The scenario you detailed in your comment even makes sense, if we had complete military dominance over someone evil and they said they were sorry just like then just take the W that they’re scared enough of you to at least pretend to be sorry.

I wonder what the victims of this person would think about letting the murderer of their parents, partners, and children go free without major consequence because of some half-assed apology? That’s the problem with redemption arcs, they’re almost always centered around the feelings of the abuser rather than the feelings of the abused.

I’m saying that redemption arcs are inherently good in the sense that they come from a good place.

Redemption is a very fucking dangerous idea to push in media because in real life 95% of the time it’s a cynical attempt by an abuser to re-take control of the people they abuse. Almost every TV show that does shit like this ends with the previous piece of shit becoming a normal person after receiving forgiveness from the people they hurt. So when in real life your abusive partner doesn’t change after their grand redemption, you’re left wondering what went wrong. People have enough economic and social pressure to stay with shitty people without media pressuring them. Look up The Cycle of Abuse. Reconciliation/redemption is more often than not another step in the cycle than any genuine change.

I’d rather have 10 genuinely changed people be sad and unfulfilled about the shitty things they’ve done than even 1 person falling for an abuser’s trap. Despite this, I still think redemption arcs can be done correctly. However, most writers are wholly unprepared to write about the topic.