XY does not die.In the novel, XY poisons CX with a non-lethal dose and poisons herself with a lethal dose after…
Yes. I haven't gone back and looked at the leaked script in a long time, but if I remember correctly, they make major changes to XL's secret efforts and sacrifices.
XY doesn't poison herself in real life (only in CX's dream), so XL doesn't have to save her life again. TSJ "dies" / disappears, but XL is not involved in saving him. XL still has XY make a pill from her own blood, but he uses it on her instead of TSJ (I don't recall why it was needed). XL sacrifices two lives, instead of one life, to break the bug connection between himself and XY.
I quite liked FFYY's epiphany at the end and the fact that she was the one who finally killed TSH. Making him reap what he sowed with her.
TSH didn't deserve a poetic death, but I still enjoyed the fact that the ending between the three of them was poetic. It made it more satisfying for me.
Exactly. From the one image of TSJ in the water that they showed in the trailer, I was shocked by the extent of his injuries all over him - more than just having 7 of his tails cut off.
Yes, good point! I remember thinking that it looked like they had changed the dynamics of the fight so that TSJ would be fighting TSH way more directly compared to how the fight went in the novel with TSJ pretty much just trying to evade TSH.
it has dawned on me that a lot of the conflict in this comment section is because of a difference between the…
I agree that there are significant differences in key details between the novel and the drama that play into some of the character dynamics / relationship analysis.
As one example, the way Lirong Ji describes the bugs and how they work to XL in the drama is more ambiguous, IMO, than how the bugs are described by the Shaman King to XY in the novel.
As another, I know some fans interpret the bug glowing in XL's heart in the drama (e.g., in S1 Ep19) as indicating that the bug is backfiring or verging on turning into a Heartbreak Bug, and that only XL exerting his powers to control the bug prevents that from happening. Whereas, in the novel, we are never given any indication that the bugs might be backfiring or turning into Heartbreak Bugs (the bugs are never shown to be glowing or backfiring and the Shaman King is pretty clear: if the bugs are hosted by not-lovers or if the bugs backfire, then the bugs will turn into Heartbreak Bugs and both hosts will die) and on multiple occasions in the text it is noted that the Lovers Bugs remained in XL and XY with no problems for a very long amount of time (e.g., 70 years, 80 years, etc.).
As one more, the drama makes it seem like XY didn't come to the conclusion that the last poison creation she made for XL should be special until her maid mentioned it, and made it seem like XY created the ice crystal ball in a very short amount of time after formalizing her engagement with Feng Long and telling XL that she would not make any more poisons for him after she was married. Whereas, in the novel, she started making the ice crystal ball immediately after CX took the throne, it took 4 years to make, and she definitely didn't need her maid to give her the idea to make it special. When the Grand Emperor (the King of Haoling) wrote to XY and told her that he and Feng Long's grandfather had confirmed a wedding date that would take place in two months, XY wrote back and said that she had one task to complete (finalizing the ice crystal ball and sending it to XL with a message telling him that she would be marrying in two months) before she went to Gao Xing (Haoling) to prepare for the wedding. And the amount of time and effort that XY put into preparing this symbolic gift for XL paralleled the amount of time and effort that XY's mother put into preparing a symbolic gift for XY's father, Chi You (Chi Chen) in the prequel. In Once Promised, Ah Heng raised silk worms from cocoons, harvested their silk, and spent years making Chi You's iconic red robe for him, and that robe later played an important symbolic role in their romance.
I don't remember how the leaked script handled it exactly, but I do vaguely remember that TSJ still "dies" but that it is Xing Yue, rather than CX, that enables TSH's plot. So I think at least he must still feature for that, and maybe FFYY will too?
This is from chapter 42. Fair warning, it's a bit graphic.
Edit: Just saw that you don't want more spoilers than what Sunbath12 gave. So don't read on!
-----
Chapter 42:
The tiger ripped off another fox tail and Jing screamed in pain while continuing to battle with Hou. The tiger bit off yet another tail and Hou roared, “Jing, you would rather have every organ ripped to shreds than admit you’re not as good as me?”
Jing’s body shook but his voice was calm. “If it was my older brother from before who asked me this, I would immediately admit I’m not as good, there are many areas I can’t match up to him. But asking me now, I can tell you clearly that I look down on you! You’re just a weakling who let jealousy and hatred control your heart.”
Hou’s face was contorted in rage and he screamed, and with that deafening scream the entire ground shook and all the fog lifted. The tiger pounced and pressed down on the nine-tailed fox under its paws.
Jing collapsed on the ground covered in blood. Hou yelled “Who is the weakling now? How dare you look down on me? Say it! Who is the weakling!”
Jing said nothing and didn’t even look at Hou.
The tiger ripped another fox tail and Jing’s body convulsed in pain. Hou raged, “Who’s stronger than who? You answer! Who isn’t as good as who? You answer me!”
The tiger raised its front paws and was about to smash the entire fox body to smithereens when suddenly Hou’s entire body froze and his roar stopped, while the tiger’s body began to shrink.
Hou looked down in disbelief as an arrow tipped with a pair of intertwined mandarin ducks protruded from his chest. He touched the tips with the lover birds and murmured “Yi Yang!”
Hou lifted his head to look up towards the sky.
A white flying horse descended and an all black clad Yi Yang was sprawled on the horse and holding a beautiful bow in her hand.
Because she was so weak and afraid of falling off the horse, she used a rope to tie herself to the horse’s back. Now Yi Yang untied the rope and fell off the horse. She appeared too weak to walk but used the bow as a crutch to slowly stumble over.
Hou stared at Yi Yang as the blood dripped from his chest, a mocking smile on his lips. “Is that the bow that I designed for you?”
“This is also something you gave me!” Yi Yang ripped off her black face veil and her face was completely shriveled and dried, without any blood or flesh. It was like dried skin directly plastered on bone, except her eyes were bright and shiny like a young girl, making the visage even more ghastly.
Hou made a noise and it wasn’t clear if he was trying to laugh or cry. “You’re saving him? You came to save him? If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
“You should say that if it wasn’t for you, everything would be different!” Yi Yang glanced at Jing with conflicted emotions. She harmed him time and again but he chose to forgive her. She used to see his kindness as weakness but only after she was truly heartbroken did she understand that hating is easy but forgiving required a stronger vaster heart.
Yi Yang stumbled towards Hou. “But I met you first! That year it was festival season and I was in Gao Xing traveling with my girlfriends to see the lanterns. There was an accident and I fell in the water, but I couldn’t swim and was caught by a water grass demon. It was you who saved me, and then accompanied me to view the lanterns while rowing on the lake to help me find my friends. I could tell this wasn’t your first time in Gao Xing and asked why you were there. You said “I came to see a girl, I heard she was viewing the lanterns.” I knew I was already engaged but felt this disappointment in my heart. Later I found my friends and they called me Yi Yang, and you heard that and asked if I was Ms. Fang Feng. I said yes and you stared at me before smiling “So it’s you!” You then rowed out towards the ocean and I heard someone calling you “Young Master Tu Shan” and you responded. All my friends teased me because we all thought you were the Tu Shan young master I was engaged to, and you came specifically to see me. I stared at you rowing away, with surprise and joy in my heart, thinking “So it’s you!” I prepared my trousseau and happily waited to marry you. But the news came instead was your grave illness and the wedding called off. Father tried to find out if you were dead or missing, not wanting to marry me to someone who was going to die. He wanted to cancel the engagement but all I could see was you standing within the lanterns with a smile saying “So it’s you!” I ignored my father’s objection and put on my wedding dress, rushing thousands of miles to Qing Qiu with one thought – I would find out who harmed you and kill that person. Even if you didn’t marry me yet, I lived as your wife, taking good care of grandmother. When I learned that Tu Shan Hou harmed you, I decided to take revenge for you once Hou came back to the residence. Months later you finished a big deal and came home from Xuan Yuan Castle, I helped grandmother out to welcome you back and you walked towards me under the lit lanterns and I stared dumbstruck with only one thought “So it’s you!”
Yi Yang used all her strength to shoot out that arrow and now she collapsed on the ground, and ignoring the mud on her face, she raised her head to look at Hou “That moment, all my hate turned into joy. I didn’t care who you were or what you had done, as long as you were alive then I was happy.”
Yi Yang softly asked “Hou, I just want to know, was your true heart there even for one moment?”
Hou coldly laughed “We’re about to die, what does it matter, true heart or not?”
Yi Yang crawled forward and stood up shakily. She looked at Jing “I agreed to set this trap for Hou not to kill you, but to kill Hou. I told you before that I’m not the same as you. Someone who wrongs me, I will make him pay! Zhen Er’s poison has been lifted and I wrote him a letter to let him know all the wrong things his mom and real dad did. I hope that when he grows up, he can repay you on my behalf. Jing, I’m sorry! It’s not that you’re not good, it’s that you’re too good! The heavens knew that you were too good for me, that I wasn’t good enough for you, so that’s why I met him first!”
Yi Yang walked up to Hou and whispered in his ears “I don’t care if you were sincere or faking it this whole time, you promised to be a pair of mandarin ducks with me, lovers forever, in life and in death.” She grabbed Hou’s waist with one hand and the arrow with the other, and used all her remaining power to push the arrow forward until it pierced fully through Hou’s heart and into her heart.
Hou may have been gravely injured with the arrow but he still had power, he could have pushed Yi Yang away. It wasn’t clear if he was dazed or wanted this, but he let Yi Yang embrace him as if he knew what she was going to do. When Yi Yang touched the arrow, he actually wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer into his arms. He smiled at Jing “This time, it’s still not fair. And the person cheating for you is my own woman!”
When the arrow pierced Yi Yang, Hou used all his remaining power to rush forward and kick Jing with all his might “Let’s all die together!”
Jing’s body flew into the air and fell into the Qing Shui River.
With that kick Hou used up all his energy and died, but his body continued to move forward and he fell into the Qing Shui River along with Yi Yang. Yi Yang held him tightly, nestled in his arms, tears falling from her eyes. The two pierced together with an arrow tipped with mandarin ducks disappeared underneath the churning waves.
I've started seeing little spoiler clips on YouTube where XY kills herself in the end. If anyone has read the…
XY does not die.
In the novel, XY poisons CX with a non-lethal dose and poisons herself with a lethal dose after discovering that CX orchestrated TSJ's death. XL intervenes and secretly saves her life, so she does not die. He also secretly saves TSJ's life.
In the drama, based on the leaked script, we are expecting that sequence (CX being behind TSJ's death and XY poisoning him + herself) to be turned into a dream sequence brought on by special tea given to CX by the former King of Xiyan to help him see the consequences he will face if he doesn't let XY go.
There are a few reasons, but the main one comes down to their respective loyalties. When XY and CX were children,…
Man do I agree. Every single seemingly small difference definitely adds up.
Lol, rehashing old talking points so you know this already, but my interpretation (with a very high degree of confidence for the novel and a lower degree of confidence for the drama) has always been that XL knew how to break the bug connection for the same amount of time that he knew what kind of bugs they were (Lovers Bugs) and what the criteria were for transferring and successfully planting them. In other words, IMO, he knew how to break the connection before he suggested the bug transfer the first time and definitely before he accepted the bug transfer when WXL asked him about it later on.
In ep49/S2ep9, TSJ asks if CX was behind it, but I missed the reference -- did TSJ mean the arranging of those…
Going off of the novel, CX was behind both the spread of the rumours in general and specifically XY overhearing the General confirming their legitimacy.
-----
Chapter 35:
Zhuan Xu was leaving when Jing asked, “Your majesty, why did you do that?”
Zhuan Xu slowly turned back around. The crowds were rushing past below the steps but on the steps, either the guards were keeping a barrier or there simply was no one else headed that way, it was oddly silent with only Jing and Zhuan Xu staring at each other under the lamp light.
Zhuan Xu had a mocking smile on the corner of his lips, “How did you find out?”
Jing said, “I initially thought it was the Empress since she wants to hurt Xiao Yao and has the power to spread the rumors. I thought Your majesty would be working to staunch the rumors but as much as I tried, even using the power of the three clans of Xi Ling, Gui Fang, and Tu Shan, it could not stop the rumors. I realized it didn’t appear to be the Empress since the power behind the rumors was too great. Tonight it appears Xiao Yao made all the choices, but if Your majesty wanted Xiao Yao to be undisturbed, then General Li Yuan and his group would not have been able to enter the restaurant. The only explanation is that Your majesty wanted Xiao Yao to accidentally meet General Li Yuan’s group.”
Zhuan Xu calmly said, “Feng Long told me once that you are smarter than anyone he knows. I didn’t really believe him then but today it appears you deserve Feng Long’s praise.”
Jing said, “Your majesty, it’s not Xiao Yao being not smart enough to figure it out, it’s that she will never ever believe that you would hurt her.”
Zhuan Xu’s smile vanished and he coldly said, “I did it because I want to protect her.”
Jing already knew Zhuan Xu’s intentions but to have it confirmed still shook him to the core. He silently stepped off the steps and bid farewell. “Your humble citizen I shall be going.”
3 
1 
1 
XY doesn't poison herself in real life (only in CX's dream), so XL doesn't have to save her life again. TSJ "dies" / disappears, but XL is not involved in saving him. XL still has XY make a pill from her own blood, but he uses it on her instead of TSJ (I don't recall why it was needed). XL sacrifices two lives, instead of one life, to break the bug connection between himself and XY.
TSH didn't deserve a poetic death, but I still enjoyed the fact that the ending between the three of them was poetic. It made it more satisfying for me.
As one example, the way Lirong Ji describes the bugs and how they work to XL in the drama is more ambiguous, IMO, than how the bugs are described by the Shaman King to XY in the novel.
As another, I know some fans interpret the bug glowing in XL's heart in the drama (e.g., in S1 Ep19) as indicating that the bug is backfiring or verging on turning into a Heartbreak Bug, and that only XL exerting his powers to control the bug prevents that from happening. Whereas, in the novel, we are never given any indication that the bugs might be backfiring or turning into Heartbreak Bugs (the bugs are never shown to be glowing or backfiring and the Shaman King is pretty clear: if the bugs are hosted by not-lovers or if the bugs backfire, then the bugs will turn into Heartbreak Bugs and both hosts will die) and on multiple occasions in the text it is noted that the Lovers Bugs remained in XL and XY with no problems for a very long amount of time (e.g., 70 years, 80 years, etc.).
As one more, the drama makes it seem like XY didn't come to the conclusion that the last poison creation she made for XL should be special until her maid mentioned it, and made it seem like XY created the ice crystal ball in a very short amount of time after formalizing her engagement with Feng Long and telling XL that she would not make any more poisons for him after she was married. Whereas, in the novel, she started making the ice crystal ball immediately after CX took the throne, it took 4 years to make, and she definitely didn't need her maid to give her the idea to make it special. When the Grand Emperor (the King of Haoling) wrote to XY and told her that he and Feng Long's grandfather had confirmed a wedding date that would take place in two months, XY wrote back and said that she had one task to complete (finalizing the ice crystal ball and sending it to XL with a message telling him that she would be marrying in two months) before she went to Gao Xing (Haoling) to prepare for the wedding. And the amount of time and effort that XY put into preparing this symbolic gift for XL paralleled the amount of time and effort that XY's mother put into preparing a symbolic gift for XY's father, Chi You (Chi Chen) in the prequel. In Once Promised, Ah Heng raised silk worms from cocoons, harvested their silk, and spent years making Chi You's iconic red robe for him, and that robe later played an important symbolic role in their romance.
Edit: Just saw that you don't want more spoilers than what Sunbath12 gave. So don't read on!
-----
Chapter 42:
The tiger ripped off another fox tail and Jing screamed in pain while continuing to battle with Hou. The tiger bit off yet another tail and Hou roared, “Jing, you would rather have every organ ripped to shreds than admit you’re not as good as me?”
Jing’s body shook but his voice was calm. “If it was my older brother from before who asked me this, I would immediately admit I’m not as good, there are many areas I can’t match up to him. But asking me now, I can tell you clearly that I look down on you! You’re just a weakling who let jealousy and hatred control your heart.”
Hou’s face was contorted in rage and he screamed, and with that deafening scream the entire ground shook and all the fog lifted. The tiger pounced and pressed down on the nine-tailed fox under its paws.
Jing collapsed on the ground covered in blood. Hou yelled “Who is the weakling now? How dare you look down on me? Say it! Who is the weakling!”
Jing said nothing and didn’t even look at Hou.
The tiger ripped another fox tail and Jing’s body convulsed in pain. Hou raged, “Who’s stronger than who? You answer! Who isn’t as good as who? You answer me!”
The tiger raised its front paws and was about to smash the entire fox body to smithereens when suddenly Hou’s entire body froze and his roar stopped, while the tiger’s body began to shrink.
Hou looked down in disbelief as an arrow tipped with a pair of intertwined mandarin ducks protruded from his chest. He touched the tips with the lover birds and murmured “Yi Yang!”
Hou lifted his head to look up towards the sky.
A white flying horse descended and an all black clad Yi Yang was sprawled on the horse and holding a beautiful bow in her hand.
Because she was so weak and afraid of falling off the horse, she used a rope to tie herself to the horse’s back. Now Yi Yang untied the rope and fell off the horse. She appeared too weak to walk but used the bow as a crutch to slowly stumble over.
Hou stared at Yi Yang as the blood dripped from his chest, a mocking smile on his lips. “Is that the bow that I designed for you?”
“This is also something you gave me!” Yi Yang ripped off her black face veil and her face was completely shriveled and dried, without any blood or flesh. It was like dried skin directly plastered on bone, except her eyes were bright and shiny like a young girl, making the visage even more ghastly.
Hou made a noise and it wasn’t clear if he was trying to laugh or cry. “You’re saving him? You came to save him? If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
“You should say that if it wasn’t for you, everything would be different!” Yi Yang glanced at Jing with conflicted emotions. She harmed him time and again but he chose to forgive her. She used to see his kindness as weakness but only after she was truly heartbroken did she understand that hating is easy but forgiving required a stronger vaster heart.
Yi Yang stumbled towards Hou. “But I met you first! That year it was festival season and I was in Gao Xing traveling with my girlfriends to see the lanterns. There was an accident and I fell in the water, but I couldn’t swim and was caught by a water grass demon. It was you who saved me, and then accompanied me to view the lanterns while rowing on the lake to help me find my friends. I could tell this wasn’t your first time in Gao Xing and asked why you were there. You said “I came to see a girl, I heard she was viewing the lanterns.” I knew I was already engaged but felt this disappointment in my heart. Later I found my friends and they called me Yi Yang, and you heard that and asked if I was Ms. Fang Feng. I said yes and you stared at me before smiling “So it’s you!” You then rowed out towards the ocean and I heard someone calling you “Young Master Tu Shan” and you responded. All my friends teased me because we all thought you were the Tu Shan young master I was engaged to, and you came specifically to see me. I stared at you rowing away, with surprise and joy in my heart, thinking “So it’s you!” I prepared my trousseau and happily waited to marry you. But the news came instead was your grave illness and the wedding called off. Father tried to find out if you were dead or missing, not wanting to marry me to someone who was going to die. He wanted to cancel the engagement but all I could see was you standing within the lanterns with a smile saying “So it’s you!” I ignored my father’s objection and put on my wedding dress, rushing thousands of miles to Qing Qiu with one thought – I would find out who harmed you and kill that person. Even if you didn’t marry me yet, I lived as your wife, taking good care of grandmother. When I learned that Tu Shan Hou harmed you, I decided to take revenge for you once Hou came back to the residence. Months later you finished a big deal and came home from Xuan Yuan Castle, I helped grandmother out to welcome you back and you walked towards me under the lit lanterns and I stared dumbstruck with only one thought “So it’s you!”
Yi Yang used all her strength to shoot out that arrow and now she collapsed on the ground, and ignoring the mud on her face, she raised her head to look at Hou “That moment, all my hate turned into joy. I didn’t care who you were or what you had done, as long as you were alive then I was happy.”
Yi Yang softly asked “Hou, I just want to know, was your true heart there even for one moment?”
Hou coldly laughed “We’re about to die, what does it matter, true heart or not?”
Yi Yang crawled forward and stood up shakily. She looked at Jing “I agreed to set this trap for Hou not to kill you, but to kill Hou. I told you before that I’m not the same as you. Someone who wrongs me, I will make him pay! Zhen Er’s poison has been lifted and I wrote him a letter to let him know all the wrong things his mom and real dad did. I hope that when he grows up, he can repay you on my behalf. Jing, I’m sorry! It’s not that you’re not good, it’s that you’re too good! The heavens knew that you were too good for me, that I wasn’t good enough for you, so that’s why I met him first!”
Yi Yang walked up to Hou and whispered in his ears “I don’t care if you were sincere or faking it this whole time, you promised to be a pair of mandarin ducks with me, lovers forever, in life and in death.” She grabbed Hou’s waist with one hand and the arrow with the other, and used all her remaining power to push the arrow forward until it pierced fully through Hou’s heart and into her heart.
Hou may have been gravely injured with the arrow but he still had power, he could have pushed Yi Yang away. It wasn’t clear if he was dazed or wanted this, but he let Yi Yang embrace him as if he knew what she was going to do. When Yi Yang touched the arrow, he actually wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer into his arms. He smiled at Jing “This time, it’s still not fair. And the person cheating for you is my own woman!”
When the arrow pierced Yi Yang, Hou used all his remaining power to rush forward and kick Jing with all his might “Let’s all die together!”
Jing’s body flew into the air and fell into the Qing Shui River.
With that kick Hou used up all his energy and died, but his body continued to move forward and he fell into the Qing Shui River along with Yi Yang.
Yi Yang held him tightly, nestled in his arms, tears falling from her eyes.
The two pierced together with an arrow tipped with mandarin ducks disappeared underneath the churning waves.
In the novel, XY poisons CX with a non-lethal dose and poisons herself with a lethal dose after discovering that CX orchestrated TSJ's death. XL intervenes and secretly saves her life, so she does not die. He also secretly saves TSJ's life.
In the drama, based on the leaked script, we are expecting that sequence (CX being behind TSJ's death and XY poisoning him + herself) to be turned into a dream sequence brought on by special tea given to CX by the former King of Xiyan to help him see the consequences he will face if he doesn't let XY go.
Lol, rehashing old talking points so you know this already, but my interpretation (with a very high degree of confidence for the novel and a lower degree of confidence for the drama) has always been that XL knew how to break the bug connection for the same amount of time that he knew what kind of bugs they were (Lovers Bugs) and what the criteria were for transferring and successfully planting them. In other words, IMO, he knew how to break the connection before he suggested the bug transfer the first time and definitely before he accepted the bug transfer when WXL asked him about it later on.
-----
Chapter 35:
Zhuan Xu was leaving when Jing asked, “Your majesty, why did you do that?”
Zhuan Xu slowly turned back around. The crowds were rushing past below the steps but on the steps, either the guards were keeping a barrier or there simply was no one else headed that way, it was oddly silent with only Jing and Zhuan Xu staring at each other under the lamp light.
Zhuan Xu had a mocking smile on the corner of his lips, “How did you find out?”
Jing said, “I initially thought it was the Empress since she wants to hurt Xiao Yao and has the power to spread the rumors. I thought Your majesty would be working to staunch the rumors but as much as I tried, even using the power of the three clans of Xi Ling, Gui Fang, and Tu Shan, it could not stop the rumors. I realized it didn’t appear to be the Empress since the power behind the rumors was too great. Tonight it appears Xiao Yao made all the choices, but if Your majesty wanted Xiao Yao to be undisturbed, then General Li Yuan and his group would not have been able to enter the restaurant. The only explanation is that Your majesty wanted Xiao Yao to accidentally meet General Li Yuan’s group.”
Zhuan Xu calmly said, “Feng Long told me once that you are smarter than anyone he knows. I didn’t really believe him then but today it appears you deserve Feng Long’s praise.”
Jing said, “Your majesty, it’s not Xiao Yao being not smart enough to figure it out, it’s that she will never ever believe that you would hurt her.”
Zhuan Xu’s smile vanished and he coldly said, “I did it because I want to protect her.”
Jing already knew Zhuan Xu’s intentions but to have it confirmed still shook him to the core. He silently stepped off the steps and bid farewell. “Your humble citizen I shall be going.”