Keyerror: 8 is new. If it does not occur in root console it is an environment issue in the other shell (under X).
Using space between the file descriptor (number) and redirection operator is not allowed, therefore 2> /dev/null is ok, but 2 > /dev/null is syntactically incorrect (or means something different).
"-su: export: `1': not a valid identifier" is probably an incorrect line in /etc/profile (or somewhere else). A missing space, a typo, a superfluous space, something like this: LANG-en_IE.utf-8. Or like the redirection above.

On KeyError 8: It does occur in runlevel 3 consoles as well, but only when 'protonvpn status' returns "connected." If I run that command and the vpn is disconnected, output is correct. I'd do the work, if I had a clue where to begin. One thing I haven't hacked recently is the protonvpn config. There are no console scripts in use.

On the 'not a valid identifier' error. I suppose this is only to be expected when someone who types with one hand, who makes typos in every line, sets up /etc/ from scratch. I deserve it. I'll go through everything - again.