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sid_guardian2022-05-28 10:32 am
china_shop) wrote in sid_guardian2022-05-28 10:32 am
Entry tags:
Timeloop parallels AKA is Li Qian immortal now?
Last week when I was working on a Ye Olde Haixing Era (YOHE) fic, I woke up in the night one night and wrote in my notebook: Ahhhhhhh! If I leave, don’t hold it against me ≡ If I use my injuries, you’ll understand. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
I’ve been thinking about YOHE a lot lately anyway, because the Gaywatch Guardian reaction videos had such a delightful reaction to the timeloop. (“No no no no no, we’ve been flashing back to this idiot the whole time?!” :D :D :D (CW: contains expressive swearing.)) It was so satisfying and hilarious, I must have re-watched that part nearly a dozen times by now. I’ve also been listening to some podcasts about narrative structure and thinking about foreshadowing and stuff more generally. So I decided to look at the parallels between the YOHE scenes and contemporary times, and then every time I thought I was done with this post, I ended up adding one or two more. Some of these are really obvious, and for others I might be drawing too long a bow, but hopefully there are some in the middle, too. (Actually, a lot of these are probably familiar to people who watch vids, since parallels make excellent vidding fodder.)
So, in no particular order...
ZYL: You are not immortal! Why should I so casually owe you a life?
SW: This life is what I'm returning to you.
ZYL: ???
SW: By the way, Kunlun, the life that I owe you, I will definitely return it to you.
ZYL: You have already returned it. Many times over.
SW: ???
ZYL: If one day I leave without saying goodbye, please don't blame me for that.
SW: (DNW)
SW: If a time comes when I have to use my injuries to exchange for everyone's lives... I believe at that moment you will have your answer.
ZYL: (DNW)
Their meeting in the Allied Forces headquarters contains many of the beats from their first meeting in the show, but they happen very quickly this time.
It's you!
Do I know you?
I guess not.
The show didn't have to include this in the YOHE sequence. They could have had the young Envoy recognise Kunlun immediately, without the (delightfully) silly moment where Zhao Yunlan holds his hair off his face. But even though it's played for laughs, including that moment of non-recognition, and giving Zhao Yunlan a fleeting sense of how Shen Wei felt in episode 1, adds a richness and balance to the story (as well as showing us Standard Pre-Kunlun Envoy Operating Procedure). aslkfajsdflksjdfkad
Bonus "I don't recognise you" encounter.
SW: You should give him some consideration. He's so young, but he's leading you through countless dangers.
ZYL: You are just a youth, yet your days are filled with bitterness.
Zhao Yunlan eating Shen Wei's cake.
Shen Wei eating Kunlun's lollipop.
Zhao Yunlan has engineered Shen Wei into revealing his identity, but there's a moment where Shen Wei still denies it.
Zhao Yunlan steals the mask from the young Envoy's face, and the Envoy snatches it from him and nearly puts it back on.
In both timelines, Da Qing finds Zhao Yunlan first and helps him become who he needs to be.
Da Qing messed with the Hallows and lived for ten thousand years; Li Qian wore the Sundial around her neck for a year? Years? And activated it to save her Nainai...
(Also, the Hallows have gone missing in both times, which is hard to screencap.)
In Dragon City, Zhao Yunlan "saves" Shen Wei from muggers. In YOHE, he saves him from the Rebels.
Both times he's injured and needs first aid. (Sadly, in YOHE, it's not Shen Wei who applies the salve.)
The end of the YOHE sequence mirrors the end of the show. In YOHE, Kunlun is drawn up into the sky and swallowed by the Hallows’ wormhole, and Shen Wei follows his brother into the earth/“death”. It’s a painful parting, but we know they’ll meet again.
In the finale, it's Shen Wei who gets swallowed -- by Ye Zun, who Shen Wei then ushers into the afterlife. And Zhao Yunlan chooses, this time, to go into the Hallows/sky. Because this contains so many similarities to their last parting, which wasn't permanent, it doesn't feel like the end of their story this time either (and sure enough, we see them meet again).
The big difference between YOHE and the ending is Ye Zun's realisation and change of heart.
He goes from snarling at his brother in YOHE, to smiling tremulously in the afterlife, once he's learned the truth.
And in YOHE, when Shen Wei tries to save Ye Zun from the energy seal, Ye Zun slips from his grasp.
In the finale, in death, Shen Wei holds out his hand to Ye Zun, and they walk into the afterlife together.
Guardian uses these echoes and resonances to illustrate the time-loopiness of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's relationship, how each influences the other to infinite regression. It also does a masterful job of setting up the ending. In my view, the interwoven nature of their story, with all these meaningful parallels, makes the foreshadowed ending feel powerful and satisfying.
What have I missed? What other mirrors/parallels or contrasts are there between YOHE and the rest of the show? And please link your favourite timeloopy fanworks in the comments!
I’ve been thinking about YOHE a lot lately anyway, because the Gaywatch Guardian reaction videos had such a delightful reaction to the timeloop. (“No no no no no, we’ve been flashing back to this idiot the whole time?!” :D :D :D (CW: contains expressive swearing.)) It was so satisfying and hilarious, I must have re-watched that part nearly a dozen times by now. I’ve also been listening to some podcasts about narrative structure and thinking about foreshadowing and stuff more generally. So I decided to look at the parallels between the YOHE scenes and contemporary times, and then every time I thought I was done with this post, I ended up adding one or two more. Some of these are really obvious, and for others I might be drawing too long a bow, but hopefully there are some in the middle, too. (Actually, a lot of these are probably familiar to people who watch vids, since parallels make excellent vidding fodder.)
So, in no particular order...
1. The obvious one
ZYL: You are not immortal! Why should I so casually owe you a life?
SW: This life is what I'm returning to you.
ZYL: ???
SW: By the way, Kunlun, the life that I owe you, I will definitely return it to you.
ZYL: You have already returned it. Many times over.
SW: ???
2. My middle-of-the-night revelation one: the Heads Up
ZYL: If one day I leave without saying goodbye, please don't blame me for that.
SW: (DNW)
SW: If a time comes when I have to use my injuries to exchange for everyone's lives... I believe at that moment you will have your answer.
ZYL: (DNW)
3. You're acting weird, do I know you?
Their meeting in the Allied Forces headquarters contains many of the beats from their first meeting in the show, but they happen very quickly this time.
It's you!
Do I know you?
I guess not.
The show didn't have to include this in the YOHE sequence. They could have had the young Envoy recognise Kunlun immediately, without the (delightfully) silly moment where Zhao Yunlan holds his hair off his face. But even though it's played for laughs, including that moment of non-recognition, and giving Zhao Yunlan a fleeting sense of how Shen Wei felt in episode 1, adds a richness and balance to the story (as well as showing us Standard Pre-Kunlun Envoy Operating Procedure). aslkfajsdflksjdfkad
Bonus "I don't recognise you" encounter.
4. Time loops change your perspective!
SW: You should give him some consideration. He's so young, but he's leading you through countless dangers.
ZYL: You are just a youth, yet your days are filled with bitterness.
5. Whatever the era, there are always sweets
Zhao Yunlan eating Shen Wei's cake.
Shen Wei eating Kunlun's lollipop.
6. The unmasking
Zhao Yunlan has engineered Shen Wei into revealing his identity, but there's a moment where Shen Wei still denies it.
Zhao Yunlan steals the mask from the young Envoy's face, and the Envoy snatches it from him and nearly puts it back on.
7. Befriended by a cat
In both timelines, Da Qing finds Zhao Yunlan first and helps him become who he needs to be.
8. Is Li Qian immortal now?
Da Qing messed with the Hallows and lived for ten thousand years; Li Qian wore the Sundial around her neck for a year? Years? And activated it to save her Nainai...
(Also, the Hallows have gone missing in both times, which is hard to screencap.)
9. Zhao Yunlan to the rescue
In Dragon City, Zhao Yunlan "saves" Shen Wei from muggers. In YOHE, he saves him from the Rebels.
Both times he's injured and needs first aid. (Sadly, in YOHE, it's not Shen Wei who applies the salve.)
10. Moonlight strolls and intimate late-night chats
11. Foreshadowing the ending
The end of the YOHE sequence mirrors the end of the show. In YOHE, Kunlun is drawn up into the sky and swallowed by the Hallows’ wormhole, and Shen Wei follows his brother into the earth/“death”. It’s a painful parting, but we know they’ll meet again.
In the finale, it's Shen Wei who gets swallowed -- by Ye Zun, who Shen Wei then ushers into the afterlife. And Zhao Yunlan chooses, this time, to go into the Hallows/sky. Because this contains so many similarities to their last parting, which wasn't permanent, it doesn't feel like the end of their story this time either (and sure enough, we see them meet again).
12. And one contrast: Ye Zun
The big difference between YOHE and the ending is Ye Zun's realisation and change of heart.
He goes from snarling at his brother in YOHE, to smiling tremulously in the afterlife, once he's learned the truth.
And in YOHE, when Shen Wei tries to save Ye Zun from the energy seal, Ye Zun slips from his grasp.
In the finale, in death, Shen Wei holds out his hand to Ye Zun, and they walk into the afterlife together.
In conclusion
Guardian uses these echoes and resonances to illustrate the time-loopiness of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's relationship, how each influences the other to infinite regression. It also does a masterful job of setting up the ending. In my view, the interwoven nature of their story, with all these meaningful parallels, makes the foreshadowed ending feel powerful and satisfying.
What have I missed? What other mirrors/parallels or contrasts are there between YOHE and the rest of the show? And please link your favourite timeloopy fanworks in the comments!
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