MartyS

A Moment but Forever’s premise rests on a goddess being asked to retrieve a powerful divine object from the High Priest of an immortal clan. The goddess is convinced that since High Priest is a bad man, he deserves to have this object severed from him., and in this process he deserves to have his life taken away. Although this may sound like a story one might have heard of before, the show turns out to be something different: a deep, philosophical story of what it means to be kind, what it means to be human when the whole world may seem to be against you. Each of the conversations of this brilliantly-written and executed xianxia is layered - characters pour their hearts out, and through their words we experience a rich exploration of fundamental philosophical questions. Many xianxia address the philosophical questions of who is good and who is bad; are all demons bad, and are all gods good? What makes a god or what makes a demon?

Tan Yan and Liu Xueyi each give a fantastic performance - as Ji Tanyin and Yuan Zhong, respectively. She is the titular goddess - with an extraordinary backstory. Her brilliant craft (mechanical engineering to be precise) makes her ascend to godhood. Indeed both Ji Tanyin and Hannv both become gods on the basis of their work. For Hannv her embroidery skills are otherworldly. Yet that is the extent of the similarity between these two. Ji Tanyin really takes her job as a goddess seriously - she is kind, cares for everyone without judgement. Hannv, on the other hand is embittered by life and as Mei Shan says later on, she doesn’t deserve to be a goddess.

Obviously, this brings us to the question: who/what makes a god and who/what makes a demon. As Yuan Zhong observes: “one thought demon, one thought god”. While possessing the divine hand, Yuan Zhong is expected to act like a god - his powers were necessary to win the wars. Yet the very display of god-like powers (not by his own choice, but those forced upon him), makes the elders of Youhu clan fear him. As such Yuan Zhong is not wrong- they were jealous of him, of what he could potentially do to them and that led them to make him suffer. For a being that made major contributions to the world, Yuan Zhong was not celebrated but feared, his freedom was curtailed and he was asked to take pride in his own suffering (based on the elders lying to him that such suffering would allow him to ascend to godhood). It is ironical that Dingxiu later on claims that Yuan Zhong is a demon - and everyone readily joins in (while knowing that it is untrue). Actions are more important than words. For all their righteous words - the Youhu clan elders were cruel, jealous, fearful and unrighteous. Yuan Zhong thought of making the sinful world suffer (after what he had been through it made perfect sense to feel that way) but that was a thought and not acted upon. Now for Hannv on the other hand - resentment led to action. However one of the points Hannv makes is very valid - that consequences of actions are unequal: the guiltless suffer, and the guilty go unpunished.

The excellent screenplay discussed a lot of philosophical issues: the importance of knowledge and the sin of ignorance, cause and effect, thoughts versus action. As Yuan Zhong observes ignorance is a sin, so he keeps on learning. True knowledge and awareness and a lack of ignorance also means to be able to discern between truth and falsehoods. When Hannv uses her goddess self to incite the people to strike Yuan Zhong, the people are easily convinced by higher power. They do not question, they follow. To be free of ignorance is to be able to question.

Another part of the show I loved was the parts with Ji Tianyin’s teacher. That particular sequence in the story draws attention to the pursuit of excellence; of loving what one does and doing what one loves. The scene between teacher and student in the end was heartbreaking - the student surpassed the master, and was worthy of the master’s respect. As her master observes though, she hardly changed and ascension did not make her conceited. To remain humble despite making achievements is a rare thing. Ji Tanyin bore all her duties with kindness, careful consideration. She was never swayed into acting immorally. There is no doubt that she is probably the best goddess I have seen in xianxia. She’s a genius inventor who is so kind that she forgives Yuan Zhong even after he kills her (in what was the show’s funniest moment). She sees his heart and sees what he really is and what he could be. Yuan Zhong is heartbroken when he feels that she has “sentenced him” in what was one of the best moments on the show- he wanted to be understood. Surely, the ending was extremely tragic. The second leads never got a chance. The goddess who sacrificed herself (to save someone who suffered all his life) was found everywhere in nature (and yet nowhere).

This is one of the best shows this year, even if it may not be for everyone.