Drama Tea

It's always nice to meet someone else who believed that the two survived. Like you, I didn't feel like it was an open ending. It was very clear to me. So much so that when I watched it, I felt such relief and happiness. Then I came online ... and was befuddled that we are the minority lol. Why though?
Most are hung up by his rather public death, being pierced by multiple spears. But to me this can easily be explained:
- The "life preservation pill"
- The snake skin armor that the beipan assassins had worn in episode 20. Pretty sure they would've taken some! It would've helped him survive the spears to a degree, but he'll probably be badly wounded
- the promise Yuan Zhou and Ruyi made to each other: "Stay alive."

The one hiccup I could see is Ruyi's internal dialogue that said that life is empty without Yuan Zhou, when she bombed the bad guys. That could be explained by these two scenarios:
- she wasn't sure that Yuan Zhou survived, and decided to kill herself, but changed her mind later. She did promise Yuan Zhou to stay alive, and she also told Yang Ying that she's not the type to kill herself.
- It was her way of saying that she'll be joining him in seclusion. Remember, she didn't want to live in seclusion at first, and that was the reason for their break up.

My theory is that YZ and RY kept their promise to each to stay alive, found each other, perhaps with the help of the Six Realms warrior, Ding Hui (their son mentioned Uncle Hui) and they left the world behind.

If I were to stage my death, I'll do it this way - in the most dramatic and public way so that no doubt will be left of my demise.

And I think they did it SO WELL that even the viewers were deceived lol.

For me I guess I was paying attention to all the clues. But I rewatched episode 40 just to be sure if I misinterpreted things. If anything. after my second rewatch, I'm now even more sure of our theory that they're both alive.

To me it was a good ending, even a happy one

You know for a moment, I really thought they were going to poison him (he had a tummy ache while in the palace at one point). But I guess he's still at Yang Ying's side, loyally serving. I like how developed he is as a character, from the surprising archery skills (that scene made my jaw drop!), and bravery to stay behind with the princess, he may be a "bit" character, but he's a well developed bit character.

A great detailed review and couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks for hanging out in the apparently "unpopular opinions about the ending" section of the comments area. I feel validated seeing your review and your comments. Lol.

I loved how every character, no matter how small, got a character arc. Even Mr. Du!

So beautifully said. It was mind boggling why people were arguing with me with my interpretation. And they do it in a thread where we're discussing this particular interpretation. Was discussing this with a fellow cdrama fan and we felt it was very logical that they faked their deaths. Only because the "this was a dream" and "this was the afterlife" just seemed so random and there's no supporting clues in there. Also, it wasn't that kind of drama, I felt. I think AJTL is more rooted in reality.

Yang Ying is literally in the court and the powers that be by then. They would be cautious as they know they will end up being dragged back into court affairs, at least due to concern for Yang Ying etc. It's for their best and also Yang Ying. And lord, do we need LTG to get obsessive again?

I can picture him trying to find their bodies to bury only to find them alive.

The odd thing is a lot of people who believe that they're dead will try to convince you they are right. I'm not sure why people do that I guess, but to be honest, there's far more "proof" or clues to them being alive than it being "just a dream". I'm just being logical.

My theory is that they were found by one of the Six Realms men, were hidden away while they recovered, and decided to use that moment to make a break for it and fake their deaths. It made perfect logical sense for me. I mean, didn't Deng Hui do it with Ruyi? Why couldn't a troupe of well-trained spies do it again?

Yeah, I don't get how they reached that conclusion, but to each their own I guess. Lol. Maybe they're not used to the wackiness, death and resurrection thing that is common with wuxia.

How did you even know it's not planned from the start. This assumption doesn't make sense.

Tbh I hate these types of endings but I thought for this one it was quite clear. Surprised at the reaction online lol

Why must all endings be that obvious?

Yes

Why is that impossible? I don't get it. I don't even understand what you mean by typical Chinese ending and I am a Chinese lol

To many of us it was obvious that they lived. But for some reason it's an unpopular opinion lol

Goodness sakes just tag your post with spoilers already

Yes to be honest it was far more logical to go with this ending than "it was all a dream". Uh, why accept that kind of ending?? 😅

Yea I was so relieved when I watched the last 5 minutes that I am amazed not many were as happy as I was 😆

That she died and she's being taken to see them. Yeah it didn't make sense to me either. Why would she see the kid? Why not YSS? The only scene that was her imagination was the idealistic image of the group riding the grassy plains, and she was just imagining how they were. It just makes more logical sense to me.