There are two main points that are made in Episode 7: the first is that Salem's crew doesn't realize exactly what they signed up to do, and the second is that the AceOps aren't actually heartless and they are very conflicted and angry. (And there's a minor point that Ruby makes about there not being sides, which is absolutely ridiculous and naive like everything else Ruby has said this season so fuck her)
The idea that Salem's group other than Tyrian have no idea what her actual goal is is hysterical. Seriously, I've never thought the writing was as bad as it is now. So, these people who have been helping Salem have not been doing it out of fear, or misandry, or idol worship, but because they thought she was going to create some sort of anarchist utopia? When has Salem ever expressed any desires even remotely close to that on screen? Oh, right, she hasn't, she hasn't showed her ideals or her desires once in front of her underlings this entire time. Almost like the writing staff was avoiding that very point like the plague so that they could pull whatever excuse would sit best with the audience at the time out of their ass. If the CRWBY thinks that this will somehow make Hazel and the others redeemable, that's absurd. These people have committed vile and horrific crimes with genuine consequences. The destruction of Beacon is entirely Cinder's fault, and Penny's death was directly caused by Emerald. Mercury goaded Yang into beating him to a near bloody pulp on live TV. These people are not redeemable, nor are they sympathetic. Stop trying to make them sympathetic. Your villains have always been kind of terrible (except for Torchwick) so just accept it and move on.
Here's what you should have done to answer the question 'why are all these people helping Salem?' Just have one of them talk back to her, just one time, and then have Salem torture the shit out of that person. Easy.
Also, the idea that Salem got her ass kicked by Hazel when she first found him is equally stunning. Salem is an all powerful evil witch. And she's not about pain for herself. Even if she was somehow weaker than Hazel, I can't imagine she found Hazel before she found Tyrian, and Tyrian would not have sat back and let Hazel beat his queen up. This makes absolutely no sense and is again, the shittiest writing of the entire show.
Okay, part 2. Ren has magical emotion sensing powers, I guess. These express themselves in the form of colored petals that surround everyone around him, including himself. And if someone's REALLY conflicted, they get surrounded by all sorts of colored petals at once. Well, anything for a great visual, right CRWBY? It's all you guys have left.
The idea that the AceOps are emotionally stunted and refuse to admit they care about each other is childish and another attempt at saying "military bad". These people, as it turns out, are just like Ruby and her friends, with the difference being they acknowledge they are in the middle of a war and they are willing to let someone die if it means saving a bunch of others. Ren, Jaune and Yang are the ones being naive and unreasonable, demanding that they be given time to try and find Oscar while the whale is sitting there spewing out Grimm all day. But hey, it doesn't matter that Oscar knew the risks, that he was willing to risk things, and that Ozma is immortal and would just reincarnate. No, we have to save Oscar no matter the cost. (the cost is every Atlesian citizen who dies while the whale continues to breathe out Grimm, btw).
Again, these people and their retarded friendship speeches make no sense in the context of their situation. There are people dying all around them. There is a massive hoarde of unfeeling monsters attacking the people and Ruby is talking about her and her three friends somehow making a difference to stop that when the entire military can't contain the threat. Every week I complain about this and every week it gets worse, the main cast talk like they know they're main characters. They have no fear. They have no worry about what's going to happen to themselves or the people around them. They just ignore the stakes entirely even as the stakes happen right in front of their eyes.