ASmith

I will miss you too, gotta say. I rarely watch shows while airing b/c the wait each day for the next ep is agony for a binge-watcher like me, but I made an exception for CY b/c I loved him so much after MLC after discovering him earlier this year, and the discussions here while the shows were airing were are the thing I'll miss most XD (As you say, after blocking the haters, which the nice people here taught me how to do as well.) Enjoy ur next watch 💚💚My next watch of an airing drama will probably be when Fifteen Days airs 💚💚

If the hair dye was really water soluble though it would cause massive problems for the disguise in the Hidden Valley whenever he washed or it rained. Maybe just turning white due to him wearing white and it picking up the colour? I think the rain can't really have been washing it away o.o Or maybe dye from his umbrella dripping...? (Can’t remember if it was white then…)

As for why Cen Pickles ended up siding with XHA, I would say it was for a few reasons.
1) Even in the past, the meat he got through murder and theft was hard for him to stomach, symbolic of the fact that he just wants enough. He doesn't want his enemies to suffer like he suffered, he just wants himself and other people to have enough to live on.
2) XHA's expression when he asked Cen Pickles if he was really on his dad's side was semi-chilling. I think Cen Pickles was a bit afraid of what would happen if he didn't side with XHA, because basically because they think XHA is a lot more omnipotent and powerful than he is. (eg. "He disappeared without a trace, he's so good at hiding.") (reality: "You fell asleep by your bro's grave, we, your other enemies, kidnapped you.") Because no one quite knows what he's planned or who's backing him, they tend to think he has a lot more planned than he necessarily does, and he's aware of that and exploits it, since sometimes he does have a plan and sometimes he's winging it.
3) Cen Pickles is backing whoever is likely to reach the goal the best of minimizing unnecessary deaths, and letting the people of Tiemo and Chang'an have enough to eat. While that's XHA, he'll side with him. If it's ever not, he'll stop.
4) Cen Pickles may have actually developed some sympathies in Chang'an. He was the grand preceptor of the nation for a while in a land that was kind to him, and came from a nation where he was raised a slave and slaves were worth less than sheep and used to bait wolves to preserve the flocks. He quite possibly genuinely has loyalties to both nations.

I don't think he's Tiemo, as his dad is definitely Chang'an, as implied by him sending the Huban Army spies to Tiemo that then prompted Tiemo to copy this and train their own spies to send back. But any number of things could have happened to end up with him in a cell, ranging from imprisoned by Tiemo/Pickles, to needing advanced healing b/c burns so a hidden place to hide, to the Houben Army themselves. The implication to my mind of him saying "After this the past is cleared between us" is that he's been captured by those he owes a favour to, and that after this he'll owe them nothing, but I'm not sure if it's their debt he's collecting, or his own debt he's paying.

This may need a spoiler tag-- as peeps on netflix probably won't get to access the eps till 29th+ at which point they'll I think only get 1 a day.

I think his hair turns whatever colour he dyes it 😅😅 When his sister died he was still having it dyed from impersonating the grey haired Huben Army guy, he dyed it back when the city fell and white hair was too distinctive to disguise, (unclear if either dye was more permanent than the other) and at the end he’s exploiting the fact that he’s prophesied to live till his hair turns white, so dying it white to indicate his life is on the line. Since his natural hair colour is still black it would just grow out or the paint dye would wash off 😅😅😅

That scene is interesting. It happened when Wang Pu was just a baby, and before Pickles infiltrated Chang’an since the woman gives them the idea to train up shadow guards of their own and reverse infiltrate. But Wang Pu I would think is older than XHA’s sister. HXA was on the run for 15 years, and she was too young to remember her past when they fled. I would say the woman can’t be XHA’s mother.

But not legal, and doesn’t support the platforms investing in producing or distributing the show. 😅

❤️ Feel for ya, economy’s rough atm.

None

We will all be here to watch that lol.

Iirc when his uncle stabbed him didn’t he take some kind of blood slower thing where they said it would dramatically slow aging as well as make you not bleed out or smth? If he took something like that in preparation for being stabbed by Pickles, then was wearing some kind of fire resistant clothes like leather under his white cloak and then was blown out the door (or close enough to it to crawl out) as opposed to the king who was blown further inside? I mean it could happen?

And since the king is the master of death and can blind fight (we saw him doing fine with hearing alone with the smoke bombs) I wouldn’t want to be the one trying to kill him especially not when the only legitimate heir doesn’t want the position and would actively punish anyone involved in targeting the emperor. 🥶

(I’ve been suspending my disbelief since GuYu rode like that without working legs and kept his position despite being a cripple, from the start this has been a super inclusive nation in terms of letting people with injuries keep their jobs. I tell myself the Huben army are basically the Civil Service, they run the country anyway so it matters little to them which puppet sits on the throne.)

This should technically have a spoiler tag? 😅😅

Keep watching past ep5-6 and you will have your answer :D

On the other hand, paying to watch legally is extra 💵 for the platform, which translates to more benefit for the platform to invest in making more shows with CY.

😂 truth

I dropped that one b/c I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough over the unbelievable medicine & hospital practices, but from memory of what I did see that one, it would be completely fine as long as Kim Sa Bu the walking ball of charisma and the life force of that drama remains in the plot 😂🤣🤣🤣

No romance.
Enemies die.
(Not only do they die, but they die satisfyingly, with emotional stakes and wins and losses between sides divided throughout, rather than all suffering or wins being only for one side.)
XHA lives. (If you watch the special.)

Youku

maybe add a spoiler tag 😅
(For those who have not watched it bc they didn’t purchase the express package.)

It’s not possible to replace him as XHA, but if they couldn’t tempt him with S2, they could possibly just have a different ML receiving letters from XHA, or stepping up for court politics etc because they’ve lost contact with XHA, with it being a plot point that he’s left some clues or writings to kick them off and guide them. The rest of the cast is so amazing in this, I would still watch this show for them even if XHA was not in it tbh, even if he’s my favourite and I’d miss him.