GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 17

[china_shop]

Beginning of episode: Zhu Jiu convinces Bao Laosan to destroy the SID.
Ending of episode: Chu Shuzhi meets Ye Huo in the underground fight club.

Important scenes/developments:

• Bao Laosan attacks the SID, after remembering Zhao Xinci shooting at him and killing his wife.
• Shen Wei looks for Zhao Yunlan in Dixing, and the bar patrons are rude and disrespectful.
• The SID team arrive and take on Bao Laosan. Zhao Xinci comes from inside the SID and pulls his gun. Bao Laosan is shot.
• In Dixing, Wu Tian'en tells Zhao Yunlan about an information merchant.
• Separately, Shen Wei scares the crap out of An Bai and his friends.
• Ya Qing is disgusted by Zhu Jiu's betrayal of Bao Laosan, but Zhu Jiu says his boss would do the same.
• We get the first half of Zhu Jiu's backstory, and confirmation that Creepy Pillar Guy is his boss.
• Zhao Yunlan feels sick from over-exposure to dark energy, and starts to formulate a plan to catch Zhu Jiu.
• The SID is subdued. Zhao Xinci says they did well. Da Qing privately asks Zhao Xinci if he really killed Bao Laosan.
• A masked Ding Dun offers Zhao Yunlan relationship advice and then stabs him in the arm.
• Shen Wei arrives in the nick of time, fights Ding Dun, rescues some smouldering pages of the Register, and saves Zhao Yunlan's life.
• Zhao Yunlan dreams about meeting his mother at the sky pillar, then wakes up in the SID.
• Zhao Xinci visits Shen Xi's grave, argues with Zhang Shi, and remembers his and Shen Xi's tragic backstory.
• Zhao Yunlan takes Shen Wei to his mother's grave and reacts strongly to seeing Zhao Xinci's flowers there.
• The Regent and the Deacon talk about the Envoy and Ding Dun.
• An Bai and friends are arrested and sentenced to execution.
• Zhao Yunlan finds The Ancient Mysteries book, left in the SID library by Zhang Shi, and takes it home for bedtime reading.
• Cong Bo brings intel about the underground fight club.
• The chancellor tries to make Shen Wei choose between teaching and working for the SID, but Jiajia intervenes.
• Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan sit in Zhao Yunlan's office and gossip about Lao Chu and Xiao Guo.
• Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng investigate the underground fight club and meet Ye Huo.

Thoughts and screencaps






This episode feels rather bitsy compared to episode 16, but there's still a pervasive theme of mistaking, revealing, establishing and reaffirming roles and relationships:

• Zhao Xinci puts up a legalistic front so as not to admit an accident, but the truth is revealed in flashback. (I wonder what he says in the case report.)
• When Zhao Xinci says to the SID, "Please tell Zhao Yunlan once he's back to not be lazy and do crazy things." -- that seems more parental than official, right? A crack in his veneer of bureaucratic authority.
• Shen Wei arrives in the Dixing bar in mufti. The whole bar starts shouting at him, asking what his relationship is with Zhao Yunlan. Instead of answering, Shen Wei reveals his Envoy identity by assuming his robes. When they don't believe him and pelt him with bar snacks, he uses his power to put out the lights. (Interesting that he doesn't summon his usual calling card, the dao; I think he's trying to assert himself and de-escalate at the same time?)
• Da Qing steps up into his deputy leadership role during Bao Laosan's assault, ably telling the team what to do.
• Shen Wei finds An Bai and friends in the streets of Dixing and uses his role and blade as a death threat to gain information about Zhao Yunlan's whereabouts.
• Ya Qing once again draws a line between her own agenda and Zhu Jiu/Ye Zun's, and decries the others' methods and ethics. Meanwhile, Zhu Jiu reaffirms his loyalty to Ye Zun.
• Flashback: Zhu Jiu is bullied for his lack of powers, alienating him from his role as palace guard; then Ye Zun uses mind control to alienate him from his self-defining admiration of the Envoy.
• As part of the above, the creepy voice in the pillar that toyed with Zhao Yunlan is revealed to be the boss behind Zhu Jiu.
• The information merchant starts out masked and anonymous, but is shown to be Ding Dun, thought to be dead, and seemingly with a personal grudge against Zhao Yunlan (though he says, "For the Hallows, I will kill you!").
• He offers Zhao Yunlan advice about marriage and family, which Zhao Yunlan refuses, claiming he's not suited for either of those roles.
• (In Zhao Yunlan's dream, I'm never sure if Shen Xi is herself, or if she's Zhao Yunlan's projection, or if it's Ye Zun using/twisting her form.)
• At Shen Xi's grave, Zhao Xinci and Zhang Shi argue, differentiating their respective positions and personalities.
• Flashback: Zhao Xinci is torn between his role as SID chief and his role of husband and father, and prioritises the former, twice over -- during the fight, and during the Shen Xi hostage standoff.
• Shen Wei says he and his role are misunderstood: "Do you know that there are some Dixingren now who see me as a betrayer. They think that helping you find the Hallows means I stand by your side. But they don't know that I'm doing all this to prevent another war from erupting."
• An Bai's friend is surprised that the old man from the street is the Regent of Dixing. (Huh.)
• We see a nominal separation of power, when the Regent applies to the Dijun for approval to sentence An Bai & co. We also see the Dijun is basically a puppet without a voice; he only communicates with a bell.
• Zhao Yunlan wrongly assumes Sang Zan is bad at his job.
• Zhao Yunlan's attention is caught by a mention of Kunlun, unbeknownst to him his own alter ego.
• Zhao Yunlan treats Cong Bo rudely, asserting his own authority and putting Cong Bo in his place.
• Cong Bo says he dressed up to go undercover in the underground fight club (which, why? presumably he could have more safely and easily gone in as himself?).
• The chancellor tries to force Shen Wei to choose between his roles: the university or the SID.
• Jiajia reveals she and the chancellor are secretly granddaughter and grandfather (and tells Shen Wei, regarding his choice, "Why not both?").
• Zhao Yunlan questions the nature of the relationship between Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng.
• People at the fight club assess Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi purely on their manner and appearance, and Ye Huo dismisses Changcheng as "trash".

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite line of dialogue? Favourite scene? Was there anything you'd forgotten?


• What is Shen Wei's worst moment this episode? Hearing the drunk in the bar say he killed Zhao Yunlan? Having his people throw food and jeer? Finding Zhao Yunlan half-dead in the street? Having the chancellor tell him to choose between teaching and consulting at the SID, and knowing he has to choose the SID? Something else?


• Does anyone pay Wu Tian'en back the 500 yuan? Is it Dixing currency?


• And why does Ding Dun kill Zhao Yunlan? It seems like a personal grudge, but they never met. Is he acting on Ye Zun's behalf? And why did he burn the Register? Why right then? Any thoughts?


• Is there any payoff from Shen Wei finding the smoking remains of the Dijun's Register?


• What exactly happened with Bao Laosan's death? Why does Zhang Shi blame Zhao Xinci? Do you think Zhao Xinci has changed at all since the flashback where Bao Laosan's wife died?


• Why on earth would Zhao Yunlan send Guo Changcheng on his own to investigate an underground fight club? I mean, sure, Lao Chu will inevitably get in someone's face and end up fighting. But Guo Changcheng on his own doesn't seem like a better option!

Let’s talk about episode 17!
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

[china_shop]

> > I thought he was saying it as if it was a little distasteful.

> I didn't read it that way at all; it seemed more playful to me.

*rewatches* No, you're right it's not distasteful at all. I was conflating it with something else and got confused. I take that back.

But I don't quite read it as playful, either. Maybe his tone is, but there's no hint of mischief or humour in his expression. I still don't quite get what his subtext is. Maybe it'll become clear to me later... :-)

ETA: I was thinking about it some more. It goes like this, right?

ZYL: Hei-laoge! Are you listening to me?
SW: *is zoned out, thinking about his roles and the possible conflict between them*
ZYL: Hei-laoge!
SW: What you just said... You said... You sent Xiao Guo to the underground arena to investigate. Lao Chu is a bit worried, so he went along. I have to say, these two are like the best of partners now.
ZYL: I know, right? When Xiao Guo had just joined the SID, Lao Chu in particular avoided and rejected him. But now, of all of us here, he's the one who looks after Xiao Guo most.
ZYL: *sits forward; says, low and lightly serious* Don't you think Lao Chu dotes on his apprentice too much?
SW: *looks at ZYL*
ZYL: *cocks his head*

So, Shen Wei ventures an opinion about CSZ and GCC's (working) relationship, and ZYL agrees, elaborates, and then leans forward and confers about it. It's a silly question, but maybe ZYL, in consulting the Envoy about managing CSZ, is implying they're both his bosses? ZYL is sharing that leadership, too? Or at least positioning Shen Wei in relation to the others? That might make sense of the exchange of looks at the end, and Shen Wei's laugh? And it also fits with the theme of this conversation/episode, of Shen Wei establishing a place for himself at the SID.

[trobadora]

It's a silly question, but maybe ZYL, in consulting the Envoy about managing CSZ, is implying they're both his bosses?

Yes, I think that's spot on - he's talking to Shen Wei as to Lao-Chu's other boss. Very good point about how it fits thematically!

(Sorry it took me so long to reply to this - I kept thinking I wanted to say more, but I can't figure out what. *g* Great thoughts, anyway!)