? It's in the game that she approves of going along with Minthara's plan, and that she disapproves of betraying her (to save the grove). I agree she's not sadistic like Lae'zel and Astarion, but that doesn't really make her neutral. It's pretty mucht he basis of the alignment that to be neutral and not evil a character mustn't actively put their needs above those of others, especially if they're innocent. Because that's an evil trait.
I also don't see how guilt after doing, and supporting, something as wicked as killing a bunch of kids changes anything. Is Anakin neutral because he got manipulated and his reasons weren't all that bad? Is Thanos neutral because he eventually felt remorse about some stuff (in IW)? Not every 'evil' character is evil in the same way and for the same reasons.
At what point in the game does she approve of Mintara's plan? I literally never saw it. Tell me so I can take a look. When do you betray the Tieflings? Or when you talk to Mintara? The difference is that Thanos did it all by himself. And Shadow is a hostage to Tav's decisions, it's our decision to betray the Tieflings, not hers. So yes, she feels guilty because she didn't want to do it. And don't forget that she actually feels joy when she saves them, because she says she was worried about Tieflings. Neutral EVIL doesn't care what happens to the Tieflings, just like any other evil. Well, why should an evil character be happy about this? Weird.
upd: Well, I watched it, she doesn't approve (she just doesn't care, she doesn't react to it) of Mintara's plan, and she disapprove of her betrayal. But I think this is due to the fact that it will cause us additional problems. Not that she wants to kill the Tieflings. At the same time, Astarion (who is obviously evil), for example, does not care if we betray Mintara. So for me, it still doesn't prove that she's evil. That's not enough. Her reaction after the battle seems more important than that.
udp 2: lol sorry but she disapprove if we open gate too, she disapprove both choice with Mintara, wut means u must just kill goblins if u dont want Shadow disapprove.
Well, that's confusing. My mistake on her approval of Minthara's plan, must have remembered it wrong.
I don't abide to the 'hostage' argument, though. Just in the previous BGs companions could leave the party, or outright attack, if their morals and beliefs were questioned (which makes me question what Gale is, since i'm sure Wyll will leave the party in next iterations of the game in the evil route but not so sure about Gale). And Tav also isn't really the Jedi Exile from Kotor 2, aka a character who's subconsciously manipulating other people into becoming like him.
Back going back to SH, I do think she'll probably end up being neutral or even good based on how she generally behaves, but, again, a character who's willing to go along with something so firmly in the evil scale because it's somewhat convenient to them simply isn't 'live and let live'.
I also would like to point that not all evil characters need be evil all the time, much like not all chaotic neutrals needn't be the tropy 'screw with everyone' type, or every lawful good the dumb paladin. They all can be, sure, but they also can be more or less regular people with boundaries and emotions, just backed up by different sets of morals. In Kingmaker i have a lawful evil character who wants to be hailed as a god and basically shackle the people he reigns over to an oppresive regime, but he also does the occational good deed, out of actual goodness, based on his emotional response to certain situations and even keeps around a bunch of his companions solely because he grew attached to them.
In the specific case of the tieflings, i can easily see that evil character seriously considering going with Minthara but ultimately not doing it simply because Halsin appears to be more reliable than a bunch of goblin nutjobs, and because the nutjobs want to attack the place with the hugeass walls, and maybe even because he likes the thief kids and a couple other people.
So yeah, i don't think (neutral) evil needs to mean evil sadistic monster (and evil sadistic monsters needn't be evil sadistic monster all the time, see Astarion). Neutral evil most especially can easily be a blend of 'i'd rather not kill a bunch of innocent people' and 'but i'll do it if it benefits me'.
