Before this game all the talk was about the contract crisis in Welsh rugby, but afterwards there were growing concerns for Edinburgh after their worst performance of the season.
That is six defeats in their last seven league games and a finish in the top eight play-off places is beginning to slip away with the gap building.
There were unnecessary penalties, unforced knock-ons, interceptions gifted by Edinburgh, as well as a powerful performance from the home team led by their Pacific Islanders Sam Lousi, Vaea Fifita and Sione Kalamafoni combining skill with brute force.
Welsh rugby may be in crisis, a record defeat in Scotland followed up by talk of a player strike rather than face England, but the Scarlets were able to challenge that uncertainty to put in this performance.
Players do not know what contracts they will be offered for next season or when those offers will come, but coach Dwayne Peel identified the chance of stepping between the white lines as a chance to put all that behind them.
That is seven wins from their last eight games for the Scarlets as the form guide suggested they would win this match, but still the level of comfort in this six try victory came as a surprise.
With Leinster up next as the first of a run of tricky fixtures, there will be concern in the capital that their early season form is not being lived up to.
“We were not even at the races were we?” said Edinburgh coach Mike Blair afterwards. “We spoke before the game about effort and physicality being key to winning the game and I felt we were off it for some reason.
“We are in this together, all the management, players, the coaches, but that was our poorest performance of the season.
“The good bit or the frustrating bit is that a lot of it is easy to fix, being proactive in and around the breakdown.
“Dwayne Peel did a great job getting that team motivated, channelling the disappointments happening around the contract situation. They looked like an excellent team tonight.
“They have played some great rugby over the last six weeks or so, this is the performance you would expect – it was more of a surprise when they were struggling.
“There was a plethora of stuff we did wrong, it was not just one area. We lacked a little bit of discipline at times, we lacked smarts at times, it was something we have got to address.
“Sometimes you get games like that, we had not had one like that yet so we will have to give a lot of thought about how we de-brief that because we need to be on top of our game for Leinster in two weeks time.”
It was the home side who continued their recent run of form with a super opening try. A lineout on halfway saw a pre-planned move with the forwards passing the ball out to the backs, who flooded left with wing Ryan Conbeer worked into space.
He still had a couple of men to beat on the line, but forced his way over. The Scarlets built on that when flanker Vaea Fifita picked off a pass from Edinburgh centre James Lang and went 60 yards for the interception try.
Lang atoned for his mistake with a break up the middle, following a Hamish Watson turnover. Edinburgh then showed patience on the Scarlets line before prop Murray McCallum went over from short range for the try.
The opportunity followed a turnover from Hamish Watson in his second game after three months off and pushing for a Scotland squad place in Paris next week.
Scarlets lock Sam Lousi stamped his authority on the first half performance to help his team to a comfortable 21-7 lead at half-time. He thought he has stolen Edinburgh ball on the line, but was denied by the TMO, but made no mistake with an offload in midfield for Evans to score.
They continued where they left off in the second half, Evans turning provider for Conbeer to get his second, before McNicholl ran from deep to put Fifita clear. The flanker decided to pass to scrum half Gareth Davies after a 50 yard run and once over the try line.
There was some consolation for Edinburgh with a second try for a prop, this time it was Boan Venter who forced his way over after No 8 Viliame Mata made the incision.
The Scarlets had the last word, replacement Eddie James making his debut and scoring a try under the posts.
ScorersScarlets Tries – Conbeer (2), Fifita, Evans, G Davies, James. Cons – Costelow (3), Jones (3).
Edinburgh Tries – McCallum, Venter, Cons – Savala (2).
Scarlets J McNicholl; S Evans, J Roberts, I Nicholas, R Conbeer (E James 52); S Costelow (D Jones 40), G Davies (D Blacker 71); K Mathias (S Thomas 60), S Evans (T Davies 60), S Wainwright (J Sebastian 60), M Jones, S Lousi, (C Tuipulotu 73), V Fifita, D Davis (B Williams 71), S Kalamafoni (Capt).
Edinburgh W Goosen (J van der Walt 17); D Hoyland, M Bennett (C Dean 64), J Lang, J Blain; C Savala, C Shiel (B Vellacott 48); B Venter (J Jack 71), A McBurney (P Harrison 52), M McCallum (L Atalifo 71), G Young (M Sykes 45), J Hodgson, N Haining, H Watson (Capt, C Boyle 64), V Mata.
Referee Andrea Piardi (Italy).
Attendance 7,514.
