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sid_guardian2021-01-23 01:12 am
laireshi) wrote in sid_guardian2021-01-23 01:12 am
Entry tags:
Focus on: Zhao Yunlan rescuing Shen Wei from episode 33
Location of scene: episode 33, 26:30 to 35:10.
(I'm sorry about how long and image-heavy this is!)
Shen Wei is tied to a pillar; the same one that had kept Ye Zun trapped for centuries. He's hurt and weak, leaning forward as much as the chains will allow because he can't stand straight anymore. (It's a good look on him.)
Someone calls his name. He looks up, obviously tired, and sees the Shadow Man. He's the one who attacked Li Qian in episode 1. The Shadow Man gives an explanation of what happened ("That day was an emergency. The Regent opened the jail and organized us prisoners into a siege squad, to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar. Most of us died. I managed to escape by hiding in the shadows."). I'm not sure which day he actually means?
He then brandishes Shen Wei's own sword. The one he sent together with xiao-Guo to the Palace, until Zhao Yunlan finds him. The idea that Zhao Yunlan was in danger gives Shen Wei strength. He straightens up and yells, asking why the Shadow Man has the sword.
Shen Wei's face when he realises the Shadow Man is holding the sword.
Flashback to when he summoned the sword earlier—notice how much it costs him to use dark energy.
Shen Wei struggles. He assumes the worst happened to Zhao Yunlan. The Shadow Man is really unhelpful in replying. He kinda shrugs. You can see Shen Wei lose all hope. He sags against the chains again, closes his eyes.
He's so ready to die there when he thinks Zhao Yunlan is already gone ;;;
Then Zhao Yunlan enters the scene. He calls, "Started how?". Shen Wei slowly opens his eyes. He can't let himself believe. Zhao Yunlan is there, carrying xiao-Guo on his back. He sets him down ad Shen Wei whispers, "Zhao Yunlan". Zhao Yunlan walks up to him and they smile at each other.
The Shadow Man offers more background information in an interesting outlook on a) how Shen Wei deals with Dixingren criminals ("Black-Cloaked Envoy, though you arrested me that day, you consoled my family afterwards and pleaded for me with the Regent. I may have committed a crime, but I do know gratitude.") and then b) the current situation in Dixing ("Now Ye Zun pretends he's fighting to give Dixing people more resources and light. But in reality, he aims to rule all of Haixing. Without your help, we're all finished."). We already saw the Envoy show mercy; I like that we also have a proof that he's trying to be fair and just with those he brings to the trial, too. It also sets the scene for the final confrontation with Ye Zun.
Zhao Yunlan interrupts. His first priority is getting Shen Wei out of those chains. Shen Wei looks visibly in pain for a moment, proving Zhao Yunlan's priorities are right. Zhao Yunlan takes the sword and starts hacking at the chains—and is pushed away. He frowns, tries again, and the resulting shockwave almost pushes him down the stairs.
Shen Wei calls his name, which Zhao Yunlan ignores, getting ready to strike at the chains again.
"You can't go on. You can't go on! Ye zun bespelled these chains. It seems that even my own blade cannot sever them."
Zhao Yunlan isn't impressed. He tells him he won't stand for this evil. Shen Wei keeps yelling Zhao Yunlan's name, but Zhao Yunlan tries again. This time, he falls down. Shen Wei struggles against the chains to no avail, yelling at Zhao Yunlan to stop.
Zhao Yunlan is only interested in that he made progress with breaking the chains; he doesn't worry about the cost to himself.
Shen Wei says again, "Zhao Yunlan, you can't go on! If you keep doing this, you'll get badly injured."
It's a very nice look at their priorities and hypocrisy when their well-being is at stake: Zhao Yunlan doesn't care if he gets hurt as long as he can help Shen Wei. If their positions were reversed, Shen Wei would act in exactly the same way. Of course, Shen Wei hates that Zhao Yunlan is risking himself for him. Only he is allowed to risk himself for Zhao Yunlan!
"Are you listening?!" Shen Wei screams at him, but Zhao Yunlan isn't. He takes a swing, and the Shadow Man stops him. He takes the sword and hits at the chains until he falls down. The shadows dissolve, showing a regular-looking man. The chains break at last.
Shen Wei struggles to get to him; he falls to his knees and can't get up without Zhao Yunlan's help. Zhao Yunlan supports him as he tries to walk to the Shadow Man and talk to him in his last moments. Shen Wei's weakened, holds himself up with a grip on the wall behind him.
"Black-Cloaked Envoy, don't disappoint your people in Dixing," the man says as he dies. Shen Wei makes a move as if he wants to try and heal him, but he collapses instead, clutching at his side in pain, Zhao Yunlan moves closer to help him again. He holds him up. Shen Wei looks at the pillar, looking (prettily dishevelled) shocked and determined.
Zhao Yunlan reassures him, "He definitely didn't die in vain."
Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan share a long look. Zhao Yunlan grasps Shen Wei's arm in support.
The scene changes: they're now back in Haixing. Zhao Yunlan carries xiao-Guo into the SID. Da Qing and Zhu Hong look visibly worried, but it's lao-Chu who runs to get xiao-Guo and bridal carries him to the lab. Zhao Yunlan leaves Zhu Hong in charge: "Shen Wei is injured. I'm taking him home."
Shen Wei, oh-so-predictably, reacts like this:
Zhao Yunlan strongly disagrees.
Zhao Yunlan grabs him by his arm, glares at him in concern, pulls Shen Wei's arm around his own shoulders and embraces him to help him walk. Zhu Hong looks sadly after them before walking off to do something in the SID.
Outside, Zhao Yunlan is no longer half-embracing Shen Wei, instead holding him by one arm. Shen Wei keeps insisting that he can walk by himself. Zhao Yunlan is having none of it. (His full line goes like this: "Walk by yourself? Just look at you, you're like a pregnant woman. Well, hurry and get in the car. The sooner we're settled, the sooner I'll relax.") There's a lot of filming them from further away, framing the scene through blurred objects.
Shen Wei (still pale! Still white-lipped!), stops and gestures at a bench, asking Zhao Yunlan to sit there with him.
It might be just an excuse to take a break because he is, in fact, too hurt to walk (Zhao Yunlan looks around and seems to go "what sunlight" inwardly—we can't see the sky in that scene, but the colours don't look as if it was a sunny day), but I think there's a bit of truth to it, too. Shen Wei is used to living on the surface; it must've been hard for him to be trapped in darkness. (The way the rest of his people are. He must realise that, too?) They sit down. Shen Wei takes a breath before looking at Zhao Yunlan and asking for an update. Zhao Yunlan is somehow reluctant to answer.
Shen Wei asks, "How's the situation?" and Zhao Yunlan only says, "Still going smoothly." Shen Wei is unimpressed with that answer. He insists, mentioning that the SID is the news now. Zhao Yunlan confirms and offers nothing more. Shen Wei asks about the Master of Nightmares and if he got into lao-Chu and Zhu Hong's dreams.
Zhao Yunlan gives him another one-syllable answer. Shen Wei looks proud of them, though: "They were able to overcome their bitterness, and break out of the dream. This shows they are stronger than before." I like how it shows that he cares about the SID team! Zhao Yunlan still only answers in one word.
Shen Wei looks at him, worried, and sees right through him. Zhao Yunlan's answer is "just once". Shen Wei starts to tell him off, mentioning the SID's changed situation now. He probably wants to tell Zhao Yunlan not to risk himself, but Zhao Yunlan interrupts him. He says he knows and he would listen to Shen Wei, but later.
He plays up his tiredness, mentioning how all he wants to do is go to bed and rest, aiming to make Shen Wei finally go home so that he can rest after being trapped in Dixing. (Of course telling Shen Wei that he needs to rest would not work. It reminds me on that scene in the earlier episodes where Zhao Yunlan pretends to have a headache in order to make Shen Wei volunteer himself to get scanned by Lin Jing. But then he was manipulating Shen Wei to confirm something for himself; this time he's doing it for Shen Wei's own well-being.) Shen Wei seems to know what he's doing and laughs a bit, fond, but doesn't seem to feel up to walking quite yet. He says he'd like to stay a moment longer.
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Zhao Yunlan is not amused by that. "Me, go ahead and rest?"
This is such a beautiful declaration of care and commitment. Of course Shen Wei's suggestion was ridiculous. Zhao Yunlan is no more going to leave him alone when he's hurt than Shen Wei would in a reversed situation.
He clearly would prefer to take Shen Wei home, but doesn't actually push him, giving him more time to get his strength back before standing up.
They look at each other again and laugh. The scene ends with them sitting peacefully on a bench.
I love this scene because it's the closest to h/c for Shen Wei we got! He was hurt plenty, but we rarely got comfort to match the hurt, and here we have Zhao Yunlan rescuing and taking care of Shen Wei, and ahhh, it was so good! He knows Shen Wei so well and he's as stubborn as he is. (I am still sad we didn't get to see him tuck Shen Wei into bed though ;) )
(I'm trying very hard not to ask "how did Zhao Yunlan take care of Shen Wei later!", but uh, that's what I'm thinking.)
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.
(I'm sorry about how long and image-heavy this is!)
Shen Wei is tied to a pillar; the same one that had kept Ye Zun trapped for centuries. He's hurt and weak, leaning forward as much as the chains will allow because he can't stand straight anymore. (It's a good look on him.)
Someone calls his name. He looks up, obviously tired, and sees the Shadow Man. He's the one who attacked Li Qian in episode 1. The Shadow Man gives an explanation of what happened ("That day was an emergency. The Regent opened the jail and organized us prisoners into a siege squad, to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar. Most of us died. I managed to escape by hiding in the shadows."). I'm not sure which day he actually means?
He then brandishes Shen Wei's own sword. The one he sent together with xiao-Guo to the Palace, until Zhao Yunlan finds him. The idea that Zhao Yunlan was in danger gives Shen Wei strength. He straightens up and yells, asking why the Shadow Man has the sword.
Shen Wei's face when he realises the Shadow Man is holding the sword.
Flashback to when he summoned the sword earlier—notice how much it costs him to use dark energy.
Shen Wei struggles. He assumes the worst happened to Zhao Yunlan. The Shadow Man is really unhelpful in replying. He kinda shrugs. You can see Shen Wei lose all hope. He sags against the chains again, closes his eyes.
He's so ready to die there when he thinks Zhao Yunlan is already gone ;;;
Then Zhao Yunlan enters the scene. He calls, "Started how?". Shen Wei slowly opens his eyes. He can't let himself believe. Zhao Yunlan is there, carrying xiao-Guo on his back. He sets him down ad Shen Wei whispers, "Zhao Yunlan". Zhao Yunlan walks up to him and they smile at each other.
The Shadow Man offers more background information in an interesting outlook on a) how Shen Wei deals with Dixingren criminals ("Black-Cloaked Envoy, though you arrested me that day, you consoled my family afterwards and pleaded for me with the Regent. I may have committed a crime, but I do know gratitude.") and then b) the current situation in Dixing ("Now Ye Zun pretends he's fighting to give Dixing people more resources and light. But in reality, he aims to rule all of Haixing. Without your help, we're all finished."). We already saw the Envoy show mercy; I like that we also have a proof that he's trying to be fair and just with those he brings to the trial, too. It also sets the scene for the final confrontation with Ye Zun.
Zhao Yunlan interrupts. His first priority is getting Shen Wei out of those chains. Shen Wei looks visibly in pain for a moment, proving Zhao Yunlan's priorities are right. Zhao Yunlan takes the sword and starts hacking at the chains—and is pushed away. He frowns, tries again, and the resulting shockwave almost pushes him down the stairs.
Shen Wei calls his name, which Zhao Yunlan ignores, getting ready to strike at the chains again.
"You can't go on. You can't go on! Ye zun bespelled these chains. It seems that even my own blade cannot sever them."
Zhao Yunlan isn't impressed. He tells him he won't stand for this evil. Shen Wei keeps yelling Zhao Yunlan's name, but Zhao Yunlan tries again. This time, he falls down. Shen Wei struggles against the chains to no avail, yelling at Zhao Yunlan to stop.
Zhao Yunlan is only interested in that he made progress with breaking the chains; he doesn't worry about the cost to himself.
Shen Wei says again, "Zhao Yunlan, you can't go on! If you keep doing this, you'll get badly injured."
It's a very nice look at their priorities and hypocrisy when their well-being is at stake: Zhao Yunlan doesn't care if he gets hurt as long as he can help Shen Wei. If their positions were reversed, Shen Wei would act in exactly the same way. Of course, Shen Wei hates that Zhao Yunlan is risking himself for him. Only he is allowed to risk himself for Zhao Yunlan!
"Are you listening?!" Shen Wei screams at him, but Zhao Yunlan isn't. He takes a swing, and the Shadow Man stops him. He takes the sword and hits at the chains until he falls down. The shadows dissolve, showing a regular-looking man. The chains break at last.
Shen Wei struggles to get to him; he falls to his knees and can't get up without Zhao Yunlan's help. Zhao Yunlan supports him as he tries to walk to the Shadow Man and talk to him in his last moments. Shen Wei's weakened, holds himself up with a grip on the wall behind him.
"Black-Cloaked Envoy, don't disappoint your people in Dixing," the man says as he dies. Shen Wei makes a move as if he wants to try and heal him, but he collapses instead, clutching at his side in pain, Zhao Yunlan moves closer to help him again. He holds him up. Shen Wei looks at the pillar, looking (prettily dishevelled) shocked and determined.
Zhao Yunlan reassures him, "He definitely didn't die in vain."
Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan share a long look. Zhao Yunlan grasps Shen Wei's arm in support.
The scene changes: they're now back in Haixing. Zhao Yunlan carries xiao-Guo into the SID. Da Qing and Zhu Hong look visibly worried, but it's lao-Chu who runs to get xiao-Guo and bridal carries him to the lab. Zhao Yunlan leaves Zhu Hong in charge: "Shen Wei is injured. I'm taking him home."
Shen Wei, oh-so-predictably, reacts like this:
Zhao Yunlan strongly disagrees.
Zhao Yunlan grabs him by his arm, glares at him in concern, pulls Shen Wei's arm around his own shoulders and embraces him to help him walk. Zhu Hong looks sadly after them before walking off to do something in the SID.
Outside, Zhao Yunlan is no longer half-embracing Shen Wei, instead holding him by one arm. Shen Wei keeps insisting that he can walk by himself. Zhao Yunlan is having none of it. (His full line goes like this: "Walk by yourself? Just look at you, you're like a pregnant woman. Well, hurry and get in the car. The sooner we're settled, the sooner I'll relax.") There's a lot of filming them from further away, framing the scene through blurred objects.
Shen Wei (still pale! Still white-lipped!), stops and gestures at a bench, asking Zhao Yunlan to sit there with him.
It might be just an excuse to take a break because he is, in fact, too hurt to walk (Zhao Yunlan looks around and seems to go "what sunlight" inwardly—we can't see the sky in that scene, but the colours don't look as if it was a sunny day), but I think there's a bit of truth to it, too. Shen Wei is used to living on the surface; it must've been hard for him to be trapped in darkness. (The way the rest of his people are. He must realise that, too?) They sit down. Shen Wei takes a breath before looking at Zhao Yunlan and asking for an update. Zhao Yunlan is somehow reluctant to answer.
Shen Wei asks, "How's the situation?" and Zhao Yunlan only says, "Still going smoothly." Shen Wei is unimpressed with that answer. He insists, mentioning that the SID is the news now. Zhao Yunlan confirms and offers nothing more. Shen Wei asks about the Master of Nightmares and if he got into lao-Chu and Zhu Hong's dreams.
Zhao Yunlan gives him another one-syllable answer. Shen Wei looks proud of them, though: "They were able to overcome their bitterness, and break out of the dream. This shows they are stronger than before." I like how it shows that he cares about the SID team! Zhao Yunlan still only answers in one word.
Shen Wei looks at him, worried, and sees right through him. Zhao Yunlan's answer is "just once". Shen Wei starts to tell him off, mentioning the SID's changed situation now. He probably wants to tell Zhao Yunlan not to risk himself, but Zhao Yunlan interrupts him. He says he knows and he would listen to Shen Wei, but later.
He plays up his tiredness, mentioning how all he wants to do is go to bed and rest, aiming to make Shen Wei finally go home so that he can rest after being trapped in Dixing. (Of course telling Shen Wei that he needs to rest would not work. It reminds me on that scene in the earlier episodes where Zhao Yunlan pretends to have a headache in order to make Shen Wei volunteer himself to get scanned by Lin Jing. But then he was manipulating Shen Wei to confirm something for himself; this time he's doing it for Shen Wei's own well-being.) Shen Wei seems to know what he's doing and laughs a bit, fond, but doesn't seem to feel up to walking quite yet. He says he'd like to stay a moment longer.
Zhao Yunlan is not amused by that. "Me, go ahead and rest?"
This is such a beautiful declaration of care and commitment. Of course Shen Wei's suggestion was ridiculous. Zhao Yunlan is no more going to leave him alone when he's hurt than Shen Wei would in a reversed situation.
He clearly would prefer to take Shen Wei home, but doesn't actually push him, giving him more time to get his strength back before standing up.
They look at each other again and laugh. The scene ends with them sitting peacefully on a bench.
I love this scene because it's the closest to h/c for Shen Wei we got! He was hurt plenty, but we rarely got comfort to match the hurt, and here we have Zhao Yunlan rescuing and taking care of Shen Wei, and ahhh, it was so good! He knows Shen Wei so well and he's as stubborn as he is. (I am still sad we didn't get to see him tuck Shen Wei into bed though ;) )
- Shen Wei said the chains were bespelled. What does that mean? How could they hold Shen Wei? The next time we see him after the rescue is in ep 34, and he's still pretty hurt there...
- Was Shen Wei ready to execute his failsafe plan here before Zhao Yunlan came?
- When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
- What's the general Dixing sentiment about the Envoy? The Shadow Man still respected him. Normal Dixingren didn't see Shen Wei get imprisoned there, but what would be their reaction?
(I'm trying very hard not to ask "how did Zhao Yunlan take care of Shen Wei later!", but uh, that's what I'm thinking.)
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.
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Whyyyyyy do neither of them ever figure out that they both feel this way? It seems like the shadow-man managed to figure it out in like thirty seconds!
I am still sad we didn't get to see him tuck Shen Wei into bed though ;)
Right??
And you make a good point about this being the nearest thing we actually get to onscreen Shen Wei h/c. I hadn't really thought about it, since he's injured, like... constantly. But usually he either manages to hide it or else there's some other emergency that takes precedence. So I'm glad this scene is here. :)
("That day was an emergency. The Regent opened the jail and organized us prisoners into a siege squad, to besiege Ye Zun at the Sky Pillar. Most of us died. I managed to escape by hiding in the shadows."). I'm not sure which day he actually means?
I wondered about this too. My best guess would be that the "siege" took place sometime before Ye Zun actually broke free from the Pillar, when the Regent still thought there was a chance of keeping him contained there. I guess most of my evidence for this is just that bit in the series of flashbacks in episode 35 where we see the Regent tell the palace clerk that Ye Zun (still trapped in the Pillar) has been "stirring" recently. He seems displeased about the situation, and adds: "Ten thousand years ago the Black-Cloaked Envoy worked hard to make this refuge viable. I can't be the one to ruin that with my old man's inefficiency." I'm guessing the siege took place shortly after that?
When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
I don't think the Regent ever wanted Ye Zun to escape, or gain power -- I think he just wanted to stay neutral enough that if Ye Zun did take over, he'd still have a chance of surviving (and maybe keeping his position as well). It seems like he knew all along that Ye Zun might be too powerful to keep under control, and in that case, the Regent was willing to submit and serve him, simply out of cowardice. But I think he was always hoping it wouldn't come to that. I'll admit, it's surprising that he'd actually send troops to fight Ye Zun, assuming that's what happened, because that's... not a good way of looking neutral. But letting Ye Zun take power wouldn't benefit him either, and it makes sense that he'd try to prevent it if he could. He's got way more power and authority as one of Dixing's three rulers than he'd have if Ye Zun truly took over. (If Ye Zun bothered to keep him around at all.)
On a side note: I've always found it odd how the bench moves around in this scene. In some shots, it's backed right up against the wall (I think we see Shen Wei lean his head back against it at one point); in other shots, you can see that the bench is turned outward from the wall at an angle (e.g. in the "But we only just got out of there, and I'm exhausted" screencaps here). The only thing I can figure is that the director wanted to film Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei head-on, but also wanted to film them at a distance from behind whatever blurry object it is we see in the foreground there (a ladder?), and therefore chose to turn the bench during the long shots to make the framing work. But why was it so important to film the scene just that way? Anybody have better film-studies knowledge about the significance of this kind of framing?
no subject
I'm not sure that works, since the episode with the Shadow Man from episode 1 had already happened prior to the siege? The flashback was around the time Shen Wei woke from his dirt nap.
no subject
Ah. I guess you're right. His opening with "that day" was confusing to me, because he's obviously not referring to the day he tried to take the Longevity Dial, which is the only day they're currently talking about... so what day does he mean? (Dictionaries insist that 那天 [or 当天] means "that same day" or "that very day," the same as in English, but based on this and other instances, I get the impression that it sometimes means something more like "one day..." or "there was a day when...") I was originally thinking that he was explaining why he'd gone after the Longevity Dial, and was saying that he'd already been an escaped prisoner in episode 1, and his actions had something to do with that. But I see now that he's just explaining why he's not in prison now, despite the fact that the Envoy captured him and wouldn't expect him to be free. That does make more sense.
It would have been nice to get some explanation of his motivation for going after the Dial, though! Was he working for Ye Zun at the time, but later changed sides? Or was he after the Dial for his own reasons? It seems like most of the other Dixingren that the SID go after get more backstory than this poor guy.
no subject
Hm, regarding 当天, yeah, if he meant the day he was sent to prison, that would have been ridiculously early on for the Regent to do such a thing ... IIRC Shen Wei wasn't even aware it was Ye Zun behind Zhu Jiu at first, and I can't imagine the Regent already regarding Ye Zun as such a threat at the time.
Also, it just occurs to me that it's pretty weird Shen Wei doesn't seem to be aware of this siege of the Pillar happening, or at least doesn't ever mention it. And the earlier that happens, the weirder it gets.
This tiny bit opens so many questions ...
no subject
It's a very nice look at their priorities and hypocrisy when their well-being is at stake: Zhao Yunlan doesn't care if he gets hurt as long as he can help Shen Wei. If their positions were reversed, Shen Wei would act in exactly the same way. Of course, Shen Wei hates that Zhao Yunlan is risking himself for him. Only he is allowed to risk himself for Zhao Yunlan!
I love that in the drama. I love that Shen Wei is such a hypocrite when it comes to him getting hurt for Zhan Yunlan and Zhao Yunlan getting hurt for him.
And as much as Shen Wei looks good in chains, I love that scene with them sitting on the bench in Haixing more. They care so much for each other, and that scene shows that beautifully. And then that laughter at the end...
I am still sad we didn't get to see him tuck Shen Wei into bed though ;)
Heh, yes, me, too.
When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
The Regent is an opportunist, but he also clearly loves power, so at that point he probably thought that Ye Zun maybe still could be defeated. Or he underestimated how powerful Ye Zun was?
As for recs – Trobadora recently wrote a lovely fic about the bench scene, and she added a kiss. :)
In the Sun
no subject
(Also, aw, thank you for the rec! ♥(
no subject
(It's a good look on him.)
It really, really is. (I love this fandom.)
Shen Wei said the chains were bespelled. What does that mean? How could they hold Shen Wei? The next time we see him after the rescue is in ep 34, and he's still pretty hurt there...
The chains are pretty loose, too. And they're the chains that were already wrapped around Ye Zun's pillar, so Ye Zun is using the chains that are keeping him trapped to hold Shen Wei. What's the actual mechanism though, I think that's left to the imagination. The chains need to have both magical glue properties and super durability. Also, they probably don't work by suppressing dark energy since Shen Wei can use his powers while chained, and any trouble he has with that can be attributed to his earlier weakness. But it's all vague enough that any explanation could work. They're magical chains.
Was Shen Wei ready to execute his failsafe plan here before Zhao Yunlan came?
It sure does look like it! ;_; The part where he thinks Zhao Yunlan is dead gets me every time. Shen Wei is weak, he's chained to a pillar, but this is when he loses all hope. The shift is visible and his resignation and hopelessness are heartbreaking.
When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
It does seem too proactive for the Regent, but, like
What's the general Dixing sentiment about the Envoy? The Shadow Man still respected him. Normal Dixingren didn't see Shen Wei get imprisoned there, but what would be their reaction?
I think there's a range of opinion regarding the Black-Cloaked Envoy in Dixing. But regardless of people's opinion, even if they don't respect him, even if they don't have any positive feelings towards him, I can only imagine they would be scared to see him hurt and trapped. I wonder how many regular Dixingren would recognise Shen Wei as the Envoy like this though.
no subject
Yeah, this sounds right to me.
I wonder how many regular Dixingren would recognise Shen Wei as the Envoy like this though.
Yeah, he's been running around Dixing in plain clothes lately, but he never seems to have done that before, so not very many people would have seen him!
no subject
Of course, Shen Wei hates that Zhao Yunlan is risking himself for him. Only he is allowed to risk himself for Zhao Yunlan! Ohhhh!What an observation,I didn't think of it like that though yes,they both are so ready to do anything to save the other.
Shen Wei is used to living on the surface; it must've been hard for him to be trapped in darkness. Whoa!Indeed that makes sense because that scene is so not sunny.
Aaaahh,the last scene is just so precious!<3
And well,I love reading other people's take on things but I'm not good at coming up with ideas,meta(whatever they're called. T_T)
Sooo,I have just some icons of this episode:
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This is so them! Each of them thinks he’s the only one allowed to let himself get hurt. If the other does it it's obviously unreasonable! :D
It might be just an excuse to take a break because he is, in fact, too hurt to walk
I don't think he’s too hurt to walk. He made it, unaided, all the way from the portal to the SID while Zhao Yunlan was carrying Xiao-Guo, and while he’s obviously in pain he doesn’t look like he's about to fall over. I think it's part genuine and part lack of urgency. If he had anywhere to be I'm sure he'd push on, but there's nothing in particular that needs doing right now, so he can let himself have some rest.
Shen Wei is used to living on the surface; it must've been hard for him to be trapped in darkness. (The way the rest of his people are. He must realise that, too?)
I'm sure he does realise. All the more reason to appreciate the luxury of getting to have this moment, surely?
But then he was manipulating Shen Wei to confirm something for himself; this time he's doing it for Shen Wei's own well-being.) Shen Wei seems to know what he's doing and laughs a bit
Yeah, I wouldn’t call it manipulative here because it's so obvious and not meant to deceive Shen Wei, more like a gentle nudge than anything.
Shen Wei said the chains were bespelled. What does that mean? How could they hold Shen Wei?
Some application of dark energy that Shen Wei doesn’t know (if it's a specific power) or can't counter because he's weakened (if it's just pure energy)?
Was Shen Wei ready to execute his failsafe plan here before Zhao Yunlan came?
I think so, yes. He didn't expect to be rescued, though I’m sure he would have been glad to get the chance if it wasn't Zhao Yunlan risking himself. He must have considered that this might be it for him.
When the Shadow Man says the Regent organised the prisoners to fight Ye Zun, is it the truth? Why is the Regent fighting him at this point? It doesn't seem like he'd profit from it.
Perhaps at some point the Regent realised that he wouldn't be able to maintain his own power if Ye Zun won, so he gave it some effort. Maybe just enough to still have some plausible deniability of the "I totally knew you would easily win!" sort if Ye Zun did indeed win? An attack from multiple attackers might have seemed like a good idea. Or someone might have got in the equivalent of a lucky blow. And if it worked, great for the Regent! He gets to be a hero at no cost to himself - he sure doesn't give a damn about the prisoners! If not, he can still go with the winner.
What's the general Dixing sentiment about the Envoy? The Shadow Man still respected him. Normal Dixingren didn't see Shen Wei get imprisoned there, but what would be their reaction?
I think that other than the "the Envoy is evil" fanatics that Ye Zun fostered, they'd be horrified whether they like him or not - they're used to thinking of him as nearly all-powerful, after all.
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And I always love that moment where SW thinks ZYL must be dead if he has relinquished the sword, SIGH, it makes me wallow so very hard.
I think the chains are bespelled to use Shen Wei's own energy against him somehow, and that's why they hurt him as well as keep him bound.
Edit: a shameless self-rec! I wrote a story that begins with Zhao Yunlan taking Shen Wei home after this scene, and tucking him into bed. If only they didn't have that dream problem to deal with, still...
Sleeping in spring, I missed the dawn
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He can't let himself believe. ..and Shen Wei whispers "Zhao Yunlan". Zhao Yunlan walks up to him and they smile at each other.
I think a good summary of Shen Wei's important emotional moments throughout the series could be made by the way he says "Zhao Yunlan" (as a sentence all on its own), sometimes addressing Zhao Yunlan but often to himself. (Zhao Yunlan doesn't start saying "Shen Wei" the same way until later on...).
Also, I love their expressions--Shen Wei's "...this isn't happening...is it?" and Zhao Yunlan's "Sweetheart, how do you even get yourself into these things."
"Black-Cloaked Envoy, don't disappoint your people in Dixing," the man says as he dies.
This makes me sad; I wish Shen Wei had had a chance to fight with (at the side of) his people rather than struggling against the Ye Zun-controlled ones on his own. Even if Dixing honored him for it after the fact (we don't know), it's not the same.
Shen Wei, oh-so-predictably, reacts like this:
someone please cast Zhu Yilong in a role where, unlike EVERY SINGLE ONE SO FAR, his character's response to pain is to whine and complain and demand comfort...
They look at each other again and laugh. The scene ends with them sitting peacefully on a bench.
This really is as close to a happy ending as it gets, isn't it. For five minutes, anyway.
(I think there are at least half a dozen post-episode 33 fics by various people and they're all good; we should make a compilation?).
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The chains are pretty fascinating, but a lot of it just has to be down to speculation since the show doesn't give us a ton of solid information. They definitely seem to suppress/drain his dark energy... as you note, he's struggling so hard with just the minor act of saving Guo Changcheng that we can see visible veins from the effort. In the previous episode, when Chu Shuzhi tried to use his energy strings to pull apart the chains, it looked like that was agonizing for Shen Wei and there was a visible dark energy reaction all around them...
But, he doesn't react the same way when Zhao Yunlan and the Shadow Man strike it with Shen Wei's blade...the damage all seemed to be rebounded back onto the person attacking the chains in the following episode, not the person bound by them. Was the effect different because Chu Shuzhi's strings were comprised of energy while the sword was a more physical attack? Because with the strings, the chains were being 'pulled' away altogether, while the sword was doing much more precise strikes against specific links of the chain? Just a lack of continuity? Who knows!
And, oh, just wanted to toss in too, I know the answer to the pillar-siege-squad question! XD This did in fact happen. (It was just in those late-20's episodes that... just don't have quite as high a re-watch value for me, so I forgot until I re-watched episode 27 with a friend.)
So, the immediate cause for the Regent forming the seige squad against the Pillar now is that apparently Ye Zun has been sending poor, mind-controlled guards to make berserker attack runs to try to assassinate the Regent in the palace... between that direct physical threat, and the threat to his regime (reflected in what he says about the public potentially becoming increasingly rebellious if they learn more about how bad the situation really is for Dixing), making a move against the threat that Ye Zun now represents makes a lot of sense for him, especially now while it looks like there's still a shot of keeping him contained and preventing the all-out war he wants to incite. (Wars are generally bad for stable regimes; the Regent would prioritize preventing that if he can... unless, of course, a war was the only way he could preserve his own rule/powerbase/regime. Then, he'd go all in on it, and screw the lives lost.)
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OHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much, I have no idea how we all totally failed to notice this. It's so good to have the answer! You're a star. :D
(I skip over the Regent's scenes too much, I suppose. Bad habit!)