Just to clarify, for the reader, that ansible and python are only required for the deployment host, not it's targets.

being agentless and using ssh for transport, the target hosts need only have an ip address listed in the deployment hosts inventory, aka one can address target hosts directly after creating them, given ssh access.

much of ansibles python issues are just python issues.

ansible is a very flexible tool, and idempotent behavior is largely a factor of playbook design until it hits real world limits.

The managed nodes do indeed need Python, though the requirements tend to be lower.

The bulk of the modules essentially generate Python payloads for Ansible to ship/run/track. Most of the burden is on the controller. Not all.

The execution environment information I linked [in another comment] covers what this user points out