Misinterpreting 言い訳はいいから

Question

I'm playing a game and I've hit a cutscene where a henchman is apologizing to the main villain for their failure to defeat the heroes with his plan. After the henchman more or less finishes explaining what happened, the main villain then says

はあ…　言い訳はいいから。

And I'm not sure how to interpret this.

When I first read 言い訳はいいから I took it as "excuses are fine / ok". Which, to me, gives off a more forgiving tone. Something like "Don't worry about the excuses. It's fine for now. Let's move on." But then I started to think this isn't actually correct.

Immediately following that line, the main villain goes on to say:

しっかりしてよね。
ちゃんと懲らしめることができたら…
副委員長の座を
アナタにあげてもいいと思ってるんだから。

My translation:

Pull yourself together.
If I was able to punish you properly...
The position of vice chairman
I'm thinking it would be ok to give it to you.

And this doesn't really seem too forgiving. Which makes me think that 言い訳はいいから is more like "I don't care about your excuses!" or "No excuses! This is unforgivable! Don't let it happen again!"

So what is the intended meaning behind 言い訳はいいから? Does it have a more positive or negative meaning? Does it depend on the overall context / tone of the conversation?

Just to finish out the scene / extra context, the henchman responds to this by saying:

は　本当ですか！？
次こそは必ず…！

My translation:

Re.. Really!?
Next time I will absolutely... (not fail you)

Answer 1

You are correct with the meaning. Some alternative translations are:

• Don't make excuses
• Enough with the excuses
• I don't need your excuses

It's hard to tell without full context, but I believe something like this would be more accurate:

Enough with the excuses.
Pull yourself together.
If you can can teach them a lesson... (beat up the heroes or something)
I think it would even be ok to give you...
the position of vice chairman.

To which the henchman replies:

e.. Really!?
Next time I will absolutely... (not fail you)