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sid_guardian2023-10-13 09:25 am
china_shop) wrote in sid_guardian2023-10-13 09:25 am
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GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 39
Beginning of episode: Shen Wei takes a hit of dark energy meant for Zhao Yunlan, and falls to the ground.
Ending of episode: Zhao Yunlan injects himself with the serum.
Important scenes/developments:
- Shen Wei takes the dark energy hit and falls to the ground. Zhao Yunlan is horrified.
- Ye Zun stabs Shen Wei with an icicle and eats him, because killing him once is not enough.
- Shen Wei and Lin Jing meet in Ye Zun's stomach.
- In Dragon City, Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi come to join the fight against the invaders.
- Ye Zun projects his torture of Zhao Yunlan into the Haixing sky for all to see.
- Zhao Xinci and the Yashou elders make a plan to fight the invaders.
- Zhao Xinci and Zhang Shi talk about cooperation and remember Zhao Yunlan's childhood dream of peace and harmony for all people.
- Over drinks, Ye Zun tries to persuade Zhao Yunlan to join him, but Zhao Yunlan just wants him dead. No, really.
- Zhao Yunlan escapes, using the Regent as a hostage.
- Zhu Hong arrives in Dragon City; Chu Shuzhi is worried about Xiao Guo.
- Zhao Xinci and the Yashou elders defend Haixing at the Locust Tree gate.
- Shen Wei instructs Lin Jing in how to kill him for real, when the time is right.
- More fighting in Dragon City; Da Qing and Da Ji are attacked, and Da Ji is choked to death.
- Zhao Xinci sees Zhu Hong, Chu Shuzhi and Da Qing off to Dixing; he gives Da Qing a syringe of the serum.
- Zhao Yunlan goes to the Dixing bar and gets the Lantern; Ye Zun shows up in Envoy cosplay.
- Zhao Yunlan broadcasts Ye Zun's villain monologue to all of Dixing.
- At the palace, Ye Zun activates the booby-trapped Lantern, which explodes, injuring Ye Zun and knocking An Bai to his senses; Ye Zun eats An Bai and the Regent.
- Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing and Zhu Hong arrive in Dixing and hear that Shen Wei has been eaten.
- Ye Zun thinks he's won now he has the Hallows; he still doesn't have the wick, but he knows he can use Guo Changcheng.
- The bartender gives a rousing speech to the people of Dixing.
- Guo Changcheng remembers Lao Chu and his time at the SID, and snaps himself out of the compulsion to defy Ye Zun.
- Chu Shuzhi, Zhu Hong and Da Qing arrive at the palace and fight Ye Zun.
- Da Qing decides to use the serum, but Zhao Yunlan grabs it and injects himself.
Thoughts
Opening: Episode 39 starts with a re-enactment of Zhao Yunlan's childhood trauma, with Shen Wei playing the part of both parents, and like last time, there's zero Zhao Yunlan can do to stop it. (Instead of being held back by an adult, he's tied up.) The person he loves most in all the world, who has fought to protect him, is killed before his eyes.
The show backtracks a little, but doesn't add any new information, so I think that's just for maximum impact and horror. Shen Wei takes the dark-energy hit, then slides/falls to the ground (with his pendant hanging down, very visible). Zhao Yunlan is horrified. (The poignant
velithya!) starts to play.) Ye Zun, outraged by this selflessness, shoves Shen Wei down with his foot, and Shen Wei says Ye Zun doesn't deserve the Guardian Lantern, incensing Ye Zun even further so he decides to kill him then and there. 
I found it striking that most of the shots here are of Ye Zun's actions and Zhao Yunlan's distress. He's so devastated. He really didn't think it would come to this, and I think it hurts him more than it does Shen Wei, who has more or less planned this. After the stabbing, Ye Zun seems shocked by what he's done -- he cowers back like he did in the Rebel camp 10k years ago. But then Shen Wei looks at Zhao Yunlan and smiles, and Ye Zun recovers his composure and eats Shen Wei for good measure. Zhao Yunlan screams -- the torture didn't get to him at all, but this. (Later in the episode, he talks Ye Zun out of killing the bartender, but here he's too undone to even try.)
I'm going to take a leaf out of
trobadora's book and separate the rest of this by location.Ye Zun's stomach: when Shen Wei starts to arrive, Lin Jing says, "Again?" So Ye Zun has been eating other people since Lin Jing, I guess, but there's no sign of them. Maybe named cast are less digestible? Anyway, he and Shen Wei meet. Lin Jing wants to know what's going on, but Shen Wei just says Zhao Yunlan will be glad to know Lin Jing's alive. He tells Lin Jing to push the icicle in when the time is right. Lin Jing reluctantly agrees. (I think this is partly here to reinforce that Shen Wei really does plan to die; there's not going to be some tricksy last-minute escape.)
Later on, the Regent and An Bai arrive in the stomach, and An Bai apologises to Shen Wei, then he and the Regent bicker until Shen Wei says, "Enough!" and adds, "Both of you already died once. It's time to bring all your past hostility to an end." 你们都已经死过一次了你们之间的恩怨就到此了结了吧 -- which gives us a clue about the ending he hopes for with Ye Zun.
Yashou and Zhao Xinci: The Yashou leaders and Zhao Xinci see Ye Zun's torture projection, and for a long moment Zhao Xinci can't speak. But he stays on task, directing the defence of Haixing at the Old Locust Tree gate. The Yashou depart to carry out the plan, and he and Zhang Shi talk about their relationship. (Zhang Shi: "You've been getting more and more stubborn these past years and I've become bossier." 这几年你越来越固执了我也越来越啰嗦) We get a flashback of bb!Zhao Yunlan establishing his philosophy. (As I said in the scene discussion about this flashback, bb!Yunlan is obviously not as much “I am a weapon” as young Shen Wei, but he did grow up determined to dedicate himself to peace. His saying “with my tolerance, my brain, and my life” suggests he was always prepared to put himself on the line for the greater good.)
Also in the flashback: Zhao Xinci says, "There's no absolute right or wrong in this world." 这个世界上没有绝对的对与错 (though he immediately follows it with a "but"). He references this at the start of ep 31, when Zhao Yunlan has just found out about Zhang Shi -- so at least he's consistent? Not that that stance makes him any less opinionated or bigoted.
In present day, Zhang Shi reaches out without looking and ?snaps the neck of? an attacking Dixingren, possibly dislocating Zhao Xinci's shoulder in the process. They affirm their partnership. I think they get on much better when they're fighting crime -- once Zhao Xinci had an office job, I expect he stopped finding Zhang Shi useful and thought of him more as a burden/intruder.
Later, at the Old Locust Tree, the Yashou elders and Zhao Xinci fight invaders. (It looks like Zhang Shi's energy is golden like his eyes - huh.)
ZXC: You're Yashou. You don't have the responsibility to contribute so much in our war against the Dixingren. Find an opportunity to retreat. 你们都是亚兽族人没有义务为我们和地星人的战争付出那么多逃个时机撤吧
4thU: Don't be silly. I now understand. Ye Zun obviously wants to kill all the living creatures on Haixing. If we don't help you out now, who's going to help us in the future? 说什么呢我算是想明白了这夜尊摆明了是要把整个海星生物一网打尽现在不给你们搭把手将来谁会帮我们
YC: Old Snake, you finally said something right. 老长虫 你总算是说了句像样的话嘛
YQ: I must personally end the mistake that I've made. 我造成的错误就一定要由我亲手终结
*hearts them all*
Hua Yuzhu comes through the portal, I think purely so we can have a flashback to explain how Sha Ya's guitar ended up in Ye Zun's stomach? Iirc, we don't see her again. (The self-sacrifice is great and everything, but is it really better for Ye Zun to acquire Sha Ya's power than Hua Yuzhu's? Maybe plants would have calmed him down. ;-p) I'm left wondering how Hua Yuzhu and Ya Qing know each other.
Dragon City: Chu Shuzhi arrives back in the city to smoking ruins (including a burned-out car, wtf?) to find Ye Huo, Cong Bo and Cheng Xinyan. Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi show up to help, yay! Ye Zun's torture projection is sobering for everyone.
Zheng Yi uses her power, and she and Tan Xiao report to Ye Huo that they've repelled the invaders. Zhu Hong arrives. Chu Shuzhi is worried about Changcheng, because he wasn't in the torture projection, and Chu Shuzhi has lost contact with the puppet. Zhu Hong says it's no time for worrying. "I know there are people important to us who are in Dixing right now, but there're also thousands and millions of comrades right behind us!" 是啊 没错 地星那边是有我们很重要的人可现在在我们的背后是千千万万的同胞啊
Ye Huo says, "Finally, it has ended. Compared to here, I'm more worried about Dixing." 终于告一段落了相比于这里我现在更担心地星
Zhu Hong says they have to go via the Yashou passage. (Ooh, imagine if Ye Huo had gone too! Not that it would have made any difference in the end...)
And then there's more carnage. Team Ye Huo and co. get out of their very ordinary car, and Cong Bo says, "As per data analysis, it's this area." 按数据显示就是这片区城了 (which makes me ???). They spread out. How are these invaders getting through? There really must be another gate!
Da Qing's attacker recognises him as SID and taunts him. Meanwhile, Da Ji is being choked, which mortally wounds her (given choking is her weapon of choice, this might be karma?). Da Qing manages to scare off both attackers, but it's too late. "Just Cared Too Much" plays, and Da Qing is once more bereaved. THIS POOR CAT!!!! :-((((
Da Ji: From now on, you'll be the only remaining Cat Tribe member again. 以后猫族又只剩下你一个人了
In the park at night, Cong Bo and Zhu Hong rendezvous with Zhao Xinci, who says they've only won an interim victory. "Therefore, from now on, let's start Plan B: Dixing Salvation." 所以 从现在开始执行B计划地星救援 Apparently this involves sending the remaining SID member to Dixing to help, because next thing we know, Zhao Xinci is seeing off Zhu Hong, Chu Shuzhi and Da Qing at the Yashou gate. He's so nice to them! So respectful! Man, I wish Zhao Yunlan had got to see (or even hear about) this! *cries*
ZXC: It's Yunlan's great honor to have team members like you. It's everyone's great honor that warriors like you exist here in Haixing. 云澜有你们这些队友是他的荣幸海星有你们这些勇士是所有人的荣幸
DQ: (to ZXC) The Yashou and humans are in your care now. 亚兽和人类都交给你了
I love Da Qing in this scene, being all Deputy Chief and slyly calling Zhao Xinci a cunning fella. Zhao Xinci gives him a syringe of the serum, improved by Li Qian. "It's effect will be much stronger. For a limited time, it can multiply your power by a hundred. Of course the side-effect is significant too, so unless you have no choice..." 所以药效比之前来得猛烈能在有限的时间内透支百倍的力量当然 副作用也很强所以不到万不得已
They leave. (Has the gate been open the whole time?)
Dixing: After Shen Wei has been eaten before Zhao Yunlan's eyes, Zhao Yunlan hoarsely shouts, "Kill me!" He's mad with grief, everything else forgotten. (I love that the show is willing to go this far! They are so obviously and completely fixated on each other.) (Also, I think by "Kill me!" he means "Take me, too!" right? He doesn't want Ye Zun to just snap his neck -- he wants to follow Shen Wei wherever he's gone, even if it's into oblivion.)
Ye Zun whispers that he has an idea to break Zhao Yunlan's defences, and I'm like, uh, you kinda already broke him? But Ye Zun thinks broadcasting Zhao Yunlan's subjugation will somehow make Zhao Yunlan hand over the Lantern. He actually says, "If you still don't tell me the location of the Guardian Lantern, I promise I'll make you wish you were dead!" 你再不告诉我镇魂灯的下落我会让你生不如死的 (I think he must be reeling from having killed Shen Wei, because this makes no sense as a threat when Zhao Yunlan has just demanded to die.)
Anyway, Ye Zun, who understands nothing, manages to accidentally give Zhao Yunlan renewed purpose by credibly threatening to make everyone else suffer. *facepalm* Cue more torture.
Cut to: Ye Zun has cleaned Zhao Yunlan up (or got someone else to?) and is pouring him a drink. This whole thing is very staged, with the low table, Xiao Guo stands by with a tray of more alcohol, and Ye Zun's archaic manners (holding his sleeve, covering his cup as he drinks -- reminiscent of his formal/deferential bowing when they first met in ep 20). Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlan is still overcome with grief. He sits with one knee up, ignores his cup and lets the alcohol run down his face as he drinks from the bottle directly.
Ye Zun tries flattery, calls Zhao Yunlan interesting, brave and unscrupulous, tries to pique his ambition, and concludes, "We are actually the same kind of person." 其实你跟我是同一类人 Zhao Yunlan rejects him. Ye Zun is doing a terrible job of reading the room here, which seems weird for him in some ways, but I guess he's caught up in impending triumph and trying for gege's attention by proxy. Now he's eaten Shen Wei, he needs someone else to transfer all his focus onto.
YZ: I don't believe that there's such a person in this world who is without desire! What's your desire? I can give you anything. 我不相信这个世界上真的有无欲无求的人你想要什么我都可以给你
ZYL: I want you to die. 想你死
Ye Zun's composure cracks a fraction. I wonder if he was actually expecting Zhao Yunlan to ask for Shen Wei back. (Maybe hoping for that? I mean, Shen Wei is the most important person in both their lives, even if Ye Zun's feelings for him are super twisted. And if Zhao Yunlan begged for his return, it would be an opportunity to rant about how awful he is...)
Ye Zun says he'll give Zhao Yunlan another chance, and Zhao Yunlan plays it up for all he's worth. Long pause, more drinking. Then, finally, quietly, "All right. I've decided. I still want you to die." 好吧我想好了我还是想你死 (My fav line of the episode, that.)
Ye Zun feels the hit, they both start laughing maniacally, and then Ye Zun swats the table aside and looms in to threaten humanity again. He heads off with Changcheng in attendance -- where? to do what? (Given certain speculations about Ye Zun's youth with the Rebels, I'm trying not to think about it. /o\)
Zhao Yunlan beckons the Regent, who asks if he's coming up with freak ideas again (maybe referencing disguising himself as An Bai to catch the Deacon? and also reminding us that Zhao Yunlan always has a trick up his sleeve). Zhao Yunlan responds by taking the Regent hostage and using him to escape. (The guards are conveniently useless.)
But Ye Zun still has three of the Hallows and, more importantly, Xiao Guo, so Zhao Yunlan can't just retreat to Haixing and regroup.
Meanwhile, An Bai continues working away as usual. The Regent is inappropriately envious of his trance. Then Ye Zun comes back in a cloud of dark energy. The Regent tries to flatter him, but Ye Zun is cranky. He wants to know where Zhao Yunlan is, and chokes the Regent with his power. So the Regent sells Zhao Yunlan out and says they can track him to find the Lantern. (This feels reminiscent of the Rebel Chief bullying Ye Zun, and Ye Zun offering strategies to placate him.) Ye Zun accepts this plan with a threat, and calls the Regent "you old goat."
Zhao Yunlan skulks around and goes to the bar. The entrance looks different from the first time, so it might be a side door? Ye Zun sees him go in. Inside, Zhao Yunlan signals to the bartender to kick everyone out. (The bartender is so great in this scene -- someone should buy him a drink.)
Once they're alone, the bartender brings Zhao Yunlan the Lantern. Immediately, Ye Zun strides in in Envoy cosplay, breaking Zhao Yunlan's heart all over again, but Zhao Yunlan is also strategising. I love that he's got a plan, and that you can see hints of cunning in his expression, even while he's trying not to give it away. He smiles and says "Hei-laoge" knowing it can't be him, but Ye Zun
YZ: You're so disappointing. 你真是让我太失望了
ZYL: (thinks: Yeah, I've been hearing that my whole life.)
The bartender accuses Ye Zun of being an imposter, but Ye Zun doesn't care -- until the bartender praises the real Envoy. Then Ye Zun loses his temper and throws the bartender across the room. He's such a child! But it's enough of a distraction that Zhao Yunlan's bindings vanish, and he can grab the microphone from the bar to capture Ye Zun's villain monologue. (I know the mic was in previous bar scenes, but I still think they must have set this up beforehand, maybe rewired it so it broadcasts outside into the streets instead of just inside the bar? Because it's not like Zhao Yunlan is unaware of Ye Zun's penchant for spouting supremacist bullshit; he did that at their first meeting, when he called humanity livestock. So this seems like something they could have planned for.)
Ye Zun's monologue starts with the info that the Envoy is already in his stomach, which hurts Zhao Yunlan, but he grimly continues to air Ye Zun's plan to destroy humans, Yashou, even "disobedient" Dixingren. Zhao Yunlan applauds, and Ye Zun asks what he's holding, not recognising the mic. Zhao Yunlan explains that he's broadcasting to all of Dixing. (Fourth broadcast of the show, after Zhao Yunlan's "Dixingren are people too", Changcheng's "your dead relatives ask that everyone please calm down!", and Ye Zun's TortureTV. Given Dixing's uncertain infrastructure, I wonder if this one was boosted with a dark energy power like Ye Zun's was...)
Then Zhao Yunlan talks Ye Zun out of killing the bartender (he's so good at people!) and says Ye Zun is out of his depth. "Boss Ye Zun, now your plan is known by all of Dixing. I believe that you don't have enough power to delude all the people here." 夜尊老板现在你的居心整个地星人都知道了我认为你根本就没有足够的能量来蛊惑整个地星的人
But Ye Zun has the complete set of Hallows now. He thinks that'll be enough.
Meanwhile, at the palace, Changcheng is struggling heroically against Ye Zun's compulsion. He tells the Regent to run, but the Regent is too surprised Changcheng can talk at all to take his advice.
Ye Zun comes back (in his white robes again) with Zhao Yunlan by the throat and drops him. (Zhao Yunlan lands like he did in YOHE, ow.) Ye Zun fondles and sweet-talks the Lantern. It rises into the air and starts to burn. (We get a flashback to Zhao Yunlan putting a bullet into the wick hole, answering the long-standing question of whether the energy gun takes physical bullets.)
The Lantern explodes, knocking everyone over. Ye Zun's mask is broken in two, and his forehead wounded. (It looks like his third eye has opened. ;-p) The Regent finally tries to run, but the blast has woken An Bai, who grabs him, seeking revenge for being coerced onto the throne.
Ye Zun's powers are all messed up by the explosion, and he needs a boost, so he eats An Bai and the Regent.
Elsewhere, Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing and Zhu Hong arrive at the dragon gate. They find the bartender playing a recording of Ye Zun's monologue through a megaphone, including the info that the Envoy has been eaten. They're all shocked. Chu Shuzhi looks like he's been smacked between the eyes. *cries* They join the bartender's growing mob.
In the palace, Ye Zun approaches Zhao Yunlan.
ZYL: Impressive. You can even recover from such a bad injury. 厉害啊都到了这个地步还能恢复过来
YZ: You're the more impressive one. I never thought I would just be hurt by a mortal! 厉害的人是你我从来没有想过我会被区区的一个人类弄得如此地狼狈
Ye Zun thinks he's won now he has the Hallows and Hei Pao Shi in his stomach. He says no one can stop him. Zhao Yunlan says he doesn't have the wick, but Ye Zun knows he can use Changcheng (and also fondles him inappropriately, eww, don't do that!).
Zhao Yunlan tries to snap Changcheng out of his trance by calling his name.
In the street, the bartender gives a rousing speech, telling the citizens they have to rise up. Chu Shuzhi, Zhu Hong and Da Qing see a column of light coming from the palace and realise it's Xiao Guo. They set off running.
At the palace, Ye Zun says, "10,000 years have passed. I can finally wipe off my disgrace!" 一万年了终于可以一雪前耻了 He channels Changcheng's energy into the swirling Hallows.
Still flat on the floor, Zhao Yunlan is almost crying. He tries the strategy that worked on Zhu Hong and Da Qing after Nightmare Guy put them to sleep, saying, "Guo Changcheng, wake up! I'll discharge you if you don't wake up!" 郭长城 你给我醒一醒 你再不醒我就把你开除了 Ye Zun says he's wasting his time, but Zhao Yunlan says Xiao Guo is different. Actually crying now, he asks, "Have you really forgotten... forgotten Lao Chu? Forgotten everything that happened at the SID?" 你真的忘了我 忘了老楚 忘了特调处发生的一切了吗
And it works! His words reach Changcheng, who has a series of quick flashbacks: Zhao Yunlan on that first day (the voiceover is ZYL saying, "From now on, we are a family," but the visual shot is when he tells Changcheng, "You must be special, too, as you were chosen to join us."); training with Lao Chu; being officially confirmed in his role and welcomed; tied up in the Snake village, defending the SID to Fourth Uncle; telling Professor Shen in the hospital (ep 2) that he'll defend him and Li Qian; Lao Chu telling him to stop being so down on himself; talking back to gun-pointing Zhao Xinci (in the scene he's saying, "I have to say Chief Zhao might be right"); facing down Zhao Xinci in Zhao Yunlan's office; Lao Chu saying something (40:51 -- anyone know what ep that's from?).
Aside: I love how the staircases look like dragon wings! And what is that weird rock thing hanging from the ceiling?
The voiceover is a combination of his speech to Fourth Uncle ("We have spirit -- the spirit and confidence to sacrifice ourselves in order to protect the people around us," "If there's danger, he(?) will definitely come," and "Someone has to stand up in the front"), his plea to his own uncle to be allowed to keep working at the SID ("It's them who enabled me to discover my value."), and what he tells Lao Chu in the library when he's just started ("I won't drag them down"). AWWWWW!
Changcheng breaks free, crying, "Chu-ge!" He grabs Ye Zun's hand, and says, "I... will never be... become your weapon to hurt others..." 我 决不会做危害大家的凶器 And he breaks the connection.
Ye Zun is furious! The Hallows haven't quite fused. He was so close!! He gathers dark energy to smite... someone? Zhao Yunlan, I suspect? But just then the rest of the SID arrive. Fighty McFight.
Da Qing protects still-helpless-on-the-floor Zhao Yunlan, sees how the fight is going and decides he's lost enough people already. He's going to use the serum. But Zhao Yunlan grabs it out of his hands and injects himself.
Da Qing shouts, "Lao Zhao! You'll die!" 老赵你会死的 Zhao Yunlan says (I think to himself), "I, Zhao Yunlan, stayed single for over 20 years, maybe because I'm waiting for today." 我赵云澜光棍二十多年也许等的就是今天 Which I interpret as a reference to what he tells Zhu Hong in ep 31 about always expecting to die on the job, and a reproach to his father for absenting himself from Shen Xi and bb!Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan has avoided commitments and dependants; he hasn't allowed himself a family -- because he was always expecting to leave early. And this is it.
To which I can only repeat: POOR CAT!!!! :-(((((
So the episode starts with Zhao Yunlan's childhood trauma, makes a stop-off at his childhood plan to protect people with his life, and ends with him injecting himself with a serum that will give him superpowers but probably kill him. Meanwhile, in Ye Zun's stomach, Shen Wei has made Lin Jing promise to detonate the bomb that is himself (Shen Wei). Doom, doom, doom -- but also, everyone being smart and determined and strategic.
Discussion starters:
- What's your favourite scene in this episode? Favourite line of dialogue?
- Does Ye Zun really think he can flip Zhao Yunlan during the drinking scene? (I was wondering if his experience with the Wus, where he killed the father and then suborned the son, had reinforced his wrong-headed ideas about loyalty.)
- How potent is the drink Ye Zun serves? Do you think it affects Zhao Yunlan's (or Ye Zun's) choices?
- Why the Envoy cosplay in the bar? Is Ye Zun worried how other Dixingren might react to him, or is he just being cruel? Would he have played it differently if Zhao Yunlan had seemed more taken in?
- Why does An Bai apologise to Shen Wei?
- Why did Li Qian keep working on the serum, purifying it even after Professor Ouyang crossed the line?
- What do you think Ye Zun's "disgrace" was 10k years ago -- being enslaved, losing the war, failing to kill his brother, something else?
Let’s talk about episode 39!
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!
Links to episode 39 fanworks and meta go here!
- any other episode reactions or related meta
- fanworks, picspams, squee, etc, relating to episode 39 generally or to specific scenes, characters, or events in this episode
Link to your own works and/or others'. Help us build as comprehensive a collection of links as possible!Re: Links to episode 39 fanworks and meta go here!
Focus on bb!Zhao Yunlan's mission statement (flashback) by
Excellent episode reaction by
Re: Links to episode 39 fanworks and meta go here!
Listen (it's late, it's late, but listen) (2489 words) [Teen And Up]
Relationship/Characters: Ya Qing/Ying Chun
Content Tags: Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Yashou Politics, Leadership, Missing Scenes, Episodes 39/40
Summary: Ying Chun hadn't listened, hadn't understood.
Re: Links to episode 39 fanworks and meta go here!
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So, do you think that means his smile is a contented smile to himself? I always took it as an attempt to reassure and console Zhao Yunlan, a kind of "you're worth it" smile -- though of course, it could be both.
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Also, oh noooo, now I'm thinking of "take off your mask and smile"!! This is not what Zhao Yunlan meant!!! /o\
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I personally feel like the life debt was settled with the Sundial energy exchange, or shortly thereafter, and that as a couple they've really moved past any sense of owing each other by now. They're partners, they both do whatever they can to protect each other, but it's not out of indebtedness.
And just as importantly, for me, this is their last moment alive together in the show. So I really want Shen Wei to be with Zhao Yunlan right now, not focused on something that happened between them 10k years ago, if that makes sense? Like, Zhao Yunlan's heart is visibly breaking. So I guess I want Shen Wei's smile to be a balm, as much as it can be. For that, I think it has to be Shen Wei meaning "you're worth it" -- or, actually, "this is worth it." (Because Shen Wei sacrificing himself for Zhao Yunlan is definitely not going to be comforting, and Shen Wei knows that. He knows Zhao Yunlan inside and out.)
They both desperately hoped to get out of there alive, together, having saved the world, but if they can't -- as Shen Wei says when they meet in the afterlife, their deaths were meaningful. That's what matters. That's where the comfort is.
/disclaim, disclaim, obviously YMMV :-)
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♥ ♥ ♥
They both desperately hoped to get out of there alive, together, having saved the world, but if they can't -- as Shen Wei says when they meet in the afterlife, their deaths were meaningful. That's what matters. That's where the comfort is.
100% agreed on this!
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My favorite unspoken line:
YZ: You're so disappointing. 你真是让我太失望了
ZYL: (thinks: Yeah, I've been hearing that my whole life.)
Ye Zun is an amateur compared to Zhao Xinci when it comes to making Zhao Yunlan feel inadequate.
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Yessss, that's so good! :D :D :D And Changcheng snapping out of it, crying out, "Chu-ge!" ♥ ♥ ♥
Ye Zun is an amateur compared to Zhao Xinci when it comes to making Zhao Yunlan feel inadequate.
100% absolutely! ... Besides, at this stage I suspect ZYL doesn't really have room for any emotions except grief and bitter resolve. :-(((
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I would have liked to see that! I'm not sure having one more person on their side would have helped them fight Ye Zun, but it would have been cool to watch. Or, if three of them are enough to keep Ye Zun occupied, having an extra person might have enabled them to do something else (like getting Zhao Yunlan out of there).
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having an extra person might have enabled them to do something else (like getting Zhao Yunlan out of there).
I'm not sure Zhao Yunlan would have consented to go, at that point, but yeah. Maybe something...
ETA: Btw, have I told you how awesome your icon is? It's excellent!!!
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Ooh, I hadn't thought of that!!!
I'm not sure Zhao Yunlan would have consented to go, at that point, but yeah. Maybe something... Good point! I'm not sure exactly what could have been accomplished, but ... something?
I'm not sure Zhao Yunlan would have consented to go, at that point, but yeah. Maybe something... Eeee, thank you!!! Your icon of ZYL with the I ♥ SW mask is adorbs!!!
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Oh, yes, that would have been awesome!
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Believe it or not, when I first saw this episode, I honestly thought that Team SID was going to win somehow with all its current members surviving. They'd been so clever and made so many smart strategic moves ... And it was strangely reassuring that people didn't immediately die when Ye Zun consumed them.
Knowing what happens with Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan makes the episode seem so much darker and Ye Zun's attacks on SID people so inexorable. It also makes Xiao Guo's little victory stand out more in contrast.
But being able to talk about it during the rewatch and to discuss it with the peeps here helps to make it better!
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*nodnod* I think that's understandable. The show is trying quite hard to steer us towards a sacrificial ending, but everyone's been in dangerous situations so many times before and escaped somehow. I think it's natural for us to cling consciously or subconsciously to optimism and a happy ending. ♥
And it was strangely reassuring that people didn't immediately die when Ye Zun consumed them.
Ha, that's a good point. Even people we've grieved for aren't all-the-way dead. (Lin Jing!)
Knowing what happens with Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan makes the episode seem so much darker and Ye Zun's attacks on SID people so inexorable. It also makes Xiao Guo's little victory stand out more in contrast.
Yes, agreed on both counts! That sense of attrition and loss feels much heavier when you know where it's going. And Changcheng's resistance is so epic and meaningful, once we see how really very nearly unstoppable Ye Zun is. *pets him forever*
But being able to talk about it during the rewatch and to discuss it with the peeps here helps to make it better!
I'm so glad. *hugs and hugs*
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Yes! Completely agreed on both, everything is closing in on them, and then there's this triumph! So good.
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Stabbing me right in the heart straight away
Later on, the Regent and An Bai arrive in the stomach, and An Bai apologises to Shen Wei
I’m always thrown by the simultaneous absurdity and tragedy of the situation. They have this sincere exchange in someone’s stomach .
It looks like Zhang Shi's energy is golden like his eyes - huh.
Oh, I never noticed that. How odd.
"As per data analysis, it's this area." 按数据显示就是这片区城了 (which makes me ???)
Data Science is magic, duh XD
Also, I think by "Kill me!" he means "Take me, too!" right? He doesn't want Ye Zun to just snap his neck -- he wants to follow Shen Wei wherever he's gone, even if it's into oblivion.
Does he know Shen Wei is still sort-of-alive? I thought he simply wanted to die, never mind the method at this point.
But Ye Zun thinks broadcasting Zhao Yunlan's subjugation will somehow make Zhao Yunlan hand over the Lantern
I just love how much this backfires on Ye Zun and only bolsters his enemies. He really misjudged everyone involved, and Zhao Yunlan most of all.
Also I’ve had a skype pun at the tip of my tongue for a week.
We get a flashback to Zhao Yunlan putting a bullet into the wick hole, answering the long-standing question of whether the energy gun takes physical bullets.
Ooh, good catch!
It looks like his third eye has opened. ;-p
It looks so much like a bindi I am struggling to perceive it as a wound at all. I wonder if they meant for it to look like that or not.
And what is that weird rock thing hanging from the ceiling?
Looks like a hornet’s nest. Better call the exterminator!
Could it be some kind of chandelier/ weird light fixture?
What's your favourite scene in this episode? Favourite line of dialogue?
Ye Zun and Zhao Yunlan sharing a civilized drink.
Bai Yu is absolutely killing it in this scene. The silent rage, the grief. The delivery on “I want you to die” ❤
So good ❤❤❤
Does Ye Zun really think he can flip Zhao Yunlan during the drinking scene?
Yes I think so, although he might still know the chance isn’t particularly high.
Ye Zun believes he lives in a world where Shen Wei has betrayed him- in such a world, anyone can turn on anyone. I truly think he lost faith not just in Shen Wei, but in loyalty as a concept.
How potent is the drink Ye Zun serves? Do you think it affects Zhao Yunlan's (or Ye Zun's) choices?
It’s probably not meant to be intoxicating, more a symbolic thing.
Heh, what if Ye Zun was a lightweight and got super drunk in this scene? Would he be a whiny drunk?
Could Zhao Yunlan talk sense into drunk-Zun …?
Why the Envoy cosplay in the bar?
Since he’s not making any effort to fool Zhao Yunlan, it must either be for other people’s sake (random civilians?) or to hurt and mess with Zhao Yunlan. My money is on the latter, as Ye Zun could easily disguise himself less conspicuously.
Maybe it’s a twisted reminder to Zhao Yunlan that he’s Shen Wei’s twin? Though to what end, I couldn’t say.
What do you think Ye Zun's "disgrace" was 10k years ago -- being enslaved, losing the war, failing to kill his brother, something else?
I think it’s a mix of the latter two – being enslaved is not Ye Zun’s disgrace, but Shen Wei’s (at least in his mind). He lost to Haixing in the last war, and now he gets to fix that.
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Ha. Sorry! *sends comfort kittens*
I’m always thrown by the simultaneous absurdity and tragedy of the situation. They have this sincere exchange in someone’s stomach
Everything in the stomach is simultaneously tragic and ridiculous. Like, is that dust falling, when Lin Jing covers Shen Wei to protect him, or stomach juices? /o\ And why is there breathable air? But the interactions are so good that I don't really care. *g*
Data Science is magic, duh XD
But what data is he working from? I'm so confused.
Does he know Shen Wei is still sort-of-alive? I thought he simply wanted to die, never mind the method at this point.
I don't think he knows Shen Wei is sort-of-alive. I think he's 99.9% sure Shen Wei is dead and gone. But maybe there's a 0.1% of hope that he can't quite give up on? The faintest of chances that this is a strategy by Shen Wei that gets them both out alive somehow (like they have every other time). It's a tiny spark that I think is only extinguished when Lin Jing comes back and Shen Wei doesn't. Idk.
I just love how much this backfires on Ye Zun and only bolsters his enemies. He really misjudged everyone involved, and Zhao Yunlan most of all.
Right? It's so satisfying. Zhao Yunlan had completely lost himself in grief, and Ye Zun was the one to get him back on track.
Also I’ve had a skype pun at the tip of my tongue for a week.
HEE! :D
It looks so much like a bindi I am struggling to perceive it as a wound at all. I wonder if they meant for it to look like that or not.
Yeah -- I think it might have worked better if it had been bigger, except then it might have needed CGI to sell it.
Looks like a hornet’s nest. Better call the exterminator!
Dark energy hornets! Oh no!! :D
Ye Zun and Zhao Yunlan sharing a civilized drink.
It's so goooood! Absolutely agreed on the intensity of the emotions. ♥!!
Ye Zun believes he lives in a world where Shen Wei has betrayed him- in such a world, anyone can turn on anyone. I truly think he lost faith not just in Shen Wei, but in loyalty as a concept.
Oh, that's such a good point! He can't even grasp it, can he?
Heh, what if Ye Zun was a lightweight and got super drunk in this scene? Would he be a whiny drunk?
He could have just collapsed on the table like Shen Wei in the mountains. (I wonder if Ye Zun has even drunk much in this era? It's not like he has anyone to drink with before this.)
it must either be for other people’s sake (random civilians?) or to hurt and mess with Zhao Yunlan. My money is on the latter, as Ye Zun could easily disguise himself less conspicuously.
Yeah, I think it's nastiness. Though I do wonder whether, if Zhao Yunlan had tearfully greeted him in a "thought you were dead" kind of way, Ye Zun might have played it differently.
I think it’s a mix of the latter two – being enslaved is not Ye Zun’s disgrace, but Shen Wei’s (at least in his mind). He lost to Haixing in the last war, and now he gets to fix that.
*nodnod* That does make sense, though I could imagine him feeling shame at the enslavement, too, especially for being mistreated. Like, maybe part of that kind of abuse is making the victim feel they deserve it, you know?
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Thank you 🐈
Like, is that dust falling, when Lin Jing covers Shen Wei to protect him, or stomach juices?
Oh god, better not think about it XD
It's a tiny spark that I think is only extinguished when Lin Jing comes back and Shen Wei doesn't.
There is absolutely a spark going out when he realizes Shen Wei is truly gone. You can literally see the light leave his eyes.
He can't even grasp it, can he?
I had forgotten, but Ye Zun actually spells this out in the next episode: “In this world everyone [is] filled to the brim with cheating, betrayal, and abandonment”
He could have just collapsed on the table like Shen Wei in the mountains. (I wonder if Ye Zun has even drunk much in this era? It's not like he has anyone to drink with before this.)
Oh yeah, they are twins after all.
He hasn’t had a lot of opportunity for social drinking. He could always get wasted in private I guess?
Though I do wonder whether, if Zhao Yunlan had tearfully greeted him in a "thought you were dead" kind of way, Ye Zun might have played it differently.
He would totally play along and see how far he can take this. And then pull the rug out painfully.
Like, maybe part of that kind of abuse is making the victim feel they deserve it, you know?
I get what you mean! Have we seen signs of self-victim-blaming in Ye Zun, though? I can’t think of any. My interpretation was that he’s well aware he was a victim in this situation, and his resentment is focused on Shen Wei and the rebel chief.
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Haha, right?
There is absolutely a spark going out when he realizes Shen Wei is truly gone. You can literally see the light leave his eyes.
*rewatches that scene for extra heartache*
...
*goes in search of comfort kittens*
I had forgotten, but Ye Zun actually spells this out in the next episode: “In this world everyone [is] filled to the brim with cheating, betrayal, and abandonment”
Despite all the evidence to the contrary... I mean, even Zhu Jiu was utterly loyal to him! ;-p
He hasn’t had a lot of opportunity for social drinking. He could always get wasted in private I guess?
True... though that would leave him potentially vulnerable (or just even more wildly dangerous than he usually is!!! /o\).
He would totally play along and see how far he can take this. And then pull the rug out painfully.
*cries*
I get what you mean! Have we seen signs of self-victim-blaming in Ye Zun, though? I can’t think of any. My interpretation was that he’s well aware he was a victim in this situation, and his resentment is focused on Shen Wei and the rebel chief.
That's true. He's very good at deflecting the blame -- which as defence mechanisms go, isn't necessarily bad. After all, the rebel chief is entirely responsible for what happened (and as far as Ye Zun knows, so is Shen Wei)... So yeah, you're right, it makes more sense if the disgrace is about losing the war. *nodnod*
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Yeah, he really can't see it at all, even when it's right there!
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Huh. I think he's 100% sure Shen Wei is dead and gone, but when Lin Jing comes back, that certainty is suddenly gone and hope sparks - only to immediately be snuffed out again. :(
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Yeah, that's how I read it too.
Also I’ve had a skype pun at the tip of my tongue for a week.
Hee! :D
It looks so much like a bindi I am struggling to perceive it as a wound at all. I wonder if they meant for it to look like that or not.
Seriously! I have no idea, but it's a very weird choice to me.
Bai Yu is absolutely killing it in this scene. The silent rage, the grief. The delivery on “I want you to die” ❤
Yes! He's fantastic. (They both are.) It's such an amazing scene!
Ye Zun believes he lives in a world where Shen Wei has betrayed him- in such a world, anyone can turn on anyone. I truly think he lost faith not just in Shen Wei, but in loyalty as a concept.
Yeah, he talks about sibling love not being real in this episode (the Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu flashback), and then next episode about how everything is all betrayal and abandonment. He really believes that, and just completely discards any evidence to the contrary. His worldview is fundamentally broken, and doesn't get repaired (can't get repaired) until he finds out Shen Wei didn't abandon him, and can actually believe it.
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Yeah, agreed. What struck me this time was that Zhao Yunlan is laughing at Ye Zun in defiance even while Shen Wei is jumping in front of him, and then that complete change in his expression the instant he realises what Shen Wei has done - that wide-eyed, mouth-wide-open look! Compare:
Ye Zun, outraged by this selflessness
Ye Zun is so furious Shen Wei cares about someone not him! And that's even sort of understandable in hindsight! To him, his brother who should have cared about him instead sold him into slavery and abuse, and now this same brother is being all self-sacrificial on someone else's behalf! Giving that someone else everything when he refused to give anything at all for Ye Zun!
He's so devastated. He really didn't think it would come to this, and I think it hurts him more than it does Shen Wei, who has more or less planned this.
Yeah, agreed. Shen Wei is at peace with it all, and Zhao Yunlan is plunged into complete despair. His utter horror when he realises Ye Zun is about to kill Shen Wei for real!
After the stabbing, Ye Zun seems shocked by what he's done -- he cowers back like he did in the Rebel camp 10k years ago. But then Shen Wei looks at Zhao Yunlan and smiles, and Ye Zun recovers his composure and eats Shen Wei for good measure.
Oh, that's a good catch about Ye Zun flinching back from his own deed! And then recovering when Shen Wei smiles at Zhao Yunlan. Of course Ye Zun was never going to pass up the chance of absorbing gege's powers, and gege himself! But that moment of cringing back, of hesitation - you can really see his former, helpless self in him here. For all his power, he's never managed to leave that behind.
(And Ye Zun also said he originally wanted to keep Shen Wei alive until the end - of course: Shen Wei is the audience he's really performing all of this for; he wants to rub his victory in Shen Wei's face. That's what it's all about, for him, more than anything. I think he really must feel at a loss, with Shen Wei suddenly gone.)
Regarding the smile: I love that moment. Zhao Yunlan leaning forward towards Shen Wei as far as he can, tied up as he is! And Shen Wei looking back at him, with one last little smile! ♥ ♥ ♥
in Jing says, "Again?" So Ye Zun has been eating other people since Lin Jing, I guess, but there's no sign of them. Maybe named cast are less digestible?
LOL! My theory was that Dixingren are more digestible to him than people with white energy, so Lin Jing stayed in his stomach longer. But it makes me wonder who else Lin Jing has seen being eaten and then being absorbed, and how he feels about still being there when they aren't ... Poor Lin Jing.
After Shen Wei has been eaten before Zhao Yunlan's eyes, Zhao Yunlan hoarsely shouts, "Kill me!" He's mad with grief, everything else forgotten. (I love that the show is willing to go this far! They are so obviously and completely fixated on each other.)
Yes! He's entirely devastated, and reacting out of pure despair here, no other thought left in him.
(Also, I think by "Kill me!" he means "Take me, too!" right? He doesn't want Ye Zun to just snap his neck -- he wants to follow Shen Wei wherever he's gone, even if it's into oblivion.)
I didn't take it that way - the way I read it, he's entirely shattered, and can't stand his own despair and grief - he needs it to be gone, and the only way for that to happen is for him to be gone. I don't think he cares how, just that it ends.
Ye Zun whispers that he has an idea to break Zhao Yunlan's defences, and I'm like, uh, you kinda already broke him? But Ye Zun thinks broadcasting Zhao Yunlan's subjugation will somehow make Zhao Yunlan hand over the Lantern. He actually says, "If you still don't tell me the location of the Guardian Lantern, I promise I'll make you wish you were dead!" 你再不告诉我镇魂灯的下落我会让你生不如死的 (I think he must be reeling from having killed Shen Wei, because this makes no sense as a threat when Zhao Yunlan has just demanded to die.)
I don't think Ye Zun can wrap his head around Zhao Yunlan's devastation and grief - he can't make himself believe anyone would care about someone else so much that they wanted to die after losing him. It's just complete "does not compute" for him, and so none of his responses actually engage with that.
Ye Zun, who understands nothing, manages to accidentally give Zhao Yunlan renewed purpose by credibly threatening to make everyone else suffer. *facepalm*
I find it absolutely hilarious that Ye Zun's brilliant idea is to give Zhao Yunlan the opportunity to defy him in front of all of Haixing! He's so wrong about everything, his attempt to break an already-broken Zhao Yunlan instead braces Zhao Yunlan, and knocks him out of his despair and back into pure defiance. *g*
And with this, we're at a livestream count of 3 - two "mundane" ones in Haixing, and this black energy-powered one. (Plus, of course, the Hallows-powered time-travelling videocall.) Hee! I wonder if Ye Zun's livestream, like Zhao Yunlan's, is planet-wide, or if it's limited to Dragon City.
I think they get on much better when they're fighting crime -- once Zhao Xinci had an office job, I expect he stopped finding Zhang Shi useful and thought of him more as a burden/intruder.
Yeah, I thought it was fascinating to see how their collaboration worked in circumstances closer to what Zhao Xinci's former job was! How well they work together when they have a clear physical task in front of them.
bb!Yunlan is obviously not as much "I am a weapon" as young Shen Wei, but he did grow up determined to dedicate himself to peace. His saying "with my tolerance, my brain, and my life" suggests he was always prepared to put himself on the line for the greater good.
Yes! They're two of a kind! I think the main difference is that Shen Wei grows up in a war, and Zhao Yunlan grows up in peacetime.
Btw, this time round I'm wondering when and how young Zhao Yunlan found out about Dixingren. In this scene, he clearly knows about Dixingren and about his father's job - and well enough to have thought about and questioned the SID's purpose. Since Dixingren aren't generally known, did Zhao Xinci actually share this much with his family? I'm so curious about that!
Not that that stance makes him any less opinionated or bigoted.
Yeah, not at all! He acknowledges at least some of the Dixingren he catches aren't necessarily bad people - but then he says that that doesn't matter; they need to be punished anyway for being in conflict with the majority. And he frames that as a minority selfishly harming the majority - that's the only interpretation he allows for. And his interpretation of the law, unlike Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei, is entirely about the letter rather than the spirit: if someone breaks the rules, you can't let them go. (No questioning whether the rules are good or bad or could be changed, either.) Good for young Zhao Yunlan for being determined to find a better way!
Ye Zun has cleaned Zhao Yunlan up (or got someone else to?) and is pouring him a drink.
Maybe he just waved his stain-removing power over Zhao Yunlan? *g*
This whole thing is very staged, with the low table, Xiao Guo stands by with a tray of more alcohol, and Ye Zun's archaic manners (holding his sleeve, covering his cup as he drinks -- reminiscent of his formal/deferential bowing when they first met in ep 20).
I always wonder where Ye Zun learned these manners - it certainly wasn't from the rebel leader back in YOHE! He tries so hard to make himself seem cultured, genteel and reasonable, and utterly fails at being anything but pretentious. *g*
Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlan is still overcome with grief. He sits with one knee up, ignores his cup and lets the alcohol run down his face as he drinks from the bottle directly.
Ye Zun tries flattery, calls Zhao Yunlan interesting, brave and unscrupulous, tries to pique his ambition, and concludes, "We are actually the same kind of person."
And he specifically mentions Zhao Yunlan being a fake Kunlun in YOHE! Which makes me wonder when exactly he found out about the time loop.
Ye Zun is doing a terrible job of reading the room here, which seems weird for him in some ways, but I guess he's caught up in impending triumph and trying for gege's attention by proxy. Now he's eaten Shen Wei, he needs someone else to transfer all his focus onto.
This, but also, he literally can't make himself believe in genuine love and loyalty and selflessness, or that someone could be unbribeable/uncorruptible. It has to be an act! It can't possibly be real! And so he keeps trying to find the "truth" beneath what he sees, when it's already staring him in the face and telling him to die. :p
ZYL: I want you to die. 想你死
Ye Zun's composure cracks a fraction. I wonder if he was actually expecting Zhao Yunlan to ask for Shen Wei back. (Maybe hoping for that? I mean, Shen Wei is the most important person in both their lives, even if Ye Zun's feelings for him are super twisted. And if Zhao Yunlan begged for his return, it would be an opportunity to rant about how awful he is...)
Oh, good point! The way Ye Zu eagerly leans forward, anticipating Zhao Yunlan asking something of him - it would make sense if that's what he expects!
But Zhao Yunlan has come around all the way from "kill me" to "I want you to die", and will accept no substitutes.
Then, finally, quietly, "All right. I've decided. I still want you to die." 好吧我想好了我还是想你死 (My fav line of the episode, that.)
It's such a fantastic line!
Ye Zun feels the hit, they both start laughing maniacally, and then Ye Zun swats the table aside and looms in to threaten humanity again.
And this is such a fantastic moment! That furious laugh! Throwing the table! And Ye Zun saying, "Let's make a bet," perhaps foreshadowing Shen Wei saying a similar line in a very different context next episode ...
He heads off with Changcheng in attendance -- where? to do what?
I assumed to send more people to Haixing.
Zhao Yunlan beckons the Regent, who asks if he's coming up with freak ideas again (maybe referencing disguising himself as An Bai to catch the Deacon? and also reminding us that Zhao Yunlan always has a trick up his sleeve). Zhao Yunlan responds by taking the Regent hostage and using him to escape.
Zhao Yunlan tells the Regent he won't implicate him, and then the scene cuts to him dragging the Regent through the street as a hostage. (The subs have Zhao Yunlan's line as "It won't involve you this time", but what he actually says is he won't 连累 him - which means implicate/get in trouble.) Given what happens at the bar, broadcasting and recording Ye Zun's villain speech, and the bullet hidden in the Guardian Lantern, I think this entire escape was a trap from the start - and Zhao Yunlan told the Regent at least some of it. Because the Regent telling Ye Zun he let Zhao Yunlan go so they could follow him and find the Lantern is exactly what Zhao Yunlan wants him to tell him. I assume Zhao Yunlan suggested this plan to the Regent before taking him hostage.
Chu Shuzhi is worried about Changcheng, because he wasn't in the torture projection, and Chu Shuzhi has lost contact with the puppet.
I know we already talked about this, but I'm still so fascinated by Chu Shuzhi apparently being able to stay in touch with his puppet even when he is in Haixing and the puppet is in Dixing!
ZXC: You're Yashou. You don't have the responsibility to contribute so much in our war against the Dixingren.
He's still conceptualising this conflict as Haixing vs. Dixing, rather than Ye Zun vs. everyone! But even Fourth Uncle by now knows better than to think the Yashou can stay out of this. And Ying Chun, who was very "if it's about fighting, count me out" when we first met her, is also entirely on board with this!
Hua Yuzhu comes through the portal, I think purely so we can have a flashback to explain how Sha Ya's guitar ended up in Ye Zun's stomach?
It was very random! And so weird how she comes out of the passage to be faced with the Yashou leaders and immediately goes, "it's me".
but is it really better for Ye Zun to acquire Sha Ya's power than Hua Yuzhu's? Maybe plants would have calmed him down. ;-p
LOL!
My main question about the flashback was that, since Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu managed to get away from the palace where Shen Wei had to leave them behind in episode 30, why did they end up back at Ye Zun's pillar? That's definitely not a sensible place to run to. Were they herded there so Ye Zun could eat them?
Also, Ye Zun is so frustrated by their displays of love and loyalty! "Between sisters and brothers, there is only eternal scheming and betrayal! There is no love. When you're dead, you'll understand the truth of it." He really can't believe any of it is real, he's completely fixated on what Shen Wei supposedly did to him being some kind of general expression of the state of people in general.
Also also, when Sha Ya attacks Ye Zun and prepares to die, she talks about the most beautiful starry sky, and it actually appears, but she doesn't say the ring's stupid password, so what is that about?
I'm left wondering how Hua Yuzhu and Ya Qing know each other.
Yeah, that was my major question about this scene! And not just know - they must know each other as something other than enemies, for this scene to make any sense ...
(Was Ya Qing involved in any of what happened with Hua Yuzhu in that arc? I don't remember any hint of that in the relevant episodes. Something to keep in mind for the next rewatch! :p)
I think this is partly here to reinforce that Shen Wei really does plan to die; there's not going to be some tricksy last-minute escape.
Yes, agreed. While also foreshadowing Lin Jing being saved, with the "Zhao Yunlan will be happy" line.
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That would have been cool!
Cong Bo says, "As per data analysis, it's this area." 按数据显示就是这片区城了 (which makes me ???).
Yeah, data analysis on what?!
How are these invaders getting through? There really must be another gate!
Probably the same way they previously did? When Ye Zun sent Sha Ya et al. to Haixing, they didn't seem to go through the opening at the locust tree. I suppose he can bypass the opening somehow and send them somewhere else? (But maybe only if he's actively working on it, so when he's not, his people still come out at the locust tree?)
Da Qing manages to scare off both attackers, but it's too late.
This is so bizarre! Why do they run away? One attacker killed Da Ji, and Da Qing only just barely managed to throw the other one off!
"Just Cared Too Much" plays, and Da Qing is once more bereaved. THIS POOR CAT!!!! :-((((
*pets him*
Can I just say that I really love how in so many episodes, "Just Cared Too Much" is the het relationship love song - but of course it's also the entire drama's end credits song, and thereby is applied to Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan because they're the main relationship in the drama? This is so well done!
Ye Zun comes back in a cloud of dark energy.
This is a teleportation power that's very different from Wu Tian'en's or Zhu Jiu's - one where he dissolves into or comes out of a cloud of black energy - and it seems to be the same one Shen Wei used when he vanished from the palace in episode 30. Is this something you can just generally do with black energy if you're powerful enough, or did they both learn the same power from someone?
So the Regent sells Zhao Yunlan out and says they can track him to find the Lantern. (This feels reminiscent of the Rebel Chief bullying Ye Zun, and Ye Zun offering strategies to placate him.)
That's a fascinating parallel! But I really think the Regent is playing his part in a pre-arranged trap here - especially since the Regent quotes Zhao Yunlan after Ye Zun leaves.
When Zhao Xinci meets with Cong Bo and Zhu Hong, he says all the Dixingren on the surface are under control now - I wonder what happens to them, ultimately. They can't be sent back to Dixing, with the portals closed, and many probably can't be contained by a human prison - but also, many of them will have been under mind control ... what does the Haixing government do with these people?
Zhao Yunlan skulks around and goes to the bar. The entrance looks different from the first time, so it might be a side door?
When we see him coming in, he seems to be coming from the same direction as usual. Maybe the door we saw him going through wasn't the one to the building, but a different one along the way? Just somewhere he passed through while making his way to the bar?
Inside, Zhao Yunlan signals to the bartender to kick everyone out.
When he enters, someone is talking about how the Envoy wouldn't do anything to their disadvantage (and, implied, so presumably "the Envoy"/Ye Zun did must surely make sense somehow) - and every time I watch this scene, I initially think it's the bartender talking. But it's not; the last line is said over a visual of the bartender seeing Zhao Yunlan, and the bartender isn't speaking there.
Also fascinating: the bartender closing the bar like that. For one, no one appears to pay. For another, no one seems to be surprised or put out by the random closing. Is this a common occurrence in Dixing? Without day and night and a regular rhythm for people's lives, do businesses just open and close whenever the proprietor feels like it?
Zhao Xinci is seeing off Zhu Hong, Chu Shuzhi and Da Qing at the Yashou gate. He's so nice to them! So respectful! Man, I wish Zhao Yunlan had got to see (or even hear about) this!
Right? A while ago he was ready to throw Chu Shuzhi to the wolves, and now this!
I love Da Qing in this scene, being all Deputy Chief and slyly calling Zhao Xinci a cunning fella.
Yes, it's lovely!
They leave. (Has the gate been open the whole time?)
Idk, maybe it's always open? Or maybe it can be opened the same way Shen Wei always opens the one at the locust tree, with application of black energy.
Ye Zun is uninterested in roleplaydoesn't even bother to play along.Hee! :D Yeah, I found that striking as well - no attempt at deception at all.
And he looks so different - same face, same body, same mask and same clothes, but nothing about Ye Zun looks like Shen Wei. It's amazing.
(Also, I love how the microphone is plainly visible in multiple shots long before the camera draws attention to it!)
The bartender accuses Ye Zun of being an imposter, but Ye Zun doesn't care -- until the bartender praises the real Envoy. Then Ye Zun loses his temper and throws the bartender across the room. He's such a child! But it's enough of a distraction that Zhao Yunlan's bindings vanish, and he can grab the microphone from the bar to capture Ye Zun's villain monologue.
I don't think the bindings vanish because he's distracted - after Ye Zun knocks the bartender across the room and goes off into a screaming fit about how everyone is all about the Envoy, aargh, he gets a coughing fit like the ones he used to, and that's when the bindings vanish.
I'm not entirely sure why Ye Zun's coughing resurfaces here, tbh - perhaps it's because he's clutching the Guardian Lantern? We know the Hallows can have detrimental effects on people's health.
Also, Ye Zun's hand visibly shakes when he says he'll destroy Shen Wei's peace with his own hands!
(I know the mic was in previous bar scenes, but I still think they must have set this up beforehand, maybe rewired it so it broadcasts outside into the streets instead of just inside the bar? Because it's not like Zhao Yunlan is unaware of Ye Zun's penchant for spouting supremacist bullshit; he did that at their first meeting, when he called humanity livestock. So this seems like something they could have planned for.)
Yes, I think all of this is pre-arranged, including luring Ye Zun to the bar!
(Fourth broadcast of the show, after Zhao Yunlan's "Dixingren are people too", Changcheng's "your dead relatives ask that everyone please calm down!", and Ye Zun's TortureTV. Given Dixing's uncertain infrastructure, I wonder if this one was boosted with a dark energy power like Ye Zun's was...)
Yes! We're branching off into audio streaming now! *g*
I really would love to know more about how things are broadcast in Dixing ...
Then Zhao Yunlan talks Ye Zun out of killing the bartender (he's so good at people!)
Yes! And he asks him if it's worth expending his energies, which makes me wonder if it connects with Ye Zun's coughing - does he need more energy to heal himself?
Meanwhile, at the palace, Changcheng is struggling heroically against Ye Zun's compulsion. He tells the Regent to run, but the Regent is too surprised Changcheng can talk at all to take his advice.
Yes! No one ever listens when Xiao-Guo tells them to run. Zhao Yunlan didn't either when Ye Zun took him over in episode 38.
Ye Zun fondles and sweet-talks the Lantern. It rises into the air and starts to burn.
I'm so confused by why Ye Zun is working with the Lantern on its own, rather than all of the Hallows! He seems to be trying to absorb its power, but he already previously found out that didn't work without all the Hallows ...
The Lantern explodes, knocking everyone over.
We see the bullet shoot out of it! I had forgotten that!
And in Ye Zun's stomach, Lin Jing protects Shen Wei from ... stuff ... falling on top of them.
Ye Zun's powers are all messed up by the explosion, and he needs a boost, so he eats An Bai and the Regent.
There's what looks like a "searching with black energy" shot - like he's picking who to eat, before he chooses An Bai and the Regent.
Elsewhere, Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing and Zhu Hong arrive at the dragon gate. They find the bartender playing a recording of Ye Zun's monologue through a megaphone, including the info that the Envoy has been eaten. They're all shocked. Chu Shuzhi looks like he's been smacked between the eyes. *cries* They join the bartender's growing mob.
Two things of note: First, Chu Shuzhi et al. are walking towards the Dragon Gate - they don't seem to have come through it. The Yashou passage must have let them out somewhere else! And second, the bartender is rallying people and saying he's waited for this for a long time! I wonder if he means just the time since Ye Zun's been taking over, or if he's been involved in something before then.
An Bai apologises to Shen Wei
I'm not really sure what he's apologising about - what do you think? Any ideas?
"Both of you already died once. It's time to bring all your past hostility to an end." 你们都已经死过一次了你们之间的恩怨就到此了结了吧 -- which gives us a clue about the ending he hopes for with Ye Zun.
Idk if he actively hopes for it - does he foresee that post-death reunion for them? - but it's definitely foreshadowing!
In the palace, Ye Zun approaches Zhao Yunlan.
And Zhao Yunlan is lying flat on the ground, unable to move - much like Shen Wei was, after the fight in the alley in episode 38. (Zhao Yunlan struggles so hard to get up when Xiao-Guo is in danger, and still doesn't manage!)
Ye Zun thinks he's won now he has the Hallows and Hei Pao Shi in his stomach.
He also says the Envoy's energy is gradually being converted into his, and now I wonder if it takes longer for him to digest someone more powerful - more energy to convert?
And I'm still fascinated by Xiao-Guo's spiritual energy apparently being able to witihstand black energy corruption, and somehow being compatible with it.
Also, Da Qing, Zhu Hong and Chu Shuzhi are still out in the streets and see a stream of energy shooting up from the palace, and we learn that they can identify such energies at a distance! Zhu Hong says it's half black, half white; Da Qing identifies the black half as that of the Hallows; Chu Shuzhi identifies the white as Changcheng's.
He tries the strategy that worked on Zhu Hong and Da Qing after Nightmare Guy put them to sleep, saying, "Guo Changcheng, wake up! I'll discharge you if you don't wake up!"
♥ ♥ ♥
I love that this doesn't work on Xiao-Guo, but reminding him of Chu Shuzhi and the SID family does!
Lao Chu saying something (40:51 -- anyone know what ep that's from?)
There's no Lao-Chu shot at 40:51 in my episode - is this a typo, perhaps? If not, could you take a screenshot so I can identify which moment you mean?
Aside: I love how the staircases look like dragon wings! And what is that weird rock thing hanging from the ceiling?
Yes, that's gorgeous! And oh, I never noticed that object before ...
Ye Zun is furious! The Hallows haven't quite fused. He was so close!! He gathers dark energy to smite... someone? Zhao Yunlan, I suspect?
His hands are shaking again as he grips his head, shouting about what he almost had!
And yes, I thought Ye Zun was about to smite Zhao Yunlan, because Zhao Yunlan just laughed at his failure.
Da Qing protects still-helpless-on-the-floor Zhao Yunlan
I love that so much! The way he holds him!
Zhao Yunlan says (I think to himself), "I, Zhao Yunlan, stayed single for over 20 years, maybe because I'm waiting for today." 我赵云澜光棍二十多年也许等的就是今天 Which I interpret as a reference to what he tells Zhu Hong in ep 31 about always expecting to die on the job, and a reproach to his father for absenting himself from Shen Xi and bb!Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan has avoided commitments and dependants; he hasn't allowed himself a family -- because he was always expecting to leave early. And this is it.
Yes! He he never (willingly) gave hostages to fortune so he could give his life when it was needed. And the "20 years" in particular may refer to when his mother died, and when he swore to himself he'd never be anything like his father ...
To which I can only repeat: POOR CAT!!!! :-(((((
POOR, POOR KITTY!!!!!
What's your favourite scene in this episode? Favourite line of dialogue?
There are so many fantastic scenes in this episode, it's so hard to pick! And maybe it's cheating to pick the scene that's repeated from last episode, but I love it so much that Shen Wei jumps in front of Zhao Yunlan to take the hit for him. And Zhao Yunlan's reaction, and everything - but mostly that moment itself, because Shen Wei is so beaten already, he can barely manage to get off the floor, but he manages it anyway. And not even to achieve anything - sure, he takes a hit for Zhao Yunlan, but after that he's in no shape to prevent a second; Zhao Yunlan is still in Ye Zun's hands and not the slightest bit safer for what Shen Wei just did. Shen Wei knows he's dying (with a plan, for a reason) - and rather than just waiting for death, he makes this last, mostly symbolic gesture of protection. Because this way, he can make his death a gesture of love as well. ♥ ♥ ♥
His smile - that last, tiny smile - says "this is worth it": both overall, in the greater sense, his sacrifice is worth it for defeating Ye Zun, and in this moment, the gesture he's just made is worth it, too. ♥ ♥ ♥
For favourite line, I think I'll pick the same one as you: "All right, I've thought about it. I still want you to die."
Does Ye Zun really think he can flip Zhao Yunlan during the drinking scene? (I was wondering if his experience with the Wus, where he killed the father and then suborned the son, had reinforced his wrong-headed ideas about loyalty.)
Oooh, yes, that makes sense about the Wus! I absolutely think Ye Zun believes he can get Zhao Yunlan to cooperate, yeah.
How potent is the drink Ye Zun serves? Do you think it affects Zhao Yunlan's (or Ye Zun's) choices?
Neither of them seems affected; perhaps it's not very strong.
Why the Envoy cosplay in the bar? Is Ye Zun worried how other Dixingren might react to him, or is he just being cruel? Would he have played it differently if Zhao Yunlan had seemed more taken in?
I was wondering about that! Ultimately I think he's dressed in gege's clothes because he wants to rub it in that he won over gege, and feel that triumph, which perhaps also explains why he's not willing to roleplay. *g*
Why does An Bai apologise to Shen Wei?
I have no idea! Do you?
Why did Li Qian keep working on the serum, purifying it even after Professor Ouyang crossed the line?
I wonder if she was trying to figure out a way to fix it that might help the people it was already administered to?
What do you think Ye Zun's "disgrace" was 10k years ago -- being enslaved, losing the war, failing to kill his brother, something else?
Failing to kill his brother, and being defeated in general.
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>
> That would have been cool!
He just disappears once the show has Cong Bo and Cheng Xinyan (two humans!) to focus on. ;-p
When Ye Zun sent Sha Ya et al. to Haixing, they didn't seem to go through the opening at the locust tree. I suppose he can bypass the opening somehow and send them somewhere else? (But maybe only if he's actively working on it, so when he's not, his people still come out at the locust tree?)
Ohh, so you think it isn't a different gate at all, but a kind of subversion of the existing gate? (Because if it was a different gate, they should know about it from Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu.)
This is so bizarre! Why do they run away? One attacker killed Da Ji, and Da Qing only just barely managed to throw the other one off!
Narrative causality. (Surprisingly little in this show is powered by narrative causality, so I'm prepared to grant them a few instances in the interests of efficient storytelling. :-)
Can I just say that I really love how in so many episodes, "Just Cared Too Much" is the het relationship love song - but of course it's also the entire drama's end credits song, and thereby is applied to Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan because they're the main relationship in the drama? This is so well done!
Yes, absolutely this -- but at the same time, I really don't think of Da Qing & Da Ji as a het relationship in the romance-y sense, you know?
Is this something you can just generally do with black energy if you're powerful enough, or did they both learn the same power from someone?
I like to think it's a specific power. I feel like too many free add-ons gets a bit cheaty. ;-p
But I really think the Regent is playing his part in a pre-arranged trap here - especially since the Regent quotes Zhao Yunlan after Ye Zun leaves.
That makes sense, except he doesn't look at all pleased about having successfully sent Ye Zun after him. But I guess that could be a fake-out for us, so we won't realise it's all supposed to be a trap...
When Zhao Xinci meets with Cong Bo and Zhu Hong, he says all the Dixingren on the surface are under control now - I wonder what happens to them, ultimately. They can't be sent back to Dixing, with the portals closed, and many probably can't be contained by a human prison - but also, many of them will have been under mind control ... what does the Haixing government do with these people?
A really really excellent question! (I wonder if this is part of why they shift focus from Ye Huo -- so we won't think about it?)
Maybe the door we saw him going through wasn't the one to the building, but a different one along the way? Just somewhere he passed through while making his way to the bar?
That makes sense. Maybe the bartender gave him some tips about back routes and shortcuts when he dropped off the Lantern.
For one, no one appears to pay.
It might all be run on tabs? It's not like people have anywhere to run off to, to avoid paying...
For another, no one seems to be surprised or put out by the random closing. Is this a common occurrence in Dixing? Without day and night and a regular rhythm for people's lives, do businesses just open and close whenever the proprietor feels like it?
Or is it because these are troubled times? Or he might have let them in on the understanding that he'll have to close up with no notice...
Right? A while ago he was ready to throw Chu Shuzhi to the wolves, and now this!
That wasn't personal, though. And he's has his epiphany since then. And this farewell doesn't call for ruthless pragmatism.
And he looks so different - same face, same body, same mask and same clothes, but nothing about Ye Zun looks like Shen Wei. It's amazing.
It's so creepy! He's just murdered Shen Wei, and now he's dressing up in his clothes. /o\ /o\ /o\
he gets a coughing fit like the ones he used to, and that's when the bindings vanish.
Oh, true. I wonder if the bartender praising the Envoy was part of the ploy, in the hopes that rage would weaken Ye Zun.
Yes! We're branching off into audio streaming now! *g*
LOLOL!
And he asks him if it's worth expending his energies, which makes me wonder if it connects with Ye Zun's coughing - does he need more energy to heal himself?
I assumed so! Though then surely there's an incentive to just eat the bartender?
Yes! No one ever listens when Xiao-Guo tells them to run. Zhao Yunlan didn't either when Ye Zun took him over in episode 38.
Hee! Zhao Yunlan was never going to leave Guo Changcheng alone on the streets of Dixing, no matter what.
I'm so confused by why Ye Zun is working with the Lantern on its own, rather than all of the Hallows! He seems to be trying to absorb its power, but he already previously found out that didn't work without all the Hallows ...
I was going to ask if the others were still in the air, and he's trying to get that one to go up and join them? The Awl is just floating around later on, when Guo Changcheng grabs it. But I just checked the scene and I can't see them.
I don't think I ever noticed the bullet shooting out!
Two things of note: First, Chu Shuzhi et al. are walking towards the Dragon Gate - they don't seem to have come through it. The Yashou passage must have let them out somewhere else!
Ooh, nice catch!
> > An Bai apologises to Shen Wei
>
> I'm not really sure what he's apologising about - what do you think? Any ideas?
His own previous anti-Envoy sentiments? The Dixing government being generally obstructionist about Shen Wei's plans and ideas? The Envoy not being given the respect he deserves? Yeah, I don't know either.
(Zhao Yunlan struggles so hard to get up when Xiao-Guo is in danger, and still doesn't manage!)
I know, he's completely helpless. :-(((
I love that this doesn't work on Xiao-Guo, but reminding him of Chu Shuzhi and the SID family does!
Yesss!
There's no Lao-Chu shot at 40:51 in my episode - is this a typo, perhaps? If not, could you take a screenshot so I can identify which moment you mean?
This one. (I did put a screenshot in the post.) It might be from Guo Changcheng's official appointment in ep 8, actually. *checks* Yeah, it's from 3:39 in ep 8, Lao Chu saying, "Work hard!" 好好干啊 (Gtranslate says that actually means "well done"?)
Yes! He he never (willingly) gave hostages to fortune so he could give his life when it was needed. And the "20 years" in particular may refer to when his mother died, and when he swore to himself he'd never be anything like his father ...
Which, I'm not 100% convinced that was a right decision, but still... *sniffles*
but mostly that moment itself, because Shen Wei is so beaten already, he can barely manage to get off the floor, but he manages it anyway. And not even to achieve anything - sure, he takes a hit for Zhao Yunlan, but after that he's in no shape to prevent a second; Zhao Yunlan is still in Ye Zun's hands and not the slightest bit safer for what Shen Wei just did. Shen Wei knows he's dying (with a plan, for a reason) - and rather than just waiting for death, he makes this last, mostly symbolic gesture of protection. Because this way, he can make his death a gesture of love as well. ♥ ♥ ♥
Yessssss! Beautifully put! I love that so much!!
I absolutely think Ye Zun believes he can get Zhao Yunlan to cooperate, yeah.
Ooh, imagine if Zhao Yunlan had (been in any state where he could have) decided to play along for a while, to see if he could mess with Ye Zun's plans from the inside!!
Ultimately I think he's dressed in gege's clothes because he wants to rub it in that he won over gege, and feel that triumph, which perhaps also explains why he's not willing to roleplay. *g*
*nodnod* That makes sense!
I wonder if she was trying to figure out a way to fix it that might help the people it was already administered to?
I like that idea -- and that it could be a project for the lab going forward.
Failing to kill his brother, and being defeated in general.
So he half succeeds, this time. /o\
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Yeah, the show is so adamant that there are only these two passages, made by Ma Gui, so I figured that Ye Zun had worked out a way to tap into the connection while bypasssing the official openings.
Making another actual Dixing-Haixing passage would probably take a lot, too.
Narrative causality. (Surprisingly little in this show is powered by narrative causality, so I'm prepared to grant them a few instances in the interests of efficient storytelling. :-)
LOL! I guess - I just really went "wait, what?" this time when I watched the episode. I don't think I noticed before, though. *g*
but at the same time, I really don't think of Da Qing & Da Ji as a het relationship in the romance-y sense, you know?
I don't either, but the show treats it a bit like that, doesn't it? No matter how little it works.
I like to think it's a specific power. I feel like too many free add-ons gets a bit cheaty. ;-p
LOL! Point. And it's a very cool power! Wish we knew who they got it from. (Though since Ye Zun has the power, they must be dead now ...)
But I really think the Regent is playing his part in a pre-arranged trap here - especially since the Regent quotes Zhao Yunlan after Ye Zun leaves.
That makes sense, except he doesn't look at all pleased about having successfully sent Ye Zun after him. But I guess that could be a fake-out for us, so we won't realise it's all supposed to be a trap...
I think the Regent mainly doesn't look pleased because he's not liking any of this, at all, and he knows how much danger he's in from Ye Zun. But yeah, it also works to support the fake-out!
A really really excellent question! (I wonder if this is part of why they shift focus from Ye Huo -- so we won't think about it?)
Huh, yeah, that might make sense! The question of Dixingren in Haixing really doesn't come up again, does it? The entire political human/Yashou/Dixingren situation gets set aside in the one-year-after flashforward, too. It's the one thing I most want to know more about!
It might all be run on tabs? It's not like people have anywhere to run off to, to avoid paying...
Yeah, good point. We don't know how these things normally work in Dixing - or how large Dixing is, how far from home anyone can be. Maybe it's all locals at the bartender's place.
Or is it because these are troubled times? Or he might have let them in on the understanding that he'll have to close up with no notice...
That would work too!
That wasn't personal, though. And he's has his epiphany since then. And this farewell doesn't call for ruthless pragmatism.
I know! I was just saying there's quite a contrast. Not so long ago he was pointing a gun at Guo Changcheng, too. He's made quite the turn-around. (I'm very glad!)
Oh, true. I wonder if the bartender praising the Envoy was part of the ploy, in the hopes that rage would weaken Ye Zun.
Oh, that's a brilliant idea, I love it!
I assumed so! Though then surely there's an incentive to just eat the bartender?
Yeah .... you'd think! Especially with the way he keeps supplementing his strength in episode 40, by eating and eating!
I was going to ask if the others were still in the air, and he's trying to get that one to go up and join them? The Awl is just floating around later on, when Guo Changcheng grabs it. But I just checked the scene and I can't see them.
Yeah, I don't know what's up with that either - the other Hallows are definitely floating around in episode 40, but I'm not seeing them here.
I don't think I ever noticed the bullet shooting out!
It happens extremely quickly!
> I'm not really sure what he's apologising about - what do you think? Any ideas?
His own previous anti-Envoy sentiments? The Dixing government being generally obstructionist about Shen Wei's plans and ideas? The Envoy not being given the respect he deserves? Yeah, I don't know either.
His previous anti-Envoy sentiments and the Dixing government's obstructionism would make sense! In episode 40, after the Lantern lights, he says to the Regent, "But we did everything wrong" - he knows this is happening not because of anything either of them did, but in spite of it. It's because Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan sacrificed themselves for them, while people like An Bai and the Regent didn't even appreciate them.
(Not that An Bai, unlike the Regent, doesn't have reason to hold a grudge, considering how he arrived on the throne - but his and his buddies' anti-Envoy sentiment precedes this, after all.)
This one. (I did put a screenshot in the post.) It might be from Guo Changcheng's official appointment in ep 8, actually. *checks* Yeah, it's from 3:39 in ep 8, Lao Chu saying, "Work hard!" 好好干啊 (Gtranslate says that actually means "well done"?)
Oh, great, I'm glad you figured out where it was from!
Regarding the translation, 好干 could mean "well done", but with the 好好 repetition, it's definitely an instruction, "work well/hard".
Which, I'm not 100% convinced that was a right decision, but still... *sniffles*
I don't really think right or wrong comes into it here; it's just where his head is at. He's not always right about his father, and not always right about himself, and with Shen Wei he very much did end up not single in any meaningful way no matter what he tells himself (and no matter what their official relationship status is at this point) ...
Ooh, imagine if Zhao Yunlan had (been in any state where he could have) decided to play along for a while, to see if he could mess with Ye Zun's plans from the inside!!
Ha! I'm not sure it would have worked for long, since Ye Zun isn't exactly stable and also doesn't exactly have anything resembling a real plan at this point beyond "gain all the power, eat eat eat, destroy everything" ... but it would have been very cool to see Zhao Yunlan "undercover"!
I like that idea -- and that it could be a project for the lab going forward.
Yes! I really like this idea too.
So he half succeeds, this time. /o\
Ha, true. /o\
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You're right, that really does make the most sense, and also explains why the invaders come through the main gate, even when it's strategically stupid to do so. I guess Ye Zun can only divert smaller groups of people?
(Also, we have some evidence of people not ending up at the Dragon Gate when going the other way -- that time ZYL and DQ fell into the bar, because Da Qing had tagged along uninvited.)
I don't either, but the show treats it a bit like that, doesn't it? No matter how little it works.
It does in this reunion. It's like it forgotten that Da Qing spent their first meeting going, "No, I'm just not into you like that! No, she's not my girlfriend!!" ;-p
But I really think the Regent is playing his part in a pre-arranged trap here - especially since the Regent quotes Zhao Yunlan after Ye Zun leaves.
Yes! (Your elaboration and hypothetical description of how it could have gone in your other comment are very convincing. :D)
The question of Dixingren in Haixing really doesn't come up again, does it? The entire political human/Yashou/Dixingren situation gets set aside in the one-year-after flashforward, too. It's the one thing I most want to know more about!
I guess they figured that with Zhao Xinci having changed his ways and Minister Guo (who welcomed Chu Shuzhi into his home) running things at the Department of Supervision, we can assume they're working towards a better system?
Not so long ago he was pointing a gun at Guo Changcheng, too. He's made quite the turn-around. (I'm very glad!)
He really has! Releasing his deathgrip on the rule of law and the Treaty made such a difference. (What did Zhang Shi say about that? "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."?)
So now we know for sure that the bullets are physical objects, I wonder where they came from... and the gun, too, for that matter. We never get answers on that score.
In episode 40, after the Lantern lights, he says to the Regent, "But we did everything wrong" - he knows this is happening not because of anything either of them did, but in spite of it.
Ooh, excellent catch -- thanks! Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe they're regretting turning down all those requests for schools. Education/critical thinking skills as a cure for propaganda and falling prey to charismatic demagogues? ;-p
Regarding the translation, 好干 could mean "well done", but with the 好好 repetition, it's definitely an instruction, "work well/hard".
I wonder if that's like in Korean -- kind of a congratulatory "you have worked hard to earn your success" vibe?
I don't really think right or wrong comes into it here; it's just where his head is at. He's not always right about his father, and not always right about himself, and with Shen Wei he very much did end up not single in any meaningful way no matter what he tells himself (and no matter what their official relationship status is at this point) ...
All good points. I think the thing he was most determined not to do was leave behind children, and he succeeded at that.
I'm not sure it would have worked for long, since Ye Zun isn't exactly stable and also doesn't exactly have anything resembling a real plan at this point beyond "gain all the power, eat eat eat, destroy everything" ...
Ha, true. /o\
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Or he needs to be paying personal attention, which I assume he can't/doesn't always want to do?
(Also, we have some evidence of people not ending up at the Dragon Gate when going the other way -- that time ZYL and DQ fell into the bar, because Da Qing had tagged along uninvited.)
That's a VERY good point, great catch! I never really thought about that precedent before, but they enter the passage normally, at the locust tree, and come out at a random place rather than the Dragon Gate. So we know it's possible to divert!
It's like it forgotten that Da Qing spent their first meeting going, "No, I'm just not into you like that! No, she's not my girlfriend!!" ;-p
They might have intended that as "protesting too much". It just didn't come across that way, at all. *g*
Yes! (Your elaboration and hypothetical description of how it could have gone in your other comment are very convincing. :D)
Hee! Great, I'm glad it made sense to you!
I guess they figured that with Zhao Xinci having changed his ways and Minister Guo (who welcomed Chu Shuzhi into his home) running things at the Department of Supervision, we can assume they're working towards a better system?
Yeah, I think that's definitely part of it, that change is implied like that. I just really wish we'd got to see more.
Releasing his deathgrip on the rule of law and the Treaty made such a difference.
Seriously. And ha! about that Zhang Shi quote. Nominally Zhao Xinci agreed (he does say there's no absolute right or wrong), but he's very bad at actually drawing the right conclusions from that, and makes himself the arbiter of right or wrong after all. :p
So now we know for sure that the bullets are physical objects, I wonder where they came from... and the gun, too, for that matter. We never get answers on that score.
And how you make more. And how Zhao Yunlan can be so free with his bullets in YOHE - how does he supplement his ammunition? He can't be carrying that many on his body when he goes to YOHE.
Maybe they're regretting turning down all those requests for schools. Education/critical thinking skills as a cure for propaganda and falling prey to charismatic demagogues? ;-p
Hee! :D
I wonder if that's like in Korean -- kind of a congratulatory "you have worked hard to earn your success" vibe?
I guess it could be? I don't know nearly enough, alas.
I think the thing he was most determined not to do was leave behind children, and he succeeded at that.
Yeah, agreed. (And I'm not very much into kidfic, in most cases, but now I wonder how he'd cope with having a child ... it would be interesting to see how he handled it, considering his hang-ups about his own childhood.)
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Yeah. It's not like he particularly cares about the fate of his soldiers, so sending them into an unnecessarily dangerous situation wouldn't be a counterincentive. ;-p
Nominally Zhao Xinci agreed (he does say there's no absolute right or wrong), but he's very bad at actually drawing the right conclusions from that, and makes himself the arbiter of right or wrong after all. :p
To be fair, Zhao Yunlan is also judgemental and opinionated -- it's just that he hides it better and his opinions aren't terrible. ;-)
And how Zhao Yunlan can be so free with his bullets in YOHE - how does he supplement his ammunition? He can't be carrying that many on his body when he goes to YOHE.
I've always assume Ma Gui figured out the formula. The bullets can't be as complicated as the Hallows, and he has samples to work from.
(And I'm not very much into kidfic, in most cases, but now I wonder how he'd cope with having a child ... it would be interesting to see how he handled it, considering his hang-ups about his own childhood.)
Yeah, I've toyed with that idea before -- what if, by the time Shen Wei showed up, Zhao Yunlan was a solo father? Would he still have taken the SID job? How would it change everything? How would Shen Wei feel? (I expect he'd be immediately devoted to the kid, too. *g*)
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Very true!
To be fair, Zhao Yunlan is also judgemental and opinionated -- it's just that he hides it better and his opinions aren't terrible. ;-)
LOL! But you're not wrong, yeah. *g*
I've always assume Ma Gui figured out the formula. The bullets can't be as complicated as the Hallows, and he has samples to work from.
Oh! Yeah, if he was in YOHE long enough that makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, I've toyed with that idea before -- what if, by the time Shen Wei showed up, Zhao Yunlan was a solo father? Would he still have taken the SID job? How would it change everything?
Tbh that doesn't really work for me because it would change Zhao Yunlan in such a fundamental way, and thereby reduce Shen Wei's impact on him - canonically, so much of Zhao Yunlan's character development and all his opening up and becoming more genuine is bound up in Shen Wei, and I don't want that taken away. (Sorry!)
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Depending on what kind of a father he was, and how long he'd been parenting. If he hadn't actually lived with the child (or even necessarily known about them) until just before canon starts, it would be a complication, but he'd still be himself. But anyway, don't apologise. And it's well down my list of things I've considered working on. :-)
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That's so weird. I never noticed because in the previous couple of shots, he's leaning forward, grimly furiously defiant. I'm really not sure where that laugh came from (and it's only there for a couple of frames, right?)!
Ye Zun is so furious Shen Wei cares about someone not him! And that's even sort of understandable in hindsight!
Yeah, it's a wonder he doesn't kill Zhao Yunlan to punish Shen Wei. He certainly could have (and it would have worked /o\)!
But that moment of cringing back, of hesitation - you can really see his former, helpless self in him here. For all his power, he's never managed to leave that behind.
Yeah, absolutely. Maybe that's the thing he's really trying to annihilate in all this.
Regarding the smile: I love that moment. Zhao Yunlan leaning forward towards Shen Wei as far as he can, tied up as he is! And Shen Wei looking back at him, with one last little smile! ♥ ♥ ♥
IT'S SO GOOD! (POOR ZHAO YUNLAN!!!!)
LOL! My theory was that Dixingren are more digestible to him than people with white energy, so Lin Jing stayed in his stomach longer. But it makes me wonder who else Lin Jing has seen being eaten and then being absorbed, and how he feels about still being there when they aren't ... Poor Lin Jing.
It's so horrific. (There can see a faint possibility that Lin Jing's "again" is referring to himself? But I think it's more likely Ye Zun has just kept eating and eating.)
> > (Also, I think by "Kill me!" he means "Take me, too!" right? He doesn't want Ye Zun to just snap his neck -- he wants to follow Shen Wei wherever he's gone, even if it's into oblivion.)
>
> I didn't take it that way - the way I read it, he's entirely shattered, and can't stand his own despair and grief - he needs it to be gone, and the only way for that to happen is for him to be gone. I don't think he cares how, just that it ends.
No, I think you're right. I wasn't taking into account that he'd seen Shen Wei stabbed through the heart. (I know he has no reason to believe that being eaten is reversible, but the stabbed through the heart thing is just really THERE and INCONTROVERTIBLY IN HIS FACE.)
He really just wants to die.
It's just complete "does not compute" for him, and so none of his responses actually engage with that.
Yeah, good point.
I wonder if Ye Zun's livestream, like Zhao Yunlan's, is planet-wide, or if it's limited to Dragon City.
I assumed the former, fwiw.
I think the main difference is that Shen Wei grows up in a war, and Zhao Yunlan grows up in peacetime.
Oh, that's an excellent point
(and actually kind of ties into the WIP I just sent you for beta, a little bit ;-).Btw, this time round I'm wondering when and how young Zhao Yunlan found out about Dixingren. In this scene, he clearly knows about Dixingren and about his father's job - and well enough to have thought about and questioned the SID's purpose. Since Dixingren aren't generally known, did Zhao Xinci actually share this much with his family? I'm so curious about that!
Ooooh, excellent point! I really can't see Zhao Xinci voluntarily sharing that information with his family, especially when he has a Dixingren on board. Maybe Shen Xi found out (from Gao Jingfeng being careless?) and Zhao Yunlan heard her and Zhao Xinci talking about it/arguing? Or just before or after that argument in the portal flashback, it was inadvertently revealed at the station, and then Zhao Xinci had to come clean? Or maybe it was part of the explanation to Zhao Yunlan about why his dad was in hospital? So many possibilities!
Maybe he just waved his stain-removing power over Zhao Yunlan? *g*
LOL! I wonder if he healed him a bit, too. Zhao Yunlan was sagging against the ropes quite a lot earlier, and he's healthy enough to climb over walls and things once he escapes the palace...
I always wonder where Ye Zun learned these manners - it certainly wasn't from the rebel leader back in YOHE!
That's such a good question. I guess the sky pillar is surrounded by the remains of other buildings -- maybe he witnessed civilisations one or two thousand years ago and picked up some manners then? (I don't read it as pretentious, exactly, but it is, once again, him totally and utterly failing to read the room.)
And he specifically mentions Zhao Yunlan being a fake Kunlun in YOHE! Which makes me wonder when exactly he found out about the time loop.
Maybe he figured it out when he saw Zhao Yunlan sucked into the wormhole at the SID? He's seen a wormhole like that before, after all...
But Zhao Yunlan has come around all the way from "kill me" to "I want you to die", and will accept no substitutes.
Ha! *sniffles*
And this is such a fantastic moment! That furious laugh! Throwing the table!
I love the table-throwing! It's so casually violent and powerful, as if it weighs nothing.
I assumed to send more people to Haixing.
Oh, good answer. Thank you! (I'd have expected him to do most of his business from the throne room, but maybe now it's a torture chamber, not so much...)
Given what happens at the bar, broadcasting and recording Ye Zun's villain speech, and the bullet hidden in the Guardian Lantern, I think this entire escape was a trap from the start - and Zhao Yunlan told the Regent at least some of it. Because the Regent telling Ye Zun he let Zhao Yunlan go so they could follow him and find the Lantern is exactly what Zhao Yunlan wants him to tell him.
Do you think he would have trusted the Regent enough to tell him? Maybe, instead, he dropped enough hints to lead the Regent to betray him in exactly the way he wanted? I feel like the Regent only suggested it to save his own skin -- I got the impression he was betraying Zhao Yunlan -- but maybe he's a better actor than I give him credit for. (Or maybe I'm projecting my preconceptions, and it was being choked that made him convincing. ;-p)
I know we already talked about this, but I'm still so fascinated by Chu Shuzhi apparently being able to stay in touch with his puppet even when he is in Haixing and the puppet is in Dixing!
But apparently only when the puppet is with Guo Changcheng (since he's now lost contact). It is intriguing!!
My main question about the flashback was that, since Sha Ya and Hua Yuzhu managed to get away from the palace where Shen Wei had to leave them behind in episode 30, why did they end up back at Ye Zun's pillar? That's definitely not a sensible place to run to. Were they herded there so Ye Zun could eat them?
That would make sense! Or they haven't linked the pillar with Ye Zun and everything that's going on, and they just want random pillar guy to send them back to Haixing?
Also, Ye Zun is so frustrated by their displays of love and loyalty! "Between sisters and brothers, there is only eternal scheming and betrayal! There is no love. When you're dead, you'll understand the truth of it." He really can't believe any of it is real, he's completely fixated on what Shen Wei supposedly did to him being some kind of general expression of the state of people in general.
Yes!! Though, I mean, he was lied to for years by a mind-controlling abuser...
Also also, when Sha Ya attacks Ye Zun and prepares to die, she talks about the most beautiful starry sky, and it actually appears, but she doesn't say the ring's stupid password, so what is that about?
He could have put two passwords in there -- the one he wanted her to say, and the one he expected her to say ("the most beautiful starry sky")? ;-p
Was Ya Qing involved in any of what happened with Hua Yuzhu in that arc? I don't remember any hint of that in the relevant episodes. Something to keep in mind for the next rewatch! :p
Hee! *hearts you* Maybe Sha Ya recounted her past (to explain why she too had a grudge against Zhao Xinci), and Ya Qing did some recon and found Huo Yuzhu, in case that would be useful at some point? Still weird, though.
While also foreshadowing Lin Jing being saved, with the "Zhao Yunlan will be happy" line.
Oh, true. Good point!
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Yeah, all true! That might have been from a different take? I know they filmed this scene multiple times (including one take where Shen Wei manages to touch Zhao Yunlan's hand before he falls).
Yeah, it's a wonder he doesn't kill Zhao Yunlan to punish Shen Wei. He certainly could have (and it would have worked /o\)!
/o\ /o\ /o\
> But that moment of cringing back, of hesitation - you can really see his former, helpless self in him here.
> For all his power, he's never managed to leave that behind.
Yeah, absolutely. Maybe that's the thing he's really trying to annihilate in all this.
Yeah, that's a very good way of putting it!
It's so horrific. (There can see a faint possibility that Lin Jing's "again" is referring to himself? But I think it's more likely Ye Zun has just kept eating and eating.)
Yeah, I agree with you on this. It seems to me that Ye Zun has been eating A LOT.
Oh, that's an excellent point (and actually kind of ties into the WIP I just sent you for beta, a little bit ;-).
♥ ♥ ♥
I really can't see Zhao Xinci voluntarily sharing that information with his family, especially when he has a Dixingren on board. Maybe Shen Xi found out (from Gao Jingfeng being careless?) and Zhao Yunlan heard her and Zhao Xinci talking about it/arguing? Or just before or after that argument in the portal flashback, it was inadvertently revealed at the station, and then Zhao Xinci had to come clean? Or maybe it was part of the explanation to Zhao Yunlan about why his dad was in hospital? So many possibilities!
Yes, so many! I'm with you on not thinking it likely Zhao Xinci would voluntarily share. I think right now my preferred interpretation is Shen Xi finding out, and then Zhao Yunlan overhearing his parents arguing and being caught overhearing (so his father knows that he's heard it).
(I initially thought about Zhao Yunlan finding out via Da Qing, but that doesn't line up with Da Qing only joining the SID 10 years ago - Zhao Yunlan must have been in his late teens by then.)
LOL! I wonder if he healed him a bit, too. Zhao Yunlan was sagging against the ropes quite a lot earlier, and he's healthy enough to climb over walls and things once he escapes the palace...
Good point, yes!
That's such a good question. I guess the sky pillar is surrounded by the remains of other buildings -- maybe he witnessed civilisations one or two thousand years ago and picked up some manners then?
True, the ruins weren't always ruins, and the pillar must have been amidst buildings and people at some point! (I always wonder about that field, and how it turned into what it is now - and what role Ye Zun may have played in that ...)
Maybe he figured it out when he saw Zhao Yunlan sucked into the wormhole at the SID? He's seen a wormhole like that before, after all...
Excellent point - yes, you're right, he would absolutely have put two and two together from there.
Do you think he would have trusted the Regent enough to tell him? Maybe, instead, he dropped enough hints to lead the Regent to betray him in exactly the way he wanted? I feel like the Regent only suggested it to save his own skin -- I got the impression he was betraying Zhao Yunlan -- but maybe he's a better actor than I give him credit for. (Or maybe I'm projecting my preconceptions, and it was being choked that made him convincing. ;-p)
Honestly, I'm pretty sure the Regent very badly wants to be rid of Ye Zun himself. I really don't think "to save his own skin" can be separated from "helping Zhao Yunlan", because I don't think the Regent is under any delusion at this point that cooperating with Ye Zun will work out for him for very long. And I think Zhao Yunlan counted on that - not on the Regent eing trustworthy, but on the Regent being canny enough to know that. I mean, I don't think Zhao Yunlan gave the Regent much choice - he took him hostage and told him something like, "don't worry, you can tell him you did it on purpose, to find the Lantern," and it's not like the Regent would have passed up such a good excuse!
But apparently only when the puppet is with Guo Changcheng (since he's now lost contact). It is intriguing!!
Very!!!!!!
Or they haven't linked the pillar with Ye Zun and everything that's going on, and they just want random pillar guy to send them back to Haixing?
I'm pretty sure Sha Ya, having worked for Team Ye Zun while the Master of the Merit Brush was active and trying to break Ye Zun out of the Pillar, should know better!
Though, I mean, he was lied to for years by a mind-controlling abuser...
Yeah, he's had his head turned around by an expert. It's not just his own obsession that makes it hard for him to see past his preconceived notions. But I find it incredibly striking that he's just completely blinding himself to any and all evidence that his worldview might not be 100% correct.
He could have put two passwords in there -- the one he wanted her to say, and the one he expected her to say ("the most beautiful starry sky")? ;-p
Aw, that would be really sweet! I kind of love that. :D
Maybe Sha Ya recounted her past (to explain why she too had a grudge against Zhao Xinci), and Ya Qing did some recon and found Huo Yuzhu, in case that would be useful at some point? Still weird, though.
That would make some sense, I guess. But agreed, still weird!
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Awwww! *sniffles* (Is that on the internet somewhere?)
I think right now my preferred interpretation is Shen Xi finding out, and then Zhao Yunlan overhearing his parents arguing and being caught overhearing (so his father knows that he's heard it).
That makes sense, but it hurts my heart that the fight from the portal vision isn't the only time he heard them fighting. Poor bb!ZYL.
> > I wonder if he healed him a bit, too. Zhao Yunlan was sagging against the ropes quite a lot earlier, and he's healthy enough to climb over walls and things once he escapes the palace...
>
> Good point, yes!
Though, on second thoughts, the sagging could have been at least partly emotional distress...
I always wonder about that field, and how it turned into what it is now - and what role Ye Zun may have played in that ...
Egging on a civil war? (Do you think he was awake the whole time? /o\)
I mean, I don't think Zhao Yunlan gave the Regent much choice - he took him hostage and told him something like, "don't worry, you can tell him you did it on purpose, to find the Lantern," and it's not like the Regent would have passed up such a good excuse!
Ha, true. That fits the Regent's style so well, too, the weasel.
I'm pretty sure Sha Ya, having worked for Team Ye Zun while the Master of the Merit Brush was active and trying to break Ye Zun out of the Pillar, should know better!
Maybe Ye Zun deliberately brought them to the pillar, and they took it for an opportunity to escape?
But I find it incredibly striking that he's just completely blinding himself to any and all evidence that his worldview might not be 100% correct.
That seems very
humanperson-y to me. *eyes anti-vaxxers* /o\no subject
It's in one of the BTS clips - probably still around on Youtube somewhere, but I don't have a link. You probably don't want to watch BTS stuff anyway. *g*
That makes sense, but it hurts my heart that the fight from the portal vision isn't the only time he heard them fighting. Poor bb!ZYL.
Poor ZYL, yeah - but I always assumed that wasn't the only fight anyway. Even as a kid, ZYL was probably good at noticing stuff he wasn't supposed to. *g*
Though, on second thoughts, the sagging could have been at least partly emotional distress...
Also true - I'm sure that did play its part!
Egging on a civil war? (Do you think he was awake the whole time? /o\)
I don't think he was fully awake and active all this time, no. But just before Shen Wei wakes up from his 10,000 year sleep, the Regent talks about Ye Zun stirring - I assume that's happened a few times over the millennia. One of those instances might be related to the field of ruins.
Ha, true. That fits the Regent's style so well, too, the weasel.
Right????
Maybe Ye Zun deliberately brought them to the pillar, and they took it for an opportunity to escape?
Oh, yeah, that would make sense!
That seems very
humanperson-y to me. *eyes anti-vaxxers* /o\Yeah, it's the sort of thing people do, isn't it? *sighs* And Ye Zun has better reasons than most for falling into that sort of mindset.
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True. I was wondering if anyone had gif-ed that shot in particular. Anyway -- all good to know. Thanks!
But just before Shen Wei wakes up from his 10,000 year sleep, the Regent talks about Ye Zun stirring - I assume that's happened a few times over the millennia. One of those instances might be related to the field of ruins.
Yeah, good point. I suppose it's possible people know his name from stories handed down since the war; it would depend whether any/how many of the Rebels survived and went to Dixing... but the Regent does talk with familiarity, as if he knows this is something to be wary of, so yeah, it's probably happened before.
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but the Regent does talk with familiarity, as if he knows this is something to be wary of, so yeah, it's probably happened before.
Yeah, that was my thinking too.