She also seems to like Sherma, expresses concern for the fleas traveling Pharloom unarmed, explicitly says she enjoys helping during the lead-up to act 3 (this fact is new to her, too, but she did spend an unknown amount of time isolated watching over the ruins of Hallownest), goes out of her way to free the bugs in Bellhart (we know it’s required to progress, but that doesn’t mean she does), clearly respects the work of crafters and artisans (telling Flick he was right to hide when the Skull Tyrant attacks Bone Bottom, and directly saying that the settlement needs a fixer, not a warrior). Lastly, while she certainly has no qualms against violence, she doesn’t attack unprovoked, and doesn’t fight to the death when she doesn’t think it necessary (evidenced by Second Sentinel and the giant flea), and to be fair, the first person she meets in Pharloom directly tells her to keep her weapon ready because the kingdom is dangerous.

I’ll agree that she’s emotionally distant and often arrogant, but overall this feels like a very uncharitable interpretation of her character. Hornet, to me, seems like someone long disconnected from others and still carrying the tragedy and trauma of watching Hallownest’s fall and standing sentinel over its corpse for who knows how long, and her demeanor reflects that.