GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 31

[trobadora]

Beginning of episode: Zhao Yunlan confronts Zhang Shi
Ending of episode: Zhao Yunlan confronts Chu Shuzhi

Important scenes/developments:

• Zhao Yunlan confronts Zhang Shi
• Flashback: Zhang Shi entering Zhao Xinci's body; agreement between them to secretly work together
• Zhao Yunlan confronts his father; Zhao Xinci wants to use the non-human SID members as scapegoats
• Zhu Hong meets Zhao Yunlan in the street; she's worried about him, and he tries to send her away
• Ya Qing attacks Zhu Hong and Zhao Yunlan
• Minister Gao can't stop the rumours, and gives the go-ahead for action
• Zhao Yunlan remembers his promise to Shen Wei, and his father's threat to shut down the SID
• Zhu Hong won't wake up; Zhao Yunlan enters her dream
• Flashback: younger Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong chasing someone on a case
• Chu Shuzhi stops men from the Inspectorate from entering to shut down the SID
• Flashback: younger Zhu Hong tries to make herself over in the image of a human woman
• Shen Wei senses Zhao Yunlan's energies are in turmoil; Ye Zun taunts him
• Guo Changcheng enters the dream; Zhu Hong lashes out at him and Chu Shuzhi's puppet protects him
• Zhu Hong talks to Zhao Yunlan about their relationship; he admits she's important to him
• Zhao Yunlan confronts Chu Shuzhi about endangering Zhu Hong

( Thoughts )

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite moment in this episode? Your favourite line? I think mine is Zhao Yunlan confronting his father, promising to protect his people. ♥


• I always get hung up on how the scenes don't match between the ending of episode 30 and the beginning of 31: in episode 30, Zhao Yunlan calls Zhang Shi out on not being Zhao Xinci and then, when Zhang Shi asks how he knows, promptly pulls his gun, whereas in episode 31, he first explains his reasoning, and doesn't pull his gun until Zhang Shi tells him he's talking nonsense. And I actually feel it works better if he pulls his gun right away. What do you think? Any preference?


• What do you think is Zhang Shi's motivation in choosing Zhao Xinci as a host, and working with him? And what do you think of Zhao Xinci's "compromise" with Zhang Shi?


• Why do you think Zhao Yunlan is trying so hard to push Zhu Hong away in this episode? Would he have done the same to other SID members?


• Chu Shuzhi says Zhu Hong's wound is just a wound - no poison, no curse. (He doesn't appear to have detected black energy either, but then perhaps it's indistinguishable from a Yashou's own energy.) What do you think a "curse" is in the context of Guardian's sci-fi context? And how do you check for one?


• Does anyone know what "human food" Zhu Hong is eating here?
  
  


• When Ye Zun taunts Shen Wei and says he's curious what Shen Wei's dream will look like, Shen Wei claims he doesn't have dreams. Ye Zun asks if it's that he doesn't have dreams or if it's that he doesn't dare dream; Shen Wei claims he doesn't need to dream, implying it's because he has the real thing. Do you think Shen Wei doesn't dream in general? Or is this in relation to how the Nightmare Master's power functions - is this not about literal dreaming-while-asleep, but about having unfulfilled dreams for your life for the Nightmare Master's power to latch onto?


• Chu Shuzhi gives Guo Changcheng a vial with what he calls a magic potion and what turns out to be alcohol. Why do you think he has this? What's it actually for? And how does he know it will help Xiao-Guo enter the dream?


• How did Chu Shuzhi make his puppet manifest in Zhu Hong's dream? Did he plant it on Guo Changcheng somehow, without Xiao-Guo's knowledge? And in the confrontation at the end, Zhao Yunlan throws the smaller version of the puppet on his desk. How did he get it? He didn't grab it in the dream, at least.


• Speaking of, why do you think Zhao Yunlan is so sure activating the puppet inside the dream is dangerous? And is he aware that Zhu Hong attacking him and Xiao-Guo in the dream is also dangerous? (Shen Wei can sense the instability it causes in Zhao Yunlan from Dixing!)

Let's talk about episode 31!
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!