I think that ties into what you said in your review about the different shades of gray. I read it pretty strongly as "this system isn't perfect, but it's getting better, and people like Ana and Din are contributing to that." It's not really functioning as an autocracy, although it's an empire in the sense of "more a coalition of different ethnicities than a single nation-state."

But I think there's also an argument that it's supposed to be saying "nah, everything is just different levels of terrible," in which case I'd retroactively sour on it a lot.

Again, since I just read "City of Stairs," I think there's a parallel to be made between "the best emperor is the one who stays out of everyone's way and lets his people do stuff" and what "good" depictions of gods look like in another RJB setting.