Acrobit12

I would have liked to read the novel but I can't find a complete English translation.

I understand that mountains of corpses happen in novels, I have come across them a few times :). But somehow they don't translate onto screens very well (which is probably why you don't see them). In Princess Agents the ice lake fight scene was very well done, it was realistic, impactful, touching and heartbreaking at the same time. In Rebirth, most of it came across like something out of a video game. Sadly, a lot of Rebirth suffers from that compared to Princess Agents (I really do recommend it, even if some of its aesthetic is a bit out of date at this point and even if I am actually a bigger fan of Li Yun Rui than Lin Genxin - Shawn Dou was phenomenal though, he will always be the one and only Yan Xun to me).

The way they did that scene in Rebirth was a pale copy of the scene in PA. Same with the wedding scenes between Yan Xun and Chun'er. They don't hit the same way. (I watched PA right before watching Rebirth).

My problem really wasn't with the content changes per se, it was the aesthetic if you will and the narrative choices. I could have lived with the Princess Agents storylines being dropped if everything else was done well. It wasn't. Like the mountain of corpses example I keep giving. Princess Agents, for the most part, did things in a brutal but very realistic way. But this??? Even high fantasy like Game of Thrones did not go there. And some of the decisions by Zhuge Yue, Li Ce, his mother and the others just did not make narrative sense. And I don't even want to talk about that ending - there has to be a payoff to the characters' journeys and it has to make sense. To me, it did not for anyone other than Yan Xun and he was not supposed to be the main character of this story. This ending just reminded me of 19th century novels where the main characters suffer horribly and die at the end anyway.

It opens right where Princess Agents left off, but it's immediately clear that it's going to be different... and not in a good way.

Honestly, when Rebirth opened with that mountain of corpses, it was clear it was going to be a dumpster fire. I have never seen anything like this (and I don't mean this as a compliment). Having said this, I do think the actors tried, but this disaster just couldn't be saved.

Yes

I assume so. I don't think the ML is giving up the crown prince title, and there is talk about her entering the palace and his complicated family, although it's not 100% clear.

I think it is confirmed. They show the scene where their mother is attacked with her two babies and murdered. General Shen saves Yin Zhou, takes him to the palace and he becomes the Crown Prince and the head of the Gu family saves Yin Ci and brings him up as Gu Zhuo Xi.

I agree, it wasn't a particularly well-executed arc, they should have just left it at Wenshuang killing his brother and done the whole Crown Prince reveal differently.

But if he was the person with the scar, he betrayed everyone, so... But I agree it's very confusing.

I think the one with the scar. Because in the end Gu Zhao Xi seems to be completely out of the picture and nobody is heartbroken about it.

I believe so, yes, unfortunately. But he is not her husband , they weren't married.

It's a HE! This was a nice little drama with a few surprises, I really enjoyed it. I've liked Li Ge Yang since In Blossom - I hope he gets bigger and better roles.

I feel bad for the actors because they really tried. But nothing could save this dumpster fire.

Yeah, sometimes writers and directors try so hard to make "art" that they forget that Occam's razor actually works and end up with garbage.

Yes, even the greatest actors can't save a lousy script.

The problem isn't the cast (although, IMO of course, as far as the cast, the strongest performances were by Li Yun Rui, the actor who played Li Ce and the supporting cast like the actress who played general Huan Huan and the actor who played the miraculously resurrected general Cheng), it's the story and the characters and the direction it all went in.

The only good thing that came out of all this for me is that I watched PA and loved it. This... just seems like a big FU to the audience in the name of "art". I feel sorry for the cast and the crew and their wasted hard work.

I am in the same place. I watched PA right before I started Rebirth and enjoyed in immensely. I don't hate Rebirth enough to drop it, but is it the same caliber drama? Not in a million years.

They should have given the Chu Qiao role to the actress playing General Huan...