Eleison

Yeah, he's fairly decent. Some actors are definitely better than others. The guys obviously get more opportunities to practice cause there are so many epic shots of MLs going into battle in costume Cdramas. 😅

It's probably also tricky to ride with their elaborate costumes and weapons and such. 😉

Right, he and Gongsun. Impressive that it got pulled off without him (barely, it seems), but also... a little embarrassing that he was M.I.A. for the entire thing. 😅

They probably get actual stuntmen/women who can ride to film the shots where a clear face is not seen, and then have the actors on fake horses. Obviously Hollywood has a bigger budget for these things than Cdrama studios so they can make it more convincing.

I can often tell the Cdrama actors on horses are terrible at riding (they probably get very basic training and practice); they're really just trying to not fall off and sit somewhat straight in the saddle. 😅 That said, horses in costume Cdramas are not well-treated. It's something that bothers me about Cdramas. 😬

Yeah, cause these are mostly General He's troops, right? That's why they don't know who he is?

I also think it'd be cute if they stayed in his army. They can share the CY lore with all of the Marquis's soldiers and get everyone to join CY's fan club. 😅

And it's also because actors can probably barely ride, so in order to allow them to focus on acting rather than hanging on in crucial shots, they conveniently insert fake horse with slick shots and fancy editing to make it look as real as possible. 😅

True!

It would be nice if we saw a flashback, but I can't imagine he'd go there before running to (do what he believed was a) rescue for CY... so he probably didn't play any role in the battle in the drama.

The second horse is a puppet. I saw it in the BTS footage. You know when they only show the person on the horse (but don't show the horse or just the mane?) and the movement of the horse looks unnatural? That's when they are riding a fake horse. They do it in sageuks, too. Probably because the stunts are too difficult (or impossible) for actors on real horses.

But I think we can say the battle would have gone better objectively if XZ had been there. As it is, they were fighting without their commanding officer and Changyu managed to step temporarily into a void the Marquis would have certainly filled if he had been present. She did well under the circumstances, but I'm sure the army suffered overall due to the Marquis' absence (of course, she couldn't have known that). (I'm not griping with Changyu fighting and whether she can be praised for the results, but addressing your point about Shi Hu not being defeated if she hadn't fought, which I don't think is likely).

And after she makes several big mistakes because he lied to her--he should realize the truth must out ASAP!

He has some very loyal officers. 😅 They always make the ML's officer sidekick/manservant so endearing in costume Cdramas. The most loyal humans one can find in Cdramas. 😉 They need more love from fans!

What does it mean that makes it so funny?

I agree. Getting short on episodes!

Do they make up in Episode 27?

Ah!

When did Wu help Changyu? Was that a scene that got cut?

I do hope we get some scenes of XZ redeeming himself (as a general/in battle). I still think his fight against the assassins when protecting Ning while he was injured were the parts that made him look the coolest in that respect so far.

Changyu's been distracting him, I guess. 😅

Definitely. She's been honestly outshining her hubby the Marquis who's been nowhere to be found recently.

So, there were multiple battles going on? Gongsun was at one location (opposite the General Shi Yue), and XZ's 2nd in command (where Changyu joined and fought Shi Hu?) was the other location?

Once the one-on-one battle started between Changyu and Shi Hu the fight looked really cool, but the actual battle (and the way those giving orders went about things) seemed pretty haphazard and disorganized if I'm being honest.

Why does the preview show Mandi wounded? Does he faint later on from a wound?

Changyu was indeed upset at the discovery to the extent that she need to be spirited away by her husband (who is now appropriately going to be in the doghouse...). 😅

Um... was it a thing to play the guqin during a battle? 😅