sid_guardian | Guardian Episode by Episode: 01

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Guardian Episode by Episode: 01

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Please note that this episode-by-episode watchalong is more of a re-watchalong, as I'll be discussing things a lot from a foreshadowy perspective. This one will have notes on the cinematography, introductions, and characterization, mostly. As a companion, I also have a screencap album on Imgur.

Introductions
The first introduction we get is that of Shen Wei.

What with the sly looks and later the half-smiles while talking to Professor Ouyang, I cannot help but interpret this as a Villain Introduction. Like, this is how I'd expect a show to introduce its main villain. (Shen Wei is also dressed considerably more palely than his usual fare here, which might be foreshadowing Ye Zun? IDK.) They're essentially putting a huge neon bulb saying there's something up with this dude.

Then, we get Guo Changcheng, meeting Zhao Yunlan and the rest of the SID.

We see Guo Changcheng as being a hapless scaredycat, and also framed as the protagonist here. (Had I not known he wasn't, I'd have considered rage quitting, tbh.) Zhao Yunlan, we get to know as someone uncomfortably touchy and boundary-crossing, a bad boy rebel who rides a motorbike – and then reveals to the rest of the team that they're to tolerate Guo Chengcheng, because the boy's uncle is a minister, and we must suck up to power if we are to get that new location.

Looking at the rest of the SID's introductions, Zhu Hong, Wang Zheng, and lao-Li get introductions accurate to who they are in the rest of the canon, pretty much, but Lin Jing doesn't – he's framed as much more terrifying here, and his hair is Einstein-like after-an-explosion rather than his usual hairstyle.

The final SID member introduced is Chu Shuzhi! He gets to have a big damn heroes moment where he saves damsel in distress Guo Changcheng and Li Qian's gramma. Then he snarls grumpily at the useless newbie.

Characterization notes
Zhao Yunlan is very clearly someone who puts on a mask and never takes it off. He's very much a performance, all the way through, and his compliments of Guo Changcheng all ring false. We also see him ask for the local cops to call him "xiao-Zhao" instead of "Chief Zhao", likely an indication of him only recently stepping into the post, and still thinking of Chief Zhao as being his father.

Another thing to note is that Zhao Yunlan is not at all enthused to see the Black-Cloaked Envoy appear, even if he calls him a good friend to his face (so Guo Changcheng doesn't get taken to Dixing prison for being rude).

Shen Wei is not behaving like a regular professor towards Li Qian at all. He's basically adopted the kid; nothing else makes sense. He walks her to classes and asks about her home life! (Contrast this to how he treats Guo Changcheng when the latter interrupts his dramatic exist as the Envoy.) Then, when she asks him if it's worth doing everything in your power to protect someone, he says that yes it is, always.

Also, please note this important piece of Professorial disguise:

Another thing of note is that Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan almost immediately fall into their ... probing, slippery-evasive-battle of wits manner of conversation. Of note is their third conversation, where Shen Wei straight-up asks whether Zhao Yunlan considers Dixingians to be people "like us", and then Zhao Yunlan evades the question by complimenting Professor Shen's wide knowledge base.

Cinematography
In this episode the show loves framing shots through doorways, windows, etc...

...and also from below.

Canon details

Dixingians and Yashous' ancestors arrived on Earth over 10k years ago, and are much fewer in number than humans
Professor Ouyang and his friend Professor Zhou (Shen Wei's mentor and likely thesis supervisor) know about Dixingians
Guo Changcheng is 24 "this year", so he might be 23 still at the start
hints are dropped that the arrival of the Proto-Dixing-Yashou spaceship caused a technological breakthrough of some sort

phyrry has informed us that the Envoy's weapon is a sha yu tou dao/yutoudao (shark-head saber/fish-head saber). Here are some shots of the butt of the pole and its silhouette:

Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
Two! Though he wears the first one twice, with a leather jacket in between.

Did Shen Wei appear maskless?
Yes! We see Shen Wei maskless (no glasses, no mask) when he's looking at Zhao Yunlan's data sheet.

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It's a great point about Shen Wei getting the Villain Intro. But then he's so pretty, and so obviously immediately gaga for Zhao Yunlan, that the show can't sustain it for very long.

It all combines into a flashing neon sign of "pay attention to this dude" – first the villain intro, then the incongruous hearteyes at Zhao Yunlan, then the "I have waited for ten thousand years – I hope you still remember your promise to meet" monologue of slight foreboding, then the supreme protectiveness over Li Qian. Lots of things that don't necessarily add up like how one'd expect them to!

It's like they're stacking multiple levels of "this guy isn't what he seems" on top of each other! :D

Love this post, thanks for making it! Looking forward to future ones as well. :D

What with the sly looks and later the half-smiles while talking to Professor Ouyang, I cannot help but interpret this as a Villain Introduction. Like, this is how I'd expect a show to introduce its main villain.

That was my exact thought too! I wonder if they were going for more of a cat-and-mouse vibe than the end result, especially when you think about the interrogation scene they had going. I think it would have been fun to amp up that level of tension more, though I don't mind the "thirsty but suspicious" approach Zhao Yunlan ended up taking.

And that is a very interesting/nice close-up of Shen Wei's weapon! I honestly never noticed it in such detail before.

I think they partly just wanted to put a neon sign that said "This character is important" over Shen Wei's head, and add to the mystery, but yes, it would indicate a more cat-and-mouse vibe! As well as more suspicion on what Dixingians are, and whether the Envoy can be trusted. I suppose the end result worked on a more meta level, of first impressions not always being something to trust.

I also have a screenshot of the blade of his polearm here from when I was frantically trying to figure out what kind of polearm it was. (This is the problem with weapons classification: unless you're dealing with a sword that fits into Oakshott's typology, there are no authoritative answers, only approximations. Sigh.)

There's also a pretty nice view in episdoe 23! Though now I wonder whether they changed the pole material, as it's significantly less dark in ep 23. The blade is the same, though.

It's a very interestingly shaped blade, that is true, even if the precise term might be down to approximation. It is capable of slashing (on one side) and poking, and seems to have a small space between sharpened blade and the mount of the pole where one may try to capture an opponent's polearm, albeit ineffectively.

I'm so glad you're doing these! I just started to rewatch, so will happily follow along.

I'm intrigued about ZYL's reaction the Black-Cloaked Envoy. I find it hard to tell how he feels about the Envoy in that scene. I believe he also says that this is the first time that the Envoy has appeared since he started the job? So I wonder how much he knew going into it and what his father told him.

Another thing, related to eps 34-35, is Shen Wei's initial reaction to seeing ZYL. From my understanding of eps 34-35, Shen Wei probably thought that ZYL (aka Kunlun) had died. So had zero expectation of seeing him again, although I suppose he might have thought he would be reincarnated? Anyway, I'm wondering about when exactly Shen Wei realizes that Kunlun was in fact ZYL. Does he start putting the whole thing together immediately, with the Hallows and everything? If not, what exactly is he thinking?

Also, ZYL's fondness for lollipops had to be a major clue!!

Thanks! I'll try to get one per week, but it might not always be Fridays.

I suppose he might've seen the Envoy once or twice before, during his father's tenure – maybe in the context of the Envoy arriving too late to save his mom, even. (Also, Chu Shuzhi was handed over by the Envoy, so that must've happened before Zhao Yunlan's time – but also after Zhao Xinci's so there must've been an intermediate chief.)

That's an interesting thought! He probably did think Kunlun was dead at the start, though when he saw a lollipop wrapper for the first time in the present, he'd likely realize that Kunlun was also a time traveler, especially given how freely Zhao Yunlan threw out the words "10 000 years". The big question would be whether Shen Wei thought Kunlun came from this decade, the prior one, or some yet to come...

Zhao Yunlan is such a jerk in this episode! He's rude to just about everyone and downright mean to Guo Changcheng. But everyone else's reaction to him is clearly 'yeah, he's a jerk, but he's OUR jerk.' So I was willing to give him a second chance.

He is a bit of a jerk, but also shown to be very socially intelligent! And I had been promised time travel, so by golly, I would watch until we got to the time travel.

I love that you're doing this, and with pretty screen shots, too. And jacket watch, yay!

Zhao Yunlan is not at all enthused to see the Black-Cloaked Envoy appear, even if he calls him a good friend to his face (so Guo Changcheng doesn't get taken to Dixing prison for being rude).

I read this one differently, I thought Zhao Yunlan was simply pissy that the Envoy didn't arrive until after the fight was over and Professor Shen had been thrown off a roof.

A jacket watch and a "did Shen Wei take off his glasses" watch, for

trobadora who dislikes the glasses. :P (Also because the glasses are a kind of mask, so it's important characterization!)

I read this one differently, I thought Zhao Yunlan was simply pissy that the Envoy didn't arrive until after the fight was over and Professor Shen had been thrown off a roof.
Huh, this is interesting! Though I'd like to point out that Zhao Yunlan didn't yet know Professor Shen had been thrown off a roof here. He's also sort of relieved that the Envoy departs, though that might just be gladness that Guo Changcheng didn't cause a diplomatic incident.

I really appreciate the "glasses-off watch"! Thank you. For the very important characterisation reasons, of course. :D

(But seriously, he's so much more gorgeous to me without them. Not that he's ever less than lovely, of course.)

I thought you would! It is very important characterization reasons, I agree. :D

I have a minor preference for him in glasses, though the glasses transform his face a lot so it's like two different faces. And then, of course, the mask. (And Ye Zun, whose face counts as another one, since the expressions make the face.)

I do love the Envoy mask. Well, the present day one - it looks much better. And Ye Zun's golden one - that colour really suits him. :D

Yay, the first one!

Xiao Guo is the main character in the novel's first chapter, too, and later never really retains that position. Not sure what to think about that, except that Chinese writing conventions are not what I've come to expect.

I actually thought it a nice touch that Zhao Yunlan says they have to suck up to power *for a specific reason*, because usually in Chinese media, sucking up to power is just the status quo and always expected, no further explanation necessary. (Also, novel!Zhao Yunlan is extremely good at playing that game, which is shown as one of his heroic qualities, so... *shrug*)

Also: yes. I did quit after the first half of the first episode the first time I tried watching it, so... that sums it up well. :D

The first one!

Huh, that's interesting – I suppose it's sort of a prologue with outsider POV to get us quickly up to speed on who's who?

Zhao Yunlan is seemingly pretty decent even in the drama, though idk how super OP he is in the novel at sucking up to power. :P It does make him quite an interesting protagonist, how he sucks up to power only for a given reason, and has his principles he will stick to.

Aaahhh!I see your imgur album,that's great and so helpful! Well,I didn't think so deeply about a lot of things because I'm just so captivated by Shen Wei and the WeiLan moments. :3
Would steal Yun Lan's outfits tbh.

Edited 2019-02-23 14:39 (UTC)

Thanks! Feel free to use the images for whatever purpose.

I think I'd rather steal Shen Wei's wardrobe – so many tailored suits!

JACKET WATCH!! I love those jackets! (Seriously, the extent of Zhao Yunlan's wardrobe is one of my favourite characterisation details...)

I found Shen Wei's villain introduction very curious. (Not that it tipped off my sad clueless self that he's the Black-Cloaked Envoy in any way.) I really don't think it comes back as such - even when he's still doing secretive stuff in the early episodes, it never looks quite so... DUN DUN DUN.

We see Guo Changcheng as being a hapless scaredycat, and also framed as the protagonist here. (Had I not known he wasn't, I'd have considered rage quitting, tbh.)

Guo Changcheng put me off so much at the start that I was seriously worried about how much screentime he'd get, given he was the POV/intro character. My surprise when I actually ended up caring about him in the later eps was considerable! But god, he's hard to watch in that first ep, IMO. >.<

and then reveals to the rest of the team that they're to tolerate Guo Chengcheng, because the boy's uncle is a minister, and we must suck up to power if we are to get that new location.

I really like that reveal. *g* He totally knows how to work the system! He just does it in his own very special way.

We also see him ask for the local cops to call him "xiao-Zhao" instead of "Chief Zhao", likely an indication of him only recently stepping into the post, and still thinking of Chief Zhao as being his father.

I took that to be part of his "charm everybody, flirt with everybody" persona, where he's making extra sure that the cop guy isn't scared of him or of having offended him. It's the "roll over and play cute puppy" approach that I think he finds very useful - not that it gains him much here because that cop guy isn't important, but it might just be reflex.

Innnnteresting screencap of Shen Wei's shoes! I have been on a bit of a shoe watch with him because I was so surprised that it took me until the first Dixing ep to notice that Zhao Yunlan is noticeably taller, so I've been suspecting Shen Wei's shoes - these are definitely height-enhancing ones!

Thanks for listing those canon details, btw. It's useful to see some of the canon 'facts' written down when one can properly absorb them! Thanks for putting this together!

Honestly I think it's just meant to tip us off that something is Up with this guy, and maybe also metatextual commentary about first impressions and Dixingians? Or they really wanted to set up stuff just so they could subvert people's expectations and go "No, this is not the show about plucky kid protagonist Guo Changcheng going to take down his evil uni professor Shen Wei!" at us?

Guo Changcheng put me off so much at the start that I was seriously worried about how much screentime he'd get, given he was the POV/intro character.
I kept loathing him throughout, but yes, he is very super loathable here, even by Guo Changcheng standards.

Huh, that's an interesting point that Zhao Yunlan might be just trying to appease the random beat cop by instinct. It would fit his modus operandi!

Here's a screencap from ep 2. The Envoy is basically in socks, and Professor Shen appears to be similar in height to Zhao Yunlan, so that's a pretty decent reference on how much heel Shen Wei has. If one looks, it's very noticeable, though less so when the material of the shoe is dark throughout. ~~Obviously a necessary part of his professorial disguise!~~

ETA: Should we have a Shen Wei shoe watch to go with the Zhao Yunlan jacket watch?

Edited 2019-02-23 18:29 (UTC)

Or they really wanted to set up stuff just so they could subvert people's expectations and go "No, this is not the show about plucky kid protagonist Guo Changcheng going to take down his evil uni professor Shen Wei!" at us?

Heeeee. That could also be! (Or maybe, now that I'm thinking of the glasses, it could be a BL trope? The nefarious seme with flashing glasses...)

ETA: Should we have a Shen Wei shoe watch to go with the Zhao Yunlan jacket watch?

LOL! I think that would be hilarious and also for science, BUT, I wouldn't want you to have extra hassle!

(The background to why I find this particularly amusing is that in my pre-Guardian fandom, there's a guy who has tall-and-glowering as one of his favourite personas and who is unfortunately super tiny, so he really wears cheating shoes a lot, and once you've started noticing the shoes, you can't stop. The first time I realised Shen Wei must be wearing heeled shoes for a good chunk of the show, I couldn't stop giggling. And he's not even short!)

Ooh, "nefarious seme with the flashing glasses" is also a possibility! Even if it was subverted halfway through the episode by having xiao-Wei be all hearteyes at Zhao Yunlan.

Shen Wei shoe watch is a go!

there's a guy who has tall-and-glowering as one of his favourite personas and who is unfortunately super tiny, so he really wears cheating shoes a lot, and once you've started noticing the shoes, you can't stop. The first time I realised Shen Wei must be wearing heeled shoes for a good chunk of the show, I couldn't stop giggling. And he's not even short!
Ahahahaha that's hilarious! And yes, once one notices the cheating shoes, one cannot stop. ~~Professor Shen in stilettos, anyone?~~ I suppose that the Envoy has a bit of a height complex. Or one day he tried to reach the top cabinet but was just a little too short?

oooooh, this is so great! i love the explanation about the villain intro and how it frames shen wei's character; thank you for noting that. and the shot framing through doors is so nicely evocative, in a show about the tensions between two worlds connected by magical pathways.

ETA lolololol i love your album notes on Imgur! Zhao Yunlan sits his butt on the desk, like a human being who has in no way been raised by cats - SO ACCURATE :D

This image of the two of them with GCC in the background is... unf. SUBTEXT GALORE.

Edited 2019-02-23 17:40 (UTC)

a show about the tensions between two worlds connected by magical pathways
I didn't actually put those things together until now, oops! /o\ But it is very evocative in that way. The cinematographer wasn't sleeping on the job!

LOL, I'm glad the album notes could entertain! I did want to give people some easter eggs to appreciate.

and the shot framing through doors is so nicely evocative, in a show about the tensions between two worlds connected by magical pathways.

Oooh, that's a great observation!

I love your categories! The jacket one is very useful for art references. :-) That saber shot is great too!

Also, please note this important piece of Professorial disguise:

YES! I talked about Shen Wei's first costume a bit with

trobadora and we both believe this is the only instance he's wearing these shoes. (You might prove us wrong later *g*).
I see them and go o_O

IIRC he doesn't wear the white shoes again, but all of his Professor Shen shoes have a bit of heel on them, and the amount isn't that much less than on the white shoes.

Wow I really need to pay more attention to his shoes. :-)

They are very ... interesting. Especially given how he's all leg already!

Oooh, what an excellent summary! And so many screenshots.

So the outfit! I find it fascinating, because it's the one they tested out in this photo shoot? Where Shen Wei... doesn't look quite like Shen Wei yet. The white shoes, the little collar pin (?) - these are all things they don't outfit Shen Wei with at any other point in the show as far as I know. It's just... really interesting to me that this might have been a sort of "proof of concept" take, and then they adjusted it after having that footage?

There are even more screenshots in the linked imgur album!

Mm, yeah, that's definitely a not-tailored outfit! (I've seen images of the tailoring being done onset just before takes, so no wonder that it's not yet done in the proof of concept shots.) The collar pin does make another few appearances, iirc, but never as part of the maximum-formal ensemble. (Shen Wei also starts dressing more casually over the show.) I also heard that the first scene shot was the medicine rubbing one, and while Shen Wei's wearing a pale-ish gray suit, he's not wearing a collar pin or anything.

Hah, "non tailored" is such a kind way of putting it.

The first scene they shot together. They wrapped up separately, so it's possible they shot this with Zhu Yilong first?

Ooh, good point! That'd make lots of sense – shoot the first scenes at the Dragon University set, then the medicine rub scene, then back to mostly chronological-ish.

We see Guo Changcheng as being a hapless scaredycat, and also framed as the protagonist here. (Had I not known he wasn't, I'd have considered rage quitting, tbh.)

Haha, yeah, same here. He's really painful to watch in the first episode! Thank god he improves.

We also see him ask for the local cops to call him "xiao-Zhao" instead of "Chief Zhao", likely an indication of him only recently stepping into the post, and still thinking of Chief Zhao as being his father.

That was my first thought as well, but on second thought, I think he's downplaying himself to make himself appear harmless? The only other time he calls himself "Xiao-Zhao" is when he's on the phone to the university, asking to be put through to Shen Wei (for the book scam), and I don't think that fits with the Papa Zhao theory.

Another thing to note is that Zhao Yunlan is not at all enthused to see the Black-Cloaked Envoy appear

Yeah, he's so pissy! And only gets marginally more diplomatic when Xiao-Guo puts his foot in it. He really doesn't like having to deal with the Envoy, and doesn't trust his agenda at all. (And why should he?)

Then, when she asks him if it's worth doing everything in your power to protect someone, he says that yes it is, always.

I love how central that theme is on the show, right from the start. ♥

Honestly, Guo Changcheng was painful to watch throughout, but rewatching, it's very noticeable that he's extra painful at the start. What is this, even!

He really doesn't like having to deal with the Envoy, and doesn't trust his agenda at all. (And why should he?)
Yup! The Envoy is a being from Dixing who operates in a completely different system to him, who has no oversight, and who is given very free licence to use his powers. Zhao Yunlan also has no knowledge of what Dixing prison is like at this point, and has been raised by his Dixing-loathing dad.

Protecting people with all your power is definitely a character-establishing dialogue for Shen Wei, and needs to be at the start so we can figure out wtf is going on with him.

Zhao Yunlan also has no knowledge of what Dixing prison is like at this point, and has been raised by his Dixing-loathing dad.

Haha, but that last point is probably the main reason ZYL is willing to give Dixing the benefit of the doubt at all. *g*

True! Who knows, he might be being (to his mind) super lenient to them just because he knows it'd piss off his dad.

Re-watching now, I'm particularly entranced by the scenes with Da Qing and Shen Wei, where we can see that SW remembers DQ, and Sir Cat recognizes him subconsciously in return.

Yeah, it's so very obvious on a rewatch! Excellently done foreshadowing.

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Guardian Episode by Episode: 01

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