Platinum Fox

It is only in the beginning that it really matters that she is 16. The rest of the drama really feels like the two have been married for many years. If you can get past the first few episodes, the content is wonderful.

Even at episode 41 I haven't decided whether the king is someone trustworthy. Again, don't want to spoil it too much for you.

Just watched a great drama about three strong mature female characters, A Dream of Splendor if you like strong female characters. ADOS was not what I was expecting.

Yes, Princess Royal, Haitang Duo Duo (Saintess of Northern Qi), and the main character's sister Ruo Ruo are really strong female characters.

Since I don't know how far into the drama you are, I don't want to ruin it for you about Wan'er. Her time in the drama during this season is very limited. I am on episode 41.

Eleison, if you are watching this for the romance, the romance is about 15% of the drama. The strong females that you seek are the princess, the lady saint, and the female assassins.

Actually, she gets away with looking and acting like a 15 year old better than most, imo. One drama that clearly tries to do what you are talking about is The Rebel Princess. The actress is 39 at the time of filming, but she plays a 15/16 year old as she has coming out party. I liked The Rebel Princess for its commentary of female issues, but to have a 39 year old play a 15/16 year old is pushing it.

The show seems to span about 10 years as her daughter at the end of the show looks to be about 7 or 8 years old. This makes her age range 15 to 25. Considering males around that time married as early as 15, but usually between 18 and 25 (most at 21), he is probably late 20s to early 30s at the beginning and at the end late 30s to early 40s. They do not give an exact age for him in the show, so I am only guessing based on culture. He seems to be a pretty mature guy even at the beginning of show which makes him at least late 20s. So I would say their age difference is around 10 to 15 years. Hope this helps.

Didn't really feel the chemistry between our main leads in this drama. Felt more of a spark between the female lead and the second male lead. For me the most entertaining couple was Dongqing and General Fu.

Thank you for your thoughtful explanation. I understand what you are saying, but it still does not make sense in accordance with the fantasy genre of forgiveness and redemption. If we go with your explanation that Kim Shin is selfish and careless towards the people who take his side then he is an evil person and deserves to die with no redemption. No need for a redemptive story, so there must be more to the story.

During the opening sequence Kim Shin (KS) and his sister are killed when he returns to meet the king and the king's advisor. The king's advisor has convinced the king that KS is out to take over the throne and must not be allowed to return to the capital. The sister has tried to reason with the king, but the king doesn't believe her. Out of fear, the king and the advisor take KS' family and servants hostage. In order to prove his loyalty to the king, Kim Shin allows his guard to kill him after his sister is killed. How is he selfish and careless with the people who take his side and why does he deserve to die? He does not allow anymore pointless deaths to happen. The gods feel sorry for him and make him an immortal in order to right the wrong done to him, so they give him a bride to pull out his sword. What kind of logic is that?

Again, fantasy is about redemption and forgiveness. It is not the Goblin who needs redemption. It is the king, who is not a bad person, but did a horrible thing, who needs to make amends (sorry even kings make mistakes and must answer for their sins). But to really right the wrong, the general is able to kill the advisor after waiting around for 939 years for his bride to pull out the sword. Again, why does he need a bride to pull out the sword, when it was the king who killed him?

Most of this story is illogical. The only logical thing is the Goblin being able to kill the villain in the story as the advisor is the one who got him killed. Didn't care enough to finish the drama, but did watch to half of episode 14 out of 16 and even that was torture. Started this for its rave reviews dropped it for its illogical plot.

The romance between them is scattered throughout the first season. It is hit heavily in the second season. However, the sexiest, most meaningful and symbolic scene, for me, is in episode 12. This is long before they get together as a couple.

During the last battle before the power couple go and fight the real culprit, the female lead is severely injured. The male lead takes her to a martial arts grand master and they do an exchange of life force leaving the male lead with only ten years left to live. Essentially, he trades his life's energy for her life leaving him old and white haired. I hope that makes sense.

The female lead is 15 when the show starts. Her mother talks about her being ready to be married off (15 was the age back then) which is why they come back to the capital. She marries the marquis when she is 16. They do not consummate the marriage until she is 17. The show covers at least two to three years making her at least 18 by the end.

Yes, I understand that you were talking about the blindfold (trust) and the sweets (memories of his family). At the end of your comment you wrote that because of these two things (the sweets and the blindfold) that he is now ready to trust her and he can give her the hairpin for safe keeping as he cannot give it to the people you mentioned above. I gave a different interpretation of that scene. She is an outsider and she doesn't seek to rule, so she is the safest person to give it to. It doesn't have to mean that he loves, even though by this time he does.

For me, giving someone sweets when they are sad is very common in cdramas. It is no different in this drama. However, what is different about the sweets in this drama is that first male lead's life has been filled with tragic events that it is hard to find any good memories. The one good memory (the sister putting the sweets in his porridge) has become a symbol that in every tragic event something good can come from it. He eats sweets to remind himself of this. What are the good things that have come into his life.

Thank you for the discussion and insight.

But at the time, it makes sense for him to give it to her for two reasons. One, she is leaving the next day. So if one of the Yueluo tribe killed him for the pin, the person would not have found the pin in his house and claim leadership of the tribe. Every person who has had that pin to show he is the leader of the Yueluo tribe dies: WZ's dad, Hong Ye, and WZ himself. The only person who does not die is Jiang Ci because the hairpin does not mean the same thing. It does not symbolize power, but love.

In Chinese culture when a guy gives a girl a hairpin it means he loves her. By this time he does love her, but she is still set on leaving. She barely gets out of the city when she has to return and use the hairpin to save his life by claiming to be Xiao Wu Xia's wife which we know is him. It has now become a love symbol between the two of them. She is now the ruler of his heart, so the hairpin can no longer belong to an outsider. Just my interpretation.

Nirvana in Fire

I don't want to spoil it too much, but there is a huge issue. Some viewers have said that it is her being childish, but some of us realize it is the only thing she could have done.

The ending leaves us with that they will be getting married in the future (formal wedding bows, etc.). However, this couple is not a traditional couple, a formal wedding ceremony would make a mockery of everything Shao Shang was fighting for. Also, I feel they did have a wedding ceremony. The two were dressed in their capes in an army camp out under the stars. They proceed to give their vows at about 33 minutes in. For me it was a beautiful ceremony. Others do not agree with me. Thus, it is left to the viewer's interpretation.

Your question is a tough one to answer as it depends on the viewer's interpretation of events.

We all have different expectations of dramas. I actually watched it and passed it off as a simple modern love story (which feel childish and silly to me). What you mentioned above actually made me start to question why Zhao Lu Si (ZLS) would play such a role. ZLS always plays roles of strong females who speak out against societal norms. This drama is no different, but it took me awhile to figure out what she was speaking out about (besides bullying and the son should not inherit the father's sins). Now, I am blown away by how intelligently it was written and filmed. There are many Easter eggs in it and a great many objects that mean something that enhance the story. But that is just me.

Thank you for the discussion.

I disagree. If the general killed protecting the people and the people loved him, there was no need to kill him. The general was killed because the advisor to the king felt the general was getting too powerful and wanted to take over the throne. This was not the case as the general was loyal to the king. The queen, the general's sister, was killed because she chose her brother over the king. The king killed two loyal subjects and later regretted it. In the fantasy genre, the protagonist makes a mistake and must make amends for his/her actions. The general did nothing wrong. He protected the people and did his job. The protagonist should have been the king seeking forgiveness from the general and the queen.

This is why the story makes no sense to me.

Thanks for the discussion.

You don't have anything to be sorry about. This drama is not for everyone and that is okay. I enjoyed it for its intelligent way of dealing with the age of consent law in China which is 14.