Damn, readers have begun to be so cynical and fake deep when they call it dog shit writing when the literal sword of bonds is powered by friendship. Honestly, I think anyone who truly expected the characters to remain jaded forever, need to grow up. The point of the story wasn't that these characters were once betrayed and can never trust again, but that they were betrayed/outcasted and ironically created a bond in their corresponding trust issues. So regardless, you can't expect these characters to pretend like nobody else matters just because they were once betrayed. The lesson isn't independence, it's trusting in people and have that good faith, especially from people who suffered the same as you. Who cares if this chapter is about the "power of friendship", like what the fuck did it take you 4 chapters for you to realize it was called the sword of bonds, this was definitely not an ass pull. Who even fucking knows, maybe the sword literally cannot work if the character had doubts, or their resolve had to be specific to helping others and those near him/her. It's fucking magic.
