Sunbath12

Tushan Hou is definitely not right in the head. It's so unfair what their Mom did to him, but yeah, he a messed up dude. He keeps going on and on about beating Jing at everything (Jing doesn't even care and he told him as much), he doesn't even know what is up or down anymore.

Seriously! Finally the episodes I was waiting for and it just stops right there in ep 18.

Yes, these characters are definitely all flawed and burdened with so much baggage.

I definitely share your viewpoint personally. I guess if I had a similar experience of having my country invaded and lost to another, I may have a different opinion. People like Chenrong Yi were able to compromise, accept the new rule and allow the people to live in peace. But Hong Jiang, XL and those soldiers voluntarily chose to fight to the death. The story and drama doesn't really cover the lost loved ones and the collateral damage of war that much - in real life, it definitely is costly and at this point, I agree, is there a point to it?But conversely, I don't fault Hong Jiang, XL or those soldiers for never forgetting their country and their resolve to die for it.

Me too! Why must we wait...sobs

I hope they keep the part from the novel when CX finally finds out who was really in charge of helping him win the throne from the beginning (i.e. Jing).

I agree. The whole Baili/Voodoo king part was skipped and it was like who are these people lol

Yeah, he’s not a bad dude, but he’s not a great father

I love the fat birdie too. Too bad it's drinking too much as well.

Yeah, the scene with her mother was fine - it was emotional and well acted on YZ's part. But yes, setting it up was lacking.

As far as Jing and her Dad being there. In the novel, the whole sequence of events was a coming to terms for Haoling emperor with his past, culminating in the struggle to find A Heng in that burning desert place. In the drama, it is mostly replaced with more scenes with A'Nian, which I liked, but it's sad that whole sequence is lost.

For Jing, it was a way to help XY come to terms with her past. And then later, for her Mom to see him as the one she would want to be with. It's poetic and represents a healing close to her struggles with her past. In the drama, we have XL's scene with the portrait, which I also liked because of how his story mirrors Chi Chen and A Heng's, but it takes away from XY and Jing. It's a creative choice - not one I agree with or like, but it is what it is.

Ok, Xinyue. Still throwing tantrums. You know, both her and AN are the spoiled types, but in the end, AN could learn about what was really important and consider the bigger picture. She is really empress material. Maybe it's because her Dad is loving and supportive. Xinyue's Dad? I just get loser Dad vibes from him, sorry.

Awesome! I hate turkey stuffing, so it's fitting for me to use it in this instance haha.

I really like seeing AN's growth in the drama. While the past 4 or so episodes have had some disappointing parts, AN has definitely been a highlight. Comparing her and CX from S1, it's interesting to see how they ended up at this point. I think the drama should have just kept CX out of Jing and XY's scenes from the novel and developed his and AN's storyline more for this whole Haoling arc.

More time for the season would have negated the need to stuff CX into scenes where he really doesn't need to be and allow his character to focus on the Haoling war arc and build up to his marrying A'Nian. I don't need jealous CX in every scene - a little restraint can do a lot more for the later big reveal of his true feelings and darker intentions.

More time would also have allowed Jing and XY to have their scenes - the whole meeting XY's Mom arc is such a great story point in the novel, and it is notable that both Jing and Haoling King are there. Here in the drama, the emotional impact is lost because while XY does meet her Mom, Jing and Haoling King's involvement are not important. They are just bystanders.

I think a few more episodes would have made this season go more smoothly.

My theory is the production team got swapped out with clones and that's why it suddenly changed - the quality, the logic, everything is just off after episode 10 or so this season

Yeeep. They really could have adapted this more closely to the novel. Maybe not a burning desert if budget was the issue, but something more inaccessible or desolate-looking would have worked. It's like somehow everyone who worked on the latter part of this drama either were smoking something as you suggest or they got switched with some other people.

Yes, she was a true brat in the beginning of S1. Love her now so much!

I'd say most of the individual scenes are edited fine. It's just sometimes there are weird time jumps when you realize stuff may have been cut out or just skipped.

I don't think he really intentionally stalked. As you said, he happens upon them a lot. He also as YSQ waited for XY a lot when he knew she was with XL. Lots of sad/concerned eyes from Deng Wei lol.