trobadora (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trobadora) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sid_guardian2025-12-21 08:11 pm
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2025-12-21 08:11 pm
Entry tags:
Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 8, part 2
Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!
Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!
Episode 8, from 22:19:
Summary: In Dixing, the Regent sends a smoke message. In Haixing, Shen Wei pours his drunk mentor into car and then finds Zhao Yunlan ill on the kerb. He takes him home in a taxi (where he serves as a pillow), then discovers Zhao Yunlan's disaster apartment (featuring: wine bottles, dirty dishes, THE FRIDGE). During the night, Zhu Jiu finds the pillar with the Mountain-River Awl, but can't approach it. Meanwhile Shen Wei discovers that Zhao Yunlan asked Dixing about him and the Regent is ratting him out. He alters the message. In the morning, Zhao Yunlan wakes up to a tidy flat and Shen Wei sitting next to his bed. He tries to recruit Shen Wei for the SID again, but fails again. Wang Zheng sees a newspaper report about an earthquake in the Hanga mountains, passes out and regains her memory. Da Qing comes to tell Zhao Yunlan and finds Shen Wei there in the early morning. The Sundial begins to glow and resonate with the Awl; Lin Jing traces the source to the mountains.
Quote:
Shen Wei: "I suggest you eat regular meals. I don't want to find you on the road again."
Zhao Yunlan: "If you want to know whether I eat regular meals, why don't you just join ourSID, and you'll know?"
Shen Wei: "So your SID doesn't need a consultant, it needs a nanny?"
Detail:
I always notice that when Shen Wei takes off Zhao Yunlan's boots, he accidentally slips one of Zhao Yunlan's socks off his heel and doesn't pull it back up, argh! :p
Questions:
What's going through Shen Wei's head in the taxi? How is Zhao Yunlan feeling about Shen Wei taking him home? What's your favourite detail in Zhao Yunlan's flat? What's Shen Wei's favourite detail? Why do you think Zhao Yunlan keeps trying to recruit Shen Wei after Shen Wei has refused more than once? Do you think Shen Wei is seriously hoping to warn Zhao Yunlan away from leaving Dragon City? Why is Da Qing surprised to find Shen Wei with Zhao Yunlan in the morning? Why does Wang Zheng try to leave the SID? Any thoughts about how any of this compares to the novel? Or about parallels with other parts of the drama?
(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)
For the next two weekends, we're taking a break for the holidays - time to catch up on the rewatch, if you've been meaning to! Regular posts will resume on 9 January.
Here is our schedule for the current batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!
no subject
- LOL, Shen Wei sees one drunk mentor into a taxi, then has to escort another incapacitated, one-day-to-be mentor-ish figure home. (Not that he sees it like that at all, but it made me laugh.)
- Zhao Yunlan curled over in the gutter, being a total disaster is so my happy place!! Hee! He already feels so utterly terrible, and then he's like, "oh fuck, Shen Wei has found me like this? /o\ /o\ /o\ please just go awaaay," but he's too messed up to put up much of a fight/front.
- This parallel:
- THE FLAT!! It makes me so happy!!! I honestly can't explain why I love it so much, but Shen Wei walking into the discarded bottles makes me laugh every time!! :D (This inspired my very first Guardian fanfic, and also an evening-after fic from DQ's pov.)
- So, okay, in YOHE, Kunlun was all, "Take off your mask and smile," to SW, and what he got was SW taking off his mask and, yes, smiling, but also confiding about his lost brother and his despair about the state of the war. And here, we have Shen Wei gently but firmly trying to help ZYL take off his mask over the course of these first eight episodes, and what's behind it is this total lack of self-care. The gastritis and the flat together are like ZYL's fatalism about his own future made manifest. <3 <3 <3
- I'm using VIKI subs for the first time for this ep, and it's making the Zhu Jiu scenes pop a lot more compared to the original subs. I'm so amused that he visibly decides to be civilised and polite for a moment with the guard in the mountains. And then apologises before he kills him! (Is this a hint at ZJ's backstory as a palace guard? That he sees the soldier as someone almost relatable for a moment?)
- Shen Wei thoroughly washing the filth from a single glass. :D :D :D :D I always feel like his hands are shaking a little bit from shock at Just How Bad It Is. :D :D :D
- After the Regent's message arrives, SW stares tight-lipped at ZYL, but I'm 99% sure he's mad at the Regent, right? He can't blame ZYL for investigating when SW has gone out of his way to arouse suspicion?!
- I don't think I've ever paid attention to Sang Zan throwing stalactites at Zhu Jiu before. If he can do that, no wonder Ye Zun can cause trouble from his pillar!! (Pillars are such a bad criminal justice system! Major design flaw in the Hallows! *frowns at Ma Gui*)
- Huh, I thought Zhu Jiu was the one to bring Youchu to the surface, but no, he's just using them. I wonder how they came up this time.
- Wang Zheng is the cutest!!
- The scene from my "good morning" icon! :D :D :D Shen Wei with his legs crossed like he's ZYL! Shen Wei toe to toe with ZYL's (delightfully mismatched) slippers! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 ALL THE FLIRTING!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 (I've said so much about this before, I'd just be repeating myself, so I'll just link to this comment I made on the scene discussion post.)
- Shen Wei citing his magical sixth sense is the first of Shen Wei's overt "I don't expect you to believe this" lies, I think?
- DQ just runs into frame with no door noise, I think? You'd think if he'd opened the door, the others would have turned.
- Where was the letter? ZYL races out of the flat to hide it from Shen Wei (despite SW having stayed up all night going through every single one of ZYL's possessions), but I can never actually see it in the flat. Also, "I never write any characters at home" is hilarious - not something to boast about, ZYL!! ;D
- ZYL and DQ both have such a serious reaction to the contents of the letter -- I don't get it.
- CSZ and GCC training, and CSZ isn't even using his hands, lol. And aww, another reference to CSZ's didi. <3
- In the flashback to finding Wang Zheng, it always looks like it's night time (day for night?). Is it supposed to be, or is that just me misreading a flashback filter?
- Did we actually see the Envoy tell ZYL that the Hallows communicate with each other? Or are they having sneaky off-screen conversations that I want to seeee???
- This "remote region" does not look at all remote on Lin Jing's map, lol. And "20km from here" is, like, 15 to 20 minutes' drive. Are we sure it's not 200km?
What's going through Shen Wei's head in the taxi?
I always think of
How is Zhao Yunlan feeling about Shen Wei taking him home?
I think if he were any more conscious, he'd be excruciatingly humiliated, but he's suffering too much to really care at this point.
What's your favourite detail in Zhao Yunlan's flat?
LOL, do you mean the chaos disaster or the decor? I love the state of the kitchen. And I like that it's so different from the novel, where the kitchen is completely unused: drama!ZYL clearly uses his dishes -- he just doesn't ever ever wash them. ;D
What's Shen Wei's favourite detail?
Ha. I think Zhao Yunlan is Shen Wei's favourite detail in any given room he's in. Other than that, the couch.
Why do you think Zhao Yunlan keeps trying to recruit Shen Wei after Shen Wei has refused more than once?
You already know my theories (a combination of wanting him under the SID's roof to protect him from deportation, wanting his expertise on tap, and just wanting him). I think it's the protection that keeps him asking, though -- that he thinks Shen Wei thinks working for the SID will make his secret more likely to be exposed, and ZYL is trying to reassure him/convey that that's okay by showing him how wanted he is.
Do you think Shen Wei is seriously hoping to warn Zhao Yunlan away from leaving Dragon City?
A forlorn hope, lol. Maybe he's hoping that warning him will at least put ZYL on guard?
Why is Da Qing surprised to find Shen Wei with Zhao Yunlan in the morning?
After the used book debacle? Shouldn't he be?
Why does Wang Zheng try to leave the SID?
She has to go and find Sang Zan and make things right. (I'm assuming she knows about the pillar?)
no subject
Ha, and me not seeing that is why I didn't look at it that way. *g* Great catch!
(I can't believe we all thought it was a taxi!)
This parallel
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
And here, we have Shen Wei gently but firmly trying to help ZYL take off his mask over the course of these first eight episodes, and what's behind it is this total lack of self-care. The gastritis and the flat together are like ZYL's fatalism about his own future made manifest. <3 <3 <3
Oh, I love how you put that! Yes, 100%, this is what it is! Zhao Yunlan beneath the mask! ♥ ♥ ♥
I'm so amused that he visibly decides to be civilised and polite for a moment with the guard in the mountains. And then apologises before he kills him! (Is this a hint at ZJ's backstory as a palace guard? That he sees the soldier as someone almost relatable for a moment?)
Oh, that's a good question about the former (Dixing) guard and the current (Haixing) guard! I could see that, yeah. And great catch about his initial politeness. It's a great little scene!
After the Regent's message arrives, SW stares tight-lipped at ZYL, but I'm 99% sure he's mad at the Regent, right? He can't blame ZYL for investigating when SW has gone out of his way to arouse suspicion?!
I don't think he blames him at all, but I do think the tight-lipped look at ZYL is separate from the anger at the Regent. It's another one of those "oh, I've just been slapped in the face by the fact that we're not there yet" moment, IMO.
I don't think I've ever paid attention to Sang Zan throwing stalactites at Zhu Jiu before. If he can do that, no wonder Ye Zun can cause trouble from his pillar!!
Oh yes, that's great foreshadowing!!!
Huh, I thought Zhu Jiu was the one to bring Youchu to the surface, but no, he's just using them. I wonder how they came up this time.
You and me both! Catching all kinds of things this time round!
Wang Zheng is the cutest!!
I adore her. She's so gorgeous, too, so I had to use a pic of her for the post. :D
I've said so much about this before, I'd just be repeating myself, so I'll just link to this comment I made on the scene discussion post.
♥ ♥ ♥
Shen Wei citing his magical sixth sense is the first of Shen Wei's overt "I don't expect you to believe this" lies, I think?
OHHHH yes, you're totally right, it is! And this time ZYL just goes "ohh" and doesn't really call him on it beyond that, so perhaps that's why he thinks it'll work later.
Where was the letter? ZYL races out of the flat to hide it from Shen Wei (despite SW having stayed up all night going through every single one of ZYL's possessions), but I can never actually see it in the flat.
Yeah, same here, and I looked for it! It's just not visible at all.
ZYL and DQ both have such a serious reaction to the contents of the letter -- I don't get it.
I wonder if it's because (they think) Dixing is responding to a concrete query with an empty phrase and they think that means Dixing is hiding something from them?
In the flashback to finding Wang Zheng, it always looks like it's night time (day for night?). Is it supposed to be, or is that just me misreading a flashback filter?
I think it's meant to be day - Da Qing is shielding Wang Zheng with an umbrella, while explaining energy bodies can't tolerate sunlight.
Did we actually see the Envoy tell ZYL that the Hallows communicate with each other? Or are they having sneaky off-screen conversations that I want to seeee???
Nope, that didn't happen on screen. They must have communicated, and damn, now I want that missing scene!
This "remote region" does not look at all remote on Lin Jing's map, lol. And "20km from here" is, like, 15 to 20 minutes' drive. Are we sure it's not 200km?
The map shows a place very close, not even 20km away! But the dialogue says 二十公里以外的高山区 high mountain area 20km away. But if Dragon City is in a valley and the mountains rise very close to it, 20km straight line on a map can translate to a much, much longer drive since you can't exactly go straight up and may have to go around another mountain to get to where you're going. It still sounds wrong, though, and the map that Lin Jing has definitely doesn't make sense at all.
I always think of
OHHHH, thank you for the link! That is so gorgeous. YES. ♥ ♥ ♥
LOL, do you mean the chaos disaster or the decor? I love the state of the kitchen. And I like that it's so different from the novel, where the kitchen is completely unused: drama!ZYL clearly uses his dishes -- he just doesn't ever ever wash them. ;D
Any or all of it! But that's an excellent point about the kitchen, and a great example for how to work with a different medium - you can't show "unused kitchen" the way you can "messy kitchen"!
Ha. I think Zhao Yunlan is Shen Wei's favourite detail in any given room he's in. Other than that, the couch.
Awww! I think his favourite detail is the slippers, and the fact that Zhao Yunlan has them. Just that tiny bit of domestic comfort. ♥
I think it's the protection that keeps him asking, though -- that he thinks Shen Wei thinks working for the SID will make his secret more likely to be exposed, and ZYL is trying to reassure him/convey that that's okay by showing him how wanted he is.
I think I don't see it quite the same way - that element is there for sure; he's trying to make sense of Shen Wei's (to him) very mixed signals and doesn't understand why Shen Wei would refuse, other than worry over being exposed. But also, IMO part of why ZYL is coming on so strong is because he's emotionally invested, and to him Shen Wei accepting the consultancy is a stand-in for Shen Wei accepting him. (Because it is, in the novel-to-drama translation. *g*)
Maybe he's hoping that warning him will at least put ZYL on guard?
Yeah, that would make sense!
After the used book debacle? Shouldn't he be?
Oh, yes, absolutely! From Da Qing's perspective they've gone straight from Shen Wei walking away to morning-after; no wonder he's confused. *g*
She has to go and find Sang Zan and make things right. (I'm assuming she knows about the pillar?)
She must know, since she heads straight there. But she doesn't even consider asking the SID for help, she's all determined to go on her own ... (ALL of these people are like that, seriously!!!)
no subject
I think it's natural to assume. :-)
I don't think he blames him at all, but I do think the tight-lipped look at ZYL is separate from the anger at the Regent. It's another one of those "oh, I've just been slapped in the face by the fact that we're not there yet" moment, IMO.
Hmm, maybe. But Shen Wei wants him to be interested. He's gone out of his way to intrigue and befriend him, and moved in across the hall. Did he think ZYL wouldn't be curious and make enquiries? Especially once ZYL started his recruitment campaign. Maybe it's a tight-lipped "I should have seen this coming"? Or "I gave too much/the wrong things away"? Idk. Or... maybe you're 100% spot on, and I'm reading too much blame into the words.
OHHHH yes, you're totally right, it is! And this time ZYL just goes "ohh" and doesn't really call him on it beyond that, so perhaps that's why he thinks it'll work later.
Yes! And I think we've said before, it's modelling the kinds of evasions Shen Wei is good with, versus the fronting and evasiveness that he feels put a barrier between them.
I wonder if it's because (they think) Dixing is responding to a concrete query with an empty phrase and they think that means Dixing is hiding something from them?
Maybe! And they'd be right, except it's not Dixing, per se. Which makes me think it's interesting that Shen Wei didn't lie outright in the letter or just destroy it. Instead it's his typical kind of stubborn "I'm not going to answer this" silence in the form of a letter.
I think it's meant to be day - Da Qing is shielding Wang Zheng with an umbrella, while explaining energy bodies can't tolerate sunlight.
I thought he just said light, which always made me assume it was moonlight or starlight (but we know she can go outside at night, so that wasn't hugely sensical). Different subs. (It looks so night-like to me, lol.)
But that's an excellent point about the kitchen, and a great example for how to work with a different medium - you can't show "unused kitchen" the way you can "messy kitchen"!
Yes, very true! :D
Awww! I think his favourite detail is the slippers, and the fact that Zhao Yunlan has them. Just that tiny bit of domestic comfort. ♥
Aww! I wonder where SW dug them out from. I bet they weren't by the bed to start with.
But also, IMO part of why ZYL is coming on so strong is because he's emotionally invested, and to him Shen Wei accepting the consultancy is a stand-in for Shen Wei accepting him.
*nodnod* That's a great point. But do you think he'd ask that question twice in one conversation? Idk. *considers further* I think the recruitment is a game/flirting/come on[1], and it's testing SW, and it's reassurance[2], and he thinks SW really wants to join (or at least will cave) if ZYL can just find the right words/argument[3]. /pre-breakfast, hi
[1] so inappropriate! this is not what government appointments are for!!
[2] which maybe rings a bit hollow after SW found the letter from Dixing ;-p
[3] which, in the end, is true.
But she doesn't even consider asking the SID for help, she's all determined to go on her own ... (ALL of these people are like that, seriously!!!)
I think she's expecting to sacrifice herself (maybe enpillar herself to be with Sang Zan?), and she doesn't want them to stop her.
no subject
Yeah, I don't think there's any blame in it at all. And he does want ZYL to be interested. and he has been enjoying their cat-and-mouse game! But I think that night, after getting to properly look beneath the mask for the first time, this is a reminder that they are still at the cat-and-mouse stage.
And I think we've said before, it's modelling the kinds of evasions Shen Wei is good with, versus the fronting and evasiveness that he feels put a barrier between them.
Yes, exactly! So much love. ♥
Instead it's his typical kind of stubborn "I'm not going to answer this" silence in the form of a letter.
AHHHHH I love how you put that, it's so true and I never thought of it in those terms before!
I thought he just said light, which always made me assume it was moonlight or starlight (but we know she can go outside at night, so that wasn't hugely sensical). Different subs. (It looks so night-like to me, lol.)
You're right, it does say light! But we know that for example electric lights do her no harm whatsoever, and when they're in the mountains she goes outside at night without any protection, and that's no issue either. So I do think it has to be sunlight in particular.
And honestly, it just doesn't look at like night to me, just a flashback filter.
Aww! I wonder where SW dug them out from. I bet they weren't by the bed to start with.
I think I see one of them with the empty bottles next to the bed?
I think the recruitment is a game/flirting/come on[1], and it's testing SW, and it's reassurance[2], and he thinks SW really wants to join (or at least will cave) if ZYL can just find the right words/argument[3].
Yes, that all sounds right to me! And good point about #3 being true in the end.
/pre-breakfast, hi
Hi! ♥
I think she's expecting to sacrifice herself (maybe enpillar herself to be with Sang Zan?), and she doesn't want them to stop her.
Yeah. I just think it's really interesting that she immediately jumps to this, no hesitation!
no subject
Yes, good point. That makes sense. *pets Shen Wei*
So I do think it has to be sunlight in particular.
The lack of shadows is so confusing. The trees in the background have shadows, but for everything else, the lighting is too diffuse. I think I'll just keep my wrong headcanon. I like the idea of ZYL and DQ hiking under the stars. ;-p
I think I see one of them with the empty bottles next to the bed?
Ah, okay. Thanks! (I am still intermittently distracted by the fact they wear outdoor shoes in their homes, lol.)
Yes, that all sounds right to me! And good point about #3 being true in the end.
\o/!! And now I think about it, #3 only comes true after a) the Envoy reveal, b) Zhu Jiu has escalated his attacks on the SID, c) SW's attempts to work alone have led to a fatality, and d) ZYL specifically divorces the recruitment from the flirting and appeals to their shared values instead. SW is definitely not in the right headspace to join hands with the SID just yet.
Yeah. I just think it's really interesting that she immediately jumps to this, no hesitation!
True! I guess living as Wang Zheng for however long hasn't given her a strong enough survival instinct to overcome her deep-seated guilt. :-(
no subject
Yeah, all excellent points! Shen Wei absolutely isn't there yet, he'll keep trying to work alone for as long as he can possibly manage! And ZYL isn't there yet either, still trying to flirt his way into it. I love them and their arcs so much. ♥ ♥ ♥
no subject
And oh, so maybe ZYL keeps asking not because he expects SW to change his mind right now, but to show that he won't consider SW's no as final; the door is still open if SW decides he wants to join later. Something like that?
no subject
no subject
no subject