Azure

The glory fades away but not in a vain.

There are dramas that do not just tell a story. They change your pace, quiet your mind, and leave you with silence rather than words. And Whispers Of Fate is one of those dramas to me.

In these many years of drama watching, there have been just three dramas that truly managed to touched the essence of my soul.

Arthdal Chronicles — South korea
Whispers Of Fate — Mainland China
Someday or One Day — Taiwan

~*~*~*~

I describe, Whispers Of Fate as in a little poem I wrote for it—
It is a coincidence and also the will of fate,
It is vicissitudes of life and the feeling of returning inward,
It is the belt that becomes loose but you will never regret it, and the way of seasons repeating outside and inside of us.

~*~*~*~

In my heart, Whispers Of Fate is a timeless classic that has no predecessor and no successor and will not be surpassed by anything from C-ent.

The drama is a very ambitious and dream-like project, deeply infused with Buddhism and Taoism and other themes such as heroism, brotherhood, time-travel/loop, redemption, with stunning action and deep character growth, in a visually spectacular xuanhuan-wuxia blend. It starts off seemingly so simple that you wonder what is so great about it—but you will know soon. Then you will feel like you get hit by a truck. Complications will pile up and go on for loops on end. Until you simultaneously know and don't know what’s actually going on. It triggers brainstorming and many viewpoints are worthy of careful discussion to savour every detail.

The narrative explores, the cause and effects (Karma), Illusion vs. Reality, Impermanence, Emptiness (Śūnyatā), Cycle of Rebirth (Saṃsāra)—harmony with the Dao and returning to the origin through letting go.

The drama centers on the enigmatic protagonist, Ajibaner Tangjia (阿吉班尔 唐伽), originating from a mystical realm called Tianrenjing (Tianren realm or Celestial realm) who later fled from there, travelled and grew up in the vast land of Shenzhou (Mortal realm) as Tang Lici (唐俪辞) and focuses on his initial understanding of himself, and the relationship between him and the world.

He is a divine creation trapped in an eternal prison, a hope for the world and the victim of fate. A pair of eyes that are detached from the world; a soul which cannot be bound by the ethics of this world.

He is a disciple of Zhou Dilou and the master of Wanqiaozhai, possessing The Rebirth Sutra and enduring the excruciating pain of co-existing with two hearts.

In the eyes of the world, he is a traitor who killed his sworn brother and betrayed the sect. A chess player who indifferently controls the world for his own desires.

In his eyes, he is haunted by cause-and-effect (Karma), identity crises, and obsessions (e.g., reviving Fang Zhou).

In the end, he shoulders the responsibility to protect the world, allies with various martial heroes, reshapes the martial arts pattern in a world full of devastation eroded by evil desires, and grapples with his own identity and fate. To resign before merciless fate, or to become the fate of himself and others.

The drama is like a Tang Lici’s life train, which stops and starts along the way. People who are traveling with him come and go, get off the train one after another, and move on with their own lives, at last, Tang Lici is the only one left on the train with himself, others were merely an appearance; from beginning to end, this is Tang Lici’s dialogue with himself.

The best thing about this drama is that it explored the duality between light and dark, chaos and stability, good and evil, within every character (not just the protagonist and antagonist). The 'good characters' are not always 'good' and the 'evil characters' are not always 'evil'. The line separating 'good' and 'evil' passes through every heart —and through all hearts, this line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates through our perception and our perception are always based on our knowledge and experiences.

However, the truth we see is part of the ultimate truth—like waves (conventional) arising from water (ultimate). Therefore, our knowledge and experience are limited, putting constraints on our perception. As we explore this world further, we will see more and more things that go beyond the good and evil, transcending duality, ultimately letting go of attachments, recognizing their impermanence, and embracing Emptiness (Śūnyatā) to end the Cycle of Rebirth (Saṃsāra) and attain Liberation (Nirvana).

What truly heals you is never time but understanding; nothing can be taken away or retained, only Karma stays with us. Causality seldom forgives. Regardless of whether others love him or not, whether someone is right or wrong, Tang Lici loves everyone, simply loving everything, needing nothing in return, in this way, he becomes the compassion (Karuṇā) himself, the most primitive power in the universe.

I have noticed some users bringing 'Renegade Immortal' to compare it with 'Whispers Of Fate', I would like to use a line from RI to describe the ending for Tang Lici.

This rain is born from the clouds and dies upon the land; the process in between is life. This rain was born in the clouds but doesn’t die when it hits the land. On the land, it gains a new life; by helping the plants to grow.
Just like that, Tang Lici, who came from the Celestial realm to Mortal realm, gave a new life to everyone. He, who initially wanted to see the light of the world, became the light of the world, in the end.

Luo Yunxi was absolutely phenomenal in this drama without a single doubt, it is so difficult and takes immense courage to pull off the character like Tang Lici (and the version of Yique Yin Yang) with such perfection, he does not only use his face to enact a role but even his body language is different in every act. His eyes speak thousand words. His face is literally a book you can read. He is no longer Luo Yunxi whenever he is onscreen. He walks the character, he talks the character and he lives the character.

The Zhou Diluo scenes are the great example of how much thought he had put into portraying this character. It’s not that A Li doesn’t have emotions, he feels many emotions but does not know how to express them or does not have a means to express them, and when he cannot hold them in anymore, he expresses it like the way a child does, in a vulnerable and uninhibited way. I was very moved by his performance in Zhou Diluo scenes.

Other notable performance that won me over are by; Jeremy Xu as Gui Mudan and Ye Mo, Ai Mi as Shui Duopo, Bao Shangen as Zhong Chunji, Jiang Zhenyu as Hong Guniang, and Qiu Xinshi as Shao Yanping.

Needless to say, I absolutely fell in love with characters; Tang Lici, Xiao Shi, Long Nv and Ye Mo. The Celestial realm arc is the most visually stunning and precious part of the drama and so admired by me, I really need more of it.

The scene that left an impact on me was the scene between Tang Lici and his mother.

In the cold and solemn hall, one stands, one sits. A sense of boundless loneliness hangs in the air. Yet, she could still ask him with a smile: "Do you want to see the stars today?" Such a casual remark carries a faint, inescapable sorrow. As if she knew everything her child had been through.
She could observe the fate of others by looking at stars, Tang Lici asked if she could observe the fate of her unborn child. She replied she doesn’t want to because, in this way, she wouldn’t be so heartbroken knowing the suffering this child would endure in the future, and to obsessively try to change his fate, which she couldn’t.
Tang Lici was born out of his mother’s love and expectations. She was his salvation. He was a child his mother loved so unconditionally, and exchanged her life for him; in the same way Tang Lici exchanged his life for others to have another chance at life.
His final words were: "Mother, you are right. Once you see, obsession will grow; once you see, you will be reluctant to let go. A mother’s words clearly left a profound impact on her child.

Last but not least, I would like to give a shout out to Kwanto, Xiang, TaraVerde, Mizuhira, Levi, Suzuko, HwaBinturong, RBF and underthestars for their continuous support and contribution on this page. Whispers Of Fate is indeed meaningful but we together have made it much more meaningful through our insights on various aspects of the drama. Thank you everyone!

Read More

A delightful mix of homage, humor, and love.

This drama just made me into writing my first ever review on MDL that’s how much I loved this drama. A story filled with laughter and grief for family, friendship, and love. The emotional intensity between the genie and gayoung is utterly captivating. The plot is compact and impactful. The acting is incredible, SUZY and Kim Woobin never fail to impress me and has just won my heart once again. The ending is truly the best one, one of the most beautiful and satisfying one. I have watched hundreds of dramas but had never seen an ending like this before! BRAVO! it’s truly the kdrama of the year for me!

Antisocial personality disorder, often seen as terrifying, played a key role and became a major source of angst in the drama. A psychopath, who had been ostracized wherever she went. Her ultimate wish, born from her unfulfilled humanity, is to feel humanity and her resolve to die for her beloved’s freedom. An evil genie, who never acknowledged the equal value of all lives, unilaterally regains his past memories and realized his own arrogance created the fatal cycle of his past and present lives, his pain intensified a hundredfold and finally bowing to love, trading immortality to honor his beloved as righteous, has deeply moved me.

Read More