*Spoilers for episode 20.*
The second half of The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre kicks off with a bang. All the action centers around one main set piece, where several major revelations occur.
The united fight against Ming has reached its last legs. Ming is battered and surrounded, and they send forth injured warriors to duel members of the other sects one by one, a final effort to avoid surrender and death. While the fighting has gone on, Zhang Wuji has learned some important secrets that get to the heart of the present feud. His new knowledge could end the animosity between Ming and the other sects, but he needs to have a chance to explain before everyone in Ming is defeated.
This episode is super Zhang Wuji-centric, so I’ll just touch briefly on some of the other things going on here. Ming’s last stand is nicely done, even if it doesn’t shy away from clichés. Sixth Brother from Wudang, who loved the late Miss Ji and never understood the secrets that kept them apart, is confronted with his past. It’s also a tough episode for Zhou Zhiruo, Zhang Wuji’s childhood friend who was taken in by Ermei Sect. The priestess calls on her to do the unthinkable here.
At this point, Zhang Wuji is almost absurdly overpowered, though he’s not invulnerable. He can master nigh-unmasterable teachings at a rapid pace, and he can seemingly learn other sects’ secret techniques on the spot. He gets up to some truly audacious stuff in this episode, from sword swallowing to fighting another martial artist entirely seated on the ground.
But for all his jaw-dropping martial arts skills, he remains a gentle hero, the same kind soul he’s been since Tony Leung Chiu-wai stepped into the role. More than anything, Zhang Wuji wants to stop the fighting between the sects. In a way, he’s been building up to this his whole life—he was born from the love between Wudang and Ming disciples, and after his parents were killed, he was raised by a Ming-affiliated doctor while still calling Wudang his family. Throughout the series, he’s related to people as people, regardless of what sect they’re from.
And now, he’s learned something that could be the key to bringing peace between the sects, but no one will listen to what he has to say. Under an assumed name, he’s forced to fight against the other sects to keep them from destroying Ming, determined to hold out until he can finally explain what he’s discovered. He defends Ming in the duels, letting their injured disciples rest while he fights on their behalf, and throughout, he’s both polite and humble. When everyone realizes that he learned Shaolin moves over the course of his fight with a Shaolin member, he turns to the rest of the gathered sects and simply asks, “Who else will condescend to teach me?”
Leung was a good choice for a character like this, because he can let Zhang Wuji’s goodness and gentleness shine through without coming across as too bland. His earnestness and nobility are off the charts, but Leung sells it in a way that works.
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