For reference, I’ll list my highlights for each episode.

Part 1 is here: Till the End of the Moon: Episodes 1 to 6 My Commentary

Episode 1

First encounter of Devil God Tantia Jin and immortal Li Susu

Tantia Jin was hunting for the “mirror of the past” which belonged to the Xiaoyao Sect and would supposedly end his life. Li Susu’s drop of blood activated the divine artifact. According to the Ancient Creator of the mirror, she was the Chosen One who could reverse destiny and stop Tantia Jin’s destruction. His past was his only weakness.

Thus, to stop him from turning psycho in the future, she traveled 500 years back in time. Her twofold mission was to erase the cruelties he suffered and ensure that he lived on. You see, if she summarily killed him, he would resurrect as Devil God. That’s because he was born as a demon baby with evil bones inside of him him. This meant that should he die, his evil bones would wake up anyway, and transform into the Devil God.

I like that extra complication. The premise here is that Tantia Jin was innately evil but despite his evil nature, he still be good by consciously making choices to do good. His evil nature didn’t determine his destiny. If he was nurtured and fostered to live a virtuous life, he could still turn out different from the Demon God that he was in the future.

However, the fact remained that his death was the final solution. The immortal leaders ordered Susu to find a way to destroy his evil bones before killing him. They didn’t want to risk Tantia Jin turning evil. They couldn’t trust him to do the right thing.

To me, that’s the whole point of the endless sufferings and reincarnations of Tantia Jin in this drama. He must prove that no matter what happened to him, he wouldn’t act on his basic instinct to destroy the world as his vengeance, and that he would always chose to sacrifice himself rather than hurt the one he loved.

What else is significant in this first episode?

1. Li Susu drew first blood when she used her divine Chongyu Harp against him.

Significance? It was Tantia Jin who taught her archery in another lifetime.

Also, he used his crossbow to slay the immortals while all Li Susu had as a weapon was a musical harp that could be converted into a bow and a dagger.

2. Tantia Jin succeeded in killing all the immortals in the “Four Continents and Three Realms” except for one, Li Susu who fled to the past.

3. Her last words to Tantia Jin before disappearing into the past lifetime were “Tantai Jin, I swear I’ll kill you.”

However, when they next met, he asked her what she wanted to say to him.

She couldn’t tell him that she wanted to kill him.

To me, that was an interesting contrast. When he was the most terrifying, and she was the most terrified, she bravely swore to kill him. However, when the situation was reversed, that is, when he was the weakest and she was the strongest, she couldn’t tell it to his face that she desired to kill him.

4. They had complementary avatars. Tantia Jin has an avatar.

Li Susu has hers too.

5. The mark between her eyebrows must be significant.

TJ’s comment implied that hers was something unusual.

He had one too. I told you about yin-and-yang, didn’t I?

6. The second meeting of Tantia Jin and Li Susu/Ye Xiwu

After she travel back in time, she’s amazed to discover that:
a. she’s Tantia Jin’s wife. They’ve been married for 6 months
b. she’s one of his abusers
c. she’s a harpy but in her family’s eyes, she could do no wrong.
d. Tantia Jin is nothing like the Demon God. He’s become docile.

Although she knew before she time-traveled that the mortal Tantia Jin was weak, she wasn’t prepared to see him kneeling in a frozen pond. In his thin flowing robes, he looked weak and pitiful. It struck her that “Even dogs in Hengyang Sect are fiercer than him.”

Her first impression of this submissive Tantia Jin was completely different to her last vision of him as the Devil God. He was striding arrogantly down the courtyard of her palace with dead bodies everywhere.

Perversely, she commanded Tantia Jin to strangle her. He wouldn’t comply so she ordered him instead to look at her as if he wanted to kill her. He couldn’t conceal his hatred then.

His glare frightened her and she had a vivid flashback of the slaughter he carried out. She ran away, traumatized all over again.

7. Falling snow on their second meeting

Episode 2

The highlights:

1. She ended his kneeling punishment. Significance? For me, this marks the first time she “feels” compassion for him and acts on it. Her change of heart caught Tantia Jin off-guard. He believed that she had a trick up her sleeve so he looked upon her good deed suspiciously. Of course, he has a reason to be distrustful. Her kindness has an end goal: to stop him from turning into a Devil God.

2. She realized that as Tantia Jin’s wife, Ye Xiwu, she treated him atrociously, too. She was shocked that her former self took pleasure in whipping him nightly (and I don’t mean in the BDSM way, lol). She beat him for no good reason.

3. Whenever Tantia Jin (TJ) neared death, he had a mental conversation with his inner devil. He would offer the devil his body and soul, but the devil wouldn’t accept them. Instead, his inner demon exhorted him to be patient.

Inner Demon: You’re going to go through all hardships of mortal life. And be drowned in endless bitterness. You are fated to be cursed and doomed to a tragic end. When you’re facing your hardest time and approaching the end of life, I will come to accept your offerings.

4. Reference to the title: Li Susu is enjoying the moonlight. She didn’t know that the moon shone so much brighter 500 years ago and blamed the Devil God for throwing a blanket of foul fog over the earth. She hadn’t seen the moon in a while.

The end of the moon = the future time whence Li Susu lived. There was no moon there because TJ “killed” it.

5. She saved him from the other servants. Significance? The servants were abusing TJ because they believed it would please her.

She ordered him to start eating nutritious food. He wouldn’t eat it until she took a bite from all the dishes.

6. TJ refreshed her memory on the reason of their marriage. The original Ye Xiwu had planned to drug her sister and an odious prince with an aphrodisiac so they’d be caught together in a compromising situation. But she ended up taking the drugged candy instead of her sister.

In a later episode, however, the real story behind TJ’s and Ye Xiwu’s “forced marriage” would be revealed. It was TJ’s scheme to marry her. He specifically targeted her; he wanted her to eat the drugged candy.

I thought this was a clever plot twist. The hostage prince reversed the tables on his captors and took on a hostage of his own. And he chose his victim well. He chose the spoiled daughter of the most powerful noble family in the kingdom.

Hmmm…I wonder what happened to the real Ye Xiwu?

Episode 3

1. She was told by her personal maid that TJ had a weird way of talking to animals. She didn’t believe it. Instead, she thought he talked to animals because nobody talked to him. So she aimed to be his confidante of sorts.

2. She found how TJ felt about his bullies. He thought that they were behaving in their normal sadistic way. “You all insult me not because of what I’ve done, but simply because you enjoy it.” As for grudges. As a powerless hostage prince, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking about grudges. He said, “To be alive is exhausting enough. I don’t have the energy to think about anything else.”

The significance? This showed TJ’s mentality. He knew he’d done nothing wrong. People were just being cruel to him because it was their nature to be cruel. Also, he prioritized survival over vengeance. But once, survival was no longer a major concern, he could focus on payback time. Overall, his mentality didn’t bode well for the future. If cruelty was natural, then he wouldn’t have any reason NOT to pay back cruelty with cruelty when he had a chance. He would simply following what he learned – that it’s a dog-eat-dog world.

3. Snow again. The snow is meaningful. Will expound on the snow scenes later.

For now, let’s note that Tantai Jin was playing with her. He made his crow drop a snowball on her. Li Susu was attempting to make small talk by observing the weather.

She said, “Nice weather today, huh?”

Then, his crow dropped a big snowball on her. I’m sure the crow did it at his behest.

But I sensed a thawing in his attitude towards her.

4. Li Susu decided to rehabilitate him.

LSS: (to herself) If someone was willing to help him, to show him kindness, and cared about him would he have fallen on this devilish path? (to TJJ) Tantai Jin, life is indeed tough, but you still have to live on. Come find me if you ever feel bored. Not socializing for too long can turn you into a psychopath.
TJ: Like you?

Li  Susu was surprised to see his smile.

LSS: You looked good when you smiled just now. There are so many people in the mansion. I’m sure someone would like you and want to talk to you. (smiling earnestly at him)
TJ: No one will ever like me. And I don’t need to be liked.

Significance of this scene?

Two things: One, this was the first time he cracked a joke about her. He wouldn’t have dared before. His smile was a bonus. Two, his comment that he didn’t need to be liked is merely a defense mechanism.

5. She bought him a winter coat and even adjusted the size to fit him.

She said — jokingly — that she brought him a coat because she didn’t want him to freeze to death and become a Devil God.

He, on other hand, thought she was being kind to him.

I don’t know which pleased him more: the luxurious coat or the thoughtful note that went with it.

When his brother-in-law slit the sleeves, he showed his anger for the first time. Li Susu/Ye Xiwu appeared out of nowhere to defend him from getting beaten up. LSS wanted to take back the winter coat to replace it but he wouldn’t give it back.

Significance? It showed that he was attached to the coat because it was a gift from her. It was probably the first gift he ever received.

6. She discovered his crazy nanny.

There’s a backstory here.

7. TJ killed for the first time by using a wasp. His first victim, the Steward Yu, who assaulted his crazy nanny. Li Susu suspected it was his handiwork and threatened to do a body search of him before going to bed. Surprised by her unusual perceptiveness, he tried to distract her by offering to disrobe. She was unfazed, though.

TJ: In this case, searching my body doesn’t seem enough. How about…I take off all my clothes so that you may be rest assured?
LSS: (scoffing) Go ahead! Not my loss.
TJ: (shocked)
LSS: We’re husband and wife after all. I’ve already seen it all.

She assumed that they had sex already so his naked body wouldn’t bother her. Tantia Jin was unable to think of anything to say.

LSS: Go on. (meaning, undress already)

Tantia Jin reversed course. He lied back and pulled the blanket up to his chin…as if for defense.

LSS: You’re not going to do it? Shall I do it instead? (daring him)
TJ: (still no comeback but he’s thinking to himself) When did she become so much smarter?

Significance of this moment? They were teasing each other. His challenge backfired on him, though.

8. TJ told his crow to keep an eye on Li Susu. When Li Susu saw the black bird however, she screamed in fright. TJ was amused. He told the bird, “Who’d have thought Ye Xiwu who fears nothing and no one would be afraid of a bird? Please keep a distance from her.”

Significance? He was concerned about her. He didn’t want her frightened by his pet crow.

9. The nightmare demon appeared and carried Tantai Jin away. LSS tried to stop the demon.

LSS: Tantai Jin, hold on to me.
TJ: Ye Xiwu! Are you a fool? You’ll get yourself killed.
LSS: (grabbing his wrist) I can’t let you die!
Demon: What a pair of lovebirds. Then you can come along too.

Significance? For the first time, TJ showed concern for somebody else. He didn’t want her to risk her life for him. He didn’t know LSS had a vested interest in keeping him alive. She couldn’t allow him to die since his evil bone would resurrect as the Devil God who would later come to destroy her world.

This was also the beginning of the misunderstanding. Tantai Jin assumed that her kind acts toward him were because of her growing affection for him. But in reality, her gestures weren’t personal at all. She was carrying out a mission to convert him so he wouldn’t turn evil in the future.

In fact, her biggest nightmare was that she’d fail her in her mission and allowed the Devil God to be awakened.

10. According to TJ, he didn’t dream.

Episode 4

This episode had a lot of flashbacks which were presented as nightmares. The nanny had a nightmare of the past which both LSS and TJ relived. And TJ had a nightmare which LSS entered.

1. They entered the nanny’s nightmare and learned the circumstances of Tantai Jin’s birth and childhood. He was called a monster at birth. He was also given a birthname that was intended to curse his birth.

LSS: The names of all children bear the expectation of parents. But Tantai Jin’s name was a curse.

Jin = ashes

2. According to the nightmare demon, TJ didn’t have dreams because he didn’t have any love threads.

Demon: You were born without love threads. That’s why you can’t feel emotions. You won’t feel happy or sad. You won’t feel scared, either. How can a loveless one have nightmares? What a waste of all your miserable memories. However, I finally found your weakness just now. Something you do care about in this world. (looking down at the unconscious Ye Xiwu) Even if it’s only a little, it’ll suffice.

4. Li Susu discovered the truth about the crazy nanny. The nanny was about to betray Tantai Jin and poison him in exchange for her return to the Jing kingdom.

5. In TJ’s nightmare, nobody wanted to love him because all he brought to those people who loved him was suffering.

Imaginary Xiao Ling: If not for you, your mother wouldn’t have died. Your father wouldn’t have suffered the loss of his beloved. Lan’an wouldn’t have wasted away in that dark palace. YIngxin wouldn’t have been insulted time and time again. They were all your nearest and dearest. But they all hate you.
TJ: (talking in his dream) I never intended to do them harm. Never:
Imaginary Xiao Ling: See that? All emotions, affections and desires mean nothing to you. All you have ever known was to protect yourself. You don’t understand or care about other people’s pain at all.
TJ: I understand. I understand it all. I just can’t feel it.
Imaginary Xiao Ling: Tantai Jin, you’re really pathetic. You’re alive but you can’t feel the slightest beauty of this mortal world. You can’t even feel the pain of this mortal world. The only point of your existence is to bring torment to others.
TJ: No:
Imaginary Xiao Ling: To be despised and hated by others.

My sense of this dream is that Tantai Jin is blaming himself for causing harm to others. The Imaginary Xiao Ling acts like his “superego,” judging and criticizing him for things that were beyond his control.

6. When TJ was about to kill himself, Li Susu/Ye Xiwu appeared and stopped him. She grabbed the blade to stop him from slitting his throat. In the process, she cut herself, too.

LSS: Tantai Jin. You can’t die.

The drop of her blood that fell from the blade stopped the whole nightmare sequence. This is reminiscent of the drop of blood that activated the Mirror of the Past.

7. TJ discovered that he could accumulate power by absorbing the energy of demons.

Inner Devil: Your blood restrains all demons in this world. Your body can bear their demonic powers. As long as they can’t kill you, you can use their power. Do you feel it? This power is what your body craves. Isn’t it more fun than emotions and desires?
TJ: Don’t try to fool me again.
Inner Devil: With the whip of power in your hands, you’ll be the highest ruler of this world.

Significance: This is when he gets his first taste of power.

This scene reminded me of “Love between Fairy and Devil.” In that cdrama, the Devil also had to exchange his feelings for power. The difference between the two heroes, however, is that in LBFaD, it was the Devil’s father who purged all the emotions from his beloved son in order to make him the most powerful Devil ever and to save his people. In this cdrama, it was Tantai Jin himself who was tempted to give up his emotions in return for absolute power.

Episode 5

to be continued on another thread. Till the End of the Moon: Episode 5 Highlights