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

[solo]

Longevity Dial, as jo_lasalle says.

AFAIK the Mountain-River Awl strips out human/Dixingian essences and binds them to things like... pillars.

The Merit Brush seems to either awaken (e.g. Zu Ma) or enhance (e.g. Sha Ya) Dixingren powers. And clearly it can also build... um. Power storage facilities?

The Guardian Lantern I'm least clear about. I don't know what it does by itself but it's necessary for the Holy Tools to be able to act in concert. (Or for fusing them, if that' what you're after.)

[solo]

ETA re consequences, well, we know of the LD.

I can't offhand remember if the MRA was invoked by Sang Zan when it stuck him in the pillar or was floating around randomly and did it. I'm not very strong the flashbacks in the Hanga Arc.

The Merit Brush definitely comes with a cost when non-Dixingren use is - its corrupting power basically kills off Wang Xiangyang in the end.

Guardian Lantern - if ur the wick, it kills u ded. What happens after that is perhaps a matter for speculation.

Spoilers for episode 10+11

[mekare]

Re Mount River Awl, I believe it was an heirloom in his tribe and he held it in his hand when he buried Wang Zheng. I don‘t think he consciously activated it? Which makes it all the stranger.

So strike that. I rewatched. At the end of episode 10 Sang San uses the Awl thinking it will save Wang Zheng‘s life (he only knows it‘s a hallow). He strips her spirit from her corpse/almost dead body. But then nothing happens so he buries her with it. Black Cloak Envoy says that in contrast to the Longevity Dial the Awl cannot save lives but its 'most special effect [is] stripping the energy body forcibly from the flesh forming a permanent body. But The one stripped may not even be able to achieve the most basic form of solidification.' That happens to Wang Zheng who initally is a light without form.

In episode 11 the enraged tribe dig up Wang Zheng, Sang Zan comes to her 'rescue', has the Awl in hand and curses the tribe. At that point the Awl activates and strips Sang Zan (he also mentioned something about wanting to escape slavery all his life beforehand, maybe that was the spark?) he wants them all to die and apparently thinks he can use the Awl for that. It isn‚t entirely clear why the Awl bans him into a pillar with chains, maybe for his evil intentions? Wang Zheng tries to stop him and now that he is almost a ghost too he can see her formless light. But he still gets buried in the pillar with his tattoo on it. Hum.

Cut to a fully formed Wang Zheng with amnesia being found by Yunlan and the cat in the future.

[asya_ana]

Thanks for these thoughts!

"Power storage facilities" > Is that something you are filling in the blanks with, or is that stated more directly in the show?

[solo]

There's something when the MOTMB is waving the brush around over Dragon City and Ya Qing says something about power reactors (to fuel Ye Zun's return)? I was too busy to look it up earlier but will see if I can find it now.

[solo]

Ep 29, 0:34:56.10:

The role of the Merit Brush is to build lots of energy reactors to destroy the imprisonment of the Pillar in Dixing.

I admit this is an episode where I went over the subs early, before I got a bit more, uh, obsessive about what exactly might be meant. But afaik this, perhaps in less coherent English, is what was in the original subs.

[extrapenguin]

There's the bit where drawing sigils with it into the air generates energy somethings that break Ye Zun's bounds and let him escape. Of course, it could be that that was the Dixing power it granted for Wang Xiangyang (and he used the Merit Brush to do it just for show) and the escape thing was unrelated to the Brush's core power.