GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 21

[trobadora]

Beginning of episode: team breakfast at the SID
Ending of episode: Shen Wei asks Professor Ouyang about the miracle doctor

Important scenes/developments:

• Team breakfast at the SID; Zhao Yunlan sends everyone away for the holiday
• Zhu Hong tells the team about Shen Wei's identity
• Dr Cheng examines Zhao Yunlan's eyes
• Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng play mahjong with Guo Changcheng's uncle and aunt
• Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan listen to Zhu Hong read 'Record of the Ancient Secrets'; Da Qing has memory trouble
• Shen Wei is very distracted during his class
• Lin Jing meets Sha Ya and tries to flirt with her
• Zhao Xinci takes Zhao Yunlan home and tries to give him advice; then Zhang Shi gives him advice as well
• Zhao Yunlan has visions of his father having an accident and nearly runs into a car; Shen Wei drags him away by the wrist
• Zhu Hong is subject to Snake Tribe matchmaking
• Zhao Yunlan shows Shen Wei the audio recording, and Shen Wei takes the recorder away
• Guo Changcheng tries to help his aunt win, but Chu Shuzhi snatches victory for himself
• Zhu Hong uses a Snake guard's feelings for her to get a sneak peek at the restricted area; Ya Qing attacks
• Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan arrive for the Yashou Flea Market
• Ya Qing has Zhu Hong hostage; Shen Wei attacks, and Zhao Yunlan derails him with "Xiao-Wei"
• Fourth Uncle gives Zhu Hong the sacred wood for safe-keeping
• Wang Zheng and Sang Zan have a romantic evening with rose petals and dancing
• The SID greets Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi; Shen Wei apologises to Chu Shuzhi
• Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei et al. check out the miracle doctor, but he's a jerk, and they leave
• Shen Wei talks to Professor Ouyang and asks about the miracle doctor's treatments

( thoughts )

Discussion starters:

• What is your favourite moment in this episode? Honestly, it's not very long, but mine is Shen Wei yanking Zhao Yunlan around by the wrist. :D


• Which family unit in this episode is your favourite? I'm having a hard time choosing!


• When Zhao Yunlan tells Shen Wei to go to uni, he says Da Qing will come soon. Why do you think they've arranged that? Why didn't Da Qing come with them right away?
  
  (By the time Da Qing arrives, Zhao Yunlan is really only waiting for his paperwork to be filed; everything else is done. Did they anticipate the exams taking longer? Did Dr Cheng speed things up for Shen Wei's friend?)


• Regarding 'Record of the Ancient Secrets", I can never make sense of what the quotes from the book are supposed to tell us about the Hallows. Do you think there's a deeper meaning? Did "Kunlun" really say these words? And if so, was he just quoting what he remembered from this book, himself sound impressive without quite understanding it himself? *g*


• What does Zhao Xinci know about Shen Wei? What does he think Zhao Yunlan knows? I always assumed Zhao Xinci knows Shen Wei is the Envoy, and if so, he probably does expect Zhao Yunlan to also know - after all, Zhao Yunlan went to Dixing with him! But if Zhao Xinci doesn't know Shen Wei's full identity, he's definitely concluded - from the same bit of evidence, if nothing else - that he must be Dixingren ...


• Zhang Shi's very un-Zhao Xinci-like advice: "I was told from a young age that there are four things in life we mustn't obsess about/be stubborn about/cling to. The first is forever/longevity/permanence. The second is right and wrong. The third is kindness and evil. The fourth is life and death." / "Holding on to something isn't always a virtue. Becoming too attached may lead to unhappiness, and make you stray from your path. Being too obsessed with right and wrong will make you narrow minded. In this world absolute rights and wrongs are rare. Obsession with good and evil will not let you see anyone as good. It may even make you arrogant, wanting to set the rules yourself and change them at will. Being too obsessed with life and death, your vision will become narrow. In this life, people can avoid at most two of these four. That's why a lot of things can't be scrutinized too closely. So it's not worth your time considering them. Since you've already made your decision, don't wonder if it's right or wrong. Plan your next step instead."
  
  What do you think he's trying to tell Zhao Yunlan with this?


• Regarding the Yashou Flea Market, of which not even the slightest hint is ever seen, and which Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan don't seem to check out after the confrontation with Ya Qing: I was wondering if perhaps the Flea Market wasn't happening at all, and Fourth Uncle only told Zhu Hong that it was in order to lure Zhao Yunlan there because he expected Ya Qing to retaliate for his and Ying Chun's role during the Zhu Jiu trap. Zhao Yunlan calls him on his ulterior motives, and Fourth Uncle doesn't disagree - but was he using the timing of the Yashou Flea Market as an opportunity, or was it all just a ruse start to finish? What do you think?


• When everyone at the SID greets Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi and Shen Wei tells them to keep acting the same as before, Zhao Yunlan echoes his words in a slightly mocking way. What do you think he means by that?


• Am I hearing this right - does Zhao Yunlan's neighbour who calls him Xiao-Zhao and helps him downstairs speak with an accent? I would love to know more.


• Shen Wei: "How can you be so calm? Don't you know in the past you -" Does anyone have a theory about what he was going to say? Perhaps it was just "in the past, you weren't blind", but it sounds a bit like it's referring to a YOHE event that we never actually got to see. Thoughts?


• Shen Wei is really furious at Ya Qing: "Your constant bickering is a matter for your tribe. But you conspired with evil forces to harm innocent people. The peace everyone struggles to keep is destroyed by people like you for selfish desires. Even a thousand deaths would not absolve you." And he's threatening her with his dao. Do you think he would have killed or injured her? Or was he just threatening? He certainly lets Zhao Yunlan step in and de-escalate, try to talk reason to Ya Qing - is that just because he's still all blue-screened?
  
  


• Why does Ya Qing at this point say all this resentment should end? What of Shen Wei's actions and words, and/or Zhao Yunlan's words, or everyone else's words and reactions, prompted her to say this?


• Professor Ouyang's attitude towards the miracle doctor interests me a lot. What does he think about his powers - does he think he's found a random Haixingren with powers, or is he that willing to praise a random Dixingren?

Let's talk about episode 21!
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!