Tbh I feel like the comments here are conflating explanation and excusing. ML is very obviously mentally unwell and has been the entire time hes known FL. The back story now is to give further insight into the whats and whys that are his unwellness. Obviously, it's not an excuse to his action or his original misunderstanding of what FL was feeling and who she is (this misunderstanding, of course, being what led him to feeling justified in his neglect and anger at her).
The ML is gonna be staying the ML, so understanding is going to be necessary for him, her and us as the audience to move the story forward and "forgive" him.
Tbh I feel like the comments here are conflating explanation and excusing. ML is very obviously mentally unwell and has been the entire time hes known FL. The back story now is to give further insight into the whats and whys that are his unwellness. Obviously, it's not an excuse to his action or his original misunderstanding of what FL was feeling and who she is (this misunderstanding, of course, being what led him to feeling justified in his neglect and anger at her).
The ML is gonna be staying the ML, so understanding is going to be necessary for him, her and us as the audience to move the story forward and "forgive" him.