Episode 26 was kind of an abrupt fall in enjoyment for me.
Tang Lian's death just felt so sudden, anticlimactic and pointless that I kept waiting for him to jump out of the coffin or something and yell "surprise." But that... didn't happen? He's just dead now? Without saying goodbye to anyone, including the girl he's in love with, and without really accomplishing anything significant in his final moments? He just fought some random assassins out in the boonies by himself? Like... 'kay. I know that's how death works in real life, but it felt jarring.
And then everyone moved on in five minutes' time, telling themselves that it's sad he's gone, but he would have wanted them to keep doing whatever Xiao Se told them to do for the sake of his political power games that none of them even understand (except for Ye Ruoyi), therefore ignoring Tang Lian's death is actually the best way to honour him... very convenient.
And so now they're planning a big party for Xiao Se? Fine, whatever, let's go.
On an unrelated note, I've been trying to like Qianluo because I hate it when people pile on the few female characters in a cdrama, but in this episode every time she appeared on screen it was to give Xiao Se a proprietary look while he was speaking and it really got on my nerves. Surely they can find something for her to do other than than stare at Xiao Se like a middle schooler? Or if not... don't bother showing us those moments?
This is refreshingly irreverent and fast-paced compared to most cdramas, and the main couple is quite funny and likeable. Zhaonan/Sanmei is the rare cdrama heroine who doesn't annoy me at all, and Liu Xuanming is a great foil to her as a conceited himbo who acts tough but is actually very weak to Sanmei's charm.
Some of the secondary characters are quite good too, like Qimeng and the three spies from Muxi. I like the princess/assassin subplot too.
I think My Uncanny Destiny succeeds at something another ongoing historical romantic cdrama, Unchained Love, tries but fails to do, which is use bloody court intrigues as a humorous backdrop for a lighthearted romance. (Unchained Love doesn't get the tone right and ends up being callous and detached IMO.)
I gotta say, though, that in 8 episodes I've seen more toilet gags than in all the other cdramas I've watched combined.
My only criticism of this drama is that every time someone claims Liu Xueyi is 17 years old it takes me out of the story. I love him in this role, but he canNOT pass for 17... and what is more, his character doesn't act 17 either. Xiao Se is not 21 under any circumstances either. That guy is 100 years old on the inside.
They should have made Wuxin stay at the Buddhist sect for 22 years instead of 12, making him 27, which is an age that's appropriate with respect to both LXY's appearance and Wuxin's personality. (Or they could have had him enter the temple a bit later, at 7-8 years of age, and stay there for 20. Or 18. 25 is the youngest age I'd tolerate without comment for LXY... Again, he's a charming actor and a beautiful man, no hate, but that's not what I'm talking about!) And XS could have left the palace 6-8 years ago around 18-19, making him close in age to Wuxin. Then LWJ, who is obviously the most immature of them all, would be 21-22 or something.
I know the drama is all about youth and stuff, and Wuxin is supposed to be the the best martial artist of the coming generation alongside the Wushuang kid, who is a great character and also clearly very much a kid (though they could age him up to like 19 without changing anything about him IMO)... but by jianghu standards, mid-20s are still young.
I know I'm overthinking it and it ultimately doesn't matter... It just makes me laugh every time Wuxin's age comes up, which is constantly.
we already can guess the ending. number 1 sword or the emperor sword will show up.
Yes, we can all guess that the mysterious legendary super strong sword we just heard about is going to appear in the narrative at some point. But that's not an ending, just a vaguely telegraphed plot point?
so glad they changed the mc to Xiao Se, i keep fast forwarding past Lei Wu Jie's parts
Wait, LWJ was supposed to be the MC? lol that would have been such a mistake!
I did think to myself at the beginning of the drama that LWJ had the background of the typical wuxia MC (talented yet naive young martial artist leaves their sect for the first time to get stronger and be acknowledged in the jianghu and stumbles upon political intrigues/old family secrets/new friends/enemies on their journey), so I was very glad that this time around he would be the MC's friend only and the actual protagonist was much smarter, cooler and more interesting.
This drama would be 10x less interesting if it was about LWJ... and I actually like him! It's just that the same qualities that make him a fun supporting character (his obliviousness to what's going on around him, his pure heart, his silly crush, his directness, etc.) would make him a tedious and frustrating main character. The story that can be told about XS (and through XS's more critical and observant eyes) is much more interesting.
This isn't a character we've met yet, but the description says he's the person who will cure Xiao Se/Xiao Chuhe. So the martial art Xie Xuan left him that would take three years to complete and restore only part of his previous power isn't how XS is going to recover his martial arts.
My theory is that he'll do the thing his master warned him not to do, which is access his peak power briefly and put his life in danger, and Mo Yi, who happens to be around at that time, will save XS's life and fix his meridians.
Wait, what was the name of the scholar swordsman who gave them the books at the end of the festival? I’m trying to check something, but I can’t find it anywhere.
I know Prince Rong's death is very sad and it's inappropriate of me to laugh at it, but the way it was presented was so darkly funny. With the bumbling, cowardly Prince Fu dwelling on his childhood fears and jumping at the shadows in his memory to the point of responding to an actual child's innocent play by lashing out physically... and then actually killing him by accident and making everything so much worse for himself.
As expected, the characters of the FL/ML are different from the novel. In this filmed version, the ML is less…
There are no officials in the Chinese imperial state model who AREN'T corrupt by modern standards. And they're all assholes who torture people, perpetrate social injustice and enrich themselves off the backs of peasants through trade monopolies, bribes and land tenure. If I have to watch stories about people like that, I don't want them to be ruthless murderers on top of everything else.
1 
https://mydramalist.com/737913-it-s-like-a-bean-in-a-pod#comment-11528587
(Paragraphs #3 and #4.)
And then everyone moved on in five minutes' time, telling themselves that it's sad he's gone, but he would have wanted them to keep doing whatever Xiao Se told them to do for the sake of his political power games that none of them even understand (except for Ye Ruoyi), therefore ignoring Tang Lian's death is actually the best way to honour him... very convenient.
And so now they're planning a big party for Xiao Se? Fine, whatever, let's go.
On an unrelated note, I've been trying to like Qianluo because I hate it when people pile on the few female characters in a cdrama, but in this episode every time she appeared on screen it was to give Xiao Se a proprietary look while he was speaking and it really got on my nerves. Surely they can find something for her to do other than than stare at Xiao Se like a middle schooler? Or if not... don't bother showing us those moments?
Some of the secondary characters are quite good too, like Qimeng and the three spies from Muxi. I like the princess/assassin subplot too.
I think My Uncanny Destiny succeeds at something another ongoing historical romantic cdrama, Unchained Love, tries but fails to do, which is use bloody court intrigues as a humorous backdrop for a lighthearted romance. (Unchained Love doesn't get the tone right and ends up being callous and detached IMO.)
I gotta say, though, that in 8 episodes I've seen more toilet gags than in all the other cdramas I've watched combined.
They should have made Wuxin stay at the Buddhist sect for 22 years instead of 12, making him 27, which is an age that's appropriate with respect to both LXY's appearance and Wuxin's personality. (Or they could have had him enter the temple a bit later, at 7-8 years of age, and stay there for 20. Or 18. 25 is the youngest age I'd tolerate without comment for LXY... Again, he's a charming actor and a beautiful man, no hate, but that's not what I'm talking about!) And XS could have left the palace 6-8 years ago around 18-19, making him close in age to Wuxin. Then LWJ, who is obviously the most immature of them all, would be 21-22 or something.
I know the drama is all about youth and stuff, and Wuxin is supposed to be the the best martial artist of the coming generation alongside the Wushuang kid, who is a great character and also clearly very much a kid (though they could age him up to like 19 without changing anything about him IMO)... but by jianghu standards, mid-20s are still young.
I know I'm overthinking it and it ultimately doesn't matter... It just makes me laugh every time Wuxin's age comes up, which is constantly.
I did think to myself at the beginning of the drama that LWJ had the background of the typical wuxia MC (talented yet naive young martial artist leaves their sect for the first time to get stronger and be acknowledged in the jianghu and stumbles upon political intrigues/old family secrets/new friends/enemies on their journey), so I was very glad that this time around he would be the MC's friend only and the actual protagonist was much smarter, cooler and more interesting.
This drama would be 10x less interesting if it was about LWJ... and I actually like him! It's just that the same qualities that make him a fun supporting character (his obliviousness to what's going on around him, his pure heart, his silly crush, his directness, etc.) would make him a tedious and frustrating main character. The story that can be told about XS (and through XS's more critical and observant eyes) is much more interesting.
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/shao-nian-ge-xing/83611-airing-calendar
This isn't a character we've met yet, but the description says he's the person who will cure Xiao Se/Xiao Chuhe. So the martial art Xie Xuan left him that would take three years to complete and restore only part of his previous power isn't how XS is going to recover his martial arts.
My theory is that he'll do the thing his master warned him not to do, which is access his peak power briefly and put his life in danger, and Mo Yi, who happens to be around at that time, will save XS's life and fix his meridians.
I’m not calling her ugly or a hag. She’s a beautiful young woman. She’s just not the right age for this role.