Guardian Episode by Episode: 39

[extrapenguin]

Welcome to the rewatchalong! Today we watch the penultimate episode, 39! The Imgur screencap album has 69 images. Episode 40 will turn up on Friday.

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, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15
Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20
Episode 21, Episode 22, Episode 23, Episode 24, Episode 25
Episode 26, Episode 27, Episode 28, Episode 29, Episode 30
Episode 31, Episode 32, Episode 33, Episode 34, Episode 35
Episode 36, Episode 37, Episode 38

This week, more people go on field trips to Dixing and Ye Zun gets bitten in the ass by modern technology.

Characterization
Secondary characters checkup: Zhao Xinci thinks it's time to let the kids take over and now seems much more in harmony with Zhang Shi. Zhu Hong is growing into her role as the High Chief and kicks Chu Shuzhi in the ass because people need help, so stop moping.


She's even started acquiring the leadership headache. Next she'll discover just how uncooperative minions can get!

Minor characters also continue returning! Haixing cast effectiveness: not that good (Da Ji dies); Dixing cast effectiveness: the barkeep rallies all of Dixing to storm the palace and thus earns MVP status. He might not have powers, but he has a loudspeaker! And an amazing line: "Justice is like my customers: it might be late, but eventually it comes."


Moral of the story: don't upset the bartender in his own bar.

Our dear main villain's revenge rampage continues to defy his plans. He stabs Shen Wei with an icicle and Shen Wei just lets himself be stabbed without further complaint! (Ye Zun stumbles backward after he stabs Shen Wei. He did not expect things to go like that at all.) He tries to torture Zhao Yunlan on live TV but Zhao Yunlan talks back! In general, it comes across as Ye Zun digging himself in deeper because the only thing life has ever given him is a shovel and he can't even think of not using it.


Ye Zun discovers that even mind control powers can't make everyone cooperate with his wishes.

In typical Ye Zun fashion, he also airs his psychological issues all over the place. When Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu turn up and have their "Go!" "No, you go!" argument, he informs them that he finds their love "tedious playacting" and that "Between sisters and brothers, there's only eternal plotting and betrayal!" – or, in other words, projecting like an IMAX continues apace. When he's trying to merge the Hallows and eat them, he says "I can finally wipe away my shame." I suppose it's no huge surprise that someone who's spent most of his life powerless (against the Rebel Leader with mind control powers, trapped in a pillar by the Hallows) would have related issues, but mostly I wish someone could've slapped power-suppressing handcuffs on him and then dragged him to a qualified professional. This is just sad to look at.


Given the continued badtouch tendencies, one wonders whether the avalance of issues hides another avalanche beneath it.

Now that gege is dead, Ye Zun has decided he should be just like gege! This means attempting to seduce Zhao Yunlan and being confounded by technology. The former also suggests a fundamental lack of understanding of human psychology – he just killed the light of Zhao Yunlan's life and now he's wining and dining him and complimenting him in an effort to get in his pants seduce him into evil.


"STFU and be seduced already!"

Zhao Yunlan, OTOH, saw Shen Wei die and now wants to follow him into death. He outright asks Ye Zun to kill him and has no compunctions stabbing himself with the serum. Some of his actions re: Ye Zun come across as wanting to anger Ye Zun into eating him, too. He's also basically Ye Zun's worst nemesis: Ye Zun cannot manipulate him, because his willpower is too strong for outright mind control, and while he does want things, the things he wants (Shen Wei, world peace) are not within Ye Zun's power to give.


He may not be able to sit up, but he can laugh at every bit of Ye Zun's misfortune.

Some of his planning isn't that good, though – he was drunk/tipsy, but didn't he consider that Ye Zun might be able to follow him and thus leading him right to the Guardian Lantern wasn't the best idea? That said, hiding one of the dark energy gun's bullets in it was a genius move.


When under influence of alcohol, one can easily forget that not only does one have to check the coast in front, one also has to check the coast in the back for clearness.

Canon details

• Zhang Shi can use Dixing powers in Zhao Xinci's body
• Ya Qing recognizes Hua Yuzhu from somewhere, despite Hua Yuzhu not being in on Ye Zun's plans and them not meeting on screen
• The improved serum boosts one's power hundredfold but has large side effects
• Ye Zun still has his cough – when he's cosplaying the Black-Cloaked Envoy, he starts coughing when he has the Lantern after he's tossed the barkeep

Bonus: forehead markings on men are associated with supernatural powers in Chinese culture. Ye Zun gets a dark energy bullet straight in the third eye.

Cinematography
We got some very nice shots from above:

Yashou and Zhang Shi/Zhao Xinci unite. Ye Zun tries inviting Zhao Yunlan for drinks.

Plus close-ups:

Shen Wei is going down. Ye Zun is about to discover Zhao Yunlan got him a surprise.

I also really enjoyed the shots of Zhao Yunlan and Ye Zun drinking together:

"Ha ha ha fuck you."

Bonus compilation of Ye Zun lifting people up by the neck:

Ye Zun didn't like Zhao Yunlan's opinion on his cosplay. Ye Zun found Guo Changcheng annoying in general.


And have Ye Zun looking badass for no reason in particular.

Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
Still the same one.

Even Ye Zun finds it fetching!

Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
There are no glasses in the Magic School Bus crossover.

Or when coughing up blood on the floor.

Comments

[abyss_valkyrie]

Ye Zun trying to seduce Yunlan and getting him drunk would be amusing,and is,until I remember that Shen Wei is dead! No,Ye Zun, you can't just kill your bro and then eat your bro-in-law. O_o
Lol,Zhao Yunlan didn't like his cosplay! The drinking scenes are great and I really also like the behind the scenes of it with Bai Yu flicking Zhu Yilong's hair.STFu and be seduced already has me ROFL-ing.

[extrapenguin]

Ye Zun trying to seduce Yunlan and getting him drunk would be amusing,and is,until I remember that Shen Wei is dead! No,Ye Zun, you can't just kill your bro and then eat your bro-in-law. O_o
Indeed! He should've done it much earlier. Go and seduce a pre-canon Yunlan so you can thumb your nose at gege, Ye Zun!

I really also like the behind the scenes of it with Bai Yu flicking Zhu Yilong's hair
Those gifs are adorable. <3 (And also the basis of all my post-reconciliation Zhao Yunlan/Ye Zun thoughts. Yank those hair tendrils, Yunlan!)

[solo]

I adore the drinking scene - ZYL is like, gonna get ratarsed, gimme moar, and Ye Zun tries so hards to win him over and ZYL just goes haha no. HATEBONER. ♥♥♥

[extrapenguin]

Zhao Yunlan falls back into his old coping methods/long-practiced skills Shen Wei disapproved of and gets shitfaced! He's using Ye Zun for the alcohol.

HATEBONER. ♥♥♥
I didn't think I'd ever encounter that sequence of characters, so, go you on being unique? :D

[lannamichaels]

Ya Qing recognizes Hua Yuzhu from somewhere, despite Hua Yuzhu not being in on Ye Zun's plans and them not meeting on screen

There are only five people in Dragon City. They had a drunken one night stand.

There are no glasses in the Magic School Bus crossover.

*snickers*

[extrapenguin]

There are only five people in Dragon City. They had a drunken one night stand.
So ... Ya Qing was trying to get over Ying Chun, had a drunken one-night stand with the florist Hua Yuzhu, discovered it didn't work, and sodded off? Sounds legit.

[lannamichaels]

It makes so much sense! Both of them trying to get over their girlfriends, both of them failing, and then the awkward meeting again when it's like "I don't know if I recognize you because I slept with you or because we had pilates together."

[extrapenguin]

"I don't know if I recognize you because I slept with you or because we had pilates together."
I am now imagining Ya Qing going to pilates in her feather stuff, and, LOL.

[lannamichaels]

There is a piece of pilates equipment called a Reformer. Just imagine the world we could have when trying to reform Ye Zun and his minions involves going to a gym and working on their abs.

...dammit, too late to shove that into my yuletide letter.

[extrapenguin]

I ... omg. Look, I don't care how late it is, please add it to your Yuletide letter. Surely someone's going to take a look at it after fic deadline, too?

(I am now imagining Ye Zun be very >:| at the apparatus while the poor gym instructor suggests he tie his hair up lest it be pinched somewhere.)

[ratbones]

One costuming thing I've always really liked about this episode and 38 is that Shen Wei's necklace begins to escape his ruined shirt, and by this point it's pretty much always visible. I guess, symbolically, he's not hiding anything anymore (or his heart's been ripped out and left on display, if you want to get painful about it, and you know I do.)

I'm pretty sure Zhao Yunlan's reactions to what happens to Shen Wei in this episode are the hardest thing for me to watch in this whole damn show. I'm holding in the urge to wail over just the stills. Damn, Bai Yu, damn.

Ye Zun still has his cough – when he's cosplaying the Black-Cloaked Envoy, he starts coughing when he has the Lantern after he's tossed the barkeep
Does Ye Zun maybe just have asthma? There are medicines for that now!

On the subject of Ye Zun's badtouching, and uhh CW: sexual abuse for the rest of this comment: I absolutely thought I was supposed to read sexual abuse into the way Ye Zun was treated by the Rebel Leader. He dressed him up real pretty, in contrast to the rest of the rebels, and talked like Ye Zun was his favorite toy, and he obviously used his power to make Ye Zun compliant. And why the hell else was the Leader out recruiting powerless little boys? And then adult Ye Zun is inappropriate with everyone constantly, and is confused and outraged by Shen Wei's loyalty to the person he's sleeping with. I was sort of surprised to find that this wasn't accepted fanon. I definitely can't unsee it. :(

[extrapenguin]

I guess, symbolically, he's not hiding anything anymore (or his heart's been ripped out and left on display, if you want to get painful about it, and you know I do.)
Why not both? Shen Wei gets to die without masks! This includes everyone seeing his heart, which belongs to Zhao Yunlan.

I'm pretty sure Zhao Yunlan's reactions to what happens to Shen Wei in this episode are the hardest thing for me to watch in this whole damn show.
Oh, don't worry, next episode is even worse. :D (As in, there's a scene I found hard to watch for reasons unrelated to embarrassment squick.)

Does Ye Zun maybe just have asthma? There are medicines for that now!
It might also be something like lung scarring after a bad infection, but whatever it is, there are more treatment options for it now! (Though I would 100% read the fic where Ye Zun has asthma and gets meds for it, since "asthma" is so very much opposite to "supervillain" in my mind that the combination is hilarious.)

I absolutely thought I was supposed to read sexual abuse into the way Ye Zun was treated by the Rebel Leader.
It's just ambiguous enough that people can pass it by if it squicks them, but – yes. All of what you said. Here's this boy with no Dixing powers, who's too weak to resist, and dressed up pretty and treated like he is... We see verbal and physical abuse in canon in the <5 minutes we see the Rebel Leader in, so, yeah. Also this is depressing and I just want to send Ye Zun to therapy and give him a blanket. Stop Ye Zun's invasion by wrapping him up in a blanket burrito? (I suspect the reason it's not the accepted fanon is that people concentrate more on Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei, plus a lot of people are squicked by sexual abuse and don't want it anywhere near their canon, and not as part of the villain's origin story.)

[ratbones]

Why not both? Shen Wei gets to die without masks! This includes everyone seeing his heart, which belongs to Zhao Yunlan.
True. This is very nearly a nice thought! I think!

It might also be something like lung scarring after a bad infection, but whatever it is, there are more treatment options for it now!
I had been assuming it was a more serious condition, but when asthma came to mind, suddenly I was picturing Ye Zun pausing in the middle of a villainous monologue to take a puff of his inhaler and I decided it was canon. (...I need this to cope with the ending.)

It's just ambiguous enough that people can pass it by if it squicks them, but – yes.
Yeah, I certainly don't want to make anyone deal with sexual abuse in their experience of fandom, and it is ambiguous enough that it could plausibly be ""just"" physical and verbal abuse. But. Given that you and I are both seeing it: blanket burrito. All the blanket burrito-ing and tea and therapy and rehabilitation for Ye Zun. Argh. (The way the show cuts it to look like Ye Zun is being abused while Shen Wei is absolutely sparkling under the novel and exciting attentions of his True Love makes it woooorse.)

[extrapenguin]

This is very nearly a nice thought! I think!
Anything's a nice thought if your standards are low enough! :D

suddenly I was picturing Ye Zun pausing in the middle of a villainous monologue to take a puff of his inhaler and I decided it was canon. (...I need this to cope with the ending.)
Yes. Yes, that is a good rationale. Ye Zun takes an inhaler break and Zhao Yunlan wraps him up in an inescapable blanket burrito so he can be bundled to reformer pilates like Lanna mentioned upthread. Tragedy? No tragedy here, only abs!

All the blanket burrito-ing and tea and therapy and rehabilitation for Ye Zun. Argh. (The way the show cuts it to look like Ye Zun is being abused while Shen Wei is absolutely sparkling under the novel and exciting attentions of his True Love makes it woooorse.)
One twin gets to know that there are people who want to cuddle him and watch him sparkle. The other just gets abused some more. Hallows, please arrange matters so that Ye Zun doesn't get empillared, but rather dropped at an all expenses paid therapy retreat, k? Then he can graduate to some manner of conflict resolution and get gege cuddles and fussing. (Poor thing. If only!)