Unchained Love Episode 20

Backstory, confrontations, and frustrating editing choices

This episode let us learn more about the ML and how he became the way he is. Over those years, he had been driven by his own sense of guilt and self-hate about his brother’s death. And now, when he has defeated the man who killed his brother, he turns out not to be the one. And I must admit, I lowkey suspected that Prince Yuwen Liangshi might not be the real killer. So, the question now is — who is? Could it be Murong Gaogong, the current Emperor, or maybe someone else? I am quite short on suspects at the moment, but that doesn't mean I won’t look for one.

The way Bu Yinlou supported and was able to console Xiao Duo (I am still considering what to call him from now on — Fang Jiang, maybe?) was filled with care, understanding and love. I really appreciate her for that. Their romance, even if forbidden, has grown very beautifully so far. They really understand each other and confide in each other. And even when they hide something, they notice something’s off very quickly and try to find the truth so in the end they could support each other even more. Like the situation with the pills, for example. Yinlou learned the truth her own way and only then decided to talk about that with Xiao Duo… only the show didn’t show us the confrontation.

Instead, we got a time jump when Yinlou was already very worried whether Xiao Duo could have been able to accomplish his plan against Prince Yuwen Liangshi. And only a glimpse through Yinlou’s memories showed us what had happened the night before. She had been in the bath, naked, and Xiao Duo had been there with her. They talked about whether he was a eunuch or not and then he told her he wanted to marry her…. HOW could they cut such an important scene!? I am very disappointed that the editors chose to cut that scene, which in my opinion was very significant… Such choices make me as a viewer detach from the characters eventually. Forbidden love that has to overcome a lot of obstacles has always been one of my favourite romance tropes, so I hope it won’t happen here, because I really enjoy this story and don’t want it to get ruined because of editing choices.

And then there’s the Emperor. He has finally arrived in Jiangnan city, but he is already causing trouble for our lead couple. He’s holding some angst against Xiao Duo and has decided to show where his supposed place is. And it starts with punishing him by whipping in front of all Xiao Duo’s men and, most importantly, Bu Yinlou. And the reason? The reason is for not protecting her enough and letting her get poisoned. I feel uneasy about the Emperor, and I don’t want to see him around either of our leads, but I know it’s inevitable since he thinks Yinlou is his woman. I only hope that he won’t decide to take her by force… which I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, considering how he gradually has changed already. It all will just become worse, I reckon.

At least Eunuch Sun didn’t whisper much nonsense in the Emperor’s ear this time, but I dislike him anyway… a lot.

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