I ended up way more sympathetic to the Ba'ul than I think I was meant to. They were nearly wiped out by the ancient Kelpians, and once they got the upper hand, they responded, not in kind, but by trying to create a stable balance that would allow both species to survive and prosper.

Sure, they're murdering the Kelpians, but the Kelpians seem to be living full lives before the culling - Saru and Surana were adults when their father died, after all.

It's a weirdly humane solution to "You're sharing a planet with violent predators who tried to kill you all once", and I kind of respect them for that. I wish we'd gotten more of their perspective.