An incredibly interesting charge. Tsaritsa is a firm ruler. There is no doubt about that. And I would very much enjoy the moral ambiguity of a twist like this. But the charge is really brought solely on the fact that she is a firm ruler. This really ignores the particularities of her predicament. We have zero reason to think Tsaritsa merely wants to overturn HP's rule in order to establish the same kind of rules but with her at the helm. She explicitly outlines her dissatisfaction with HP's oppressive and controlling system. Her firm rule is easily explained in a way that doesn't contradict this fact: she is facing the HP. If you think that she could do that without being as firm or resolute, you are naive. We see how much sacrifice it requires to have a chance to contend with the HP. Project Stuzha and the accompanying suffering of the people and their protests are one example. Your critique of her approach boils down to naively thinking you'd have a chance of rivaling the HP with a leader like Venti 😂 Imagine you agree that the HP's rule is oppressive and wish to overthrow them. Play it out in your head. Your approach would need to be airtight. And so yes, this boils down to believing in her. Believing that she plans to bring about a world free of oppression. Believing isn't easy. But the writers go out of their way to portray all who work for her directly as genuinely believing in her. They don't serve her out of fear. They believe in her intentions fully. She cares about her subordinates (Snezhnaya's citizens, rooting out corruption, not wishing to sacrifice subordinates like pawns). She convinces and inspires people (Traveler, Harbingers etc). She forgives her dissidents (Traveler, Rokot). She seeks allies (Traveler, Archons). If a just and kind leader was to rebel against an oppressive higher being THIS IS WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE. So no, I strongly disagree with the notion that Tsaritsa is a hypocrite.