The whole point of Syril is to demonstrate how totalitarian regimes aren't just enabled by moustache twirling villains, but by good men duped into serving the wrong cause, their morals manipulated and their worldviews critically limited. His final realisation that his whole life had been dedicated to a lie, only to be unceremoniously cut down before he can act on it, was a brilliantly stark reminder of how brutal and uncaring the Empire really was. I'm sorry this was lost on you.