Okay, let's address the worst thing about this season. Them trying to redeem Nastassja by saying that it was okay that she tortured and traumatized these children because she was sad about it, and they "became stronger" because of it.
Now, I actually want to say more than just: "This is bad" and move on because I think I see what they were trying to do with this. I think this was an attempt to close Maria's arc of facing her own weakness, as well as her relationship with Nastassja.
Maria has a complex about wanting to become stronger and not being perceived as weak, that she partially worked through in GX. And I think what they were going for here was trying to say that: "No, you see Maria isn't weak because she failed and stumbled along the way. Because she went through all this all this hardship, it actually proves that she strong.", which in of itself is not the best message because it still glorifies trauma and hardship as something that builds character.
But they then it seems they also want to close the arc of Maria's complicated relationship with Nastassja by giving her a new perspective on her Mom that puts her feelings about her to rest, but they went about it in the most ass-backwards way possible by trying to redeem Nastassja by saying that the things she did helped them become who they are like that was a positive thing.
Now, this is just my read on what I think they were trying to do, and even then I am being very charitable. I am not trying to get the Symphogear writers off the hook, this is an extremely bad message, that is in conflict with themes of the show, because of how seriously they treat the trauma that Hibiki went through without trying to romanticize it, and everything that Fudou puts Tsubasa through in the last season which is definitely framed as bad.
Like I said, I just wanted to say something broader than "It bad" and move on.
