EPISODE 28

The following is a semi recap plus review plus opinion on the specific episodes, emphasising more on the review than the recap. Spoilers alert and highly opinionated. Read at your peril.

So many quotes I can choose from from this very eventful episode but I suppose I will go for the following which is probably the most emotional of all for me;

HQG : Shifu, you know I am your fated calamity. At first I did not believe Immortal Wu Gou when he told me I am your fated calamity. But I saw how you lost half your power whenever you touch me. Then I began to believe. Why shifu, why keep me by your side?

BZH : I saw how hard you tried at the Swords Competition, even with your own life and I thought to myself, it wouldn't be so bad to have a disciple.

HQG : The reason is so simple?

BZH : Yes, it is that simple. Everything is in the end very simple. Xiaogu, all I want for you is for you to remain the simple and happy girl you are.

HQG : I will shifu, I will.

And all these will go kaput in the next few episodes.

But first a few curiosity with this episode. Whilst it is exciting and moves the plot forward on major speed, it has a few problems for me.

For one, someone forgot to add in the special effect in the scene shifu and HQG entered the cave at Snow Mountain.

The next scene was supposed to light up and when he left the light went out. Something was missing from the palm of his hands.

Then there's a cauldron that looks more like those Earth globe thing;

It looks ancient, but cauldron? No... not cauldron. 

Then there's the whole "I touch you, you lost half your power" talk I quoted above. The moment HQG entered Changliu, this tiny little fact about HQG absorbing shifu's power and so weakened him never once occurred and he touched her many many times. Suddenly she said she noticed it. When? It felt terribly inconsistent and I don't think TV version ever addressed that too.

Then there's the whole play in the snow which was nice, after all shifu is smiling, Xiaogu is happy even if they were enjoying themselves in the middle of a dark terrible snow storm. And then she fell and rolled off the cliff, LITERALLY.

Guess who saved her? Well she can save herself but here shifu came flying to save her and he touched her hand, no power drain. Oh he doesn't show it. Or he got used to it. Or just convenient plot device.

Point is, why is HQG in constant need of being rescued by her shifu even when she can save herself? And the many times she put herself in peril, and the many times her busy shifu had to turn back to save her, I feel he should have been dead by now or HQG should have smartened up. I don't like this point. I don't like how she is forever the damsel in distress whenever she is with her shifu when she is capable of saving herself. It is like she expects to be saved, she wants to be saved and when she was in the cauldron she knew she was on the cauldron (because her blood did not kill the flowers, so she knew it was all an illusion) and yet she screamed shifu shifu shifu expecting to be saved. In a way when she and Zixun started fighting and it ended with her stabbing her shifu like this...

which was very very dramatic but we should gave guessed it was an illusion also because Zixun wasn't particularly concerned. The stabbing in the cauldron will cause the cauldron to poison the injured and so HQG immediately dropped down to suck the poison from her shifu which convinced Zixun that HQG was deeply in love with BZH that she willingly give her life to save BZH. Oh she hasn't got the memo that HQG will be stealing the deity magical devices which will be major major stuff. Zixun just probably couldn't understand a disciple can be totally devoted to BZH. But she is right; HQG is in love with BZH. Anyway as she became poisoned herself, real BZH appeared and began to suck the poison out of HQG. That time on the outside SCQ decided to close the illusion and reveal it was the real cauldron and BZH told Zixun to leave, which she won't without BZH and so he pushed her out and at that point, he could have flew out with HQG and then suck the poison outside but he decided to stay back to suck the poison there and then and then pushed HQG out with his remaining last powers.

At that point I feel BZH has a death wish and he basically confirmed it when he told HQG;

Maybe my time is up

Errrr... no... not yet... if you leave now still got time or maybe he had only power to push one out but if he had left earlier.. you know.. I don't get it.

No worries. Because HQG won't leave her shifu, she wanted to die with him but he pushed her out, she put a brake to it in mid air as they were all being cooked by the Magical Fire inside the cauldron (the same fire that was used to cook Monkey King by the way) and she screamed her heart out, eyes turned purple or violet and her shifu stared in shock in that moment of revelation of who she was and then...

wait until next episode.

But BZH is already poisoned. He got poisoned because..

a, HQG sucked the cauldron poison from the fake BZH 

b. real BZH in turn sucked the poison out of HQG.

Poison has no antidote.

I am getting a bit tired of Zixun and her constant need to..

a. protect BZH who doesn't need her protection. Yes he needs protection from HQG but not with Zixun's help

b. hatred for HQG. That's pure jealousy.

She blamed Tan Fan's death on HQG although she acknowledged he died saving her. Also curiously Tan Fan may become mist in the air, he can still speak and he said;

Don't be afraid Zixun. Even if I am a mist, I am still with you, always. Do not ever be afraid.

And I was thinking.

eh, so they don't die, they float around as mists? And also Tan Fan's last message should be "don't indulge in hatred Zixun, let go, let it all go". She is  not afraid, she is pissed. So pissed she became a fallen angel. The subtitles said fallen immortal. Now she is STILL an immortal because immortal in general terms mean someone who lives forever, am I right? So basically she is a fallen fairy or angel and the immortal used here is to denote "xian" which is fairy or immortal. But she is not gonna grow old and die. She will live forever but basically she went from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader and that is even more scary because she is a woman full of hate.

She did asked BZH a good question though. Why did she ever fell for him instead of the unspoken name, Tan Fan? Maybe BZH is her fated calamity.

Anyway  she was approached by SCQ to help his diabolical plans; steal all magical deity devices. And he is doing this whilst SQM is locked inside the fiery volcanic hold (literally because he jumped into it) for 3 months to cure himself. And I can't remember he actually came out of his delusions prior to this. And as usual, whatever SQM says, SCQ never listens. Like "if Little Thing comes to see me, immediately notify me" but hey, SCQ never intended to do that. He in fact intended to KILL HQG. Come on, take a number.

I also couldn't understand when did they entered the cauldron because getting out requires ripping the sky and flying out. Snow scene means outside, beautiful mountain means an illusion. Was it when they first entered the cave? So when they left, they left the cauldron? I don't get it. And how does the cauldron work? Anyway, Zixun couldn't believe a disciple will risk her life for her master. Maybe because master is BZH. She couldn't believe when BZH and HQG was in the cauldron, and in a marital night illusion, fueled by her scent which makes people hallucinate. Zixun, hallucinating isn't one's deepest desire or the truth, it is just a hallucination. HQG saw her shifu in groom's costume but I feel the rest of the scene with her eyes closed and BZH's eyes opened with Zixun observing them as he looked at HQG the bride asking BZH the groom;

I am your wife. Will you marry me if I am not your disciple? Do you... want (desire) me?

Took BZH a second to say; 

NO! You will always be my disciple! Why everything has to be love or hate? Zixun, I have cut ties with my emotions a long time ago! You musn't indulge too much in yours!

And Zixun of course couldn't believe it. Damn that woman. Either way you're screwed. Anyway I felt this scene is inadequate. HQG's eyes should be opened. Someone's hallucination is fueling the scene; was it HQG? Was it Zixun? When BZH was weakened and that was when HQG asked "Do you desire me", it gave me the impression that BZH is fueling that hallucination. Or maybe not. Well he did say no, his usual way of being determined and I felt he genuinely felt that way. He doesn't desire HQG but he loves her, no doubt. He wants the best for her, something outside being father figure but not quite a lover. I would have loved it if HQG's eyes was fixated at that scene, that this was what she wanted so that it ties in well with the subsequent willingness to let him drink her blood, kiss her lips and eventually all that she did for him, apart from just the fact that he got poisoned because of her. What

drove her to such acts was not guilt; it was ultimately love and love because all these opened up her womanly desire by seeing such scenes. A pity. And the next was BZH pushing away the illusion and it was funny; he slammed the illusion with such force they fell into the bed. I thought the better way was for just the scene to dissipate.

Also to give credit to BZH, he was kinda shocked to see Zixun becoming that way and Tan Fan dead. Zixun of course used this to reaffirm her intention to kill HQG. Point is whatever she said felt more like a scorned woman than anything else.

Those are the few problems, and those are second half.

Now rewind to first half.

Tan Fan dies. Zixun now has more darker colour options for her costumes and heavier make up. And she kills more people. And she has more pimples. Very stressed woman.

HQG was preparing herself to leave her shifu because she knew she would kill him one day. And as I recapped above so that you can see my point here, she certainly almost did without really wanting to. But before she left, she made him one final Plum Blossom soup and it showed how much BZH has lightened up when he said;

The plum blossoms here are not as delicious as in Changliu. After you are better, we shall immediately leave for Changliu.

She combed his hair and well, his hair was beautifully messy. But he was troubled; because of Zixun. He was worried but he felt all should be ok because Tan Fan was there but he felt an unease. He asked HQG not to be angry with Zixun and HQG said she wasn't angry at all. So that settles it for them.

Then Dongfang appeared and informed BZH Sect Leader Wen was kidnapped by SCQ and a female demon. He neglected to tell him who it was. BZH immediately left for Snow Mountain and forbidding HQG from going with him. At this point Dongfang looked like he was glad she was not going. I think he felt pretty conflicted. Anyway Donghua asked why he didn't tell BZH the identity of the demon woman. He said he wanted BZH to feel the impact when he saw with his own eyes it was Zixun. Donghua of course said what would have been my Quote if not for a better Quote;

Do you think BZH can be easily defeated? He has left his disciple at Shu Shan and he is going to Snow Mountain alone. He is facing his enemies without worries. He has nothing to hold him back. You have severely underestimated BZH.

Well Donghua, you have also miscalculated that HQG will follow his shifu and the rest is as I first recapped above. But before that, BZH ran into the Sect Leader Wen and Wen was touched by the fact that BZH will come so far to help him and he said;

I realise now that I am inadequate in your presence not because of skills or power; it is mercy. I thank you for coming to rescue me.

But errrr BZH was too busy to stop for small talk because HQG needed rescuing.

HQG, please leave your shifu before you kill him.. wait.. since I am about 5 episodes behind or something like that, just so you prepare yourself, the next 5 episodes or so you will see BZH slowly dying of poison and that will explain why HQG will risk everything to save her shifu and yet again, her need to be rescued and blaming him for not rescuing her to me kinda run smack into a tiny smidgen of hypocrisy on the part of HQG.

Anyway, don't get me wrong. I love HQG. I do. I love this series! I love this episode!!!!!  But I feel the editing is at best choppy for some scenes, careless missing special effects, inappropriate scenes for some where I felt could have been done better and the running consistent theme;

1. No one ever listens to SQM

2. No one ever listens to BZH

3. HQG constant need to be rescued

4. HQG constant need to trouble her shifu

Especially points 1 and 2. SQC never listens to SQM. HQG never listens to BZH. Both these disciples listen to their own hearts. True! I feel at this point only 2 are consistent; Dongfang and BZH in terms of clarity. Each knows exactly what they want and they're driven not by their hearts or minds but purpose which makes them less reckless. But BZH is doomed. And HQG indeed is his downfall and the reason is simple. He cared for her too much and she in turn would force him to confront his feelings when if she hadn't she would have had her wish to be his disciple forever.

Anyway this episode has some major great stuff like...

Scenery!! So beautiful!!

Snow scene was cute and all except I don't see how anyone can play happily in such a great dark snow storm. Anyway, never forget, handsome shifu. If you are watching the Full HD version, you will see Jiangxin has pimples, others have not so good skin but Wallace Huo, my god, his skin.. flawless and the camera was pretty up close most of the time...

I do like some of the special effects in here for the cauldron even if it is NOT a cauldron. Overall, this is a massively enjoyable episode, a huge moving forward for the plot for the next heartache coming soon but still.. more could be done for certain scenes, especially those illusion scenes. Since I am writing this in hindsight of what HQG will be doing for her shifu, perhaps the criticism of her having the damsel in distress thing may be a tad too harsh. She will repay ten folds for what her shifu did for her because sometimes, dying with dignity is better than living in pain and suffering but then shifu too will payback in kind much much much later for all that he had failed to do for HQG.

In short, HQG should have just left her shifu and her shifu should have not taken her in as a disciple. The fated calamity thing is coming true and I wonder, will someone always fall in love with his fated calamity thus that itself is the calamity? Or perhaps there is no calamity,just the actions of those who believes in such thing called calamity? And shouldn't one who does kind things be repaid in kindness? BZH by not killing HQG should have a mutually beneficial consequence? Or perhaps this is the true test, the ultimate test to ones resilience in life? Did BZH or HQG actually failed this test or perhaps the test was an impossible test in the first place?

Oh dear, my review is becoming a recap! And I am so many episodes  behind which is ok since I doubt you're depending on my review to know what went on. My apologies for being so slow; I was waiting for the subtitles and busy building this blog. I think the next few episodes will be faster for me since it is just shifu being poisoned and dying for the next... 3 or 4 episodes. Can combine those into one.