Why viewing the world in Shades of gray is about more than a willingness to kill
You so often see statements like ‘Scott views the world in black and white’, or ‘Scott’s only moral because he wasn’t pushed to the limits’, and it is like a trigger point for me, because it’s so utterly horribly wrong.
Not only does it ignore all the times that Scott was pushed to the limits, but it assumes that because a character doesn’t cross that moral barrier, that he must have had it easy. It goes with the fallacy that being good is just something that happens to people, rather than something that has to be fought for, every step of the way.
Thing is, Scott was pushed to the limits and beyond them, he just didn’t go over it, because he was strong enough to hang on to doing the right thing. Either by love, or by the support of his friends, which is something he cultivated from day one.
That’s the thing really, if you cultivate connections, gain support, you don’t have to fall to the dark, and even if you do fall, that support can get you back.
That’s why Scott sees the world in shades of gray, unlike characters like Peter, or even Stiles. Characters, who think the world is good or evil. My way or their way, and never the twain shall cross.
Scott sees the world in shades of gray, because he can look at other people’s perspectives and find points he might agree on, he can look at someone like Deucalion and see him as still redeemable. He can see at someone like Derek, and realize that despite all Derek did wrong in s1-2, that he was trying, and that he did mean well. But he can also see, that just because someone is on your side, that that doesn’t excuse their behavior. That having all the right reasons, isn’t an excuse to do the wrong thing.
That doesn’t mean Scott is perfect. He’s made his fair share of mistakes. Telling the police that it was Derek who attacked them in Night School. (even if he thought Derek was dead at the time) Invading Corey’s mind in s5, because he’s desperate.
But he learns from his mistakes, and that matters, because he gives those same second chances, to learn fro your mistakes, and try to do better to others as well.
A lot of people misunderstand the concept of seeing the world in shades of gray. They think it means, being willing to kill. Hell, Peter sure seems to think that. The problem is, they’re wrong.
Seeing the world in us vs them, is the very meaning of seeing the world in black and white. It’s a very simplistic view, very limiting, morally wise. Either you kill, or they kill you. Scott is able to look beyond that.
He can see that just because a chimera might be an immediate threat, that that doesn’t make them evil, that they too are victims, who deserve protection.
He can look at someone like Jackson, and see that though he is a threat, he is a victim of what happened to him, and regardless of his actions, that he deserves saving.
Scott has been pushed to the edge of being forced to kill, and he managed to stop, and find the strength of will to refuse it.But that doesn’t mean it isn’t always on his mind, that one day, he won’t have that choice, that he will be forced to do so. It’s this struggle that he deals with, both as a beta and an alpha, that made him a True Alpha in the first place, and is part of why people like Deucalion and Derek respect him so much.
It’s why he can face of against Araya in the opener of s4, have her torture him, electrocute him, and instead of lashing out at her, hold back, and demand answers instead. Ensuring that he passed her test. Because I can’t see that scene any other way, than her testing him, to see what it would take to make him lose control.
People are so used to broody anti heroes who give in to the darkness inside of them, that they forget how simplistic the us vs them mentality is.