The purpose of the SID

[china_shop]

or What working at the SID means to its people / some things people say about the SID and working there

I was thinking about things the various characters say about the SID, and I thought I'd collect some of them together here. (Subtitles mostly from solo's QC'd subs, with a few edits based on original subs or Viki subs.)

Episode 1: Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing

ZYL: I trust the short contact with them just now has given you a good sense of the SID's warmth, steadiness, and friendliness. Right?
GCC: Y...yes.
ZYL: From this day onward, we are your family.
(11:20)

Episode 1: Zhao Yunlan & Da Qing

ZYL: This was definitely done by one of them.
DQ: One of them? Has the management down there become sloppy? How can they just let them come up?
ZYL: *throws lollipop at him* Are you daft? What's the SID for if not to stop them?
(14:54)

Episode 1: Guo Changcheng & Da Qing

GCC: Chief Zhao, he took him away. Are we not concerned?
ZYL: Concerned... of course we're concerned. Go concern yourself with it, I'll watch.
DQ: Xiao Guo, I'll explain. When the Dixing people lost the war, Haixing and Dixing signed a peace treaty. We can capture Dixing people but not deal with them. So we hand them over to Dixing to be dealt with.
(42:22)

Episode 2: Guo Changcheng & Shen Wei

GCC: Professor Shen! I'm from the SID. Protecting people is my duty. I'll protect you.
(20:05)

Episode 12: Zhu Hong & Fourth Uncle

4U: Let me tell you, for ten thousand years the Holy Tools have stored the massive energy from the asteroid impact. If they're exploited by the dark side, it'll surely set off another great war.
ZH: Fourth Uncle, our duty in the SID is precisely to protect the Holy Tools and keep the dark side in check.
(2:33)

Episode 13: Guo Changcheng & Fourth Uncle

GCC: Fourth Uncle, don't worry. We'll protect her.
4U: That's easier said than done. The humans in Dragon City established the SID. I've long known that.
GCC: Right, right, the SID was set up to arrest evil Dixing people who have escaped to the surface. From the beginning, Haixing Inspectorate based it at 4 Guangming Road, in the middle of Dragon City.
4U: Okay, okay, enough. Don't act like a student reciting his textbook. I just want to know this. Given the difference between the long history of the people of Dixing and the SID which is only decades old how are you going to fight them?
GCC: We... we have the spirit. We don't care if we have to sacrifice ourselves to protect the people around us. Chief Zhao, the Deputy, Chu-ge, Hong-jie... even Sang Zan who joined us recently. They all have this kind of spirit. They are my role models. Although I'm a coward, I still know that even if I hide somewhere, how long can that last? If danger is going to come, someone has to stand in front of everyone else. Me... or Hong-jie... we would make the same decision.
(23:19)

Episode 26-27: Da Qing & Da Ji & Lao-Li

DJ: You remember everything?
DQ: Yes, I have my memories back. But... sorry. I want to make this clear. Lao Zhao, Lao Shen, Lao Chu and the others, and this old man, they're foolish and lazy, but they laugh when they're in love, cry when they're in pain, and would die for their loved ones. They're a really interesting bunch.
(26, 41:29)

DQ: Actually I want to tell you, the reason why I stay here is to figure out what Guarding is. What life is. That's the most important thing for me right now.
(27, 4:54)

Episode 29: Wang Xiangyang & Bai Suxia

BSX: We're influenced by those good people on Guangming Road every day, our child will be a good kid with high expectations.
WXY: Yeah, you're right.
BSX: When he grows up, he should join the SID to serve the people.
(18:51)

Episode 29: Guo Changcheng, Zhu Hong & Zhao Yunlan

ZH: That’s enough, kiddo. In this life, disaster and suffering can strike anyone, anytime. The key question is whether you can make it through the pain and continue on the righteous and good path.
ZYL: She's right. To make people come back on that path, that is the purpose of the SID.
(32:49)

Cue shot of guilty!Lin Jing:

Episode 30: Zhu Hong & Fourth Uncle

4U: Have your feelings for Zhao Yunlan blinded you that much? Come.
ZH: That has nothing to do with it! I only know, for the Yashou Tribes to cover their eyes and have no strategy is no longer working. Right now, humans are facing a life and death crisis due to Ye Zun. I have to stand together with all people as a member of SID.
(34:42)

Episode 36: Chu Shuzhi & Ye Huo

CSZ: Thank you.
YH: Why?
CSZ: I mean, you're from Dixing, but here you are helping the SID.
YH: Every time we work together, I get more convinced I'm doing the right thing. And I think you have forgotten, you are a Dixingren, too.
(27:18)

Episode 37: Lin Jing

LJ: Everyone, when you receive this email I scheduled in advance I must already be dead. Please keep my epitaph simple. Just, 'Here lies the Pretty Scientist'. That's enough. Lastly and finally, I realized that I was happiest when we were working and fighting together. Those many memories have always been in my mind. I, Lin Jing, was always the SID's man in life, and I'll always be the SID's ghost in death. It was worth it.
(10:13)

Episode 40: Zhang Shi

ZS: Going forward, the SID will keep working to protect the peace in Dragon City.
(30:34)

In conclusion:

1. Unsurprisingly, protecting and "guarding" are major themes. Being part of the SID is a moral stand, and its members have a sense of purpose. They become greater than they would be alone.
2. I really love how Zhao Yunlan goes from "stop Dixingren" in episode one, to "make people come back to the right path" in episode 29, as the purpose of the SID.
3. The SID is also a family and gives its members a strong sense of identity and belonging.
4. Everyone is very pretty, and I made way too many screen caps.

Thoughts? What are some SID pronouncements I missed?

Comments

[trobadora]

What a great collection! I'll need to come back to this later, but I love both the screencaps and the quotes. :D

[china_shop]

Thanks! <3 <3 <3

[velithya]

damn, you can really tell it's not Zhao Yunlan in ep 40, can't you *sobs*

These are great!! Thank you so much for collecting them!

[china_shop]

Yeah, Zhang Shi looks so different. *sobs with*

Glad you enjoyed them! :-)

[trepkos]

You have NOT made too many screencaps! True heroes all.

[china_shop]

Hee! Thanks! (But you should see my screencaps folder! :-D)

[nnozomi]

I don't have much to say except that this is a great post (and an excellent reference for fic).

GCC: Professor Shen! I'm from the SID. Protecting people is my duty. I'll protect you.
This is funny in context, of course, but Xiao Guo takes his new job so seriously even though he isn't any good at it yet <3

ZYL: She's right. To make people come back on that path, that is the purpose of the SID.
Yes, your observation about this line is so good! You (one) could do a whole meta just about this (and how it intersects with the Envoy's actual practices).

I, Lin Jing, was always the SID's man in life,
God, this scene invariably makes me cry, even knowing perfectly well that Lin Jing survives. I just like him a whole lot, him and his unexpected arc.

Going forward, the SID will keep working to protect the peace in Dragon City.
Even more curious about its role post-canon (will I ever write that fic).

[china_shop]

but Xiao Guo takes his new job so seriously even though he isn't any good at it yet <3
Yes, I love that! I think even the hospital attacker guy is reluctantly impressed/moved by it.

You (one) could do a whole meta just about this (and how it intersects with the Envoy's actual practices).
I'm also interested in how it ties into the Ye Zun mess. Like, I bet Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei were both constantly assessing whether there's any chance of redeeming him... But I also think living through the ancient war made Zhao Yunlan a bit more trigger-happy ruthless with the SID's enemies.

*hearts*

Even more curious about its role post-canon (will I ever write that fic).
*non-pressurey grabbyhands* :-)

(Maybe the portals are just designed to close for a certain period after a crisis, to give everyone a chance to sort themselves out, and then they naturally open up again?)

[miss_ingno]

I know it's probably just The Wind, but in those screenshots, it looks like Zhang Shi!ZYL made a subtle hairstyle change too and Q.Q I'm having Emotions

(also the "you're Dixingren too" dialogue just made me realize why people ship those two <.<)

Protecting, guarding... that's definitely the spirit of the SID under Zhao Yunlan. You're right, though, it doesn't say much about why Haixing Inspectorate established the unit, aside from GCC's "textbook recital" *ponders*

[china_shop]

I know it's probably just The Wind, but in those screenshots, it looks like Zhang Shi!ZYL made a subtle hairstyle change too and Q.Q I'm having Emotions

I knooooooooow ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

You're right, though, it doesn't say much about why Haixing Inspectorate established the unit, aside from GCC's "textbook recital" *ponders*

I wonder if there's something when Zhao Xinci first talked about the SID, in flashback, but I couldn't find it just now, and he definitely wouldn't have mentioned the Envoy then...

[miss_ingno]

I've been meaning to take notes on Zhao Xinci's character and timeline regardless on my soon-to-happen rewatch, I might apply for making a post about it! <.<

but yeah agree, definitely wouldn't have mentioned the Envoy, hm...