GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 37

[china_shop]

Beginning of episode: The team enter the SID and find Lao Li.
Ending of episode: The Regent and Wu Xiaojun trick Shen Wei and knock him down (but not out).

Important scenes/developments:

• Everyone rushes over to Lao Li. Da Qing is distraught. Changcheng reads Lao Li's dying thoughts.
• Shen Wei and Chu Shuzhi help reconcile Changcheng to his new power.
• The team search the SID for the Guardian Lantern and find it. Its wick is missing.
• Lin Jing's dying video message arrives, mentioning "the rest of the exits," and the team decides to split up:
  • Shen Wei to Dixing to find the wick
  • Zhu Hong and Zhao Yunlan (and Da Qing) to the Snake Village to protect them from the Crows (and find the gateway)
  • Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi to say in Dragon City where Changcheng can use his power for good.
• Team handclasp!!
• Dragon City is littered with smoke and bodies. Changcheng uses his power but finds it heartbreaking; Chu Shuzhi is supportive. ♥!
• Shen Wei has trouble opening the portal and coughs blood.
• The three Yashou elders have a standoff at the Snake Village. The Crows are backed up by Dixingren, including illusionist Mi Lu.
• Ya Qing calls for elections; Mi Lu just wants to kill everyone.
• Mi Lu goes to "welcome" the approaching SID and turns the forest into an illusory labyrinth, trapping (and toying with) Zhao Yunlan, Zhu Hong and Da Qing.
• In Dragon City, Changcheng collapses, and Chu Shuzhi catches him.
• Zhu Hong uses her Snake power to kill Mi Lu(!!).
• In Mi Lu's absence, Ya Qing switches sides and says she just wants to be High Chief.
• The Yashou hold their election, and Zhao Yunlan shamelessly interferes in their weird electoral process.
  • Flashbacks to YOHE science experiments and Ma Gui's crush on Fu You.
• Zhu Hong wins the election, but is reluctant to take office until Fourth Uncle gives her a pep talk and Zhao Yunlan nods.
• Chu Shuzhi, Changcheng and Ye Huo unite in Dragon City and decide to work together. Aww!
• In Dixing, Shen Wei runs into Wu Xiaojun, who asks for vengeance for his father; they go to the palace.
• In Ye Zun's stomach, Lin Jing finds Sha Ya's guitar and cries. :-(
• Shen Wei holds his blade to the Regent's throat, but gets talked out of killing him. Then Wu Xiaojun and the Regent turn on him, seemingly knocking him out. But he's still conscious.

Thoughts

• Lao Li is lying on the floor, covered in cuts. He gasps, "I knew you guys would definitely come back, so I chased those crows away for you." This raises so many questions!! Has Lao Li been at the SID the whole time, carrying out his regular duties, and the DoS officers never cleared him out? None of the SID team checked on him? And is the security shield still down? (I guess it doesn't matter so much now the Hallows aren't in the lab, but still. Couldn't Changcheng have mentioned it to Lin Jing during their bathroom confab and got him to re-up it?) Presumably the Crows came looking for the Hallows, but how on earth did Lao Li of all people manage to chase them away? Maybe they were already leaving and roughed him up on their way out?
  
  Anyway, Shen Wei can't heal him, Da Qing is distraught, and Changcheng takes his hand and sees his past (making fish, appointed to the SID -- aww, old hair!Zhao Yunlan, not even bothering to stand up to welcome him!). Changcheng reports his dying wish -- wanting to make fish for Da Qing one more time -- like it's a tragedy, but I feel like if that's the greatest of Lao Li's regrets, he's doing okay.
  
  Chu Shuzhi and Shen Wei are both very moved by Lao Li's passing / Da Qing's grieving. And then the team is around the table, everyone grim at the loss (and sense of attrition, I guess).


• Changcheng is shattered by his power. I love Shen Wei talking him through it, and Chu Shuzhi pointing out the good the power can do. He knows what will be meaningful to Changcheng, but also it's the two Dixingren in the room kinda taking him under their wing, helping reconcile him. ♥
  
  
  
  And when Changcheng bravely steps up, Chu Shuzhi is so proud! ♥


• Da Qing wants revenge for Lao Li, Wang Zheng and Sang Zan, and Zhao Yunlan agrees and channels all their feelings into constructive action -- looking for the Lantern. (I will never not love the fact that Zhao Yunlan has had a pile of boxes just sitting in a corner for three years! HEE! Renovations are hard, all right?) Shen Wei uses dark energy to find the right box (scanning for the Hallow in particular, or just x-raying for shapes?) and digs it out from under an old fan and a carved wooden tiger. ♥ ♥ ♥
  
  The Hallows are assembled (with Zhao Yunlan freely touching them)! But oh no, the Lantern's wick is missing, and they don't know what it's made of. Shen Wei thinks it's likely to be in Dixing and says he can only get one person through the gate. Zhao Yunlan isn't happy, but accepts it.


• The clock wall says it's noon, and all their phones chime with a pre-recorded message from Lin Jing: Everyone, if you're receiving this email I scheduled in advance, I must already be dead. Please keep my epitaph simple. Just write "The Tomb of the Most Sought After Bachelor in the High-Tech World." That's enough. Lastly and finally, I realized that I was happiest when we were working and fighting together. So many memories that I'll never forget. I, Lin Jing, was always the SID's man in life, and I'll always be the SID's ghost in death. It's worth it. Well, I won't say any more. Please watch the following recording. *sniffles*
  
  
  
  I guess he was determined from the start to film his own death. I wonder how he thought it would happen. Maybe he expected to be whistleblowing about the lab? (Best thing about this scene: Da Qing sharing his phone screen with Shen Wei. ♥!!)


• Lin Jing's death recording contains Ye Zun saying to "close the rest of the exits." 再把几条多余的通道给我封锁了 (Is it explicitly plural? The original subs have "other unnecessary passage.") Da Qing remembers there's a gateway in the Yashou forbidden place, and Zhu Hong gets protective of the Yashou. "I can't let the Crow Tribe hurt everyone again." 我不能再让鸦族伤害大家了 I guess she's thinking of Jia-ge? ♥
  
  
  
  And then a lovely moment when Zhao Yunlan says very seriously that he'll come too. "First of all, the Yashou are very closely related to us. Whether for the Lantern wick or the passage to Dixing, I need to talk to your uncle. Secondly, I can't allow you to have the same tragedy as them." Aww, he's being Kunlun! (I mean, himself. *g*) Finally able to fully express his caring to her. ♥ (It still feels a little self-conscious, but I think that's fair given her crush.) Anyway, Shen Wei is supremely unthreatened, which is awesome, but he does interrupt to summarise the plan.
  
  Then:
  GCC: What if the Dixingren return to harass us? I want to use my power to do something for everyone. I'll stay here to comfort and help those injured or dying ones.
  那 那万一地星人再来骚扰怎么办我也想用我的异能为大家尽一份力我就留在这抚恤那些伤亡者吧
  CSZ: Chief Zhao, I'll stay as well to protect him.
  赵处 我也留下保护他
  
  Which is... a) interesting in that Chu Shuzhi addresses Zhao Yunlan and not the Envoy, but more importantly, b) not a plan to stop people getting hurt!!! If they're expecting more invaders, shouldn't they (CSZ at least!) be trying to stop them, rather than listening to their victims' dying wishes? It's very "ambulance at the bottom of the cliff" and seems like a recipe for carnage. /o\
  
  Anyway: TEAM HAND CLASP THING!! ♥ ♥ ♥
  
  
  
  ZYL: What we do next may decide who wins the final battle. When we meet here again, we can't be a single person short. 这次关门出勒也许就是最后决定胜负的行动我们再回到这儿的时候一个都不能少
  
  Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei exchange intense looks. ♥ *sniffles* ♥ (Oh, hey, does Shen Wei just lightly touch Zhao Yunlan's butt afterwards, as he passes to leave? 13:46 *watches sixteen times* :D)
  
  Zhu Hong goes to get the Sacred Wood out of her desk drawer, LOL, and Changcheng gives her Ya Qing's feather token, and says, "I hope she's not entirely evil." *pets his optimistic little head* (Didn't they just see Ya Qing in Lin Jing's death video??)


• Out in the streets, buildings are damaged, things are on fire, there are bodies everywhere. It's hard to see how Zhao Yunlan's broadcast is going to weigh against a literal invasion. And presumably it's all continuing on elsewhere. I wish I knew who if anyone was trying to put a stop to it. Anyway. ChuGuo come onto the scene and get to work. Changcheng finds using his power heartbreaking and draining, and Changcheng is super supportive though he hates watching Changcheng suffer, and it's very very adorable.


• Shen Wei at the portal: low on power, high on blood-coughing. (I love how he never gets blood on his clothes. ;-)
  
  
  
  He says to himself, "Winning or losing depends on this battle. This is for all the people and creatures in the world." 成败在此一役为了天下的苍生 and I wonder if this is the moment he decides he's not going to make it, or if he's just very aware he's going to have to be strategic now he's so weakened.


• The Yashou tribes are in a standoff at the Snake village. The elders glare, scowl and pout at each other unhappily. Ya Qing is backed up by Crows and a contingent of Dixingren led by Mi Lu. (Did Ya Qing really want it to come to this?) Fourth Uncle actually surrenders. Ya Qing talks social Darwinism ("Survival of the fittest is the law of natural selection." 优胜劣汰 这是自然天则) and says it's election time. Ying Chun asks why she brought Dixingren with her, and says, "Ya Qing, you have committed crimes against the Yashou!" 鸦青 你是亚兽的罪人 Ya Qing dismisses the accusation and orders them under house arrest ("Don't hurt them."), but Mi Lu is all, can't we just kill them? (Which is exactly the kind of pressure Ya Qing needs to switch sides, but it takes a while -- she's pretty invested in her current course.) They tussle over who's in charge, and are interrupted by Crow sentries, cawing to warn of people approaching. Mi Lu goes to "give them a warm welcome." 我先去招待一下


• Mi Lu's clothing style feels at odds with her attitude. I wonder if it's all she could get her hands on. Anyway, she turns the forest into a confusing misty labyrinth for Zhao Yunlan, Zhu Hong, and Da Qing. (I'll just smoosh all these scenes together.) Zhao Yunlan realises it's a trap. Da Qing gets lost by himself and freaks out; he thinks the illusion-trees are his mind playing tricks on him (again). *pets* He punches a tree, thinking it's not real, then climbs it and looks out over the illusion.
  
  Mi Lu's power is expressed through interpretative dance, hee! (I wonder if that's necessary, or she just likes it that way.) Da Qing can see her, and Zhao Yunlan finds her. Mi Lu is scornful, and he walks into an invisible tree, ow! (Way to get a concussion. /o\) Mi Lu gloats; Da Qing catches her and over-gloats, but she knocks him out (or does she actually kill him? I don't think so, because Zhao Yunlan and Zhu Hong both relax later, when Zhao Yunlan takes his pulse). Then Zhu Hong shows up and wow, kills her with red Snake energy. Wow. I'd totally forgotten that! So violent, very war. It feels a bit like Zhao Yunlan's casual use of his gun, really (as well as preparing us for Zhu Hong's powered fighting in the battle against Ye Zun). I suppose, in Zhu Hong's defence, they all saw Mi Lu in Lin Jing's video, so they know about her genocidal ambitions.
  
  
  
  Anyway, Zhao Yunlan praises Zhu Hong in his I'm-a-lovable-jerk way, and Zhu Hong is smug. Da Qing is still out cold, but they act like he's goofing off and scatter dead leaves on his face, what? Weirdos! (Did he really just use up a life?)


• In the Snake village, one of the Crows breaks ranks to object to Dixingren interference in intra-Yashou affairs. Some Dixingren rando has the audacity to suggest Ya Qing prove her loyalty (after all this!) by killing Ying Chun and Fourth Uncle. Ya Qing stalls by asking about the Sacred Wood and having the other elders searched.
  
  YC: The seat of the chief of the Yashou has been vacant for so many years. The Sacred Wood had disappeared long ago. 亚兽族大族长的席位空悬了这么久大神木早就找不到了
  YQ: Don't trick me like a kid. Fu You, the ancestor of Yashou, was a Snake. Being the key to open the forbidden place, it will only be kept by you, the Snake Elder. 你们少给我妆疯卖傻呀族共祖浮游是你们蛇族大神木作为开通禁地的钥匙平时自然留在蛇四手里
  
  The Dixingren rando says maybe Zhu Hong has it and wants to catch her. Fourth Uncle exclaims. "Good point," says Ya Qing, and calmly knocks the Dixingren out. She continues, "But if I acquire the Sacred Wood that way, would it still belong to the Yashou?" 可这样得来的大神木还是我亚兽的东西吗
  
  YQ: I've had enough of Ye Zun! 夜尊的气我受够了 *strikes down another Dixingren*
  YC: *little bounce* Yay!
  
  Ya Qing tells Fourth Uncle she just wants to be boss of the Yashou. Zhu Hong rushes in to intervene, and Ya Qing smacks her away but doesn't hurt her. (Progress!) She notices the feather pendant and calls it a "life-saving token". Fourth Uncle tells Ya Qing to respect the constitution (I'm paraphrasing), but she thinks she's the chosen one. Zhu Hong doesn't want to hand over the Sacred Wood, but Zhao Yunlan tells her to.
  
  Ya Qing: Ancestors of the Yashou, if you recognize my efforts in reviving our tribe, please bring the Sacred Wood back to life and sprout!
  亚兽的列祖列宗啊如果你们认可鸦青为振兴亚兽所做的努力就请让神木复苏吧
  Ancestors: *are conspicuously silent and unforthcoming*
  Ya Qing: How could it be? I've done everything I could to revive the Yashou, even drowned myself in darkness. Is it still not enough? 怎么会这样为了振兴亚兽我不惜堕入污泥难道我所做的努力还不够吗
  Da Qing: No, your effort was in the wrong direction from the beginning. 不是不够 是根本就错了
  
  Fourth Uncle says she didn't pass the test and to give back the stick. She argues the stick must be dead. Zhao Yunlan is a total busybody -- this is not his jurisdiction! He says Zhu Hong can make the stick sprout. (Cue flashback to YOHE science hour with Ma Gui, where Zhao Yunlan urges him to stop his gift-experiments and just declare himself to Fu You. (This always reminds me of trickytricky's post, Shen Wei Deserves Nice Things.) Ma Gui: Now that the three tribes are in strife like growing fire... 最近三组纷争如火如茶 (I guess the Cats really don't get counted.) Ma Gui just wants to make Fu You smile.)
  
  Present day: they are using completely the wrong shaped plate for soaking the stick in alcohol! *facepalms* Zhu Hong quotes Kunlun from the Ancient Mysteries, ha! Does she know that's Zhao Yunlan (or someone putting words in his mouth)? There's such a long delay before the stick reacts, I wonder how they're supposed to know it's reacting to Zhu Hong, and not a delayed reaction to Ya Qing. ;-p
  
  (More flashback: Ma Gui turns the seed he's working on into an old gnarled piece of wood. (Hallows, Portals, Sacred Wood -- he gets around!) Zhao Yunlan tries giving him a literal push in his relationship conversation, but Ma Gui deflects to "thank you." Zhao Yunlan looks like he really wants to fix them, lol.)
  
  
  
  Present day: the stick sprouts! Ya Qing is incensed! Everyone else is relieved. Zhu Hong is terrified. Zhao Yunlan could be a little lot less obvious with his gloating. Ya Qing kneels with grudging grace.
  
  ZYL: Looks like Elder Ya knows the saying, "People have to bow under the eaves." 看来鸦长老也知道人在屋檐下不得不低头这个道理啊 (Does anyone have a clear explanation of that saying? I could hazard a guess, but...)
  
  Ya Qing concedes that co-operating with humans might be better for Yashou. Fourth Uncle tries to get a cheer going, but Zhu Hong is freaking out.
  
  4U: In the past, your father left the tribe to remove the gap between humans and Yashou. The Sacred Wood in front of you now is a responsibility as well as an opportunity. Hong, ask yourself. Do you really want to refuse? 当年你父亲不惜出走也要改变亚兽和人类的隔阂现在你眼前的这根神木即是责任 也是机会阿红啊 你扪心自问你真的不愿意吗
  
  
  
  Zhu Hong is apparently more comfortable with responsibility than ambition? She takes it on, anyway. (Zhao Yunlan's tiny head nod is such a Shen Wei mannerism. ♥!!) Everyone cheers. Ya Qing smiles ruefully (maybe aware she wouldn't have got such a whole-hearted reception?). I wonder what the other Crows think...


• In the city (earlier) Changcheng takes a courier's last wish that always makes me think that guy needed to get a life! ("His will is to get this parcel delivered. Otherwise, he'll get complaints and his boss will deduct his pay." 他的愿望是想把这次快递送完不然会被投诉会扣工资 -- saddest last thought ever!) Changcheng collapses, and Chu Shuzhi catches him. as;dlfkasjd;flka
  
  Later, after the Crow election, Ye Huo finds them. (Changcheng calls him Ye Huo-ge.) They're all very pleased to see each other (and I start to see the OT3 thing), but the news from other areas is Not Good. Chu Shuzhi says they'll all work together from now on, aww.
  
  
  
  (Ooh, is there any fic of Ye Huo finding out Changcheng has a power now?)


• In the streets of Dixing, Shen Wei overhears someone spreading corrective propaganda, which is nice. Then Wu Xiaojun finds him. "Lord Black Robe, as a part of the eliminating team, I didn't fulfill the task of killing Ye Zun." 黑袍大人作为围剿小队的一员我没能够完成剿灭夜尊的任务 (Was the eliminating team the same as the siege squad, or something different?) Anyway, Wu Tian'en is dead (*sadface*), and Wu Xiaojun kneels, begging Shen Wei to get revenge. Shen Wei encourages him up and takes responsibility, aw. That's so him! (Actual line is: "It's all my fault. I didn't discover Ye Zun's plan in advance. You've done your best." 都是我不好我没有提早发现夜尊的计划你们都已经尽力了) Shen Wei says he's looking for something which might be in storage room in the palace. (Does he think the Regent took the Hallows?) But Ye Zun has taken the palace! Shen Wei accepts Wu Xiaojun's help, and it's unclear if he knows it's a trap.


• Lin Jing is in Ye Zun's stomach, ewwww. It smells bad. He uses his phone flashlight and sees Sha Ya's guitar, even finds the ring he made her. Flashbacks to their relations and voiceover: "No matter where you go, I'm sure we'll meet again. Do you believe we are fated?" 不管你要去哪里我都有信心和你再重逢你信不信咱俩有这个缘分 - yeah, that ring is definitely a parallel with Shen Wei's pendant! Lin Jing cries alone. This is so saaad. :-(


• In the palace, An Bai is working away. The Regent brings more scrolls. Shen Wei ambushes the Regent and holds his blade to the Regent's throat. An Bai freezes (without any apparently self-awareness) with Wu Xiaojun's hand on his throat.
  
  Regent: Hei Pao daren, with my old bones, I really can't handle being chased by both sides.
  我的黑袍大人 我这把老骨头实在经不起您几位争抢去的了
  SW: Now Ye Zun has taken over, you're happy to be his accomplice? Why are you still here running affairs for him?
  既然夜尊已经夺权你甘心为虎作伥为何还留在地君殿不辍政务
  Regent: Hei Pao daren, what do you think Dijun Palace is? It's the centre of government for all of Dixing. Be it peace or wartime, if we abandon it, who will look after ordinary Dixing people? Dixing would surely be in chaos if that happened.
  黑袍大人您当地君殿是个什么地方这是整个地星的首脑中枢啊无论战争还是和平我们要是逃走了谁来治理地星的民众地星非得 非得乱成一锅粥不可
  
  This is the bit that always makes me doubt the Regent is completely useless, despite all evidence to the contrary. He could have run and let Dixing fall into chaos!
  
  SW: *lowers his blade* These words of yours have saved your life. 你的这些话救了你一命
  Regent: Well, you don't really have to save it. 倒也不是非救不可
  
  Wu Xiaojun: *vaults the table and knocks Shen Wei out*
  Regent: *looks a bit shaken*
  Wu Xiaojun: Ye Zun... is my boss. 夜尊 老板
  
  I think Ya Qing's changing sides was timed partly to prime us for this kind of reversal? People are changing sides, the chips are coming down, and we're definitely heading into the final stretch.
  
  Regent: They have a saying: "If you play with fire, you get burned." 他们有句老话不作死 就不会死啊
  
  
  
  In close-up, unseen by the others, Shen Wei opens his eyes.

Discussion starters:

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


• When do you think Lin Jing set up his posthumous video message, and what prompted it?


• Do you have any theories about the wick -- where it is, what it's made from, how and when it was lost?


• Do you think Shen Wei was telling the truth when he said he could only get one person through the gate?


• The first time you watched, were you surprised when Ya Qing switched sides? Were you glad? What does her changing allegiances mean to you? Would she have killed Zhu Hong if Zhu Hong hadn't had the "life-saving token"?


• Is Zhao Yunlan's election tampering justified? And do you think Zhu Hong will make a good Yashou leader?


• Now Changcheng has a power, could he learn to wield raw dark energy, too?


• Is anyone fighting the invaders? Are there off-screen serumed soldiers? Does anyone have a plan, other than the SID's bid to assemble the Hallows and cut the invasion off at the source?


• How aware was Shen Wei of the trap he was walking into? What do you think he's planning at this point?

Let’s talk about episode 37!
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!