riventhorn: (guardian)
[personal profile] riventhorn
 I'm putting this discussion behind the cut because it contains spoilers for Episodes 38 through 40. 

I'm interested in how others feel about Shen Wei's decision not to tell Zhao Yunlan about his end-game plan for stopping Ye Zun, i.e. turning himself into a bomb. 

Personally, I think it was the right decision--or perhaps it is more accurate to say, the best choice of many bad options. Regardless of whether he told Zhao Yunlan or not, I don't think Shen Wei would have changed his decision to sacrifice himself to stop Ye Zun. If he had told ZYL much earlier, say when he first conceived of the plan or during the famous kitchen scene, it would only have resulted in a lot of fighting, anger, and sorrow, because ZYL would certainly have tried to stop Shen Wei or done something drastic himself to try and stop Ye Zun. I mean, just look at ZYL's face in these moments in Ep 38 when Shen Wei is hurt and how absolutely devastated he is: https://youtu.be/V2dUtbSz4hQ?t=1823

By not telling ZYL, Shen Wei is able to be with him without Shen Wei's looming death hanging over them. Shen Wei, of course, knows what is coming and has to bear that, but I consider it more an act of kindness and love not to tell ZYL as opposed to looking at it as a selfish act. 

Beyond this moment, it raises the interesting question of when it is appropriate to keep secrets, to keep people in the dark, to hide bad news, etc. I know I've read this somewhere, although I can't remember where, but it was something to the effect of how a strong and lasting relationship may not necessarily depend on the parties involved sharing everything with each other. 

Date: 2019-03-31 05:29 am (UTC)
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
From: [personal profile] china_shop
I think once he knows ZYL's the right person, he probably posits time travel as the most likely theory, and given that temporal effects are theorized as a side effect of using the Hallows, he may even determine they're the most likely culprits

I don't think he needs to theorise about this: in the past, ZYL was quite clear about retrieving the Hallows being his "mission", and when they had them, he was all, "Okay, so where's my wormhole?"

he's even jealous of the time his younger self will get to spend with ZYL

Oh, whereas I think he really cherishes that time and wouldn't change it for anything. I think that's a large part of what holds him back from revealing himself sooner.

Add another reason he's pissed that ZYL can't keep his hands off the LD.

Or the fact that ZYL keeps passing out/getting sick when he touches them?

Many of their early encounters are reading to me, on rewatching, as Shen Wei prompting ZYL, trying to understand why ZYL doesn't recognize him (and trying not to lose heart that this is his Kun Lun, because lollipops! And also Da Qing!).

*pets him* I tend to put that down to wishful thinking, which he can't quite suppress (and I'm having a lot of fun rolling around in the angst in fic *ahem*). I think by episode four, when he says that an important person gave him his name, he's pretty resigned to the fact that ZYL isn't his Kunlun yet, especially given ZYL's stated attitudes to Dixingren.

He doesn't see the gun until the Hanga Tribe arc

I feel that he would have seen it, or at least been aware of its existence, when it belonged to Zhao Xinci. (Though that does leave a space-yet-to-be-filled-in in my head about why he wasn't subsequently paying more attention to SID chiefs thereafter.)

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