[toyg]

> Would you say that he was justified in his tone prior to his apology for his tone?

I'll take my downvotes here, but personally I think Linus with that apology crossed the threshold into old age. Quoting Tomasi di Lampedusa:

> The Prince who had found the town unchanged, was found much changed himself, whom never before would have used such accommodating words; and since then, invisible, began the decline of his prestige.