After watching both seasons and waiting for the 3rd one, does anyone else have this deep and morose feeling?
In season one we saw Fan Xian full of joy, life and the unbridled will to rebel. He was youthful, but cunning, and did not kneel to anyone. However, in season 2, we start to see him crack. He kneels, begs, and compromises. Zhang Ruoyun portrays Fan Xian's hollow and doubtful eyes perfectly, as a deep sorrow hides behind them. Fan Xian in season 2 is on edge after realizing his life was never his own, and realizing that all he wants to fight for, for basic human rights, is slowly destroying him and his happiness. Outside of the prime ministers residence we truly see how unfair his life has become, the true pain that he is in. He screams that why do I have to face everything, why do I have to get attacked on all sides; all I ever wanted was equality.
On top of that, everyone in the first season said he was young, he hadn't experienced anything, especially when mentioning the poem he wrote (they said only someone old would have experienced such loneliness and grief), but in the second season we see that he was always lonely. He has no one to understand his antics, who can understand his memories from the 21st Century. People laugh at him when he talks about this other world. He has no one. From a young age he grew up feeling out of place. No parents, no affection. Even though he finally comes to the capital, his life only gets harder. Facing plots that threaten him and everyone he loves. With a body riddled with wounds and injuries, to a mind tired of schemes and betrayals, we can finally see how Lin Ruofu and Fan Jian are more 'sturdy' than Fan Xian. His grandmother was right in saying if he stayed in Danzhou he would have lived longer.
Our Fan Xian has endured so much.
