I'm not in the habit of giving much weight to the policing of personal tastes. Nobody is obligated to like or support any given character. I don't particularly consider Hermes and his excessive empathy to be especially sympathetic, either - though it is Venat, rather than Hermes, who is responsible for the Sundering.

Before I played FFXIV, I played WoW. Obviously that's a different game, though after seeing Sylvanas getting away with the near destruction of an entire race that I liked I don't feel I'm under any obligation to support a character in FFXIV who is responsible for the complete destruction of an entire race that I like.

Subversive characters generally don't elicit much support or sympathy from me in general, though. Especially if I don't find their reasons or goals to be compelling.