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sid_guardian2023-05-02 08:56 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2023-05-02 08:56 pm
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GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 16
Beginning of episode: Lin Jing shows Zhao Xinci his lab
Ending of episode: Bao Laosan and Zhu Jiu are ready to attack the SID building
Important scenes/developments:
- the black energy detector goes off when aimed at Zhao Xinci
- Zhao Yunlan visits the Dijun Palace and realises there are political constraints on the Envoy
- Zhao Xinci lectures the SID about Zhao Yunlan abandoning his post
- Zhao Yunlan and the Regent "search" for the Dijun Register
- Zhao Xinci assumes command of the SID for their new case
- Zhao Yunlan and the Regent encounter An Bai and friends staging a faked assault
- Da Qing talks to kittens
- Ye Zun lures Zhao Yunlan towards his pillar, and tries to suborn him; An Bai and friends interrupt
- the Envoy discovers Ding Dun's files were destroyed behind his back
- Zhao Yunlan discovers the Dixing bar, and fails at impersonating a Dixingren
- Sang Zan notices Zhao Xinci is sometimes left-handed, sometimes right-handed
- Wu Tian'en saves Zhao Yunlan from the bar, and warns him about the Regent
- Zhao Xinci threatens to fire Zhao Yunlan if even one SID member agrees
- Zhao Xinci interviews Guo Changcheng, and Zhang Shi calls him his secret weapon him
- Zhu Jiu encourages Bao Laosan to attack the SID building
Thoughts:
- Lin Jing's lab tour is fascinating; I love hearing him talk about his gadgets even if I'm not sure how much of what he's saying is bullshit for Zhao Xinci's benefit. Did the photon detector really help solve important cases? Did all his research and results really come from test bed? *g* Certainly the Hallows aren't his personal collection!
And now it's confirmed: the SID (by which I mean Zhao Yunlan) seems to have deliberately kept info about the Hallows from their own superiors, starting as far back as episode 2. Otherwise, surely the commissioner would be assumed to know about the most important/powerful items at the SID! Fascinating. - Just as Lin Jing praises the accuracy of his black energy detector, it goes off when pointed at Zhao Xinci - and Lin Jing assumes it's broken after all. Zhao Xinci's face when it detects Zhang Shi's presence!
- No one can keep a straight face when Lin Jing claims Zhao Yunlan is notoriously strict! Not even Lin Jing himself. :D
- I'm really fascinated with Da Qing's relationship with Zhao Xinci. He's less cowed by him than everyone else seems to be (which makes sense, since he actually knows him); he's also the one who steps up to explain where Zhao Yunlan is, and several times steps between Zhao Xinci and the team, appeasing Zhao Xinci/defusing the situation. But Zhao Xinci doesn't really treat him as the SID's deputy chief, and Da Qing still seems so much more subdued than usual. I would love to know what their dynamic was when they actually worked together!
- One thing I find a bit annoying: Zhao Xinci treats the SID team as if they're entirely useless without Zhao Yunlan - and they essentially live down to this. Everyone seems paralysed and acts as if they don't know how to conduct an investigation, as if they've never had to search for clues before.
- Meanwhile, at the Dixing palace, Zhao Yunlan sees for the first time that the Envoy for all his power can't do as he pleases in Dixing, but is politically constrained - and that his presence can be a complication for Shen Wei. So he diplomatically removes himself - which leads to him being separated from Shen Wei for the rest of the episode. I assume that was intentional.
And as Zhao Yunlan comes to see more of Dixing, he'll discover that it's not just politics and protocol: the Envoy is in fact met with met with opposition, obstructionism, and outright hostility by some people. The problem, for Shen Wei, is that he could act much more efficiently against all of that if he spent more time in Dixing - but that would mean abandoning his duties on the surface, not to mention the Hallows and Zhu Jiu. (And his personal life, of course.) - Zhao Yunlan and the Regent go out, nominally looking for the Dijun Register - but from the Regent's behaviour, it's pretty clear that's not actually his priority.
Last episode, I was wondering whether the Regent might in fact have orchestrated the Dijun Register's disappearance himself after Shen Wei asked for it, and honestly, the Regent's behaviour here definitely doesn't look like he's in any rush to find it again. He seems entirely uninterested in the search - he doesn't even want to describe to Zhao Yunlan where he last saw it, or what it looks like!
(Of course the Dijun Register is a very useful tool for him, so surely he wouldn't want it actually gone ... But perhaps he thinks Ding Dun is still working for him, so he'll still have access to the book even while it officially is "lost"?) - Zhao Xinci wants Da Qing to question the feral cats around, and discovers Da Qing no longer speaks cat language. What's more, every single one of the rest of the team seems surprised/confused by the request, so it seems he's never used cat language for a case during Zhao Yunlan's tenure! The loss of cat language is recent (he still spoke it ten years ago, when he was working with Zhao Xinci), but not that recent.
Later, we see Da Qing talking to kittens and wondering for himself whether he always knew cat language, and why he can't remember! Anyone have any theory on how/why/when he forgot? - Lin Jing claims that Zhao Yunlan usually "forms a hypothesis first, then tries to verify it" - in other words, theorises ahead of his facts. Which doesn't seem very Zhao Yunlan to me! What Zhao Yunlan is good at is picking out one particular relevant thread at the crime scene or among the people involved, and pulling on that until something comes of it.
(Of course Zhao Xinci, as we learn later, is also good at picking up relevant clues - Lin Jing remarks on it regarding the soil composition report! But since he doesn't share his theories, at the time Lin Jing thinks it's just busy work. And moreover, this clue doesn't actually lead the investigation anywhere.) - The Regent leads Zhao Yunlan right into a trap set by An Bai and one of his friends pretending to assault the other friend. Zhao Yunlan immediately responds to the call for help; the Regent tells him to stay out of it because it might be dangerous, and Zhao Yunlan pushes the Regent forward, thinking he can discover the Regent's power that way. (He can't, because the Regent's power is being a slime.) The Regent is "threatened", and Zhao Yunlan interferes, punching the two men. This is the moment where he looks genuinely surprised - I think here's where he realises what's actually up. The woman offers to "pay him back", and Zhao Yunlan fends her off even though she's insistent.
Zhao Yunlan: "I'm a kind man who doesn't need to be repaid!" - That's not what you said to Shen Wei, LOL. :D
Only when the Regent prods at him about it, Zhao Yunlaln explains his conclusions - love this contrast with how Zhao Xinci describes him! Very much not "jumping to conclusions"! - Love the continuation of the Zhu Hong-and-hypnotism plotline - she still doesn't want to use it, because during the Hanga arc Shen Wei threw it back at her and instructed her not to.
- Zhao Yunlan checks the time on his phone, and we see his lock screen - it's a Chinese lantern fruit. One of whose Chinese names is 金灯, Golden Lantern, so we're in foreshadowing territory here!
(See also: all the many lamps and lantern-like objects in Zhao Yunlan's flat ...) - Ye Zun calls out to Zhao Yunlan by name, lures him towards the pillar - and despite his rather OTT speech ("I am you. I am me. I am everyone."), manages to get under Zhao Yunlan's skin:
"You're using cynicism to hide how uneasy you are. You can't deceive me, and you can't deceive your heart. You live in a sea of people, but don't let anyone know you. You don't know what you're doing anything for. You don't even know whether your actions are right or wrong."
However, An Bai and friends interrupt before Ye Zun can finish offering to teach Zhao Yunlan, and Zhao Yunlan ends up busy trying various strategies to extract himself, showing how resourceful he is even as he's obviously out of his depth: he appeals to them as "fellow Dixingren" (but they don't seem to have much fellow feeling, and can tell he's out of place), physically fights (but An Bai's friend has the delightful power of "hardening his lower body"), invokes the Black-Cloaked Envoy's friendship (but they see the Envoy as a traitor), and finally resorts to "look! behind you!" Which works! :D - Running from An Bai et al., Zhao Yunlan steals a mask and enters the Dixing bar, where Wu Tian'en seems to recognise him immediately, and tries badly to impersonate a Dixingren. His usual fast-talk works against him here, because he keeps dropping remarks that make no sense in a Dixing context. We learn Dixing doesn't have masquerades, schools, or hospitals.
(To be honest, I find this scene excruciating to watch; it hits my embarrassment squick so badly!) - Zhao Xinci sits in the SID library reading a book and taking notes, and has a conversation with Sang Zan, who says he's here because he loves a girl here. Zhao Xinci says the person he loves is also at the SID, and talks about the pleasure of reading a book in peace, before signing out and leaving behind the Ancient Mysteries book which we'll later learn mentions Kunlun. And when before he wrote with his left hand, now he signs with his right. I love that Sang Zan picks up on the difference in handedness!
Given that Zhao Xinci is definitely the one who right-handedly aims his gun at Guo Changcheng in episode 36, the entire left-handed scene must be Zhang Shi. - Wu Tian'en saves Zhao Yunlan at the bar, and Zhao Yunlan tells him, "Just like I thought, you're not behind bars." - At this point he's confident that even when the Envoy takes someone back to Dixing, that doesn't necessarily mean they're put in prison. We learn Wu Tian'en is working for the Envoy now - so the Envoy does have people working directly for him in Dixing. Wu Xiaojun was sentenced, though - the Envoy didn't let him off entirely (but promised to work on shortening his sentence).
- Wu Tian'en's shock when Zhao Yunlan mentions the Regent seems to be the first time Zhao Yunlan really realises the Regent is actually dangerous. Despite how quickly he picked up on the fake assault earlier, it seems he still bought into the Regent's "weak and harmless" persona to some degree. Even with Wu Tian'en's description of him as infamous in Dixing, Zhao Yunlan still doesn't seem very wary, and talks about using the Regent. But when the Regent reappears just then, we can see Zhao Yunlan looking at him differently now, reassessing.
(And later at the palace, Zhao Yunlan is shocked to discover that Wu Tian'en isn't just feeling nostalgia, but also disgust at the place. There's something very wrong in Dixing government!) - Love the little moment of Zhao Yunlan almost saying Shen Wei's name, but catching himself in time: he's still keeping Shen Wei's secrets. ♥
- Back at the SID, we learn that Zhao Yunlan is the third-generation SID chief - there must have been another in between Zhao Xinci and him, so Zhao Yunlan didn't take over directly from his father. I wonder what happened to both previous chiefs' teams, since only Da Qing was already around when Zhao Yunlan took over!
- The whole "let's dismiss Zhao Yunlan" approach is set up to not actually encourage it - "if only one of you agrees, he'll be fired" only makes the team pull together more closely, which seems to be the point.
Much of what Zhao Xinci says and does in this episode seems to be designed to provoke the team - and push them into strengthening their support for Zhao Yunlan. And I do think it works - this experience of standing together against Zhao Xinci and his anti-Zhao Yunlan agenda solidifies them as a team, as well as making all of them aware of their shared loyalty. But at the same time, how much is Zhao Xinci enjoying getting to let out all his frustrations about his son, criticising him left and right, while he can justify it as motivating his team rather than undermining the SID's work?
(And he's also letting his bigotry show when he tells Guo Changcheng: "Da Qing has worked at the SID the longest. The others either possess a risky identity or don't have potential for greatness. Only you have a clean background." I do think those are his true feelings coming out, with the "risky identity". Ugh. Fascinating that Da Qing seems to be in a separate category for him to some degree, though.) - Btw, regarding the loyalty question - on the one hand, good on Xiao-Guo for speaking up even against Lao-Chu! But on the other hand, Lao-Chu has every right to feel offended by Xiao-Guo thinking so badly of him.
- Zhang Shi shows himself properly for the first time!
- When everyone rushes to the second crime scene, Zhao Xinci isn't along. I find it fascinating how much more competent they all suddenly appear, without Zhao Xinci to lecture them - even though they were clearly deliberately lured away from the SID, so Bao Laosan and Zhu Jiu could attack the SID building (and presumably so Zhu Jiu can get the Hallows once the shield breaks).
- Honestly, I feel for Bao Laosan, being manipulated by Zhu Jiu - he seems to truly believe that the SID is all that stands in the way of Dixingren living freely on the surface, and destroying it will solve all their problems. And being faced with Zhao Xinci again has to be so hard for him.
Discussion starters:
- What's your favourite scene or moment from this episode? Your favourite random Dixing fact?
- Why do you think Zhao Yunlan didn't inform his superiors about the Hallows, and instead seems to have kept them out of the paperwork? What was his thinking back in episode 2? How many contortions did he have to go through to make the omission non-obvious? *g*
- What if Lin Jing hadn't assumed the black energy detector was broken, and instead thought "Zhao Xinci" was an impostor? Ha, now I want this canon divergence! (What if Xiao-Guo actually told the others he saw Zhao Xinci with yellow eyes? If he did, those two bits of info together would be a very clear clue!)
- When Zhao Xinci came to the SID, what was his original plan? Since he asks about Shen Wei and that seems to be a point of contention, is that the reason he's conducting this inspection now? What would he have done if Shen Wei himself was there, as he seemed to expect (checking Shen Wei's schedule and choosing a time when Shen Wei had no commitments at the university)?
He couldn't have known Zhao Yunlan would go to Dixing and avoid him entirely, and the loyalty test as it happened wouldn't have worked if he'd been there - or would Zhao Xinci have removed Zhao Yunlan from the office on some pretext so he could work on the team?
(And what does he think when he learns Zhao Yunlan has gone to Dixing? He doesn't say much about it when Da Qing explains ...) - Do you think Shen Wei sometimes regrets not spending more time in Dixing? What do you think went into weighing his priorities?
- Both with An Bai and friends at the pillar, and when Zhao Yunlan is exposed at the bar, people seem pretty quick to jump to the conclusion that he's not Dixingren. Does that mean there are actually humans occasionally visiting Dixing? Or is there an urban legend about humans secretly infiltrating Dixing, or what? Thoughts?
- I'm still entirely unclear on why the Regent wanted Zhao Yunlan to come to Dixing. Ye Zun is clearly trying to get his hooks into him, but the Regent isn't on Ye Zun's side and wouldn't help Ye Zun in such a way when there isn't anything in it for him. And what was that entire ploy with the fake attack about? Did the Regent want to create some kind of diplomatic incident to get the upper hand negotiating with Haixing?
- At the end, yellow-eyed Zhao Xinci (aka Zhang Shi) suddenly appears at the door, and tells Xiao-Guo he's his hand-picked weapon, foreshadowing his plan to substitute Xiao-Guo as the Guardian Lantern's sacrifice. But how does he move from his seat at the desk to the door so quickly?! Any theories?
- The Regent: "I sure am getting old. It's a good time to slack-off a little. I'll leave the hard work to the young people." - What work do you think he's referring to? He doesn't seem to have any interest in actually making Zhao Yunlan look for the Dijun Register ...
Let's talk about episode 16!
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!
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Oh! What a thought! That hadn't occurred to me, thank you so much for bringing it up. VERY good question - what would Zhao Xinci have done if someone had turned against Zhao Yunlan?! He must have considered it.
I think the Regent wanted to get Yunlan into trouble in Dixing, eg. get him to fall into the girl's trap and then be accused of assault, then he would have some leverage over him and the BCE.
Getting Zhao Yunlan into trouble and gaining leverage over him/the SID definitely makes sense! Do we think he's well informed enough to be aware he can use Zhao Yunlan against the Envoy?
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