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sid_guardian2021-02-13 07:09 pm
maggie33) wrote in sid_guardian2021-02-13 07:09 pm
Entry tags:
Focus on: Ye Zun pretends to be Shen Wei, from episode 34
Location of scene: episode 34, 19:35 to 26:24
This is quite a long scene, so the long description is behind the cut. :)
Earlier in the episode Wang Zheng and Sang Zan overpowered and tied up two men send by Minster Gao to close down the SID.
In the beginning of this scene first we see Wang Zheng’s face. She smiles and says “Professor Shen. You’re back!” And we see Ye Zun slowly walking up to them. When they look at Ye Zun Wang Zheng and Sang Zan’s smiles fade. It looks to me a bit as if they right away sense that something is not quite right. Ye Zun praises them for capturing people from Haixing Inspectorate. Wang Zheng frowns seeing the completely un-Shen Wei smile on “Shen Wei’s” face.
Ye Zun uses his powers to kill these two man. And then he asks: “Is my little Yunlan in?”
Wang Zheng nods and Ye Zun leaves them there. Wang Zheng asks, frowning: “Why does professor Shen seem off?”
It’s obvious that they know something is wrong, but they can’t figure out what. Not like it would cross they minds at that moment that this is not Shen Wei, since he’s here in the building, and they think that there is a shield preventing someone who’s not the member of the SID or Shen Wei to enter.
Zhao Yunlan is in the lab where he looks at the Longevity Dial and then decides to try to use it. Of course as soon as he picks it up he has his usual adverse reaction to it.
At the same time Sang Zan checks the pulse of Haixing Inspectorate’s people and he and Wang Zheng realize that these two men are dead.
Ye Zun comes into the lab. Zhao Yunlan is still holding the Longevity Dial and it affects him so much that he sinks to his knees on the floor, shaking. You can see how Ye Zun changes his whole demeanor to what he thinks Shen Wei looks and behaves like.
Ye Zun calls out “Yunlan”, and comes closer. Zhao Yunlan manages to get up from his knees with some effort and he puts the Longevity Dial in its place. He breathes deeply and then he laughs. And here is when I always want to yell at Zhao Yunlan: “Shen Wei saw you fondling the Hallow and didn’t instantly berate you or manhandled you sexily. It’s obvious this is not Shen Wei!” :D
Zhan Yunlan is surprised to see Shen Wei at the SID. He asks: “Why did you come running here and stay at home to rest?” Then he complements Ye Zun’s outfit.
Ye Zun says: “I wasn’t sure if it suits me, so I wore it over for you to take a look.”
Seriously, Ye Zun, that’s what you think your brother’s relationship with his boyfriend is? ;)
Ye Zun asks then: “So, you’re studying the Holly Tools?”
Zhao Yunlan: “I just figured out how to use them. I remember you telling me that the resonance from the Holly Tools does not only predicts the future, it can also disrupt the flow of time. So if we manage to travel to a point when Ye Zun hasn’t broken free yet, and even before Wang Xiangyang’s wife died, then the situation we have now can be nipped in the bud.”
Ye Zun: “But the time corrects itself. Even if you change one factor, other factors will steer towards today’s outcome. Moreover, there’s no record of anyone coming back whole after entering a wormhole.”
Zhao Yunlan: “But we’ve still got to try, right?”
Zhao Yunlan sits down and Ye Zun comes closer to the Longevity Dial staring at it with desire in his eyes.
“You’re the Guardian of humankind, yet they call for you to be beaten, even killed. Is it worth it, you doing this?”
That look of realization on Zhao Yunlan’s face – in that moment he knows this is not Shen Wei.
Ye Zun looks very frustrated that he can’t just take the Hallows himself, but he forces a smile and then he turns to Zhao Yunlan and says: “Why don’t I do it for you? I’m from Dixing, I have plenty of experience controlling dark energy. You can hand these Holly Tools over to me.”
I would say that he doesn’t even try very hard to pretend to be Shen Wei here. He’s just so impatient to have the Hallows in his grasp.
Zhan Yunlan laughs. He says: “When you put it like that it makes a lot of sense.”
Ye Zun smiles with such a pleased smiles, thinking he’s won.
Zhao Yunlan says in a light tone: “Ok, I’ll hand these Holly Tools… “ And then he presses his gun into Ye Zun’s side.
He says: “You are not Shen Wei. The things you say would never cross his lips. “Is it worth it?” We don’t deal with matters based on what’s in it for us. You must be Ye Zun. Your cover’s blown.”
Ye Zun smiles. Zhao Yunlan asks him how did he break through the SID’s shield? Ye Zun says, that whoever started the trouble should end it, and he admits that he used the Master od Nightmares one more time. Zhao Yunlan instantly knows who Ye Zun is talking about. He asks: “What did you do to Lin Jing?”
Ye Zun does this with his tongue:
He says: “Just made him dream.”
Zhao Yunlan shoots the gun, but Ye Zun is quicker. Zhao Yunlan tries again with the same result.
Ye Zun tries to use his power on Zhao Yunlan, but at that moment Wang Zheng and Sang Zan run into the room and throw themselves in front of their Chief. Sang Zan says: “Thank you for letting us live again for so long. We’ll see this through.”
Ye Zun is indeed very annoyed at being interrupted and he uses his power to devour Wang Zheng and Sang Zan while Zhao Yunlan looks helplessly unable to do anything. Ye Zun focuses all his power again on Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan tries to resist and with a lot of effort he raises his gun again.
Then the Hallows start to glow and hum and the wormhole opens in the air.
Shan Wei runs into the room and severs the dark energy connection between Ye Zun and Zhao Yunlan, but it’s too late. Zhao Yunlan got sucked into the wormhole.
Ye Zun disappears, laughing. We hear his voice saying to Shen Wei: “You and I must have an ending. The show has only just started.”
Questions:
1. What did Zhao Yunlan think about Ye Zun looking exactly like Shen Wei? I don’t think his mind jumped to “twins”, so maybe he thought that Ye Zun had power to make himself look like somebody else?
2. What do Wang Zheng and Sang Zan think when they realize that the two men send by Haixing Inspectorate are dead? Do they think that this was not Shen Wei? Or do they think that this is Shen Wei but something is very wrong with him?
3. What Zhao Yunlan plan was when he took the Longevity Dial in the beginning of this scene? Did he expect the Hallows to do something particular at that moment?
4. What do you think about Ye Zun’s words on how time travel works in this universe – that you can’t change anything because the timeline will correct himself anyway.
5. And please talk to me about how Ye Zun imagines Shen Wei talks and behaves like, because Ye Zun’s choices here amuse me so much. :)
So come and discuss it with me. :) Links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old, are very much appreciated. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about this scene.
This is quite a long scene, so the long description is behind the cut. :)
Earlier in the episode Wang Zheng and Sang Zan overpowered and tied up two men send by Minster Gao to close down the SID.
In the beginning of this scene first we see Wang Zheng’s face. She smiles and says “Professor Shen. You’re back!” And we see Ye Zun slowly walking up to them. When they look at Ye Zun Wang Zheng and Sang Zan’s smiles fade. It looks to me a bit as if they right away sense that something is not quite right. Ye Zun praises them for capturing people from Haixing Inspectorate. Wang Zheng frowns seeing the completely un-Shen Wei smile on “Shen Wei’s” face.
Ye Zun uses his powers to kill these two man. And then he asks: “Is my little Yunlan in?”
Wang Zheng nods and Ye Zun leaves them there. Wang Zheng asks, frowning: “Why does professor Shen seem off?”
It’s obvious that they know something is wrong, but they can’t figure out what. Not like it would cross they minds at that moment that this is not Shen Wei, since he’s here in the building, and they think that there is a shield preventing someone who’s not the member of the SID or Shen Wei to enter.
Zhao Yunlan is in the lab where he looks at the Longevity Dial and then decides to try to use it. Of course as soon as he picks it up he has his usual adverse reaction to it.
At the same time Sang Zan checks the pulse of Haixing Inspectorate’s people and he and Wang Zheng realize that these two men are dead.
Ye Zun comes into the lab. Zhao Yunlan is still holding the Longevity Dial and it affects him so much that he sinks to his knees on the floor, shaking. You can see how Ye Zun changes his whole demeanor to what he thinks Shen Wei looks and behaves like.
Ye Zun calls out “Yunlan”, and comes closer. Zhao Yunlan manages to get up from his knees with some effort and he puts the Longevity Dial in its place. He breathes deeply and then he laughs. And here is when I always want to yell at Zhao Yunlan: “Shen Wei saw you fondling the Hallow and didn’t instantly berate you or manhandled you sexily. It’s obvious this is not Shen Wei!” :D
Zhan Yunlan is surprised to see Shen Wei at the SID. He asks: “Why did you come running here and stay at home to rest?” Then he complements Ye Zun’s outfit.
Ye Zun says: “I wasn’t sure if it suits me, so I wore it over for you to take a look.”
Seriously, Ye Zun, that’s what you think your brother’s relationship with his boyfriend is? ;)
Ye Zun asks then: “So, you’re studying the Holly Tools?”
Zhao Yunlan: “I just figured out how to use them. I remember you telling me that the resonance from the Holly Tools does not only predicts the future, it can also disrupt the flow of time. So if we manage to travel to a point when Ye Zun hasn’t broken free yet, and even before Wang Xiangyang’s wife died, then the situation we have now can be nipped in the bud.”
Ye Zun: “But the time corrects itself. Even if you change one factor, other factors will steer towards today’s outcome. Moreover, there’s no record of anyone coming back whole after entering a wormhole.”
Zhao Yunlan: “But we’ve still got to try, right?”
Zhao Yunlan sits down and Ye Zun comes closer to the Longevity Dial staring at it with desire in his eyes.
“You’re the Guardian of humankind, yet they call for you to be beaten, even killed. Is it worth it, you doing this?”
That look of realization on Zhao Yunlan’s face – in that moment he knows this is not Shen Wei.
Ye Zun looks very frustrated that he can’t just take the Hallows himself, but he forces a smile and then he turns to Zhao Yunlan and says: “Why don’t I do it for you? I’m from Dixing, I have plenty of experience controlling dark energy. You can hand these Holly Tools over to me.”
I would say that he doesn’t even try very hard to pretend to be Shen Wei here. He’s just so impatient to have the Hallows in his grasp.
Zhan Yunlan laughs. He says: “When you put it like that it makes a lot of sense.”
Ye Zun smiles with such a pleased smiles, thinking he’s won.
Zhao Yunlan says in a light tone: “Ok, I’ll hand these Holly Tools… “ And then he presses his gun into Ye Zun’s side.
He says: “You are not Shen Wei. The things you say would never cross his lips. “Is it worth it?” We don’t deal with matters based on what’s in it for us. You must be Ye Zun. Your cover’s blown.”
Ye Zun smiles. Zhao Yunlan asks him how did he break through the SID’s shield? Ye Zun says, that whoever started the trouble should end it, and he admits that he used the Master od Nightmares one more time. Zhao Yunlan instantly knows who Ye Zun is talking about. He asks: “What did you do to Lin Jing?”
Ye Zun does this with his tongue:
He says: “Just made him dream.”
Zhao Yunlan shoots the gun, but Ye Zun is quicker. Zhao Yunlan tries again with the same result.
Ye Zun tries to use his power on Zhao Yunlan, but at that moment Wang Zheng and Sang Zan run into the room and throw themselves in front of their Chief. Sang Zan says: “Thank you for letting us live again for so long. We’ll see this through.”
Ye Zun is indeed very annoyed at being interrupted and he uses his power to devour Wang Zheng and Sang Zan while Zhao Yunlan looks helplessly unable to do anything. Ye Zun focuses all his power again on Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan tries to resist and with a lot of effort he raises his gun again.
Then the Hallows start to glow and hum and the wormhole opens in the air.
Shan Wei runs into the room and severs the dark energy connection between Ye Zun and Zhao Yunlan, but it’s too late. Zhao Yunlan got sucked into the wormhole.
Ye Zun disappears, laughing. We hear his voice saying to Shen Wei: “You and I must have an ending. The show has only just started.”
Questions:
1. What did Zhao Yunlan think about Ye Zun looking exactly like Shen Wei? I don’t think his mind jumped to “twins”, so maybe he thought that Ye Zun had power to make himself look like somebody else?
2. What do Wang Zheng and Sang Zan think when they realize that the two men send by Haixing Inspectorate are dead? Do they think that this was not Shen Wei? Or do they think that this is Shen Wei but something is very wrong with him?
3. What Zhao Yunlan plan was when he took the Longevity Dial in the beginning of this scene? Did he expect the Hallows to do something particular at that moment?
4. What do you think about Ye Zun’s words on how time travel works in this universe – that you can’t change anything because the timeline will correct himself anyway.
5. And please talk to me about how Ye Zun imagines Shen Wei talks and behaves like, because Ye Zun’s choices here amuse me so much. :)
So come and discuss it with me. :) Links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, new or old, are very much appreciated. Basically, this is the place for anything you want to say or link to about this scene.
no subject
I absolutely think that viewers are supposed to read this scene as Zhao Yunlan not realizing this is not Shen Wei and only realizing that after “Is it worth it?”. I always joke (and in this post, too) that he should have known because Shen Wei didn’t yell at him for touching the Hallows. But IMO it’s clear that Zhao Yunlan never has any suspicions at first.
I posted about this briefly a while ago -- how the contrast between Shen Wei's and Ye Zun's views of time travel (if we take Ye Zun at his word here) reflect their psychologies and world views. But actually, I agree with winter_blossom on the comments to that post that Ye Zun might well believe the opposite of what he's saying and be trying to dissuade Zhao Yunlan from a course that could unravel all of Ye Zun's progress so far.
I always thought that Ye Zun was telling the truth in this scene, or at least that he believed what he was telling was the truth. But I’m inclined to think that Ye Zun was telling the truth and that’s how time travel works in the drama. IMO that reading is supported by Zhao Yunlan’s time travel to YOHE. Him being there there didn’t change anything in the present time. On the contrary it was necessary for him to be there, so everything in the present time went exactly as we witnessed.
And now I want a fic about Zhao Yunlan not going to the past (maybe Shen Wei appeared a bit earlier and stopped him), and how that would change things. But it would probably make things so much worse, wouldn’t it? It would be a very angsty fic. :)
But I also love that from your earlier post:
Maybe Ye Zun, otoh, can't stand the idea of "perhaps it could have gone differently", because then it hurts even more that it turned out how it did, feels even more bitter and arbitrarily cruel? So he tends to believe in determinism as a defence mechanism?
Aww, poor Ye Zun... I like that, because yes, it’s very IC for him to think like that.
Ye Zun's view of Shen Wei is bizarre -- approval-seeking, responsibility-avoiding, calling ZYL "xiao-Yunlan" to the other SID members. So much projecting going on, he's practically a multiplex.
LOL Yes, that is true. :D
no subject
I think you're right, but I also think there's something off about their exchange, and imo it's not just on Ye Zun's part. *rewatches* The last time we saw Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei together, they were hanging out on the bench, really in tune, right? Whereas this conversation feels very testing-y to me, like something from earlier in their relationship. No casual touches or flirting. No asking Shen Wei how he's feeling after his Dixing ordeal. So atm, I'm leaning towards Zhao Yunlan thinking Shen Wei is acting strangely -- after all, if Wang Zheng notices, Zhao Yunlan certainly would, right? And given the state he left Shen Wei in, the idea of his coming to the SID to show off new clothes is laughable, especially in the middle of a crisis. But yeah, it's not until "Is it worth it?" that he figures out it's not just Shen Wei being off-kilter for some reason. (I may change my mind about this again tomorrow. ;-p)
But I’m inclined to think that Ye Zun was telling the truth and that’s how time travel works in the drama.
Oh, but doesn't that make Shen Wei's secrets unnecessary? And Ma Gui's telling Zhao Yunlan to keep his identity secret? I guess I want to believe people can change things more than that, and not everything is fixed. I find it more satisfying, somehow (and it allows more space for fixits ;-).
no subject
Oh, yes, I agree. Zhao Yunlan does think that Shen Wei is being weird, but at that point he still thinks this is Shen Wei, and not an impostor.
Oh, but doesn't that make Shen Wei's secrets unnecessary? And Ma Gui's telling Zhao Yunlan to keep his identity secret? I guess I want to believe people can change things more than that, and not everything is fixed. I find it more satisfying, somehow (and it allows more space for fixits ;-).
Heh, I like both kinds of time travel – the one when you can’t change things and the outcome is the same no matter how much you tried to change it, and the one when you absolutely can change things in present time by changing something in the past. I just really love time travel, ok? :D
As for Shen Wei keeping secrets – I think he just wasn’t really sure what was the correct thing to do here. And at first he probably also wasn’t sure what was really happening. I don’t think he instantly guessed “oh, Zhao Yunlan I’ve met in present time would travel back in time”. I also really like to ponder what would happen if Shen Wei did tell Zhao Yunlan the truth earlier. Would Zhao Yunlan knowing the truth change things? Would they actively try to find the way for Zhao Yunlan to travel back in time or would they just wait for the progress of events? Or would they try to prevent it? What would happen if Zhao Yunlan didn’t travel back in time? I would love to read a fic like that, too. :)
no subject
Hee! Ok! *hearts* I like both kinds too, in general. Here, in canon, I think if it were meant to be unchangeable, we'd have seen someone trying to change it and failing, because that's how stories usually tell you that fate is inevitable, you know? Instead we see people going out of their way to keep things the same. But you could definitely make an argument for the Hallows orchestrating things to their liking...
Ah, we differ on that point. I think Shen Wei had a pretty good idea that there was time travel involved as soon as he arrived in present day, figured out pretty quickly that the time loop had yet to close, and was keeping his secrets quite deliberately. Aside from anything else, he already knew first-hand about the Hallows and wormholes and Dixing powers, so he wouldn't think time travel was as far-fetched an explanation as we would, and there's plenty of clues for him to have picked up on.
But yes, there are lots of delicious ways you could diverge from canon in fic, tons of fascinating what-ifs. :-)