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One thing I noticed when reading the summaries is that in Kanon's memory of Kinzo in episode 6 he describes Kinzo in an almost identical way to episode 8. "In private he didn't have to preserve that air of majesty and his face would turn unbelievably childish". Anyone else notice that?
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I did.
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I disagree. Battler's position isn't a social one, but a political one. He is Rokkenjima's dictator, and controls an entire army. He uses that army to protect his ideological standpoint, despite Ange's wishes.
He isn't arguing that Ange shouldn't see the truth. He is using all his influence, all his allies, all his power to forcibly stop her. That's a political philosophy, not a social one. He is advocating a view and imposing them on others.
He is using his powers to maintain the reign of fantasy, even if he has to force people to accept it.
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You're right; and I concede this point on the part of Battler, in that he is blinded, mislead, or otherwise does the wrong thing with the interests of his family in mind (this is a character flaw played up since Episode 1, folks), and I agree that the way Battler behaved is bullshit.
I'm just not conceding that Battler represents Ryukishi here; Battler is being used to represent the opposite extreme; Erika brought up earlier that love can keep things from being seen, but this has never really been demonstrated until now.
Ange is being given the options of seeing the truth at the expense of love, seeing love at the expense of truth, or holding onto both (which is subtly implied is the option she chooses in the good ending, considering how you interpret that diary thing).
I'm rather fond of the idea that Ange wrote EP8; Hachijou certainly didn't. If she did write it, and Battler is being used to represent her idealism and naivete, then it goes a long way to excuse Meta-Battler's actions.