As someone whose first MDZS love was wei wuxian and who grew to love jiang cheng and jin guangyao after getting to know their characters, I guess I just have a hard time really seeing nie huaisang’s actions as “evil”. Especially not when put into context.
As far as I can tell, mo xuanyu was the only one who died within the plan and I’ve always been under the impression that while NHS might have provided the idea, MXY was more than happy to have his own revenge any way he could get it. And I’m not saying NHS doing that and putting the juniors in danger in yi city isn’t bad but. I mean, I came to terms with JC and WWX. Between the two of them, they must have over thousands of lives in collateral damage. And it just seems like people find that less “evil” because they did those things in a fit of emotion. But really, who cares? I’ll tell you what, I’d much rather be a pawn in a carefully crafted plan and have nothing happen to me than be ripped apart by corpses or tortured to death in a fit of emotion. I’m not saying WWX or JC are completely evil or that NHS’s choices were necessarily morally correct. I’m just saying that most of the characters partook in some major bloodshed. The only people that I can think of that didn’t ever participate or support any massacre would be LWJ, JZX, JYL, MianMian, and NHS. Knowing that, I guess I have a hard time seeing NHS as particularly sinister. In the end, good intentions can only erase so much. Nie huaisang’s intentions weren’t as good at WWX’s or as blatantly emotional as JC’s. His intentions were neutral and he never acted without a plan. But he also did less damage, hurt less people, got less killed. He let MXY make his own choice. He made sure the juniors had a rescue party planned out. And in the end? It panned out. Minimal damage, maximum impact. Morally pure? Probably not. But discounting careful planning, acting purely on emotion, flying into righteous rage, playing the hero, trying to do everything by yourself, putting others above you–these are all things that might have put NHS in the “hero” category BUT they are also what ultimately saw WWX killing thousands and JC torturing innocents in his basement.
And then there was JGY and XY, the actual villains. They represented the worst of intentions AND results. XY prides himself in his blatant cruelty. And as for JGY, which disaster within the last 15 years did he not at least contribute to? Who has he not hurt? Almost inherent in their characters is a fundamental disrespect for the lives and opinions of others and that’s where all the difference is. For all their intellect, they often act without thinking about the consequences to others and how that could reflect on them. I mean, once getting caught was no longer a concern, JGY literally tried to do away with every single cultivator he could get his hands on. NHS doesn’t measure up to them by a long shot
Still, it’s undeniable that NHS placed others in danger to achieve his goals. BUT also undeniable is that, in the end, NHS’s plan only saw MXY dead in the process. Those like JC and WWX never thought they’d put people in danger–they stubbornly jumped into the fray of things without much thought beforehand and managed to rack up thousands of lives in collateral. So which is better? Does it balance out? Do the ends justify the means? Do the means justify the end? Do the intentions justify the results? The question of whether good intentions are enough is one MDZS grapples with through many of their characters, NHS included.
I neither consider NHS a villain nor a hero. He’s no JGY nor is he purely good either. And while his actions may not have had the righteous backing WWX’s did, he also didn’t cause even a fraction of the damage our favorite chaotic boy did. He accomplished an altogether good ending but his means could be called into question. However, pretty much no one was hurt–a direct contrast to the effects that both the heroes and the villains in MDZS tend to have as both tend to leave widespread destruction. NHS is a neutral party in the truest sense. Idk if any of that makes much sense but there it is
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