It's all in the detail! - Whispers of Fate explainer and hidden facts thread

Main timeline (real, factual timeline revealed Ep33 onwards, diagram explaining it at the bottom):

30 years ago: Wanyu Clan had always been the imperial preceptor. Wanyu Moru befriended a young Yique Yinyang, and recommended him to the emperor. Yique Yinyang took this opportunity to get the emperor hooked on the quest of longevity, amass his own powers and build four columns leading to heaven (perhaps he wanted to go back home?) 

10 years ago: Yique Yinyang is supposedly dead after being killed by the seven grandmasters including Yu Xuanqing (Phoenix Sword) and Fang Zhou at Tiandu Peak. His followers are currently locked in Camellia Island.

10 years ago: Tang Lici is saved by Fang Zhou and taken into Zhoudi Tower. He learns the Three Character Classic, flute and qin. Born to kill, he is loathe to remember his life in the Celestial Realm, but still retains his powers and the golden forehead mark, a clear indicator that he is related to Yique Yinyang. Tang Lici remains at Zhoudi Tower for 7 years. 

4 years ago - Tang Lici made several trips to the Palace of Fallen Jade, hence why he knows all the different traps. He stole the previous palace leader's (Wanyu Yuedan's father) ice coffin, so he is the Palace's no.1 enemy.

4 years ago: Liu Yan kills Tang Lici by slitting his throat. Tang Lici is able to self-recuperate with the help of the powerful Manual of Rebirth, but Liu Yan took half of it. This is why the more Tang Lici fights, the slower he is to self-recover. 

0.5 years ago: Tang Lici was wounded somehow, and is recuperating at Gold Leaf Temple. 

Present: Episode 1.

In the detail:

Tang Lici's name comes from the phrase 千载逢无俪 (Li)，断行旧日辞 (Ci), which translates to "There isn't a single person in the past thousand years that can match you. I wish you to farewell your past, and look to the new future."

• Fang Zhou gave him the name to encourage him to forget about his past in the Celestial Realm, and live anew in Shenzhou.
• However, the fact that not a single person can match him means Tang Lici is destined to be lonely.

Episode 1

• Three questions
  • You (emphasised intonation when Tang Lici is saying this word) know full well you are no match for me. Why did you come to see me? The question he is truly asking is: Why are you (Zhong Chunji) here? Zhong Chunji is here on the orders of the Central Plains Sword Community to investigate the Hao Manor massacre.
  • You know full well you are no match for me (emphasised intonation on bold text). Why did you come to see me? Tang Lici means to say that Zhong Chunji and Ah-Shei are powerless against him, why would he keep them alive as witnesses if he were the culprit? Further, why wouldn't he escape?
  • You know full well you are no match for me. Why (emphasised intonation on bold text) did you come to see me? The question he is truly asking is: "Why are you suspecting me?" Tang Lici wants Zhong Chunji to investigate why the true culprit purposely showed his face to Ah-shei? Is it a setup? 
• At the wedding party, Yang Shangqing was one of the guests that was goading Mr. Hao to drink the osmanthus wine. The poison is tasteless and has no smell, and will only show symptoms similar to death by sound kill when mixed with osmanthus wine.

Episode 2

• In Tang Lici's fight with Liu Yan, when Tang Lici conjures up his water dragon, notice the dragon also has an identical wound on his abdomen like Tang Lici, i.e. Fang Zhou's heart 
• We get a close-up of Miss Hong's kneecap, which has an outline - it's because she doesn't have her own legs, which is why she wants Ah-Shei's legs in Episode 11.

Episode 4-7

• Jiang Cheng and Feng Chuanxiang's brotherhood was full of misunderstandings - Feng Chuanxiang realised Jiang Cheng was poisoned with the evil pill by the House of Pleasure, and decided to keep his addiction going, otherwise he would die. Jiang Cheng saw him put the evil pill in his food, and thought Feng Chuanxiang was poisoning him on purpose, and one time, during a crazy fit, Jiang Cheng mortally wounded Feng Chuanxiang. Jiang Cheng doesn't remember this, and Feng Chuanxiang, not wanting Jiang Cheng to bear the guilt of killing his friend, decides to wait for death alone on the cliffside. 
  • This is similar to Tang Lici vs. Liu Yan. Tang Lici was most likely trying to save Fang Zhou (his heart crystal had been poisoned by Yique Yinyang), and Liu Yan somehow broke the spell, inadvertently killing Fang Zhou. Tang Lici took Fang Zhou's heart and kept it in his abdomen while trying to find ways to resurrect Fang Zhou, but Liu Yan thinks Tang Lici killed Fang Zhou on purpose. Tang Lici has told Liu Yan multiple times the truth is not as it seems, but Liu Yan always starts going crazy before he can explain further. Tang Lici knows telling Liu Yan the truth would mean his past 4 years has been for nothing, so decides to keep it to himself (for now).
• Tang Lici told Chi Yun he had grown taller - because Shen Langhun's houdini skills rely on people's shadows as a cover, hence Chi Yun was being ambushed by those with shadow houdini skills.
• Tang Lici returns Zhong Chunji's wooden figurine to her, because she is no longer a chess piece to Tang Lici. Remember how he carved several wooden figurines in earlier episodes, and burnt them on the chessboard? Because he treats them as chess pieces in his quest to find the source of the poison pills and Liu Yan.
• Ah-shei, Chi Yun and Shen Langhun all have their tea pets on Tang Lici's table. Only Tang Lici's tea pet is lined with cracks.

Episode 8

• Puzhu enters Tang Lici's ship and extinguishes all the candles. This is not because he wants to appear cool - it's actually to remove any chance for Shen Langhun (who was shown to have killed Jiang Qingyu) in the prison cell, as Shen Langhun relies on shadows. No light, no shadows.
• The real Shen Langhun purposely allows Yu Qifeng to harm him, acting as an alibi. If Shen Langhun was murdering Jiang Qingyu, he wouldn't have been hurt by Yu Qifeng at the same time. Tang Lici says: "Can a mouse be captured by the cat (Puzhu) at the same time it is stuck in a mouse trap?" The answer is no.
• Puzhu gives Tang Lici one of his beads - if Tang Lici brings it to their meeting, it is the real Tang Lici and not a fake one portrayed by Hua Wuyan.

Episode 11

• Ah-shei's blood is able to heal Tang Lici (reason not revealed yet). She didn't feed Tang Lici by cutting her wrist, because it would've been too obvious what she was doing with Miss Hong watching. By biting her lip and letting her blood bleed into Tang Lici via an action that looks like a 'kiss' to the hopelessly romantic Miss Hong, it keeps the villains from thinking further.

Episode 12

• When the rocks are hurtling down on the city:
  • Shen Langhun manages to save a couple, and says "Protect your wife." This is a callback to when he was randomly assaulted by Liu Yan, and wasn't able to save his wife. Did anyone notice the actress playing his wife Huiniang is the same actress that played evil sorceress Fuyu (supporting Tantai Minglang in TTEOTM)?
  • Zhong Chunji saves a young girl - a callback to her younger orphan self, who was adopted then sold off for money.

Epsiode 14

• Tang Lici is not only delaying his arrival at the Palace of Fallen Jade (waiting for the ice sheets to join), he's been going around eating all the best dishes at the restaurants in a bid to search for his disciple brother Fu Zhumei (a cook).
• Gui Mudan's philosophical argument with Tang Lici:
  • Gui Mudan asked Tang Lici if it was worth spending so much time and effort to cook the dish? Tang Lici responded, "If your life doesn't have a particular purpose, then the purpose should be determined by your goals in life, to confront a short life full of nothingness."
  • Gui Mudan continues with his deceptive logic: "If you have no purpose in life, then why would you fear death?" - If the purpose of life is to find a goal, for someone that doesn't have a goal, they wouldn't fear death either. Furthermore, if they'vecompleted all their goals in life, then the purpose of life is diminished, so life should also end.
  • Moreover, he asks Tang Lici: "What if you persist in trying to achieve your goals, but find that you are faced with a cliff and no road ahead?"
  • Tang Lici responds: "Then I won't turn back until I hit the south wall." i.e. not giving up - the experience and journey is more important than the ending.

Episode 15

• Tang Lici has a wooden figurine of Ah-shei, but doesn't burn it (a chesspiece he is going to throw away), or give it back to her (like Zhong Chunji, whom he knows to be a righteous swordswoman). He is indecisive about her loyalties. However, when she jumps down with him, and professes that she only wants to save him no matter what, Tang Lici sighs and says "Congratulations, Miss Ah-shei. You have passed again". It's almost like he's decided to give up trying to pry the truth out of Ah-shei. When someone is so perfect and knows how you think - it's often too good to be true.

Episode 16-18 - The game to win over Wanyu Yuedan

• There are 3600 identical rooms in the Palace of Fallen Jade, and the teams are split into pairs. Each team must find their other team members and fight the opposite side. The rule is that the guards should not see them fighting, so Shen Langhun and Chi Yun used this 'hole' in the rules to get rid of the dumb Fu Cui. 
• Wanyu Yuedan's ultimate purpose is to return to the centre of power (heck, as if he would want to live in the snow and ice forever), and also redeem the Wanyu family name (ruined by his father introducing Yique Yinyang to the court). The House of Pleasure (Fengliu Dian) offers him 1/3 of the martial arts world, and the Sword Society offers him the top job.  
• However, Wanyu is looking for the person who can create the rules, not just someone who wins the game. Tang Lici is the adopted son of the father-in-law of the emperor, so Tang Lici's promise to restore Wanyu to their former glory is really tempting.

Episode 19-20

• Tang Lici finally grew impatient with Liu Yan, and decided to force Liu Yan to listen to the truth. As a mortal, Liu Yan doesn't understand how Tang Lici can keep Fang Zhou alive by taking out his heart (i.e. Traditional Chinese medicine vs. Western medicine ideology),  and is loathe to accept the fact that he has been horribly wrong for the past 4 years.
• The Sword Society do not welcome a maverick such as Tang Lici, however Tang Lici scolds them on how they are lacking cooperation internally, and shy against disruption to the status quo in the fight against the House of Pleasure. Add on 5 tonnes of gold, a 'mystical appearance' by the Sword Society's ancestor and copious amounts of wine, Tang Lici has finally earned their trust.
• Regarding the green dragon: It just so happens that on this particular day, if someone were to hit that dragon rock with their powers, people would see the Sword Society's ancestor, whom they believe is the ambassador of heaven's will. Master Shao purposely 'hired' Puzhu to fight Tang Lici at that location, and told Tang Lici to come on this particular day so they could put on the show for the rest of the Sword Society. It's a way of integrating Tang Lici into Sword Society through "heaven's will"and avoiding any complications.
• Xiao-shi reminds Tang Lici of his early days at Zhoudi Tower - distrusting and animal-like. 

Episode 21 - 25 - The Trolley Problem. Save Zhong Chunji or save more disciples?

• Zhong Chunji, being the hot-headed swordswoman, wants to get points for her team, but falls into Liu Yan's trap. Liu Yan wants Tang Lici to choose between sacrificing more disciples to save Miss Zhong by stretching their defenses, or attack according to plan and let Miss Zhong die.
• Tang Lici, being the MVP he is, chooses both. He gets Yanmen's aerial support, Wanyu Yuedan's elements support to blow away the poison caused by the explosion of Hua Wuyan and Master Shao's ability to hold back Liu Yan as he saves Miss Zhong.
• Miss Zhong feels guilty, but Tang Lici comforts her: "If you stumble, get back on your feet. Let those who mock you laugh. Once you find your breakthrough and things turn bright, the past's harsh battles will seem like nothing more than a passing storm." 
• Liu Yan sends a poisonous little bug that gets into Tang Lici's wound - causing Tang Lici more grief, as he always does...
• The poem Hua Wuyan recited before trying to kill Tang Lici is basically his backstory: I was born into an upright and pure noble family, like the Green Lotus, a family renowned for its swordsmanship in Pingchuan and Wuzhou, by the banks of White Water. Unfortunately, I liked tending to poisonous weeds, didn't want to learn sword techniques, and let down my family's nurturing. Because I was an outcast in the family, I not only failed the beautiful woman's affection but also disappointed my master's teachings. I walk alone in the long night, accompanied only by the equally lonely night cherry blossoms. The experiences of this journey have covered my life like falling, swirling snow. Go away, go away, go away, and then all will be clean.
• Shen Langhun and Chi Yun are shocked at Tang Lici's silver hair, but don't ask because they know Tang Lici doesn't want to talk about it - this is totally in line with character. I really love our main trio!

Episode 26 - 28 - Inversion of Reality

• From Shen Langhun and Tang Lici’s conversation at night, it's clear that Tang Lici wants Fang Zhou to live, but not if it involves sacrificing himself. This is clear through Tang Lici’s comment that he doesn't think Ah-shei is living for herself by fluttering around everyone and treating everyone nicely. In the earlier version of the script released online, the screenwriter clearly made a note that this conversation isn't solely about Ah-shei.
• The Celestial Realm was originally part of Shenzhou, and was pulled up to the heavens by a sorcerer that promised them longevity. However, this was a hoax, and they actually became demi-gods, leading to old age and death. They created Yique Yinyang to take Shenzhou's energy.
• At the battle of Tiandu Peak, Yique Yinyang is unable to kill the seven grandmasters because present timeline Tang Lici has "travelled" through the dream capsule invention and temporarily taken control of his mind. However, he also sees past timeline Tang Lici fall from the Celestial Realm.

Episode 29 - Tang Lici farewells his friends

• Tang Lici is slowly transforming - instead of deciding to self-sacrifice just for Fang Zhou (personal obsession), he is self-sacrificing because he doesn't want Yique Yinwang to use his perfect body as a method of resurrection and cause chaos to the world (for jianghu).
• When Zhong Chunji lighted the candle, she was searching for a trace that he cared romantically for her. However, his eyes held no trace of romantic affection. He offered no forceful refusal, nor was there any hint of rudeness, yet his non-verbal rejection was more heartbreaking than one spoken aloud. The extinguishing of the flame represented Zhong Chunji's pride, she didn't wang Tang Lici to see her heartbreak. 
• However,  even though Tang Lici said Fang Zhou didn't teach him love, every inch of him says that he is not willing to self-sacrifice (especially his look when Ah-shei wishes for his safety). Tang Lici himself didn't write a wish, because he knew he was going to die - even the sudden wind that extinguishes the lanterns on the river are foreshadowing this. However, Tang Lici lights them up again - maybe there is another way.

Episode 30-33

• When Tang Lici loses Fang Zhou forever, he is shouting "You told me fate can be changed, that I'm not a killing machine that brings disaster to everyone around me." Tang Lici is devastated that he still can't control his destiny and fight against his fate. Technically Fang Zhou is just a representation of his obsession with defying destiny. Tang Lici's thought process is 'you say I can't take control,  I'll show you I can by resurrecting Fang Zhou.'
• The failure of that tasks suggests he is helpless against fate, hence the title 'Whispers of Fate'.
• Tang Lici learns to put down his obsession and transition to superego state, even imagining it's Fang Zhou telling him this (he clearly reached this conclusion himself).
• It's also normal that Ah-shei's thirst for revenge is currently greater than her romantic affection, because she was basically under ThoughtControl (i.e. Three Body Problem) and taught to save and love Tang Lici. However, she is touched by what they went through together.
• Gui Mudan is a puppet storing Yique Yinyang's essence. In the original timeline, YQYY had killed all the seven grandmasters at Tiandu Peak, but realised he could not achieve longevity because Tang Lici had not endured seven emotions and was not the perfect Celestial body they thought he was. Therefore, YQYY resets time, waits for Tang Lici to escape and fall to Shenzhou so Fang Zhou can adopt him and teach him about emotions. However, this can only happen after Tang Lici goes through everything in the present timeline and enters the Inversion of Reality, where he overpowers YQYY for a moment to save Fang Zhou. It's like a Mobius Strip situation, where the cause is the effect, and the effect is the cause.

Episode 34 - 40 (end)

• The true identity of the princess is never explicitly revealed in the drama. This ambiguity precisely proves the writer's intention: who the real princess is doesn't matter.. The essence of the power symbol's ownership is illusory; what matters is how it becomes a pawn in the struggle between various factions. Fengliu Dianneeds a "princess" to disrupt the Sword society, while the Imperial Family needs a "princess" to consolidate its authority. 
• What the writer truly wants to explore is the distorting power of the symbol of authority over human nature, and the spiritual abyss that follows the collapse of identity.
• Gui Mudan sends Tang Lici back in time by using a special meteorite from the Celetial Realm, coupled with the Bronze Tree's magic and their combined powers. Tang Lici finds out that his mother the Dragon Lady truly loves him, and that he was never born with the thought to bring disaster to anyone.
• Tang Lici uses the martial arts technique "Celestial Wheel" to give Gui Mudan a DDOS attack of the human emotions Tang Lici has experienced in Shenzhou. This is the first crack in Gui Mudan's path to finding his own identity, rather than live as YQYY's puppet.
• Tang Lici is able to recreate the Inversion of Reality time capsule from the remaining essence of the Celestial Realm, and also because he is now a perfect celestial being after going through the seven emotions in Shenzhou. 
• He journeys to the Sea of Reincarnation in the Time Rift in an attempt to stop YQYY from pulling the Celestial Realm down to Shenzhou to collect all the energy in their goal for longevity. This is done through collecting twenty years of black essence from the people that were poisoned with the evil pill, and then using Gui Mudan's Heaven-changing Scripture to aid the growth of the bronze tree (that's why Xiao-shi was planting trees in Sword Society).
• Ye Mo is able to wake up and return to his true self because he put his essence in Xiao-shi, and was taught the seven emotions by Tang Lici (this was technically Plan B, if Gui Mudan failed to takeover Tang Lici's body).
• The song "Shattered Sounds of Spring" has usually been an anthem for the Zhoudi Tower flashbacks, but it's aptly used in the debate between Ye Mo and Tang Lici. 
• Round 1 of the debate
  • Tang Lici's position: What if Ye Mo used his celestial powers for good? Fang Zhou gave Tang Lici a second chance, so Tang Lici i also giving Ye Mo a second chance, because the latter called him Shifu, meaning he has been influenced by Tang's teachings. 
  • Ye Mo's position: “The intertwining of good and evil in humanity, and the fickleness of fate, did not originate with you or me, nor will they change because of you or me.You wish to save the common people, yet you are treated as a monster. I desire to destroy Heaven and Earth, yet I am worshipped as a god.
    Good and evil exist in constant exchange and coexistence—this is an unchanging truth since ancient times. This is the reality of the world. What bearing does my choice have upon it?"
• Round 2 of the debate
  • Ye Mo: his is a polluted and evil world, why can't we sacrifice them to bring back the Celestial Realm? Then, you can use the celestial powers to resurrect your friends.
  • Tang Lici: The world has many shortcomings, but everyone is free to decide their own fate. They should not be sacrificed to feed other people's greed. The inherent nature of a mortal may be fragile, but they are inherently kind. As long as they are given one chance, nobody would want to remain in darkness forever, and be a puppet to their master.
• Final Round
  • Gui Mudan dies saving his white cat, which he finally names "Little Puppet." Though he is made of gears, springs and levers, he also eventually grows a beating heart.
  • Ye Mo is too far gone to forget his hatred and mission, and still calls Tang Lici naive. However, Tang Lici tells him that it's better to live and grow up normally, rather than hold onto a false sense of forever.
  • Tang Lici uses up all the energy from the connection the Bronze tree has to the Celestial Realm to turn back time to before the Celestial Realm was even uprooted from Shenzhou, therefore there will be no magic that allows it to leave Shenzhou, and no Holy Son (YQYY or Ajibaner·Tangjia). There's a heavy price, but Tang Lici's ultimate wish is that his comrades and friends can live a happy and peaceful life (tbh, Xifang Tao didn't deserve a second chance).
  • Luo Yunxi mentioned in the Jianghu Team Bonding variety show that even though Tang Lici sacrificed himself for the good of the world, in time, fate will bring them together again (hence why some characters have a white fox-tail on their clothing - on Chi Yun, Gu Xitan, Yu Furen).
• Why they never found the cook Fu Zhumei: Back at Zhoudi Tower, Tang Lici wrote Fang Zhou's name, so that became his initial obsession. Liu Yan wrote Tang Lici and his own name, and that was Liu Yan's obsession. Fu Zhumei wrote his own name, so he made the conscious decision to stay away and live his own life away from jianghu intrigue. 

Timeline (the more celestial powers, the stronger the 'slingshot' and the further back in time you can go) cr. 熙狮咲咲

Image: https://imgur.com/a/whispers-of-fate-time-travel-logic-iJ3hInd

1. Red slingshot: Battle at Tiandu Peak against YQYY. Tang Lici arrives in Shenzhou. In between, YQYY has tried multiple times to reverse times, but the result is always that he time travels back to the battle and cannot get a perfect celestial body and live eternally.

2. Orange slingshot: YQYY realises there is another Holy Son incoming, and he waits for Tang Lici to fall to Shenzhou. This is the present timeline, where Tang Lici's soul is teleported back to the battle at Tiandu Peak with the Inversion of Reality that Qiaoyi Qiankun built. With this Inversion of Reality, Tang Lici stops YQYY from killing Fang Zhou on the spot, leading to Tang Lici going on his entire journey to experience the seven emotions, which seems to ultimately help the ultimate goal of getting a perfect celestial body.

3. Green slingshot: The second inversion of reality happens when Gui Mudan and Tang Lici combine their powers. They can travel to earlier in the timeline, when Dragon Lady is pregnant with the Holy Son. YQYY wanted Tang Lici to kill himself when he wasn't even born, but Tang Lici realises the fetus is actually himself and not YQYY, so kills Gui Mudan instead. However, Gui Mudan learns the Heaven Changing Scripture (换天经) by pretending to be the sidekick that stole the offering, and being a puppet, is resurrected by YQYY later.

4. Blue slingshot: Tang Lici utilised the power of the 'Wujie Tianhuan' (无劫天寰, literally 'Calamity-averting Inversion of Spacetime'). In the ending, YQYY said, 'I need your power to integrate Shenzhou with the Bronze Tree,' but this was actually also Tang Lici's plan—he similarly needed to leverage Yique Yinyang's ability, combined with the power of the Bronze Tree and his own perfect celestial body, to complete an absolute reversal of time to the very beginning. 

The strength of this slingshot time travel was sufficient to allow him to travel back to the time before the Celestial Realm's ascension. As spacetime was inverted to this point, the story's timeline was also completely altered. As can be seen from the diagram, the blue point representing the key node is flying toward the left side of the timeline.

Therefore, at the Sea of Reincarnation, which was only a step away from the success of the plan to land the Celestial Realm back to Shenzhou on the far left, is precisely the place where Tang Lici planned to achieve the act of 'letting go of the obsession and turning back time'. One step is all it takes between a happy ending for the world vs disaster.

This is a treasure pot!! Thank you for putting this up here~ ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

I didn't notice Ms Hong's kneecaps, but I kept wondering why her chosen musical instrument/weapon is a zonggaoji (总稿机) or originally the Burmese "saung-gauk". Now that you mention it, I only see her either sitting or half-lying on her huge arched harp. This is a refreshing discovery!

Where's 15...I would love to hear your thoughts on Ep 15..

 Mrs Gong:

Now I know. Why did that waiter commit suicide?
Could u pls explain this? Tang Lici told Chi Yun he had grown taller - because Shen Langhun's houdini skills rely on people's shadows as a cover, hence Chi Yun was being ambushed by those with shadow houdini skills. 

Say, at a lower angle of sun, if you're 1.8m, your shadow may be 2m. However, Tang Lici saying Chi Yun "grew taller", means his shadow is no longer 2m, but 2.5m. The extra 50cm is because the assassin is hiding in Chi Yun's shadow, making him 'taller'. This is also why in EP15, Shen Langhun said "I don't like this place." Tang Lici responds, "Because there are no shadows, so there is no place for you to hide."

Thank you so much Underthestars for your explanations! I got lost so many times as I'm not Chinese and the names  are not well remembered by me. And reading your comments really give very important insights into the story and its details.

Can you pls add why Liu Yan trained in the cage (rebirth scroll - he can die like Fang Zhou)

👏👏👏

Thanks Underthestars. Because sometimes YQYY and Tang LiCi are used interchangably, I'm not sure whether they are separate entity? In the original timeline, did the Dragon Lady give birth to YQYY or Tang LiCi? If they are both holy sons, is Yemo/YQYY Tang LiCi's elder brother?