#to be clear I don't think Flynn lies about the mandates or purposefuly exaggerates to make SEGA look bad

[movie-robotnik-positivity]

just to play a little devils advocate for shadow

with canon there are a lot of mandates that people dont like and does kinda contradict his character arc in media like sa2 and sth05

As much as I respect Ian Flynn, he never should have shared that information with the fandom. Now out of context "SEGA said" statements that change constantly are seen as more important than what's shown in actual official media.

And because this fandom LOVES jumping to conclusions, we're stuck with the general consensus that SEGA wants Shadow to be an edgy jerk who hates friendship, doesn't care about anything, and completely forgot about his promise to Maria...even though none of this is supported by Shadow's few recent appearances in canon.

Shadow isn't all sunshine and rainbows, he's not some heroic martyr who grew to love humanity and is best friends with the other characters. Shadow is emotionally closed off, antisocial, he dislikes humans yet is focused on protecting Earth to a fault. He's rude, sometimes violent, has a big ego, and his relationship with Team Dark isn't super close like Team Sonic's. He cares but will only show it through actions, not words.

These uglier aspects of Shadow's personality have always been there, fans just tend to latch on to more "wholesome" depictions of the character like Archie's. There's a lot more to current Shadow than "mean SEGA ruined him with mandates"