So finally caught today's episode, and as Lodestar mentioned, I found the overall movement forward on a few points that we regularly discuss on the forum -
1. Haq ki Ladaai - I think many of the forumwasis feel that Imlie right now is so focused on didi that she is stuck in the same place. I feel not just us, but also Adi thinks the same, where he mentioned that they are back to square one when they came back to T house. Today I feel we got a small insight in Imlie's mind as well. When she said that this Haq ki ladaai that Malini & Adi are asking her to fight, she is already doing that in her head. The conflicted emotions, guilt and resolve to take the next step is constantly playing in her mind, but she believes that the conclusion of this "ladaai" is going to make everyone unhappy in some way and no one will be a winner. I kind of agree with her there, coz the shadow of Adi's decision to marry Malini will always loom over Adilie's relationship in some way or the other, even after the whole world knows the truth.
2. Malini's mother - The entire episode also had a common arc of AC. From the hospital where she got a dose from Imlie (maybe dil se I am a TRP aunty, coz that was satisfying to watch), to the car where Malini tried to give a reason to her mother's thinking, but accepted that it does not justify her behavior towards Imlie and others as well, to finally at the T house where it looked almost like a shared secret between Imlie and Malini about the incident. Malini has somehow resigned herself to her mother's behavior, and we have to understand, Malini doe not know how to stand up to her mother, because she does not have that in her to do so. She will support anyone who will put her mother in her place, but will not be able to openly and fiercely come out in the person's defense against her mother like Adi or Imlie do. She has never done it for Adi in the 7 years they were together or after marriage, or even for the T family during the marriage preparations or after marriage, so expecting her to do it for Imlie seems a bit too much to me, even if she has "pledged to give Imlie her rights".
3. Behenchaara - Today I somewhat saw the chemistry between Malini and Imlie. Though a part of it was shown yesterday as well, it was very saccharine and fake and not digestible. Today their interaction felt more realistic to me. I agree the entire "ring wapisi" was just weird as hell, but Malini felt that doing that will help her show to Imlie that she is also trying to move on from the relationship and "giving Aditya back to her". I am neither condoning her thought process which is very cheap to me, but I feel that for her this act is needed for her to feel like she has done what is needed from her to pay back Imlie for her sacrifices. AC ki beti hai, so hisab ke pakki hi rahegi bandi. But apart from that weird scene, what struck me during their car conversation and the interaction with the T family is that somewhere Malini is moving towards accepting Imlie as her sister and is trying to reach the point that Imlie already is today. While for Imlie thinking about Malini comes second nature to her because she has truly accepted her as a "badi behan", Malini will take some more time and try to be "mahaan" with her sacrifices to level the playing field. Malini feels that Imlie is way ahead of her in this race, and she is trying to play catchup by playing all the cards she has - father, ring, Adi, KC. She is trying to grow as a person, but is clueless on how to go about doing so with her actions, which is why makes her look smaller than Imlie, whose selflessness is instinctive rather than something that needs to jataoed. Still I feel if they try to build this relationship in the right direction, there may be still hope for Malini.
Also, I am happy that the reason for Adi's ultimatum became clear to me in a sense with Imlie's conversation in the car & the precap. Somewhere I understand that this will only help her get out of her confusion rather than force her to do something she does not want to do.