GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 33

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Beginning of episode: Chu Shuzhi is dreaming he's by the river with Guo Changcheng.
Ending of episode: Ye Zun is completely free from the pillar.

Important scenes/developments:

• Dream!Changcheng calls Chu Shuzhi "gege" on Nianzhi's behalf and tempts him with a happy-ever-after in Dixing.
• They go to Dixing; dream!Changcheng asks about Nianzhi and says, "What if I could revive him?"
• Chu Shuzhi tells another version of his backstory (I think?) and gets very agitated; dream!Changcheng soothes him.
• Dream!Changcheng says they need the Hallows, and they go to get them from the SID; dream!Changcheng tells Chu Shuzhi to destroy the security shield.
• Chu Shuzhi realises it's a trick and breaks out of the dream... into another dream? Where he tries to fight Nightmare Guy.
• More childhood backstory.
  • Shuzhi pretends to be Nianzhi.
  • Nianzhi gets his admission letter from the palace.
  • Shuzhi gets in a bar fight and is arrested.
  • The person Shuzhi beat up mistakenly kills Nianzhi instead.
  • Shuzhi escapes from prison and kills the guy.
  • The Regent sentences Shuzhi to 100 years.
• Chu Shuzhi wakes up on the SID couch, holding his doll; he and Zhao Yunlan are both super upset about Changcheng.
• At the pillar, Ye Zun tells Nightmare Guy that he's failed again and gives him one more chance. (Shen Wei is proud of the SID's resilience.)
• Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing worry about Changcheng and receive Shen Wei's letter.
• Zhao Yunlan goes to Dixing, finds Changcheng in the palace and meets the Shadow Man.
• The Shadow Man goes to the pillar and alarms Shen Wei... until Zhao Yunlan arrives with Changcheng. Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan reunite.
• Zhao Yunlan tries to break the pillar chains, and the Shadow Man takes over; he dies freeing Shen Wei.
• Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei carry Changcheng back to the SID, where Chu Shuzhi takes him to the lab.
• The Bench Scene!
• Chu Shuzhi caresses unconscious!Changcheng.
• Da Qing tells Chu Shuzhi that Shen Wei saved Changcheng at the pillar; also, don't touch the Hallows!
• Chu Shuzhi immediately goes for the Longevity Dial.
• Lin Jing remembers back when Professor Ouyang transferred him to the SID.
• Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng Longevity Dial exchange!! Changcheng still doesn't wake, but Chu Shuzhi looks pleased/hopeful.
• Lin Jing falls asleep and dreams that everyone calls him a traitor and is rude about his inventions. He shuts down the security shield.
• Ye Zun eats a random passerby, and the soundtrack music is alarming.

( Thoughts. )

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite scene in this episode? Favourite line of dialogue?


• In earlier episodes we've seen Nianzhi say, "I wish that everyone can be happy. That way, I'd be happy too." (ep 6) and heard that he was timid (Chu Shuzhi tells Changcheng, "You are such a scaredy-cat. More timid than my brother." in ep 8). How does that mesh with what we see in Chu Shuzhi's dreams, especially with him aspiring to work at the palace and asking Chu Shuzhi not to use his puppet power? For that matter, what kind of job do you think Nianzhi was going for at the palace? He doesn't seem like your typical guard -- though the palace guard does seem to have had a good reputation in the past, despite working for the Regent; Zhu Jiu joined up in his idealistic phase.


• Do you think 100 years is a typical sentence for murder in Dixing, or was Chu Shuzhi targeted, or is his crime special in some way -- maybe because he used his power to commit the murder?


• When and why did Chu Shuzhi start to suspect fake Changcheng wasn't really Changcheng?


• Any theories on Chu Shuzhi's puppet and the Nianzhi puppet? I've always thought he treated his Haixing puppet so well and protectively because it was Nianzhi, but now it seems that Nianzhi was left behind in Dixing?


• How much of the Regent's enmity towards the Envoy is because Shen Wei keeps petitioning on prisoners' behalf, thereby implicitly criticising the Regent's sentencing practices?


• The Shadow Man, Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu all sacrificed themselves to protect Shen Wei because they care about the fate of Dixing and they believe in the Envoy. Do you think they're unusual, or are there a lot of others who are counting on the Envoy to save the day?


• How much do you love the Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan reunion in this episode, especially the bench scene? I remember my first time watching the show, I was waiting and waiting for Shen Wei to come back from Dixing (much like Zhao Yunlan *g*), and all that anticipation and impatience could have made their reunion anticlimactic, but it wasn't AT ALL. So wonderful!


• Do you think there's a cost to the Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng Dial exchange? Does Chu Shuzhi get infected with light energy, too, and if so, how does it affect him?


• In Lin Jing's flashback, he'd heard of the SID but didn't know its role. Out of those who know of it, what do most people think the SID is for? Also, does Lin Jing really think the SID team blame him for spying? *cries*

Let’s talk about episode 33!
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!