people who loved this drama, do you guys recommend Ever Night(2018)?? i heard that's another good wuxia drama,…
Maybe you won't like it. EN wuxia style is magical and the overall story is a fantasy. There are scenes that show real fights, but they are not as impressive as ZZA.
Does this series include romance and what happened? Did it end with happy ending?
It has romance. Han Li and Mo Caihuan. It is pretty one-sided, but Han Li does have some feelings. They just cannot unite, because mortal and immortal beings are like sky and earth. Han Li said goodbye to her. And she accepted her fate. It is a bittersweet ending for them.
Not always the same thing. Because you fast-forwarded it, you didn't get the details.
I can help you to be more systematic in understanding the cases.
The structure of the cases is like an octopus (not thematic/ episodic like in other investigative dramas). The main case is only Prince Xiangyang's Rebellion. He has four tentacles: Si Ming, He Bo, Dong Jun, and his son. And each tentacle has its own branches of evil.
Si Ming, a mere clerk, works for him by identifying flaws in the justice system so they can use some cases to control corrupt government officials, and to tackle good officials before they reach the main head.
He Bo works in Jianghu, using poison to control many martial artists across the country. As a reward, he is free to open a brothel and engage in kidnapping and human trafficking for his own ambition.
Dong Jun works as the head of a county. He works by manipulating and controlling society to support the gold mine and collect wealth illegally. In doing so, they enslave young men and kill people. This wealth will be used by Prince Xiangyang to "buy" military from another country to topple the reigning monarch.
Meanwhile, his son, Shou Jizu, works as a military commander. He provides military force for his father's rebellion and directly prevents the righteous party from advancing. These four tentacles work coherently. They help one another, especially Shou Jizu, whose power and reach are much greater.
The pattern is, for several episodes, they cover one big case controlled by one tentacle, which consists of several smaller cases. At first, these smaller cases seem unrelated to each other, but eventually they point in the same direction. So, the pattern is in the structure, not in the content. Each story is different and pretty rich, combining cases that happened in jianghu, at the law and magistrate's office, in the market, and in common people's neighborhoods, as well as cases from the past.
The challenge is that this style of storytelling is a bit hard to follow because several small cases can run together to build one greater case, taking a longer time to resolve. And, we must watch carefully to find the dots and actively make connections. Sometimes the connection is not direct but appears later.
If you fast-forwarded, you definitely missed a lot. Not only the details, but also the connections. And this drama doesn't use flashbacks and expositions much to (re-)explain things that seem obvious. They just show the events, decisions, and impacts.
They don't show how Ming Zhuer died. But I think, this is how.
Previously, Hu Xiaochen's scheme is to reveal that ZZ is the Yaksha to the government, pushing the old case to be investigating again while creating uproar in the capital. Ming Zhuer is the key witness to identify Yaksha real face (ZZ) as he is the sole survivor of Ming family.
Ming Zhuer is almost trapped in this scheme (he is with Magistrate Chu), but ZZ is able to collect him and take him away (hide him from government). Ming Zhuer thus becomes a wanted person. However, somehow he successfully flee from their safe house.
He visit his old family house and eventually retrieve some memory, the truth that he is actually the culprit of the fire that killed his all family members. ZZ could only tell that it is an accidental fire during his investigation. That is why Ming Zhuer mourned, he blamed and hated the wrong person (ZZ).
To fix thing, he wrote his statement to clear ZZ's name. But, he was captured by the evil Yaksha (forget his name). Before the final clash, I think he has been injured by evil Yaksha's men. After ZZ won the fight, Ming Zhuer follows him and finds him to give his statement. And then he is died from the injury in his back.
My final thoughts, it is a sorry this boy died. But, in the corrupt world where nobody is safe, he is not safe, too. He is part of a long shelved case, and he is the solution to end it. ZZ wants to protect his life by keeping the secret. But, the truth must come out to the light. One of the best parts of this drama is how it portrays different layers of the risks from exposing the truth and the bravery needed to uphold it. You go against the world, the society, your enemies, your own family, and even your self. You must not fear.
I'm not trusting MDL ratings anymore. How is this only 7.7??? Because there's no romance?
If you check the statistics, more people are still planning to watch. We can help by leaving positive reviews so future viewers are more likely to give it a chance, enjoy it, and rate it.
Yes Song dynasty had a highly advanced, centralized judicial system that evolved around codified written law (the…
Yes, I realized that too when they mentioned Emperor Taizu and Taizong! Sword into Plowshares made me dig more about the Song Dynasty, and the intriguing line of succession after Emperor Taizu.
Seemingly, King Hui has a spy in that town. This secret letter is their communication. It looks suspicious because…
I think the plot is like this: after the files from the previous case are sent to the capital, King Hui unexpectedly found that Ming Zhuer family is in the files. King Hui instructed Zhao Zhier to dig into this. Before he got a chance to ask this matter to ZZ, he asked Ming Zhuer (the one closer to him), if ZZ ever talked about his family.
I'm confused about one thing Zhao Zhi Er. He looks a little suspicious doesn't he like he was delivering the letter…
Seemingly, King Hui has a spy in that town. This secret letter is their communication. It looks suspicious because the story is told from the villain's point of view. That evil magister wants to use this to divide the team, unaware that Zhan Zhao is aware of this communication. All of this is just a show from Zhan Zhao's view.
This drama gives me interesting nostalgia for other past and recent dramas.
Every time I hear Linglong call Zhan Zhao “Zhan da ge,” it reminds me of Mo Caihuan from Immortal Ascension calling him “Han da ge.” Not only is the intonation so similar, but so is the unrequited, one-sided love. Here, Zhan Zhao is so focused on his job. There, Han Li is so focused on becoming an immortal. Yang Yang really seems fond of picking this type of male character. Sorry, but deep down, I kinda hoped there’d be at least a tiny tiny tiny little romance. At least, don't push Linglong away after the job gets done.
After knowing that the Yaksha is actually Zhan Zhao in the past, and all the superb fight scenes, I kind of miss Samurai X. This drama really has Samurai X's cool vibes. A former outlaw-like hero who repented of killing and became an upright government official. I hope they let us know more about his past, or turn it into a sequel. There are so many questions in my head, like his origin, his education and teacher, his martial art training, his Yaksha years, his redemption, his life with Bao Zheng, etc.
I didn’t expect to gain something meaningful from watching Swords into Plowshares here. It helped me understand the political context of the Song dynasty and why it placed such a high value on law and order. It also helped me understand why Zhan Zhao is a swordsman who embraces legal order. When a lot of viewers complain that this isn’t like usual wuxia, in my eyes, they just don’t yet get the historical context.
What’s also interesting is that this drama doesn’t have the usual miracle doctor who can heal everything. It actually feels more realistic, and it gives characters like Bai Yutang and Tang Tianhao a chance to shine when solving problems.
2
1
The structure of the cases is like an octopus (not thematic/ episodic like in other investigative dramas). The main case is only Prince Xiangyang's Rebellion. He has four tentacles: Si Ming, He Bo, Dong Jun, and his son. And each tentacle has its own branches of evil.
Si Ming, a mere clerk, works for him by identifying flaws in the justice system so they can use some cases to control corrupt government officials, and to tackle good officials before they reach the main head.
He Bo works in Jianghu, using poison to control many martial artists across the country. As a reward, he is free to open a brothel and engage in kidnapping and human trafficking for his own ambition.
Dong Jun works as the head of a county. He works by manipulating and controlling society to support the gold mine and collect wealth illegally. In doing so, they enslave young men and kill people. This wealth will be used by Prince Xiangyang to "buy" military from another country to topple the reigning monarch.
Meanwhile, his son, Shou Jizu, works as a military commander. He provides military force for his father's rebellion and directly prevents the righteous party from advancing. These four tentacles work coherently. They help one another, especially Shou Jizu, whose power and reach are much greater.
The pattern is, for several episodes, they cover one big case controlled by one tentacle, which consists of several smaller cases. At first, these smaller cases seem unrelated to each other, but eventually they point in the same direction. So, the pattern is in the structure, not in the content. Each story is different and pretty rich, combining cases that happened in jianghu, at the law and magistrate's office, in the market, and in common people's neighborhoods, as well as cases from the past.
The challenge is that this style of storytelling is a bit hard to follow because several small cases can run together to build one greater case, taking a longer time to resolve. And, we must watch carefully to find the dots and actively make connections. Sometimes the connection is not direct but appears later.
If you fast-forwarded, you definitely missed a lot. Not only the details, but also the connections. And this drama doesn't use flashbacks and expositions much to (re-)explain things that seem obvious. They just show the events, decisions, and impacts.
Previously, Hu Xiaochen's scheme is to reveal that ZZ is the Yaksha to the government, pushing the old case to be investigating again while creating uproar in the capital. Ming Zhuer is the key witness to identify Yaksha real face (ZZ) as he is the sole survivor of Ming family.
Ming Zhuer is almost trapped in this scheme (he is with Magistrate Chu), but ZZ is able to collect him and take him away (hide him from government). Ming Zhuer thus becomes a wanted person. However, somehow he successfully flee from their safe house.
He visit his old family house and eventually retrieve some memory, the truth that he is actually the culprit of the fire that killed his all family members. ZZ could only tell that it is an accidental fire during his investigation. That is why Ming Zhuer mourned, he blamed and hated the wrong person (ZZ).
To fix thing, he wrote his statement to clear ZZ's name. But, he was captured by the evil Yaksha (forget his name). Before the final clash, I think he has been injured by evil Yaksha's men. After ZZ won the fight, Ming Zhuer follows him and finds him to give his statement. And then he is died from the injury in his back.
My final thoughts, it is a sorry this boy died. But, in the corrupt world where nobody is safe, he is not safe, too. He is part of a long shelved case, and he is the solution to end it. ZZ wants to protect his life by keeping the secret. But, the truth must come out to the light. One of the best parts of this drama is how it portrays different layers of the risks from exposing the truth and the bravery needed to uphold it. You go against the world, the society, your enemies, your own family, and even your self. You must not fear.
Every time I hear Linglong call Zhan Zhao “Zhan da ge,” it reminds me of Mo Caihuan from Immortal Ascension calling him “Han da ge.” Not only is the intonation so similar, but so is the unrequited, one-sided love. Here, Zhan Zhao is so focused on his job. There, Han Li is so focused on becoming an immortal. Yang Yang really seems fond of picking this type of male character. Sorry, but deep down, I kinda hoped there’d be at least a tiny tiny tiny little romance. At least, don't push Linglong away after the job gets done.
After knowing that the Yaksha is actually Zhan Zhao in the past, and all the superb fight scenes, I kind of miss Samurai X. This drama really has Samurai X's cool vibes. A former outlaw-like hero who repented of killing and became an upright government official. I hope they let us know more about his past, or turn it into a sequel. There are so many questions in my head, like his origin, his education and teacher, his martial art training, his Yaksha years, his redemption, his life with Bao Zheng, etc.
I didn’t expect to gain something meaningful from watching Swords into Plowshares here. It helped me understand the political context of the Song dynasty and why it placed such a high value on law and order. It also helped me understand why Zhan Zhao is a swordsman who embraces legal order. When a lot of viewers complain that this isn’t like usual wuxia, in my eyes, they just don’t yet get the historical context.
What’s also interesting is that this drama doesn’t have the usual miracle doctor who can heal everything. It actually feels more realistic, and it gives characters like Bai Yutang and Tang Tianhao a chance to shine when solving problems.