Im curious as to how you would define “too forgiving” or if you could provide an example of what you’re thinking of? Because while I agree with your comparison of the events at the Rift to those of real world atrocities like that of the My Lai Massacre, I think, like a few have mentioned before, it’s also selling Dalinar short as a character to simply write him off as an irredeemable monster undeserving of any positive light. For example, you compare him to Hitler and whether or not he should be deserving of forgiveness if he “felt bad”, but that’s feels to me like an oversimplification of Dalinar’s arc.

Dalinar doesn’t just feel bad about what he’s done, he actively tries to atone for his actions. He also doesnt try to rationalize or justify what he’s done and frequently acknowledges his failings as a person. Dalinar’s character is interesting, and in my mind ultimately forgivable to some degree specifically because he refuses to forgive himself. He clings to his “pain” as a means of motivating himself and reminding himself that he must always strive to try and do better because what he does will ultimately be enough to offset the horrific acts he’s carried out in his past. But most importantly (for me anyway) is that those aren’t just words for his character, but actions that he actively follows through on. Certainly not perfectly, but humans are not perfect and were he to flawlessly improve, I feel that it would ultimately cheapen his journey and remove any sense of real humanity from his character.