I suppose everybody has their own view of ethics, but I tend to follow the line of thinking that, as far as ethics go, Astoria is far from being the best. I would contend that even Taygen was more ethical than her in their society. After all, creations are merely animals in their society, and, while he took it too far, he did nothing inheritly wrong in the Shapers' eyes.
On the other hand, Alwan is a better person, or so it seemed to me. He followed a code, almost to fault, but he believed in what he was doing. He legitmately believed he was doing the right thing, something that I feel like Astoria lacked.