3.4 speculation

[Cilia]

Garlemald... has been stated to allow conquered regions to continue to embrace their own culture with the exception of religion (something which has proven to lead to chaos in this setting anyway) so one does have to wonder if much of the tales of Garlemald's cruelty are exaggerated. Yes, there's bad apples - but that applies to every region. The whole 'Might Makes Right' approach played out with the British and Roman Empires in our own world and neither Empire was 'evil' or completely without redeeming qualities. Both have also left a long lasting impact upon the cultures of the lands they conquered throughout history - and even some of those that they didn't conquer. Garlemald is likely to be in a similar scenario from what we know.

No, no, you've got a point. They only take away religious freedom. Well, that and they don't offer full citizenship without 20 years of military service, will forcefully conscript conquered peoples into said military, and then remorselessly kill them for slight infractions. There's also Varis' intent to genocide the beast tribes instead of trying to find a diplomatic or at least peaceable solution to the Primal issue. You're right, though - the tales of their cruelty are widely exaggerated.

/sarcasm

Anyway, while neither the Roman nor British Empires were strictly "evil" or without merit, they still weren't liked by the majority of the populace (esp. in conquered / claimed / annexed / colonial territories) because they were oppressive just as Garlemald is. People don't like being oppressed. Given Ala Mhigo has been under Garlean rule for... what, 25 years? Even if we do manage to liberate it I wouldn't expect it to go back to Ala Mhigan culture right away or... ever fully, possibly.