A Shang-Chi Easter Egg Hinted At His Sister's True Plan All Along
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
A subtle Easter egg in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings may have revealed his sister Xialing's true plan. Played by Meng'er Zhang, Shang-Chi's little sister Xialing had a hard upbringing. Although their mother Ying Li loved them both equally, giving both Shang-Chi and Xialing a dragon's eye pendant to remember her by, their father was incapable of showing similar affection to his daughter. Wenwu, leader of the Ten Rings, was influenced by the ancient Chinese chengyu of zhong nan qing nü ("heavy male, light female"), which refers to the unequal treatment of the two genders. Consequently, Xialing was neglected.
But as strong-willed as Shang-Chi may be, his sister is moreso. Xialing watched her brother's training, and duplicated it, becoming a master of the martial arts herself - and even learning to use formidable weapons Shang-Chi himself never mastered. After her brother abandoned her, she waited long enough to continue developing her skills, before heading off to Macau. There, she formed the Golden Daggers fighting club in Macau, which drew a wide range of superhuman beings - from the Abomination to former Black Widows, Extremis soldiers, and Wong, a Master of the Mystic Arts. But why did Xialing choose to spend her time running such a club? A subtle Easter egg in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings offers an important clue.
Some of the secondary characters in Shang-Chi bear little relation to the comics that inspired them. Wenwu, of course, was very different; he was originally Fu Manchu, a character Marvel no longer has the rights to - and probably wouldn't use even if they did, because Fu Manchu is a racist trope. Meanwhile, Shang-Chi's sister was originally a woman named Leiko, and she swore to topple her father's criminal empire. To that end, she formed a rival criminal enterprise of her own, one to be used as a weapon against Fu Manchu. And, as seen in Master of Kung Fu #44, she named her group the Golden Daggers.
This appears to be a clever hint at Xialing's true purpose in Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings. It is possible she established the Golden Daggers fight club in order to seek out potential champions to use against her father, to give her an opportunity to gain control of the Ten Rings organization. If this is her case, her plans must have only been in an early stage when Shang-Chi was tricked into visiting her by their father, and she found herself drawn into his orbit once again. Wenwu never thought to question his daughter's motives and actions particularly closely, simply ignoring her while he focused on Shang-Chi.
If Xialing was indeed trying to build an army of superhumans, she failed. But, ironically, she succeeded in her overarching goal all the same; because Shang-Chi was foolish enough to send his sister to shut down the Ten Rings. Instead, he essentially gifted his father's terrorist empire to her on a platter, and Shang-Chi's post-credits scene shows she has happily accepted that gift. No doubt Xialing's story will continue, whether in the Shang-Chi sequel or an earlier movie - after all, as Marvel reminded viewers, "The Ten Rings will return."