A Romantic Fangirl

Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!

Episode 10, from 22:09:

Summary: Zhao Yunlan and the Envoy run into some Youchu, whom the Envoy fights. He can't find the way to Wang Zheng with black energy, though, so Zhao Yunlan brings out the Sundial. The Envoy chides him about the danger, and Zhao Yunlan is reminded of a friend of his. :D The Sundial leads them to Wang Zheng, who is now bound to Sang Zan's pillar, and she tells her story: as Ge Lan, she was the daughter of the Hanga tribe's patriarch, and Sang Zan was a slave. They fell in love even though Ge Lan's father and brother were responsible for the death of Sang Zan's brother and sister. During a slave rebellion, Sang Zan killed Ge Lan's father in front of her and becomes the new patriarch. He kept protecting her even though the tribe hated her as the daughter of the old patriarch. Ultimately they decided to execute her in front of him. He tried to revive her with the Mountain-River Awl, but it doesn't have that kind of power. And from that day on, Sang Zan changed. Zhao Yunlan, without having heard the details, 100% understands the hatred Sang Zan must have felt - and so does the Envoy.



Quote:

Revolutionary Sang Zan:

"Anyone who's been tribe leader for so many years is no longer a human being. He is a symbol of authority. Why does only one person have authority over the entire Hanga tribe? Everyone has the right to make decisions for themselves."

Detail:

When the Envoy can't trace Wang Zheng with black energy because the cave labyrinth is protected by a Hallow, Zhao Yunlan complains: " Weren't the Hallows created to defend against Dixingren? And now they're a stumbling block for us."

He's apparently forgotten that one of "us" - the very person trying to search with black energy! - is also Dixingren!

Questions: What's your favourite part of this half-episode? Do you like the Ge Lan/Sang Zan flashback show? Any thoughts about this in comparison to the novel? How did Sang Zan develop his revolutionary ideas? If they'd run away together like they wanted, do you think they'd have been happy together long-term? What's going through Zhao Yunlan's head when he watches the Envoy fight Youchu, and then claps? When Zhao Yunlan says, "You sound exactly like a friend of mine," how many feelings does Shen Wei have about being compared to himself? When Shen Wei explains how the Awl can strip away an energy body, how does he know about this? Do you sympathise with Sang Zan's hatred, like Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei do? Why do you think Shen Wei is so emphatic about it? How much is Zhao Yunlan's view of the Envoy changing through all of this?

(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)

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