GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 30

[china_shop]

Beginning of episode: Shen Wei, Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu are at the locust tree gate and about to go to Dixing.
Ending of episode: Zhao Yunlan pulls his dark energy gun on Zhang Shi.

Important scenes/developments:

• Shen Wei gives Sha Ya the ring from Lin Jing.
• Zhao Yunlan and Minister Gao argue about whether to hide the Ye Zun threat from the public.
• Ye Zun tells Ya Qing to hack the SID and leak false info.
• Zhao Yunlan hears Lin Jing in the lab with Professor Ouyang and confirms Lin Jing is a spy.
• Lin Jing leaves the SID, and everyone is very upset.
• Shen Wei arrives in the Dijun's palace with Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu, and finds that Ye Zun has taken over.
• Flashback to the coup.
• Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu tell Shen Wei to save himself, so he leaves and goes to the pillar.
• There are four patients at Dragon City hospital with the same mysterious complaint.
• Lin Jing starts working with Professor Ouyang and Li Qian in the Haixing lab.
• Shen Wei yells at Ye Zun and gets chained to the pillar.
• Zhao Yunlan argues with Minister Gao again; Zhao Xinci (but actually Zhang Shi) arrives and tries to mediate.
• Cong Bo starts to delete all SID electronic data, but Ya Qing knocks him out and leaks it online.
• The SID team is upset; Zhao Yunlan stews in his office; Da Qing takes charge.
• Da Qing and Zhu Hong are questioned in the street by a member of the public. Da Qing saves himself; Ying Chun saves Zhu Hong.
• Fourth Uncle tells Zhu Hong to return to the forest, but she's determined to stay.
• Chu Shuzhi received a forged note from the Envoy and is worried for his safety.
• Zhao Yunlan burns incense in his office and struggles with his inaction.
• An official car arrives at the SID to collect Zhao Yunlan; on his way out he tells Wang Zheng and Sang Zan to defend the Hallows.
• Zhao Xinci greets his son with, "You've made me so disappointed."
• They go to Zhao Yunlan's flat, where Zhao Yunlan pulls his dark-energy gun on Zhang Shi.

Zhao Yunlan is a whole rainbow of frustration and worry in this episode.

Thoughts
In this episode, Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan both face political opposition from their respective governments (though I have a hard time getting a read on the Regent). And with Shen Wei in Dixing, there's a bit more space for focusing on Zhao Yunlan's relationship with the rest of his team.

Some notes:

• For minor characters, two-thirds of whom we have no real reason to care about, the show spends a whole lot of time on Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu's story, including the extensive flashbacks last episode. I think it's going, "Pay attention! This is an important theme!" to set us up for the ending between Shen Wei and Ye Zun. We can infer by now that Ye Zun is most likely operating from false information, that his vengeance is misguided, and that the conflict will resolve when the truth is revealed. Anyway, I was thinking about this when Shen Wei gave Sha Ya the ring from Lin Jing, and I suddenly went, "Oh nooo, is the ring ≡ the pendant??" (Is Lin Jing very roughly equivalent to Zhao Yunlan in this scenario -- human, peripheral to the conflict, devoted? I know he's devoted to the wrong party for a one-to-one analogy, but parallels can't be too on the nose or there's no suspense/mystery.) The ring is given in absentia, it marks a separation (which ends in death), it holds a hidden wonder (stars, lollipop wrapper; po-tay-to, po-tah-to) which is revealed after the holder affirms their connection to the giver... And one is given in Haixing and fills the sky with stars; the other is given in Dixing, and Zhao Yunlan clutches it while he... yeah. I don't think this is coincidence!)
  
  Shen Wei: Do you have any farewell messages for [Lin Jing]?
  Sha Ya: We will meet again one day.
  
  Anyway, before that, Hua Yuzhu finally apologises, the two women make up, which is sweet. Awww, Hua Yuzhu calls Sha Ya her most important person. (I wonder if Shen Wei later tells this to Zhao Yunlan.)
  
  I love how awkwardly Shen Wei presents Lin Jing's ring. (I would be the same!) I still don't like Lin Jing making Sha Ya say that she loves him, but the ring is otherwise very cool. It seems strange to deploy it in Haixing, where there are already stars, but I guess they don't know what awaits them on the other side of the gateway.


• In the hallway of the DoS, Zhao Yunlan tells Lin Jing he's brought him along to explain the situation to Minister Gao. Lin Jing excuses himself to the bathroom, and Zhao Yunlan meets with Minister Gao alone and argues strenuously that they should warn the public about Ye Zun. (I don't actually know about this; wouldn't it potentially cause chaos and worsen anti-Dixing prejudice, when the message inevitably got scrambled? And what can the average person on the street do to prepare, other than form vigilante squads? /o\ Maybe it is better to wait till they know what they're dealing with? But Zhao Yunlan seems very sure it's the right thing to do.)
  
  I think Minister Gao might still be shaken up from the kidnapping, even if (or because) he doesn't remember it. He asks Zhao Yunlan to follow orders. Zhao Yunlan tries to persuade him to change the order. Minister Gao looks at the weird portrait of Ma Gui and says the DoS has existed a long time (more setup for YOHE).
  
  Min Gao: To be honest, I don't know if my current decisions are correct or not. But humans have lived in peace for a long time, such that they can't bear such fear and turmoil. No matter how great the crisis, we must silently bear it on our shoulders.
  
  Zhao Yunlan reluctantly gives in.


• Ya Qing and seething-energy-Ye Zun meet in a Haixing park. Ye Zun wants to go after the SID (they're too annoying) and tells Ya Qing to alter their information and release it online. She's secretly reluctant (this is where she draws the line??), but gives herself a silent peptalk: "I can't turn back. Once the Yashou are revitalized, all my choices will be proven right."


• At the DoS, Zhao Yunlan bluffs his way into the lab with a lollipop, ha! (Sneaky, and also, aww, I've missed that mischievous energy.) Meanwhile, Prof Ouyang wants Wang Xiangyang's remains, which... is gross but makes sense from a research POV!! Wang Xiangyang was a human who used a lot of dark energy, after all. Lin Jing talks back to Prof Ouyang (the effect of spending so much time with the SID rabble?) -- he defends the SID and casts aspersions on Prof Ouyang's research. Go, Lin Jing! And apparently there's no soundproofing in this lab, because Zhao Yunlan lets himself in with the degausser and slow-claps. He says to Lin Jing, "Come to the bathroom with me." LOLOL! Also, I love that he just walks off, leaving Lin Jing to decide whether to follow.
  
  In the bathroom, Lin Jing looks like he expects Zhao Yunlan to kick his arse. He realises that being brought to the DoS was a test, and he failed it.
  
  ZYL: You know what I'm like. As long as one is my brother, I will desperately protect him. But if you've betrayed me or taken advantage of my friendship, the only thing I can do is...
  
  Cut to the SID, and Lin Jing packing up his stuff.
  
  
  
  Everyone is Very Upset in different ways, which is really fun. (LOL at Wang Zheng's accounting of Lin Jing's tardiness and sleeping on the job.) Lin Jing returns Changcheng's baton, saying he's fixed it. (Did Sha Ya break it when ChuGuo interrupted the attack on Changcheng's uncle and aunt?)
  
  Anyway, Zhao Yunlan is being a hardass about this. *pets him* Lin Jing nobly tries to take some of the heat with his "I can't stay," but everyone's still distraught/outraged.
  
  Lin Jing: We shall meet again some day.
  Zhao Yunlan: See yourself out.
  (Zhu Hong stompily goes anyway.)
  
  The team photo on his monitor!! *weeps*
  
  
  
  Zhao Yunlan turns away, saying, "You guys, come here and I'll tell you your next assignments." He's really testing the team's loyalty. They all have their backs to him. (Chu Shuzhi looks so unhappy!! Maybe he thinks he's next. After all, he's kind of a spy, too, even if he answers to a friend of the SID, and he doesn't know Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei talked about it. /o\)


• Shen Wei arrives in the Dijun's Palace in his Envoy robes, with Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu in tow. But oh no, Ye Zun has control of the guards, and the Regent is being completely useless and/or outright evil! Flashback to the coup and him trying to message the Envoy, but An Bai's friend notices and stomps on the incense. (Would it have worked without burning the incense?) (I wish we'd got to see if An Bai was aware of any of this. It's interesting that Ye Zun doesn't try to coopt him -- maybe the throne offers some protection?)
  
  Anyway, the Regent seems to have decided to make the best of the situation? Pretend he's still in charge? He tells the guards to shoot the Envoy. Fighty fight. The Regent holds Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu hostage. "They say that Hei Pao Shi bemoans the state of the universe and pities the fate of mankind. If these two little girls get hurt, I'm sure Hei Pao Shi would feel upset." Shen Wei is wounded, oh no! His breath hitches, and I think he's shocked and assessing the damage and calculating his next step, how/whether he can get to Ye Zun. If he's going to be this much weakened, he has to use it.
  
  FTR, Shen Wei could totally have taken the guards if not for the Dial exchange, and the Regent knows that, too. I wonder if that's why he felt free to open fire... Shen Wei judges him, "Even if I die, it's still like being alive. You are alive now, but you are 'dead' indeed!"
  
  Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu tell Shen Wei to save himself, and he teleports away in a cloud of dark energy. (Has he ever used that power before? It's cool!) He reappears in the empty streets of Dixing, running, and changes into his blue suit. He still seems to have quite a lot of dark energy at his disposal.


• In Dragon City hospital, a fourth patient is brought in with the same mysterious symptoms: "There's black pigment permeating their muscles, shortness of breath, and all physical functions are in disorder. [...] The most important thing is that we can't find anything wrong. All the organs are in good condition." -- are these Professor Ouyang's test subjects?? We immediately cut to Li Qian doing science, so they might be, but surely Professor Ouyang would want to monitor them himself!
  
  Anyway, Professor Ouyang introduces Lin Jing to Li Qian. (Lin Jing didn't know Li Qian worked at the lab, huh. I thought the SID knew that.) Professor Ouyang says, "The only hope to save the world is in our hands."


• Shen Wei yells at the pillar. Oh, I think he changed clothes because he's being Ye Zun's big brother here, not the Envoy? (Is Ye Zun's note actually where we find out they're brothers?) Shen Wei gets stuck to the pillar, manages to break free and summons his dao, but then energy!Ye Zun appears and uses his gravity power to yank the dao from Shen Wei's hands and chain him.
  
  Shen Wei: People aren't food!
  Ye Zun: Fuck you. See if you like being stuck in/to a pillar. >:-)
  
  
  
  Shen Wei tries using logic to convince Ye Zun to kill him instead of everyone else, but logic is not Ye Zun's love language. He wants to torment Shen Wei by going after his friends. I feel like if Shen Wei had used more Zhao Yunlan-esque tactics here, he could totally have annoyed Ye Zun into eating him, but Shen Wei is Shen Wei.


• Zhao Yunlan is back at the DoS, nagging Minister Gao to make a public statement.
  
  
  
  Minister Gao rebukes him for insubordination and threatens to disband the SID. Zhao Yunlan calls his bluff, which seems ill-judged. I find it interesting that Minister Gao doesn't just fire Zhao Yunlan and appoint another chief. (And I don't quite know what Zhao Yunlan is reacting against here? There haven't been any actual developments -- why the urgency? Does he want to free himself up to go to Dixing? Or is it just that he's getting more and more wound up, worrying about Shen Wei?)
  
  Anyway, Zhang Shi comes in and tries to mediate. Zhao Yunlan accuses his father of playing good cop/bad cop and leaves, saying professionally he'll follow orders, but personally he strongly objects. "Civilians have the right to know the truth. Our Special Investigations will try our best to solve the crisis. But if it can't be solved, we will face it with the civilians." Which is presumably why Ye Zun is moving to cut off the SID at its knees.
  
  After he leaves, Zhang Shi talks him up to Minister Gao. "He knows what to do."
  
  Minister Gao: But... what if he gets hot-headed?
  Zhang Shi: Give up the pawn to save the general? Sometimes a chess player has no choice but to do it. But if a person is a chess player and also a father, what should he do?
  
  
  
  (I love how everyone in the world can tell Zhang Shi isn't Zhao Xinci except for Gao Jingfeng who's known Zhao Xinci for, like, 20+ years.)


• Under protest, Cong Bo starts deleting all the SID's personal and background info, but Ya Qing shows up, knocks him out and takes his place at the keyboard. (Ye Zun told her to alter the information -- I wonder what she's making it say.) At the hospital, Dr Cheng overhears patients gossiping about the SID and tries to call Shen Wei.
  
  
  
  Cong Bo wakes alone and wails to himself. Ya Qing has released all the info. Outside, Ya Qing looks upon the fruits of her labour and smiles.


• One day later, at the SID, Chu Shuzhi, Zhu Hong, Da Qing and Guo Changcheng sit around the table, all upset about the leak -- especially Chu Shuzhi who wants to go explain (to Cong Bo? to the people generally?). (I wonder if he's already received the fake Envoy message at this stage, too.)
  
  
  
  Da Qing takes charge (yay!). He tells Chu Shuzhi and Xiao Guo to investigate the Crows, while he and Zhu Hong check on Cong Bo.
  
  Wang Zheng finds Zhao Yunlan stewing in his office. He says, "It seems like we were one step late. Ye Zun's people are ahead of us in leading public opinion." It's almost like he saw this exact scenario coming, but I guess he's aware of the SID's vulnerabilities, and its secretiveness is right up there.
  
  He looks out the window and sees Ya Qing gloating.


• In the street, Da Qing and Zhu Hong are accosted by a random nosy human. Da Qing slips away, and Zhu Hong is saved by Ying Chun, which strangely makes the rando give up, rather than following to ask More Questions. Zhu Hong wants to hide recent developments from Fourth Uncle, but he shows up and tells her to come back to the forest. She refuses.
  
  
  
  Fourth Uncle says, "Have you become so blind because of your feelings for that Zhao Yunlan?", apparently forgetting that way back in eps 12 and 13 she was saying, "I live and die with the SID." Now, Zhu Hong says, "That has nothing to do with this! I only know that Yashou covering their eyes and pretending nothing's happening can't work anymore." Fourth Uncle says she's still a little girl inside, but she convinces him to give her three more days. (How does he know about the leak, anyway? Is it being reported on the radio, too?)


• Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng attack a Crow guy, then let him go. (I'm not sure what that achieved.) Chu Shuzhi is worried about the Envoy. He received a letter telling him to go guard the Dijun's palace. Changcheng identifies it as a fake, but Chu Shuzhi already knows. He's still worried.
  
  
  
  They decide to confer with Zhao Yunlan.


• Zhao Yunlan at his desk with THREE incense cones in the burner, head bowed, remembering his promise to Shen Wei and going out of his mind. Man, you let yourself care about someone, and then the world feels like it's collapsing around your ears. Wang Zheng says, "Chief Zhao, I can't reach them." (Who?) Zhao Yunlan says, "The enemy has taken action, but I am still doing nothing. It's totally not my style."
  
  
  
  The incense burner is hot? cold? to the touch. Zhao Yunlan starts to make a move, but looks out the window and sees an official car pulling up. Guo Ying gets out. (Who does he work for? He's usually Minister Gao's off-sider, but here he's ferrying Zhao Xinci around?)
  
  I think Zhao Yunlan thinks this is Minister Gao's doing, that he's about to get raked over the coals for the disaster? Or can he see his dad in the back seat? Either way, he gestures cheerfully, putting his best face on it. (He also tells Wang Zheng and Sang Zan to guard the Hallows at all costs.)
  
  Then he gets in the car, and it's his father, who opens with, "Zhao Yunlan, you've made me so disappointed." Oh my goddddd, Zhao Xinci! This is the first time you've seen each other since the roof!!! Zhao Yunlan nods as if he expected nothing less. He's going to endure it. But then Zhang Shi comes out and tells Guo Ying to take them to Zhao Yunlan's flat.


• At the flat, Zhao Yunlan sprawls sulkily on the couch with his feet up while Zhang Shi sends Guo Ying away.
  
  
  
  Zhang Shi: It looks tidier than I expected.
  Zhao Yunlan: You are not him.
  Zhang Shi: (doesn't deny it) How can you tell?
  ZYL: (refusing to engage) *pulls his gun*

So the score at the end of this episode is three-nil to Team Ye Zun, who have successfully captured the palace, captured Shen Wei, and leaked information in Haixing to send the SID into a tailspin.

Meanwhile, the SID faces the obstacles of the DoS, Shen Wei's absence, and Zhao Yunlan sending Lin Jing away. The glimmers of hope are all in the SID's stubbornness: Zhu Hong being determined to stay and fight, Chu Shuzhi and Changcheng seeing through the forgery and deciding to confer with Zhao Yunlan rather than running off half-cocked, and Zhao Yunlan holding desperately, by the skin of his teeth, to his promise to Shen Wei. Even Cong Bo continues to cooperate, despite his whining.

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite scene in this episode? Favourite line of dialogue?


• How many bullet holes is Shen Wei sporting after the fight at the palace?


• And has the Regent actually taken Ye Zun's side at this point? If not, what's he playing at, telling the guards to open fire on the Envoy? I find it hard to figure him out.


• Why do you think Shen Wei changes into his suit after he escapes from the palace?


• How differently would things have gone in Haixing if Minister Gao had let Zhao Yunlan go public sooner and set the narrative?


• Why didn't Zhao Yunlan tell the rest of the team his arrangement with Lin Jing? Does he not trust them? Or is it just for the sake of dramatic tension in the meta sense?


• When did Ya Qing learn to use computers, and how hard is it to type in gloves?


• How strange must it feel for Chu Shuzhi to be worried about the Envoy?


• What's up with the mysterious medical cases? Do you think they're linked to the serum project?

Let’s talk about episode 30!
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!