What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[Skyborne]

Looking back, I was kind of taken aback at how his personality seemed to change in 5.3 because I had always seen Elidibus is calm and collected compared to Lahabrea and the others. Then I figured maybe we would end up needing to work with him to keep balance because of part of Lahabrea’s speech in the Praetorium. But the way they handled him just seemed so wrong to me.

Am of the same mind regarding Elidibus, that white-robed Ascian who was supposed to be different from the rest. Then he sort of just took over Lahabrea's role after the breadman died, and Emet-Selch seemed to usurp his role. I'd hoped we would use that power-of-friendship trope to reach out to this man who really was not much different from us, even if he was forced to do some pretty monstrous things in our pov. Why couldn't we weaken him, then use the stones to remind him of who he once was, and have him be an ally of sorts and we'd figure out a way to rejoin without Calamities? This isn't that kind of story, though, unfortunately.

The 'power of friendship' is used only to kill, not actually to win the hearts and minds of those different from us. But hey, at least the funny cheeseburger earwiggle shinyeyes cat got not just one, but two Unsundered kills, and wasn't bothered at all at the idea of ending these ancient beyond our mortal comprehension lives even if it was a kill-or-be-killed situation.