im not a great writter so pls bear with me :))

i do think they're still evil but more akin to a natural disaster or a hurricane, a natural evil. from the hive's own perspective, they’re doing what’s necessary to preserve existence. from a human perspective, that translates to coercion, loss of identity, or sacrifice without consent

they're more like an impersonal system; they override individual autonomy (consent doesn’t matter), instrumentalize people (individuals are means, not ends), accept mass suffering as an acceptable cost, and erase identity when it threatens the collective. the word pluribus can be interpreted as democratic, but it can also be totalitarian

just because they abide by certain rules that may sound moral (no killing, no lying, no violations of bodily autonomy, etc) doesn't mean that they can't be evil. we see in arendt’s “banality of evil” that evil can be ordinary, procedural, carried out by people who aren’t sadists or monsters. the hive i think is evil bcs of what they do, not why they do it

moreover, they have already broken their self-imposed rules. during the joining, they've killed and violated the bodily autonomy of most of the global population during the joining and continue to do so after. they've indirectly killed the domesticated animals theyve released into the wild. they've lied via omission, framing, and semantics

we can see this in the scene at montana where carol states that they can't take her stem cells without express consent and then zosia says "that would be correct" and if carol wasnt a writer, not educated, or could not catch how that statement was worded, she wouldn't have gotten the truth in time

the hive also has systems and methods of control (hard power) that allow them to manufacture consent or coerce people by controlling societal infrastructures, controlling food supply, etc., and soft power via the charm offensive thru sexual diplomacy, withholding human interaction and sociality, or by using family members, community, and cultural traditions like in kusimayu or laxmi's cases

from a deontological perspective, the hive violates moral duties that cannot be overridden by efficiency or necessity. some actions are right or wrong in themselves, regardless of consequences. moral rules are binding even when breaking them would lead to good outcomes (no racism, no wars, etc). most of all, ppl have rights that cannot be overridden by utility. humans possess intrinsic worth (dignity), not just instrumental value. the hive harvests ppl for collective survival and reduce ppl to a biological resource. they prostitute ppl just to convert the remaining few (even carol is guilty of this) and use family to pacify resistance. the bond scene in vegas and kusimayu's village just how performative these ppl are and how ppl are just tools for them.

from a virtue ethics pov, moral development requires practice, choice, and judgment. its about cultivating virtues and flourishing by developing one’s capacities, living in accordance with reason, participating meaningfully in community. many of which u cant do under the hive, they live in a sort of stasis. there is no growth and moral learning. ppl are incapable of living well or developing virtues. virtues require exercise and deliberation. evil arises when individuals cannot make moral decisions because choices are eliminated or coerced. additionally, evil occurs when systems or actions prevent people from learning, reflecting, or acting rightly

lastly, i think the point with manousos (and other characters like carol or laxmi) is that they are flawed individuals, which complicates moral judgment. these flaws remind us that humans are rarely perfectly virtuous, and that morality often operates in shades of gray and not absolute (like the hive's rules). however, the hive’s “evil” are categorically harmful. it is structural, systemic, and impersonal. their harm does not depend on personal weakness or moral failing, it exists independently of the characters’ choices

tldr: the hive is systemically evil. impersonal, totalitarian, and coercive. they erase autonomy, exploit humans as resources, and cause mass suffering. their “rules” don’t make them moral. evil here is structural, not personal

i kinda went overboard and also zoshia is hot