#Lin Ling trying to reclaim his identity while Yang Cheng loses himself and becomes an empty shell and a puppet…

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Yang Cheng, full of anger and despair at the perceived fall of his hero. At the info that made him believe the hero’s team targeted him. At his own hesitation. At E-Soul being too late, once again. He tears down the posters, breaks the figure, and shatters the mirror. His rage is directed at OG E-Soul, but also at himself, and that’s exactly why he self-destructs.

Yang Cheng’s self-esteem has always been in the gutter - his hesitation, his fear: he’s a kind soul, but he does not act decisively. His only true moment of triumph was his rescue of Pomelo - that act was his own. After that, he was mostly acting under the direction of others; performing based on their wishes. I didn’t even feel he was particularly happy as New E-Soul, really, and I think in all the action, it’s easy to forget that shortly before he became him, he had essentially given up. The hero narrative, of finding your courage at your lowest point, is twisted and manipulated - Yang Cheng did not ever truly become confident. He simply got caught up in it all. His trust value stems entirely from other people.

Yang Cheng has never had faith in himself. When his faith in E-Soul shatters, so too does his faith in the one part of himself that might have been someone worth trusting. Yang Cheng cannot forgive E-Soul. He hates E-Soul. He hates himself.

After all, there is no Yang Cheng and E-Soul, only Yang Cheng+E-Soul, one and the same. The hero he idolized as a child and the mask he wore for years and the person he is now - it’s all the same. E-Soul is responsible for Shang Chao’s death. Yang Cheng fights and kills E-Soul and claims his vengeance against both the hero and himself.

The sick irony of this is that by fighting E-Soul, all he’s really done is destroy whatever’s left of both their humanities. E-Soul the concept cannot be killed.

Whether Yang Cheng was the one standing at the end or whether something else happened and they merged just like their trust values, it doesn’t really matter. Both OG and Yang Cheng died that day. All that’s left is E-Soul, the puppet who performs solely based on others’ wishes.