The Hallows: What the Heck Do They Do?

[asya_ana]

A bunch of friendly folks on mastodon are working on setting up a wiki for Guardian (we've tried a few different hosts, and are deciding on a permanent home), and we've been starting to develop the content.

One content topic that's come up is: THE HALLOWS AND WHAT DO THEY DO:

Longevity Dial
Mountain-River Awl
Merit Brush
Guardian Lantern

What… does each do exactly? What are the consequences for using each? Everyone I've talked to has a slightly different take or adds some new piece I hadn't considered before.

Also… any thoughts on the Hallows as a unit are welcome, especially as to why they begin to activate again when they do, what their relationship if any might be to Shen Wei's return, and how they relate to Zhao Yunlan.

Comments

[jo_lasalle]

*bookmarks* If someone can explain the merit brush to me...

The Longevity Dial is IMO the one where it's clearest what it does - transferring life energy around - but the more often I watch the eps the more noticeable I find it that the show seems almost reluctant? to really specify the cost and gain of using it. Especially in contrast to the novel, which is very clear and pretty mathy about the life years.

[asya_ana]

I have been the MOST baffled about the merit brush...

Also: is it a calligraphy brush or a paintbrush?

It does seem like the costs are high for using the longevity dial... you don't want to mess around with it just for fun. BUT exactly its implications for Shen Wei are hazy to me.

[jo_lasalle]

The costs of using the longevity dial are high, but I find it very noticeable that when a member of the team uses it, it's not commented on just what the price is - which I think would be a pretty normal narrative thing to do. (And Li Qian doesn't say exactly what it cost her, either.)

And Zhao Yunlan's slightly crazy readiness to use it on people he met ten minutes ago also doesn't exactly say "it'll cost you half your life" - the man is crazy but that would be a little crazy even for him? I think?

My favourite theory re: Shen Wei ATM is that they thought it would slightly hurt a human to fix Zhao Yunlan's eyes, and Shen Wei could probably totally bounce over that because he's the Black Cloaked Envoy, and then it ended up fucking up Shen Wei more than it would have a human. Because I think that works with Shen Wei's visible surprise after the exchange and everyone's characterisations, and I like the OOPS factor of it. But canon is definitely hazy on this!

[yantantether]

I love that interpretation of Shen Wei using the dial because that scene/segment didn't really work for me on my first watch because I was like ...but everyone knows using the dial does BAD THINGS? But everyone expecting that it wouldn't hurt him like it would a human makes total sense.

[jo_lasalle]

I was like ...but everyone knows using the dial does BAD THINGS?

Right? And Zhao Yunlan is both pissed off and shocked when he realises in the kitchen / knife cutting scene that Shen Wei got hurt here.

I like that theory because it both means Shen Wei didn't lie about the price (he got it wrong too) and Zhao Yunlan's characterisation and smarts aren't wildly inconsistent.

[solo]

It looks like a calligraphy brush to me but I'm sure people more knowledgeable can confirm that.

[demitas]

Guo Changcheng used it for calligraphy in one of the early episodes, so I've always assumed it was a calligraphy brush.

[likealeafonthewind]

I was rewatching episode 14, where Guo Changcheng writes with it at Wang Xiangyang's request and Wang Xiangyang says that it's an heirloom of his and he only uses it to bring good luck to his shop. Since the brush can also apparently give people power who didn't have any before and create energy storage cells, I'm wondering if maybe the brush's power is that whatever it's used to write becomes reality?

[solo]

That could definitely be part of it because Zhu Jiu presumably used it on that writer whose stories turned true.

[trobadora]

When does Zhu Jiu have access to the Merit Brush?

[solo]

I checked, and the answer is never. I got confused. :)