Haha, right? I always forget just how much! I mean, of course I remember that the wedding and the fake-out confrontation with Zhu Jiu are in the same episode, but I forget that it's also Ya Qing's first proper appearance, and the confrontation between her and Ying Chun, for example ...
Zhu Jiu and Da Qing bicker (despite Zheng Yi's presence).
Ya, not Da, LOL. But that gave me a very funny image of Zhu Jiu trying and failing to argue with Da Qing's cat logic. :D
how Zhao Yunlan uses palm-up beckoning (for animals), rather than palm-down beckoning that you'd use for people
Huh, is that a common thing? I'm not familiar with that distinction, fascinating! (Though I'm not quite sure what palm-down beckoning looks like?)
Btw, I absolutely adore how the fish immediately gains 100% of Da Qing's attention, hypnotised or not. :D
Also, I wonder if he cuts the explanations short because he feels responsible for leaving Da Qing in a vulnerable situation and doesn't want to talk about it?
Where does he cut the explanations short? I'm not quite sure what you're referring to.
foreshadowing Zhao Yunlan apparently falling prey to Zheng Yi's hypnosis power, and how dangerous it will seem. :D
Hee! Yes, I love how smoothly it's integrated with Lin Jing shit-talking. :D
if he thought it was Tan Xiao who was using Zheng Yi as a weapon, then sure, taking him out of the equation and scaring him makes sense and doesn't leave the SID in danger
Yes! Such a good point. I love how many of the small details are becoming clearer on this rewatch, and it really only works because we're for once watching it all in order, no skipping. *g*
Which... does raise the question of why Zhao Yunlan didn't ask Tan Xiao what he wanted with the Hallows. Tan Xiao had no reason to be loyal to Zhu Jiu at that point, and it might have changed the course of things?!
Yeah, that's also a very good point! Perhaps he would have next, if the Envoy hadn't appeared just then? And agreed, that would be a fascinating canon divergence point!
I feel like Shen Wei needs to be memed here.
OMG, this is THE BEST. :D :D :D
And agreed, the pulse he uses to knock everyone out is fantastic.
Question: how does Shen Wei know to go to the wedding? I think I'm forgetting something here.
Also fascinating; it really does look like when Shen Wei arrives, he does a time freeze, for only the second time (after the rooftop appearance in episode 1). But it doesn't seem to affect Zheng Yi - is that an inherent limitation of the power (that it can only affect Haixingren?), or is she that strong so she can overcome a black energy effect? (Zhu Jiu seems to be outside the radius of the initial freeze? Idk.)
And then Zhao Yunlan shows up and immediately starts scolding Shen Wei for being there, before noticing Minister Gao and switching into Schmooze Mode. I LOVE THIS, OMG! He puts all his professional credit on the line to protect Shen Wei.
Hee! Yes! I love all the gear-switching he's doing in this scene. Scolding Shen Wei, interceding with Minister Gao while pretending not to know Shen Wei well, then claiming him for the SID! It's so much fun to see him constantly adjust as his understanding of the situation changes. ♥
Lin Jing says to the bride's dead father, "I never thought your ending would be like this." 想不到你是这样的结局 Which always sounds to me like he knows him.
Well, from the previous Wu Xiaojun case? And he knows (like they all do) what that guy and his buddy the other father did to Wu Xiaojun, and that he got away with it. Maybe he means "I thought he'd get away with it all, or something he did would catch up with him eventually, but not that he'd end up accidental collateral damage in some unrelated event"?
He's so serious and intense, and so hurt ("It seems I was tricked by you."), but he still makes sure to let Shen Wei know he wants him around ("If you were the trouble, I'd take it by the dozen to trouble my whole life." *flails*)
That is such a !!!!!! line, especially at this point! I wonder what Shen Wei makes of it, and how serious he thinks Zhao Yunlan is.
In other words, I think Shen Wei's explanation is deliberately transparent. He doesn't expect Zhao Yunlan to believe him for a second, ergo it's not a lie. But that's not enough for Zhao Yunlan, who wants straight-up verbal confirmation.
Yeah, they're once again just not on the same page at all. Shen Wei just wants Zhao Yunlan to stop pushing, and Zhao Yunlan just wants Shen Wei to stop hiding. And I think their misunderstanding (not their conflict) is clear with Shen Wei's "I just work out a lot" - Zhao Yunlan takes it as a slight ("you don't even bother to make up a proper excuse") when IMO it's meant to be the opposite, the offer of a shared unspoken understanding.
Btw, people on Discord pointed out the zoom in that moment where the focus changes and the background moves - this one. So cool! (I still don't know what it's properly called, sorry.)
Can Shen Wei hear the other side of Zhao Yunlan's phone call, or is his expression because he's having feelings about what Zhao Yunlan just said and the way he said it? I thought the former, but I could go either way.
I think both, actually - he's heard, but also the way he looks after Zhao Yunlan before he follows seem more like he's contemplating the tension between them.
And Cong Bo seems genuinely shaken, but I think his headache is fake. When Lin Jing and Da Qing lead him away to take his statement, he drops the act for a moment to look back suspiciously at Shen Wei.
I always assumed that the headache was real, but that he was playing it up at that point.
Also, I had totally forgotten about the scene where Cong Bo witnesses Zhu Jiu talking to crow!Ya Qing. And how quick Zhu Jiu is in picking up on someone watching!
Zhao Yunlan afterwards says that going by what Cong Bo says there's someone behind Zhu Jiu, but the version of the subs I watched with don't actually mention that:
你就等着跟在我屁股后面，向老板请功吧。 Solo's subs: You better just follow me and hope for a reward. Viki subs: You better just follow my ass and ask rewards from the boss.
So here's the first direct mention of a boss! He comes up again in the next Zhu Jiu & Ya Qing scene as well, of course.
Without information from the Crow Tribe, you'd never have found the Mountain-River Awl or stolen the Longevity Dial.
You know, this makes me wonder about an AU where Ya Qing finds the Hallows for her own tribe, not for Zhu Jiu/Ye Zun ... I mean, the restricted zone in Snake territory where the second passage to Dixing is has a place to use the Hallows, and there might be legends or top secret tribe leader-level info about it?
Is the hydrangea a Yashou? Every time I rewatch this I become more convinced, and it would make sense - Ying Chun has to get her info from somewhere. *g*
He knocks out a couple of Snake patrol guys, finds Guo Changcheng still tied up (was he there all night? he's changed clothes, anyway) and stages a dramatic rescue without listening to Changcheng's protestations.
So much fun! :D
yaaurens speculated that given the way Fourth Uncle talks about Zhu Hong's father going to the city, Zhu Hong might only be half Yashou. I think if that were the case it would have been mentioned somewhere, and I can't remember any place where it was. But the absence of any mention of Zhu Hong's mother here is striking.
Chu Shuzhi identifies himself on the phone as "Lao-Chu", I don't think I picked up on that before! Hee!
So, does that mean the Envoy told Tan Xiao in the park, "Wait here!" and vanished and came back as Professor Shen, who brought him to the lab? (Why the lab?) Or did Shen Wei reveal the connection between his identities to Tan Xiao? That would be an extra kick in the teeth for Zhao Yunlan!
All very good questions that I have no answers for! But I can't imagine Shen Wei deliberately connecting his identities for anyone at this point. (IIRC the only person he ever deliberately identifies himself to is Ying Chun, and that's because she's already seen him as Professor Shen, but he needs her help as the Envoy.)
and he just wanted to keep you (plural) you (singular) safe
I love this bit so much. I'm so used to all kinds of canons going with "you ... all of you ..." for (im)plausible deniability, but no, Guardian does it the other way round. Perfection. :D :D :D
Shen Wei starts, "Actually, I--" And I'm dying to know what he was going to say, but of course Zhu Jiu chooses that moment to interrupt, gah!
Same here! He says he wanted to keep ZYL safe, ZYL laughs (in disbelief? frustration?), and then Shen Wei starts with "Actually, I -" so it looks like it's the laugh that prompted him to speak. I really want to know what he'd have said, argh!
I always assume that Zhao Yunlan-with-earplugs hears the compulsions as suggestions so he knows what to do?
He has to hear it somehow, because otherwise he couldn't pretend!
What I want to know, though, is why it looks like Zhu Jiu is controlling him! Did Zheng Yi hypnotise him and tell him to do whatever Zhu Jiu wants? Or how does this work?
That faux dismissive smirk when he says Zhu Jiu doesn't have to hurt "ordinary people". (Sadly, at this point it's a bit late to play it cool.)
It's a great smirk, though! And also, I love how he swerves from this to offering himself in Zhao Yunlan's stead, not that it was ever going to work. (Not least because Zhu Jiu couldn't control Shen Wei for a second.)
Searching for them, Shen Wei overextends himself and coughs blood.
This is the (in)famous scene where some people hear him say "Yunlan" before he says "Zhao Yunlan"! I heard it before myself - but this time, I couldn't. So weird!
A fantastic scene between Ying Chun and Ya Qing, in which we find out the depth of their relationship, and Ya Qing's motives.
This is such a great scene! And it shows Ya Qing's regret so clearly - all that tension in her, and "too late", and everything. Her clenched fist! It's laying the groundwork for her switching sides later, even while it shows us how deep she's dug herself, believing she has no way back.
(Incidentally - that's something she and Shen Wei have in common: neither of them think they have any way to retreat.)
Zhu Hong's "I live and die with the SID," repeated from last episode, is foreshadowing for her death fake-out at the end of the episode. Wheeeee!
Oh, you're right, excellent point! I never put that together before! :D
Okay, this is interesting: Chu Shuzhi finds Zhu Jiu's lair, with the chess set. How? Then Shen Wei runs in. The next minute, not finding who he's looking for, Shen Wei vanishes again. So what the hell does Chu Shuzhi make of that? He must at least figure that's proof Shen Wei is Dixingren, right?
I want to know SO MUCH about this little scene! How does Chu Shuzhi find Zhu Jiu's lair? How does Shen Wei? Why do they both apparently find it at the same time?! And yep, what you say about Lao-Chu's POV - he must figure Shen Wei is involved in things somehow.
But also, Shen Wei immediately decides out that if Zhu Jiu isn't there, there's only one place he can have gone - and when he says so, Lao-Chu clearly agrees with him, so perhaps he's too busy being worried about what Zhu Jiu may be doing at the SID to think much about Shen Wei just then? Damn, Lao-Chu POV of this scene would be so great!
Except it really bothers me that Zheng Yi just lets all these things happen. Even if she's only 12 (or 15) and traumatised, she could react to Zhu Jiu saying, "Kill [Zhu Hong]"!
Zheng Yi seems so much younger even than she looks (which is already so much younger than the 15 she's claimed to be)! I can only explain it as her being very traumatised and essentially checked out. Poor girl.
And a few minutes later, Tan Xiao is all, "Yeah, hand over the super-powerful objects to this creep," even though they no longer have any reason to cooperate! WHY?
That part, I can understand. He wants to get away from Zhu Jiu, and more importantly, get Zheng Yi away from him - but that's never going to happen while they have something Zhu Jiu wants. And he's just watched Zhu Jiu make Zhao Yunlan kill Shen Wei (as far as he knows). It's not the greatest choice, but I think it's understandable.
Oh Zhu Jiu, Ye Zun would be so pissed off if he knew you were trying to kill Shen Wei! No one gets to do that but Ye Zun!
LOLOLOL, very true! :D
And it does look to me like Zhu Jiu thinks the gun can kill Shen Wei, though whether that's actually true is up in the air.
Regarding the question of whether Zhao Yunlan actually shot Shen Wei here, I think Shen Wei probably could have handled it (and maybe even invisibly, unlike the way Ye Zun handles it later), but Zhao Yunlan wouldn't have risked it. So he probably did the same thing he did with Zhu Hong, and counted on Shen Wei being able to handle that without being knocked out.
Also, question for the ages: Zhao Yunlan shoots Zhu Jiu in the arm, and it at the very least gives him a lot of trouble for a long time - in fact IIRC it's implied later that that wound would kill him eventually. So why was he completely unaffected by being shot in the Hanga caves?!
(My comment got too long for the comment box, so more to follow!)
no subject
Haha, right? I always forget just how much! I mean, of course I remember that the wedding and the fake-out confrontation with Zhu Jiu are in the same episode, but I forget that it's also Ya Qing's first proper appearance, and the confrontation between her and Ying Chun, for example ...
Zhu Jiu and Da Qing bicker (despite Zheng Yi's presence).
Ya, not Da, LOL. But that gave me a very funny image of Zhu Jiu trying and failing to argue with Da Qing's cat logic. :D
how Zhao Yunlan uses palm-up beckoning (for animals), rather than palm-down beckoning that you'd use for people
Huh, is that a common thing? I'm not familiar with that distinction, fascinating! (Though I'm not quite sure what palm-down beckoning looks like?)
Btw, I absolutely adore how the fish immediately gains 100% of Da Qing's attention, hypnotised or not. :D
Also, I wonder if he cuts the explanations short because he feels responsible for leaving Da Qing in a vulnerable situation and doesn't want to talk about it?
Where does he cut the explanations short? I'm not quite sure what you're referring to.
foreshadowing Zhao Yunlan apparently falling prey to Zheng Yi's hypnosis power, and how dangerous it will seem. :D
Hee! Yes, I love how smoothly it's integrated with Lin Jing shit-talking. :D
if he thought it was Tan Xiao who was using Zheng Yi as a weapon, then sure, taking him out of the equation and scaring him makes sense and doesn't leave the SID in danger
Yes! Such a good point. I love how many of the small details are becoming clearer on this rewatch, and it really only works because we're for once watching it all in order, no skipping. *g*
Which... does raise the question of why Zhao Yunlan didn't ask Tan Xiao what he wanted with the Hallows. Tan Xiao had no reason to be loyal to Zhu Jiu at that point, and it might have changed the course of things?!
Yeah, that's also a very good point! Perhaps he would have next, if the Envoy hadn't appeared just then? And agreed, that would be a fascinating canon divergence point!
I feel like Shen Wei needs to be memed here.
OMG, this is THE BEST. :D :D :D
And agreed, the pulse he uses to knock everyone out is fantastic.
Question: how does Shen Wei know to go to the wedding? I think I'm forgetting something here.
Also fascinating; it really does look like when Shen Wei arrives, he does a time freeze, for only the second time (after the rooftop appearance in episode 1). But it doesn't seem to affect Zheng Yi - is that an inherent limitation of the power (that it can only affect Haixingren?), or is she that strong so she can overcome a black energy effect? (Zhu Jiu seems to be outside the radius of the initial freeze? Idk.)
And then Zhao Yunlan shows up and immediately starts scolding Shen Wei for being there, before noticing Minister Gao and switching into Schmooze Mode. I LOVE THIS, OMG!
He puts all his professional credit on the line to protect Shen Wei.
Hee! Yes! I love all the gear-switching he's doing in this scene. Scolding Shen Wei, interceding with Minister Gao while pretending not to know Shen Wei well, then claiming him for the SID! It's so much fun to see him constantly adjust as his understanding of the situation changes. ♥
Lin Jing says to the bride's dead father, "I never thought your ending would be like this." 想不到你是这样的结局 Which always sounds to me like he knows him.
Well, from the previous Wu Xiaojun case? And he knows (like they all do) what that guy and his buddy the other father did to Wu Xiaojun, and that he got away with it. Maybe he means "I thought he'd get away with it all, or something he did would catch up with him eventually, but not that he'd end up accidental collateral damage in some unrelated event"?
He's so serious and intense, and so hurt ("It seems I was tricked by you."), but he still makes sure to let Shen Wei know he wants him around ("If you were the trouble, I'd take it by the dozen to trouble my whole life." *flails*)
That is such a !!!!!! line, especially at this point! I wonder what Shen Wei makes of it, and how serious he thinks Zhao Yunlan is.
In other words, I think Shen Wei's explanation is deliberately transparent. He doesn't expect Zhao Yunlan to believe him for a second, ergo it's not a lie. But that's not enough for Zhao Yunlan, who wants straight-up verbal confirmation.
Yeah, they're once again just not on the same page at all. Shen Wei just wants Zhao Yunlan to stop pushing, and Zhao Yunlan just wants Shen Wei to stop hiding. And I think their misunderstanding (not their conflict) is clear with Shen Wei's "I just work out a lot" - Zhao Yunlan takes it as a slight ("you don't even bother to make up a proper excuse") when IMO it's meant to be the opposite, the offer of a shared unspoken understanding.
Btw, people on Discord pointed out the zoom in that moment where the focus changes and the background moves - this one. So cool! (I still don't know what it's properly called, sorry.)
Can Shen Wei hear the other side of Zhao Yunlan's phone call, or is his expression because he's having feelings about what Zhao Yunlan just said and the way he said it? I thought the former, but I could go either way.
I think both, actually - he's heard, but also the way he looks after Zhao Yunlan before he follows seem more like he's contemplating the tension between them.
And Cong Bo seems genuinely shaken, but I think his headache is fake. When Lin Jing and Da Qing lead him away to take his statement, he drops the act for a moment to look back suspiciously at Shen Wei.
I always assumed that the headache was real, but that he was playing it up at that point.
Also, I had totally forgotten about the scene where Cong Bo witnesses Zhu Jiu talking to crow!Ya Qing. And how quick Zhu Jiu is in picking up on someone watching!
Zhao Yunlan afterwards says that going by what Cong Bo says there's someone behind Zhu Jiu, but the version of the subs I watched with don't actually mention that:
你就等着跟在我屁股后面，向老板请功吧。
Solo's subs: You better just follow me and hope for a reward.
Viki subs: You better just follow my ass and ask rewards from the boss.
So here's the first direct mention of a boss! He comes up again in the next Zhu Jiu & Ya Qing scene as well, of course.
Without information from the Crow Tribe, you'd never have found the Mountain-River Awl or stolen the Longevity Dial.
You know, this makes me wonder about an AU where Ya Qing finds the Hallows for her own tribe, not for Zhu Jiu/Ye Zun ... I mean, the restricted zone in Snake territory where the second passage to Dixing is has a place to use the Hallows, and there might be legends or top secret tribe leader-level info about it?
Is the hydrangea a Yashou? Every time I rewatch this I become more convinced, and it would make sense - Ying Chun has to get her info from somewhere. *g*
He knocks out a couple of Snake patrol guys, finds Guo Changcheng still tied up (was he there all night? he's changed clothes, anyway) and stages a dramatic rescue without listening to Changcheng's protestations.
So much fun! :D
Chu Shuzhi identifies himself on the phone as "Lao-Chu", I don't think I picked up on that before! Hee!
So, does that mean the Envoy told Tan Xiao in the park, "Wait here!" and vanished and came back as Professor Shen, who brought him to the lab? (Why the lab?) Or did Shen Wei reveal the connection between his identities to Tan Xiao? That would be an extra kick in the teeth for Zhao Yunlan!
All very good questions that I have no answers for! But I can't imagine Shen Wei deliberately connecting his identities for anyone at this point. (IIRC the only person he ever deliberately identifies himself to is Ying Chun, and that's because she's already seen him as Professor Shen, but he needs her help as the Envoy.)
and he just wanted to keep you (plural) you (singular) safe
I love this bit so much. I'm so used to all kinds of canons going with "you ... all of you ..." for (im)plausible deniability, but no, Guardian does it the other way round. Perfection. :D :D :D
Shen Wei starts, "Actually, I--" And I'm dying to know what he was going to say, but of course Zhu Jiu chooses that moment to interrupt, gah!
Same here! He says he wanted to keep ZYL safe, ZYL laughs (in disbelief? frustration?), and then Shen Wei starts with "Actually, I -" so it looks like it's the laugh that prompted him to speak. I really want to know what he'd have said, argh!
I always assume that Zhao Yunlan-with-earplugs hears the compulsions as suggestions so he knows what to do?
He has to hear it somehow, because otherwise he couldn't pretend!
What I want to know, though, is why it looks like Zhu Jiu is controlling him! Did Zheng Yi hypnotise him and tell him to do whatever Zhu Jiu wants? Or how does this work?
That faux dismissive smirk when he says Zhu Jiu doesn't have to hurt "ordinary people". (Sadly, at this point it's a bit late to play it cool.)
It's a great smirk, though! And also, I love how he swerves from this to offering himself in Zhao Yunlan's stead, not that it was ever going to work. (Not least because Zhu Jiu couldn't control Shen Wei for a second.)
Searching for them, Shen Wei overextends himself and coughs blood.
This is the (in)famous scene where some people hear him say "Yunlan" before he says "Zhao Yunlan"! I heard it before myself - but this time, I couldn't. So weird!
A fantastic scene between Ying Chun and Ya Qing, in which we find out the depth of their relationship, and Ya Qing's motives.
This is such a great scene! And it shows Ya Qing's regret so clearly - all that tension in her, and "too late", and everything. Her clenched fist! It's laying the groundwork for her switching sides later, even while it shows us how deep she's dug herself, believing she has no way back.
(Incidentally - that's something she and Shen Wei have in common: neither of them think they have any way to retreat.)
Zhu Hong's "I live and die with the SID," repeated from last episode, is foreshadowing for her death fake-out at the end of the episode. Wheeeee!
Oh, you're right, excellent point! I never put that together before! :D
Okay, this is interesting: Chu Shuzhi finds Zhu Jiu's lair, with the chess set. How? Then Shen Wei runs in. The next minute, not finding who he's looking for, Shen Wei vanishes again. So what the hell does Chu Shuzhi make of that? He must at least figure that's proof Shen Wei is Dixingren, right?
I want to know SO MUCH about this little scene! How does Chu Shuzhi find Zhu Jiu's lair? How does Shen Wei? Why do they both apparently find it at the same time?! And yep, what you say about Lao-Chu's POV - he must figure Shen Wei is involved in things somehow.
But also, Shen Wei immediately decides out that if Zhu Jiu isn't there, there's only one place he can have gone - and when he says so, Lao-Chu clearly agrees with him, so perhaps he's too busy being worried about what Zhu Jiu may be doing at the SID to think much about Shen Wei just then? Damn, Lao-Chu POV of this scene would be so great!
Except it really bothers me that Zheng Yi just lets all these things happen. Even if she's only 12 (or 15) and traumatised, she could react to Zhu Jiu saying, "Kill [Zhu Hong]"!
Zheng Yi seems so much younger even than she looks (which is already so much younger than the 15 she's claimed to be)! I can only explain it as her being very traumatised and essentially checked out. Poor girl.
And a few minutes later, Tan Xiao is all, "Yeah, hand over the super-powerful objects to this creep," even though they no longer have any reason to cooperate! WHY?
That part, I can understand. He wants to get away from Zhu Jiu, and more importantly, get Zheng Yi away from him - but that's never going to happen while they have something Zhu Jiu wants. And he's just watched Zhu Jiu make Zhao Yunlan kill Shen Wei (as far as he knows). It's not the greatest choice, but I think it's understandable.
Oh Zhu Jiu, Ye Zun would be so pissed off if he knew you were trying to kill Shen Wei! No one gets to do that but Ye Zun!
LOLOLOL, very true! :D
And it does look to me like Zhu Jiu thinks the gun can kill Shen Wei, though whether that's actually true is up in the air.
Regarding the question of whether Zhao Yunlan actually shot Shen Wei here, I think Shen Wei probably could have handled it (and maybe even invisibly, unlike the way Ye Zun handles it later), but Zhao Yunlan wouldn't have risked it. So he probably did the same thing he did with Zhu Hong, and counted on Shen Wei being able to handle that without being knocked out.
Also, question for the ages: Zhao Yunlan shoots Zhu Jiu in the arm, and it at the very least gives him a lot of trouble for a long time - in fact IIRC it's implied later that that wound would kill him eventually. So why was he completely unaffected by being shot in the Hanga caves?!
(My comment got too long for the comment box, so more to follow!)