Yes, it was! In fact, this wasn’t uncommon! Several early PC titles would ask you questions and point you to the page in the manual.
Another one was Code Rings, cardboard discs you had to align words/symbols on to get the code to play the game.
If you lost your manual/ring, or bought a second hand copy without one, you were absolutely fucked on playing your game.
Heroes aren’t always good people. Their reasons are lost to time to the average person, but the message is remembered. The actions supersede the reason.
Guy Fawkes is not remembered as a person, he’s remembered as a figure.
Not calling this a good thing.