A new thread is in order to avoid spoilers for the final episodes. Besides, the other thread is getting too long.
Love Between Fairy and Devil: Open Thread
Love Between Fairy & Devil: Dongfang Qingcang’s Appreciation Thread
Gifs from belsmultifandommess’ tumblr
Let’s enjoy the show!
Thanks so much @pkml3! You kind of read my mind.
I do like that blue-darker colour and gold trimmed outer robe plus that inner robe with stripes of red and gold patterns.
Which episodes are you at?
I’ve a long way to go, @GB. I’m only at Ep 18. 🙂
That’s OK @pkml3, take your time. I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve watched so far.
To get down to discussing this show, I don’t mind doing more than 1 rewatch. That’s how crazy I am! LOL. I’ll come by and chat with you if you have time to post.
Yay! Thanks @pm3! I was almost going to post something in the other thread when I saw this. Enjoy your watch!
I’m doing a concurrent rewatch now at ep5 but is very slow because I’m doing screencaps for my favourite parts.
Putting this comment here I was going to put in the other thread.
@GB same for me, I didn’t expect to be so sucked into this drama. It has been a long time since I have been so invested in a drama.
I’m following on twitter
@secretsforests because she does good translations and useful ones, I think you will be spoiled with all the things she has posted.
This one she posted is really really good. Someone actually went to collate some details that most of use would have easily missed. Also goes to show that it is well thought through.
https://twitter.com/secretsforests/status/1560898487419514880?s=20
The other one is Embracing Fiction
https://twitter.com/EmbraceFiction?s=20
She is raving about the drama as much as you and me
One last link to the filming of the saddest scene. Esther Yu continued to cry as Dylan continues shooting that scene. ARgh…I’m going to have such a broken heart, especially after brawling while watching Love like The Galaxy last night.
https://twitter.com/yushuxinEsth79/status/1563511616619945985?s=20&t=M35nxc9fxPaVu3to9JEmYw
I’m excited to watch the episodes tonight, it’s like a kid waiting anxiously to open her christmas present.
@grace Thanks a million!!! Just the stuff I need to keep me going while I wait impatiently for the episodes to drop. I was hoping they’d be in by now, but it looks like I have to wait a while more. I hope they really do drop today/tonight!
I don’t normally go to twitter at all. I couldn’t even remember my login at first. But now that you’ve pointed out some sites that rave like we do, I’ll be dipping in tweets for a while to come.
I scour Instagram but there isn’t much, YT takes time for stuff to come out and Weibo super topic has all the highlights now actually. Wasn’t sure how much highlights I want to watch.
I also saw a clip that MS went into a dream state for a long time dreaming of Orchid. We get lovely times that they didn’t get to experience. The ep32 preview was his dream which matches OST 6.
Thanks @grace. So my guess about the dream was right.
The episodes have just dropped!!! See you in 90 minutes or tomorrow!!!
@pm3 thanks for post!
Hi ladies!!! I’m obsessed too with this one. First for a cdrama for me. I have been looking at other sites just to get glimpses of the story before episodes drop lol
Thank you @grace for sharing. Will have to check it. Will be back tomorrow. Enjoy the show!
Hi @Carolina! Join the crazy bunch here.
Episodes 31 and 32 – so intense and so good … I was gripping my seat and not able to sit still for about one third of the time. The two episodes were quite balanced in distribution of emotion and ended with hope.
I actually look forward to rewatching these episodes. More juicy bits to catch.
Just a quick one before I go look for previews. They really used the OSTs really well here. 3 of them in episode 31 aptly placed.
Would have to say ep31 is the saddest episode of the drama. All the bgm and ost and cgi just came together really well to bring that whole emotional intensity and glorious sacrifice Orchid did to save MS, and ultimately save all in the realm.
And episode 32 is the beginning of hope. It won’t be an easy journey but as you said @GB, hope is the word. I’m looking forward to tomorrow!
@pm3 thanks for the new post. My finger hurt from scrolling the previous OT, so many comments hah.
@grace, I’m checking the same tweeters on Twitter, a site I rarely ever go to but they both have interesting commentary and also subbed videos.
Regarding the 2 eps, I was quite surprised that it was really fast paced. In a normal drama, the battle scene would have one or two episodes on its own. Not here, they like to keep the script tight. And if you check the translated interview of the executive producer on translated by @secretsforests, you’ll realize it’s also intentional . They have decided to not go the filler route. I’ll really keep a lookout for tjis production company’s projects.
@grace and @wapz
I’m about to rewatch these two episodes 31 and 32.
Yes, same thing struck me about the OSTs. The were just so right for those scenes. Whomped us with maximum impact, as you say.
@wapz, I’m the same about Twitter. But now that I have the links, I enjoyed going in to read more about the making of and decisions made for this show. I hope this Stellar production company can maintain these decisions to never go in for filler and to always be innovative. They mentioned that they are ‘younger’ and want to try things that are new and creative.
May they keep up with their resolve to keeping the integrity of the IP and production. I, too, look forward to more work by them.
Ep 31 & 32
Very entertaining episodes. Visually spectacular. Awesome CGI! The plot did go somewhat what we predicted. DF CQ just pretended not to love her. Despite being hurt by DF CQ words, Orchid reserved her last words to tell DF CQ even he is so annoying, she still likes him. We all know it is coming but Dylan and Esther’s emotional scenes still made me teary.
There is a parallel. DF CQ’s dad pushed him away at the verge of the war, cruel to be kind. Yet DF CQ still loves his father. This round DF CQ’s pushed Orchid away for the same reason and she still loves him.
I felt that is the what love story between fairy and devil is about. No matter how bad the devil (DF CQ) is, the fairy (Orchid) still loves him even if it puts her in danger/death. Yet, the devil (DF QC) will always save Orchid. Every single time. Including this time. Like @Grace said in the appreciation thread, he is willing to do so despite seeing her marry someone else for sure. His love is above being processive now.
That dream somewhat makes me think of the Red Sleeves. Junho didn’t wake up (for good reasons) but DF CQ did (also for good reasons).
So here is the Master! In the novel the master was in the Destruction of Heaven with her dragon lover and was instrumental in restoring Orchid spirit. The Destruction of Heaven is beautiful constructed the drama. I could never imagine it like this by reading, I would imagine it somewhere in the wilderness. The introduced the Master and the dragon lover well. I am willing to watch their drama when it is finally filmed. (successful marketing!)
When I rewatched ep 1 to count the colourful balls of light in their first encounter, they did visually transfer something from Orchid to DF CQ. Back then, I thought it was her energy, but now I know it was a fragment of her spirit. Good planning of the production team. Planted in detail for us to hunt back and will make this drama worth re watching.
With 4 episodes left, there should be enough time to save Orchid, seeing Orchid married and should have enough time to win her back. Will there be a battle between the Evil God one last time? I am waiting to see the fall of Rong Hou.
@Viva these episodes 31 and 32 were stunning, weren’t they!! Yes the visuals took my breath away. And to think that the actors had to act all those scenes, while they only saw blue screen and props around them that looked nothing like the CG that was going to be added to the show. They too were awed by the great CG.
Yes, that parallel of pushing Fairy away reminded me how DFQC’s father had deliberately broken the zither that DFQC had given him and this time he broke the flower bracelet that Fairy had made for him. Dylan played the part of the lover in anguish over hurting his beloved very well.
Yes, I liked Master Arbiter’s story. If they can make something interesting of it I’d watch it too. Since we are thinking of Arbiter, it occurred to me that the Arbiter Hall is a very significant place.
Comparisons of the Illusions of Arbiter Hall
The illusion of Arbiter Hall by Rong Hao, and his impersonation of CH was to trick Fairy into fixing Chidi’s Destiny Book. He was self-serving.
In Ep 32 he continues to use illusion. He creates a fake beautiful bright Bamboo Forest for Chidi, to keep her with him always in his own dream world. (The illusion kept the memory of her 1,000 past lives from affecting her.) His objective was selfish.
MS creates a dream Arbiter Hall because he cannot accept the reality of losing Fairy Orchid. It is the one place MS had been free of responsibility except for caring for Fairy, and where he’d fallen in love with her, before he knew it. It became their love nest away from reality and responsibility. He is grieving and his objective is self-preservation.
We have yet another rendering of Arbiter Hall in Destruction of Heaven – a love nest for Arbiter and her husband Chang Yuan. She is being punished and cannot return to the Fairy Realm, yet she is immensely powerful where she is, since she holds the knowledge of all that had or would happen, and is able to draw into reality, anything she wanted. (That’s scary power.) So she chose to be imprisoned in her beloved Arbiter Hall away from the three realms.
– Arbiter Hall is where the Tianji Mirror pops up more often.
– It’s where the Destiny Book tree gives access to the fates of everyone. It’s interesting that Arbiter gives DFQC Fairy’s Destiny Book. She is violating the rules again since no one is allowed to know the destiny of another.
– It is the most home-like place for MS and Fairy since they lived there before without servants and guards and in MS’s dream it’s their marriage home. I love how he really valued just being quiet and home with his beloved, away from war and leadership responsibilities, just like Fairy noted at Yun Meng.
– It’s likely to end up us their real home (or their holiday retreat) when they do manage to get back together after the vicissitudes of the prophecy have passed. 🙂
Ignorance and Hope
CH vacillates between seeing knowledge as a reason for hope and also ignorance as a reason for hope.
He thanked Danyin for telling him about the Tianji Mirror’s prophecy that he and Fairy would be married in the future. This knowledge gave hope that they would be able to resurrect Fairy.
Yet when he and MS first arrived at Destruction of Heaven, he explains that he never told Fairy about the possibility that her Master lived in this place.
CH says to MS : “The Destruction of Heaven is beyond the three realms, where karma is silent. There is no exit for living things and only the star river is always there. Even I do not know if the Arbiter is still alive or not. I didn’t tell Orchid because I didn’t want her to be sad. If she does not know, there’s still hope.” Her ignorance of the punishment of her master gave her ‘false’ hope that master would return?
But they go to the Arbiter Hall (plothole how did they know if Arbiter had any useful info. Guesswork says that since she was there from the beginnings of Fairy, she would have known?) on the long shot that 1) Arbiter is alive and at home
2) that she’ll see them
3) that she has information they need and
4) that she will tell them.
Arbiter does have exactly the information that they need which gives them hope.
Comparisons
1)RH wanted to save Chidi for himself. It was his selfishness and greed that got him to agree to make a deal with Evil God, at the expense of other people’s lives. He keeps justifying it by saying he had no choice, but he did. He could have let Chidi die in peace.
Then he thinks once the evil deal is completed and he gets what he wants, he can just walk away from Evil God. The poor sod is so mistaken, and finds out most shockingly when EG waltzes into his private mind space where his love for Chidi was ‘pure’.
Moon Supreme was tempted to make use of evil spirits too. For him it was a last resort, to save not only Fairy but his people from annihilation.
2)RH gave up at the loss of his master and wanted to die with Chidi -he was on the brink of committing suicide with her when Evil God came along to tempt him to kill a whole bunch of people to keep Chidi alive.
MS sought ways and means that would not physically harm Fairy. Arbiter tells him that Fairy’s primordial spirit is in his primordial spirit but it has to be peeled off for her to be ‘regrown’ and reborn in the land of Xilan. I’m thinking that the process of having the primordial spirit peeled off will be ‘killing’ for MS. So he will be willing to go through that for her instead of looking to Evil God for an easy fix.
3)It’s MS and Danyin who can see the future in Tianji Mirror but not CH (and even Fairy never seemed to see anything).
Arbiter says : “Everything in the mirror is a prophecy. Those who can see the prophecy can definitely make this marriage happen.” (The irony is that both Danyin and MS don’t want the marriage between CH and Fairy to happen but they are the ones who see the prophecy and who are to make it happen.)
@GB Thank you for the detailed analysis. Yes, our predictions about what happened turned out to be largely correct, Dongfang’s act, Orchid’s sacrifice and eventual end to war. Also, as suspected, the master Arbiter must have known the outcome of Orchid’s fate all along and hence was kept out of our view by the plot. Now she comes back to play a crucial role in Orchid’s rebirth.
Anyone else noticed that the Tianji Mirror shows the reality but from different angles or at different stages of the time period?
When it had shown CH and Orchid in red marriage robes, it actually came to pass in the mortal realm but it wasn’t the endgame. CH and Orchid’s marriage didn’t really happen ultimately. So while the wedding procession and attire was real, the event it was leading to didn’t take place.
I felt the same for the vision in the last episode. It showed the back and then the pair on white walking towards someone, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Orchid will end up marrying CH. I think it’s a trick of the eyes or fate deliberately concealing the end outcome so noone can tamper with it.
I think this is why the Arbiter said whatever is shown by the mirror is true and will happen but simce she knows the one destined for Orchod/Goddess of X is still Dongfang, she stops him and not CH to give him Orchid’s destiny book.
I do like the bromance between CH and Dongfang, how CH went into the dream to wake him up. I think CH knows he needs Dongfang to revive Orchid and so he didn’t go to see the Arbiter on his own. I also found it funny in tje middle of all this sorrow and drama, the Arbiter (like a true guardian) beat up Dongfang for kidnapping and trying to use Orchid in the beginning when her master was not around to save her. Gave me the feeling of an overprotective parent when they try to test their would-be son-in-law and reprimand them for mistreating their daughter. Now of course we know the Arbiter didn’t deliberately disappear on Orchid but was punished by the heavenly court.
Heh @Phoenix… I’ll get back to you. As expected, this Show has raised a whole bunch of weird or extra thoughts in my mind. I’ll break them up into many parts, and they are NOT in any chronological order.
Ad Hoc Thoughts
Plan that went sideways
In Episode 30-31, MS wanted CH to disabuse Fairy of his goodness and show her, her roots in Xishan.
Flashback conversation of SQ to MS : “So you deliberately let CH take Fairy away from here. Why did you do that?”
MS : “Am I stupid? CH will surely take her to Xishan to find her identity. (How did he know this? Just a good guess?) I am the culprit who slaughtered the Xilan Clan. No matter how benevolent she is, the Xilan consisted of her parents and family. With this hatred of slaughtering her people, (we get a strange camera angle where his head looks bigger than his shoulders, a sign he is lying?) her love for me can be shaken, and the Bone Orchid can be broken. Then she won’t love me anymore. This is the only way to save her life.”
So the plan was for XF to follow Fairy, bring her to Shuo Feng and break the Bone Orchid. However (as I said I never trusted XF) he’s quite eager for her to commit suicide using the Chen Ying Sword if she wishes.
Fairy to XF : “Where is the Chen Ying Sword?”
XF : “What do you want to do?”
Fairy : “Take me to Xuanxu Realm.”
As expected, XF is less loyal to the wishes of his brother to keep Fairy safe than he is to the duties of saving his people. He does not argue.
I wonder how much of the Chen Ying sword saga MS could have guessed. That sword had no business turning up at Shuo Feng unless XF had given it to Fairy. Still we will probably never see XF reprimanded for this.
Continuation of Ad Hoc Thoughts…
Exposition and Lack of Privacy
Pity so many things had to happen off camera so we only caught a glimpse of what the ‘boat ride’ to Destruction of Heaven would have looked like. The Star River was beautiful. We hear about it in the expository conversation between CH and MS who note that the Arbiter must have known that both of them would be coming to see her since she had drawn into existence the fireflies to guide their boat to her and had left flower cakes in the boat. The fire flies and the flower cakes harked back to what had been private and personal between CH and Fairy or MS and Fairy respectively and yet Arbiter knew. She’s more in the know than lousy Yun Zhong or even Evil God. But oh dear, there’s no privacy for the lovers is there?!
Separately, I thought it was a clever narrative device to get Jie Li to give SQ all the news reports about what happened to everyone after the battle, in one go, so that we are informed as well.
Necessary CG and Flying Hair
I was thinking it’s good that so much is CG because acting during the battle in that sandstorm would have been impossible. There’s loads of CG everywhere, but the one that stood out where CG must have been used was in Arbiter’s Hall in Destruction of Heaven, which was so filled with candles on the floor. Long robes never caught fire although dragged across them. However in these scenes the CG was outstanding. It was so convincing, … so immersive.
The thought that hit me when I saw the messed up wind-blown hair was that the wardrobe staff were going to have quite a time combing everything smooth again for the next scene LOL.
Reliance on Traditional Ways and the Improbably
One of those things that I find strange together with how they travel on foot so much when they can fly, have dragons and other beasts that they can mount, etc.:
It’s interesting that although both Moon Tribe and Fairies have magical powers, the battle is still done in hand-to-hand combat with common weapons. I noticed that fairies may magically blow a few opponents away but they did not have a way to kill a wide swath of soldiers. What happened to the raining down of arrows of light that the Fairies displayed from the sky? Presumably they can only congregate in cloud levels over Shuiyuntian or over the Memory Loss River?
The fairies were killed as easily as any mortal, although they belonged to the immortal race. It’s no wonder then that Hellfire is such a sought after way of defence. A single MS with his Hellfire power intact is better than the whole army. However even he had the 100,000 strong army who were supposed to back him up. I found that a bit puzzling.
I was very taken with the women of the Moon Tribe, widows with flowers in their hair, without any armour, standing ready to fight or die. They impressed me more than the men. Seeing the fighting going on between those clad in black and those clad in white was visually spectacular. In the end, there seemed to be an equal number of dead on both sides. I expected the white armoured ones to be still standing, but we didn’t get to see any alive.
Chang Heng’s Ability to Turn Up Just in Time
PlothoIe?: I was wondering how Chang Heng knew where RH was or what he was doing to Fairy, (was he able to see through all that sandstorm that RH had magically grabbed hold of Fairy and gone to a quiet part of the desert? He is better than MS who relied on the Heart Curse!) but in the nick of time, CH locates RH and comes to distract RH from slowly killing Fairy.
He also turned up just in time in MS’s dream when he’d just seen the prophecy again in the Tianji Mirror. CH was there at the right time to point out that there was a future wedding ie the hope that they could resurrect the real Fairy Orchid. If not for CH’s logical arguments and the concerted effort of XF, SQ and the others to wake MS up, he would have been lost forever. So it was a first collaborative effort of the Shuiyuntian and Moon Tribe, since the betrayal of Yannv.
@Phoenix, I like your point about the Tianji Mirror. You may be right that the Mirror may be masking the truth by showing bits and pieces and from different times and angles so that we only gets some of the prophecy and not all.
Interesting thought that
Yes, so to avoid tampering with what will happen, Arbiter decides to just break the rules, marry the guilty dragon and get punished far away so that her fore-knowledge does not mess things up.
You also have a point here. I wondered why she bothered to give the book to anyone. It was a very complete book ie no holes that needed repairing, which meant that Fairy’s Destiny or her Fate Poem could be read. Arbiter wanted MS to know something.
Me too. The real brother XF was surprised that CH helped to revive his brother, not knowing that they’d become ‘oath brothers’ in Yun Meng. Meantime, poor Danyin is shocked to learn that she has a twin sister in Jie Li!! There seems to be a bit of mirror imaging between what happens in Cangyan and what happens at Shuiyuntian. 🙂
More Ad Hoc Thoughts…
Chidi and Yun Zhong
I don’t think RH’s bringing Chidi back to life was a good thing for her at all. Not only does she feel terrible guilt at what he’d done to resurrect her, but she ends up back in the old job working for Yun Zhong!!!
Yun Zhong is his usual callous self, deciding what others should do and judging arbitrarily as he pleases. He decides he still needs Chidi.
YZ to Chidi : “The fairy is dead. We cannot lose the God of War again. Now the two races have stopped fighting, but the 100,000 soldiers have revived. (In other words he does not trust the Moon Tribe and wants to keep the God of War around to fight in case the 100,000 soldiers are sent to war again.) I hope the God of War will prioritise the overall situation, bear the responsibility (as if her dying one time is not enough!!!) and continue to protect Shuiyuntian.” (He’s playing on her feeling of guilt over what RH as done.) Of course when he gives her back the Shuo Feng Sword she is forced to accept her role.
Dream Fairy
Dream Fairy is wearing a flower bracelet and not the Bone Orchid that in reality MS still clasps in his hands while unconscious.
Her dream character is MS’s fantasy of what he wanted his life to be like with her. As she had noted in Yun Meng, he liked the quiet life. From this dream we can see that he was happy with a simple life at home with his beloved, away from the responsibilities of state. The mundane tasks of home life satisfied him, as long as he was with her. However, even in his subconscious, he could recall that the Tianji Mirror prophesied a different destiny for Fairy Orchid. That was the only blemish in his beautiful dream.
Disappearing Armour
When MS first got to the top of the Shuo Feng Sword, he had his armour on but the effort of controlling the sword with black evil smoke emanating from it seems to have blown the armour away when we next see him.
Similarly, CH confronts RH with his armour on but one blast from RH removes the armour and injures CH. With so little protection and with it being more cumbersome than helpful, they should opt to do away with the armour. 😉
Ahh – another Harry Potter concept. That ray of primordial spirit is just like a
part of Voldemort’s soul living with Harry. That’s why Harry can feel Voldemort’s feelings or sees what he sees. Like the Xilan Curse. Harry needs to die to break that. Yes so MS probably needs to die somewhat to transfer it back.
@GB, in the novel, after Orchid dies (different reason, not as grand, simply just because Chidi woman lives and she dies), DF CQ took that fragment of Orchid spirit preserved by Chidi woman to Underworld to reincarnate. Yang Wang (King of Hell) rejected him as one needs all 10 parts of soul for that. He then told him to go to find Arbiter who is rumoured to be in Destruction of Heaven. DF CQ then kidnapped San Sheng hoping to find a way to Destruction of Heaven. Turned out San Sheng is the one who lead Arbiter to Heaven of Destruction so she took him there.
The novel developed it better. As they changed the plot a fair bit in the drama, that’s probably the best they can come up with lol. We probably need to do some mental gymnastics:
1. They have nothing to lose as there is no better method, so they will just try it out. We can assume CH knows Arbiter’s abilities. She is Arbiter and read enough destinies so she may know a lot more methods. She said “The future is ever-changing. There is still a chance in a desperate situation.”
2. We can assume Arbiter is the master of Orchid so she may know Orchid’s background or even read her destiny poem.
3. DF CQ would never give up on saving Orchid so even Arbiter refuses to see him he will find a way.
Show Covered the Expected Details in Fairy’s Sacrifice and then some
I like that all that should have happened with the Goddess of Xishan is shown to come to pass, and all that we expected too.
When Fairy pushes the blade into herself:
1)Immediately the power of Xishan explodes out of her in green swirling light that covers all who are in the desert. Her light reaches like a pillar to the heavens and literally blows away RH and CH. The sand storm, and the thunder in the overcast sky with lightning stops and instead there are drops of green light that falls gently like snow on everyone, bringing the dead back to life and reviving the sealed soldiers. Her power countermanded the power of all those whose focus was war and who had created the terrible weather.
2)Everyone gets up/wakes up, and realise that they had died and come back to life. It was so amazing a happening, and death was so defeated, that war stopped.
3) Fairy remains in the sky like a shining orb. Everyone seems to recognise the Goddess as they pay her homage.
4)The spirit of Chidi exits Bone Orchid and RH receives it with great joy.
5)When Fairy falls to the ground, the Xilan Heart Curse is removed from MS and he’s able to get up and go to Fairy.
6)In the past Chidi had been close to Fairy as a child in Xishan. It was appropriate that Fairy dies on the hilt of Chidi’s sword, (that she had just unsealed), as close to being home as she might get, as she watches the sunrise.
@Pheonix yes I have that same feeling too about mother in law beating up heartless son in law. The point also is that Dragon husband just followed her order without questioning. He is powerful enough to hurt MS. Must be another interesting story there.
Does Everyone Know What Actually Happened?
Since MS woke up, XF and SQ have a different narrative about how Fairy died. They both felt responsible.
XF says he saw her kill herself with the Chen Ying Sword in Xuanxu, but what he had seen was her attempt to do it and then he saw her from a distance as a shining object in the sky.
SQ says Fairy was killed by the Lord of Haishi City, but all that he’d known was that Jie Li had brought out someone who looked like Fairy and handed her over to Die Yi.
They are both wrong. One wonders what history will be recorded of this event.
Very good point @Viva. I missed that Harry Potter meta. The last horcrux was in Harry and he had to die in order to end the awful connection to Voldemort.
I was just guessing peeling anything from primordial spirits can’t be a cakewalk LOL.
Yup, I saw a YT video highlighting the differences between the novel and the drama. Very different!! So a plot hole or a few should be expected.
I do like reading all your insights, @GB and @Viva😊 Makes it much more enjoyable to discuss.
I think that Jie Li kept Dragon boy out of the war while keeping him unconscious to save him from the evil minion and her poison. She might have shown him an illusion of fairy dying.
XF saw Fairy pierce herself with the sword but then dissolve in black smoke. I thnk that might have been the part where RH was attacking her from the other side and she must have appeared on some other part of the battlefield till CH came to engage RH and MS was able to take her away.
I’m confused why MS says he killed the Xishan tribe when I thought it was RH as shown earlier. Maybe RH had created another illusion to blame the massacre on MS and the Moon Tribe to create more discord.I wouldn’t put it past him to do that.
The CGI was truly great though I think because of the less number of episode time left, the drama is showing lots of things off screen or they might have got cut out at the final editing table. For example, we are never shown the sword coming out of stasis and the 100,000 soldiers breaking out of statue mould (we only see the recently dead ones coming alive). As @GB mentioned, we are also not shown the boat journey that CH and MS took to reach Arbiter. Obviously they were all these in the original web novel and may even have been filmed but can’t be fit into just 4 episodes remaining. Maybe this drama could have got 40 episodes instead..which seems logical when I compare it to the mammoth 56 episodes in 2 seasons of the parallelly airing Love Like the Galaxy (that drama could have finished 10 episodes early). Production houses, monetary clout of studios, sponsorships etc obviously play a part in getting episode extensions more than the requirements of the story, just like entertainment industry works in every country.
I clicked “comment” too early, it seems. What I meant was after completing Love Like the Galaxy also yesterday, I felt that drama while it was absolutely mesmerizing in the first 30-35 episodes had some filler episodes or kept getting repetitive in last 10 episodes, which could have done with some heavy editing. In contrast, Love Between Fairy and Devil sometimes towards the end feels a bit too rushed to me and could have done with 2-3 episodes more. Anyways, I like both dramas, so not playing partial here😝
Getting back to LBFD, MS did look haggard and defeated in the last two episodes, and nobody is celebrating the return to peace times because of the immense sacrifice it took. I liked that both the clans were united in bowing down to Goddess of X for saving them on the battlefield.
I had missed the widows of Moon Teibe, @GB. with so much happening. Thanks for pointing that out. I wish they had shown them being reunited wuth their lost men from 30,000 years back. Since they are more or less immortals, I’m guessing most of the spouses and children would still be around for the reunion.
To your point @GB, I do think in spite of the mismatched army numbers, the Moon Tribe were able to match the strength of the Fairy army and gence casualties on both sides looked equal.
Big thanks to @GB for summarizing it and the comparisons! Yes to the parallels in the illusions Ronghao and MS makes!
@Phoenix, on the Tianji Mirror perspective and the careful selection of the scene to reveal, I think it is needed clue where the future’s prophecy will give hope. Like you said it deliberately conceals the real ending.
Maybe something might happen to stop that wedding like you said.
On the bromance, there’s this scene when MS and CH had to play the music to help the spirit rest and MS was banging the strings with his injured hand and watching CH’s response. It did look quite childish but he was testing CH on whether he has similar caring feelings as his mortal self did.
Do you remember MS hurt his hand while playing soccer in the mortal world and the cringey scene where CH as Xiaoyun was really caring to put a bandage for MS. CH really did show concern for MS which is really sweet even though it was not as sweet as when they were in the mortal world.
It was then that MS knew CH is not like he was before and can trust him better.
@GB
On “Plan That Went Sideways”
How did MS knew the Bone Orchid would break? Did he think he would have been successful in making Orchid not love him anymore just because he said that or that Orchid realized that it was MS who killed her clan. I felt he thought too little of her deep deep love for him, but I think it was his feeble attempt to save her.
Also, I thought it was RongHao who killed the Xilan clan?? Why did MS said he did it?
On Chidi and Yunzhong
I had to laugh at poor Chidi ending up in the old job working for YunZhong because to us it is not a good boss to work for! lol. She would rather die for her bad disciple! But being the rule abiding and good person she is she took back the sword without any complaints.
@Viva, thanks for sharing the novel part of the story. It helps us to know why that part is so short and in the grand scheme of things for a drama, it would slow down the intensified emotions that has developed prior to it.
I guessed it that Arbiter knew Orchid’s future for sure and did what she best could to help or not help her accordingly. I would think she is wise.
@GB On “When Fairy pushes the blade into herself”
Actually this was such a moving scene, her one sacrifice is her healing for hundred thousands, those who were petrified before and those who died in the current battle. It was the highest respect all the people could give to her, even XF just had full respect for her.
I don’t think it was deliberate but it was a very visual allusion to the sacrifice of Christ, not in actual sequence but the idea of one sacrifice that saved the world. There is no resurrection here but the glory and the honour given to Orchid is so well visually represented here.
@Viva, yes to the meta of Harry Potter, I wondered if there are any western world type of stories other than Harry Potter that revolves around souls and mending souls. It seems to be common in Xianxia dramas though the only one I read of is in Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms
Last one I want to bring out is when MS is in his dream state for 500years and when he was almost going to die, he had his brother and those closest to him, including CH trying to draw him out of grieving. It is like how when one loses a loved one, the grieving and the reluctance to accept reality can cause one to spiral into such a deep depression that one can’t be pulled out. It is the family and friend who need to be there to help the grieving and MS thankfully had that. They were not going to usurp his position and use that opportunity to kill him and take over. He has won over their respect and love as the rightful ruler of their realm. I loved that scene and how MS has developed as a ruler.
@grace I recall the scene where MS had red scratches on his fingers and he was banging on the Guzheng with his ring. I forgot where he had received the minor injury LOL yes, the guys were so close then when CH applied ointment on the scratch. MS was embarrassed that the girls saw them being so touchy-feely.
When you said:
Which scene are you referring to? The one where he entered the dream?
This part is a bit obscure. At the death of the Xilan Clan, only RH was there demanding that the parents (and a couple of others who were still alive) handed over the Goddess as a child. The rest of the clan lay dead. We assumed that they had tried to stop RH but had been killed by him.
When MS says that he killed the clan, I thought he was putting it in terms of what CH would have told Fairy, or the kind of thoughts he assumed she would have of him. I don’t think he meant that he had done it.
From Shang Que’s conversation with MS, we gather that MS knew nothing of what had happened to the Xilan Clan until SQ informed him. SQ had mentioned that it was ‘taboo’ to attack the clan because they had been neutral and had kept the realms safe from Evil God.
So I feel we can take it that MS was merely speaking of his killing the clan, as if it were something that Fairy would believe.
@grace, I too felt that there were resemblances in bits and pieces between the hero and heroine and the events of Christ’s life.
I mentioned before about how the smallest and weakest unexpectedly is the saviour, the ‘divine’.
Now we see that the sacrifice of the saviour brings salvation to many and unites the ‘world’.
In legends and stories like The Lord of the Rings, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe… a common theme is that there is the sacrifice of one for the betterment of the majority.
On Grief
I liked the relatable treatment of grief in Xianxia style. MS was for a very long time in denial (and isolation). He knew the truth but refused to confront it. Yes it took family and friends to keep his spirit from dying out and to draw him out of his depression. In the dream it was 500 years, but in the Immortal world, it might have been a few days.
I’m glad that CH got him motivated to get out with a request for help to save Fairy. On the one hand, he may really have needed the help, but on the other, it might have been a ploy to get MS interested in leaving the dream world.
I’d really like to see more scenes of bromance. 🙂
Yes, this was so different from before. The motivation of all who were rivals for power had changed to a united desire to bring MS back and it manifested in self-giving action when they shared their primordial spirit with MS. In the face of the sacrifice of Fairy, all individual/personal goals paled, and people were ready to act for the common good. That was so nice!!
Episodes 33 and 34.
Still going strong with some really sweet moments. A modern twist to the relationship that got me laughing. The Episodes spread out and balance the emotions they elicit nicely. We have another bromance and sistermance in the making? YZ is the one who should get axed. I’m waiting for the showdown between good and evil.
Ep.33 & 34 feels like a quieter version from yesterday. After all the intense action yesterday, things are more settled, everyone needs to recover and bonds need to be sorted out.
One of the theme that stuck out strongly was the reversal of relationships of our CP:
Goddess Xiyun now is served by MS vs Orchid served MS
Honestly after seeing MS being so docile to GX, I was afraid he changed, but he is only like that to her. I was actually glad to see him growl at Black Dragon and speak angrily at CH.
Did you notice his wardrobe change after he came to the realization that MX no longer has memories of Orchid. It’s like he toned down.
Lastly, if you want to listen to OST but also see the translations of the text, I’ve been playing this on repeat when I want to listen to the songs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8W_jLz9HMk
And after we watched this two episodes and wanted to watch AOS ep17 hubby fell asleep again within 30mins!!! I’m gonna be a bit slow with AOS for a while….
Lastly, I have seen tomorrow’s preview and not giving spoilers here yet but it is so smart. Feels like things will come full circle, gosh the parallels, the contrasts they use in the story is so common but so well used.
Kinda reminds me that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel and like AvenueX mentions that it is the typical story plot that is so basic but it stands out from the rest. They have used the plot devices well (drawing parallels, contrasts, coming full circle) and add that to well done visuals and detailing. That still is a good story.
@grace, thanks for the hints. I expect as much. Full circle is always good because we, viewers, are attached to the characters’ relationship from the beginning.
Up to Episodes 33 and 34
I liked his appropriate ‘in-service’ wardrobe change and humble attitude before Goddess. But I miss the more fiery DFQC. I also wondered how Cangyan Sea is doing with their leader away doing gardening and domestic service LOL. I guess XF must be having a great time being leader for a spell.
I was pleased to see the ‘whole’ gang back together, more or less, under one roof, in Arbiter Hall. We have now and then Danyin with Jie Li, Chang Heng, Shang Que, DFQC (Is Goddess really calling him Da Qiang?) and Goddess/Fairy who are in contact with each other. It’s so different though, from the time that they were in Yun Meng. Everything has changed: the tone, the relationships, the attitudes towards each other, but they are still united in the overall goal to fight against evil.
A great pity is what is happening to Chidi Woman, who had once been so pure. She gets possessed by the Evil that RH invited into her, and cannot stop herself from killing. I wonder what her trajectory will be. She’s still stuck with RH who’s obsessed by her. Can she be saved? Previously RH had said that in all her 1,000 lives/incarnations, she had to die for a loved one. Unless her Destiny Book changes, it will happen again.
I considered how both Chidi and Fairy had killed themselves honourably, to save their ‘worlds’. But because of the choices of those who cared for them, one is dragged into the mud and brings death while the other shines like a light of hope and holds the power to bring life. Truly, we have to be careful of whom our friends are!!
I agree, that the same basic story with the same 3 realms, common tropes, plus a new spin to them now and then, the usual kinds of characters and expected connections are not bad at all, when executed the way this production has done it. They’ve made sure that everything makes sense. The internal logic is in tact, everything is coherent, and the visuals, the dialogue and the music all come together to enhance the whole. Well done, Show!!
Just completed 33 and 34. I never would’ve imagined watching a man tend to a plant would be so romantic, but he was dreamy lounging in the grass with the flowerpot on his chest 😂 I’ve the feeling that the goddess hasn’t truly lost her memories and is only acting like she has in order to rid all ties and carry out what she thinks is her destiny and for the good of their world.
I think what has allowed me to really enjoy this show is there isn’t much time wasted on the petty. Everyone’s point of view and actions seem valid and although their decisions might be wrong/not what we would choose, I’m not left dumbfounded at their stupidity and/or evilness. If that makes sense.
I feel like I have been speed watching all the episodes because I’m anxious to see what’s next but now I’m looking forward to starting at the beginning and taking it all in more slowly.
@gb @grace etc..I enjoy your thoughts and providing extra tidbits that I can look through later. @kate, hope all is well and look forward to your commentary.
@birdie, yes, this is one show I actually don’t mind rewatching. I might still FFD bits of it, but on the whole, there’s so much that’s nice to watch again, that I don’t mind going slow.
Episodes 33 and 34 are what I called the mostly serious, unsmiling episodes. So much sadness between those who were couples. Goddess did not smile at all, CH was serious throughout, MS was the only one with the most expression… hopeful, enthusiastic, humble, patient, upset, depressed…
Danyin has a friend and sister in JL, and they can share with each other, which is so good. But they are all crossed in love and their spirits are low. No exuberance in these episodes. Hardly any action.
Even the killing of the guards was done off camera, but at least we saw how JL managed to end off Die Yi at last.
The conversations with Xuanwu and with Evil God were informative. A lot of exposition, unfortunately, but they managed it without boring us.
I will not have time to rewatch and comment tomorrow, although I’ll watch the last 2 episodes tonight. I look forward to reading everyone. 🙂
Last episodes tonight!
@birdie007, I also had a strong feeling that Orchid didn’t lose her memories but she is pretending to protect MS. Just like he was pretending to no longer love her because he was trying to protect her. If that happens it must have hurt her deeply inside too.
With such a huge calling that both of them have, they cannot just think of themselves. There is always the rest of the world to protect. By then, their own self preservation is not a priority. I love that it is not noble idiocy even though it required having to hurt the other party to protect them and sacrifice themselves to protect their loved one..and eventually 0the rest of the world.
@GB, I’m definitely rewatching though I’m at ep5 for now. And picking up the little details and facts I can’t seem to remember. I keep getting confused with the names of things and people.
I get busy starting Tuesday too so I’m also not sure how much I can indulge. No more late nights because I overslept today 😅
@birdie and @grace, LOL seeing gardening a single potted plant as so romantic. It was Dylan’s visuals!!! He was like a nanny with a baby LOL. I liked that he spoke to the plant like it was Fairy.
About what you say that Fairy remembers but won’t admit it. Here’s the conversation between Fairy/Goddess and Xuanwu with my comments in brackets.
X : “Old Friend, we meet again.”
G : “God Xuanwu. It’s been a long time.”
X : “It seems that you have found your destiny.”
G : “Thank you for your guidance. I’m prepared/ready.”
X : “If you wake up as the Goddess Xi Yun, you’ll have nothing to do with all the past events of your life as Orchid. Can you let go of all the sorrow and happiness?” (This indicates that she has a choice to let go or not.)
G : “You once instructed me about the mission of the Goddess. But I was too ignorant to understand it at that time. Now, I’ve seen what I should have seen and lost what I should have lost. Now I understand what love and pain really are, what to pick up and what to put down. From now one I will no longer indulge in private sorrow and joy. I will take up the mission of blessing all beings in the three realms.” (Does that mean she will put down her romance with DFQC and pick up her duties as Goddess only?)
X : “I once said that you are gifted and are more extraordinary than all generations of Goddesses.”
G : “I never understood this.”
X : “The Goddesses of all ages have been guarding Xishan all their lives. Although they believed in the same mission as you, they failed to see all beings in the end. But you have traveled all over Shuiyuntian, Yun Meng Lake and Cangyan Sea. You have more than a mission for all beings, but also true love. You’ll create a new and fascinating world as the first Goddess did. Go.”
So yes, you could well be right. She had the choice to leave behind her past life as Orchid, so in order to do so, she has to pretend she does not remember anything and she changes what she used to like, etc.
It’s a very lonely choice. Even with CH, she’s basically locked into her own thoughts and not sharing much with anyone. She does not look happy, only resolute.
It does not seem fair that a person is born into a specific mission with such a lonely destiny. Avenue X did say once that there’s this dichotomy when this Western concept of right by birth comes in. Xianxia used to be based on just anything being able to cultivate and transform to higher and higher states so that all had the chance to achieve immortality and whatever, but the mixture with the concept that some are born into a role sort of conflicts with this.
All the Goddesses are stuck with the role of guarding the three realms. And people like YZ go on blithely expecting everything to be status quo and he does not do anything to double check or prepare for the worst case scenario. Instead he wants to constantly go to war for some ego trip thing.
Wah thanks so much @grace for the OST link. That was the YT OST video that I was hoping to find. Well translated with the scroll as the backdrop. Beautiful!
In one of the tweets I came across this. Poor Di Di/Dylan cried for some time and Esther took a long time to comfort him.
https://twitter.com/yushuxinEsth79/status/1563771073237110784
Just before this, Fairy Orchid had ‘died’ and disappeared. Esther watched Dylan in anguish from a distance and cried along with him.
I have to put this c-drama on my top 5 list. I saw the preview for ep35, the song feature was good and different. I cant find it now. Enjoy the show ladies! Cant wait to highlight my favorite moments. I dont want to add any spoilers so I’ll wait.
big sigh!!
Non-spoilery brief review.
Episodes 35 and 36 – We can see that everything was planned properly from the beginning, so that all that was needed was in place at the end. The ending was strong and Show gave us what we want in an all rounded way. The voiceover ‘status report’ at the end felt so modern and yet appropriate.
While there were parts that could have been shortened, the overall impact was not lost. It was good that they kept it to 36 episodes and made them all relatively solid with more developments every time.
Kudos to the production team and actors. They did a brilliant job and made a Show I wouldn’t mind rewatching for a good, long while.
Wow!! Same as you @GB I wouldn’t mind rewatching more than once. Though I must have been watching scenes more than once.
@Carolina, it is my top Xianxia at this point, considering I haven’t watched much yet but from the raving reviews I don’t think any will top it for me for now.
So many good scenes in ep35/36.
I especially loved MS confession to Orchid. It was so touching, so heartfelt, so ernest, so beautiful. By then she just struggled to put up a front and have to turn away to hide her tears while I sobbed through that scene.
I liked that they wrapped up the various characters nicely. Orchid’s final soliloquy on love set the stage for the ending. I believe she believed in a miracle for MS.
Though I have to say the ending was a tad abrupt. I would have hoped for a longer reminiscing their past or going back to the lock and a more dramatic reunion.
Still, big applause for such a grand drama that moved all our hearts and gave us inspiration to love. Love really conquers all.
And it circles back to remind me:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Leaving some epilogue from the various actors through this twitter thread written in their character’s voice. She translated them. Don’t go there if you don’t want spoilers!
https://twitter.com/xiaotoumings?t=Vt4OJ9ItDqJjMWR3jOx1_g&s=09
This is Dylan’s after thoughts
“Meeting Dong Fang Qing Cang is my redemption”
“Love is the hell fire that will never be put out”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
https://twitter.com/xiaotoumings/status/1564292304835596288?t=2jSETA9Wi-RINvzo04T7NQ&s=19
Esther said that watching CLJ is like having the Heart Curse because we went though all those intense emotions with them. Now it is over, will our Heart Curse be broken? 😬
I agree with you all. What a fabulous ending to the series👏👏👏This drama was an example of great writing and directing with all loose ends tied up, and things coming to a full circle.
It was a true redemption arc for a much-maligned, much-feared so-called villain character who was transformed into a hero by the power of love. It also showed how love is capable of changing all destinies and making the impossible possible. I really liked this message of the drama.
I was floored by Dylan’s acting in these last episodes, especially when he was crying on the bridge before tying that love lock. I was almost moved to tears. He was also good in that scene where the evil god poses in front of him as his dark alter-ego and tries to entice him to come over to the dark side while he resists.
That scene also reminded me of Lord Buddha’s long meditation to overcome his fears aand worldly desires to attain nirvana or salvation.
I liked that the immortal gods finally were awestruck that someone they thought as evil for so long could be granted the glazed red fire power.
I’m happy how it ended and glad we had the last 10 minutes 😜😜
@packmule3 You can safely watch this drama 😃
@Grace Thank you for the Twitter links.
Love your quote about Love in the end. So beautiful and profound❤️ Sums up the message of this drama perfectly!
I’m so happy I watched this drama, I re-watched all the episodes too while waiting for today’s episodes. One of my memorable dramas of 2022 for sure🙌
I need time to get out of the drama hangover induced by this drama! @grace Thank you for the YouTube video link to the OSTs with English subs. I am going to listen to these on loop now🙈🙈
Agree with all of you. This was snuch a well rounded drama. Carefully written, directed, produced, acted and edited.
@grace I agree. The ending scene was a tad bit abrupt indeed. Your idea of tying the locks sounds better. But I’m ready to ignore that because this show was so good from the start to end. Hard to top in the xanxia genre. I’m not that huge fan of TMOPB and AOL as everyone else either but LBFD is a show that even nonxanxia watchers can watch abd like. It really is just about the power of love but done so beautifully.
@wapz, @Phoenix, @grace, @Carolina, @Kate, @birdie and anyone else watching
Yes, the Message of the Show elevated it above all else and blew me away. When everything in the Show was already so good, having that message at the core made this show one of the very best. The amazing number of kisses at the finale was just icing on the cake.
I loved (and laughed to myself) that the best weapon against evil was a good, impartial heart to love all, and so it was manifested in a kiss. Goddess had no sword or armour, but she went forward with her heart and gave of herself.
The marrying together of supernatural concepts that would usually contradict each other, in a coherent way amazed me. The arena of the battle was so rightly in the minds and hearts of our protagonists. It’s where we are tempted and give in to evil or stand firm and resist. The image of the Evil God that cannot be manifested except in a soul that would willingly invite him in/give up his immortal body was so astoundingly familiar in the Christian setting. Yet the idea of being able to contain evil so that it can be killed along with that body is so Xianxia.
I loved the redemption of Chidi and RH, that I feared we might not get. Chidi’s love and forgiveness of her disciple defeated Evil God in RH. RH recalled a time he had made a mistake but had not been punished, and once again faced with the biggest mistake of his life, although Chidi’s soul was at stake, she still forgave him. The most healing and redemptive thing in the world. In this area, there is a sense of the Christian element that comes in as well. Something about this Show is the same and yet so different from a usual Xianxia, because of the rendering of these values.
That is one of my favourite Scripture verses from the Holy Bible, @grace. It mentions what we see manifests in a transformed DFQC and in the others who also became so much better versions of themselves. The melting away of envy, the being other-centred instead of self-centred, loves’ constancy despite everything and the rejection of evil.
I agree with @grace. This Show was so clever. The mirroring/parallels, the set up from the start so that we can come round full circle, the amazing script… these gave full respect to the viewer and to the creators. I’m so grateful for this Show that it is hard to let it go. It has spoiled me for other shows.
If anyone has time for a group rewatch, I’d love to rewatch this show episode-by-episode with you, where we can grumble over baddies, praise all the visuals and squeal over the kisses together. LOL.
@Phoenix
Yes, Dylan was very good in the emotional scenes. No overacting. Heart-tugging scenes from all the cast.
Yes to the
It was a face-slapping thing. Loved it. They had to slap themselves for being so smug, so judgmental, and so wrong.
What I loved was when the Moon Tribe came up between the rows of fairies and joined the suppression of evil. I was so over the moon about that LOL. Now that’s what I call a full cast ensemble. Just so happy.
I loved that part too, @GB, and when XF said it was an united fight to defeat evil in the three worlds. It shows there has been so much of a mindset shift in this whole world brought about first by Orchid’s sacrifice and then by Dongfang’s sacrifice. I liked how everyone was co-existing in harmony in the end. With no wars, everyone could do what they wanted.
The dialogues of the show were great too – I noticed the reference to the bromance when Fairy Danyin asked CH is he and MS are confidants in spite of racial and cultural differences and CH confirmed. My favorite dialogue in the finale though was when Goddess came to save MS and they were conversing on the heart island before MS implored her to kill him. She said it was her destiny to save the three realms, and he countered: But it was my destiny to save you. I found that so romantic.
Haha @GB now that you mention it, the final episode had a record number of three extended kissing scenes..wow, my heartvis so happy now❤️
On the costumes, I noticed they gave a beautiful blue brocade sort of gown to XF when he was ruling the Moon Tribe for 500 years in MS’ absence. It was equally good but different from the black and gold colour palette for MS. I really liked the show’s attention to detail.
@Phoenix I too was very moved by the confession from DF CQ on the bridge. No over acting. So full of regrets. Just like a person who has too many unspoken words for his love when she has gone.
Re costume, a few things to add:
1. DF CQ no longer has the long flowing sleeves when he was growing the Orchid’s seed. He changed to a short cape. It makes sense as it would be very cumbersome.
2. No gold embroidery or any golden pattern when he was posing as the servant for Xishan Goddess. Careful planning as it won’t be convincing if a servant is wearing gold.
3. Full circle as the departure scene connects with the first encounter scene. DF CQ was grey hair in black robe both times.
@GB yes when the Moon Tribe came up I felt like watching the End Game. Everyone decided not to be selfish anymore. DF CQ ordered the Moon Tribe to come! He knew it is coming. Clever till the last moment, DF CQ understands that no one is without temptations, and he knows it is possible to be taken over by Evil God Tai Sui. He didn’t overestimate himself and underestimate the darkest desires. (I should add that to the appreciation thread that DF CQ is a realistic person who knows about his own limits).
There are so many wow! moments in ep 36. If I recall correctly, in the earlier episodes I think Orchid has said anyone who tries to change fate will end up dying. (@GB yes a rewatch is required to catch details again!). Therefore when DF CQ started to alter Orchid’s life, I thought he was very likely to die. In the process, he was surrounded with the red fire and not the usual blue fire. I am impressed with the choice of colours. As red usually gives a warmer feeling and blue gives a colder feeling, I felt the narrative shows the change of DF CQ’s heart, from coldness to warmth. From no emotions to full of love. I had a slight hope when his fingernails turned back normal and was able to hug Orchid that he could stay. Sticking to the logic of altering fate in the show, he slowly faded away and eventually just disappeared. I thought the facial expressions, acting of Esther and Dylan, CGI and music were really well done and got me teary. It was beautiful.
I always felt the story is about Orchid willing to expose herself to danger because of her love for DF CQ, and equally it is about DF CQ saving Orchid every single time, before and after he knew he loves her. True to the very last moment, he still managed to save Orchid even at the expense of his greatest ambitions for reviving moon tribe and his life. My few sentences could not summarise the sentiments, but you know what I mean, and what it means for DF CQ to do that and why Orchid is worth it.
The ending – because it was so quick, I have a few minutes of doubt and trying to come up with a logic how DF CQ is alive again. I am willing to believe it is a miracle.
@Grace, oh yes I cried too for DF CQ confession on the bridge. This drama plot is rather traditional. The leads went through the usual:
1. Kind FL changes the cold emotionless ML.
2. ML saves the FL many times
3. I die for you, you die for me because of the greater cause.
Yet, it is still so very touching to see the ML and FL went through all those! We don’t need birth secrets. We don’t need a 180 degrees plot twist. We don’t need an explosive revenge story at the end. Traditional storylines with good logics, positive message and great team work (from writing, acting, music, costumes, CGI and many more) can give us such an enjoyable viewing experience. Thank you Love Between Fairy and Devil team!
Thanks for all the links @Grace. 🙂
@gb I’ve decided they did the ending exactly like that on purpose…that way we are still left with wonder. The arbiter said something about how fate isnt a choice but love is —and then there’s still room left for wonder. Which also feels biblical as nod to the mystery of predestination.
@Grace by the way did you read the second latest post on Love between fairy devil official Weibo account? The translation is roughly: This summer, let’s travel the three realms. To see scenery and listen to stories. Grateful and thankful for meeting. A story from the parallel universe, to be continued.
It came along with a clip of the scenes from the beginning to the end of the drama. The last sentences in that 1 minute clip are: Grateful of meeting, in the parallel universe, the story is continuing.
What is your take on that? Is it for us to imagine DF CQ and Orchid’s story still goes on in their universe?
@Viva
In addition to being realistic, I felt that in his fore-sightedness, he wanted the Moon Tribe to show that they were on the same side as Shuiyuntian. He ordered that they go and help, so that there would be unity between the races, (even without a political marriage.) It was also a good move because in the future the fairies would not be able to say that they did all the work of containing the Evil God while Moon Tribe did nothing LOL. It was action that eradicated the enmity more effectively than even DFQC’s sacrifice did.
Yup, I always wonder about whether the warnings at the beginning will hold good or why they are mentioned at all. Conversation where Arbiter, had warned Fairy Orchid : “My dear disciple, remember this. The master of Destiny Books can neither tell anything about it to its owner, nor change anyone’s fate. Otherwise he would have to bear the wrath of God…bear the wrath of God and die out.”
In the end 4 persons broke the rule of not changing fate. Only two of them were master of Destiny Books, and they did not die out.
1) Arbiter had tried to change Fairy’s destiny, but failed. She had also helped Chidi Woman bring Rong Hao back from the dead with a new Destiny Book. Aside from the fact that she was punished for freeing and marrying a dragon, nothing bad happened to her.
2) RH went against destiny and brought Chidi back to life. His end was actually more fortunate than he might have deserved.
3) Orchid changed CH’s fate but she was not punished for that. In the end, it was part of her destiny to meet DFQC in Haotian in order to start his connection to her, and so she could affect his Heart Sea with her love, which turned out to be a nifty way to keep Evil God sealed in his heart.
4) DFCH was encouraged by Arbiter to change Orchid’s fate. His mission changed from killing fairies to avenge his people and regain honour for just one tribe, to saving one person out of love so that her mission to save all people inadvertently also became his mission.
The idea of a miracle was planted by Orchid when she asked Xun Feng if he believed in wonder. I would imagine that it could also mean ‘miracle’.
We know that the Bone Orchid was originally created by MS… he said it was transformed from his heart’s blood (Episode 9/10). It likely contained some of his primordial spirit since it could protect Fairy as if he was present. So when MS disintegrated and the Bone Orchid returned to Fairy, it held his spirit. Since he was a true Immortal, he would not stay dead. One assumes that putting all this together with the expectation that there could be miracles, we can come up with the explanation of how he could transform (as Goddess had done from an orchid plant) back into his human, immortal form.
I liked how he smiled after he said “I’m back.” LOL It was a genuine smile after all the times Fairy had shown him how to do it.
@birdie007,
Yes… I found the part, a flashback in Episode 31.
Arbiter smiles knowingly at Fairy Orchid : “You don’t understand. Love does not follow reason/is unreasonable. Whether good or bad, whether with fairy or human, if you fall in love, you fall in love.
Fairy : “I don’t understand. Is this/falling in love, fate?”
Arbiter shakes her head : “It’s not fate. Everything in this world is fated, but only love is not a matter of fate.” (It’s a matter of choice.)
So to broaden it a bit, at the end, all those characters we hear about in Fairy’s voiceover, made a choice out of love, to be better versions of themselves. In a sense, they changed their own ‘fate’, and chose to make their own destiny. Certainly a nod to the mystery of predestination in the Holy Bible.
Fairy certainly chose the more difficult path when she opted to stay with MS. If you’re referring to the ending where MS returns, then we might put it down to the choice he made to reincarnate and be with Fairy again, no matter what.
@gb yes! And I just realized I made that comment in response to you and I actually meant @viva. Sorry!
I agree with @GB on how MS came back. He saved his primordial spirit in the Bone Orchid which was also tied to Orchid. So as long as the Bone Orchid existed in this world, a part of MS was alive. Unlike the total extingushing of primordial spirit leading to death that we saw in RH and Chidi Woman’s cases, if that were true in MS’ case, he couldn’t have resurrected. Being immortal and much stronger than Orchid, he could resurrect on his own from the fragment of his leftover soul, even though it took him 500 years, which in immortal lifetime terms, isn’t too long.
No harm done @birdie. It got me thinking outside just pure romantic love and what it can do as well.
= = =
I recall how a commenter on Twitter or somewhere mentioned the mirror imaging of the art work on the scroll and the similar art on the posters and in the show. They were redrawn to look the same and yet different and were mirror images of each other.
I thought of this when we see DFQC being confronted with the Evil God taking his form. We also have been given a few scenes of the ladies, Wan Qing/Chidi and Fairy Orchid looking at themselves in the mirror. The more broken was Chidi’s spirit, the more disfigured she looked in the broken mirror, compared to the first mirror at Yun Meng. Essentially Show has the premise that we can have in us both good and evil.
I really appreciate the Show for handling so well the concept of how we deal with evil. It is not only an external thing, it also something we may nurture and let into our minds and hearts. Often in temptation we have conversations with ‘ourselves’, to justify what we want to do, which we know is wrong. A graphic face-to-face chat of MS with himself was on point.
However although Show does not have a Christian concept of this, it offers us a visual rendering of what might go on inside and outside a person beset with evil temptations.
Externally, DFQC exemplified very few vestiges of himself when he was being attacked internally by Evil God. His appearance changed so much that the fairies claimed DFQC was no longer present. One is no longer oneself, so to speak. Again the same and yet different mirror image.
Internally, (in his spirit) in the Heart Sea, he was still himself, resisting Evil God, who had found a way in because of MS’ s fear of being forgotten by Fairy.
When Fairy kissed him externally, it broke through to his spiritual self, and he was assured that she had really not forgotten him and was not likely to forget. Once again the kiss re-established their connection with the Xilan Holy Seal, and Fairy was able to enter his mind/heart once more to land on Heart Sea, the arena for the final showdown. It’s true that the greatest battles take place within ourselves.
He needed her help to remove every bit of evil in his heart/affecting his spirit, so that he could be healed in spirit, be at peace and free. In the process, he had to also lose his mortal body. Fortunately in the Christian life, one does not have to literally die in the flesh but one does have to die to oneself in order to come to the same peace that MS did.
When he spoke to the Evil God, he said that he had no more fears because he had let go of everything. This is also true for us. Letting go is important so that we are not controlled by desires, attachments etc. I did note before that RH’s problem was his inordinate attachment to being with Master forever. He crossed the line very badly and hurt the one he loved in the process.
There’s a mirroring with Chidi and RH, where RH had to kill her to give her peace from the evil he had colluded with. But as he definitely had to be punished, he chose to die with her to hopefully put a spoke in the wheel of Evil God’s plans.
By contrast, both MS and Fairy refused to collude with evil, and let go of each other for the greater good or the good of the other. This showed up the lie of Evil God who kept saying that they had no choice but to give in to him. There was always a choice, to choose what was right, or to choose to let go.
Both RH and MS ended up choosing to save the one they were attached to by giving their all, but RH did it out of greed while MS did it out of love. This was such a lovely rendition of the power of love to save, heal, unite and bring joy.
@Phoenix, yes, about the fragment of MS in the Bone Orchid … and the thought about how appropriate the reincarnations were to the type of people they were, made me smile.
Fairy was a plant and the sociable type, therefore in order to reincarnate, she had to be planted and nurtured. She was not alone. I was amused that MS spoke to the orchid like it was really Fairy Orchid.
MS was a crescent moon, and the not so sociable type. All he needed to do to be reincarnated was be suspended in the air LOL.
The Mystery of the Arbiter
Since we now know that the Arbiter was entrusted to keep watch over Fairy Orchid who was going to be Xi Yun, and that she knew Fairy’s Destiny all along, can it be true that Arbiter let her wine destroy Orchid’s immortal root or that she was about to throw Orchid away as a lost cause, before Chang Heng saved her?
I’d really like to know more backstory. (Yes I want to watch the drama about the Arbiter when it airs.)
Could she really have been such a drunkard and careless in her responsibility to raise the Goddess of Xishan? CH never disputed this belief in him that Fairy had, but it seems such a careless thing to do. Unless Arbiter was only joking, and had no intention of getting rid of Orchid.
As for the rest that we can garner from here and there, it’s very likely that Arbiter was already in love with the dragon, Chang Yuan, who was in prison (don’t know what crime he committed) and the minute she completed training Fairy, she broke dragon free and ran away with him.
She seems to be such a powerful fairy with the ability to affect lives, to know everything etc, and yet she seems such a capricious sort. Maybe she was drunk so often because she was miserable being the Arbiter and unable to marry Chang Yuan for a spell.
It does seem appropriate that Goddess Xi Yun ends up as the next Arbiter, since she’s the healer and life-giver.
@viva, yes I did! I was wondering why they say the “to be continued” and first thought was noooo…no season 2 pls!!!
For the rest, on the official WeChat on Weibo, they posted (Google translated) with a really nice wrap up video:
“This summer, let’s travel around the Three Realms together, watch the scenery and listen to the stories. Thanks for the encounter, the story of parallel time and space, the story continues.”
Yeap, I believe that was what they meant that their story continues in their universe.
It is like a producer epilogue? Their story does not end at the last episode but that they continue with their lives just like how we continue with ours. Just that we aren’t gonna be seeing it on TV but we can imagine them…and I would imagine a happily ever after and peace on all 3 realms 💕
@GB,
on fate changing,
Maybe the fate changing was part of the fate itself, because ultimately one does not know the ultimate end. What we live in is the now and our fate is changed by the choices we make.
Who decides what is in the destiny book? The idea of fate is like saying we are like robots following the script that life has determined for us. After all, the Arbiter does not write the future but she would have a desire for the future and can see the future.
Sometimes fortune telling can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It feels like those who have the courage to change their fate with the choices they make now will have a chance. Considering how they tried to change fate so many times 😅
This thought came to me. You no longer let your future you think you know determine your present, but that your present choices will determine your future. (Having goosebumps as I write this, as if I have stepped into a hidden message of this destiny book thing)
The producer of LBF&D 王一栩 “(Produce Wang) posted on his Weibo account on 28 August. Below is based on Google translation, edited by me.
“The concept of #Love between Fairy and Devil# is “love and peace”. Those who are ruthless and heartless would go into battle lightly. Those who carry love and compassion for the world would take up the burden and move forward. When there is love in our hearts, we will not only be firm for love, but also change for love.
Whether Hellfire returns, what plan does Da Qiang have, whether Little Orchid and Xishan Goddess are the same person, sorry, I can’t reveal any of these.”
Below is what I think will help us interpret the ending:
“The story continues, and what I want to express is in the drama. Love is by no means a burden. Sacrifice for love is the divinity of mortals, and the sublime and greatness of love. May we all use our hearts to love and receive love.
Thank you for your advice, and for your company. Wait till the finale, we will accept both good and bad reviews at the end.”
Wonder or miracle?
Orchid uses the word 奇迹 in her conversation with Xun Feng. Viki subbers decided to translate it as “wonder”. If I am translating it, my intuitive first choice would be miracle. However perhaps miracle is usually associated with Christianity so perhaps the subbers chose the next best choice in my view. My take on that conversation would be a divine intervention that allows something to happen that wouldn’t happen under the usual logic.
Perhaps DF CQ can come back because of the greatness of sacrifice for love and peace. Like the message Produce Wang want to convey. So that the viewers don’t feel doing the right thing for love and peace is a burden.
Besides, DF CQ normally is very determined and would not allow the destiny to stop him.
Thanks @GB @Pheonix to point out and reminding me that is the Bone Orchid. This is a XianXia story and there is a lot of room for DF CQ to be recovered.
An example is the Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms novel. *** spoilers of that story*** When I thought YeHua and Mo Yuan were gone burger and their spirits were all scattered, the author manages to explain how they have recovered. Mo Yuan managed to recover his scattered spirits bit by piercing it bit by bit over a long period of time (with some help of two other characters). Ye Hua still have half of his father god spirit left (without us knowing). He recovered that half unintentionally from killing some ancient beast. His body was rested in a special coffin and a healing place and eventually came back alive *** spoilers end***.
With Xishan Goddess healing powers, abilities to repair spirit and revive death, DF CQ’s fragment of primordial spirit could grow again under the nurturing environment with her around. DF CQ would be very determined to pierce himself back too. Hard work is not a problem for him. His spirit should have be cleansed by Xishan Goddess and free of Evil God Tai Sui. I saw there are some special effects around the Bone Orchid when under the flowers so that can be him absorbing the healing energy.
500 years
It is interesting they pick 500 years again. 500 years is how long DF CQ was married with Orchid in his dream. 500 years is also how long he takes to recover from his fragment left behind with Orchid Bone.
Burning of his spirit
Overnight I realised the visual in ep 36 was trying to depict DF CQ burning his spirit. First time, he burnt it with blue fire for his obsession to stay in the dream with Orchid. Second time, he burnt it with red fire for his determination to keep Orchid alive. I saw “burning of spirit” in another drama before, but this is by far so much more emotionally charged and impactful. A very memorable scene.
Die out after changing fate
@GB I need to go back to watch that again. In my interpretation, all people all have gone through the wrath and death after changing fate. However, the drama allows people who does that in the right way (sacrifice for love and peace of three realms but not just for love for one person) to come back. Or, the leads get to come back but not the side characters. lol
My take:
Orchid – she changed CH’s fate not to die and on that fateful day she met DF CQ. She did die out once because of DF CQ.
Chidi – she changed RH fate by asking Arbiter to bring him back to life. She couldn’t die the way she wanted because of RH and went through thousands of reincarnations, always killed by people she loved. She eventually died because of RH.
RH – he changed Chidi’s fate, and never got what he wanted to be with Chidi. He died because of Chidi as his association with Evil God Tai Sui started with Chidi
DF CQ – he changed Orchid’s fate and he did die for Orchid.
I didn’t feel Arbiter changed RH’s fate in the same sense that she was just the “tool”, not the initiator. Arbiter also didn’t extend Orchid’s life, DF CQ did.
Is the group rewatch happening? 😀
Group Rewatch of Love Between Fairy and Devil
@Viva, if at least two of us are happy to do a rewatch together, then we have our group, and others can join in.
What is a good time for you @Viva?
14:00 UTC is:
10:00 am EST
07:00 am PST
10:00 pm Singapore, Philippines
09:00 pm Indonesia
05:00 pm Greece
04:00 pm Paris
10:00 am Caracas
I’m in the Singapore time zone and hence I’m sort of OK for nights at 10pm. We can watch on Fridays if that works for you. What time zone are you in?
@GB re the smile at the end. Is this the first time DF CQ smiles? I don’t remember seeing him smiles other than in his dream. It’s a great connection and also come into full circle. That’s their in-jokes. That’s how he recognised Orchid. That’s usually what Orchid wants him to do when they seperate. It’s great that the first thing he did upon his return is flash that smile in response to her requests. He finally learnt how to smile from the bottom of his heart.
Bone Orchid
In the novel, Orchid’s fragment of soul was preserved in the Bone Orchid. She was then recovering her soul by absorbing energy from the other ancient Orchids that have healing properties. So in the drama, it can be a role reversal that DF QC was perseved in Bone Orchid. Perhaps a nod to the novel.
Kiss scenes
@Phoenix there are 4 kiss scenes in ep 36. Or did I mix it up with ep 35? Can’t check as in a waiting room. I read an article whuch they labelled the kisses. From memory it is something like the before sacrifice kiss, the wake up soul kiss, the final goodbye kiss and the reunion kiss. The final good bye kiss scene come in full circle of their first kiss. She met him with a kiss bringing him alive and she kissed him goodbye sending him off, disappeared in the fire.
Yes I also found that it is his mission is to save Orchid line very moving. I cried a bit. Even though we all see this coming.
Shang Que and Jie Li
The show didn’t show us whether they are together or not. Just on good terms.
Did they imply that Shang Que has picked up lying – that he hasn’t gone out drinking? Shang Que outfit has a dash of red. I felt the narrative is to show he is not as boring, and more lively.
@Grace, yes agree no second season please. I read that the netizen wants an epilogue to show their wedding but I doubt that can be easily happened with both leads soaring popularities.
I am happy with what we have got already. It is always a treat discover a good drama!
@Viva
I really, really like this translation/interpretation:
That’s because in the prayer in Holy Mass (which we do not get to hear the priest pray as he pours water into the chalice of wine), he says at the end “… may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.”
I’d like to interpret it that made in the image of God, our ability to love, and hence to make the required sacrifices, makes us closer to becoming like God, a little closer to being ‘divine’.
Your thoughts on miracle was the same as mine… I thought that maybe they didn’t use the word ‘miracle’ because it was associated with ‘Christianity’. Yes to the possibility of divine intervention, and your point is good… the best person to end up with while ‘dead’, is the Goddess who brings life even out of death. Of course in her nurturing garden, full of life and blooming flowers, DFQC’s primordial spirit was in the best environment to promote rebirth/growth and a return to life.
It didn’t occur to me that the stream of light or whatever it was above the Bone Orchid was possibly it absorbing of energy, but it could have been. I felt that it was suspended there by magical Fairy light or something, but your take on it absorbing energy and its being in the garden where there was more life (rather than in the house or room… I did wonder why it was left outside!) makes sense with the idea of the Bone Orchid absorbing life forces to resurrect.
I kind of wanted to laugh when he said : “I’m back.” … shades of reverse-Terminator? It sounded like he’d just gone shopping and had just come home. LOL.
Yes @GB, that “I’m back” is very light hearted and not like DF CQ. Fair to say, a bit like Dylan himself?
I’m in New Zealand, so 4 hours ahead of you. Friday 10.00pm my time, 6pm your time, would that work? Otherwise we can do offline rewatch where we left a few comments to make it easier to reply.
Now @AoS has finished, is @Cleo watching this one?
@viva, your reason for how those who seemed to have changed fate and paid for it makes a lot of sense. In the end, they paid a price with their lives in some way or another.
I’m good to join you all for the rewatch on Friday! I’m in the Singapore time zone so timing is good as hopefully I would have chased my youngest to bed by then.
I had no doubt that MS soul fragment is in the moon pendent and he healed under Orchid’s magical powers under the pretty hanging ring of planting.
Jieli stayed in the Arbiter Hall to recuperate, though they didn’t show how she got better. I think it is to the lack of time that they made it so abrupt. They spent a lot of time cultivating Orchid’s soul though!
Did you watch the bts of the ending? I love that they had so much fun and is so funny as they film. The producer also said about having a cast that is young and energetic, and the vibe they bring.
I may be able to do 6pm (10pm for @viva) or 7pm (11pm for @viva) SGD time? Is @GB ok? I Just need to adjust my dinner times which is quite ok as usually everyone is in the mood for the weekend.
Hi @grace and @Viva
I’m thinking we may choose to sometimes watch 2 episodes back-to-back or just 1 episode depending on how we feel.
So to accommodate a longer rewatch time, let’s start at:
10:00 pm New Zealand
06:00 pm Singapore (Yes will have to change dinner time, but it’s doable.)
At the moment the day will be Fridays as it’s the start of the weekend and hopefully we are more relaxed. Start date suggestions anyone? Are we dying to start this week on 2 Sept or want to wait until next Friday?
FYI, I’ll be home a bit late next Friday 9 Sept (but can join you anyway) and will be away on 4 and 11 Nov.
Everyone is welcome join us, btw, just let us know here.
@pkml3, if you see this message, and if you don’t mind,… can we please have a separate Rewatch Thread for this show?
@GB Happy either way. How do you and @Grace feel like? Thanks both for shifting dinner time to accommodate!
@Grace, I haven’t had a chance to catch up on the BTS yet. 🙂 I want to write down my thoughts and reflections here when it is still fresh in mind.
I finally listen to the OST since I don’t need to worry about spoilers anymore – Is the Dylan and Esther one used in the drama at all?
This Friday 2sep works well for me! I will be out bringing kids for mid autumn festivities and will miss 9th sep one. Will be looking at the full moon hopefully!
That OST Dylan and Esther sung is a promotional video song, it isn’t part of the drama OST of which there are 8. Which is quite a lot for a cdrama.
https://share.api.weibo.cn/share/332095164,4803783853345608.html?weibo_id=4803783853345608
So enjoyed reading this discussion. So lovely that everyone got fully enthused by and invested in this series.
I am going to enjoy re-watching.
I was a tad disappointed by the ending… as some others have commented… could have done with a little more establishing of the new situation. Love like the Galaxy did that really well after all the ins and outs and ups and downs. It felt a little throwaway in FBD.
But that is a persnickety comment because so much was excellent!
Looking forward to the re-watch.
Hi @grace and @Kate!!
OK @grace. We’ll start this Friday, 2 September at 6pm, Singapore time. 🙂 What fun to have a compatriot commenting along with me!
@Kate, I’m so glad to see that you’re back and that you managed to take some time to watch this show. You’ve hit the nail on the head… ‘enthused’ and ‘invested’ are the words to describe us FD viewers.
Will you be able to join us on Fridays? I believe it will be morning around 11am for you? It will be just before your lunch time. We will start with Fridays and see how it goes.
Yes the ending was abrupt. I didn’t complain because just before MS turned up for the last kiss, Fairy Orchid had been thinking about their sweet times together. We’d also seen what their ‘marital bliss’ would have looked like in that nice, long dream sequence of MS’. Hence I didn’t feel cheated.
However it would have been nice to have seen the whole gang getting together, to meet MS again, and to know if MS and Orchid lived at both Silent Moon Palace and Arbiter Hall, and whether MS gave up ruling altogether just to enjoy being a house-husband LOL.
Hi @GB!
I’m just dipping in … couldn’t resist commenting on my favourite shows on BoD… too good not to acknowledge.
But I’m off again to be with family in my home town in a few days and will probably (never say never) not engage with the re-watch until the end of September. The timing may or may not work, it’s during my working day usually – but no worries at all – I’ll still enjoy all the reflections. This is such a good and fruitful discussion.
Good point re the ending, btw!
Hi Ladies!!!
I started reading everyone’s comments and now I have little time to comment =( but I’ll try my best to get my thoughts in.
I really looooved everyone’s insight. @grace thanks for the scripture as well. My bible studies were in Spanish so it took me a minute to remember it lol
I thought this drama was so good and I agree a “simple” story plot can be powerful when well executed.
Again my apologies for not being eloquent down here, but I have limited time =(
Love is the ultimate power. I think we saw the 2 opposites types of love here
1. RH and Chidi women – selfish love, hurting others for “love,” tainted love
2. Devil king and Fairy – love as mutual respect, sacrificing, passionate, for the right reasons, helping others for love
There’s also DH’s love, but I am not able to categorize his because it’s in the middle. It’s not as passionate or evil. It’s tepid.
I was annoyed at DH at the beginning because I didnt think his love was true since he kept it a secret. Albeit to protect her, but still I kept telling him to grow a spine at the beginning lol. DH is very dutiful so that’s a type of love, but it’s just bland. Has anyone commented on this one already?
Kisses: OMG my favorite kisses were in the last episode. But the goodbye kiss prior to DK going to sacrifice himself was the best. So dreamy.
Tidbit of info: I read somewhere that the novel has an epilogue and it goes something like this. DK and Fairy/Goddess decide to travel the three realms and many antics ensue because DK still his usual self. In the end, they decide to settle down and have 3 kids. Also, DK complains that he doesn’t have enough time with Fairy/Goddess.
Wardrobe: DK “servant” wardrobe was probably my favorite. Although simple it just made him look so pure to me. Wait – maybe the purple comes in a close/tie. Too many to choose.
I liked Moon Tribe Orchid dresses the best. Not the Goddess. I still have to look back at Jieli’s wardrobe because she had a few and I liked most of them.
I cant promise I’ll join the live rewatch, but I’ll be rewatching this one again. I started already but will do it again. I may be able to do it this Friday since kids have no school. Otherwise, it’s right in the middle of me getting things ready for school and work.
Have a great week!!
Lovely to read you all!! Have a great weekend =)
Hi @carolina, is the rewatch timing in the early morning for you? Come whenever you can. You can pop in and out, and always come back to leave comments later too. I hope to see you at the rewatch!
I’m glad you had a chance to read our comments. I was going a bit crazy with so many thoughts whirling about, I had to put them down somewhere.
Yes, a simple, well worn plot, but executed so well that it took our breaths away. This will forever be my benchmark for what is a good Xianxia production (in the old style). I would like to see if Xianxia cdramas can break out of this mould, though, to dare to be different and yet still keep the basics of the genre. LOL, I speak as if I watch this kind of show a lot, but actually I hardly watch at all.
Yes this is one powerful message that comes through and which most if not all of us can totally get behind. No recriminations, but forgiveness, giving, patience, acceptance: love can transform all.
About Chang Heng’s love… no I don’t think we mentioned how bland it was. It was drowned out and overpowered by DFQC’s love LOL, so we barely noticed it. But yes we did say that it was a true love too, and he did the ‘right’ things, but too bad. In the end, he himself admitted to being a coward, for not stepping up when he should have, etc.
I have the same fave kiss scene as you… the one before he left to fight. It reminds me of kdrama ‘Goblin,’ when the hero comes back suddenly for a full on, passionate kiss, as a possible goodbye because he’s off to do battle and might lose.
The other one I liked was when they were still in each other’s bodies and DFQC in Fairy’s body tried to change back, but failed. That was a interesting version of a kiss because he-she drew back his lips and it looked almost as if he were biting her but wasn’t. A very different sort of kiss.
Thanks for the epilogue notes! I can’t imagine spending 10s of thousands of years together and still not having enough time to be with Fairy LOL. Maybe childcare duties with 3 kids took up most of her attention! I’d love to watch snippets of that epilogue if it ever took shape as a drama. I want to see what antics DFQC and Fairy get up to.
I believe I liked DFQC’s more vibrant costumes. The ones with blue and/or gold and or red. I only noticed 2 of Jie Li’s costumes, but they were very unusual.
Yes, I preferred the Moon Tribe costumes on Fairy too.
Hi I’m new and this is the first C drama I’ve ever watched.
I want to thank you for clearing up the last few seconds of ep36. I started spiralling out cos I was not sure if she’d gone into a dream state out of grief (like he had for her) and she was just dreaming that he was back.
But many of you have commented that it’s real and not a dream. Yay!
Hi @Beki, welcome to Bitches Over Dramas and to cdramas.
I’m not one to watch much in the way of cdramas either, and I watched very few of this costume drama genre, but a good drama is a good drama, and recognisable in a few episodes (unless sometimes it goes downhill later). 🙂
The difference between the time Moon Supreme lost Fairy and this time when he ‘died’, is that she gives the voiceover narrative on what love was able to accomplish in all the side characters, and we get to see their continued trajectories. She smiled as she paid the Bone Orchid a visit in her garden and was at peace with the memory of past good times. So she was in reality and not in a dream.
In the other instance of loss, we jumped directly from his grief to him waking up in a happy Neverland, where nothing went wrong, which immediately smacked of a dream.
Hi @Beki, welcome!
DF CQ’s weibo account (yes he has one!) has confirmed our interpretation that DF CQ is alive. Credit to the links @Grace found from twitter, here is the translation of DF CQ closing comments subbed in English, even read by the voice actor himself!
https://twitter.com/xiaotoumings/status/1564998517642657793
Further, if you scroll down to xiaotoumings’s posts on 30 August, they have kindly translated the epilogues posted from other characters’ weibo accounts.
Thanks for the link and info @Viva!!
@GB yes if I’m reading the times correctly, the rewatch would be morning for me. It’s not a bad time but with kids in school and my work it may not always work. But that’s ok I’ll try it out.
Thanks for link @viva
@Viva, I was thinking about your question on whether that end smile was the first time DFQC smiled… ie a genuine smile, relaxed and unforced, outside of his dream. It might have been… we need the rewatch to watch out for his smile!!!
I know that when they saw the cloud whale, he had a friendly, quizzical look on his face. Might have been a slight smile. We can list the things we want to look out for in our rewatch LOL.
@GB, good idea!!! Things to look out for could be:
1. Swoony lines
2. Swoony moments – these can then be added to the DF CQ appreciation post!
3. DF CQ smiles – yes you are right, he might have smiled before. Especially after the emotion roots were recovered.
4. Favourite CGI moments
Adding to your list!
5. Kiss count
6. DFCQ eye roll moments/death stares. He had a lot of it in the first few episodes
I think to make up for that abrupt ending there is this interview clip where they were asked “What changes have you made for each other after you are married?” and more and they answered as their character. I have yet to find the english translation. If not I can try to translate it. It was quite cute.
The original novel epilogue ends with the Shoufeng sword, Orchid going to the mortal world and the Bone Orchid. There are some fan-made epilogues of MS & Orchid after they got together, but those weren’t the original, @Viva just to double check, is it so? As I’ve been seeing quotes from these epiloges but they don’t seem to be from the original novel.
@grace thanks. What happened in the novel? Orchid went to the human world with the Bone Orchid?
It will be Chinese practice again to translate all that interview. But I’d love to know their answers.
This is part of it but the original was 2min+ long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1tNJD-dzus
There’s another 4min interview that came out today of them talking about each other and was also quite funny. Let me try to translate it later tonight.
Heheheh! Thanks @grace. Sorry to make you do Chinese homework!!! I was hoping they’d translate and sub those interviews.
It’s a good idea actually, making the actors dress up as their characters and do interviews. It really prolongs the interest in the show. I wonder if that also increases the advertisement money flowing in.
I like that the whole ensemble play together. It’s amazing that actors can just switch on their serious face for their role after all that raucous fun.
iQiyi is airing episodes live now on YT. Seems to have been going on for 2 hours already… and now it starts again with Episode 1. A few hundred people are live watching.
The final review by Avenue X.
Listening to AvenueX review and I so agree with her about the abrupt ending. “You should slow down and gradually press down on the brake and make the car elegantly stop.”
I really wish they could have added 2 more episodes to add the gaps of Danyin and Jieli’s father’s story, life after MS & Orchid get married etc… I would love for them to finish the wedding they didn’t have.
Maybe they really ran out of time considering how they spent so much time getting the script and there must have been a time limit or budget to how many episodes they can budget on.
I was tempted to buy the character figurines on iQiyi but I couldn’t figure how to do the shipping. Taobao sells many of the moon pendent, there is even the Bone Orchid braclet that is US$10..not sure about shipping though.
@grace, I felt that they could have edited some scenes and given us more of the future lives of all the characters. I wanted to see the whole gang together again.
It only just fell short of being quite a perfect drama.
This interview of what they will do after they get married with subs!
https://youtu.be/y01tSNzLdkg
I love the part where they were asked how is married life and dating different. And they say it is no difference because being with her is like falling in love for the first time. AND MS burst out laughing (probably finding it too cheesy a script]..and the continue laughing till the next question
Ah a longer version of the interview! Thanks @grace! This one has better subs. Yes, I was wondering why they laughed like that. It was too cheesy. I’m guessing that they had to make up all their answers on the spot and try not to contradict each other too much. It was cute.
There is a translation of the novel and the epilogues!
https://bananachocolatecosmos.wordpress.com/2017/01/01/demon-king-%e9%ad%94%e5%b0%8a%e8%8b%8d%e5%85%b0%e8%af%80-table-of-contents/
The translator is pretty smart it putting in password codes that you need to go around the posts to find out. Just a clue for the pw, both syllabus of the word need to be capitalized. I have yet to read the epilogue but I finally figured out the pw and the chapter is long!
The epilogue is not found online but in the book and I was almost tempted to go borrow it from the library but I’ll slower reading it in chinese
More goodies from the book? Thanks @grace. I looked at epilogue 1 but I think I’ll leave it. There’s enough to do with the rewatch without adding more reading!!!
@grace thank you so much for sharing. I guess the epilogues are not from the author? did I understand correctly?
I wish I could read Chinese. I’ll look at the translated book. I don’t have time today but I’ll be back.
@gb I came to the rewatch late today. I got the time wrong lol but it’s ok it’s too early. I was reading you early this morning but then I fell asleep again. I have to go and comment on the other side. Hopefully, I can do it soon =)
@Grace, I found the Chinese epilogues here https://m.hetushu.com/book/4099/3027517.html
Like your said, one is for the Xufeng sword, one is for Bone Orchid and one is for Orchid.
@Carolina,😊the novel and the drama are quite different and can be treated as two different stories. DFCQ is not as nice. He wanted to use Orchid to revive Chidi Nv and saved Orchid many times to achieve that goal, in the DFCQ swoony way of course. For Orchid, despite she knows he is using her, she can’t help but still fell in love with DFCQ. DFCQ doesn’t really know what love is, and when she dies to revive Chidi nv, he realised how much he loves Orchid. He then searched for ways to revive Orchids fragment of spirit, waited for years for her to be repaired and grow.
So the epilogues of the novel will be read in that context.I searched in Baidu (similar to wiki but in Chinese) , the pregnancy story is not listed in the content so I believe it’s fan written like @Grace mentioned earlier.
As for the drama, they added many characters that the novel doesn’t have. I would go with the epilogues that they have on the characters weibo account translated in the twitter mentioned upstream. Especially DFCQ one was posted in LBFaD official weibo account so that should be the official intention of the drama production team.
Hi there @Carolina, which part of the world are you in? The times for the Rewatch parties may shift on other days (but not on Fridays) and we may be able to accommodate different time zones for a live Rewatch.
@Viva, yeap the link you had is Epilogue 3. Epilogue 4-6 is one for each of their child.
Epilogue 4 – On their son and meeting Siming’s son. It is a short one but a happy one because Orchid is happy her master’s son came to visit.
Epilogue 5 – is about their 2nd child, their young daughter who fell in love with Little Moxi, Shansheng’s son whose father is the God of War Moxi. (The characters here are not familiar to us as they have changed the characters in the drama)
Epilogue 6 – is about the 3rd child who is 5yo and kept coming to their room at night, crying because he was scared of ghosts. Well…it was during when DFQC was going to be reaaallllyyyy affectionate with Orchid in bed but interrupted by the kid. Lol, that’s real married life for you!
Then again, the drama did not follow the novel exactly, so it’s just good to know it’s a happily ever after with kids underfoot. And that’s good enough to know.
iQiyi kindly compiled almost all the kiss scenes. I actually lost count.
Missing is the first 1 in Haotian Tower, and the later failed attempt(s) by MS to switch back bodies.
I’ve been hoping for this OST BGM and it’s out!!! So heart-thumping, full of resolve and hope. I really like this piece.
oh yes I love this OST too. Thanks @GB!
@Grace, thanks for that link! Ahh so there are 3 more epilogues that I didn’t know. I felt like doing Amazing Race when working out the passwords and links for that blog lol.
@Carolina, I must correct my comment earlier. While there are fan made stories, the link above have translated 3 more epilogues which show they have kids and happily living in the mortal realm.
Btw, Weibo is also doing episode highlights for the various episodes in pretty layouts. I don’t know how to share here and it’s all untranslated. They are still fanning the excitement by putting out some content like GIFs, high quality photos, their various outfits, info of the treasures. Nothing we don’t know, thought it is nicely laid out and with organized info like how Orchid discovered her real identity. I think they can now finally do this that the drama has ended.
Wow, this production company really knows how to publicise and keep the interest alive for their work. They have spent their money on the right things like the good CG and on post-airing marketing. They see how the viewers have become fans and are making the most of it before interest dies or a new show takes over viewers’ attention.
I won’t understand Weibo but I might go in just to enjoy the pretty pics. What a deep rabbit hole!!
I know he’s the second male lead, and often not one who impressed us, but it occurred to me that Show has juxtaposed CH and MS in a subtle way that was lost on me at first viewing. I’m leaving my thoughts here, which range across many episodes, to avoid spoilers.
CHANG HENG AND THE FIREFLY STONE
In this episode we see that the Firefly Stone shines well only for Fairy so Chang Heng lets her keep it.
What show did not really make clear was that this had been his aim all along. Chang Heng for all his dithering, had a plan to give Fairy the Firefly Stone with the firefly light in it, but it was a long and somewhat convoluted plan, forged in secret, to protect her. What would happen to Fairy Yulin in Episode 7, could have happened to Orchid, and he wanted to prevent that. Still, I feel that it was an unwise move of CH’s to give that stone to anyone. His tiresome brother was overly concerned about him paying any attention to any other fairy than his missing bethrothed.
1)Just because Orchid had said she’d wanted a star (to put into the stone) and he’d foolishly said he could get her one, he hunted for that stone in the Nothernmost Sea. The pity was that, this whole stone thing would have been swoony, because it was something that only Fairy and CH knew about. (It was the ‘private affair’ that they shared). But CH had wiped it from Fairy’s memory 500 years earlier.
2) When in the present time, he then accidentally-on-purpose dropped it for Orchid to find it, she no longer recalled the significance of it.
He deliberately left the stone with her, telling her that with the firefly missing, he did not want the stone anymore, knowing that being the sentimental person she was, she would not throw it away.
3) Many days or weeks later, he releases a firefly near her garden, so that she’d have the light to go into the stone. He knows full well that Orchid would feed the firefly and lure it into the stone, the way she’d taken care of him when he’d been injured.
4) Finally in Ep 6, he pretends that he never knew all this and left the stone with her because the firefly would only shine brightly for its ‘owner’.
Unlike Moon Supreme, he knew her well, and what would give her great delight. However like MS, he also wanted to make her happy. It’s so cute that Fairy was being woo-ed by 2 ‘lovers’ without any of the couples being fully aware of it.
MS didn’t think he was wooing her but LOL, Fairy thought he was!!!
CH knew he was not supposed to appear to woo her (but he did) but Fairy thought that she was too lowly for him to ever consider her.
5) Sadly, we see in Ep 7, that the gift of the Firefly Stone caused more issues in Shuiyuntian… and in the end, Fairy, too, lost it. So from a height of joy, she plunged into disappointment.
CH’s efforts were ill-advised each time. He did something and then had to reverse what he did to protect Fairy, over and over again.
a) From the very beginning, after he’d first met Fairy, he probably should not have removed her memory of him, but he did it so that YZ wouldn’t find out that he had changed his mind about marrying Xi Yun.
b) He’d made the immortal pill for Fairy, using up much of his spiritual energy, but in the end, he did not given it to her, out of caution. (I wonder if he’d have been a bit more powerful when dealing with MS, if not for having expended his energy on that pill. Foolish chap.)
c) Next is attempt to give her a romantic gift (which she no longer remembers at this stage), by leaving the lighted stone with her, and it fails badly.
d) Worse he’d rooted for her to pass the immortal exam, but he could not even accept her into the Fountain Palace.
In all this, it was never clear to Fairy that CH really liked her. All his protecting her, backfired on the romance in the end.
By the time he took a stand with Yun Zhong and rebelled to save and bring Fairy home, it was too late. I guess we should not be surprised that fortunately, Fairy chose the more un-conflicted, clearer ‘lover’ of the two, who’d really been with her and protecting her openly all along.
When as Goddess Xi Yun, Fairy revealed to CH that she remembered everything in her past 2 lives… she mentioned the Firefly Stone he was holding, and how she’d wanted to take a star to put into it. This meant that Fairy had even remembered the time that he’d wiped from her memory. Too late: their private affair that could have bonded them as lovers, had change significance. It no longer meant that they were meant to be together out of special regard, but that Fairy was establishing that out of their long friendship, CH needed to help her sacrifice herself.
On the ‘private affair’ thing, Fairy set great store by having a connection to the other person because only they knew their ‘private affairs’ She used that statement later to point out to Moon Supreme how they had connection. She used it to try to bring him around in Cangyan Sea (although that had mixed results). She also used it to show how she knew when she was being tricked by RH. One of those ‘private affairs’ was how only he knew the way she’d touch his face to show him how to smile. It was her way of identifying her true love.
CH had lost out on establishing the significance of the Firefly Stone because he was too cautious in love. But at the same time, we pity him, because he did love Fairy. It was demonstrated too late.
What irony that in Episode 36, Fairy used the ‘private affair’ between herself and MS, to touch MS’s face (and make him smile) to show him that she remembered their past, but then had gone to marry CH who’d made her forget their ‘private affair’ in their distant past.
Sorry, I referenced the wrong episodes in the Chang Heng post above. Ep 6 should probably be Ep 7, and Ep 7 should be Ep 8. 😉
@GB oh the ironies of Orchid being woo-ed or accidently woo-ed by two lovers. We can’t help compare the two and even we would choose DFQC over CH. CH wasn’t bad but DFQC was better, bolder, braver.
I would say CH and Orchid isn’t fated to cross paths so well like how DFQC and Orchid did. Even though they did get ‘married’ later, it was an event meant to happen but didn’t get fulfilled. Still not fated isn’t it. Just because an event happens doesn’t guarantee the deed came to pass. Even the wedding in the mortal world didn’t work out.
The difference between these 2 guys love is that CH had to hide his love for Orchid; DFQC did not hide it, even from his own people and he openly declared his love for her and was ready to take any punishment for her. He was not embarrassed for her and had nothing to hide.
Random stuff online on Weibo
1. To be obsessed with this drama is to have 诀（Jue coming from the title of this drama Canglan Jue)症(Zheng meaning disease). It is a pun on the phrase 绝症JueZheng which means terminal illness. lol…FD terminal illness!
2. Most popular OST is the opening theme song 诀爱Farewell Love and 寻一个你Finding You that had more than a million saves. 2mil + for Farewell Love OST and 1.5mil+ for Finding You OST.
3. The OSTs came up Top 1 thirty three times. Farewell Love was Top 1 twenty four times and on many other lists. Anyway these songs have been on top 10 lists and listened to millions of times. And that’s only on the China platform. We aren’t even counting those on the international platform esp on YT because there isn’t any on spotify…well except Farewell Love which is already listened to 1.5mil times.
4. How to prick their weakness.
Ronghao: Your master is not coming back
Xunfeng: You brother does not want you anymore.
5. There is a comic of this story produced by iQiyi Comics and Stellar Gravity that was published on Jan 1 2021.
This is the first one but since it is all images, you can’t use google translate but you can check out the comic illustrations.
There are 100+ chapters but only 20 is free, an example here: http://www.iqiyi.com/manhua/reader/1tl3sxemt6d_or65v4t8uh.html
6. This was way back in 2020 when they got the cast to do the traditional red paper cutting to wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year. That was 2 years ago!
http://weibo.com/7259918671/K1JjGjziP
7. Since it’s the mid-autumn festival, they put out the Orchid & DFQC kiss poster at the lock bridge with the huge moon in the background. Love that scene!
More nuggets when I get through the Weibo posts from 2020…slowly plowing through and I will share those more interesting ones. Hope my weblinks manage to get through!
Great info @grace! Thanks for collating them here.
I enjoyed watching them as themselves on Weibo.
I don’t think I ever heard the translation of Canlan Jue… does it mean ‘Brilliant Sleep’ as Google Translate suggests?
I’m putting this here as well as on the other thread on the possible next rewatch times.
NOTICE
For Episodes 11 and 12:
Today Sunday 11 Sept 2022, 10:00 UTC or 14:00 UTC
or
Tuesday 13 Sept 2022, 14:00 UTC
🙂
Let us know if there are any takers!! 😉
Hey @GB
I think the meaning of 苍兰诀 can be translated as:
苍 Cang = Cang from Dong Fang Qi Can
兰 Lan = Lan from Xia Lan Hua (little Orchid)
诀 Jue = bid farewell
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%AF%80
So that means the good bye between DFCQ and Orchid. 🙂
Thanks @Viva for the translation. The Goodbye Between DFQC and Orchid sounds right since the theme song mentions Farewell Love.
I replied to you on the other thread about an earlier rewatch today if you’re up for it. Just name your time and I’ll see, because I’m relatively free on a Sunday. 🙂
Professional actors hard at ‘kissing’ work. I don’t think subs are needed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dspZOBiX-rc
They had quite a lot of kissing scenes to rehearse, and the final cuts were pretty good!
Hi. I am new to this portal and this drama was my first Chinese drama and I loved it . I have a question. In the last episode,does DFQC come in real or is it just an imagination? I thought it’s real because of the smokey thing coming from the crescent in orchid’s garden . So is it a happy ending because DFQC came back to meet her ?
Hi @One_1, welcome to Bitches Over Dramas and to this thread.
You’ll be glad to know that with Chinese dramas in this Xianxia genre, resurrection and rebirth is ‘normal’. Hence DFQC did indeed come back to life after 500 years.
I believe the Bone Orchid that contained his primordial spirit was placed in Orchid’s greenhouse to absorb the wonderful healing and life giving properties of her plants and her kind of magic. Like a real moon in the sky, the Bone Orchid just hung in space but it took in lots of magic and DFQC was able to return with his body and spirit rejoined and intact.
So it’s a happy ending indeed. 🙂
I didn’t bother to check on the additional ‘after sales’ service episodes that iQIYI gave as fan service. However this one is interesting in that there are some scenes that we didn’t see in the series but which appear here.
Also the way they chose to edit and stitch together certain scenes added or changed emphasis.
Wow what a great lot of edits to go with music! AvenueX has surpassed herself.
I saw this posted on cyn_lynn’s blog and looked for it. Best sychronisation with the music that I’ve come across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQFtUdrucgM
The number of MVs and fan made vids for this show highlights how popular it is.
Here’s another one! This one has to be my favourite!!! He’s so cuuute Aiyah! LOLOL.
I found this site yesterday that plays the music as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8W_jLz9HMk
I am sad that the Thursday is the next show. So much to think about from this weekend release.
So there were twins…one girl and one boy. Who is the boy? any thoughs?
Eps #9 is the best. Great laugh, strong side of Moon King, story line the best.
@Floridagirl, which episode are you at?
Hi i’m glad to have found this thread. Nice to know a community that also loves this drama! I just finished it and can’t move on. Heeelp! 🙂 This is probably to make the scene more dramatic but does anyone has thoughts on why DF has to dive/fly to orchid on her death scene while he can usually poof in other times?
Hi @Dinnertime, welcome to Bitches Over Dramas and to this thread.
Yes, it’s hard to not fall hard for this show and be sucked in for a long time. It’s been a month since it ended so I guess it’s time to slowly move on. 😉
To your question: the short answer is that we don’t know why MS/DFQC flew, but we can conjecture.
Guesses with different scenes:
At the Haishi save in Ep 3 and in SYT later: Orchid was not devoted to him. The Xilan Curse was the only link. Even at SYT, Orchid could remove the Bone Orchid and still MS could appear right next to her to save her. In those times, Orchid was physically hurt.
In the battle at Xuanxu, Orchid was attacked by Rong Hao, to separate her from the Bone Orchid (I think) which was extracting her spirit for Chidi. Instead of being just physically attacked, she was attacked at the level of her ‘spirit’. Show never tells us how MS knows where she is, but if he was depending on locating her by the strength of her spirit, then maybe after such a long time with the Bone Orchid and RH’s attack, her spirit was too weak to give MS a strong signal.
He seemed to be literally seeking her in the sandstorm, sort of feeling his way, but not able to pin point her location.
The other thing about the Xilan Curse, it looked like if Orchid’s spirit was affected, MS was also affected. When she collapsed, he did too. When she revived, he did too. Their link was so great that it wasn’t just the physical torture she suffered that affected him, but the ‘spirit’ torture as well.
Chang Heng, on the other hand, may have zoomed in on where Orchid was because he knew RH was up to something. He may have gone after RH and found Orchid being attacked. (I was also asking somewhere about how CH knew what was going on in all that sandstorm or where to turn up to save Orchid from RH, but it could be that he was tuned in on RH, because he did not know that Orchid was anywhere on the battlefield.)
That’s my 2 cents worth of guessing.
I have another similar question on the logic that I’ll post below or at the end of the rewatch. 🙂
To add to what I just posted to @Dinnertime above… we see that when Orchid stabbed herself and was sure to die, the seal of the Xilan Curse disappeared from MS’s forehead as well. Only then was he able to stand up and run to her. Before this he had been too weak/in pain to reach her with his usual magical alacrity.
So it was true that the great weakness was that anyone who attacked Orchid, could destroy MS as well. The spiritual energy that MS needed to work magic was affected when RH attacked Orchid. This means that MS would not have been able to contain the evil spirits and use them to unseal the Shuo Feng Sword either. When Orchid ‘died’ he would have died as well. This is probably also the reason (to use a Harry Potter term) he could not ‘apparate’.
More thoughts on trying to figure out the logic. I’m just putting these questions here for fun, since they occurred to me.
It seems like RH, Die Yi, MS can all be invisible and never get caught. How about the rest of the immortals. Is there a code that prevents them from spying on each other?
Similarly, they can travel anywhere and ‘apparate’. We see that MS just entered rooms without problem. Again there might be a code on respecting privacy?
But still they need spies to be planted and to confirm what was happening with their spies.
In the case of death… MS’s father, Orchid and MS himself all disintegrate into ashes and vanish. But Rong Hao and Chidi’s mortal bodies remained and had to be buried. I assume it’s because both of them were true mortals to begin with, but the others were immortals from their origins?
My other comment was that in the war between immortal races, it seemed primitive that they were using spears and swords in hand-to-hand combat. What happened to the fairy realm’s Spirit Vanishing Arrows? Were they only allowed to use them up to the Memory Loss River and not in Xuanxu? Did those levels and levels of fairies take part in the war? Why was so little magic used? Too exhausting?
🙄 😬 😑 😆 😉
@GrowingBeautifully thanks for your detailed take. That makes sense actually. I was annoyed by this before thinking there is some disconnect. Another thing that bothered me was that in the death scene he would also loose consciousness when she would unlike before when orchid drowned or pass out and he wouldn’t. It might be also because he is physically stronger than her. Spiritually, I can imagine orchid might be stronger than him that’s why she was able to get up the last time after grabbing the sword while MS tried to get up but passed out again.
The last two episodes was just released in netflix this weekend where i am so this is very fresh for us.🤭 And I had just recommended it to some friends and family.
I haven’t seen it in this thread but maybe already shared somewhere else. There is an episode 37 that was released where MS talked about his marriage with Orchid saying they like to go to Lucheng because no one knows them there, their wedding anniversary is coming and he’s thinking of a surprise and that orchid is getting lazy again.☺️ here is the link:
https://myasiantv.at/love-between-fairy-and-devil-2022-episode-37-english-sub/
@GrowingBeautifully for your second post – VERY good questions! I never did quite get why MS’s brother (forgot his name) said that he failed to get the soldiers. I think he misunderstood since this did not seem like it was up to him. And i’m not sure why MS said “keep an eye on her make sure nothing goes wrong again”. Why entrust her to his brother when he wants orchid to sacrifice her life? I can’t think of any reasons about the arrows and their privacy when they “apparate”. Must be difficult living in there. LOL
Hi @Dinnertime,
Thanks for the link. Yes we did post it somewhere, and there is also an almost 8 minute Episode 38 and an almost 2-hour fan meeting named as ‘Episode 39’ in some streaming sites. You may be able to get hold of them on YouTube, but the resolution is terrible for Ep 38.
It was a nice bringing together of many moments with 2 different OSTs playing.
About Orchid being able to get up to stab herself… she was determined because she knew she was weakened and would die, but she could not afford to die by any other means except by the Cheng Ying Sword. She was that much nearer to the sword than MS was, so she made sure she would die by it before he could reach her.
About MS’s brother, Xun Feng. The instructions to XF were ambiguous. My guess: MS hoped that Orchid had been sufficiently p*ssed off by him, so that XF could get the Bone Orchid off her without hurting her, plus use Chidi’s spirit in it to unseal the Shuo Feng Sword and the soldiers.
XF of course was delighted that Orchid was one step ahead of him, wanting the Cheng Ying Sword to kill herself, which would give him the same desired results, and more decisively.
MS didn’t seem to consider that his brother would quietly allow Orchid to kill herself. They’d argued about the Cheng Ying Sword before, therefore he may have thought his intentions regarding keeping it away from Orchid were clear, but XF could interpret it in his own way. The other instructions to keep an eye on her could be interpreted to mean that she should not be hurt/killed (by others). I guess… MS forgot about self-sacrifice.
Here’s one more review with a quick summary retelling of the plot. This reviewer did a first impressions review and a 2nd review upon completion of the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA-oPnX6WHs&t=2s
Needless to say the review was super positive. 😆
This might be the ultimate handsy MV!!! Great cuts by Lan_Lan subs.
Sorry, that link is not working… try this url:
Annyeong 🍁
@GB thanks for sharing that video – love how “handsy”-ful it is 💗
i have to say – after finishing this show – i had to go back and rewatch EP 1 because when i started, it was hard to finish. now after everything, i’m seeing it in a delightful way – of course, the best is still their meet up or kiss up hihi when MS 7 emotions basically lead Fairy orchid to him – what a clashing/smashing beginning 💕
i liked Dylan Wang from Meteor garden. He kind’a reminds me of Daoming Si here so much. How many years did MS wait for Goddess Xi to resurrect? compared to his 500 years!! wow. it’s like MS left before Goddess Xi materialized and she almost left when MS materialized. such an abrupt ending, i believe. it’s like watching Hallmark shows ending. augh. but love the happy ending all around. yay! Makes me want to watch Meteor garden all over again. 😁
@HK_Lady, yes, wasn’t the show so satisfying, and the handsy video good at depicting the close relationship and trust of the couple? I caught another video that did another ordering of the couple screenshots. They were provocative and informative in their own way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2uy7GoVfJE