By skyforbes I do have a certain level of empathy towards the hive and have been pretty open minded about their intentions, but the end of episode 7 changed my mind.
I suddenly got the impression that the hive weren't really upset or emotionally hurt at all in the slightest by Carol's actions, outside of having their basic spread and survival instinct hindered by her.
Them finally returning to Carol didn't have a sense of catharsis, it felt like a sense of dread. They have finally broken her emotionally, most likely what they've wanted to do this whole time. And now she completely relies of them for daily survival necessities and emotional necessities. It didn't feel like a happy end to the episode. The hive has the combined sum of all human knowledge, it 100% absolutely knows how to manipulate someone emotionally, even if they can't lie about it when specifically asked.