It’s the favorite recurring KJ Charles theme: sometimes you just need a villain instead of a hero. See Wanted, A Gentleman or Henchmen of Zenda, et. al. My love language is elaborate schemes by crafty bastards, so you can guess how happy I was by the end. I wound up on Richard’s side too; that’s how well he was drawn, flaws and all, when normally my heart would belong solely to the aforementioned crafty bastard. (Also, Richard is 100% Matthew McFadyen circa Howard’s End, don’t @ me.)
Back to the point: I love it when henchmen get their due. By which I mean love lives and agency and happily ever afters, of course.