This is such a great idea for a post! Sorry it took me so long to come back to it. ♥
Zhao Yunlan seems to recognise Shen Wei on some level, too.
My theory (as you know) is that it's their knowing each other echoing forward in time thanks to the Hallows and the time loop, so Zhao Yunlan catches an echo of something that hasn't happened yet.
Shen Wei appears every time Zhao Yunlan activates the Hallows (and sometimes just before he does)
Yeah, I think this is more due to the Hallows than Zhao Yunlan – he picks up on when the Hallows respond to Zhao Yunlan. Another example is in episode 20, when Shen Wei is outside the Inspectorate and suddenly picks up on something, then quickly zooms away to come to Zhao Yunlan's rescue. The moment he suddenly notices seems to be when Zhao Yunlan uses the Sundial to defend himself against Ye Zun.
When Kong Jing kidnaps Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan seems to have some kind of dark-energy protection(?), which he identifies with Shen Wei.
I always assumed this had something to do with the energy exchange. If he got white energy from Zhao Yunlan, then it would make sense Zhao Yunlan got black energy from him.
I think Shen Wei, chained to the pillar, senses Zhao Yunlan sometimes?
Like autodach says above, when Zhao Yunlan is in Zhu Hong's dream and Shen Wei is in Dixing tied to the pillar, he suddenly reacts to Zhao Yunlan being in danger – he notices he's in trouble and that his body is unstable, and then shouts "where is he" (after which Ye Zun taunts him about it).
So there are three possibilities, I think; (1) he's been consistently aware of Zhao Yunlan on some level and that awareness has changed, or (2) Zhao Yunlan being in danger alerted him somehow and communicated some details about his condition, or (3) Shen Wei was actively seeking out Zhao Yunlan with one of his powers, and it just happened to be in this moment, which alerted him to his condition.
Shen Wei manages to send his pendant through the barrier between life and death to Zhao Yunlan, and of course, they find each other in the afterlife.
SO MUCH LOVE. :D :D :D
What else am I forgetting?
In episode 38, when Ye Zun has Shen Wei captive in the palace, he tells Shen Wei Zhao Yunlan is on the way to Dixing. (Unclear if he can sense that himself, or if he has other intel.) And then a bit later, Shen Wei whispers Zhao Yunlan's name while seemingly mentally absent – it looks to me like he's mentally searching for him, confirming what Ye Zun told him.
Do you think their bond is objectively real? I don't just mean emotionally -- I mean how much of this is Fate, how much is explained by the Dial Exchange or the Hallows, how much is it a soul bond?
I think the time-looped bond between the two of them, and their entangled energies from the exchange with the Sundial account for it all, but what it amounts to is something indistinguishable from a soul bond? Their emotional bond self-creates itself through the time loop and is complicated and heightened by that, and the energy exchange via the Sundial contributes creates an additional energy bond, and it leaves them so entangled with each other, they remain connected no matter what, dead or alive.
Has Shen Wei put a dark-energy tracker on Zhao Yunlan, to help keep him safe?
Possibly! Since, as you say, there are provably instances where Shen Wei isn’t aware of Zhao Yunlan’s presence, maybe it's a tracker he has to actively ping, not one that he's constantly aware of? So if he doesn't search for him, he won't notice.
no subject
Zhao Yunlan seems to recognise Shen Wei on some level, too.
My theory (as you know) is that it's their knowing each other echoing forward in time thanks to the Hallows and the time loop, so Zhao Yunlan catches an echo of something that hasn't happened yet.
Shen Wei appears every time Zhao Yunlan activates the Hallows (and sometimes just before he does)
Yeah, I think this is more due to the Hallows than Zhao Yunlan – he picks up on when the Hallows respond to Zhao Yunlan. Another example is in episode 20, when Shen Wei is outside the Inspectorate and suddenly picks up on something, then quickly zooms away to come to Zhao Yunlan's rescue. The moment he suddenly notices seems to be when Zhao Yunlan uses the Sundial to defend himself against Ye Zun.
When Kong Jing kidnaps Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan seems to have some kind of dark-energy protection(?), which he identifies with Shen Wei.
I always assumed this had something to do with the energy exchange. If he got white energy from Zhao Yunlan, then it would make sense Zhao Yunlan got black energy from him.
I think Shen Wei, chained to the pillar, senses Zhao Yunlan sometimes?
Like
So there are three possibilities, I think; (1) he's been consistently aware of Zhao Yunlan on some level and that awareness has changed, or (2) Zhao Yunlan being in danger alerted him somehow and communicated some details about his condition, or (3) Shen Wei was actively seeking out Zhao Yunlan with one of his powers, and it just happened to be in this moment, which alerted him to his condition.
Shen Wei manages to send his pendant through the barrier between life and death to Zhao Yunlan, and of course, they find each other in the afterlife.
SO MUCH LOVE. :D :D :D
What else am I forgetting?
In episode 38, when Ye Zun has Shen Wei captive in the palace, he tells Shen Wei Zhao Yunlan is on the way to Dixing. (Unclear if he can sense that himself, or if he has other intel.) And then a bit later, Shen Wei whispers Zhao Yunlan's name while seemingly mentally absent – it looks to me like he's mentally searching for him, confirming what Ye Zun told him.
Do you think their bond is objectively real? I don't just mean emotionally -- I mean how much of this is Fate, how much is explained by the Dial Exchange or the Hallows, how much is it a soul bond?
I think the time-looped bond between the two of them, and their entangled energies from the exchange with the Sundial account for it all, but what it amounts to is something indistinguishable from a soul bond? Their emotional bond self-creates itself through the time loop and is complicated and heightened by that, and the energy exchange via the Sundial contributes creates an additional energy bond, and it leaves them so entangled with each other, they remain connected no matter what, dead or alive.
Has Shen Wei put a dark-energy tracker on Zhao Yunlan, to help keep him safe?
Possibly! Since, as you say, there are provably instances where Shen Wei isn’t aware of Zhao Yunlan’s presence, maybe it's a tracker he has to actively ping, not one that he's constantly aware of? So if he doesn't search for him, he won't notice.