It is not about HE/SE/OE...problem here is a arushed ending leaving lots of loopholes and weakening the storyline.…
Hmm, just my two cents on a couple of the questions are:
1) LCZ looks like XMM because was the other optional character XMM could have transferred into when he instead destroyed the System. (My logic: not only do they share values-- though not methods-- but Mission 3 was 'redeem LSF, which LCZ and XQS jointly do, after which XQS is immediately returned to his body, albeit possibly dead, suggesting the System's alive and well, only its GUI ever died.) 2) Crazy Yan was ganked because he's susceptible to sneak attacks. The dart got him in the original battle because he is susceptible to them in the past too. And while he is strong, he is also shown bleeding at the end of that fight where that guy whacks him with the wood stick, so he's strong but his meridians are a mess from the soul dart so he can't keep up his max power levels for extended periods. Once Kaiyan absorbs your power, he absorbs your inner force and skills, so we can assume after he absorbed anything he immediately rose to a similar power level himself to Crazy Yan. 3) The script and direction changed abruptly after XQS destroyed the System because now his actions and the plot around him are no longer being directly scripted by it. It's clearly still there at some level because the world it generated is still there, but it's no longer directly forcing and dictating the plot. 4) Gen Wu would never have disobeyed an order from the emperor except to rebel and crown himself ruler of the nation. The token could save his life and made martial artists support him in that fight, but Yan could never have made him do that because he was too loyal to the nation. 5) The emperor we saw leaving the capital at the start 15 years back, and Crazy Yan broke into the enemy camp, rescued Gen Wu, who then reclaimed the land and restored the capital, and enabled the emperor to return. But it's the same emperor as the kid on the seat at the start who is on the throne as an adult now.
I feel like I must be the only person in the comments thread thinking what a beautiful ending it was to a beautiful journey.
I actually like the fact that it wasn't a HE. Rather than saying XQS is right and others are wrong on either a character or a narrative level (by linking right choices to profitable/happy outcomes for the person making those choices), it asks the question of what makes a meaningful life well-lived, and the answer is that everyone has their own answer.
Yiren, Kaiyan, and the Emperor ultimately were trapped by their inner demons of jealousy, greed, hate, resentment, and mistrust, and were ultimately miserable both living and dead. Whether they lived or died, their lives ultimately brought no one joy, not even themselves.
LSF was heading down that path, but he's in a better place now.
LCZ and his wife died as they'd both wish; together, and meaningfully not because of what they achieved, but because of the tenderness both had towards each other. Ultimately, LCZ knew the emperor was an insecure and petty person, easily led by anyone around him and hating those he perceives as rivals despite pretending to like them. He also knows that you can't just kill and replace the emperor since then the whole "mandate of heaven" as justification for emperorhood falls apart. For national stability, LCZ had to go, and LCZ made that sacrifice knowingly every time he drank that wine, while simultaneously weeding out the terrible advisors around his super weak bro while sparing the people who strengthened the nation. I couldn't like his death beetle-esque methods, but he lived and died for the kingdom and the people. His life was meaningful and he died with dignity.
XQS went the full circle from being a kind but timid and tired person worn down by a crap boss who just (like most of us) honestly just wants a comfortable and stress-free life not hurting others and no one being hurt around him to someone who got the spark of chivalry lit in him by his sword bros and ultimately spread that fire across the martial world in a way that will last long past his death. He went from not wanting to be hurt or die > not thinking he would die as he'd just wake up so it's 100% okay to risk his life a ton more than he would if he actually thought he was gonna die there > being genuinely willing to put his life behind his principles and the people. Even when fighting the people who hurt him he never lost the warmth and care he had for other human beings and I respect that so much. My heart is so warm and soft for this dude.
Imma think of this show fondly for a long, long time. 🥰
Angst-wise, most emotional moment for me in 1-6 woulda been the way his hands shook after killing Shan Gudao, like, that realisation of "I just killed another human being" that was written in his face and in his eyes and the sudden realization that this whole world is so much more real than he imagined it when he just wanted to quit the story and get back to Real Life.
Humor-wise, I'm a player who looks up the cheat codes with great dedication when I play a game (I consult Google before I'll bother trying to solve the in-game puzzle, and I'll look up where the hidden ~10Kgp ring is in Baldur's Gate rather than toil saving funds if I possibly can, I definitely kill the basilisks for bonus levels to get power boosts. So I 100% appreciated XQS/XMM's dedication to finding the drops without actually earning them, that would also 200% be me lol.
Humor-wise x2, I loved LSF having to pretend to not be evil because this giant ball of clueless sunshine that has bowled into his life is just assuming he's gonna be a sidekick ala Sancai and the sword bros who's just gonna spontaneously adore him and be his own personal Wang Qi Nian cuz that's how his creator wrote him and that's how the plot's meant to make the side NPCs feel about the golden halo lead. From having to give his fan up to having to not murder XQS in his sleep, I coulda watched LSF stuck pretending not to be a terrible human being for 20 episodes and not gotten tired of it. The only thing I could have wished is that somewhere inbetween pretending to be a decent human being, LSF took a step closer to becoming one, but his arc makes more sense later on than it did at the time XD
If Blood of Youth's main lead's romance was a 1 and Prisoner of Beauty was a 10, this would be a 6. It's not smoldering "forget the plot, I could just watch these two look at each other for 40 mins and be happy" energy, but it also doesn't annoy. (It's also very much not the main focus of the plot though, what's there is very minor indeed.)
I'm still on Ep39 cuz iQIYI is drip feeing me, but it is such a fun show, right? 🥰
Relate 100%, it's such an entertaining ride 🥰 I would totally have binged it if I hadn't been being drip-fed at 2 eps a day (now down to 1). (not me being envious of all the lucky regions already on ep40 🤣🤣)
(I got no idea why, I've watched a few of them now and am working through more, and so far they've been so good. 🤣 Different tastes I guess or just haters trolling, either/or.)
OMG its the same with me and I thought it was bc of my reagion (LATAM)!
Cuz they bundled access to express unlock with the premium, now they won't get extra $$$ for offering it to us on premium. It's not a bug it's a feature LOL. WeTV probably paid extra for the exclusive right to air it first, and since it'd make sense for them to do that on every shared drama, it will probably be consistent dual platform dramas won't get it ever till they stop the bundling of express package with premium 🙃😂
1
1) LCZ looks like XMM because was the other optional character XMM could have transferred into when he instead destroyed the System. (My logic: not only do they share values-- though not methods-- but Mission 3 was 'redeem LSF, which LCZ and XQS jointly do, after which XQS is immediately returned to his body, albeit possibly dead, suggesting the System's alive and well, only its GUI ever died.)
2) Crazy Yan was ganked because he's susceptible to sneak attacks. The dart got him in the original battle because he is susceptible to them in the past too. And while he is strong, he is also shown bleeding at the end of that fight where that guy whacks him with the wood stick, so he's strong but his meridians are a mess from the soul dart so he can't keep up his max power levels for extended periods. Once Kaiyan absorbs your power, he absorbs your inner force and skills, so we can assume after he absorbed anything he immediately rose to a similar power level himself to Crazy Yan.
3) The script and direction changed abruptly after XQS destroyed the System because now his actions and the plot around him are no longer being directly scripted by it. It's clearly still there at some level because the world it generated is still there, but it's no longer directly forcing and dictating the plot.
4) Gen Wu would never have disobeyed an order from the emperor except to rebel and crown himself ruler of the nation. The token could save his life and made martial artists support him in that fight, but Yan could never have made him do that because he was too loyal to the nation.
5) The emperor we saw leaving the capital at the start 15 years back, and Crazy Yan broke into the enemy camp, rescued Gen Wu, who then reclaimed the land and restored the capital, and enabled the emperor to return. But it's the same emperor as the kid on the seat at the start who is on the throne as an adult now.
I actually like the fact that it wasn't a HE. Rather than saying XQS is right and others are wrong on either a character or a narrative level (by linking right choices to profitable/happy outcomes for the person making those choices), it asks the question of what makes a meaningful life well-lived, and the answer is that everyone has their own answer.
Yiren, Kaiyan, and the Emperor ultimately were trapped by their inner demons of jealousy, greed, hate, resentment, and mistrust, and were ultimately miserable both living and dead. Whether they lived or died, their lives ultimately brought no one joy, not even themselves.
LSF was heading down that path, but he's in a better place now.
LCZ and his wife died as they'd both wish; together, and meaningfully not because of what they achieved, but because of the tenderness both had towards each other. Ultimately, LCZ knew the emperor was an insecure and petty person, easily led by anyone around him and hating those he perceives as rivals despite pretending to like them. He also knows that you can't just kill and replace the emperor since then the whole "mandate of heaven" as justification for emperorhood falls apart. For national stability, LCZ had to go, and LCZ made that sacrifice knowingly every time he drank that wine, while simultaneously weeding out the terrible advisors around his super weak bro while sparing the people who strengthened the nation. I couldn't like his death beetle-esque methods, but he lived and died for the kingdom and the people. His life was meaningful and he died with dignity.
XQS went the full circle from being a kind but timid and tired person worn down by a crap boss who just (like most of us) honestly just wants a comfortable and stress-free life not hurting others and no one being hurt around him to someone who got the spark of chivalry lit in him by his sword bros and ultimately spread that fire across the martial world in a way that will last long past his death. He went from not wanting to be hurt or die > not thinking he would die as he'd just wake up so it's 100% okay to risk his life a ton more than he would if he actually thought he was gonna die there > being genuinely willing to put his life behind his principles and the people. Even when fighting the people who hurt him he never lost the warmth and care he had for other human beings and I respect that so much. My heart is so warm and soft for this dude.
Imma think of this show fondly for a long, long time. 🥰
Humor-wise, I'm a player who looks up the cheat codes with great dedication when I play a game (I consult Google before I'll bother trying to solve the in-game puzzle, and I'll look up where the hidden ~10Kgp ring is in Baldur's Gate rather than toil saving funds if I possibly can, I definitely kill the basilisks for bonus levels to get power boosts. So I 100% appreciated XQS/XMM's dedication to finding the drops without actually earning them, that would also 200% be me lol.
Humor-wise x2, I loved LSF having to pretend to not be evil because this giant ball of clueless sunshine that has bowled into his life is just assuming he's gonna be a sidekick ala Sancai and the sword bros who's just gonna spontaneously adore him and be his own personal Wang Qi Nian cuz that's how his creator wrote him and that's how the plot's meant to make the side NPCs feel about the golden halo lead. From having to give his fan up to having to not murder XQS in his sleep, I coulda watched LSF stuck pretending not to be a terrible human being for 20 episodes and not gotten tired of it. The only thing I could have wished is that somewhere inbetween pretending to be a decent human being, LSF took a step closer to becoming one, but his arc makes more sense later on than it did at the time XD
(I got no idea why, I've watched a few of them now and am working through more, and so far they've been so good. 🤣 Different tastes I guess or just haters trolling, either/or.)