desaad states-Activate -> Target stunned character's controller loses endurance equal to that character's cost.

now it says "target stunned character's controller", as if it is targetting the controller not the character itself. this leads me to believe that nice try might not be able to stop desaad.

i can see both sides of the issue, and would like a second opnion.

Desaad is targeting the stunned character, not its controller.

that's what i thought you would say.

And now for an explanation. ;)

"That character's cost" is the key to properly understanding the card's text.

So which character is the card referring to?

If we said the controller was the target of the effect, we'd have no way of knowing which stunned character was being referred to since there's nothing in the text which hints we can make that selection upon resolution.

That leaves us with the word "target" in the first sentence: "Target stunned character's controller".

Notice that the card refers to the controller as belonging to the stunned character.

Since we know which controller is being referred to, the word "target" must apply to the stunned character itself.

So to wrap it up all up: the target is the stunned character which subsequently identifies which player will lose endurance equal to that character's cost.