Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 11, part 1

[china_shop]

Hi, and welcome back to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch. Watch half an episode a week, at your leisure, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 11, up to 22:22

Summary
In the flashbacks, Sang Zan becomes despotic and nihilistic after Ge Lan's death. Eventually the villagers turns on him, and he laughs bitterly as the Awl activates and empillars him. In the present-day caves, Zhao Yunlan and the Envoy try to free Wang Zheng, and Zhu Jiu appears. Fighty McFight. The pillar is split and Sang Zan comes out to fight when the Envoy is pushed back. Zhu Jiu disintegrates Sang Zan's energy body. Zhao Yunlan shoots Zhu Jiu. The Envoy draws the Awl out of the pillar, and Zhu Jiu flees, thwarted. Wang Zheng kneels to the Envoy, begging him to reconstitute Sang Zan. Meanwhile, outside, Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng are fighting youchu. They go to find the others, and Zhao Yunlan introduces Sang Zan as the new SID archive manager. Back at the hotel, Zhao Yunlan finds Zhu Hong sleeping at the table. She seems disorientated and reacts strangely when Zhao Yunlan asks after Shen Wei. Shen Wei appears upstairs, smiling in apparent relief that Zhao Yunlan et al are back. After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Yunlan smiles back. The SID and the field trip party drink with the village head and Lang-ge. Shen Wei, seeing Zhao Yunlan's growing bodily discomfort, snatches the drink from his hand under the guise of making a toast. After Shen Wei drinks, he falls unconscious. Zhao Yunlan puts him to bed with an IV, stares at him for a while, and then notices the stinky youchu blood smell on his jacket and does the math. The next morning, Shen Wei wakes to a note saying that Zhao Yunlan et al have returned to the city. We get the events of yesterday from Shen Wei's POV -- venturing out, killing youchu, and saving Zhao Yunlan in the caves -- and then Jiajia and Xiao-Quan come in to check on their professor.



Quote
The Envoy: They held tightly to the person dearest to their heart, not abandoning each other whether in life or death.

Detail
I always forget about Sang Zan's energy body being disbursed by Zhu Jiu, maybe because we don't see his reconstitution on screen. I think this second death and resurrection only further emphasises that death isn't a permanent, insurmountable obstacle in the world of the show. ♥

Questions
Do you have a stand-out favourite scene or quote from the first half of episode 11?

ZYL: If my loved one was killed by those people, killed by the system that I had built, it's very likely I'd hate these people more than I would hate the former tribe leader.
Envoy: That's right. Even if they're cut into a myriad of pieces, the hatred would be hard to dissolve.

Any theories about what personal experience these two are drawing on when they say this? (Neither of them seem driven by hatred to me.)

How did Da Qing know about energy beings? Do you think Wang Zheng is really sure the Envoy can save Sang Zan, or is it just desperation that drives her to her knees? Does Guo Changcheng feel worse about zapping Zhao Yunlan last episode or Chu Shuzhi in this episode? What does Zhao Yunlan think when he finds Zhu Hong asleep at the hotel and she reacts so strongly to Shen Wei's name? How perfect is the drinking scene? And the putting-to-bed scene? ♥ ♥ ♥ In the flashbacks, how did Shen Wei know Zhao Yunlan was in danger in the caves? Do you have any theories about the power in his note that repelled the youchu?

Did you see any parallels in these scenes with other parts of the drama? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares, if at all?

(As usual, 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. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

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Comments

[china_shop]

This half ep is probably second in my heart after episode 8. I adore everything about the drinking scene and its coda where ZYL puts Shen Wei to bed, ahhhhhh.

My notes:

* ZYL and the Envoy repeat their sentiments from the end of ep 10, and I still don't know what resonance this is supposed to have, especially in a show about mercy and second chances. But okay.

* Omg, those executioners don't seem at all interested in taking sides -- they'll strangle anyone! And then Sang Zan embraces nihilism, and the others are like, "We've agreed to enslave you again." Clearly lessons were not learned! (I do like that the earthquake makes someone go, "The God of the Mountain is appearing!" Superstition!! \o/)

* A hundred years pass in the blink of an eye, then Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing find Wang Zheng (≡ Shen Wei's dirt nap, found by the Dixingren Hallows-hunting party, known by multiple names). Wang Zheng has amnesia (≡ when Shen Wei reunites with Zhao Yunlan, Zhao Yunlan doesn't remember him. I think this is part of an amnesia/past lives misdirect, so that the time travel will be a surprise).

* The fact Da Qing recognises Wang Zheng as an energy being suggests she's not the only one. (Where did Da Qing meet the others?!?)

*In the caves, ZYL and the Envoy have a whispered conversation. (I ♥ them conferring in whispers.)
ZYL: How is it?
Envoy: It is completely the same as the information I found.
So I guess we can trust Wang Zheng. The parallels are so strong here that maybe the question raised was really/thematically about Zhao Yunlan in episode 1? Shen Wei wasn't sure if he could trust him then?

* ZYL tries to release Wang Zheng from her dark energy bonds and is flung back into the Envoy's arms. (♥) This is ZYL's first bad encounter with dark energy, right?

* Zhu Jiu is so powerful, matching the Envoy's strength (okay, the Envoy is weakened). I wonder if Zhu Jiu recognises Shen Wei's fighting style. And the trick works! The pillar is broken open!

* Wang Zheng: I waited one hundred years for you... -- obviously a parallel with Shen Wei's 10k years, and just as vague about what constitutes waiting, given she was insubstantial (I presume just a floating energy fuzzball?) and then had amnesia. Still very haunting and sweet.

* Wang Zheng kneeling for Sang Zan ≡ Shen Wei kneeling for Zhao Yunlan's eyesight. <3 (Would the Envoy have saved Sang Zan if she hadn't pleaded and humbled herself? I like to think so.)

* Comic relief! CSZ and GCC versus youchu. GCC zaps CSZ this time, to CSZ's extreme indignation, hee! *loves*

* Sang Zan is reconstituted off-screen. I love how this foreshadows a happy ending for Weilan!! <3 <3 <3

* CSZ either deduces that Zhu Jiu planned all this, or the others figure it out and tell him. I'm not sure which?

* It always bugs me that ZYL offers Sang Zan, a former enslaved person, a position with no salary. (At Trobadora's beta suggestion, I fixed this in one fic

as follows:

Zhu Hong smiled, but she couldn’t help asking, “Xiao Guo said Sang Zan grew up as a slave. Is that right? And now he’s working at the SID, but we’re not paying him?”

“The SID can’t officially hire new staff without approval from the Department of Supervision,” said Wang Zheng, who probably knew more about the SID’s HR practices and payroll than Lao Zhao did.

“Still, though. How is it different from being a slave again?”

Wang Zheng tilted her head. “It’s not the same,” she said, thoughtfully. “The SID doesn’t own him. Chief Zhao doesn’t treat him like a possession or threaten his life. From the day Sang Zan and I met, Chief Zhao’s the only one to ever help us stay together instead of tearing us apart. I think he offered Sang Zan the job so he’d feel like one of us. I mean, Zanzan’s still learning to read, and Chief Zhao made him a librarian.”

“That’s true.” And it wasn’t really Zhu Hong’s business. If Sang Zan was happy with the arrangement, that was up to him.

“Besides, one of the librarian’s duties is purchasing new books. I showed Sang Zan how to use the internet, and he’s already ordered a literacy study guide and a couple of dozen comics. Chief Zhao said he can get whatever he likes, as long as it doesn’t raise any red flags with the DoS.”

) Anyway, everyone seems happy. The Envoy slips away.

* At the hotel, the candle is still burning. Is it an extra-long life candle? I like that Zhao Yunlan knows something is up. He feels Zhu Hong's forehead and specifically asks after Shen Wei. Her reaction confirms something is afoot. But then Shen Wei is so sweet and smiley (and wearing ZYL's jacket!!) on the balcony that Zhao Yunlan can't suspect him. ♥

* In Shen Wei's toast, he says, "these past (few) days" -- how long have they been in the mountains at that point? Maybe there's a time jump between the balcony scene and the drinking scene?

* I already did a scene discussion post about the drinking scene, and practically wrote an essay there. I was going to quote myself here, but it would have been looong. Anyway. I LOVE THIS SCENE SO MUCH!!! (Also, I think this is the first time I've noticed Zhu Hong is asleep at the table in one scene, and Shen Wei falls unconscious at the table in the next. In the first, ZYL wakes her up; in the second ZYL puts him to bed. <3)

* And then Zhao Yunlan puts Shen Wei to bed in a beautiful mirror of Shen Wei putting ZYL to bed in ep 8. Just like Shen Wei got to see behind ZYL's performance then, now ZYL learns more about who Shen Wei is beneath the surface. Also, I think this is part of why we get Shen Wei folding ZYL's clothes in episode 8 -- a direct mirror of ZYL handling the jacket here. (Btw, did we ever talk about Shen Wei folding ZYL's clothes? Is there a platonic explanation for that? In the no-homo reading, is he just a massive neatfreak?) And the IV drip is the medicine (or the breakfast?). <3 <3 <3 This is one of my very favourite scenes in the show. I love that it's wordless, I love the music, I love that ZYL is being caring and soft, and that he's clearly having ALL the feelings about Shen Wei protecting him like this. My headcanon is that this is when he accepts to himself that whatever is going on with Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan is in love with him. <3 <3 <3

* I always notice that when Shen Wei wakes up, the IV has been removed. So ZYL must have stayed and watched over him until it was done, right? aksfd;lakdsjff <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

* The winky face in ZYL's note!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3