sid_guardian | Guardian Episode by Episode: 13

Welcome to the rewatchalong! We are now at episode 13. The Imgur screencap album has 82 images. The 520 Exchange's deadline has passed, so hopefully more of you can attend this episode!

Previously on:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12

This week, we have the mind control girl plot in full swing and A Reveal.

Introductions
Two introductions! After a lot of crow-related foreshadowing, we finally meet Ya Qing.

Filmed from beneath, given authority.

She turns up to criticize Zhu Jiu's manner of handling things. Turns out she's the source of information for Zhu Jiu's plots like the Hanga one. She has a bunch of disagreements with Zhu Jiu, calls him a psycho, and sends a box flying his way. They also disagree re: the status of the Yashou. Ya Qing is in this for the betterment of her peoples, while Zhu Jiu (and The Boss by extension?) considers the Yashou to be beneath Dixingians, though maybe above humans, since he has yet to advocate Yashou genocide.

The other person we meet is the third Yashou leader, Ying Chun.

Her name means "to joyously greet spring".

She proactively seeks out Shen Wei when a plant learns of Ya Qing and Zhu Jiu's collaboration, then tries to stop her "Qing-jie" from erring further.

This is also the first time we see dark energy vision!

It made Shen Wei cough up blood.

Characterization
Our mind controlled Da Qing is lured over by Zhao Yunlan tskking at him, then calmed by lao-Li's fish, which can apparently cure mind control. :P Interestingly, he doesn't remember the time he spent mind controlled – unlike maybe Minister Gao and the rest of the humans.

The fish of curing mind control.

Wang Zheng also knows how to use Lin Jing's dark energy tracking device!

Chu Shuzhi's rescue of Guo Changcheng is also super late! (I think he just doesn't really know where the snakes live and is too proud to ask for directions, so he wanders in the general vicinity until he comes across the place.) Then, when he is informed that his rescue was actually unneeded due to Guo Changcheng's superb skills at speech-giving, he threatens to lop off some limbs. Very proud, not at all afraid of having his bonus cancelled permanently.

Saved first by himself, then by Zhao Yunlan's phone call.

While the rest of the team is fussing over Da Qing, Zhao Yunlan arranges to pay for all the produce destroyed. Responsible cat ownership!

The SID is a step too late at the wedding, and Zhao Yunlan immediately identifies that this is all Shen Wei's fault and goes to be angry at him – but at a headjerk from Shen Wei, he can put all that aside and butter up Minister Gao instead! The conversation they had where Zhao Yunlan first claimed he doesn't actually know Shen Wei, then swore his innocence, was hilarious.

"Oh hi Minister Gao, I didn't expect to meet you here!"

Shen Wei's area of effect anti-mind control power worked (why didn't he use it later?), but he still screwed up. There was one death that could've been prevented if he'd just taken away Zheng Yi like he should have, and lots of emotional and physical damage. From this point on, he spends basically the whole episode with his head bowed.

The conversation Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei have in the wedding party room is very emotionally intense, and has Zhao Yunlan give Shen Wei yet another chance to explain. (Shen Wei: "I exercise.") It's also the one place where Shen Wei truly appears humble and apologizes for causing the SID trouble. (Zhao Yunlan: "If you were trouble, I'd take you by the dozens to last the rest of my life.") Zhao Yunlan also declares that since he's decided to figure Shen Wei out, he won't play dumb. Shen Wei on his side is utterly and completely dejected by how Zhao Yunlan is pissed off with him in a completely justified way, and he is pissed off with himself as well. The only thing he can offer is "I didn't mean to trick you."

This scene is full of excellent Shen Wei sadface and Zhao Yunlan frustration.

qikiqtarjuaq has a series of gif meta about Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei's relationship, which included the note that they walk in lockstep a lot of the time. After the argument in the room of wedding decorations, they don't quite walk in lockstep – they do the "three-legged race" variant.

The end of the episode is one long reveal-confrontation between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan turns up where Shen Wei stashed Tan Xiao (the research center?), sends him to SID, waits at the center for Shen Wei, plays him a violin serenade when he arrives, again asks him if he has anything to admit, then takes a brief break to call out Shen Wei about not telling them Tan Xiao was from Haixing (and thus clearly telling Shen Wei he knows he's the Envoy), and when that doesn't work, he pretends Zheng Yi's mind control powers worked on him so he could spend a while listening in on Zhu Jiu's plans at Villain HQ and force Shen Wei into revealing his identity. (Though in his defense, Shen Wei did sort of confess to it by saying that he thought he could handle the Tan Xiao + Zheng Yi situation and wanted to protect the SID.) Then comes the final dramatic scene at the SID where Zhao Yunlan reveals that actually, he had earplugs on the whole time.

When his violin serenade wasn't romantic enough, Zhao Yunlan went to instead observe upon the villains' planning to plan himself.

In all of this, Shen Wei starts out sad and dejected, since he just screwed up majorly and stares at Zhao Yunlan's shoes until he hears Zhao Yunlan say "I thought we were friends", at which point he lifts his gaze and looks even sadder. Then it's panic mode for a bit while Zhao Yunlan pretends to be mind controlled, and when he sees through the faking he can immediately come up with enough planning to grab Zhao Yunlan's collar to let them talk in private-ish and discover enough acting skills to not blow it. However, he's still annoyed that Zhao Yunlan DECEIVED HIM and pretended to be mind controlled.

"Not funny, Yunlan."

Zhao Yunlan, OTOH, shows a lot of improv planning on his feet skills, and also excellent marksmanship, since he knew he could shoot the gun steadily enough to only graze Zhu Hong, and quickly snap around and wound Zhu Jiu with a bullet. Such self-confidence, especially since not so long ago he was having trauma flashbacks related to the gun that prevented him from shooting it. (Do we know how long it's been since we got back from the mountains? Not that long, but a week? Two?)