A Little TLC(w): The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Season 1, Episode 40 (1986)

*Spoilers for episode 39.*

At long last, here we are! The series finale of The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. As far as finales go, especially for a martial arts show, it’s a bit understated, but I enjoy it.

In the last episode, all the sects teamed up to fight the Mongolians, led by Zhao Min’s family. Here, Zhang Wuji seeks guidance for how they might be defeated, while also getting in just a little more romantic drama before the final buzzer.

I went into this episode expecting it to be, like 75% battle, with bits of character stuff wedged in between the cracks. But actually, while the final battle with the Mongolians has a prominent position within the finale, it doesn’t take over the episode. A lot of screentime is devoted to the more personal storylines, and we’re allowed a lengthy denouement. Within the battle itself, I enjoy seeing some of the tricky war tactics, and both the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre play key roles, although not necessarily in the way you’d expect.

But again, this isn’t ultimately a battle episode. We spend time with the warriors of Wudang sect. In particular, we see them wrestle with the question of what to do about Master Song—he betrayed Wudang in a horrible way, but he was also severely injured during the lion-killing event, and while some of the Wudang brothers are focused on revenge or punishment, others think there’s nothing more to be done. We get a bit more sentimental stuff with Xie Xun, and we catch up with the major disciples of Ming sect.

I’d thought that episode 39 fully settled the love polygon question, with Zhang Wuji both realizing and declaring his love for Zhao Min, but the finale needs to inject a bit more suspense into his love life. Zhou Zhiruo is hurt trying to defend Miss Zhao, who’s definitely quick to comment on the tender exchanges between Wuji and Miss Zhou at her bedside. And as much as Ming has been ride-or-die for Wuji, their hatred for the Mongolians runs deep, and they don’t know if they can accept their sect leader being romantically involved with one.

This final point is crucial. As I said in my episode 39 write-up, when Zhang Wuji chooses Zhao Min, it’s an incredibly rare instance of him acting based on what he wants rather than what he thinks he’s supposed to do. Wuji is a character who’s given a lot of himself to others, and it feels like the one time he prioritizes himself, going after the woman he loves without regard for others’ expectations, he’s almost immediately asked to give her up to preserve harmony within Ming sect.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai plays this really well. Goodness knows he can play besotted and yearning well, and Zhang Wuji’s strong sense of duty/honor has been evident throughout his time on the show. I like watching that noble inclination towards duty wrestle with his love for Zhao Min. He insists, “That’s not fair to Sister Min. She has left her family and her people because of me. How can I leave her because my brothers are mistaken about her.” What Ming is asking of him, he feels, is “not just a difficult position. It’s unjust and immoral.” But he’s still conflicted about it, because of course he is. He’s Wuji, and considering the needs of others is kind of what he does.

I won’t spoil the ending, of course. I’ll just say this, on a personal note: my DVD copy had some quality issues at the end of the finale, and for the last five or six minutes, the video was choppy and the subtitles were intermittent. Argh! I could see enough to know what was happening, and I picked up the gist of the unsubtitled bits from context, but it was a frustrating way to finish out the series.

Before I get to final thoughts, I want to mention that this will be the last weekly A Little TLC(w) post for now. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on some of Leung’s other early TV work someday—the shows that are available to watch but have no English subtitles are the ones that really haunt me. And I’ll still review new films from him as I’m able to access them. But for my weekly actor reviews, I’m switching over to Y tu Luna también. My La Máquina write-ups have been burning a hole in my pocket, and I’m excited to start posting them!

All right, last thoughts on The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre:

Recommend?

In General – If you like martial arts stuff and don’t mind special effects from the 1980s, sure. This is a dense series with dozens of characters, but it’s entertaining, and I had a good time watching it.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – I think so. When it comes to Leung’s TV performances, I’d probably rate this below both The Duke of Mount Deer and The Yang’s Saga. Still, he was quite enjoyable as this character.

Warnings

Violence (including references to sexual violence,) drinking, strong thematic elements (including suicide,) and disabled characters played by nondisabled actors.

A Little TLC(w): The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Season 1, Episode 39 (1986)

*A couple broad-strokes spoilers that don’t go into detail.*

Penultimate episode! In some ways, it definitely feels like it, while there are other parts that I don’t think quite got the buildup they needed. Also, we’ve possibly gotten our last New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre extended flashback!

In the last episode, the lion-killing event went in an unexpected direction. The sects are no longer completing for the privilege to kill Xie Xun—instead, they’re preparing to band together as a common enemy approaches. Where Zhang Wuji’s love life is concerned, an important secret is revealed, and Wuji realizes once and for all where his heart lies.

The lion-killing event has felt like such a big plot over the past several episodes that I was surprised to pivot away from it so close to the end. It sort of makes sense, because the enemy that’s bearing down on all the sects has been a major one in the series, one that’s caused a lot of damage and has been on the warpath for a while. But at the same time, they haven’t been emphasized in the story recently. When I realized that this was how we were leading into the finale, my reaction was less, “Of course, everything has been building toward this moment!” and more, “Oh right, those guys are still around.” Which, for me, makes it all feel a little less epic than the story is aiming for.

Still, there are aspects of this plot that appeal to me. After Zhang Wuji has spent so much of the series trying to build bridges between various sects, it’s gratifying to see them rally and fight alongside one another. Nicely done, Wuji!

The one person who’s not fully brought into the fold here is Zhao Min. She still regularly wears her male disguise while the martial arts stuff is going down, but it’s obvious to everyone that it’s a disguise, which only makes them wonder what she’s hiding. And of course, none of the sects have forgotten how she moved against them earlier in the show—some of the masters she abducted were killed, and plenty of warriors aren’t in the mood to be forgiving about that. There’s a great moment in the episode where a group of warriors come to confront her while she’s with Zhang Wuji, and his expression as they round on her is simply a force to be reckoned with. It’s an early example of Tony Leung Chiu-wai deploying his soulful eyes to maximum effect!

As I said, this episode seems to finally settle the question of the love polygon. This is where the flashbacks come in, as a few major bombshells are first dropped and then explored. We recontextualize past events through a different vantage point. There’s an incredibly weak defense of a terrible act, and Zhang Wuji reels at the stuff he learns here.

But while the revelations of the episode might seem poised to clear the way for the “last woman standing” in the race for Zhang Wuji’s affections, I like that Wuji himself doesn’t frame it that way. It’s not really about These Are the Reasons Why I’m Choosing You and Not Her. Instead, it’s much more about his own feelings. There’s a nice scene where he compares his immediate reactions when something big went down with each of the four women who were in love with him, and that helps him see where his heart is. Which I like—he’s spent a lot of time focusing on who he’s supposed to love or how he’s supposed to act, so it’s good to see him really examine how he feels about all this.

Also, just a quick bit that made me smile: there’s a scene where Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min are discussing times when she’d been framed for crimes that weren’t her fault. Even though Wuji believed the frame job at the time, he’s now relieved that he wasn’t able to take revenge on Miss Zhao. He says, “Actually, I should thank you—if you weren’t so smart, I should have killed you already,” which is weirdly sweet? Hehe!

A Little TLC(w): The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Season 1, Episode 38 (1986)

*Spoilers for episode 37.*

We’re still in the midst of the lion-killing event, and things have just gone up a notch. Both in terms of the martial arts and the personal stakes, everything has gotten more intense.

In the last episode, it was revealed that Zhou Zhiruo has married Master Song. Ermei sect comes out strong at the lion-killing event, and Mrs. Song (née Zhou) has won the opportunity to claim Xie Xun as her prize. To get to him, she has to defeat three master Shaolin monks, and commands Zhang Wuji’s help to do it.

Okay, catching up with some spoilers from the last episode. I’d previously thought that Master Song was sincere in his regret over betraying Wudang sect, even though I certainly didn’t think that meant he “deserved” Zhou Zhiruo. But it seems clear now that he’s not her happy ending. On the contrary, Mrs. Song is in her scorched-earth villain era, and Mr. Song is the mercenary prince at her side to help her go after what she wants. Their ruthlessness at the lion-killing event shocked everyone—and when the folks attending something called the lion-killing event thinks you’re going too far with the violence, you’ve definitely gone too far!

Master Song and Zhang Wuji were both injured in the previous episode, Master Song gravely so. Wuji offers to try and heal him as an attempted olive branch. Despite everything that’s happened, he still thinks he can get Song Zhiruo to see reason and join his side in rescuing Xie Xun. But for a learned young man, he can be pretty clueless, and Zhao Min is the one who needs to point out the flaw in his logic: Mrs. Song is obviously still hung up on him, so healing her rebound husband isn’t likely to endear Wuji to her.

Zhang Wuji spends a good chunk of this episode on his back foot. In addition to fumbling things yet again with Song Zhiruo, he freezes up when other members of Ming sect let him in on a plan to swipe Xie Xun from Mrs. Song if she’s successful in beating the three monks. “We can’t do that, we already agreed to the condition,” he protests. Over the course of the show, Wuji has learned many times that the world isn’t as black-and-white as he might like it to be, but there are still occasions when he can be a bit too rigid, leading with honor instead of practicality.

And throughout the episode, Zhang Wuji’s interactions with Song Zhiruo are interesting. When she calls on him to aid her in fighting the monks, she’s chilly and condescending about it. He takes what she dishes out, meekly replying, “Okay. I will obey whatever Mrs. Song tells me to do,” and leaving his own sect wondering why he’d take such disrespect. Partially, I think, he believes he deserves her scorn after what happened at their wedding. And partially, he doesn’t know if he’s convinced her to help save Xie Xun or if she just wants him to have a ringside seat when she kills his godfather—if there’s any hope for Xie Xun, Wuji doesn’t want to jeopardize that, so he treads very lightly.