The redemption thing would work a hell of a lot better if she was neutral to the entire situation. Never smiling, never reacting with any kind of emotion... just blank, thinking she is nothing more than an automaton, so she looks for the efficient solution... Now, that would work. Having her smile anytime she killed someone or ruthlessly stab someone makes this fall flat. Maybe the actual redemption arc has a lot of substance to it... but the start is just bad.
My problem with Gram is that his journey pretty much guarantees he just adds more people to the pile of dead(especially the pile he was in command of), possibly to where he adds a SECOND ship to it. He says it is for his comrades... I have to say bullshit to that statement, considering that kinda means his current comrades are lesser than people who are already dead.
So, either he cares a lot about the living, but he needs to get his head out of his ass, or he needs to admit he doesn't truly care about anyone else other than himself and his ego.