he can't become the heir to the throne because he is an illegitimate son.
Yes that's all true, but still, Emperor seemed to be setting stage for him to be publicly acknowledged (just eliminate a few remaining enemies first!) - it is FX who took the active step of rejecting that path by saying he wanted to worship in the Fan family temple (mind you in the book, he actually does it, not just declares an intention, so there are still possibilities....).
This has been an absolutely fabulous season, I've enjoyed every moment of it, and am looking forward to the rewatching…
Comments on final set of eps:
I really wish the cut off point for the story was few episodes later in the plot - I assume the issue is that they don't want to knock off any of the major characters before season 3, but still seemed a bit too much in the middle of a major arc, with lots of the hints at future events that have been a major part of the season (that wheelchair, and what exactly CPPs real agenda is, who the fourth GM is etc etc) still unresolved.
On the plus side, a lot of the stuff in this series around the treasury, and FX's attempts to introduce modern economic developments to the society (banks, treasury bonds, intellectual property rights), make a lot more sense than the convoluted approach in the novel, so good decisions.
I'm a bit disappointed that they followed the novel so closely on FX's reaction to the Emperor's revelation that he is his father though.
Although pretty much everyone here has a negative reaction to the Emperor, I think they've actually made him a fascinating character who does actually care about FX (the move to try and restore his inner qi when he was dying for example, even though he stopped when it became evident that FX had a solution). He's certainly super scary, ruthless, and if what Princess Royal claims is true (and I'm not sure we should take everything she says at face value, she is nuts after all), pretty evil. But the question of whether he is truly just a monster or has some humanity left is not at all clearcut (though clearly season 3 is going to push us further in one direction!).
The Emperor's motivations, after all, are not necessarily about personal greed - he wants treasury restored in part so it can do its relief work, etc for example.
I thought FX's rejection of him on the grounds that he didn't reveal all at their first meeting was a bit unfair, and I can't really understand why, at least before he knew about his true identity) he was so willing to forgive FJ for just abandoning him in Danzhou for the first twenty years of his life without a letter, visit or even teachers provided, even if he did offer a few crumbs of affection.
And of course, I want an ending with FX as Emperor (or working to abolish position and replace it with a more modern system....)!
This has been an absolutely fabulous season, I've enjoyed every moment of it, and am looking forward to the rewatching process, and hoping their promise of a season 3 in the near future is delivered!
The character development was fantastic; although some of them took a long time to appear, we got to see all of my favourite characters again; and the contributions made by the many smaller parts was great. Costumes, cinematography and music top notch.
My only real complaint is that the season isn't long enough.
But I'll make a few comments on Emperor and continuing arcs in last set of episodes in spoilers below.
I don't think it was selfishness prevailing - he clearly started doing something which woke FX up, and FX started giving orders which suggested he knew how to save himself, so Emperor held off acting further.
And his comment to CPP suggests that the Emperor, FJ and CPP were used to his mother pulling rabbits out of hat when needed, and he is the same - although the overall context was what else has he got, we want it, it all reflects a trust in his abilities.
Emperor also hung around operation, and took action when they were all dithering, so clearly concerned and perhaps ready to step in if needed.
he can't become the heir to the throne because he is an illegitimate son.
That's not true - historically being illegitimate wasn't a barrier to becoming Emperor. We are looking at a culture in which Emperors typically had a large harem, and in theory at least, any son could be a contender for the throne. Empresses son has higher status than anyone else (default heir usually), and status of the mother can help or hinder progress to the throne, but the rules for royals were different to everyone else, basically royal blood is in principle royal blood.
I have been downloading an extra episode every day from a link someone posted about a week ago, he/she uploads…
fabulous thank you - its late night in my timezone but I'm so hyped up after ep 30 that the only solution is to watch more! And especial thank you to the person uploading, very much appreciated!
Both CPP and Fan Jian clearly know that the Emperor is the secret Grand master in the palace, hence their utter lack of concern for Emperor's safety (well there may be other reasons as well, but still).
Emperor could obviously hear all of that conversation between FX and CPP (well presumably he has super hearing as part of the GM package).
When told FX would die without someone who practiced same martial arts system as him fixed things, with potential damage to them at cost, Emperor considered but then started to do it - only stopped when it became clear that FX had a possible solution. Perhaps an element of guilt here (after all he set up the scenario), but even so that is a pretty major thing to do . So despite all, he really really does care about FX, to the extent that he is capable and willing (though actually we've seen this before, back in season 1 when he retreated to Taiping Villa when FX was in danger from Xiao En).
Although CPP explains it all in terms of taking down the Ye family, reasons for doing that may be connected to protecting FX - marries Second Prince off to them, then takes down the potential supporters second prince would have gained...
And other reason is surely kudos FX gains from protecting the Emperor and so publicly displaying his martial arts abilities....
The comment about keeping knowledge to himself and only revealing under pressure being like his mother...hmmm, you would have thought the poetry and other gadgets would be a bit of a giveaway on this front.
I guess I missed something... Does anybody know what's the name of Emperor of Qing??
There was a taboo around the name of an Emperor - calling them by their name (or even using the characters of his name in some other context) once they become king is a major major offence, hence it is never stated.
is it just me but i feel like the show just started up until they got married the rest are just fillers
Really??! Maybe that's true if you are looking for a simple storyline like neglected illegitimate boy discovers he is really a prince, fights his way (literally) to become emperor (or not as the case may be!).
But from the beginning of season 1, this show has been about a lot more - about how people develop as a result of their beliefs and environment, with our main character developing from just wanting to live the good life, to caring about justice and trying to change things for the common people; finding out what his mother's story is; and trying to establish himself as in control of his life, not just a pawn in others plans. Its about power elites vs ordinary people, corruption and the way the world works, and what happens when you resist that. Its about the right of everyone to choose their own destiny to some extent (whether its a robot or a sibling who doesn't want to get married!). And its always had a layer of meta around literature and how it is created and consumed, and the perspective of a culture from within, and then being looked at as a historical or outsider perspective (and a lot more, related to the Red Mansions novel).
Personally I think this season has done a terrific job advancing these themes on all these fronts, with the earlier episodes a necessary platform.
Maybe they could have mixed it up more, and it definitely feels like we are rushing now (I want at least ten more episodes, now to mention that third season!).
But it isn't a style for everyone - it is a show that demands a lot of work on the part of viewers as you have to read between the lines a lot, it rarely spells out the implications of everything, depending instead on micro-expressions to give away where the various characters are coming from.
I'm not sure FX will be totally surprised at revelation Emperor is GM (and if he is, he shouldn't be) - after all, he saw him do his impressive double-flip backwards in season 1 at Taiping villa, when Emperor moves super fast to protect him from the archer, and they've shown us those arrows that the Emperor shot through solid metal armor many times in season 1, when Wu Zhu conveniently gives us a little explanation that a level 9 archer can shoot through metal and would harm even a GM (but not through his mother's modern key alloy!)...So although FX is generally oblivious to the heavy hints dropped about some things, he should realise that Emperor is at least a level 9...
No, he is a level 9 master. The emperor is one of the Grand Masters. He practised the same tyrannical zhenqi like…
Everything seems to suggest FX is at level 9 - at end of season 1 had taken down several level 8s, and held his own against a couple of level 9s, and the number of fights was said to be pushing his level up. FX says something in ep 29 to the effect that he isn't quite sure of his level, but thinks it is l9 in his conversation with Ye Cong. And I'm pretty sure he was l9 in the novel at this point, hence his problems with his internal energy, pushing at the barrier to the next level....
in the episode 32 preview, we see that the person that's pretending to be wu zhu is the emperor,
Can I suggest that's probably a fake out - the serial killer has been travelling up and down the country, tracked by Fei Jei to Jiagnan etc, which the Emperor clearly hasn't been (and even a grand master must have some limits on their speed of movement).
I really wish the cut off point for the story was few episodes later in the plot - I assume the issue is that they don't want to knock off any of the major characters before season 3, but still seemed a bit too much in the middle of a major arc, with lots of the hints at future events that have been a major part of the season (that wheelchair, and what exactly CPPs real agenda is, who the fourth GM is etc etc) still unresolved.
On the plus side, a lot of the stuff in this series around the treasury, and FX's attempts to introduce modern economic developments to the society (banks, treasury bonds, intellectual property rights), make a lot more sense than the convoluted approach in the novel, so good decisions.
I'm a bit disappointed that they followed the novel so closely on FX's reaction to the Emperor's revelation that he is his father though.
Although pretty much everyone here has a negative reaction to the Emperor, I think they've actually made him a fascinating character who does actually care about FX (the move to try and restore his inner qi when he was dying for example, even though he stopped when it became evident that FX had a solution). He's certainly super scary, ruthless, and if what Princess Royal claims is true (and I'm not sure we should take everything she says at face value, she is nuts after all), pretty evil. But the question of whether he is truly just a monster or has some humanity left is not at all clearcut (though clearly season 3 is going to push us further in one direction!).
The Emperor's motivations, after all, are not necessarily about personal greed - he wants treasury restored in part so it can do its relief work, etc for example.
I thought FX's rejection of him on the grounds that he didn't reveal all at their first meeting was a bit unfair, and I can't really understand why, at least before he knew about his true identity) he was so willing to forgive FJ for just abandoning him in Danzhou for the first twenty years of his life without a letter, visit or even teachers provided, even if he did offer a few crumbs of affection.
And of course, I want an ending with FX as Emperor (or working to abolish position and replace it with a more modern system....)!
The character development was fantastic; although some of them took a long time to appear, we got to see all of my favourite characters again; and the contributions made by the many smaller parts was great. Costumes, cinematography and music top notch.
My only real complaint is that the season isn't long enough.
But I'll make a few comments on Emperor and continuing arcs in last set of episodes in spoilers below.
And his comment to CPP suggests that the Emperor, FJ and CPP were used to his mother pulling rabbits out of hat when needed, and he is the same - although the overall context was what else has he got, we want it, it all reflects a trust in his abilities.
Emperor also hung around operation, and took action when they were all dithering, so clearly concerned and perhaps ready to step in if needed.
Both CPP and Fan Jian clearly know that the Emperor is the secret Grand master in the palace, hence their utter lack of concern for Emperor's safety (well there may be other reasons as well, but still).
Emperor could obviously hear all of that conversation between FX and CPP (well presumably he has super hearing as part of the GM package).
When told FX would die without someone who practiced same martial arts system as him fixed things, with potential damage to them at cost, Emperor considered but then started to do it - only stopped when it became clear that FX had a possible solution. Perhaps an element of guilt here (after all he set up the scenario), but even so that is a pretty major thing to do . So despite all, he really really does care about FX, to the extent that he is capable and willing (though actually we've seen this before, back in season 1 when he retreated to Taiping Villa when FX was in danger from Xiao En).
Although CPP explains it all in terms of taking down the Ye family, reasons for doing that may be connected to protecting FX - marries Second Prince off to them, then takes down the potential supporters second prince would have gained...
And other reason is surely kudos FX gains from protecting the Emperor and so publicly displaying his martial arts abilities....
The comment about keeping knowledge to himself and only revealing under pressure being like his mother...hmmm, you would have thought the poetry and other gadgets would be a bit of a giveaway on this front.
But from the beginning of season 1, this show has been about a lot more - about how people develop as a result of their beliefs and environment, with our main character developing from just wanting to live the good life, to caring about justice and trying to change things for the common people; finding out what his mother's story is; and trying to establish himself as in control of his life, not just a pawn in others plans. Its about power elites vs ordinary people, corruption and the way the world works, and what happens when you resist that.
Its about the right of everyone to choose their own destiny to some extent (whether its a robot or a sibling who doesn't want to get married!). And its always had a layer of meta around literature and how it is created and consumed, and the perspective of a culture from within, and then being looked at as a historical or outsider perspective (and a lot more, related to the Red Mansions novel).
Personally I think this season has done a terrific job advancing these themes on all these fronts, with the earlier episodes a necessary platform.
Maybe they could have mixed it up more, and it definitely feels like we are rushing now (I want at least ten more episodes, now to mention that third season!).
But it isn't a style for everyone - it is a show that demands a lot of work on the part of viewers as you have to read between the lines a lot, it rarely spells out the implications of everything, depending instead on micro-expressions to give away where the various characters are coming from.