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

[Rulakir]

Given Ishikawa rewrote the story without input like the retreat version had, I’d say Endwalker is closer to what she imagined than what Yoshi P or the rest of the team initially conceived of.

I don't know how you come to this conclusion. What she presented at the "residential" wasn't accepted, so she rewrote it to be something the others would accept. Sounds like the opposite of telling the story she wanted to tell.

And let’s not get it twisted. Ishikawa firmly agrees that Hermes helped lay the foundation for the world that comes later, and even goes far enough to say it’s not simple whether he and Meteion are good or bad. Referring to what Hermes did as a mistake and not an evil act is telling I think.

Obviously everything had to happen the way it did for the current game world to exist, I don't believe anyone has ever argued that. I've never believed Metetion was evil, she was a faulty creation given a misguided mission and ended up corrupted.

As for Hermes, most people (even those who loved his character) thought he suffered from some form of mental illness. What Ishikawa had in mind is not what was conveyed in the game. It was about as "evil" and a "mistake" as a postal shooter.