In Defense of Geshu Lin’s “Villainy”: A Modest Criticism & Analysis
Being a character that has only ever been mentioned by others and hallucinated a couple of times by a severely traumatized Doctor-turned-General, it’s no surprise that Geshu Lin has become victim of a number of (admittedly, very extreme) inferences about his character being villainous or downright evil.
This post seeks to argue against these inferences, taking the stance that they were made with limited information or not supported by canon/refuted by canon.
Staring Through A Filtered Lens
There is an unfortunate phenomenon in the Wuthering Waves fanbase where people assume that the Geshu Lin that has been presented to them is the purest, most accurate representation of him, though in reality all instances we have seen of his personality are either:
A. Distorted hallucinations, of which were altered due to Jiyan’s emotional state (ie. The Retroact Rain quest)
B. Metaphorical representations of Jiyan’s insecurities and almost a form of self punishment/a representation of his self doubt (ie. Jiyan’s character trailer)
C. A story from a storyteller, who is… a storyteller. Details, of course, are embellished for stories, and the tale mentioned does not go into Geshu Lin’s personality whatsoever; it only demonstrates his actions.
The Consequences and So On…
I have noticed that many fans believe Geshu Lin hates Jiyan, or detests him to a degree wherein he would exercise genuine cruelty upon him. I oppose this idea immensely—even in Jiyan’s hallucinations (seen in the Retroact Rain quest), Geshu Lin demonstrates some form of respect for him. He would not have asked for Jiyan’s opinion, even in Jiyan’s hallucinations, if he did not care for his opinion or input. I recommend rewatching this for a refresher:
I also fear a common subtext forgotten in this scene is that Geshu Lin had good reason to be upset at the idea that Jiyan wanted to stop him back during the Battle Beneath the Crescent. At that point, Geshu Lin had directed and watched countless numbers of his men die in war. It’s simply sunk-cost fallacy—if Geshu Lin retreated at that point, he wouldn’t be able to live with the shame of having not been able to avenge his men or, at the very least, proven that their efforts were not in vain.
Even the words of someone he respected enough to ask the opinion of (Jiyan) was not able to shake him from it—this is a human flaw, something I believe would be unfair to treat as downright villainous or cruel.
Oversimplification Taken as Truth
Geshu Lin did not outright step on his soldiers in order for glory or fame—not once is some ulterior motive of avarice ever implied, except for possibly “I will pave the way to victory with my Forte;” but that can be read as either pride or confidence for the sake of bolstering already low morale. Of course, he was stubborn and arrogant—but to provide him a benefit of the doubt, no one knew what the Retroact Rain was when he was around.
Who would give up the once in a lifetime (quite literally) chance to avenge hundreds, if not thousands of lives, just because of—as far as Geshu Lin was aware—some bad weather and ghosts? Especially knowing the weight and expectation of being able to make sure countless soldiers’ sacrifices were “worth it” in the end?
Even taking Jiyan’s hallucinations with a grain of salt, it’s evident that the sacrifices of his men absolutely haunts Geshu Lin. He cannot move on from it. Maybe that grief from the real Geshu Lin in the past is what stuck with Jiyan the most.
If Geshu Lin ended up retreating, I don’t doubt that he was also the type of person to think that these efforts and sacrifices would have all been for naught, and he would have failed his men. He would never be able to live down that shame.
So What’s His Deal, Really?
I don’t believe a “prideful, greedy, evil man” throws himself alone into the heart of a Threnodian, likely Overclocks, and then banishes said Threnodian out of sheer want to defend his country and its people. If anything, I can only assume his slightly more morally grey stance on war—a much less ideal and somewhat realistic vision of war, that is endless amounts of sacrifice and a series of “terrible but best in the moment with what we have” decisions—makes people uncomfortable and thus, it is insisted that Geshu Lin is somehow inherently evil and it is his personal fault for… well, making the best choices he could during an incredibly terrible circumstance.
People forget that if Geshu Lin ordered a retreat amidst Ovathrax’s rise, Jinzhou would be no more. Jiyan could only order a retreat because Geshulin sacrificed himself to banish Ovathrax, albeit temporarily enough for the Midnight Rangers to get some breathing room.
Conclusion
Geshu Lin is not a cruel, Jiyan-hating, evil man. He did what he could in the circumstances he was given. The “evil” Geshu Lin we see fighting Jiyan (such as in Jiyan’s character trailer) is almost always a representation of Jiyan’s inner self doubt and shame—never once have we actually directly met or even seen the man in reality, even in flashbacks.
Overall, it seems a bit disservicing to boil down an entire character to a small pinpoint of traits (“hates Jiyan, sacrifices soldiers for his own benefit, evil”), which in itself is due to the distorted perspective of an unstable Jiyan and complicated circumstances. Geshu Lin is a lot more than that.
For all we know, he might even be proud of Jiyan for being able to step up and protect the nation he (assumedly) died for so fervently, and quell Ovathrax (albeit with the help of Rover and Abby) a second time.
