GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 8

[trobadora]

Beginning of episode: Guo Changcheng becomes a permanent member of the SID
Ending of episode: the Sundial activates, and Lin Jing traces the resonance to the mountains in the Northwest.

Important scenes/developments:

• Xiao-Guo becomes a permanent member of the SID, and gets his fear stick
• Zhao Yunlan tries and fails to con Shen Wei with old books
• Wang Zheng gets an anonymous letter which sparks her memory
• the Envoy asks the SID to find Ding Dun for him
• Shen Wei talks to Ying Chun and fights Zhu Jiu
• the Regent sends a smoke message to Zhao Yunlan and betrays Shen Wei's identity; Shen Wei alters the message
• Shen Wei pours his drunk mentor into a taxi and finds Zhao Yunlan ill on the kerb
• Zhao Yunlan passes out in a taxi and uses Shen Wei's shoulder as a pillow
• Shen Wei discovers Zhao Yunlan's disaster flat, tidies it and stays all night
• Zhao Yunlan tries to recruit Shen Wei for the SID again, and fails again
• Zhu Jiu finds the pillar with Sang Zan and the Mountain-River Awl
• Wang Zheng sees a newspaper report about an earthquake in Hanga territory, passes out and regains her memory

A random collection of thoughts:

• One month after episode 1, Guo Changcheng is officially no longer an intern. ... Not because he's fired, as he thinks, but because he's now a permanent SID member!
  
  
  
  Something I had forgotten, or perhaps never really noticed: when Wang Zheng puts the stamp on Xiao-Guo and says he may be an ordinary person now, but he may carry other energy later, it sounds like the reason for the stamp is specifically so that even when he's not an ordinary person any more, he'll still be able to pass through the SID's shield! How weird that that is something they take into account. (Since the shield is explicitly Lin Jing's invention, and Lin Jing hasn't been with the SID prior to the current team, it's not like it can have happened before, can it?)
  
  The whole "other energies" bit is of course foreshadowing for later in the drama, when Guo Changcheng ends up with white energy powers thanks to the serum.


• When Zhao Yunlan calls Shen Wei at the university to tell him about the books, he calls the department and has them put him through - he apparently doesn't have Shen Wei's office number yet! (Also, he tells them he's Shen Wei's "good friend" (same as he introduced himself to Zhang Ruonan) "Xiao-Zhao", hee! :D
  
  (I think the only other time he calls himself Xiao-Zhao is with the policeman in episode 1, though his neighbour and Minister Gao also call him that.)


• When Zhu Hong wonders why Zhao Yunlan is hanging out with Shen Wei so much, Da Qing says he wants to add him to the SID - but later, during the book scene, Zhao Yunlan will bring up that idea to Da Qing again as if he hadn't before. Of course, Zhao Yunlan has already made the offer to Shen Wei after the mugging .... I can only conclude that Zhao Yunlan is so smitten currently that he keeps bringing up the same idea to Da Qing, multiple times, acting like it's brilliant and new, and Da Qing is thoroughly sick of it by now. *g*


• Zhao Yunlan really is incredibly smitten. Just watch him on the phone, or listen to him talking about how fun it is to work with Shen Wei! Despite all his suspicions and his on-going campaign to poke at Shen Wei's secrets, he's totally already fantasizing about their future working together. &hearts




And then we get whiplash as he turns from genuine feeling to the fakest laying-it-on-thick when actually talking to Shen Wei, LOL. No! Bad Zhao Yunlan! That's the last thing SW wants from you! And perhaps worse, when he gets caught out, he tries to argue it away rather than apologising. No wonder Shen Wei just walks away without another word. Hee! Well deserved. (DQ also thinks so. :D)

• Most hilarious sentence of the episode Xiao-Guo's "Thank you for helping me carry these." And later, Lao-Chu will make Xiao-Guo carry Ding Dun's body as well. Hee!
  
  


• Speaking of Ding Dun, so many things around him don't add up, and that's before we get to his mysterious reappearance in a later episode.
  
  
  
  First, his power. When touching an object, he can access the memory of the last person who touched it. And when he touches the anonymous letter, he sees Wang Zheng's memories, including a brief flash of the Mountain-River Awl! - BUT actually, Wang Zheng wasn't the last person to touch the letter; Lao-Li and Zhu Jiu both touched it after her!
  
  And also, the anonymous letter he reads - how does Zhu Jiu get his hands on it again? Someone slides it under the SID's door; Lao-Li gives it to Wang Zheng. (That much is probably predictable if she's the only one in the office at that moment.) Then she gives it back to Lao-Li, and it accidentally falls into the rubbish bin. Zhu Jiu gets his hands on it again afterwards, to hand to Ding Dun for reading - presumably when the rubbish is taken out - but that was an accident. How did he plan to get it back?! Since, you know, the whole point of it is giving it to Ding Dun afterwards, to read Wang Zheng's mind.
  
  Then, his allegiance. The Envoy says he discovered Ding Dun deliberately infiltrated the Dijun palace, and Ding Dun escaped to escape punishment. He suspects Ding Dun and Zhu Jiu are connected. Yet given the way Zhu Jiu disposes of him, it doesn't seem like he's Ye Zun's agent as well. So was he an independent infiltrator? Or was he supposed to do something specific at the palace, and now that he can't do that, he has no use for Ye Zun any more?
  
  (It does say something about Zhu Jiu, of course, that he's happy to dispose of his own people in pursuit of his great goal; I think here's where it becomes fully obvious how little he cares about other Dixingren.)


• Shen Wei talks to Ying Chun again, and then fights Zhu Jiu, who appears again apparently for the sole reason of taunting Shen Wei. *g*
  
  
  
  The confrontation/fight scene is excellent - I love the physicality of it, despite its heavy reliance on special effects both with Shen Wei's use of black energy and Zhu Jiu's teleportation. It's really impressive! And Shen Wei's microexpressions are impressive as well - his visible anger at Zhu Jiu! That little "you just try" smirk when Zhu Jiu is grandstanding! So good.
  
  And Shen Wei's relationship with Ying Chun is fascinating; they barely know each other (yet), but someone in chat pointed out on Friday that she's one of the very rare instances of Shen Wei actually asking other people for help. ♥ Unfortunately, she has enough of the constant trouble, and leaves the university grounds - fortunately, she'll be around in non-bush form soon, and helping Shen Wei again after all. ♥


• I love Professor Zhou lecturing Shen Wei about the importance of drinking, clearly not for the first time. :D


• Small brilliant things about the next sequence of scenes - Shen Wei finding Zhao Yunlan on the kerb, taking him home, and staying all night:
  
  
  
  The way Zhao Yunlan initially tries to wave Shen Wei off! Either he's feeling so miserable he can't deal - not out of the question, given that not long after he passes out in the taxi - or he's embarrassed about the failed book con, or both. I vote for both, because after Zhao Yunlan got caught out trying to give Shen Wei his own old books as a meaningful gift, after Shen Wei just up and walked away from him, even he has to feel embarrassed when the next time they meet, Shen Wei finds him like this. Both because once again it's Shen Wei doing Zhao Yunlan a significant favour, and because it's Shen Wei seeing the disaster of the private Zhao Yunlan, rather than the deliberate image Chief Zhao cultivates. But of course Shen Wei prefers that - what he most wants from Zhao Yunlan is something genuine. Even if Zhao Yunlan finds it hard to believe. *g*
  
  The way Shen Wei keeps looking at Zhao Yunlan in the taxi, and then making himself look away! Even after he gives in and lets Zhao Yunlan rest on his shoulder, he's still trying so hard to maintain some distance because after all, they're not there yet.
  
  Shen Wei's reaction on seeing the disaster flat, the empty bottles on the floor, the stinky fridge, and then hearing about Zhao Yunlan's terrible eating habits! That little huff before he dives into the fridge again, a finger delicately covering his nostrils! No wonder he tells Zhao Yunlan he brought it all on himself. ♥
  
  Shen Wei taking off Zhao Yunlan's shoes and tucking him in! And tidying the flat, taking the excellent excuse to look into all the corners and get his hands on all of Zhao Yunlan's things.
  
  All Shen Wei's microexpressions when the Regent's message appears: from having feelings about Zhao Yunlan investigating him, to being quietly furious when he realises the Regent is giving him away - all incredibly subtle and incredibly expressive all at the same time. ♥
  
  


• Shen Wei is so frustrated all through this episode. The book con, the Ding Dun situation, Ying Chun leaving, Zhu Jiu taunting him, Zhao Yunlan's disaster flat, the Regent almost giving away his secret identity ... he's not having a great time! *hugs him* But he does get to nose around Zhao Yunlan's flat, and to take care of Zhao Yunlan, and to sit by his bedside all night, so that's something, I guess. *g*
  
  (Of course Zhao Yunlan is also pretty miserable from the moment the book con fails! *hugs him too*)


• The pillar with Sang Zan and the Awl of course foreshadows Ye Zun's pillar - it looks very similar, chains included, and in both cases someone's trapped inside it. Someone who has done terrible things. (But unlike Sang Zan, who during his imprisonment found his better self again, Ye Zun has only stewed in his hatred.)
  
  And given the obvious parallels, I always wonder if Zhu Jiu expected to find an ally in Sang Zan.


• Master Detective Zhu Jiu strikes again in this episode: he finds the Awl all by itself. How does he do it? Apparently first by suspecting Wang Zheng's connection.
  
  There being an energy being at the SID is something he can easily find out by investigating the SID, and that being potentially connected to the Awl makes sense, especially if such a disembodying has happened before. Zhu Jiu then must have started digging into her origins, found the area she was found in, started digging into that area's history ... and found out not only about the the Hanga tribe, but many details including Sang Zan being imprisoned in the mountain. As far as I can tell Ding Dun only confirms things for him - Wang Zheng doesn't know what happened to Sang Zan, I don't think. Great detecting! *g*

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite line from this episode? Mine is"So you don't need a consultant, you need a babysitter?" :D


• And which of the many iconic scenes and moments is is your favourite? I find it almost impossible to choose, but if I absolutely had to, I'd probably pick Shen Wei's fight with Zhu Jiu. *g*


• If you're rewatching, did you notice anything you hadn't noticed before? For me, the invisible stamp being said to be in case a SID member gains other powers, so that they can still pass through the shield, was something I don't remember ever thinking about before. Fascinating!


• Speaking of, the stamp seems more like something from Dixing than the kind of tech Lin Jing works with, but the connection with the shield makes me wonder - did Lin Jing invent it because he knows about Professor Ouyang's plans, and he just decided that nope, even if he ended up getting superpowers one day, there was no way he'd risk getting locked out by his own shield? :p


• When Shen Wei walks away from Zhao Yunlan and the books, what do you think he's thinking? How does he reconcile this guy with the Kunlun he knew? And the guy with the disaster flat, who can't be trusted to take care of himself and apparently needs a nanny? *g* It would be so easy for him to just be disappointed that Zhao Yunlan isn't like Kunlun (yet), but despite all the frustration, there's such a huge amount of fondness in Shen Wei's reaction to Zhao Yunlan being a disaster ...


• How did the girl get the books Shen Wei donated? Did she steal them from the library? Did the library toss them? Did she buy them cheap in a library sale? (But if so, why? because from the phone call it sounds like she was already selling them when Zhao Yunlan first got in touch - on the phone she says, roughly, "I heard you wanted to buy my family's book collection" ...) Theories? :D


• Before Ying Chun leaves, Shen Wei asks her to tell him first where that thing he was looking for is, since he believes she knows. And he's right - next thing, he's planning a trip out of the city. *g* So here's my question: How does Ying Chun know where the Mountain-River Awl is? Also, does she genuinely believe it would be better for Shen Wei to not take the risk of trying to get it? Shen Wei doesn't say that if he doesn't, Zhu Jiu certainly will, and they can't risk him getting the Awl, but that would have been my first counter-argument! (Instead the scene makes it all personal to Shen Wei, about losses he doesn't want to suffer again - a fascinating choice!)


• In the flashback of finding Wang Zheng, Da Qing explains to Zhao Yunlan about energy bodies. How does he know? Has he seen this happen before? In YOHE, or in the years in between that he's forgotten?


• When Shen Wei warns Zhao Yunlan not to leave the city, do you think that's a genuine warning, or is he trying to tempt Zhao Yunlan into going where he is also going? I've seen both opinions; personally I think that even though he knows Zhao Yunlan won't listen to the warning, he does genuinely mean it ...

Let's talk about episode 8!
Come and talk about this episode - anything from favourite scenes or lines of dialogue to notes/questions about continuity or translation, most gorgeous (or angsty) smile, or anything else that strikes your fancy! And share links to your own and/or others' episode-related meta, picspams, and fanworks, new or old!

Comments

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[trobadora]

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[donutsweeper]

You know, I've rewatched this episode a zillion times and it never occurred to me to wonder where the girl got the books in the first place. To be fair, I was mostly watching for the whole ZYL h/c stuff but still.

[china_shop]

I was watching the first half of this ep with Korean subtitles and didn't take a lot of notes because I was busy trying to figure out the language side of things. So just a few fairly superficial things to start with:

• I love this opening, with everyone together and happy, and Zhao Yunlan smiling up at Changcheng so sweetly. Awww, Changcheng is a klutz, but they've all adopted him as their mascot!
• Zhao Yunlan tweaks Da Qing's nipple, right? /o\ He's so outrageous -- this follows on from him kicking Lin Jing in the arse last episode, and during the personality switch episode, I'm pretty sure he smacks Lin Jing in the crotch. /o\ I'm so glad I didn't notice these details on my first watch of the show, hee!
• Guo Changcheng notices the relationship between Chu Shuzhi and the Envoy! A sign of his attentiveness to Chu Shuzhi?
• Wang Zheng is so wet. Like, I'm pretty sure on my first viewing this was the first episode where I paid any attention to her, and she's all crying and fainting. I like her so much more now I've paid more attention to her in the popcorn scene, etc.
• At 22:37 we see the Regent using his power to send a reply to Zhao Yunlan's message. Is this the only time we see the Regent using his power?
• Zhao Yunlan in the gutter is desperately trying to hold himself together. Does the fact that he passes out in the taxi mean that he feels safe enough with Shen Wei to let go?
  Oh, and as the taxi leaves frame, the shot ends on a building with two stone lions out front -- guardians?
• HIS FLAT!! OMG, I love everything about all of this. Shen Wei is so mad! At the dry-swallowing, too. My glee knows no bounds. This was definitely the episode where I fell 1000% head over heels for them and the show. Disaster!ZYL FTW!
• Foreshadowing of the specifics of Zhu Jiu's power. And huh, Sang Zan can shoot stalactites? I'd forgotten that.
• I thought I was going to have soooo much to say about the morning after scene, and Zhao Yunlan stretching himself out on the bed in front of Shen Wei like that, but I think I said most of it in my epic comment on the scene discussion post. Mostly, just: all the testing! Did you clean because you want to join the SID after all? If it's about me, do you just want to look after me? Do you want to fuck me? And the way they talk to each other -- feinting, but as equals. (Also, in the Korean subs, Shen Wei definitely says "nanny", not "babysitter".) Amazing that Zhao Yunlan could come back from the old-book disaster so quickly -- I think Shen Wei's staying up all night cleaning make Zhao Yunlan feel like he's on a firmer footing. Also, Shen Wei's "magical sixth sense" -- lol! They both know that's BS.
• The message that Shen Wei wrote to replace the Regent seems really cryptic: "Master of Guardians, what is your order?" And then Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing exchange serious glances and don't say anything. Given this is in response to Zhao Yunlan asking (paraphrasing), "Hey, you know any Dixingren called Shen Wei?" I feel like this could be confirmation than Shen Wei is Dixingren, and asking Zhao Yunlan what he wants to do about it? A challenge? Or is it just 100% a non-answer, like, "Your call could not be connected at this time, please try again?"
• Ha, in training practice, Chu Shuzhi is shooting strings with his hands behind his back. He is putting zero effort into this, and Changcheng is still flailing all over the place. (Is this their first training scene?)

Shen Wei pours his drunk mentor into a taxi

Hee! He really does. I'm not sure "You should drink more, like me" is very convincing in these circumstances, even if it would be a good career move for Shen Wei. (I think the subtext is probably, "You need to get better at socialising/schmoozing", right?)

it sounds like the reason for the stamp is specifically so that even when he's not an ordinary person any more, he'll still be able to pass through the SID's shield! How weird that that is something they take into account.

That is weird! Maybe the SID has a history of people acquiring powers through strange artifacts or something. Even if it happened before Lin Jing's barrier was in place, they might consider it a use case they need to cater to?

Zhao Yunlan really is incredibly smitten. Just watch him on the phone, or listen to him talking about how fun it is to work with Shen Wei! Despite all his suspicions and his on-going campaign to poke at Shen Wei's secrets, he's totally already fantasizing about their future working together. &hearts

Right?? So adorable!! (Is this in reaction to anything in particular, or just part of the gradual progression? Did the bear lecture tip the balance, I guess is what I'm asking. :D :D :D)

BUT actually, Wang Zheng wasn't the last person to touch the letter; Lao-Li and Zhu Jiu both touched it after her!

Maybe Ding Dun's power is misunderstood, and it's actually the last person who had strong feelings about the object? Though even then, you'd think Zhu Jiu's anticipation would overwrite Wang Zheng's.

Zhu Jiu gets his hands on it again afterwards, to hand to Ding Dun for reading - presumably when the rubbish is taken out - but that was an accident. How did he plan to get it back?! Since, you know, the whole point of it is giving it to Ding Dun afterwards, to read Wang Zheng's mind.

I've never understood that part either.

The confrontation/fight scene is excellent - I love the physicality of it

Yesss, it's so good! Shen Wei is so good at making himself solid and indomitable and exuding power.

And Shen Wei's relationship with Ying Chun is fascinating; they barely know each other (yet), but someone in chat pointed out on Friday that she's one of the very rare instances of Shen Wei actually asking other people for help. ♥

Oh, that's such a good point. Aww! I wonder how much he sees her as a Fu You-like figure, and a part of him is still thinking in terms of the Allied Forces of YOHE...

Either he's feeling so miserable he can't deal - not out of the question, given that not long after he passes out in the taxi - or he's embarrassed about the failed book con, or both. I vote for both

Absolutely! I think Zhao Yunlan is absolutely feeling like he lost face -- and probably his chance with Shen Wei, too. So this feels like heaping humiliation on his head.

and in both cases someone's trapped inside it. Someone who has done terrible things.

But also in both cases, someone who was enslaved, who broke free of that enslavement and got revenge. I can't help thinking that parallel has to be meaningful, too. They didn't have to make Sang Zan a slave, you know? (I have a sort-of-wip dealing with this, argh, so many wips! /o\)

There being an energy being at the SID is something he can easily find out by investigating the SID

See, to me even that seems not so easy. Assuming Wang Zheng doesn't go out, what investigating can Zhu Jiu do? (Man, I hope Lin Jing hasn't accidentally become Zhu Jiu's drinking buddy and spilled SID gossip all over the place! ;-p)

What's your favourite line from this episode? Mine is"So you don't need a consultant, you need a babysitter?" :D

That whole scene! I can't choose! And also, when Da Qing accuses Zhao Yunlan of wanting to "buy" Shen Wei, and Zhao Yunlan accuses Da Qing of hanging out with alley cats too much. HEE! And also the terrible book con. I love that. :D And Chu Shuzhi taking charge in Zhao Yunlan's absence, because the Envoy needs the SID's help.

Speaking of, the stamp seems more like something from Dixing than the kind of tech Lin Jing works with, but the connection with the shield makes me wonder - did Lin Jing invent it because he knows about Professor Ouyang's plans, and he just decided that nope, even if he ended up getting superpowers one day, there was no way he'd risk getting locked out by his own shield? :p

LOL! I feel like it's the kind of tech that interacts well with dark energy. Like the Guardian Token seems to have similar properties, and the gateways between Haixing and Dixing might be limited in similar ways?

When Shen Wei walks away from Zhao Yunlan and the books, what do you think he's thinking? How does he reconcile this guy with the Kunlun he knew? And the guy with the disaster flat, who can't be trusted to take care of himself and apparently needs a nanny? *g* It would be so easy for him to just be disappointed that Zhao Yunlan isn't like Kunlun (yet), but despite all the frustration, there's such a huge amount of fondness in Shen Wei's reaction to Zhao Yunlan being a disaster ...

I wonder if he's remembering his younger self who maybe didn't always take the best care of himself, and who learned from Kunlun the importance of self-care? But the flat and everything must come as such a shock. It's one thing for Zhao Yunlan to be sick -- that could happen to anyone -- and quite another to see the squalid state of his life. All those empty bottles by the bed!

How did the girl get the books Shen Wei donated? Did she steal them from the library? Did the library toss them?

I assumed one or other of those. She's clearly a bit of a con artist herself, so stealing them doesn't seem unlikely?

How does Ying Chun know where the Mountain-River Awl is?

Obviously she heard it through the grapevine. *g* (I'm guessing Flower Yashou are very long lived, and one of her distant cousins witnessed some of the events of Wang Zheng's past and gossiped about them.)

When Shen Wei warns Zhao Yunlan not to leave the city, do you think that's a genuine warning, or is he trying to tempt Zhao Yunlan into going where he is also going? I've seen both opinions; personally I think that even though he knows Zhao Yunlan won't listen to the warning, he does genuinely mean it ...

Huh. I definitely think it's a genuine warning. The tempting interpretation had never occurred to me.

Such a great post, as always! I love all the things you noticed. :D :D :D

[elenothar]

Speaking of, the stamp seems more like something from Dixing than the kind of tech Lin Jing works with, but the connection with the shield makes me wonder - did Lin Jing invent it because he knows about Professor Ouyang's plans, and he just decided that nope, even if he ended up getting superpowers one day, there was no way he'd risk getting locked out by his own shield? :p

A fascinating question I'd never thought about, but personally I feel it's unlike any of Lin Jing's other inventions enough that I'm not sure he's the one who added the failsafe. Beats me who else could've been involved, though... Chu Shuzhi would be the obvious choice, as a Dixingren who needs to have access to the building, but we don't really see him do any crafting that hasn't to do with puppets afaik

When Shen Wei warns Zhao Yunlan not to leave the city, do you think that's a genuine warning, or is he trying to tempt Zhao Yunlan into going where he is also going?

I don't think Shen Wei wanted him to go - to me his bearing spoke of not expecting it'd work, but feeling he had to try to give the warning anyway. And Shen Wei always wants to face all his troubles alone, particularly this early in the series, so I can't imagine he wanted the complication of having the SID around.