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sid_guardian2020-10-31 10:21 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2020-10-31 10:21 pm
Entry tags:
Focus on: "Were you just pretending right from the start?" from episode 13/14
Location of scene: episode 13, 38:03 to 42:27, and episode 14, 2:09 to 2:36
Description:
Last we saw Shen Wei, he was frantically searching for Zhao Yunlan, at least once spitting blood in the process. Now he arrives at the SID in a hurry. This is the scene that greets him:
(Lovely framing, and a great shot of the SID!)
A somewhat edited version of events
What we see initially is this: Shen Wei checks the fallen Zhu Hong; then Zhao Yunlan arrives, bland-faced, eyes unfocused. Shen Wei confronts him, he walks closer and grabs him by the lapels. "Snap out of it!"
Shen Wei tries to get through to Zhao Yunlan: "Zhao Yunlan... We haven't known each other for long, but I already consider you my best friend." (Holding him by the lapels the entire time, and speaking very urgently.)
Zhao Yunlan, still blank-faced, pushes him back and draws his gun as Zhu Jiu, Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi appear behind him.
Zhu Jiu taunts Shen Wei: "You think he's your best friend, but he sees you as his enemy." And he tells Zhao Yunlan to kill Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan fires his gun, and Shen Wei falls.
But then Shen Wei, having faked out Zhu Jiu, rises again; Zhao Yunlan pulls his gun on Zhu Jiu and shoots him, wounding his arm. A fantastic badass battle couple moment. ♥
Zhu Jiu: "Impossible! Nobody can escape Zhen Yi's control."
Zhao Yunlan gives him the scientific explanation, and tells Shen Wei: "You guessed at once. Much smarter than Zhu Hong."
Flashback: what really happened
In flashback, we find out what happened: Shen Wei, who had been frantically searching for Zhao Yunlan, found Zhu Hong unconscious, with a graze on her neck - and between that moment and when he confronted Zhao Yunlan, he must have understood Zhao Yunlan was faking it, immediately and smoothly changed course from "rescue Zhao Yunlan" to "work with Zhao Yunlan to trick Zhu Jiu", and formulated a plan.
The first thing he says to Zhao Yunlan is, "Zhao Yunlan, you actually killed Zhu Hong" - in one brief sentence letting Zhao Yunlan know that he knows he's faking, without raising Zhu Jiu's suspicions at all. And when Shen Wei grabs Zhao Yunlan by the lapels, loudly telling him to snap out of him, the next he does is quietly tell him to pull his gun.
(This is an excellent performance, btw - Zhao Yunlan's eyes go from blank to alert in an instant, and then he winks at Shen Wei just before he pushes him away and pulls his gun on him.)
And on Zhao Yunlan's part, when Shen Wei arrives and lets him know he knows, he never for a moment falters in his blank-faced performance. The two of them smoothly and effortlessly fall into step, working in perfect synch. Seriously, they're both so amazing in this.
In the present, Zhao Yunlan asks after Zhu Hong, and Shen Wei tells him she is fine; she'll wake up soon.
Then Shen Wei finally confronts him with the question that must have been on his mind from the moment he found Zhu Hong: "Were you just pretending right from the start?"
Zhao Yunlan: "Yep! How else would I have got you to disclose your identity?"
Zhao Yunlan is entirely too pleased with himself, and Shen Wei is Not Amused. *g*
Shen Wei then goes Envoy at Zhu Jiu, summoning his blade as he strides forward. But Zhu Jiu pushes Zheng Yi away and jumps out of the window, where he is picked up by Ya Qing.
(And I'll end it here - what comes next, with Zhao Yunlan picking up the Mountain-River Awl and having visions - including one forward to episode 17), is a thing worth discussing on its own.)
Questions
Links
I didn't have time to really search for links, so the only thing I have to offer here is this gorgeous art of Guardian moments by 噫！. I hope someone else can provide!
So, come and have your say! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs are wholeheartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about this scene.
Description:
Last we saw Shen Wei, he was frantically searching for Zhao Yunlan, at least once spitting blood in the process. Now he arrives at the SID in a hurry. This is the scene that greets him:
(Lovely framing, and a great shot of the SID!)
A somewhat edited version of events
What we see initially is this: Shen Wei checks the fallen Zhu Hong; then Zhao Yunlan arrives, bland-faced, eyes unfocused. Shen Wei confronts him, he walks closer and grabs him by the lapels. "Snap out of it!"
Shen Wei tries to get through to Zhao Yunlan: "Zhao Yunlan... We haven't known each other for long, but I already consider you my best friend." (Holding him by the lapels the entire time, and speaking very urgently.)
Zhao Yunlan, still blank-faced, pushes him back and draws his gun as Zhu Jiu, Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi appear behind him.
Zhu Jiu taunts Shen Wei: "You think he's your best friend, but he sees you as his enemy." And he tells Zhao Yunlan to kill Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan fires his gun, and Shen Wei falls.
But then Shen Wei, having faked out Zhu Jiu, rises again; Zhao Yunlan pulls his gun on Zhu Jiu and shoots him, wounding his arm. A fantastic badass battle couple moment. ♥
Zhu Jiu: "Impossible! Nobody can escape Zhen Yi's control."
Zhao Yunlan gives him the scientific explanation, and tells Shen Wei: "You guessed at once. Much smarter than Zhu Hong."
Flashback: what really happened
In flashback, we find out what happened: Shen Wei, who had been frantically searching for Zhao Yunlan, found Zhu Hong unconscious, with a graze on her neck - and between that moment and when he confronted Zhao Yunlan, he must have understood Zhao Yunlan was faking it, immediately and smoothly changed course from "rescue Zhao Yunlan" to "work with Zhao Yunlan to trick Zhu Jiu", and formulated a plan.
The first thing he says to Zhao Yunlan is, "Zhao Yunlan, you actually killed Zhu Hong" - in one brief sentence letting Zhao Yunlan know that he knows he's faking, without raising Zhu Jiu's suspicions at all. And when Shen Wei grabs Zhao Yunlan by the lapels, loudly telling him to snap out of him, the next he does is quietly tell him to pull his gun.
(This is an excellent performance, btw - Zhao Yunlan's eyes go from blank to alert in an instant, and then he winks at Shen Wei just before he pushes him away and pulls his gun on him.)
And on Zhao Yunlan's part, when Shen Wei arrives and lets him know he knows, he never for a moment falters in his blank-faced performance. The two of them smoothly and effortlessly fall into step, working in perfect synch. Seriously, they're both so amazing in this.
In the present, Zhao Yunlan asks after Zhu Hong, and Shen Wei tells him she is fine; she'll wake up soon.
Then Shen Wei finally confronts him with the question that must have been on his mind from the moment he found Zhu Hong: "Were you just pretending right from the start?"
Zhao Yunlan: "Yep! How else would I have got you to disclose your identity?"
Zhao Yunlan is entirely too pleased with himself, and Shen Wei is Not Amused. *g*
Shen Wei then goes Envoy at Zhu Jiu, summoning his blade as he strides forward. But Zhu Jiu pushes Zheng Yi away and jumps out of the window, where he is picked up by Ya Qing.
(And I'll end it here - what comes next, with Zhao Yunlan picking up the Mountain-River Awl and having visions - including one forward to episode 17), is a thing worth discussing on its own.)
Questions
- So many excellent bits in this! What's your favourite thing about this scene?
- If you can remember the first time you watched this scene, did the fake-out work for you? Did you think Zhao Yunlan had really shot Shen Wei?
- Speaking of: what actually happened when Zhao Yunlan shot at Shen Wei? Did he deliberately miss? (Wouldn't one of the three people watching have noticed, at point blank range?) Did he graze him, the way he did Zhu Hong? He never hesitates - is that because he's not shooting him, or because he's that confident in Shen Wei's ability to handle it?
- How sure is Shen Wei that Zhao Yunlan really is in control of himself, before Zhao Yunlan winks at him? He never hesitates either, but is part of him still gauging the situation?
- What would Shen Wei have done if Zhao Yunlan hadn't had his gun?
- Or if he'd found Zhao Yunlan actually mind-controlled, or only partially resisting? (Would he have attempted to surreptitiously send a surge of black energy through ZYL's body to disrupt the mind control?
- For that matter, what would Zhao Yunlan have done if Shen Wei hadn't turned up at that point? How much further would he have let things progress, given that he already had Zhu Jiu, Tan Xiao, Zheng Yi and the Hallows all in one place, and didn't act?)
- Was Zhao Yunlan actually faking out Shen Wei in particular, or did he just grab the opportunity to fake out Zhu Jiu when it arose, and deceiving Shen Wei came with it?
- Just how annoyed is Shen Wei with Zhao Yunlan's risk-taking - and his gleeful gloating at the end? *g*
Links
I didn't have time to really search for links, so the only thing I have to offer here is this gorgeous art of Guardian moments by 噫！. I hope someone else can provide!
So, come and have your say! Share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old! Self-recs are wholeheartedly encouraged. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about this scene.
no subject
But I'm all here for the ongoing freakouts. More ZYL angst!
(At least he does ask Shen Wei, even before Zhu Jiu escapes, before the "were you just pretending from the start" exchange. And Shen Wei tells him she's fine and will wake up soon. And not reacting seems pretty him if he's trying to play down something serious.)
no subject