GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 33

[china_shop]

Beginning of episode: Chu Shuzhi is dreaming he's by the river with Guo Changcheng.
Ending of episode: Ye Zun is completely free from the pillar.

Important scenes/developments:

• Dream!Changcheng calls Chu Shuzhi "gege" on Nianzhi's behalf and tempts him with a happy-ever-after in Dixing.
• They go to Dixing; dream!Changcheng asks about Nianzhi and says, "What if I could revive him?"
• Chu Shuzhi tells another version of his backstory (I think?) and gets very agitated; dream!Changcheng soothes him.
• Dream!Changcheng says they need the Hallows, and they go to get them from the SID; dream!Changcheng tells Chu Shuzhi to destroy the security shield.
• Chu Shuzhi realises it's a trick and breaks out of the dream... into another dream? Where he tries to fight Nightmare Guy.
• More childhood backstory.
  • Shuzhi pretends to be Nianzhi.
  • Nianzhi gets his admission letter from the palace.
  • Shuzhi gets in a bar fight and is arrested.
  • The person Shuzhi beat up mistakenly kills Nianzhi instead.
  • Shuzhi escapes from prison and kills the guy.
  • The Regent sentences Shuzhi to 100 years.
• Chu Shuzhi wakes up on the SID couch, holding his doll; he and Zhao Yunlan are both super upset about Changcheng.
• At the pillar, Ye Zun tells Nightmare Guy that he's failed again and gives him one more chance. (Shen Wei is proud of the SID's resilience.)
• Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing worry about Changcheng and receive Shen Wei's letter.
• Zhao Yunlan goes to Dixing, finds Changcheng in the palace and meets the Shadow Man.
• The Shadow Man goes to the pillar and alarms Shen Wei... until Zhao Yunlan arrives with Changcheng. Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan reunite.
• Zhao Yunlan tries to break the pillar chains, and the Shadow Man takes over; he dies freeing Shen Wei.
• Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei carry Changcheng back to the SID, where Chu Shuzhi takes him to the lab.
• The Bench Scene!
• Chu Shuzhi caresses unconscious!Changcheng.
• Da Qing tells Chu Shuzhi that Shen Wei saved Changcheng at the pillar; also, don't touch the Hallows!
• Chu Shuzhi immediately goes for the Longevity Dial.
• Lin Jing remembers back when Professor Ouyang transferred him to the SID.
• Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng Longevity Dial exchange!! Changcheng still doesn't wake, but Chu Shuzhi looks pleased/hopeful.
• Lin Jing falls asleep and dreams that everyone calls him a traitor and is rude about his inventions. He shuts down the security shield.
• Ye Zun eats a random passerby, and the soundtrack music is alarming.

Thoughts
Wow, so much happens in this episode!! We get the rest of Chu Shuzhi's dreams, Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan being worried about/grieving Guo Changcheng, Zhao Yunlan going to Dixing to rescue Changcheng and Shen Wei, the Bench Scene, and Chu Shuzhi trying to save Guo Changcheng with the Dial. Also, the Nightmare Master makes his third assault on the SID's security shield -- via Lin Jing -- and this time he succeeds. /o\

A lot of the twin stuff in Chu Shuzhi's dreams, as well as giving more depth to Chu Shuzhi's character and storyline, primes us for what's to come: in particular, dream!Changcheng offering to resurrect Nianzhi with the Dial foreshadows Chu Shuzhi saving real!Changcheng that way, and the part where they pretend to be each other sets us up for Ye Zun disguising himself as Shen Wei in the next ep.

• We start with Chu Shuzhi's line from the end of last episode ago, again: "What if I tell you I hope the reality can be the same as my dream. Would you believe it?" He says this despite his dream containing some fairly graphic torture, but it was for Nianzhi, so he's okay with it. (Or is he referring to his current dream, the one he's in, where Changcheng is alive? How much is he willingly going along with it?) Changcheng calls him "gege" on Nianzhi's behalf and says the three of them should elope to Dixing, and Chu Shuzhi hugs him happily. Aww. *stabs Nightmare Guy*


• At the gateway to Dixing, Chu Shuzhi tells Changcheng to think it over: "There isn't any daylight down there. There is dark energy everywhere." Changcheng says, "I'm a good-for-nothing to begin with. Whether it's safe or not anywhere, it has nothing to do with me." (Which strikes me as Nightmare Guy getting Changcheng's characterisation wrong. Real!Changcheng would be more focused on him and Chu Shuzhi protecting each other, imo. ;-p) Then dream!Changcheng links Nianzhi's death with the Regent, and Chu Shuzhi gets suspicious. Changcheng covers, and they go into the gate.


• In Dixing, they sprawl on some steps in the street.
  
  
  
  
  
  (I'm sad we don't get to see the inside of a Dixing house, but I do love how relaxed and laid back Chu Shuzhi seems here.) Changcheng asks about Nianzhi, and Chu Shuzhi says he used to cook for him, to which Changcheng says he'll cook for Chu Shuzhi from now on. Then Changcheng says he wants to see Nianzhi's puppet to check his status, which does suggest it's a different puppet from Chu Shuzhi's regular puppet, except then Chu Shuzhi says, "What status? Isn't he always like that?" which confuses me again.
  
  Click through for screencaps of the puppet Chu Shuzhi gives Nianzhi when they're young, and the puppet Zhao Yunlan puts in Chu Shuzhi's hand in the SID library. They look like the same puppet to me
  
  
  
  
  
  Changcheng says he wants to meet Nianzhi himself and suggests reviving him.
  
  CSZ: That's impossible. He... he is dead!
  GCC: Why impossible? Wasn't I already dead? I came back to life.
  me: Bold move there, reminding Chu Shuzhi that you recently died!
  GCC: (cont.) What are you afraid of? Is he not your dearest brother? Are you afraid of his revival?
  CSZ: I'm not!
  GCC: (completely out of character) So what are you afraid of? You're afraid of him blaming you. Blaming you for not saving him at that time. Blaming you for causing his death!
  CSZ: No, not like that! He didn't behave -- that's why he was chopped with one long knife on the chest! I saved him. I really did save him! But those guys, those guys just wouldn't spare him! I... They wouldn't spare him.
  GCC: It's fine. I'm here. I'm here. (pulls Chu Shuzhi's head onto his shoulder and says in his ear:) Nianzhi will forgive you.
  
  
  
  
  
  Wow, Nightmare Guy is a dick. He says he wants to use the Hallows to bring Nianzhi back.


• Outside the SID, Chu Shuzhi hesitates. Nightmare Guy's "Changcheng" disguise is growing ever thinner -- I really love how badly he's hiding his greed and impatience, while trying to maintain the pretence, and how you can see him spinning dream-logic justifications for what he wants. "Chu-ge, there is a shield in the SID, right? Nianzhi is a Dixingren. He can't enter. We'd better destroy the shield first."
  
  
  
  
  
  Chu Shuzhi pours blue energy at the door of the SID. (If it's that easy to break, why hasn't someone else done it? Or is it only vulnerable to SID members?) He must suspect, because as he's doing it, he says, "Changcheng, after this is done, let's have dinner." "Sure." "Let's have the spiciest dishes." "No problem. The spicier, the better." And Chu Shuzhi knows it's a lie. He turns his power on "Changcheng", and the whole dream shatters.


• Cut to Chu Shuzhi storming down a (Haixing? or lit Dixing?) street. A gate swing closed in front of him.
  
  
  
  
  
  He tries to fight Nightmare Guy, who says, "The dreamworld is so wonderful. The people you love and the things you care about are here. Why do you still have to get out?" like he really doesn't understand. Chu Shuzhi swings at him and sees a vision of the past: the twins playing pranks and Nianzhi getting his admission notice from the palace. And then back to the scene with the punishment urn, where:
  
  Nianzhi: Brother, can I discuss something with you? Could you stop fiddling with that puppet? It's unlucky.
  Shuzhi: I want to go to Haixing. I want to be a hero. I don't want to be like you and waste that kind of talent.
  Nianzhi: I've given up on that. I'm going to work at Dijun Palace. I just want to live in peace.
  Shuzhi: (puts down the pot and takes a puppet out of his pocket) This is... I know you don't like the things I make. But keep this with you as a token that I'm still protecting you.
  
  • So interesting that Shuzhi associates going to Haixing with being a hero.
  • I'm not sure whether or not "I don't want to be like you and waste that kind of talent" implies he's talking about his own talent or Nianzhi's.
  • I still kind of read this like Nianzhi is unpowered and low-key disapproves of Shuzhi's power.
  
  
  Then Chu Shuzhi gets arrested by the Deacon (all by himself, so no resisting arrest here) for beating someone up in a pub. Nianzhi calls after him, "Ge, I'll get you out." But the beating victim (who looks surprisingly unscathed) runs into Nianzhi, confuses him for Shuzhi, and beats him to death. Shuzhi must hear about this somehow, because he uses his power to escape the prison, and he and his puppet kill the grovelling-for-mercy attacker. "A life for a life." After that, we see Shuzhi in stocks with guards aiming their rifles at his head, and the Regent sentencing him to 100 years.
  
  Nightmare Guy seems to be watching this memory, because he looks into it and says, "Chu Shuzhi committed a crime. Chu Nianzhi got mistaken for Chu Shuzhi. Chu Nianzhi was then killed by the victim for it. Are you satisfied with this reality?"


• Chu Shuzhi wakes up (for real!) on the SID couch, holding his doll, with tear tracks on his face. Zhao Yunlan is there, sitting very controlled and upright, with his legs tightly crossed.
  
  
  
  
  
  CSZ: You mean... Changcheng... never came back? You mean that... to take back Nianzhi's remains from Ye Zun, I caused his death?
  
  Owwww! Then he recounts his dreams: 1) Changcheng came back and they were going to live in Dixing together. 2) Nianzhi and he switched bodies so Chu Shuzhi was the sensible one, and Nianzhi was the mischievous one.
  
  
  
  
  
  Chu Shuzhi is mad with grief and can't even stand; Zhu Yunlan cries too, puts the doll in Chu Shuzhi's hands and leaves him curled on the floor in the fetal position. *weeps* The version of the opening song that played over Zheng Yi and Tan Xiao's montage plays again here -- that at least is a hopeful sign, I think? (Is it the same lyrics?)


• At the pillar, Ye Zun tells Nightmare Guy that he's failed his second chance. Shen Wei laughs to himself. Nightmare Guy is going for third time lucky. He leaves, and Shen Wei eulogises the SID to Ye Zun: "Their willpower is strong. They each have their own worries, but they still have the power of their convictions. Reality may be cruel, but they can feel real joy and sorrow and meet real friends and relatives. That's why you won't win." Awww!
  
  
  
  
  
  Ye Zun is supremely unimpressed and tortures him some more, but Shen Wei keeps smiling.


• In Zhao Yunlan's office, Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan talk. (I wonder how much time passed for them while Chu Shuzhi was sleeping.)
  
  DQ: Thought you'd give him a beating or a good dressing-down.
  ZYL: You can't blame a man who's made a genuine mistake.
  DQ: What about Xiao Guo? Seriously, if anything happens to him, then if you don't hit him, I will!
  ZYL: Shut your big mouth. We don't know what's happening there. Xiao Guo, that little devil, is always incredibly lucky. Since he came to the SID, his life has been in danger many times, but he always survived. He's not some ordinary kid. He'll be fine again this time.
  DQ: Right, right, he'll be fine. Got to be fine.
  
  Da Qing has changed his tune since episode 6, when they were interviewing Mirror Girl's fiancé, and Da Qing said, "Why are you humans so sensitive? Life and death are natural phenomena, no?"
  
  And Zhao Yunlan doesn't really sound like someone who was just crying in the library, so I wonder how much his tears were sympathy for Chu Shuzhi.
  
  
  
  
  
  Anyway, interestingly, they don't talk about going to Dixing to save Changcheng, but Da Qing does ask if Zhao Yunlan is going to save Shen Wei. Zhao Yunlan says he's waiting, and then FINALLY the letter arrives. It just says, "Dijun's Palace. Wei."
  
  Zhao Yunlan is relieved and energised. He gives Da Qing his lollipop and tells him to keep an eye on Chu Shuzhi.


• And then he goes to Dixing with zero back up, sneaks around, knocks out a guard and steals his uniform, and goes into the conveniently deserted palace, where he finds barely conscious Changcheng... and Shen Wei's blade.
  
  
  
  
  
  He promises to rescue Changcheng and Shen Wei, but then, oh no, the Shadow Man from ep 1 finds them!! Dun dun DUN!
  
  Cut to the Shadow Man coming to the pillar and greeting Shen Wei. He explains about the Regent's siege squad (he survived by hiding in a shadow, hee!) and shows Shen Wei the Envoy's blade. We flashback to Shen Wei using his power to send Changcheng and the blade away, saying, "Take my blade and hold on until he finds you."
  
  Now, Shen Wei shouts at the Shadow Man, asking why he has the blade. The Shadow Man shrugs, lol, and completely fails to explain. Shen Wei thinks hope is lost. He bows his head and says, "Just do it."
  
  
  
  
  
  Offscreen, Zhao Yunlan (carrying Changcheng on his back) says, "Do what? He can't start till I get here." Shen Wei's face is an emotional journey. Zhao Yunlan carefully lays Changcheng down, then walks up to Shen Wei, and they have this MOMENT of "you're here and you're still alive!" drinking each other in until the Shadow Man, who can't read a room, butts in to explain why he's helping. ("Though you arrested me that day, you consoled my family afterwards and pleaded for me with the Regent. I may have committed a crime, but I do know gratitude." Also, he's not a fan of Ye Zun.) Zhao Yunlan sees the chains hurting Shen Wei and interrupts to start attacking the chains with Shen Wei's blade. Which obviously hurts him, but he ignores Shen Wei trying to talk him out of it.
  
  
  
  
  
  He even falls to the ground, clutching his heart, but won't give up -- until the Shadow Man confiscates the blade and does it himself, at cost to his own life. And Shen Wei is too weak and injured to heal him, oh no!
  
  
  
  
  
  Freed, Shen Wei glares at the pillar, and Zhao Yunlan is all, "Let's not waste his sacrifice / let's get out of here."


• They arrive back at the SID. Chu Shuzhi runs up with a shout and princess-carries Changcheng off to the lab. Zhao Yunlan tells Zhu Hong he's taking Shen Wei home and she's in charge.
  
  
  
  
  
  And then there's the Bench Scene, and I love it so much!! My favourite things about it are a) how Zhao Yunlan responds to everything monosyllabically to try to get Shen Wei to stop talking shop, and b) how they're so happy just to be together again. I love that they (and we) get this chance to revel in their reunion.


• At the SID, Chu Shuzhi caresses unconscious!Changcheng's face.
  
  
  
  
  
  He remembers Da Qing saying, "Chief Zhao said when Xiao Guo was attacked by Ye Zun, Hei Pao Shi saved him. He used up his last reserve of strength to protect Xiao Guo. But Xiao Guo is seriously hurt. [...] You can take care of him inside the lab, but don't touch the Hallows." So Chu Shuzhi goes and gets the Longevity Dial, of course he does. Whyyy would you plant that seed?? (Or re-plant it, I guess. Dream!Changcheng planted it earlier, talking about reviving Nianzhi.) I can see why they'd prohibit it -- they can't afford to have Chu Shuzhi out of commission at this point. But at the same time, Changcheng!! They have to save Changcheng!! And hey, if it's good enough for the Envoy...


• At the DoS Lab, Lin Jing answers the phone "SID, Lin Jing--" then catches and corrects himself. He sighs and flashback-remembers being transferred to the SID. Professor Ouyang calls him his pride, compares him to Professor Zhou's protégé, Shen Wei, and says, "Do you know [the SID's] work? It was created to arrest Dixingren. You also know that our project is about genetic engineering. If we can study the genes of Dixingren in passing, wouldn't this be a monumental work in bioengineering?" Lin Jing is unhappy about being a spy, but Professor Ouyang claims it isn't spying. "If you can regularly provide me with data and materials about Dixingren to help my study, isn't it the best of both worlds?"
  
  Sounds like spying to me. Poor Lin Jing.


• In the SID lab, Chu Shuzhi does a Dial Exchange with unconscious!Changcheng. It looks like it hurts a lot. Chu Shuzhi collpases onto Changcheng, caresses him some more and arranges his clothes, all very gentle and loving, awwwwww!
  
  
  
  
  
  He looks pleased, zero regrets.


• DoS lab: Lin Jing falls asleep. Dark energy wisps around his desk lamp (how did that get in there? did it come down the phone line earlier?). He dreams he's at the SID and everyone is calling him a traitor and dissing his inventions, lol. (Da Qing dismisses the popcorn maker, "Who cares?") In response, Lin Jing shuts down the SID's security shield to reboot it.
  
  
  
  
  
  Then he wakes up and remembers his dream.


• At the Pillar, Ye Zun eats a random passerby and says, "Gege, wait for me." The music crescendos alarmingly.

Discussion starters:

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


• In earlier episodes we've seen Nianzhi say, "I wish that everyone can be happy. That way, I'd be happy too." (ep 6) and heard that he was timid (Chu Shuzhi tells Changcheng, "You are such a scaredy-cat. More timid than my brother." in ep 8). How does that mesh with what we see in Chu Shuzhi's dreams, especially with him aspiring to work at the palace and asking Chu Shuzhi not to use his puppet power? For that matter, what kind of job do you think Nianzhi was going for at the palace? He doesn't seem like your typical guard -- though the palace guard does seem to have had a good reputation in the past, despite working for the Regent; Zhu Jiu joined up in his idealistic phase.


• Do you think 100 years is a typical sentence for murder in Dixing, or was Chu Shuzhi targeted, or is his crime special in some way -- maybe because he used his power to commit the murder?


• When and why did Chu Shuzhi start to suspect fake Changcheng wasn't really Changcheng?


• Any theories on Chu Shuzhi's puppet and the Nianzhi puppet? I've always thought he treated his Haixing puppet so well and protectively because it was Nianzhi, but now it seems that Nianzhi was left behind in Dixing?


• How much of the Regent's enmity towards the Envoy is because Shen Wei keeps petitioning on prisoners' behalf, thereby implicitly criticising the Regent's sentencing practices?


• The Shadow Man, Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu all sacrificed themselves to protect Shen Wei because they care about the fate of Dixing and they believe in the Envoy. Do you think they're unusual, or are there a lot of others who are counting on the Envoy to save the day?


• How much do you love the Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan reunion in this episode, especially the bench scene? I remember my first time watching the show, I was waiting and waiting for Shen Wei to come back from Dixing (much like Zhao Yunlan *g*), and all that anticipation and impatience could have made their reunion anticlimactic, but it wasn't AT ALL. So wonderful!


• Do you think there's a cost to the Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng Dial exchange? Does Chu Shuzhi get infected with light energy, too, and if so, how does it affect him?


• In Lin Jing's flashback, he'd heard of the SID but didn't know its role. Out of those who know of it, what do most people think the SID is for? Also, does Lin Jing really think the SID team blame him for spying? *cries*

Let’s talk about episode 33!
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!