Please ignore the spacebar typo in the title.

Shen's father was brutally tortured in order to make Shen the Eye of the Twilight, so it doesn't make much sense the head of the ninja clan could be that same person.
Also, it makes no sense considering that they're focused on not feeling anything in order to accomplish their mission, that they'd banish Zed just like that. They should have either forced Zed to accept balance via torture, brainwashing or whatever that works, or simply kill him.
Finally, that conveniently placed box of mystical forbidden dark skills... really, if it could be destroyed as the master said (which by the way was awfully nice for the head of a clan who forced his own son cast away his emotions), then it being there in some random place with zero vigilance is just stupid.

incoming rework!

"As his final trial to ascend to this position, he was made to attend the Takanu, a ceremony in which his father was tortured before his eyes to test his resolve. Any reaction whatsoever would have resulted in his immediate disqualification, but he never averted his gaze and never blinked, not once."

- Shen's Original Lore

"Only one other student appeared to be Zed's equal - the master's son, Shen. It seemed Zed could never win the favor of the master, as every match between the rivals ended in a draw. Frustrated and jealous, he sought an advantage."

- Zed's Lore


There seems to be a crazy contradiction. If Shen's lore is to be changed, then most likely Kennen and Akali's lore are going to be changed as well. Rather remake Zed's lore to make more sense.

And also, if Zed walked up to Shen and said, "LOOK! I KILLED YOUR FATHER!" Do you know what Shen's response would be?

"Death is a natural part of the cycle of life. If it was his time to die, it was his time to die."

"But I killed your father! Decapitation!"

"A little brutal, yes, but you will not bring him back to life, correct?"

"No! What? Why would I do that?"

"Because that would be disrupting the Balance. Balance in all things, Zed."

Shen is True Neutral. It...really wouldn't affect him unless Zed sought out to antagonize Shen. And even then, who would win?

Zed Master of Shadows, or Akali, the Fist of Shadow?

I can imagine Akali being able to punch your shadow and making you keel over from the pain alone. Now seriously, you have the order of the Kinkou. So you have Zed and his nameless disciples versus Shen, Kennen and Akali.

This seems fairly one sided...

Damn, why did I have to read this? Now every time I read the part where Zed and his ninja army are about to attack Kinkou, I won't be able to take THIS SCENE out of my head.

By the way, now that there're "evil ninjas", would that mean Kinkou would have to be "good ninjas" now, to balance things out?

Maybe they use "master's son" is metaphorically.
Like they're not talking about his biological son but rather the leading student?
Just a suggestion.

That certainly needs to be explained then. I like the lore, but its causing disruptions and that's no good.

And of course that leads into the next question, was this before or after the kinkou was formed? Where did Shen and the other saved students go? I smell a Shen lore rework...that I pray won't alter Shen's stoic "maintain the balance" personality. I mean, that's the entire theme of the Kinkou Ninjas, right?

Makes sense to me. Shen's lore could be touched up to clarify a few things, but it would make sense that, as the final test for his son and greatest student, Shen's master would volunteer to be tortured before his eyes. Makes the ninjas seem less brutal than them torturing some random civilian. And Shen would undoubtedly take action against the leader of his clan being murdered. Being without emotion doesn't mean he's okay with everything that happens, just that he acts to restore balance always. Zed and his disciples are an imbalance that needs to be rectified.

I'm wondering if this is going to be a test of character for Shen. It's one thing to watch your own father be tortured, but to be confronted by his murderer, it's bound to stir up some emotion.

I'm not saying he's going to have a complete breakdown and that they'll about-face with his character - Shen's one of my favorite champions gameplay-wise and flavor-wise, and part of the appeal is his seemingly infinite self-control, so I wouldn't want to see that aspect changed. But imagine, even if he so much as wavers or shudders in a hint of rage...that'd be a big deal for someone who didn't blink when his own father was being tortured in front of him.

I could easily see a story arc where Shen tries to convince himself he's bringing Shredd-I mean, Zedd to justice for the sake of balance, but deep inside he knows it's more personal than he wants to admit. I reckon that'd be a good compromise without having them do a complete about-face on his character.

Yeah it's pretty weak. I'm not even sure if it's as strong as -Syndra's- and she was pretty terrible.