GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 15

[china_shop]

Beginning of episode: Cong Bo snoops through university camera feeds for dirt on Shen Wei
Ending of episode: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei are in Dixing | Zhao Xinci arrives to investigate the SID

Important scenes/developments:

• Cong Bo finds the feed from the hidden cam in Shen Wei's office and sees him use his powers.
• Shen Wei receives a smoke messenger from the Regent saying the Dijun's Register is missing.
• Cong Bo takes his blackmail material to Zhao Yunlan and gives him three days to go public.
• At Zhao Yunlan's flat, Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei apologise to each other and make a plan to deal with Cong Bo.
• Cong Bo gets his comeuppance and conversion.
• Zhu Jiu is a) still healing and b) rude to Ya Qing.
• Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei toast their success, Shen Wei explains his power of learning, and Zhao Yunlan gets him to clean the flat (again).
• In the SID lab, Zhao Yunlan contemplates some one-on-one with the Hallows, but Shen Wei interrupts.
• Zhu Hong is drunk and sad.
• The Regent arrives in Dragon City, is creepy at Guo Changcheng and makes his way to the SID.
• Where Chu Shuzhi immediately attacks him.
• The Regent is creepy at everyone else, especially Wang Zheng.
• Shen Wei arrives in full plain-clothes Envoy mode and yells at the Regent for losing the Dijun's Register.
• Zhao Yunlan decides to go to Dixing, despite Shen Wei's best arguments.
• The Xingdu Bureau is sending an inspector, so the SID decide Guo Changcheng should pretend to be Chief Zhao.
• Shen Wei shows Zhao Yunlan the gate to Dixing, and they go through it.
• In the gate, Zhao Yunlan has visions of his parents arguing.
• Zhao Yunlan's first introduction to the streets of Dixing.
• Zhu Jiu and Bao Laosan plan an attack.
• Zhao Xinci arrives to inspect the SID.

( Thoughts! Lots of thoughts! But feel free to skip and just comment, if you'd rather. )

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite line of dialogue from this episode? Favourite moment or scene? I'm finding it so hard to choose.


• Do you have any thoughts about the nature of the smoke messenger? Is it essentially automated? Is it the dark-energy equivalent of AI? Can it convey objects or just information?


• What does Zhao Yunlan tell the SID, and in particular Lin Jing, about the Cong Bo threat? Something serious enough to justify deleting all his files, but not so terrible that they baulk at his recruitment to the SID. (Fwiw, I once did a poll question about this.)


• When the Regent first arrives in Dragon City, he says, "The cars on the surface are so different." Does he mean there are cars in Dixing, too (or car-like things), or is he comparing them to last time he was in Haixing?


• What's up with the portal visions? Why do they happen? Do they only affect Zhao Yunlan, or is it everyone?


• The palace guard greet the Envoy as a leader. Does Shen Wei command them? To what extent?


• How much of the "missing Register / Zhao Yunlan goes to Dixing" situation did Ye Zun orchestrate? We know Ding Dun was working with Zhu Jiu, and he's the one who stole the book. Did Ye Zun guess Shen Wei would ask for it? Did the Deacon encourage the Regent to turn to the SID for help?


• At the Locust Tree Gate, Zhao Yunlan says, "Huh? You said this is the only passageway, and only you two are allowed to go through freely. So where did those escaped Dixingren come from?" 你说这儿是唯一通道只有你们两个人 可以自由穿梭这一扇门那之前逃逸的那些地星人他们是从哪来的 The Regent replies, "This... Well... This is the question we are trying to answer." 这个这个嘛这也是我们正在调查的问题 But afaicr we never really find out. Do you have any ideas?


• Was Zhao Yunlan actually comfortable balanced on that bar stool, or was it just for show?

Let’s talk about episode 15!
Come and talk about this episode – anything from favourite scenes or lines of dialogue to notes/questions about continuity or translation, most gorgeous (or angsty) smile, or anything else that strikes your fancy! And share links to your own and/or others’ episode-related meta, picspams, and fanworks, new or old!