On your question:

Despite how Hershel acts and his gentlemanly persona, I don't think he forgives as easily as he says that he did. No way in hell does he let the MG for what he did to Luke, no way is he going to be friends with Bronev after Everything, and probably as much as he hates it, he can't forgive Emmy. I doubt he'd tell her that to her face, and at some point the hurt would fade, but if he ever forgives her it has to be wayyyyy down the line. Years, at least.

I don't think Emmy would forgive herself either. She needed the space just as much as him and Luke.

It's part of why I think Luke and Hershel are so reticent to let Flora in. Their trio is down to two and they're the only ones left to know what they've been through. The only other people that shared the experience in the sanctuary are gone. Bronev is in jail, Emmy's traveling, Descole is presumed dead, as is Aurora. They really only have each other. And like. Hershel's already got a barrel full of abandonment issues. His whole life has been one person after another getting close and then leaving him, but this is his first sort of taste of betrayal? Arguably there was Something with Randall and the MG business but Emmy was there from that.

Hershel attached pretty quickly to Luke and Emmy. Particularly I think that after she kicked the goons asses that Jakes sent he was like. yep okay she can stay. Presumably Emmy is good at her job and keeping him on schedule (something that Luke takes over once she's gone). She can do puzzles and keep up on investigations. She can protect him, and he can trust her to have his back.

And once he realizes that she works for bronev, the whole thing is really turned on its head. Emmy had been so seemingly earnest for their entire relationship that I imagine it causes some serious doubt and trust issues afterward. There was some measure of that while working against Descole (there was always going to be a threat of impersonation of the people they're around) but if Hershel really didn't see it coming, it has to cause some doubt in his ability to accurately judge character.

Not that I think any of this would be like. conscious for him. Mostly post-AL I think Luke and Hershel are focused on taking care of each other. Hershel is taking care of Luke because he feels guilty for you know. having this 12 year old boy die. in addition to having him see the girl he got to know for months die in front of him. getting threatened with an icicle to the throat. almost watching the end of the world. getting betrayed by one of your closest friends. all of it or take your pick on what Hershel feels bad for. Hershel would feel that it's his responsibility to remain strong and gentlemanly and keep Luke safe and happy. Luke does much of the same. He's close enough with Hershel to know that it probably really fucked him up and he's not saying anything about it. He takes over Emmy's role with no preamble or being asked. And I think he's trying to hold himself together because he thinks Hershel needs support as well. Cause Hershel just gained and lost a brother and an assistant and you know. also died extremely painfully for the sake of the world.

More than his own distrust, I think one of the driving factors on why he can't forgive Emmy is for what she did to Luke. Hershel really doesn't gaf about what happens to himself, but Luke is different. Luke matters more to Hershel than he matters to himself. Until Luke forgives her entirely (and even beyond), Hershel can't forgive her for threatening him. Same with Randall to me. Hershel wouldn't be over that. (Luke won't ever forgive Randall for that. It will constantly hang over his head even when he gets over it. There will forever be beef)

Now onto the subject of the. hershel saving her from the puzzle thing.

There's a wholeee lot of things going on there. I went through it again before starting to write this post because I actually. forgot. and its so interesting.

So the ending goes Desmond reveal and he fucks off -> they follow him -> Emmy betrayal -> leave with Luke and aurora -> regain Luke -> lose Descole -> meet back with Emmy Aurora Bronev

Whatever hershel says. I can't believe that he didn't know about Emmy before her betrayal (hence why I wrote it into the story) and descole is suuuuch a stretch. yeah sure ill believe that hershel thinks they just wear the same shoes, but there's no explanation for how he didn't puzzle out who gave their azran egg away. Aint no way. If he did know about Descole, I feel like it would be a situation where he's playing unaware until he gets more information. Cause Descole never explains what he's going to do with the Azran Legacy, but all of his destructive actions are in its pursuit. He does seem obsessed with getting it, yes, but for what we don't know. What can be gathered from Sycamore is just that he needs it out of Targent's hands. And while obviously Hershel isn't going to want Descole to have the legacy, he has a better shot of getting it if he just cooperates, more than if they're working separately because. Whatever anything is better than Targent.

Anyways. Hershel has an obligation to care about people, to act like a gentleman and forgive. I think he is genuinely still trying to be kind to her and show that he cares. And also watching Emmy pretty much say that she's throwing herself in a deadly puzzle because her uncle said so and she said no is kinda. he can't let her do that. Hershel does still care for her, even with what she did. Part of it might be that he's offering her a way out. Telling her that she doesn't have to follow his orders despite what she says. Hershel still believes in her agency. (in terms of The Missing Piece it's that Hershel still wants her to know there's another way. To show that Bronev is wrong in his treatment of her, and that someone who cares for her won't let her do something like that.) There's also the fact that he JUST watched des get gunned down by a fire laser and I don't think he wants Emmy meeting the same fate. He absolutely doesn't, actually, but I think after that Hershel is kind of clinging to what he has. Yes Emmy just betrayed him but he can't really handle losing anyone else, and he's confident in his puzzle skills.

Minor detour at the end here to dive into Emmy in the end of Azran Legacy.

She doesn't say a word between when they enter bronev's office and when descole makes his escape from the roof. A solid 10 minutes at least where everyone except her talks. And then she hops back in to say that Des is going for the bostonius and they gotta stop him.

Emmy holds Luke hostage and hershel asks what's going on. she confesses that she's working for targent and then. The bit is played up on her end, I think. for a bit where she has this bravado in proclaiming that she was watching him for her time as his assistant.

Hershel asks why she's doing this if she knows what's at stake, and Emmy says that Bronev is all she has. In the end she's really caught in the sunk cost fallacy where she's either too invested in his wishes or too afraid to try going against him. in terms of the missing piece I think this bit was his last ditch effort to try and get her to turn back. But she apologizes and he knows that she's not going to give it up so he gives the key to bronev and Emmy takes Luke.

And then she drops him off at the end of a bridge to keep him safe. Bronev was letting his agents get picked off one by one through the traps, and probably Luke would be on the chopping block which is why she let him go. That and he keeps crying at her and making her feel bad for betraying them, and she can't handle allat.

Her justification to him and herself is that he's a good person. That bronev is like a father to her, and he was so kind and took her in when she was little. Even if he's not the same father figure she remembers, I think she's hoping that once he gets the azran legacy, everything will go back to the way she remembers it before.

She's hoping that Hershel will bring him to his senses or stop him, because she can't. Emmy doesn't have faith in her own agency at his side.

Interesting side note: it's right after getting Luke back that you get the collector's item 'the repenter.'

And to his credit, bronev sends every other available henchmen in to get caught in traps before Emmy despite his supposed faith in her but also he doesn't gaf enough to not send her into the final trap before himself, and Aurora comments as such. Emmy agrees easily to go in, and even after aurora says. hey girl you're going to die !! Emmy says that she doesn't have a choice and that she's already betrayed hershel and Luke. As it stands, they're really her only other connections that we know about. She has bronev and the nest and Hershel and Luke. And they just abandoned the nest and she betrayed hershel and Luke.

honestly I think part of the reason she was so willing to go into the puzzle is because she didn't think she was worth all that much anymore. this might be the last and only thing that bronev is asking of her and she doesn't have much purpose anymore. at this point its more than abundantly clear that bronev is willing to sacrifice her more than willingly.

and then when hershel interrupts to take her place, Emmy is like wait you can't go. you could get hurt. and then hershel makes it clear to her face that he still cares for her wellbeing. he cares if she's injured or not. like do you know how crushing that has to be. come on.

She watches as aurora gets stabbed and the golems come out and then steps in to help rectify it. and she hesitates with hershel and descole once it becomes clear that they're going to die but she does go through with it.

interestingly, Emmy hesitates to leave aurora, just like Luke does. She only runs when the professor calls out for Luke.

Shes' got to have some complicated feelings on bronev pulling her up when she almost fell from the falling platforms. Because as much as he never claimed to care for her, in the spur of the moment he did actually save her.

But once they're firmly on the ground he doesn't acknowledge her at all. I have separate thoughts on how I think Emmy feels on bronev and his kids and their complicated relationships but tldr I think she beefs heavy with des about that. She visibly deflates when he walks away without so much as looking at her.

Emmy excuses herself from being his assistant on the ground that A) her mission is over and B) she's unworthy. And the fact that she's saying that isssss. apparent in how she's feeling about herself at the moment. I think that she needed some separation from the whole thing and to find something that was really her calling. She needed that space to find who she was in the wake of everything. Not to mention that she knew Luke and hershel needed space from her as well.

Even if and when the other two forgive her, I'm not sure that Emmy would ever forgive herself. She might connect later, but I think it's going to take years for her to actually try rebuilding that bond with Luke and Hershel. I think actually that they'd have to reach out to her first in that attempt, because Emmy can and will psyche herself out into thinking that they both hate her forever so she won't try to get in their good graces again.

Her leaving is also. fleeing. She's running away from herself and her past and the uncomfortable feelings tied to everything.