Also, going in, everyone thought the current collection would be more than sufficient to take down this Gate. They had a solid plan, narrowing the scope to what's absolutely required, a sneak attack to cut out the heart rather than trying to beat the way in from toes up. No one foresaw, the death flag notwithstanding which is a literary flourish anyway, how it would turn out. SJW not joining was only worth a brief pause by all the planners and participants in this raid. Given the current development in SJW's life, you cannot fault him for not joining a raid that everyone thought would be more than strong enough to achieve the stated goal. As powerful as these hunters are, they cannot not tell the future. And as a reader who sees all, it's not fair to criticize the characters who do not have access to that kind of information and can only behave within the confines of their limited information, for what...? Not being a reader?