A New Version of The Legends - The TLC Edit

 Blue Poison:

Thank you for episode 22 :):):) <3 

You're more than welcome. :)

 Sasal:

Ep 23! Thank you for your hard work!

Happy to do so. :)

 Sasal:

It really looks awesome in this quality. So even if I want to wait to rewatch the series till it's completed, I can't help myself from peeking on part of the episodes... 

lol, the resistance is hard, eh? :P Well, at least I'm glad to hear the quality  checks out. :)

I wish I could have it all finished right now for you guys,  but even I couldn't resist posting them now so others could watch it too. I suppose I should have waited... lol

 Blue Poison:

That's OK!! I'm super happy for this!!

btw. thanks to your advice I found The Empress of China in DVD format <3 (Unfortunately no subtitles - but the story is so much better then the TV version so I'm happy) 

This shows why good editing is soooo important! 

Oh that's good, I'm glad to hear you found a better version for the drama you liked. :D 

I wonder if editing is problem in these dramas  more widespread than I initially thought. 

Thank you for episode 24!

@APrincessofMars 

Thank you so much for doing this! I've had this drama on my watchlist for a while now, but I was daunted by the comments about bad editing and the story falling apart after e40. Now I'm glad I've waited as, thanks to you, I'll have the chance to watch the best version of this drama there is. And thank you so much for your promise to see this through until the end. Like with the webnovel fan translations I used to get drawn into following, I don't care how long the project takes to finish as long as I can trust it will finish one day, so us fans get to read/see the ending.

May I ask some further questions about your TLC version? I understand its main point (apart from fixing visual and audio glitches) is putting the scenes together in their proper, chronological order--but I was wondering, if there are scenes that may exist in one version (ex. Viki) but not in another (ex. PrPr), or that may have been censored/shortened, does your TLC version contain all these scenes in full? So, if the DVD version you're working off lacks a scene or part of a scene in a particular episode, will you add it in from another source for the TLC version?

I have one final question, but since it's spoiler-y (about the ending), I'll write in a separate comment below. Again, thank you for your patience, and thank you for the great work you're doing. :)

 Adnana:

@APrincessofMars

Thank you so much for doing this! I've had this drama on my watchlist for a while now, but I was daunted by the comments about bad editing and the story falling apart after e40. Now I'm glad I've waited as, thanks to you, I'll have the chance to watch the best version of this drama there is. And thank you so much for your promise to see this through until the end. Like with the webnovel fan translations I used to get drawn into following, I don't care how long the project takes to finish as long as I can trust it will finish one day, so us fans get to read/see the ending.

May I ask some further questions about your TLC version? I understand its main point (apart from fixing visual and audio glitches) is putting the scenes together in their proper, chronological order--but I was wondering, if there are scenes that may exist in one version (ex. Viki) but not in another (ex. PrPr), or that may have been censored/shortened, does your TLC version contain all these scenes in full? So, if the DVD version you're working off lacks a scene or part of a scene in a particular episode, will you add it in from another source for the TLC version?

I have one final question, but since it's spoiler-y (about the ending), I'll write in a separate comment below. Again, thank you for your patience, and thank you for the great work you're doing. :)

Thank you for the comment. :) And thank you also for your patience.

About the differences, I'll tell you what I've found. Every version is missing something. I was surprised myself that not even Viki (and also iQiyi, since they're the same version) had a complete copy, which I had high hopes for. For the most part it, it has the least cuts but the DVD is pretty close to complete too. As for the broadcast, I wasn't able to find episodes past Ep. 3 but I believe it's like iQiyi based on other similarities. When I started editing I had the intention to included anything the DVD was missing from another source but very early on I ran into a problem. In Ep. 9 Jiang Wu says a line that was only present in the Viki/iQiyi version. I didn't include it in the edit because the quality of the Viki version I obtained was only 480p and looked bad next to the 4K. I worked around it and said if I found a high quality copy I would put it back in. A few months later I was able to obtain the iQiyi rip at 1080p so now I have a better source for the missing segment and I will include it back in when I go back to fix some changes to the earlier episodes I've worked on. But rest assured, apart from Ep. 9, the TLC edit includes everything. I've been as diligent as I can, eye-balling the differences while watching the versions side-by-side. I haven't ran into too many issues though because the DVD seems to have most of it. But there are some small exceptions to "everything"  as at times I have to trim small segments or replace footage to make the episodes flow better. These are very minor things but I detail all that I've done for every episode in .txt files I leave in my dropbox. 

Regarding the ending, every version has the same ending, a cut-up rework of the footage shot to form a new ending perceived as happy. But it's very obvious the scenes have been cut-up and rearranged due to continuity issues. When all the scenes are put back together, what's hiding underneath is much more bittersweet. But, it's also fitting. Since Ep. 14 this drama was headed for this bittersweet direction, it wasn't tacked on out of nowhere. But if you get invested into these characters, the ending will make you cry. That being said I still 100% recommend The Legends because 1. despite what I just said, it's not a total tragedy. It's ambiguous. And  2. Yes, the romance is totally worth it. It's extremely good. The acting is excellent, the chemistry is exceptional and as characters, Mo Qing and Zhao Yao work together more like a married couple than a teenage couple. You have to wait for the relationship to build though as Zhao Yao's character progression is key and she transforms slowly. But she is uniquely her and likable despite her flaws.

There's only one thing I will mention that you might want to know in advance; something not many Chinese dramas can escape from. Be prepared for numerous character deaths. There's a handful, some more tragic than others.

I hope that answers your questions. :)

 Adnana:

@APrincessofMars

Yes, that totally answers my questions. :) Thank you, and I'm looking forward to the great work you'll keep sharing with us.

Happy to help. ;)