Guardian Tuesday

[marcicat]

Working back through the final episodes (why is it *harder* the second time?) -- 37 over the weekend, and 38 last night.

*Ma Gui sure did live a long time, huh? If the war was 10,000 years ago, and he was an adult (adult-adjacent? old enough to be one of the leaders of the alliance, at least?), and then Zhang Shi was born 9900 years ago, and presumably had to -- grow up? And then he was Ma Gui's student?

[*I feel like this could be hand-waved by saying that the "10,000 years" is just an estimate, like no one wants to say 9,951 years ago constantly; that would just be a pain. And maybe when Zhang Shi says "student" he means "Ma Gui was my first host as a wee bb!symbiote but that gets awkward to talk about in mixed company, so let's just go with student." OR! We could say that Ma Gui had SUPER LONGEVITY! Probably because he loved peace so much!]**

(**Also, Zhang Shi totally implies that Ma Gui told him to find Zhao Yunlan on that specific day and tell him about the Guardian Lantern, right? 'Hey, our convo got cut off, can you carry a message for me? Just gotta remember it for, oh, 9000 years, give or take. Thanks pal!')

*Fu You was a snake yashou, huh? Really? So she just dressed like the flower tribe and had a sacred plant as her most treasured artifact from an alien planet because reasons? (Maybe because she loved peace!***)

[*Okay this could probably also be hand-waved by saying that as the High Chief, she was actually wearing an outfit representative of multiple yashou tribes, but I think it would be very funny if she was not actually a snake yashou at all, the story just got confused after 10,000 years.]

(***They all say this a lot in the time travel episodes. They love peace! It's an interesting refrain for a pair of eps about a conflict so significant that 10,000 years later it's still referred to as "the war.")

*Is Zhao Yunlan BAD AT HUGGING? Or is he just bad at hugging his dad, because it's weird that now he's taller than him and it's been 20 years since they last hugged??? Now I'm worried -- does he hug anyone else in the show? My brain is drawing a blank!

[*Or is it his dad who is bad at hugging? (Spoiler: yes.) Just saying, that was an awkward embrace, guys.]

Comments

[starandrea]

He hugs Zhu Hong at least twice! When Shen Wei pushes her to him at the festival (when he calls him Xiao Wei), and again in her dream just before they come back.

I blame his dad. "Your dad is such a disappointment, honestly!"

[marcicat]

Of course! Good call; clearly not an overall hug challenge. What a relief!

[marcicat]

IMPORTANT ETA: He hugs Zhang Shi in a flashback in Ep 40 and it is a totally different hug experience than when he hugs his dad. (And it was very emotional, yes, but at the same time I couldn't help thinking 'lol Zhang Shi has been STEALING ALL THE HUGS FOR 20 YEARS!)

[starandrea]

EMOTIONALLY THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

[alexseanchai]

"ten thousand" is figurative for "many lots", like how USois say "million". it might be an accurate count, rounded off some. in a work of fiction from China, I would not bet on that.

[marcicat]

Makes sense to me!

[wildforce71]

For a second there I thought you meant 37 episodes...

[marcicat]

That would have been a marathon for sure! I can see it was unclear; I’m glad you decided it was unlikely that I spent 37 hours watching tv in two days!