AH

There has been quite a lot of evidence that suggests that the leaked script is legitimate.

For example, the leaked script (which has been available since last year) includes a scene that was not in the novel that depicts TSJ using a "Lamp of Time". That scene matches up pretty much exactly with one of the scenes that was eventually included in the S2 trailer that recently came out.

https://kisskh.at/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=3076851&page=620#p3076851

liddi (a fellow fan and MDL user) has also provided a general comparison of the trailer and leaked script.

https://kisskh.at/discussions/lost-you-forever/110123-xl-and-xy-story-and-romance-warning-spoilers?pid=3076845&page=620#p3076845

It's still possible that the leaked script isn't real of course, but right now the evidence seems to suggest that it is legitimate.

Even if it is legitimate, there will inevitably be differences between the script and what ends up being depicted in the final version of S2 that airs. Even scenes that were in the trailer could end up being edited or re-dubbed (as was the case with scenes from the S1 trailer last year). So we won't know for sure how all the details will be handled until we see them on screen.

There are a few fanfics that have been written that resolve this point by having XY discover the ice crystal ball (and XL's final message) hidden inside the big-bellied laughing doll at the right time / under the right circumstances. ^^

Thank you for saying that. Lol, yes we did have some of our own discussions. Good ones that I enjoyed having. ^^

Aww, that was nice of you to say HeadInTheClouds! ^^

Thank you plor20, that's kind. Yes, sometimes having an interpretation that isn't totally YaoLiu or totally YaoJing makes it easier to chat about details from the story with fans from both groups. No patience required for this one. I felt like soTreeD and I were having a civil discussion. Even though the comment section as a whole here is getting a little overheated.

"Xiaoliu lying to Xiangliu was evidence that she didn't truly trust him yet, so this only shows to me there is no 'love' at this moment."

At that point in the story, Wen Xiao Liu wasn't honest with anyone about her identity or the fact that she had memorized the Chenrong Poison Manual. That included both TSJ and CX.

I personally also think it is very possible to develop feelings for someone before getting to a point where you are 100% honest with them or ready to trust them with your #1 deepest, darkest secret. Especially if revealling that secret would risk irrevocably damaging your relationship with that person.

-

"And what was she supposed to do? Xiaoliu actually had no intention of ever returning to Haoling. Why would she go around telling others, especially someone she just met for a few years about her true identity?

If she had to explain her mother had given her the manual about how to raise poisonous bugs, won't she worry about Xiangliu taking her hostage to get Xiyan to do his bidding?"

Please don't get me wrong here. I don't think WXL should have revealed her true identity to XL or told him about the poison manual at that point. I don't blame her for lying in those circumstances at all.

I merely point out that she was lying (and that XL knew she was lying) because it provides important context for how XL responds to her. If she was perfectly forthcoming and honest with him, then it would be fair to expect him to be perfectly forthcoming and honest with her in return. But she wasn't and he knew it. So it seems rather unfair to expect that Xiang Liu should be fully forthcoming and honest when WXL wasn't first.

-

"My post just pointed out how Xiangliu got into Xiaoyao's heart.
The novel and drama made it such a big deal that it was not easy to get in because of the hard shell around her heart etc, and that was my observation about how he got in."

The bug transfer in chapter 7 allowed Xiang Liu to feel WXL's feelings, but there were instances where the hard shell around WXL's heart softened when she was with Xiang Liu before the bug transfer occurred.

For example, when Xiang Liu took WXL to watch the moon rise over the ocean in chapter 4, that scene included the following line: "After some time, a moon rose from the edge of the ocean and the quiet beauty was so powerful that Xiao Liu felt the hard shell around his heart soften."

-

"Basically my argument is that something was installed and it was not stated to Xiaoliu in the terms and conditions. Even if we normally don't read everything in the TnCs, I am sure there will be outrage if something was deliberately left out without our knowledge."

This concern would make sense if Xiang Liu was the one who asked WXL to carry out the bug transfer for Xiang Liu's benefit. If that was the case, then he should be clear with the person he was asking about what the deal would entail.

But WXL was the one who asked Xiang Liu to allow her to transfer the bug from CX to Xiang Liu for CX and WXL's benefit. Xiang Liu had no obligation to explain the details of WXL's own bugs to her or the implications of the deal that she was asking him to agree to.

In chapter 7, WXL was aware that XL knew the name of the bugs and the required criteria for transferring them to another person, while she did not. She was also aware that XL was unwilling to answer her when she asked about the transfer criteria, and she was satisfied with just confirming that XL met the required criteria.

WXL was even clearly willing to take the risk of making a totally open-ended promise to Xiang Liu (as long as it didn't involve harming CX, the King of Xiyan or the King of Haoling) in exchange for him agreeing to her request. Demonstrating that she was willing to accept not knowing all the details and implications of what she was agreeing to at the time that she made the promise.

And her trust was well placed, as Xiang Liu ended up using that promise later on for XY's benefit - to save her from condemning herself to a lifetime of unhappiness in a marriage to Feng Long that she didn't want.

"My big problem is, Xiangliu knows exactly what bug it was, but he chose not to tell her. She might have thought of another way if she knew what kind of bug it was."

Wen Xiao Liu planted the bug in CX and transferred it to Xiang Liu without fully understanding it. She chose to take that risk on both occasions. She also lied to Xiang Liu about how she learned to raise the bugs, and she lied about her true identity. And Xiang Liu knew she was lying about both of those things and still agreed to help her anyway, even though it meant risking his own life.

It's true that Xiang Liu fully understood what the bugs were and how they worked and didn't explain those details to Wen Xiao Liu. But after Wen Xiao Liu lied to him, why should he be obligated to give her full disclosure? Especially when the ommission allowed him to save her life on at least two occasions. Plus, he didn't impose any decisions on her (like forceibly planting a bug in her - as she had done to CX and as she originally planned to do to him). She asked him for help and he agreed to give it.

There were no alternatives. Wen Xiao Liu clearly wasn't willing to transfer the bug from CX to TSJ when she thought it only transferred pain (you mentioned some of the possible reasons why). Given Wen Xiao Liu's personality, the chances that she would change her mind about that if she knew the bugs were Lovers Bugs that tied two peoples' lives together seems, to me, to be pretty much zero. And if the bug had stayed in CX or she had continued to try to remove the bug from him forcibly without transferring it to a willing host, she might have gotten herself killed.

"Xiangliu withheld information and got a cheat hack into her heart and got to know all her feelings without her consent."

Wen Xiao Liu was the one who raised the bugs. She was originally planning to plant one bug in Xiang Liu without his consent, but ended up planting it in CX instead, which forced CX to feel all of Wen Xiao Liu's pain and other sensations... without his consent.

Later on, Wen Xiao Liu asked Xiang Liu to help her by letting her transfer the bug from CX to him, and Xiang Liu agreed - knowing that doing so would mean putting his life (or rather, all nine of his lives) at risk. By accepting the bug transfer whole-heartedly, he allowed the bug to be planted successfully, which led to their lives being tied together and enabled him to save XY's life in chapter 22 and chapter 48.

-

"She didn't even realize that until much later on after he told her not to stay heartbroken over TSJ because it was bothering him."

In chapter 25, XY started to wonder if Xiang Liu could feel her heartache as much as her pain from physical injuries, and if he might feel 100% of her heartache instead of just a fraction of it.

In chapter 26, Xiang Liu used the bug connection to speed up her heartrate in order to snap her out of the intense heartache she felt after seeing TSJ. When XY encountered Xiang Liu later that day, she directly asked him if he could feel 100% of her heartache. He confirmed that when XY's heart hurts, his heart hurts just as much. So if she would stop tormeting herself, she would be better off and so would he. Then he spends the next night and day on an excursion to the sea with her, all designed to cheer her up without leading her on.

-

"Meanwhile he got a free GPS tracking on her so he could track Cangxuan"

Xiang Liu had no idea, at the time that the bug was transferred, that Wen Xiao Liu was Xiao Yao or any other person who would constantly be close enough to CX to enable the bug connection to act as a means for Xiang Liu to track CX.

Just finished episode 7 and it seems like a great stopping point. Since others have said the drama gets repetative and boring, should I just pretend the story stops there?

YW ^^

Almost all of the filming for the new 2024 adaptation of Shogun was done in British Columbia, Canada (mainly in Port Moody and Ucluelet). Only a very small number of scenes were filmed in Japan and the UK.

"Although some principal photography took place in Japan and the United Kingdom—where our two main characters hail from—the majority of filming for Shōgun took place in Port Moody and Ucluelet, British Columbia."

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a46988074/shogun-filming-locations/

Whereas filming for the old 1980 adaptation of Shogun was done entirely in Japan.

"Whereas the Emmy-winning 1980 miniseries was shot entirely in Japan, the new version was shot in British Columbia — on Vancouver Island and in the suburbs of Vancouver — which added a challenge for Jarvis."

https://variety.com/2024/artisans/news/shogun-vancouver-soundstages-backlots-feudal-japan-1235925296/

Overall, I really enjoyed this drama. Gave it an 8.5 / 10 but will probably bump it up to a 9 if/when I rewatch it.

Things I didn't love: the humour and the secondary couple. So much of the humour was based on characters behaving in an extremely ridiculous or idiotic manner and making mistakes or creating misunderstandings that were either super frustrating or generated a ton of second hand embarrassment for me as a viewer. I'm generally not a fan of secondary couples and in this drama that's how the secondary couple behaved for almost all of their screen time, so I skipped as much of them as I could.

Things I loved: the romance, the main couple, and the SML. Both the angsty moments and the sweet moments were super enjoyable. Totally my cup of tea. Byeon Woo Seok was particularly good. Absolutely nailed his role. I hope to see him as a romantic lead in more dramas soon! I felt like the kisses were neither amazing nor terrible, but the cuddles were very good.

I personally had zero interest in the villain's motives or backstory, so I was glad that the drama didn't waste any time focusing on that even though there was definitely room for the writers to at least briefly provide some logical reason for why he did what he did.

lol, yes there definitely seems to be some twisting.

I feel like we have to assume she was willing to accept those things (albeit, perhaps grudgingly and with a desire to delay having to deal with them directly) when she accepted his proposal, and that she definitely was prepared to accept them / deal with them directly when she and TSJ finally set a wedding date.

By "When she goes to TSJ at the end of chapter 32 and starts the process of reconciling with him in chapter 33 (at the end of the second volume), you could say that XY is choosing TSJ over XL. But XL pushed XY away first and was even the one who pushed her to go to TSJ." I meant that XL spent all of chapter 32 pushing XY away before she "chose" / visited / started to reconcile with TSJ in chapter 33. So it doesn't feel right to say that XY "chose" TSJ over XL in chapter 33, since XL pushed her away / didn't give her the option of choosing him in chapter 32 before she visited TSJ in chapter 33.

I agree that TSJ was still not considered suitable for XY in chapter 33 (the end of the second volume) because of his marriage to FFYY (as others have pointed out, XY was willing to accept the child and clan responsibilities later in the drama when she agreed to marry him while he still had those ties, even though they were not ideal to her), which is why I only said, "Suddenly it seemed like there might actually be hope that he could become a relatively suitable person for XY in the future..."

‘How should one choose between the right person and the one they love?”

As blabla100 mentioned, TSJ (Jing) and YSQ (17) are the same person, but the different names can be thought of as distinguishing his TSJ side (a side that is tied to the Tushan Clan and FFYY / Fang Feng Yi Yang) from YSQ (a version of TSJ that does not have those ties and would be free to be with XY / Xiao Yao).

In the first volume of the novel, TSJ promises XY that he will end his engagement with FFYY and return YSQ to XY within 15 years.

In the second volume of the novel, TSJ fails to keep his promise. The end of the 15-year period expires while XY is healing in XL’s clam shell and TSJ is in a coma. After 37 years pass, XL wakes XY up in time for XY to save TSJ’s life. When she wakes up, XL doesn’t meet her and sends her directly to TSJ. This marks a turning point in XY’s relationship with TSJ. You could say that (despite his engagement to FFYY and his ties to the Tushan clan), TSJ was “the right one” for XY at this point because he demonstrated to XY that he would rather die than lose her, which apparently was what she wanted. You could also say that, in reaction to XL’s actions, XY chose TSJ over XL. Although XL didn’t really give XY the option of choosing him. So, IMO, there wasn’t much of a choice available to her.

Later in the second volume, TSJ moves further and further away from what he promised XY, and becomes less and less “right”. He is forced to become the Tushan Clan leader, marries FFYY and has a child with her. So in the second volume of the novel, TSJ is very unsuitable for XY. However, in the last chapter of the second volume, TSJ tells XY that FFYY’s son is not his biological child and that he suspects that his brother, TSH, is the real father. XY doesn’t exactly choose to be with TSJ at that point. But that marks the start of their reconciliation and later on (in the third volume of the novel) they get back together, get engaged, and eventually get married.

Also in the second volume of the novel (after TSJ marries FFYY), XY gets engaged to Feng Long and almost marries him. Before her wedding, she sends an elaborate poison creation (an ice crystal ball with a beautiful scene inside) to XL. Many fans view this as a sign that XY knew that she loved XL, wanted to choose him, and was asking him to choose her. XY waits 7 days for his response, but XL doesn’t respond. So XY proceeds with her wedding with Feng Long. Then XL makes a deal with TSJ and (as FFB / Fang Feng Bei) interrupts her wedding with Feng Long. He takes her away and they live together for a month. In that time, he pushes XY away and at the end of the month he pushes her to go to TSJ. When she does go to TSJ, that meeting leads to the beginning of her reconciliation with TSJ that I mentioned before.

So who is “the right one”? At different points, it seemed like XY considered TSJ, YSQ and Feng Long to be "right" in the sense that she was open to the idea of pursuing a romantic relationship with them / marrying them. As I mentioned, in chapter 22, TSJ was "right" in the sense that he was willing to die rather than lose XY and (due to her abandonment issues) she liked that. After TSJ was no longer available (because he married FFYY), XY considered Feng Long to be "right" enough to agree to marry him. But then when XL asked her about it in chapter 32 (after interrupting the wedding), XY said that she wasn't willing to marry him. So even if he was "right" before, he definitely wasn't "right" by that point. And in chapter 32 we get confirmation that XY was willing to marry YSQ, so clearly she considered him to be "right" enough for marriage too. The trouble was that YSQ didn't exist in the second volume. There was only TSJ at that point. And for a significant portion of the second volume, TSJ was married to FFYY. But as an added complication, even though he did not meet her criteria for a husband at that point (mainly due to his marriage), TSJ came back into the picture at the end of the second volume. Suddenly it seemed like there might actually be hope that he could become a relatively suitable person for XY in the future (and Feng Long was no longer suitable due to the wedding fiasco).

So, like many parts of LYF, you could make a case for two potential interpretations. Either "the right one" is Feng Long or "the right one" is TSJ/YSQ.

Who was the one XY loved? Some fans will say that she only loved XL/FFB. Some fans will say that she only loved TSJ/YSQ. I am one of a small number of fans who felt like she had romantic feelings for both of them.

If you’re willing to entertain that possibility, we can work through the potential options. When the description of the second novel refers to choosing between “the right one” and “the one they love”, that could be referring to XY having to choose between: (1) Feng Long (as “the right one”) and TSJ/YSQ (as “the one she loves”); (2) Feng Long (as “the right one”) and XL (as “the one she loves”); or (3) TSJ/YSQ (as “the right one”) and XL (as “the one she loves”).

When she committed more to her relationship with TSJ in chapter 22, you could say that XY was choosing TSJ over XL/FFB. But like I said, XL didn’t really give XY the option of choosing him.

When she agrees to get engaged with Feng Long in the second volume, you could say that she chooses him over TSJ/YSQ and XL/FFB. Although neither TSJ nor XL are readily available options for her to choose.

When she decides to proceed with the marriage to Feng Long after not getting a response from XL in the second volume, you could say that she chooses Feng Long over XL. But it’s more like she chooses Feng Long because she doesn’t have any better options. You could also say that she tried to choose XL but was rejected.

When she goes to TSJ at the end of chapter 32 and starts the process of reconciling with him in chapter 33 (at the end of the second volume), you could say that XY is choosing TSJ over XL. But XL pushed XY away first and was even the one who pushed her to go to TSJ.

I don’t know about you, but summarizing this makes me feel like only one thing seems clear here: in each case, XY didn’t really have a real choice between two people. In chapter 22, it was TSJ or no one. Between TSJ's marriage and chapter 32, it was Feng Long or no one. After chapter 32, it was TSJ or no one. IMO, XL/FFB didn’t let XY have the option to choose him at any point in the second volume. Although one could argue that she tried.

I think some of the things you asked about are very much open to interpretation, and fans do not agree on the answers.

Rather than giving you one interpretation, I think it might be better to give you some excerpts from the novel that might help provide some insight into XY's thoughts on XL/FFB in the scenes you mentioned. But these excerpts are woefully incomplete. Reading the novel in its entirety is your best bet for getting insight that can help you form an opinion about Xiao Yao's feelings.

-----

Chapter 19:

Xiao Yao asked, “Can you continue teaching me archery now?” What she really meant to ask was – are you not angry at me anymore?

Bei finished his wine. “I need to leave for a bit, wait for me to come back.”

Xiao Yao figured he was going back to Qing Shui town. Even if there was no active warfare, he was still the General of the Sheng Nong resistance army and there was much he had to do.

Xiao Yao couldn’t help it and sighed loudly and murmured, “If only you could forever be Fang Feng Bei, that would be so great.”

Bei appeared not to have heard her as he set down his wine cup and got up to leave, his form disappearing in the layers of curtains.

-----

Chapter 22:

Xiang Liu said, “Tonight I’m waking you up.”

Xiang Liu fed his essential soul blood to Xiao Yao, and different than before where it felt like warm flames that chased away the coldness of death in Xiao Yao’s body, tonight his essential soul blood was a raging inferno that scorched Xiao Yao. It was colliding in her body and appeared to rip her insides to shreds before slowly bonding it back together.

Xiao Yao couldn’t cry out but her body violently shook. Gradually her hands could move, her legs could move, and then she painfully cried out as all the soul essence entered her body and she passed out in the midst of unbearable pain.

When Xiao Yao woke up, she felt the warm sun on her body and she subconsciously turned over to keep on sleeping. Suddenly she opened her eyes in disbelief. She laid there in a daze and then slowly raised her hand up.

Oh! She really could move!

“Xiang Liu!” Xiao Yao sat up but then her head bumped into something hard and she saw stars.

No one answered her and she saw a sliver of sunlight trickling in from outside. Xiao Yao felt that she was inside some sort of shell and she used her hands to feel the surface above her head and her sides. The sides slowly opened like flower petals until instantly Xiao Yao was bathed in sunlight.

Only someone trapped by darkness before would understand that sunlight was the world’s most ordinary yet precious treasure! The sunlight stung her eyes but she was reluctant to close her eyes. She faced the sunlight and slowly stood up and let out a happy holler.

After she calmed down, Xiao Yao noticed that she was wearing a loose fitting white robe and was standing on a large open clam shell. She was surrounded by endless ocean and the waves crested against the clam shell and sprayed up white foam.

All these years, Xiang Liu placed her in the middle of a clam shell to sleep in the ocean. Xiao Yao couldn’t contain her smile, didn’t that make her like a pearl hidden inside a clam shell?

Xiao Yao put her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Xiang Liu! Xiang Liu! Where are you? I’m awake!”

A white and gold condor descended but without Xiang Liu on his back.
Xiao Yao stroked its back. “Furball, where is your master?”

Furbal flapped his wings and called towards the sky once, as if urging Xiao Yao to get on his back.

Xiao Yao happily asked, “Xiang Liu asked you to bring me to see him? Furball shook his head.

Xiao Yao quizzically asked, “Xiang Liu asked you to take me home?” Furball nodded his head.

Whether Xiang Liu had matters to attend to or he was purposely avoiding seeing her, Xiao Yao stood there in a dumbstruck daze, the initial happiness of regaining life and light disappearing like receding waves.

Furball pecked Xiao Yao’s hand to urge her to hurry up.

Xiao Yao climbed on Furball’s back and it rose into the air and flew towards the Middle Plains.

Xiao Yao stared at the passing ocean surface as it rushed past her like a shooting arrow, disappearing behind her. The feelings in her heart were so jumbled.

The next morning, Furball landed outside Zhi Yi Castle and Xiao Yao knew many people would recognize Xiang Liu’s winged ride and knew Furball could only take her as far as here.

For whatever reason, Xiao Yao’s heart was filled with an endless ache. She suddenly grabbed Furball’s neck tightly and Furball squirmed in annoyance but didn’t really put up a fuss. It cocked its head and endured with a sigh.

Xiao Yao buried her face in Furball’s neck as her tears came tumbling down, one after another, falling silently on Furball’s feathers and disappearing.

Furball finally got fed up and impatiently called out once.

Xiao Yao raised her head and the tears were gone from her eyes. She slid off Furball’s back and patted him. “Go back to your master!”

Furball ran a few steps and then flew into the air. Xiao Yao raised her head to watch it fly away until it was completely gone from her sight.

-----

Chapter 23:

Xiao Yao walked and talked. “I was thinking that when you escaped the slave death match arena, wouldn’t it have been great if I was the one who saved you? If that was the case, then I would let you only be Fang Feng Bei! I really hate that I wasn’t born a few hundred years earlier. I would definitely find you in the slave death match arena…….”

-----

Chapter 25:

Fang Feng Bei was riding a winged horse through the crowds, his expression gentle with a smile on his lips, just like any regular son of a rich family.

Xiao Yao was rooted in place and watched him come closer to her through the dense thrum of bustling ordinary life. Even knowing it was hopeless, she still fervently wished that this ordinary world could keep him in it.

-----

Chapter 26:

Xiang Liu said, “That’s….”

“The mating song of the merpeople.”

“How do you know?” Xiang Liu stared at Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao acted nonchalantly with a smile “I guessed it. Legend says the merpeople have incredibly melodic voices so from who else in the deep ocean but the merpeople to sing like that?” Xiang Liu didn’t want her to know that when she was unconscious the things he did with her, and she didn’t want him to know that she already knew. Their embraces and companionship, just let it be buried deep in the dark ocean depths!

...

The clam shell was enormous and even with the two of them inside it wasn’t a tight squeeze at all. She slept here for thirty-seven years with Xiang Liu. Would that be equivalent of sleeping in the same bed and sharing the same pillow? Those two merpeople saw the clam shell as their home, how did Xiang Liu view this clam shell?

Xiao Yao suddenly felt all sorts of thoughts and feelings rush up and her face burned as her heart sped up.

Xiao Yao chastised herself and tried desperately to control her feelings and reactions, but she couldn’t control her heartbeat. Just like that, Xiang Liu sensed it and looked over at her. Xiao Yao quickly said, “I’m hungry! So hungry I’m all nerves!”

Xiao Yao’s face was so red it was like a burning sunset and she forced her eyes wide open to stare at Xiang Liu. His heartbeat quickened a few times and Xiao Yao sensed it. But then it was gone just like that and she wondered if it was her mistaken sensation.

-----

Chapter 27:

In her dream, she saw Jing with his son, but she couldn’t see his son’s face, only that he curled in his dad’s arms and called him sweetly “Daddy” while Jing smiled back.

Xiao Yao ran away as fast as she could and in a second she ran from Qing Qiu to Qing Shui Town. Xiao Yao jumped in the river and swam towards the vast blue ocean. She could see endless horizons and the joy of swimming freely, but she was so, so tired! Where could she go in this entire world? Fang Feng Bei appeared on the surface and he sat on an all white clam shell smiling at her with his black hair flying in the breeze. Xiao Yao swam towards him but in a second his hair turned all white and he became Xiang Liu coldly staring at her. White clam shell, all white Xiang Liu, it was like an ice mountain floating on the ocean surface.

The black-hair-him, the white-hair-him, closer and further away……Xiao Yao suddenly turned and swam towards land, as she swam her tears tumbled down like rain……

Xiao Yao startled awake from her dream and felt coldness next to her. She touched her face and discovered that she was drenched in tears.

-----

Chapter 51:

In Qing Shui Town, she was Wen Xiao Liu, he was Xiang Liu. They were always at odds, but when he got injured he would hide in her room to heal. She didn’t know when she started telling him about her painful past that she had never told anyone before.

In Xuan Yuan Castle, he was the dissolute playboy Fang Feng Bei. He was gentle and considerate, fun loving yet diligently and patiently taught her ten plus years of archery.

When she was asleep under the ocean for thirty seven years, they spent every night together. That was probably when Xiang Liu was the most tender and caring towards her. She was of no use to him to exploit and they have no reason to be on opposite sides of each other. So during that time it was just one person taking the other person through life together in the ocean. One person sometimes saying a few words here and there, the other laying forever in silence.

I agree that Blackthorne wouldn’t have any reason to want an any old crucifix if it was stylized and decidedly Catholic-looking. Given the nature of his religious views, it seems unlikely that he would even want a simpler, more Protestant style crucifix. But the crucifix in that scene isn’t just any “Catholic looking cross”. It’s a crucifix that specifically looks like Mariko’s crucifix. And while I do think that it would be odd for an older Blackthorne to decide he wanted a crucifix that looked like Mariko’s after commending her actual crucifix to the deep, it remains a possibility. Especially if he were to come across a crucifix that looked like Mariko’s at some point during his travels, I do think there’s a good chance he would choose to keep it. Again, I’ll emphasize that I think the dream theory is compelling and that the crucifix is likely included as a clue to help the viewers realize that it is a dream. My only point is that there are other possible explanations. So it’s not accurate to say that the scene “must” have been a dream.

On a separate note, headcanons, by definition, do not need to align with canon. So there is always room to headcanon a different ending or interpretation.

The dream theory is compelling for many reasons. Especially since the episode title is "A Dream of a Dream". But I would note that cruxifixes are not usually one-of-a-kind or hard to find. I have no doubt that Blackthorne would be able to find his own cruxifix that looked like Mariko's if he really wanted to and had a whole lifetime to find one, or even commission one. As for grandchildren, Blackthorne told Mariko in episode 3 that he had a son (Tudor) and a daughter (Elizabeth) with his wife back in England, but he set sail before his daughter was born so he hadn't met her. He could have (and likely would have) grandchildren through those children. So I view that scene as open to interpretation, rather than a scene that "must" be a dream.

Incredible production value. A story and characters with so much potential. And yet ultimately so unsatisfying. Over and over again it felt like the narrative was building towards something epic only for it to suddenly fall short, replacing anticipation with disappointment and a sense of futility.

I don’t want to be a downer, but given your concern I think we (those of us who have watched S1 and read the novel) would be remiss if we didn’t give you a fair and honest warning.

In S1, both the second male lead and the third male lead have quite a lot of romance-induced sorrow and heartache. Even the first male lead, who isn’t a romantic candidate for the female lead in the same way that the second and third male leads are, has some heartache.

In S2, the heartache will continue. The second male lead will have some happy romantic moments, but also some very sad moments. The first male lead will continue to marry women for strategic reasons instead of marrying the woman he loves (the female lead) and will eventually lose the female lead. And many fans of the third male lead consider his ending to be completely devastating.

So if you are really worried about SLS I’d say this one might not be for you, or at the very least you might want to wait for S2 to air before starting this drama so that at least one of the characters will have a relatively happy romantic situation in the end, instead of ending S1 (with all of the main characters not in a great place in terms of romance) and being sad for everyone until S2 finally airs.