The Untamed episodes 16 and 17
Aug. 12th, 2020 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayI guess the good thing about these episodes was that for two hours I was distressed about something that wasn't the horrible ridiculous heatwave.
THIS WAS VERY DISTRESSING.
I mean, yes, obviously I knew it would be because the Lotus Pier was being invaded and our sibling trio had been sent off in a boat to somewhat dubious safety. It couldn't get any better, so it aggressively got worse. Wow.
I felt so, so bad for Jiang Cheng in these episodes. I even felt bad for him while he was trying to strangle Wei Wuxian, because it was entirely about grief and not about hating WWX. His parents are dead, his home is destroyed, and he needs to find someone to blame. He isn't in a place where he can think through and realise that it was inevitable, the Wens were always going to do something like this and it was more about "when" not "if". Sure, LWJ and WWX having their adventures and pissing off the Wens might have hastened things, but that's all they did.
JC isn't in a place to see that, may never be in that place, and his grief is such a huge thing for him that I can't dislike him for reacting incredibly badly.
For the first time, WWX really felt like the elder brother here rather than JC. Trying to keep everyone safe, feeling the weight of expectation on him to make sure JC and Jiang Yanli survive and are whole.
I suppose I should have expected JC to go back to the Lotus Pier to try to do something. It was clearly a bad idea, but he's in the middle of soul-sucking grief. A one-man revenge kick probably seemed perfectly sensible to him. WWX going after him was inevitable and also painful, because our labrador chaos gremlin has lost his goofiness and he came so close to doing something he would normally be horrified by. He's a kind person, he likes Wen Ning, under normal circumstances he'd be protecting Wen Ning not contemplating using him as a lever to get JC back. At least he pulled back from that, but then Wen Ning offered to help anyway because he's too good for the world, and from there I was even more stressed about this whole thing.
Wen Ning, stop being such an adorable sweetie, okay? You're going to get yourself hurt eventually.
It's a sign of how much has changed that WWX considered hurting Wen Ning. Ugh.
I was talking to![[twitter.com profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
hockeybosh about Wen Zhuliu and why he doesn't tell Wen Chao that the wine is drugged. It's clear that he knows and drinks it anyway. My theory is that he's got some kind of personal code, even though he's working for the Wens, and what Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao did (or wanted to do) to the bodies of Jiang Fengmian and Madame Yu went against that. There's the flick of his eyes towards where they've been put on display just before he drinks the wine. And earlier he stopped Wang Lingjiao stabbing Madame Yu's corpse after she'd died. He's okay with killing (and destroying gold cores, apparently), but not with despoiling the bodies and therefore he's not going to prevent whatever is happening with the wine.
I've watched the first two episodes, so the news they were going to Yiling did not fill me with confidence about whatever is going to happen. I mean, WWX becomes known as the Yiling Patriarch and everyone seems to either hate or fear that. It does not bode well for anything connecting him to Yiling, okay?
So far, nothing terrible has happened. SO FAR. But he's also come up with some kind of plan to fix JC's golden core that Wen Qing really doesn't like, and that has me worried. Not just for the 50/50 success possibilities. It sounds like she's not happy about what succeeding will actually mean. I AM VERY WORRIED NOW.
I also <3 Wen Qing and I kind of loved the whole WWX is very good at studying and researching section? So at least there was one tiny fragment of yay somewhere in this episode?
The scene with WWX and Jiang Yanli, where he's blaming himself and they finally both dissolve in grief was so painful and so beautiful.
As much as I hate this plan WWX has come up with (honey, going to find Lan Zhan was a much better idea, I wish you'd gone with that one), I can also understand why he's willing to do whatever it is he's about to do. He's stepping up as older sibling here. JC needs to be a cultivator. It's the only life he's known, the only future he can comprehend. How can he be a clan leader if he's not a cultivator? What is he without that future? The only way to make him whole again is to fix what Wen Zhuliu did to him and WWX is going to do that whatever the cost to himself.
WWX, honey, I know why you're doing this. I know your self-esteem is nowhere and all that A+ parenting you received has done a number on your ability to think rationally about your personal safety vs your siblings. This does not mean I'm happy about it or that I don't think you should look for something else. Anything else.
Episode 18 is going to be even more distressing, isn't it?
THIS WAS VERY DISTRESSING.
I mean, yes, obviously I knew it would be because the Lotus Pier was being invaded and our sibling trio had been sent off in a boat to somewhat dubious safety. It couldn't get any better, so it aggressively got worse. Wow.
I felt so, so bad for Jiang Cheng in these episodes. I even felt bad for him while he was trying to strangle Wei Wuxian, because it was entirely about grief and not about hating WWX. His parents are dead, his home is destroyed, and he needs to find someone to blame. He isn't in a place where he can think through and realise that it was inevitable, the Wens were always going to do something like this and it was more about "when" not "if". Sure, LWJ and WWX having their adventures and pissing off the Wens might have hastened things, but that's all they did.
JC isn't in a place to see that, may never be in that place, and his grief is such a huge thing for him that I can't dislike him for reacting incredibly badly.
For the first time, WWX really felt like the elder brother here rather than JC. Trying to keep everyone safe, feeling the weight of expectation on him to make sure JC and Jiang Yanli survive and are whole.
I suppose I should have expected JC to go back to the Lotus Pier to try to do something. It was clearly a bad idea, but he's in the middle of soul-sucking grief. A one-man revenge kick probably seemed perfectly sensible to him. WWX going after him was inevitable and also painful, because our labrador chaos gremlin has lost his goofiness and he came so close to doing something he would normally be horrified by. He's a kind person, he likes Wen Ning, under normal circumstances he'd be protecting Wen Ning not contemplating using him as a lever to get JC back. At least he pulled back from that, but then Wen Ning offered to help anyway because he's too good for the world, and from there I was even more stressed about this whole thing.
Wen Ning, stop being such an adorable sweetie, okay? You're going to get yourself hurt eventually.
It's a sign of how much has changed that WWX considered hurting Wen Ning. Ugh.
I was talking to
I've watched the first two episodes, so the news they were going to Yiling did not fill me with confidence about whatever is going to happen. I mean, WWX becomes known as the Yiling Patriarch and everyone seems to either hate or fear that. It does not bode well for anything connecting him to Yiling, okay?
So far, nothing terrible has happened. SO FAR. But he's also come up with some kind of plan to fix JC's golden core that Wen Qing really doesn't like, and that has me worried. Not just for the 50/50 success possibilities. It sounds like she's not happy about what succeeding will actually mean. I AM VERY WORRIED NOW.
I also <3 Wen Qing and I kind of loved the whole WWX is very good at studying and researching section? So at least there was one tiny fragment of yay somewhere in this episode?
The scene with WWX and Jiang Yanli, where he's blaming himself and they finally both dissolve in grief was so painful and so beautiful.
As much as I hate this plan WWX has come up with (honey, going to find Lan Zhan was a much better idea, I wish you'd gone with that one), I can also understand why he's willing to do whatever it is he's about to do. He's stepping up as older sibling here. JC needs to be a cultivator. It's the only life he's known, the only future he can comprehend. How can he be a clan leader if he's not a cultivator? What is he without that future? The only way to make him whole again is to fix what Wen Zhuliu did to him and WWX is going to do that whatever the cost to himself.
WWX, honey, I know why you're doing this. I know your self-esteem is nowhere and all that A+ parenting you received has done a number on your ability to think rationally about your personal safety vs your siblings. This does not mean I'm happy about it or that I don't think you should look for something else. Anything else.
Episode 18 is going to be even more distressing, isn't it?