*Episode premise spoilers.*
In the last episode, we saw more of what Zhao Min has accomplished, and in this one, we see Zhang Wuji and Ming make preparations to take the fight to her. It’s a story that feels kind of sharply divided down the middle in terms of the plot, but I like both halves of it.
Under Zhang Wuji’s leadership, Ming makes plans to take on Yuan, the mercenary sect directed by Zhao Min. She has some of the best warriors from nearly every sect held captive, and she’s just getting started. Wuji and his disciples spy on her to learn more of her true intentions. Later, an unexpected encounter with an old ally helps them get the tools they’ll need to free the imprisoned martial artists and stop Miss Zhao.
A few random bits to start. First, Ming apparently invents moon cakes during their big sect-wide gathering? Cute. And as they’re making both plans and vows under the moonlight, there’s a moment where it’s announced, “Okay, we’ll drink each other’s blood and swear tonight.” Aside from eww, my first thought was, Green Winged Bat King is probably loving this!
Zhao Min has already proven that she’s not an enemy to be taken lightly, and she demonstrates that even further in this episode. One by one, she’s been offering her prisoners the chance to join her, and when they refuse, she tests them against three of her warriors. Because Miss Zhao shares Zhang Wuji’s ability to essentially sightread fighting styles, these “tests” are a handy way of learning the martial arts secrets of every sect.
But if she has a weakness, it’s pretty clearly going to be Zhang Wuji. Zhao Min has it bad for him, and while she keeps him on his guard, lashing out and threatening people he cares about due to jealousy or perceived slights, her feelings are throwing her off kilter as well. Wuji is just barely able to keep her in line by appealing to those feelings, but it puts women like Zhou Zhiruo in Miss Zhao’s crosshairs.
I love that Zhang Wuji is almost unfailingly kind and polite to Zhao Min. She’s kidnapped martial artists from across the sects (including a number of his uncles,) she tries to pin her crimes on Ming, and she threatens to disfigure Zhou Zhiruo, but he’s consistently respectful and gentle with her. It’s something I’ve liked about their interactions since Miss Zhao first popped up. In this episode, he uses a gift she gave him to cause a diversion—when the gift breaks as a result, he immediately apologizes for his thoughtlessness and promises to get it repaired by the finest craftsman.
Miss Zhao laps this up, and there’s certainly a strategic element here on Zhang Wuji’s part, but it’s also just kind of who he is. Tony Leung Chiu-wai does a good job capturing this side of him, the whole “he’s just a nice boy” thing. There’s an air about him of, “I know we’re enemies and I have to stop you at all costs, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be nice to each other.” It’s sweet of him.
The second half of the episode concerns Right Emissary Fan, a Ming disciple who hasn’t been seen for years. As good fortune would have it, he’s embedded himself in an advantageous position and will be able to help them secure the antidote to the poison Zhao Min uses to keep her prisoners incapacitated. Working together with Zhang Wuji and other prominent members of Ming, they devise a plan for Fan to find the antidote. In this storyline, Wuji demonstrates his ongoing journey in understanding the distinction between rules and guidelines. When they discover that Fan has broken an important code of Ming, Wuji has to decide whether his actions will mean exiling him from the sect.
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