GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 21

[trobadora]

Beginning of episode: team breakfast at the SID
Ending of episode: Shen Wei asks Professor Ouyang about the miracle doctor

Important scenes/developments:

• Team breakfast at the SID; Zhao Yunlan sends everyone away for the holiday
• Zhu Hong tells the team about Shen Wei's identity
• Dr Cheng examines Zhao Yunlan's eyes
• Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng play mahjong with Guo Changcheng's uncle and aunt
• Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan listen to Zhu Hong read 'Record of the Ancient Secrets'; Da Qing has memory trouble
• Shen Wei is very distracted during his class
• Lin Jing meets Sha Ya and tries to flirt with her
• Zhao Xinci takes Zhao Yunlan home and tries to give him advice; then Zhang Shi gives him advice as well
• Zhao Yunlan has visions of his father having an accident and nearly runs into a car; Shen Wei drags him away by the wrist
• Zhu Hong is subject to Snake Tribe matchmaking
• Zhao Yunlan shows Shen Wei the audio recording, and Shen Wei takes the recorder away
• Guo Changcheng tries to help his aunt win, but Chu Shuzhi snatches victory for himself
• Zhu Hong uses a Snake guard's feelings for her to get a sneak peek at the restricted area; Ya Qing attacks
• Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan arrive for the Yashou Flea Market
• Ya Qing has Zhu Hong hostage; Shen Wei attacks, and Zhao Yunlan derails him with "Xiao-Wei"
• Fourth Uncle gives Zhu Hong the sacred wood for safe-keeping
• Wang Zheng and Sang Zan have a romantic evening with rose petals and dancing
• The SID greets Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi; Shen Wei apologises to Chu Shuzhi
• Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei et al. check out the miracle doctor, but he's a jerk, and they leave
• Shen Wei talks to Professor Ouyang and asks about the miracle doctor's treatments

Thoughts:

This episode has a theme of family, unsurprising given it's the Reunion Festival! We have a whole bunch of family groups, both biological and chosen, sometimes in opposition:

• The SID family: they're still growing closer!
  
  • We start out seeing them share breakfast, sort of, in the wake of Zhao Yunlan going blind. Well, everyone has bowls, but the only one we see eating is Zhao Yunlan, shovelling food into his mouth and presenting a very "who cares" image. Everyone else is just watching him, and Zhu Hong is standing there at the head of the table, staring.
    
    
  
  
  • When Chu Shuzhi asks why Shen Wei returned with them (about which more below), he treats Professor Shen as an outsider - then Zhu Hong spills the beans, and I think think the truth of his identity, rather than setting him apart as one might expect with a legendary figure such as the Envoy, pulls him in more closely. When they greet him as Hei Pao Shi, he tells them to keep acting the same as before, but I think they're actually treating him even more as part of the group after they know!
  
  
  • Lin Jing has no family to go to for the Reunion Festival, and instead he scrolls through his social media feed, where Zhu Hong has posted goofy selfies from the Snake Tribe village, and Xiao-Guo has posted a selfie with his aunt, uncle and Lao-Chu. He's feeling lonely with everyone gone! ♥
    
    
  
  
  • Several SID members record audio messages for Zhao Yunlan: Lin Jing is lamenting; Xiao-Guo tries to tell a joke, and Zhu Hong records the "Records of the Ancient secrets" book. Da Qing says Zhu Hong stayed up the whole night to record the book for him!
  
  
  • Shen Wei and Da Qing are also developing more of a rapport - they have silent communication down pat at the end of the episode, when Shen Wei gives him a small head-jerk to make him go and listen in on Professor Ouyang talking to the miracle doctor


• Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei:
  
  • I love all the touching in this episode, and during the blindness arc in general. It starts here, with Zhao Yunlan patting his hand in Shen Wei's general direaction, and Shen Wei guiding him out of the room. Of course there is also manhandling of the "will you just stay put" and "you just ran into a car, for fuck's sake" kind, but Zhao Yunlan's blindness lets them get away with a lot of casual touch. They're in physical contact so much! And from an in-universe POV, I think that does break down some barriers between them: prior to this, there's still more physical distance between them, but from here on they're both more comfortable getting handsy. ♥
  
  
  • Our first meeting with Dr Cheng, aka a part of Shen Wei's past that isn't Envoy-related! Zhao Yunlan can tell from the way she talks about Shen Wei (and that she calls him just "Shen Wei") that they know each other. Shen Wei really does not want to deal with this right now - he's entirely preoccupied with Zhao Yunlan's blindness - but he manages a brief introduction, and another level of separation is peeled away. Meanwhile, Dr Cheng has also not missed how close Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan is, and if she had any doubts, they confirm it by squabbling in front of her like a married couple over whether Shen Wei should stay or go to work. Because Zhao Yunlan not only has an alert on his phone for Shen Wei's classes, but also without being able to see his phone immediately remembers what the alert is for! :D
    
    
  
  
  • Zhao Yunlan, in the same episode where he proclaims his faith in Shen Wei to his father, and says some things don't need to be seen, is again brought face to face with Shen Wei's secrets: not only has Shen Wei not told him about the things mentioned in connection with the Hallows in 'Records of the Ancient Secrets', when he hears the recording, he reacts strongly and immediately makes it stop. But those secrets don't diminish their connection at all.
  
  
  • Shen Wei, meanwhile, is worrying so much about Zhao Yunlan, he's making errors at uni, and then Zhao Yunlan nearly walks into a car! Which makes him angry and frustrated on top of worried, and just like when Zhao Yunlan fainted from touching the Hallows and got a nosebleed, he's resorting to manhandling Zhao Yunlan. I really love the physicality of it, especially the dragging-him-off-by-the-wrist bit!
    
    
    
    You could say Shen Wei is being overbearing here, pushing Zhao Yunlan around and trying to make him stay put, but then Zhao Yunlan just almost got himself run over by a car, and then had the gall to accuse Shen Wei of ditching him, when it's Zhao Yunlan who didn't wait for him at the hospital as they'd previously arranged! And then being told not to worry! Meanwhile Zhao Yunlan is just trying to keep control of some part of his life, and trying very hard to project calm and his usual flirty manner, to inject some normalcy into all of this. Which Zhao Yunlan clearly needs, but is not helping SW, who really has never dealt well with important things being made light of. You can feel for them both so much!
  
  
  • What does work: Zhao Yunlan entirely derailing Shen Wei's anger at Ya Qing by calling him "Xiao-Wei". But of course that is followed up by Zhao Yunlan confronting Ya Qing himself and addressing the situation, leading to Ya Qing agreeing to elect a Yashou High Chief in three months. Zhao Yunlan: competent and serious, much more confidence-inspiring than walking into a car! :p
    
    


• Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan:
  
  • The scene with the two of them in the hospital's waiting area is delightful! Da Qing brought snacks and is munching away (not sneaking! openly eating! *g*)! Zhao Yunlan kicks at him with his socked feet! Da Qing shakes one of the snacks at Zhao Yunlan like he's playing with a kitten! I love how playful they are, and how normal this scene is - how Zhao Yunlan's blindness changes nothing about their dynamic. Which is exactly what Zhao Yunlan needs from Da Qing, of course. ♥
  
  
  • And when Da Qing's confused memories act up and give him a headache, Zhao Yunlan immediately switches to taking care of him. They're there for each other!


• Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Xinci, Zhang Shi:
  
  • The way Zhao Yunlan freezes when he recognises his father's voice at the hospital! The way he shakes off his hands!
    
    (As for why Zhao Xinci is at the hospital: on first watch it seems as if he found out about Zhao Yunlan's blindness somehow and is there because of that, but as we will eventually find out, he just had heart surgery (at some point during the Reunion Festival, the same night Bai Suxia died, whose body has just been collected by her husband, as we find out from Dr Cheng when she talks to Da Qing). So I have to assume Zhao Xinci is actually just being released himself after his surgery!)
  
  
  • Zhao Xinci warns Zhao Yunlan away from Shen Wei - unlike with the Guos, biological and chosen family in opposition.
    
    It's very interesting how Zhao Xinci approaches this: 他是什么人你应该知道。和他在一起只会惹上源源不断的麻烦。
    "You should know what kind of person he is. Being close to him will only bring you constant trouble."
    
    This sounds like Zhao Xinci is appealing to some shared understanding of who Shen Wei is - but when Zhao Yunlan refutes this ("he's sincerely good to me"/"I know he always has my back"), he tells him things may not be as they seem: he claims to know more/see more clearly than Zhao Yunlan does. This, unsurprisingly, does not make Zhao Yunlan more inclined to listen. *g*
    
    (Also, note the way Zhao Xinci makes a face and turns away when Zhao Yunlan says Shen Wei is good to him!)
    
    
  
  
  • Zhao Yunlan says some things aren't meant for seeing, implying he trusts Shen Wei blindly - and then promptly runs into the gate to his apartment complex, showing the potential dangers of walking into things unseeing. (See also: rushing into the street later!)
  
  
  
  • Also very interesting: after Zhao Xinci clearly gets nowhere with his advice, Zhang Shi steps in and offers some advice of his own. He's not Zhao Yunlan's father, but he speaks to him as if he were - and it's so out of step with Zhao Xinci, Zhao Yunlan can immediately tell.
    
    Zhao Yunlan asks him when the hell he made such a complete turnabout, and accuses him of impersonating someone else - and says this is more than his father has said to him in ages. Zhang Shi clearly hasn't spoken to him like this before. In fact, given that Zhao Yunlan immediately recognises how OOC his father is being, he can't have spoken up much at all while Zhao Yunlan was growing up, so this is extra disorienting for him.


• Guo Changcheng, his aunt and uncle, and Chu Shuzhi:
  
  • Xiao-Guo and Lao-Chu are playing Mahjong with Minister Guo and his wife. These are the uncle and aunt Zhao Xinci mentioned in episode 16: "Your uncle Guo Ying is deputy minister of Haixing Inspectorate, and your aunt Yu Jinlan is head of the women's association office." They're both personable and welcoming. Minister Guo calls him Xiao-Chu, and I believe Yu Jinlan that it was her idea to invite him. (Xiao-Guo probably mentioned that Lao-Chu will be alone for the holiday, and that's all it took. *g*) They both seem like lovely people.
    
    
    
    They do have a tense moment when Minister Guo makes the mistake of trying to touch Chu Shuzhi's puppet, and another one when Xiao-Guo helps Yu Jinlan win (there's so much affection between them there!), and then Chu Shuzhi takes the win away. And gruffly demands Xiao-Guo pay up! Chu Shuzhi does wonder afterwards if he managed to put his foot in it, but Xiao-Guo reassures him that it's all good. So all in all meeting the family goes well.
  
  
  • Very interesting: not so long ago (episode ) Minister Guo called Dixingren monsters, and now he's invited one and treats him as his nephew's slightly weird friend. (He must know about Chu Shuzhi - even if he wasn't aware prior to that, he was so worried when he discovered Xiao-Guo had been transferred to the SID, surely he checked them all out?) At any rate, he's come a long way from trying to transfer Xiao-Guo out of the SID as quickly as possible!


• Lin Jing and Sha Ya:
  
  These two ostensibly meet because neither of them them are with family on the Reunion Festival. Ya Qing being involved throws doubt on that, but it's still very much a meet-cute. Lin Jing is very taken with Sha Ya from the moment he sees her, and Sha Ya, despite rebuffing him, smiles when he leaves. I think she does think he's cute- in fact, Ya Qing's appearance at the end is framed a little bit like Ya Qing is catching her out, isn't it? Hmmm.
  
  


• Zhu Hong, Fourth Uncle and the Snake Tribe:
  
  • Zhu Hong is subjected to her uncle's matchmaking attempt, and one of the young Snake guys who like her advertises himself as loyal, trustworthy, and liking housework! Hee! Fourth Uncle complains about her only coming home to seek medicine for Zhao Yunlan - but then promptly brings up the Yashou Flea Market and dangles the prospect of a cure in front of her to lure Zhao Yunlan there. (Like Zhao Yunlan later says, Fourth Uncle clearly wanted him there to help with the brewing conflict with Ya Qing.)
  
  
  • Zhu Hong then promptly proves Fourth Uncle right about her own ulterior motives when she uses Jia-ge's feelings for her in order to sneak into the restricted area - which distracts him enough that Ya Qing can attack him, and then take Zhu Hong hostage.
  
  
  • Fourth Uncle tells Ya Qing to come at him and leave Zhu Hong alone, trying to protect her. And later, despite his earlier criticism of Zhu Hong, he gives her the sacred wood, trusting her with its protection. Previously, he wanted her to come home to be safe, rather than get in danger with the SID; now home has become dangerous as well, and he shows he does have faith in her.


• Ya Qing and Ying Chun:
  
  Ying Chun accuses her of being crazy when it looks like Ya Qing is rejecting the other Yashou tribes; Ya Qing says she's realised YC doesn't understand her intentions at all. Which is true - we did note that as well during the Zhu Jiu trap, when Ying Chun seems surprised and pleased that Ya Qing still cares about the Yashou, when from Ya Qing's perspective, all she's been doing has been for the Yashou. These two clearly care about each other deeply, but right now they're not understanding each other at all.


• Wang Zheng and Sang Zan:
  
  Sang Zan presents Wang Zhengr with a romantic evening, while the drama's ending theme plays. After everything these two have been through, out of all the relationships theirs is the one with the least conflict now. ♥


• The Miracle Doctor:
  
  Even the miracle doctor plays into the family theme - in his conversation with Professor Ouyang, he talks about living up to his family's history as healers, and wiping away his reputation as a quack now that his healing powers have finally awakened.

Some more random thoughts:

• Chu Shuzhi asks: 明明去的时候只有你和赵云澜两个人，为什么回来会多一个沈教授？
  "When you left it was just you and Zhao Yunlan; why was Professor Shen there as well when you came back?"
  
  This makes very little sense: Zhu Hong set out last night to find Zhao Yunlan, but before that, Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei left together, and Chu Shuzhi knows that perfectly well! I wonder if this is evidence of some previous version of the script ...


• Zhu Hong stayed silent for quite a bit, and she needs Chu Shuzhi's question to finally to spill the truth about Shen Wei being the Envoy: she's kept it to herself since they captured Zhu Jiu on the rooftop. That's not a long time, perhaps, but she's had plenty of opportunity to speak up at any time during Zhu Jiu's brief captivity at the SID, during the aborted Reunion Festival celebration, and between the confrontation with Ye Zun last night and this morning. *g*
  
  I still wish we could actually have seen everyone's immediate reactions.


• After he finds out they know, Shen Wei goes straight to Chu Shuzhi and apologises, showing clearly that the respect and loyalty are not one-sided. ♥
  
  
  
  I do wonder if Shen Wei originally meant to let Chu Shuzhi and the rest of the SID in on the secret - he didn't hide it from Zhu Hong, after all. In fact, her presence on the rooftop serves no particular purpose; perhaps she was there to witness the truth? The interruption during the Reunion Festival feast and then Zhao Yunlan's blindness may well have got in the way of his plans.


• Shen Wei's distraction at the uni is very noticeable to his students! He keeps making errors on the blackboard, and he's also running behind his lesson plan - the bell interrupts him. Not that he cares at this point: he immediately rushes off. I think a big part of why he's so completely out of sorts is that he doesn't deal well with problems he can't do anything about. If he can't solve the problem, he wants to do something useful at least, and to be there with Zhao Yunlan. But Zhao Yunlan needs to prove to himself that he can handle this, not to be fussed over. *pets them both*
  
  (The bell interrupting apparently mid-lesson is something of a trope on TV, where teachers never seem to plan their lessons in any reasonable way, but I think here it's deliberate, showing how out of sorts Shen Wei is.)


• "See you after the holiday," Shen Wei says to his class, despite the fact that it's been the Reunion Festival for a while now. In fact, Wang Zheng later this episode (still on the same day) talks about the holiday season ending. Mid-Autumn Festival is generally a three-day holiday as far as I know, and Wang Zheng's words make it sound as if it's the last day, whereas Shen Wei's words make it seem as if it hasn't started. Perhaps that's just more evidence of him being very distracted!
  
  (Though why the uni is holding lectures right on the holidays where everyone else is off celebrating with their families, I don't know ...)


• When Da Qing tells Dr Cheng that he looks younger than he is, I wonder if she thinks it's a similar case to Zu Ma.


• Zhao Yunlan's black energy corruption is proceeding apace - he's once again having visions without even touching any Hallows! (This one, we'll come back to in episode 28.)
  
  


• I'm always sad that Shen Wei's reaction to "Xiao-Wei" doesn't relate back to an incident in YOHE. It really should have!


• Back in episode 1, Professor Ouyang gave up very quickly when he couldn't recruit Shen Wei; he didn't seem that interested. Now he tries again, and is turned down again. I wonder if that's because they're receiving pressure from above, and need more help. After all, Professor Zhou keeps hyping Shen Wei up! *g*

Discussion starters:

• What is your favourite moment in this episode? Honestly, it's not very long, but mine is Shen Wei yanking Zhao Yunlan around by the wrist. :D


• Which family unit in this episode is your favourite? I'm having a hard time choosing!


• When Zhao Yunlan tells Shen Wei to go to uni, he says Da Qing will come soon. Why do you think they've arranged that? Why didn't Da Qing come with them right away?
  
  (By the time Da Qing arrives, Zhao Yunlan is really only waiting for his paperwork to be filed; everything else is done. Did they anticipate the exams taking longer? Did Dr Cheng speed things up for Shen Wei's friend?)


• Regarding 'Record of the Ancient Secrets", I can never make sense of what the quotes from the book are supposed to tell us about the Hallows. Do you think there's a deeper meaning? Did "Kunlun" really say these words? And if so, was he just quoting what he remembered from this book, himself sound impressive without quite understanding it himself? *g*


• What does Zhao Xinci know about Shen Wei? What does he think Zhao Yunlan knows? I always assumed Zhao Xinci knows Shen Wei is the Envoy, and if so, he probably does expect Zhao Yunlan to also know - after all, Zhao Yunlan went to Dixing with him! But if Zhao Xinci doesn't know Shen Wei's full identity, he's definitely concluded - from the same bit of evidence, if nothing else - that he must be Dixingren ...


• Zhang Shi's very un-Zhao Xinci-like advice: "I was told from a young age that there are four things in life we mustn't obsess about/be stubborn about/cling to. The first is forever/longevity/permanence. The second is right and wrong. The third is kindness and evil. The fourth is life and death." / "Holding on to something isn't always a virtue. Becoming too attached may lead to unhappiness, and make you stray from your path. Being too obsessed with right and wrong will make you narrow minded. In this world absolute rights and wrongs are rare. Obsession with good and evil will not let you see anyone as good. It may even make you arrogant, wanting to set the rules yourself and change them at will. Being too obsessed with life and death, your vision will become narrow. In this life, people can avoid at most two of these four. That's why a lot of things can't be scrutinized too closely. So it's not worth your time considering them. Since you've already made your decision, don't wonder if it's right or wrong. Plan your next step instead."
  
  What do you think he's trying to tell Zhao Yunlan with this?


• Regarding the Yashou Flea Market, of which not even the slightest hint is ever seen, and which Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan don't seem to check out after the confrontation with Ya Qing: I was wondering if perhaps the Flea Market wasn't happening at all, and Fourth Uncle only told Zhu Hong that it was in order to lure Zhao Yunlan there because he expected Ya Qing to retaliate for his and Ying Chun's role during the Zhu Jiu trap. Zhao Yunlan calls him on his ulterior motives, and Fourth Uncle doesn't disagree - but was he using the timing of the Yashou Flea Market as an opportunity, or was it all just a ruse start to finish? What do you think?


• When everyone at the SID greets Shen Wei as Hei Pao Shi and Shen Wei tells them to keep acting the same as before, Zhao Yunlan echoes his words in a slightly mocking way. What do you think he means by that?


• Am I hearing this right - does Zhao Yunlan's neighbour who calls him Xiao-Zhao and helps him downstairs speak with an accent? I would love to know more.


• Shen Wei: "How can you be so calm? Don't you know in the past you -" Does anyone have a theory about what he was going to say? Perhaps it was just "in the past, you weren't blind", but it sounds a bit like it's referring to a YOHE event that we never actually got to see. Thoughts?


• Shen Wei is really furious at Ya Qing: "Your constant bickering is a matter for your tribe. But you conspired with evil forces to harm innocent people. The peace everyone struggles to keep is destroyed by people like you for selfish desires. Even a thousand deaths would not absolve you." And he's threatening her with his dao. Do you think he would have killed or injured her? Or was he just threatening? He certainly lets Zhao Yunlan step in and de-escalate, try to talk reason to Ya Qing - is that just because he's still all blue-screened?
  
  


• Why does Ya Qing at this point say all this resentment should end? What of Shen Wei's actions and words, and/or Zhao Yunlan's words, or everyone else's words and reactions, prompted her to say this?


• Professor Ouyang's attitude towards the miracle doctor interests me a lot. What does he think about his powers - does he think he's found a random Haixingren with powers, or is he that willing to praise a random Dixingren?

Let's talk about episode 21!
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

Re: Links to episode 21 fanworks and meta go here!

[shadaras]

Here's my original post about ep21 when I was first watching the show!

Re: Links to episode 21 fanworks and meta go here!

[trobadora]

Oh, great, thank you! ♥