i know i talk a lot about tenna in a way that seems like im absolving him of wrongdoing (Hes never done anything wrong in his life Ever) which is Mostly said by me Jokingly and isn't so much to mean that he's never done wrong or doesn't have character flaws and doesn't have things to apologize about. but bc that theres this like. all too common narrative ive seen multiple times that he should be Punished and isolated and shunned and he needs to apologize RIGHT NOW!!! for everything bad he's Ever done
.... but like i dunno. he's a character that we meet at his very lowest (SO FAR!!!) that just. keeps getting kicked and kicked and kicked while he's down (and he's already BEEN down for a long time) without any chance to fully get back up on his feet. we're literally watching this man drown in real time begging and pleading (quite literally dropping to his hands and knees) for help and everyone LEAVES him for it. Not because they hate him, not necessarily because he's Mean to them specifically, but because they think he's lost his marbles and looks like he's gone full saturday morning cartoon villain on them trying to catch the lightners without knowing any of the context about the deal he made with kris and the knight that he Cannot tell them about (discussion for another day but it's also a very consistent trait of his to specifically be taken advantage of Himself because he's desperate and lonely and kept in the dark)...
and when he's finally offered some kind of understanding, finally given hope for the first time in... who knows how long, he's cut down while he's finally standing in what is probably Currently the goriest death in the game. and you can only save him if you remember to get all the required recruits and don't forget about him while on your escapades in the lightworld.
and again. it is not as though tenna hasn't made mistakes, hasn't made bad choices, hasn't done wrong. his contracts suck, he's pushy and arrogant and stuck in his own head. but i don't think he's at a point where he even Can look introspectively at himself and his issues yet, not without breaking down further. he's so deep within his spiral at this point, even within castletown, that i don't think he will be Able to pull himself out without receiving help First.
like ive talked about this before but he's barely at the first level of the needs pyramid !!!! he needs community and friendship and patience before anything else at current. he may have survived the drowning but he's still treading water. he needs to be pulled out of the water and Fully rescued and helped and given time to Recover before he can even Think about apologizing to anybody he ended up pulling down with him in his panic. Does this make sense.