It's actually horrific watching them try so hard to convince themselves and each other that things are still okay (and worse, that this is still somehow core's fault). It's like Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff - he's there for a ages suspended in mid air, doomed a long time ago, but nothing happens until he finally realises. I remember seeing a great Ted talk which was entitled something like "what does it feel like to be wrong" and the summary was that "it feels exactly the same as it feels like when you're right... until you realise you're wrong".