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What is Equilibrium to Shen?

Xulsigae·1/28/2016, 8:45:58 PM·4 votes·1,624 views

So what does equilibrium involve? Being lawful neutral? Making sure for each serial killer you punish you also punish a Mr. Rogers?

It seems weird for a group to try and enforce equilibrium without any motivating emotions. If you don't have desires (emotions) or prejudices, why should you care what the balance is? To try and maintain an equilibrium, the group Shen leads must have be prejudiced towards and desire balance...which goes against their ideal of having neither of those aspects. Dispassionate judgment sounds good in principle, but in practice can lead to rather unbalanced outcomes.

Most stories I know of where there is a balance to be maintained have extremes to avoid. Heaven versus Hell is a common one. Too much Heaven- lack of free will. Too much Hell, chaos. But what extremes is Shen trying to push back against here? For every Zed he brings down, does he then go out and slay a Sona? Does he help Hecarim against Bilgewater if he thinks there is too much merry making going on there for balance?

If Shen tries to balance Good and Evil (as stated in Shen's spotlight), that doesn't work by definition. No one (except in Saturday morning cartoons) thinks what they do is evil. Everyone desires for more Good in the world and less Evil. What is Good and Evil is different to each agent of course. Shen would always be working for what he thinks as Good by maintaining equilibrium, as Good is equilibrium for him, which is not a balanced approach at all.

22 Comments

GreenLore1/28/2016, 9:09:37 PM4 votes

I think Equlibrium is seen as the peaceful life like it is. So a serial killer would be seen as someone who disturbs the given order and thus as evil,there is no reason to punish someone "good" because the good people do not disturb the equlibrium. So I'd say that Shen is a rather extreme case of lawful neutral.

Ruin Lance1/28/2016, 8:48:25 PM1 votes

i believe it's because he was taught that it was important growing up and it stuck with him, that's just my 5 cents though.

l Helios l1/28/2016, 8:50:28 PM1 votes

Well, to Shen, there is an ultimate good and evil. This is a Truth (an objective one) of the universe that certain actions are morally good and some are evil. This escapes the notion of subjectivity of truths, such as the notion that all truths are relative (which is a contradiction). The purpose of acting in the interest of equilibrium is to ensure that balance is obtained. Think of it like yin and yang or the concept of the Gray Jedi. Evil can't exist without good and good can't exist without evil but one must never overpower the other or chaos ensues. Equilibrium is maintained so chaos can't consume the world.

Equilibrium automatically exists, but his job is to maintain it by restraining forces of absolute good and absolute evil. Mostly evil though (Zed and Jhin for instance).

Bus Boycotts1/29/2016, 1:27:29 AM1 votes

Bard is more of what you described, but he only keeps both sides equal in strength. I see shen as more of on the good side, but only going out of his way to help if he deems evil has gotten to strong. So he's kinda like bard.

Dreamspitter1/29/2016, 2:23:51 AM1 votes

{quoted}

So what does equilibrium involve? Being lawful neutral? Making sure for each serial killer you punish you also punish a Mr. Rogers?

It seems weird for a group to try and enforce equilibrium without any motivating emotions. If you don't have desires (emotions) or prejudices, why should you care what the balance is? To try and maintain an equilibrium, the group Shen leads must have be prejudiced towards and desire balance...which goes against their ideal of having neither of those aspects. Dispassionate judgment sounds good in principle, but in practice can lead to rather unbalanced outcomes.

Most stories I know of where there is a balance to be maintained have extremes to avoid. Heaven versus Hell is a common one. Too much Heaven- lack of free will. Too much Hell, chaos. But what extremes is Shen trying to push back against here? For every Zed he brings down, does he then go out and slay a Sona? Does he help Hecarim against Bilgewater if he thinks there is too much merry making going on there for balance?

If Shen tries to balance Good and Evil (as stated in Shen's spotlight), that doesn't work by definition. No one (except in Saturday morning cartoons) thinks what they do is evil. Everyone desires for more Good in the world and less Evil. What is Good and Evil is different to each agent of course. Shen would always be working for what he thinks as Good by maintaining equilibrium, as Good is equilibrium for him, which is not a balanced approach at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raleKODYeg0

La Barbotte1/31/2016, 7:29:21 PM1 votes

he's the hero runetera deserve, but not the one it needs right now.