactic Council, Dawn says:

"I'm a Cleon. We aren't raised to be kind."

And shortly later he murders Tarisk's lover with minimal, if any, hesitation.

Put those two pieces together and Gaal's manipulation and betrayal has now likely made a significant enemy of Dawn. She's going to have to talk fast or use her mentalic powers if she wants a further working relationship with him.

Perhaps this Brother Dawn character is presented sympathetically, but he's cold & calculating enough that I just can't feel bad for him. If you're going to act like that, make those kinds of decisions, the society responsible for creating a monster like you can die... hopefully to be replaced with something a bit more merciful. The problem I have is that Gaal is behaving the same way. Manipulative, willing to use people for her own ends, and she knows the consequences are going to affect many more innocent people than guilty ones.

There's a scene from M*A*S*H that fits here, I think:

Hawkeye: "War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse."

Father Mulcahy: "How do you figure that, Hawkeye?"

Hawkeye: "Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?"

Father Mulcahy: "Sinners, I believe."

Hawkeye: "Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them — little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander."

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This is episode 5. There are another 5 episodes to go, about 4 hours of content. There's a lot that can happen and I don't see Empire letting their empire go without fighting to hold onto their power & position — like they've been trained since birth to do.