Royal Nirvana Special (2020)

Its in their nature.

I almost didn't watch this. Although many plot threads were left unfinished, I could accept the way they left things for the main protagonists. Why not leave well enough alone? Because I still wanted to know if how things play out with Gu Fengan, Prince Zhao and Xu Changping and who does not want to see more sweet moments between Wenxi and Dingquan?

There are some unexplained time gaps but these last 12 episodes are surprisingly well edited and neatly tie up all of the remaining important plot threads. What I like best is that the villain is really good, probably the best one in the entire story and he is taken down by the person he least expects. The plot is also not too convoluted nor overly mired in excessive detail so I found it easier to follow. I am also quite impressed with Zheng Yicheng's portrayal of the more mature Gu Fengan - this promising young actor needs to take on more complicated roles like this.

What remains painful is the relationship between the crown prince and the emperor - it evolves and yet is still the same. Its like watching an unstoppable force meet an immovable object. Neither can help themselves, it is in their nature. The crown prince is an amazing, uncompromising idealist with a big heart and the best of intentions but he is also a most unsuitable person for the job. He is the one person in the entire story with no free will. Everyone, including his soul mate Wenxi tries to force his hand. The outcome is inevitable and frankly, a relief.

I am glad that with this, I watched the show in its entirety. If you have already watched the first 60 episodes, I don't need to remind you that this is a beautifully written but heavy, depressing story. It is a strong finish, I give it a 9.0 although if I have to rate the drama in its entirety it is still an 8.5.

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Must watch both Royal Nirvana and Royal Nirvana Special! It's just A. M.A. Z.I. N.G!

I do love watching a heavy political C-drama. Thank God I have decided to watch this! Royal Nirvana (60 eps) and Royal Nirvana Special (12 eps) combined is one of the best political C-Drama ever! It's an exciting rollercoaster! The male and female leads do deserve the best actor and actress award! All out tremendous acting from both, Luo Jin (the sociopath Crown Prince) and Li Yitong (the gracefullly beautiful, smart gentle heroine Lu WenXi). Wicked storyline and plots, epic production and beautiful cinematography supported by great music, casts and acting! The conflicts in this drama was sadistic but the romance was romantically hot! The shadow of Luo Jin and Li Yitong's romantic moments behind the screening was astonishingly beautiful and intellectually romantic. Moreover, the catepillar kiss and 3 years longing kiss are def the best kissing scene in all C-dramas I have ever watched! It's just A. M. A. Z. I. N. G!

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Gosh... nearly every key individual dies

Initially I thought this is an abridged version of the Royal Nirvana and did not pay attention. Then someone mentioned this was an epilogue that would explain who was Xu Chang Nian. So I started watching it to my regrets.

The prequel, Royal Nirvana ended on a positive note - the Crown Prince was entrusted to go to the border to calm the situation as his uncle was assassinated. Lu WenXi was happily pregnant awaiting her baby and presumably the return of her prince.

Gosh, in this sequel nearly all the key people died. If you enjoy an emotional torment, go ahead and watch this. For all my ranting about the pessimistic story below, it was a good production. You can stop here if you do not want to know the rest of the spoiler as I am going to spell them all out.

Encouraged by the head of maids Jiang, the empress feeling sorry on how she had neglected her youngest son, the fifth prince, killed herself in an attempt to help and keep her youngest son stay on in the capital. The fifth prince turned evil, plotted against the Crown Prince, was set up by WenXi and was caned to death with the emperor not attempting to save him. Zhang Shao Yun was shown in a positive note as an anticipating uncle as his sister was expecting but was killed by Feng-en's soldiers when delivering medicine for the Crown Prince. Li Ming-An was killed by Feng-En. Gu Feng-en, embittered by the assassination of his father wanted the Crown Prince to overturn the emperor and claim the throne. When the Crown Prince instead plotted against him and decrowned himself to declared him a traitor, he committed suicide.

The Crown Prince returned to the capital disgraced, depressed and committed suicide. His son was born an orphan - the mother WenXi committed suicide after giving birth to join her husband in the next world. Xu Chang Nian as it turned out was the son of the Xiao DingQuan's uncle, the former crown prince who was forced to kill himself. The emperor put all hope on his grandson and appointed Xu as his tutor - I am surprised with his suspicious nature that he would appoint him as tutor knowing Xu was actually his nephew and had possibly a claim to the throne.

Actually, I blamed WenXi for all the trouble (or more correctly the writer for crafting it that way). If she had not misinformed the fifth prince to set him up, all the sequence of events would not be sparked off. She could have shaken off the control of the fifth prince by simply telling the Crown Price that the fifth prince had captured her brother to control her. In the earlier sequel, her father and brother was imprisoned because she failed to pass a message as she went searching for the lost seal and were eventually killed. Her interfering did not end well in both instance.

In the previous sequel, while it was a sob story but at least it ended in a positive note. In this sequel, the good turned evil; the evil who started to show their human side died. The Crown Prince after all his effort to safeguard his position killed himself. I would rather have kept the positive image of Feng-En and the fifth Prince as righteous people. Also Shao Yun and Li Ming-An did not deserve to die as they were good people. This sequel practically killed all belief in the humanity and the fight for righteousness.

Also, while explaining who Xu was, it created more mystery - why the fifth Prince said that if Xu was indeed the son of the previous Crown Prince, then he (the fifth Prince) was as good as dead was incomprehensible.

This sequel was certainly one of the most tragic story I had watched so far, beating Nirvana in Fire in being tragic. Nirvana should not be used in this drama - this is supposed to be the ultimate state of bliss and final goal of Buddhist - in this drama, it is the ultimate suffering.

I applauded the cast for their excellent acting but condemn the production team for being masochistic and taking pleasure in pain. If I were the writer, I would have crafted this sequel to focus on the story behind the death of Xu's father as that would have been sufficiently tragic and more interesting.

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Victory belongs to the brave and heartless

... and because he was brave but too much heart, he was destined to fail just like his brothers had predicted. Yet those who supported him either refused or couldn't see that he did not have what it takes to accomplish the objective of becoming king. And that is the tragedy in Royal Nirvana Special.

The excellent cinematography and stellar acting continues in this last installment of Royal Nirvana. Zheng Yecheng's surprising turn towards the dark side was an absorbing watch-- not just because he acted well, but I've never him in a negative role before. The greatest character development in the story is Gu Feng'en (Zheng Yecheng's character)-- how he went from a playful and protective man, with dreams of becoming a scholar and serving in court, to a seasoned general, bitter with the sacrifices made by his family and disillusioned with the regime.

The script and dialogues however... Although I am glad for the more factual and less angsty storytelling, the dialogues lack the elegance in Royal Nirvana. The flow is also a bit odd-- for eps 1 to 10 the story develops in a steady and factual manner, then it suddenly went into angst in eps 11 and 12. I appreciate the change in screenwriter, else I wouldn't have been able to finish this 12 eps in 2 days (the original screenwriter would probably have made this very angsty). But at the same time, somehow Royal Nirvana Special is not as gripping as Royal Nirvana. This is just my pov, as I see a lot like this as well as RN, but I prefer RN to the Special. Because the scenes of Zhang Shao Yun and the Emperor, felt unnecessary other then to add more emotional tragedy to the ending. And this is something that did not happen in the script in RN, every scene was just as it was required, nothing extra or unnecessary was added.

I'm left wondering if anything would have made a difference at the end? If the Emperor was less stubborn and could have talked to Xiao Dingquan much earlier, or if Lu Wenxi could have been more persistent to talk him out of suicide? When he removed the hairpiece, she had reacted as if to take it back, and the way she insisted to inform Xiao Dingquan of her pregnancy even when he wasn't interested. But she was aware of his decision, and ultimately chose to support him. I guess the pain and senseless deaths at Changzhou was the last straw for him, at which point he had given up on the throne and on himself.

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Intense

Yes, every positive review you've read about this series is true. The stunning cinematography, the dialogue (oh my god, the dialogue), the characters, the intricate and soul-ripping plot, and lastly the intense chemistry between the protagonists. The flip side of these will gut you at every turn: deaths, betrayals, fratricide, filicide, suicides, and hate. At some point, I just had to start laughing at all the betrayals and deaths otherwise I would have lost my damn mind. Heed the warning, do not attempt this if you have suicidal ideations or depression.

Then there's the Emperor (Crown Prince's father) who is probably the best antagonist I've ever had the pleasure of watching. I hated him with all my soul and yet I waited with bated breath for him to speak or act because a mere flick of his eyes could deal untold hardship on those around him. I rooted for him as much as I wanted him dead. How is that not some insidiously perfect scriptwriting?

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