GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 34

[trobadora]

Beginning of episode: Chu Shuzhi tells his true history to an unconscious Guo Changcheng
Ending of episode: "Kunlun" asks the young Envoy about his name

Important scenes/developments:

• Chu Shuzhi tells an unconscous Guo Changcheng the truth about Nianzhi
• Lin Jing and Li Qian talk about the SID, and Professor Ouyang announces his success
• the Inspectorate shuts down the SID and tells everyone to vacate the premises
• Zhao Yunlan hears on the radio that his arrest has been ordered, and narrowly gets away
• Shen Wei is accosted and almost arrested in the street
• Wang Zheng and Sang Zan put two two Inspectorate men out of commission
• Professor Ouyang tests his serum on himself, with painful and powerful effects
• Wang Zheng returns Zhao Yunlan's black energy gun to him with a message from his father
• Ye Zun arrives at the SID, pretending to be Shen Wei
• Zhao Yunlan tries to use the Sundial AGAIN
• Ye Zun-as-Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan: attempted deception, confrontation, Wang Zheng's and Sang Zan's sacrifice; last minute save by wormhole
• Shen Wei follows Zhao Yunlan into the wormhole
• Zhao Yunlan falls into YOHE and interferes in a battle
• Zhao Yunlan meets YOHE!Da Qing and is told to "take his place"
• Zhao Yunlan meets Ma Gui and Fu You, and learns about the war
• Zhao Yunlan gets a new look, meets the young Envoy again and asks him to take off his mask and smile
• clifftop scene: Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei talk about duty, fear, masks, the different flavours of life, and identity
• Fu You tells Ma Gui the Yashou will retreat after everything is over
• Zhao Yunlan asks the Envoy's name

Thoughts:
(With apologies for the extreme lateness of this post!)

There are a lot of things happening in this episode:

• the Nightmare Master arc ends with one more retelling of Chu Nianzhi's story, though the arc's consequences (the SID shield being down) are a significant factor in what comes next;
• the serum project at the Inspectorate lab becomes an active threat rather than a potential one;
• pressure on our team rises from all sides, as they're hunted by the Inspectorate even as Ye Zun moves to invade the SID himself, leading to the first big losses on our heroes' side with Wang Zheng's and Sang Zan's sacrifice;
• we get a second confrontation between Zhao Yunlan and Ye Zun after the scene in the park, and once again despite all Zhao Yunlan's resourcefulness, Ye Zun has the advantage; this time it's the Hallows-ex-machina that save Zhao Yunlan;
• and then, with all that tension ramped up to the max, we are dropped right into the YOHE sequence - in one sense a moment of pause in the plot hurtling towards its conclusion, and a tying-up of several open questions as this part of the time loop closes and we get a significant section of Shen Wei's backstory.

Chu Shuzhi, Chu Nianzhi, Guo Changcheng:

• When Chu Shuzhi finally tells the truth about Nianzhi (and I don't doubt it's the truth; it's too much a confession), it's to an unconscious Guo Changcheng - because he needs to get it off his chest, and of course he wants to tell Xiao-Guo, but at the same time, he still can't face Guo Changcheng hearing it.


• Chu Shuzhi is so expressive during this entire scene! Very little left of his grumpy stoicism; he's all emotion here. From the fond/sad smile as he talks about Nianzhi to laughing with Guo Changcheng, to crying over being called good. ♥ ♥ ♥


• When Chu Shuzhi describes his brother, he calls him gentle and shy, polite and intelligent - are those all qualities Chu Shuzhi thinks he himself lacks?


• From the previous flashback scene during Chu Shuzhi's confrontation with the nightmare master, we already knew Chu Nianzhi was killed by someone who wanted revenge on Chu Shuzhi, and mistook one brother for the other. "So he locked the younger brother up, and set him on fire," Chu Shuzhi explains here - I did not remember this part at all! (I honestly was wondering if it might not have been in the original subs, but yes, it was.) The previous flashback scene made it seem as if Chu Nianzhi had been beaten to death, but I suppose it's not truly a contradiction - the beating could easily have come before the locking up and setting on fire.


• We also learn that Chu Nianzhi did have a puppet-related power of his own, but only used it the once: "The younger one used his power to huddle his body into a doll his brother had given him. That was the first time he used his power, and also the last." So the puppet that was buried in Dixing is in essence Chu Nianzhi's grave.


• Chu Shuzhi, on hearing of his brother's horrific death, not only broke out of prison and killed his brother's murderer, but indiscriminately killed everyone standing in his way, innocent or not - which makes sense in the context of his crime being considered particularly heinous.


• And when Guo Changcheng wakes up, just after Chu Shuzhi finishes telling this story, we see Chu Shuzhi being free with his emotions in a happier way - his smile! Cradling Xiao-Guo's head! Guo Changcheng jokes about Chu Shuzhi's cannibal act! Both of them laughing in relief! Chu Shuzhi crying when Guo Changcheng tells him he's good and not scary at all! Holding hands! So lovely, and such a cathartic scene. ♥

The Inspectorate lab:

• Lin Jing, on seeing the latest news about the SID ("SID Chief Zhao Yunlan harbours murderer from Dixing"), nearly calls Zhao Yunlan. (What we see of his contact list: Guo Changcheng, Li Qian, Professor Ouyang, Shen Wei, Chief Zhao, Zhu Hong.) Instead, Li Qian approaches him, and they connect a little over their SID sympathies before Professor Ouyang interrupts them, announcing success.


• Professor Ouyang is so delighted, and Lin Jing and Li Qian both are so very not! They're both extremely somber and tense, with not the slightest bit of scientific glee over their research project's results. Meanwhile Professor Ouyang insists they need to test the serum, and won't listen to Lin Jing suggesting further research first - if no one else is volunteering, he'll test it on himself! Both Li Qian and Lin Jing try to stop him, but he won't let them. And ends up rolling on the floor screaming in pain - but the granting powers part of the serum is working, as evidenced by the crack he punches into the floor.

Shutting down the SID:

• Zhu Hong, now that she can't bully Lin Jing any more, has taken Cong Bo on as a substitute, I suppose - and she's not happy about it. She's very sharp with him as she pushes him to work harder on getting rid of all the rumours, and doesn't tell him Lin Jing has been fired. Cong Bo tells her he's up against every netizen in Dragon City, and I wonder why only Dragon City - surely this has spread further by now?


• Minister Guo arrives to tell everyone the SID is closed and they must leave the premises. Zhu Hong nearly lashes out, but Cong Bo holds her back. She's practically shaking with fury!


• Guo Ying, meanwhile, takes his nephew aside and tells him - loudly enough to be heard by the others, I believe - that Chief Zhao is is harbouring a murderer from Dixing and is now a wanted man. Next episode makes it even clearer that Guo Ying is not on board with all that's happening, and even if he's not willing to actively go against orders, here IMO he is clearly giving the rest of the SID the chance to warn Zhao Yunlan and Chu Shuzhi. And takes his nephew with him, to protect him from the fallout as best he can.


• Meanwhile Zhao Yunlan, Da Qing and Chu Shuzhi - who Zhu Hong earlier said were going to the Inspectorate to argue with them - come out of what seems to be Zhao Yunlan's apartment building, and I'm entirely unsure why they're there, but Cong Bo calls Zhao Yunlan and warns him not to go to the Inspectorate, but meet at his house, where he and Zhu Hong already are.


• Chu Shuzhi has been through a rollercoaster already; now faced with this, he's just kind of blankly staring into the distance. Zhao Yunlan puts his hand on his shoulder and tells him they have his back, and Chu Shuzhi, who earlier in the drama would have given him a huff and an eyeroll at such a proclamation, only gives a small nod now.


• While Zhao Yunlan is driving to the SID to fetch the Hallows, Da Qing texts him to turn on the radio: the SID has been shut down and Zhao Yunlan's arrest has been ordered - he's accused of colluding with Dixingren, spreading terror, disrupting public order, and harbouring a murderer. And all of this is no longer rumour; it's a public statement by the Inspectorate itself. Because Zhao Yunlan's car wasn't exactly chosen with the possibility of being a fugitive in mind, he's promptly spotted and just barely manages to evade arrest by ditching his car.
  
  In a parallel to this, a bit later, Shen Wei is accosted walking through the streets, and nearly arrested by Inspectorate men too. He's still visibly weak and holding his side, but easily knocks them down (with his fists, not with black energy) and runs away, not without apologising first.


• Minister Gao, who has ordered Zhao Yunlan's arrest, meanwhile still emphasizes not to hurt Zhao Yunlan, and speaks of him less as of a serious criminal, but more like a recalcitrant teenager.


• At the SID, two Inspectorate men are pasting "sealed" notices everywhere, and it's great to watch Wang Zheng and Sang Zan being spooky and aggressive at them, and take both of them out of commission.
  
  Sang Zan wins "line of the episode" when he knocks one of them out with a book: "Chief Zhao was right, books have power!" *g*


• When Zhao Yunlan returns to the SID, Wang Zheng reunites him with his black energy gun - just in time so he'll have it in YOHE. *g* Iit comes with a message from his father (Zhang Shi, I assume): "You've made your choice, so don't hesitate."
  
  Zhao Yunlan at first refuses to take the gun, and then contemplates it for a very long moment. I wonder what he's thinking about.

Ye Zun enters the SID:

• Before he turns up at the SID pretending to be Shen Wei, we see Ye Zun at the university in an empty classroom, being super dramatic and somehow managing to look nothing at all like Shen Wei, despite having the exact same face. The contrast between this and the real Shen Wei in the street is drastic, and means the viewer immediately knows who we're dealing with when Ye Zun appears at the SID.
  
  (Despite Ye Zun's visit to the university, the deleted scene does not happen. I'm so glad this one was deleted. Jiajia lives!)


• Ye Zun's Shen Wei impersonation is so very off in so many ways, from the suit that not only shows an uncharacteristic bit of skin but also doesn't seem to fit him (the shoulders are what get me every time; they're way too wide and not at all like the tailored jackets SW tends to wear!) to literally every single expression on his face, to asking, "Is my little Yunlan in?" No wonder Wang Zheng and Sang Zan can only stare, and are suspicious enough to immediately check on the Inspectorate men he touched!


• Ye Zun-as-Shen-Wei comes into the lab only to find Zhao Yunlan trying to use the Sundial again. Zhao Yunlan immediately puts it back on its stand and puts the cover back over it, then laughs and tries to deflect from being caught at this again by asking why Shen Wei is here rather than resting at home. He's expecting a scolding, and not getting it!





• He also stares at Ye Zun's outfit for a moment and hesitates before saying it "looks good", making me think he believes no such thing. (It doesn't!)


• When Ye Zun says, in a too-tight voice, "So, you're studying the Hallows?" - I expect Zhao Yunlan mistakes that for indirect scolding, letting him believe "Shen Wei" isn't being wildly OOC. *g*


• This time, Zhao Yunlan has a concrete reason for trying to use the Hallows! He remembers Shen Wei saying the Hallows' resonance can't just predict the future, but also disrupt the flow of time. (IIRC we don't hear him saying exactly this on screen, but it does fit in the context of them discussing Zhao Yunlan's Hallows visions ...) So Zhao Yunlan suggests a time travel fix-it: go back to before Ye Zun broke free, before Bai Suxia died, and just prevent all this from ever happening!
  
  Ye Zun sounds much more like his brother when he expounds on time travel theory and claims time corrects itself, so that even if one factor is corrected, other factors will still steer the timeline towards the same outcome. Also, here's no record of anyone coming back after entering a wormhole. (The fact that he adds this makes me think Ye Zun, who saw the wormhole sucking up Kunlun, must have figured out the time travel too, by now ...)


• When Ye Zun tries to touch the Hallows casing, the safety measures zap him - apparently unauthorised persons still can't get to them. (Good job, Lin Jing!)


• Ye Zun, who has not exactly been stellar at impersonating his brother, gives himself away for good when he tells Zhao Yunlan, "You're the Guardian of humankind, yet they call for you to be beaten, even killed. Is it worth it, you doing this?" (Here Zhao Yunlan turns towards him, with a very dark look.) And then Ye Zun asks him to give him the Hallows, so he can try the time travel in his stead. The smile on his face, too, is very, very not Shen Wei.
  
  Zhao Yunlan, who has caught on by now, pretends to buy this reasoning, but instead of handing over the Hallows, presses his gun against Ye Zun's middle: "You are not Shen Wei. The things you say would never cross his lips. Is it worth it? We never do things based on whether it's worth it or not."
  
  And Ye Zun's smile goes from "not Shen Wei" to "the most Ye Zun possible". *g*






• Zhao Yunlan doesn't fire his gun until Ye Zun admits to having taken down the shield by putting Lin Jing into a dream - but alas, Ye Zun easily teleports out of the way, with what looks like Wu Tian'en's power. (Could be Zhu Jiu's, I suppose.)
  
  And from thereon, it becomes clear that Zhao Yunlan doesn't stand a chance. Ye Zun goes on the offensive, using black energy pouring from his hand to pull at Zhao Yunlan, and clearly winning against what resistance Zhao Yunlan manages to muster.





• Wang Zheng and Sang Zan, having realised what is happening, come in to try and save Zhao Yunlan - they tell him to run as they get in the way. Ye Zun pulls them in and draws the energy to his face, eating it, and then immediately attacks Zhao Yunlan again - their sacrifice made no difference. *sobs*<
  
  And Zhao Yunlan is very nearly eaten as well, except that the Hallows suddenly activate, forming a wormhole that pulls him in. And at the exact same moment, Shen Wei comes in, witnessing Zhao Yunlan being taken by a wormhole again. Just like back in YOHE, he shouts his name - and ultimately refuses to lose him this way again, jumping into the wormhole after him, leaving poor Da Qing behind.


• But first, Shen Wei attacks Ye Zun, who taunts him, then vanishes, promising an ending. (But not yet, apparently - Ye Zun makes no effort to actually fight with Shen Wei, or take him captive again, even though Shen Wei is still clearly not well, clutching his side and very pale.

Ten thousand years ago:

What can I say about this that hasn't been said a hundred times before, and better? I'll just point out a few things instead that struck me this time:

• In the starry Hallows space inside the wormhole, Zhao Yunlan seems to have a vision of his mother again, but this time we don't see it ourselves. I suppose that's why I didn't remember this at all!


• Despite just having encountered Ye Zun, when Zhao Yunlan sees the young Envoy, he immediately concludes this is Shen Wei. And despite just having talked about time travel, it takes Zhao Yunlan a while to catch on to where he's landed!


• Zhao Yunlan's first action in the past is to interfere in a battle between Shen Wei's men and the rebels by shooting two of them, marking this as the beginning of Zhao Yunlan using his black energy gun much more freely than he did previously. (It'll become even more obvious next episode.)


• I still love that "He just left?!" moment: for what it says about Shen Wei's priorities (he's clearly grateful to his saviour, and as we see later, willing to indulge him to some degree, but has absolutely zero time to spare for him when he has his men to take care of), and for Zhao Yunlan's sheer bafflement. ♥
  
  Also, the distance between them isn't exactly large - Zhao Yunlan should have been able to follow easily if they'd just walked away. (Or stumbled, more like - those men collapsed just a moment ago!) So I have to assume that, despite no one using any black energy powers during the fight, a power was used here after all.


• I love love love the first meeting between young Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan! Zhao Yunlan's confusion over Da Qing's hair and outfit, not to mention the drawing of himself! Da Qing's bafflement at absolutely everything Zhao Yunlan says! The fact that Zhao Yunlan essentially introduced himself to Da Qing by calling himself his master, and Da Qing somehow did not hiss in his face! *g*


• When they approach the Allied Headquarters, the subs call it "our highest base so far", 目前海星最高据点 in the original. I think it's more like "currently Haixing's supreme stronghold"?


• I had also forgotten that Zhao Yunlan comments on the Yashou part of the alliance - he says he never thought the Yashou would participate so actively. Which fits pretty well with the talk about the Yashou remaining neutral during the war, as in what Shen Wei says to Ying Chun at one point - clearly the modern-day story isn't historically accurate, and the truth isn't widely acknowledged.


• Ma Gui and Fu You tell Zhao Yunlan they know he's from 10,000 years in the future, and at some later point, he'll communicate with them across 10,000 years - so he naturally assumes he'll go back to the present. I don't think he doubts it until they recover the get the Hallows and they refuse to activate - at that point, I assume he must wonder if the timeline has changed after all - especially since his own taking over Kunlun's role was presented as "that way, we won't disrupt the timeline", suggesting such disruptions are possible ...
  
  (Also, Shen Wei doesn't know anything at all about this, being kept in the dark by Ma Gui and Fu You, and therefore can't be sure if Zhao Yunlan will come back to the present or not. Well, "Kunlun" did tell him he'd return home eventually, and I assume he believed it - up until he actually got to know Zhao Yunlan in the present and realised "Kunlun" didn't actually have any more clue about the Hallows than Shen Wei! Oops?)


• Zhao Yunlan is such a dork when he first appears in his Kunlun outfit and look!


• When the Envoy comes in to talk to Ma Gui and Fu You, Zhao Yunlan greets him enthusiastically, grinning and slapping his shoulder - and I utterly love the way Shen Wei looks at Zhao Yunlan's hand, and then at him, That cold "You are ..." - and then the complete switch in attitude when Zhao Yunlan pushes his hair out of his face and he recognises him as his saviour! ♥






• Zhao Yunlan really doesn't know how to be subtle about Shen Wei, any more than Shen Wei knows how to be subtle about him - luckily for both of them, they both really like it when the other is super intense about them! *g*


• When Zhao Yunlan suggests "take off your mask and smile for me", most people seem delighted by the suggestiveness of the young Envoy's reply ("when all of this is over, whatever wishes you have, I'll do my best to fulfil them"), but I particularly love that Shen Wei, despite being taken completely aback by Zhao Yunlan's ... everything ... and despite his gratitude, has no problem at all deflecting that suggestion. And Zhao Yunlan recognises the rebuff for what it is, given his reaction. ♥


• Zhao Yunlan: "You still have me." And Shen Wei's reaction! ♥


• Zhao Yunlan, who's been joking and ribbing Shen Wei about his mask and his looks, grows very serious immediately when Shen Wei talks about being afraid when he's fighting his enemies.





• The lollipop! Zhao Yunlan is so pleased with himself, just watching Shen Wei eat that lollipop. The way they smile at each other! ♥


• "The life that I owe you, I will definitely return to you." And the way Zhao Yunlan stares at Shen Wei as things start coming together for him, as he realises just what Shen Wei had been talking about in the kitchen scene. And then he proceeds to be just as cryptic at Shen Wei as Shen Wei was at him back then: "You've already returned it. Many times over." TIME LOOP! I love it so! :D


• We end on Zhao Yunlan asking Shen Wei his name, since he can't have been the Black-Cloaked Envoy from birth. And I'll leave the name discussion for next week, but let me share this exchange from discord:
  
  amedia: I now have a mental image of Shen Wei as a baby in a tiny black onesie and cloak
  sef1029: Had to dress the twins in diff colors
  amedia: Haha, good point! Ye Zun in tiny white cloak, then?
  trobadora: colour-coded for your convenience!
  autodach: The Chus didn't color-code and look what it led to!
  
  (I would like to emphasize, for the record, that Shen Wei and Ye Zun were indeed colour-coded already in their childhood, as we see in the flashback in episode 40! I wonder if they used to be nicknamed Xiao-Hei and Xiao-Bai. *g*)

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite scene in this episode? Your favourite line?


• When we went into the Nightmare Master arc on this rewatch, one of the things most of us wanted to do was make more sense of all these dreams and dreams-within-a-dream, to sort out what's real. Do you feel you've managed to do this? Now that the arc has ended, what are your thoughts?


• What do you think Guo Ying thinks about all these rumours about the SID? How much does he worry about his nephew? And he and Yu Jinlan seemed to have practically accepted Chu Shuzhi into the family - what are they making of what's now being said about Chu Shuzhi's background?


• Zhao Yunlan's arrest has been ordered, and Shen Wei is nearly arrested as well. Probably Chu Shuzhi would also be arrested on sight - but why were Zhu Hong and Cong Bo allowed to leave the SID unharrassed? Guo Changcheng being allowed to transfer to the Inspectorate can be chalked up to nepotism, I guess. *g* But why is Shen Wei being singled out, other than narrative parallels between our heroes?
  
  And does the Inspectorate know who Shen Wei is, by now? Zhao Xinci certainly knows. But who would think it was a good idea to try and arrest the Black-Cloaked Envoy?


• Regarding "my little Yunlan": does Ye Zun really think Shen Wei talks like that? Why do you think Ye Zun chooses that phrasing? (And how delightful is it that even Ye Zun knows these two are together? *g*)


• Do you think Ye Zun is right that the timeline corrects itself? And that no one's ever come back from a wormhole? He could be lying, trying to prevent people from undoing his success, but since he goes on to suggest Zhao Yunlan give him the Hallows and let him try fixing the timeline, this warning doesn't particular benefit him either, so it could also all be true ....


• At what point do you think Zhao Yunlan realises Ye Zun is not Shen Wei? The obvious moment is when Ye Zun asks whether it's worth it, but does he have suspicions before that? To be fair, he has no idea that Shen Wei has an identical twin, or any reason to think the shield is down and unauthorised Dixingren can enter, so it's perhaps not the most obvious conclusion.


• If Zhao Yunlan hadn't interfered in the battle, what would have happened? Would the Rebel Leader have thrown Shen Wei down a cliff for the second time? (Shen Wei did survive that even as a kid, but everyone else would definitely have been toast.)


• What do you think the young Envoy and Da Qing make of all of the weird things "Kunlun" says? Do they ever compare notes?


• I get the impression there's some definite distance between humans and Yashou on one side, and Dixingren on the other, even within the YOHE alliance. What do you think Ma Gui and Fu You make of Zhao Yunlan's interest in and behaviour towards the Envoy? Does it change anything for them?

Let's talk about episode 34!
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!