sid_guardian | GUARDIAN REWATCH

Beginning of episode: Hei Pao Shi and Zhao Yunlan empathise with Sang Zan
Ending of episode: Fourth Uncle of the Snake Tribe drugs Zhu Hong

Important scenes/developments:

Zhu Jiu fights the Envoy and Sang Zan. He dissolves Sang Zan. Zhao Yunlan shoots Zhu Jiu in the chest, but he flees.
The Envoy draws the Mountain-River Awl out of the pillar, and Wang Zheng begs him to use it to reconstitute Sang Zan's energy.
Zhao Yunlan gives Sang Zan an unpaid job at the SID.
Zhao Yunlan finds Zhu Hong asleep, and her reaction to a mention of Shen Wei arouses his suspicions (again).
The Drinking Scene!! Shen Wei throws himself on an alcohol grenade and immediately falls unconscious.
Zhao Yunlan puts him to bed and smells his jacket.
Shen Wei wakes up to a note from Zhao Yunlan, also smells his jacket, and realises his cover might be blown.
Back in Dragon City, Guo Changcheng writes in his diary that the SID is unhappy.
Start of the Zheng Yi case.
Guo Changcheng has an upset stomach and calls Lao Chu a giant popsicle.
Zhao Yunlan has a LOT of flashbacks about Shen Wei and speculates about the Envoy with Da Qing.
Zhao Yunlan takes Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing and Lin Jing to the "mass suicide" crime scene. They find a link to Shen Wei.
Zhu Hong takes Guo Changcheng to the Snake Tribe to ask about the Hallows. Fourth Uncle drugs Zhu Hong.

Thoughts

In the flashbacks, the Awl activates after Sang Zan cries, "The Hanga Tribe will go extinct sooner or later. No one can save us!" 瀚噶族迟早是要灭亡的谁也救不了我们 Not sure if that's supposed to be significant?

After Wang Zheng recounts her story, Zhao Yunlan checks in with the Envoy, "How is it?" and the Envoy says it lines up with what he knows. Love that little moment of trust between them.

Zhao Yunlan tries to free Wang Zheng from the dark energy ropes, but he can't interact with the dark energy and is repelled. The Envoy catches him. <3

Sang Zan comes out and fights Zhu Jiu. Zhu Jiu starts to suck Sang Zan's life force. Zhao Yunlan finally shoots his gun -- hitting Zhu Jiu in the chest. (I feel like this should finish him off, but it doesn't.)

The Envoy draws the Awl from the pillar, and he and Zhao Yunlan gaze at each other while Zhu Jiu gets away.

Wang Zheng begs the Envoy to reconstitute Sang Zan, and he does (off-screen).

Meanwhile, outside the cave system, Chu Shuzhi and Changcheng fight youchu.

Changcheng gets turned around and zaps Chu Shuzhi with his baton, and Chu Shuzhi is OUTRAGED. Hee! Karma for laughing at Zhao Yunlan getting zapped last ep.

Back in the cave, Zhao Yunlan talks the Envoy up to his team: "Now, the Longevity Dial and the Mountain-River Awl can be said to have been returned to their owners. This time, it is really thanks to Hei Pao Shi daren." 现在长生晷和山河锥也算是物归原主了这次实在是多亏了我们黑袍使大人啊 ("Their owners"?)

The Envoy says, "Zhu Jiu used Wang Zheng to lure you all here so as to use the power of humans to get the Mountain-River Awl." 烛九利用汪徵把你们引到这里来就是想利用你们人类的力量得到山河锥 (But it was the Envoy who opened the pillar.) He adds, "But for such a huge trap, he couldn't have planned it on his own." 可这么大一个局应该不是他一个人谋划的 (But he doesn't relate his suspicions.)

The Envoy: They held tightly to the person dearest to their heart, not abandoning each other whether in life or death. 他们相互抓紧了心尖之人生死不弃 -- implying hope for the show's ending?

I know people have suggested in the past that Zhao Yunlan's "As you know, the SID is of course a mature and welcoming environment," is in answer to his mistakenly assuming the Envoy and Chu Shuzhi are an item, but this time around, my reading is that Zhao Yunlan makes personal enquiries of the Envoy, Chu Shuzhi glares at him for overstepping, and ZYL uses that line to change the subject back to Wang Zheng and Sang Zan. MMV, though!

Zhao Yunlan finds Zhu Hong asleep at the table, difficult to wake. When he asks about Shen Wei, her reaction is dazed and vague, arousing his suspicions. Then Shen Wei appears on the balcony above and smiles down at him, radiating innocence and "pleased to see you."

The Drinking Scene! (I've already expounded about this at length in a scene discussion, so
I'll copy a chunk of that post in here. (Feel free to skip!)
Although the scene is played for laughs, I think it (and the one that follows, where Zhao Yunlan puts Shen Wei to bed with an IV and gazes at him, then sniffs the jacket and laughs incredulously) is the culmination of a mini-character-arc that’s about more than just the Envoy identity reveal. It’s about Zhao Yunlan having inadvertently exposed his soft underbelly to Shen Wei and feeling incredibly vulnerable. Shen Wei has seen through his lies (the failed book con), seen his physical weakness (the gastritis), and seen his lack of maturity and self-care (the apartment). Zhao Yunlan, who for various reasons still doesn’t entirely trust Shen Wei, has no way of knowing yet if Shen Wei will use those weaknesses against him. Shen Wei already tried to sideline him with the warning about not leaving the city, the morning after the gastritis -- and that’s not on!

In fact, I feel like that warning kicks off a kind of power struggle from Zhao Yunlan’s side about who is protecting whom. Like, Shen Wei basically says, “I’m going to this place, but you shouldn’t even leave the city.” So Zhao Yunlan airily rejects Shen Wei’s advice, then gets Lin Jing to fix Shen Wei’s broken down car (helping by proxy), insists on joining forces on the way to the mountain, gives Shen Wei his coat to guard against the cold, and tells Zhu Hong to detain him so he can’t go wandering off into danger. Even using Shen Wei as a travel pillow is arguably a way of keeping tabs on him, so Zhao Yunlan will be there if they run into trouble.

Meanwhile Shen Wei is letting all this slip by him without reacting much. Protesting lightly but accepting the gestures -- without, of course, bending even an inch to the underlying “I want to protect you” message. If he pushed back too directly, it would raise questions about his identity -- why doesn’t this seemingly ordinary professor need protecting? So he can’t discourage Zhao Yunlan’s efforts. (Plus he doesn't really want to.)

And then this scene. Zhao Yunlan is caught in a trap of social convention -- drinking with your host is how you maintain good relations and be a good guest -- and he’s clearly already suffering for it. It’s a combination of all his weaknesses: the lying (this time about his enthusiasm for drinking), the physical ailment, and the lack of self-care. Shen Wei sees that, and at first he doesn’t intervene. This is Zhao Yunlan’s business, after all. But by the third round, Shen Wei can’t stand it anymore.

He doesn’t reproach Zhao Yunlan for not taking better care of himself or embarrass him by mentioning his stomach condition, and he doesn’t undo any of the relationship-building work Zhao Yunlan has done. Instead, Shen Wei uses the custom of offering toasts to appropriate Zhao Yunlan’s bowl and drink it himself. This protects Zhao Yunlan twice: 1) it saves him from that particular drink, and 2) Shen Wei must know he’ll immediately fall unconscious, giving Zhao Yunlan an excuse to leave the table.

I have so many feelings about this gesture! It’s incredibly eloquent and meaningful in a multitude of ways; for example, it:
1. demonstrates attentiveness and caring without criticising Zhao Yunlan or taking a scolding adult position
2. proves that Shen Wei won’t use Zhao Yunlan’s vulnerabilities against him
3. Shen Wei is low-key taking a bullet for Zhao Yunlan (which is basically their love language, I think?)
4. without breaking Shen Wei’s cover (until you factor in the jacket).
5. It’s a display of Shen Wei’s own weakness wrt alcohol
6. and it leaves Shen Wei vulnerable, ergo, it’s also a show of trust / “I know you’ll take care of me.”
It’s a very deliberate way of protecting Zhao Yunlan and letting Zhao Yunlan take care of him, levelling the playing field between them... at least until Zhao Yunlan discovers how completely uneven their situations are.

It also gives us some classic Shen Wei expressions, from concerned to sweetly sozzled.

Anyway, until now, Shen Wei has done Zhao Yunlan many kindnesses -- he’s claimed friendship and laughed with him, helped him with cases when he had no obligation to, rescued him from the gutter and made him breakfast-- He’s probably done more for Zhao Yunlan than anyone but Da Qing. But I think it’s this selfless, thoughtful, slightly dorkily enacted move that tips Zhao Yunlan into deciding he can trust Shen Wei (and in my preferred reading of the next scene, into admitting to himself that he’s in love).
) Zhao Yunlan's gut is obviously still not feeling great, but he keeps drinking to be sociable. Finally Shen Wei can't stand it, swipes the drink from his hand and makes a toast. He drinks it all and promptly falls unconscious, thus conclusively answering two lingering questions: Can Zhao Yunlan trust him? and Is it personal? Then Zhao Yunlan puts Shen Wei to bed in a mirror of the disaster-flat scene from ep 8 (IV instead of pills).

I think this is my favourite scene of the whole show: Zhao Yunlan stares down at unconscious Shen Wei and remembers their third meeting where he felt like he'd met Shen Wei before. adskfasdkfasdfkjasdkfjasdf

Zhao Yunlan goes to drape the jacket over Shen Wei, smells stinky youchu blood on it, and all the pieces fall into place. as;lfkajsdf;lkjsdf;lksjdf

Shen Wei wakes up the next morning to a note (with smiley face!) and notices the stench of the jacket. Flashbacks to him reversing the hypnosis back onto Zhu Hong, and the rest of the previous day's adventures (with some top quality plain clothes Envoying).

He wonders if his identity has been revealed.

Back in Dragon City: the Zheng Yi case starts. (The scientists are very happy to have tortured a koi to death in front of a young girl. I don't understand this research -- why the fish?) (Also, Zheng Yi has no obvious physical injuries at this point. Doesn't she have bruises on her arms later?)

At the SID: Wang Zheng is teaching Sang Zan to write. Lin Jing explains the Hallows to Zhu Hong (The Longevity Dial creates a genetic guide link that can allow the sharing of pheromones. The Mountain-River Awl restructures one's flesh into an energy state, achieving an immortal energy being. All might seem like fantasy and magical, but all can actually be explained by science. 长生晷啊是建立基因导链实现信息素的共享山河锥是把肉体重组成量子态实现能量体永生看着都是怪力乱神其实都是科学道理 Zhu Hong speaks for me, replying, "I'm more confused after your explanation." 你怎么一说我刚迷糊了) Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi both have upset stomachs from the trip.

(How much do I love Changcheng calling his mentor a giant popsicle, and Chu Shuzhi overhearing?!? *g* Chu Shuzhi retaliates by using pages of Changcheng's diary as toilet paper.)

Da Qing goes to check on Zhao Yunlan, who is holed up in his office recontextualising everything Shen Wei has ever said or done. Cue ALL the flashbacks. I love this conversation between him and Da Qing, it's so casual and so important for ZYL to have someone to talk to, even if he isn't sharing his realisation.

Zhao Yunlan takes Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing, and Lin Jing to the "suicide" scene and sends Zhu Hong and Changcheng to the Snake Tribe to ask about the Hallows.

The trees are full of snakes! What makes Changcheng pass out? We don't see, but it's implied later that it's the young men of the Snake tribe.

At the sonic lab, Lin Jing says the bodies show no signs of fighting, but weren't they just beating up Tan Xiao? You'd think they'd have bruised knuckles. Da Qing gives our first mention (I think?) of some dark energy powers needing a medium of transmission ("But I don't know through what medium did this Dixingren exert his power on." 只是不知道这家伙发动异能的媒介是哪里), setting up the Zhu Jiu resolution. (Of course the boss victim called Shen Wei as soon as his project succeeded. Of course he did!)

Fourth Uncle! Zhu Hong is very self-possessed and knows enough not to spill SID secrets; Changcheng is more loose-lipped. So much drugging in these episodes! It's a good thing Zhu Hong has a strong constitution!!

Zhu Hong gets the last line of the episode: Since when do family members trick each other? 什么时候我们亲人之间也耍起心眼了 -- another thematic through-line of the show (Zhao Xinci concealing Zhang Shi, Lin Jing hiding his spying from the SID, everything between Shen Wei and Ye Zun, and Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan...).

Discussion starters:

What's your favourite scene / moment / line of dialogue in this episode? Anything you particularly noticed this time through?

In the Hanga flashbacks, I don't understand how the judgement box works; is it supposed to be a secret that there are two skins in there, and a conceit that the box offers up a kind of divine judgement? Or something else?

In the caves, the Envoy says, "Also, the Hallows have bad effects on Dixingren." 况且圣器对地星人本来有反噬的效果 I'm so curious about this! Do we get any other evidence or hint of this in the show?

Zhu Jiu and the Envoy have a great fight. When Zhu Jiu accuses the Envoy: "Hei Pao Shi who sold his own kind just to obtain merit and prestige, you have the nerve to call me the mastermind of all these crimes?" (出卖同类获得功名的黑袍使竟然还好意思说我是罪魁祸首) what do you think Zhao Yunlan makes of that? Does he discount it because it's spoken by an enemy, or does it set curious wheels turning? Any thoughts?

Let’s talk about episode 11!
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!

GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 11

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