#I think perhaps the theme i found the most compelling about the untamed was the different manifestations of loyalty

[wei-ying-kexing-apologist]

The Loyalty of Wen Zhuliu in The Untamed

Okay, I know this is maybe one of the more peculiar places to start with The Untamed analysis/commentary considering all the Big Gay Feelings and the Microexpressions and the Queer Allegory. But I was so incredibly surprised at how much I loved the character of Wen Zhuliu aka The Core Melting Hand. An unorthodox choice (haha see what I did there) for a Top 5 favorite character from the show, and definitely one that @lurkingshan questioned me about, and what it came down to was the way his loyalty to the Wen Clan manifests- especially in comparison to Wen Qing -because WZL does not appear to have a limit to the orders he will follow while WQ very, very much does. 

Loyalty is such an important aspect of The Untamed, with various characters experiencing some rather severe consequences for the actions they take in the name of allegiance. Wen Qing’s loyalty to the Wen Clan is forced through her and Wen Ning’s adoption/threats of violence to her loved ones hanging over her head. Wen Zhuliu, we don’t know all that much about how he came to swear fealty, but it appears like his commitment to the Wen clan is completely voluntary. [FWIW, my headcanon is that every other clan was too scared of his core melting ability and shunned him, but that isn’t really relevant to the conversation at hand.]

gif by @icantgetanythingdone

You’d think in a scenario like this, with one person’s forced hand and one person’s proffered one that the tolerance threshold for evil deeds would be reversed. Generally you would assume that Wen Qing with so much more to lose, would require a lot to brazenly betray the Wen Clan. Whereas, Wen Zhuliu might just decide his debt of gratitude suddenly has a time limit. And, sure, you might be thinking “well, Core Melting Hand did choose to work for the Wen Clan so obviously he would be super willing to do evil deeds without ever betraying them.” Which yes, that is a valid read, but my impression of Wen Zhuliu is that he frequently disagrees with the actions he is taking, but who does them anyway, and who does not always take the action that will keep Wen Chao safe, but he also does not use either of those things (his disagreement or his silence) as a way to justify his own moral rightness compared to the rest of the Wen Clan, and that is why I found him such a compelling character. 

And I promise, I’m not just pulling this out of my ass, this is the read I got from watching Feng Ming Jing’s performance. 

Let’s start with what we see of Wen Zhuliu in Episode 13 during the fight between the Wen Clan and the other disciples in the cave. 

First of all, I was intrigued by the fact that Wen Zhuliu does not join in on the fighting when Wen Chao commands his soldiers to attack the others. Presumably it’s because he’s Wen Chao’s body guard, but Wen Zhuliu is a formidable opponent and it was a genuine surprise to me to see him sitting back and watching this huge fight take place when he could definitely step in and do some considerable damage. However, that is less important to me than the look on his face as he sits and observes the fighting because…this man could not care less. Like his anger at this fight is so far gone that it will take three reincarnations to even feel it again. 

And if we think about the fact that Wen Zhuliu has sworn his loyalty to the Wen clan and has carried out their evil deeds on a number of occasions, we’d assume that he would have some level of attachment to the honor of the Wen clan and would thusly be even remotely emotionally impacted by this obvious assault on the Wen clan’s power. It is a truly jarring image to see how disparate the reactions to this fight are between Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu

He only really even beings to tune in to anything happening in this cave when Wei Wuxian starts running his mouth. 

And if Wen Zhuliu’s purpose here is to act as a bodyguard to Wen Chao, thus explaining why he does not join in the fighting and takes a step forward when the fight starts in order to stand directly next to Wen Chao, then it is also of interest to me that when Wei Wuxian starts walking towards Wen Chao with a sword in his hand, and Wen Chao takes a step forward, that Wen Zhuliu hangs back. 

As Wei Wuxian recites Glories of the Wen Clan, we see Wen Chao fuming, taking the statement as a direct threat against him. 

Core Melting Hand however is like…hmmm that sounds familiar to me. Literally shaking his head at Wen Chao’s response because…I mean…Wei Wuxian has a point.

gif by @contagiousrhythminmybrain

And when Wei Wuxian is like “the punishment for insulting a Wen elder is death without trial, right?” Wen Zhuliu is literally standing there like “I mean….yes.” 

It is only when Wen Chao’s life is actually under threat, when Wen Chao takes a swing at Wei Wuxian, and gets captured and held at blade point that any level of disinterest in the scene or silent admission to the accuracy of Wei Wuxian’s statements disappears and suddenly he is hyperfocused and the last one to follow Wei Wuxian’s orders to stop the fighting. He only puts his sword away when Wei Wuxian appeals to his loyalty to the Wen clan, reminding him that if Wen Chao is hurt that even Wen Zhuliu will be punished for it. 

When it is finally time to fight, Wen Zhuliu is quick and efficient, engaging Jeng Cheng in combat for less than a minute before running off to re-join the rest of the Wen clan. At which point he is back to letting Wen Chao do whatever. He has no attachment nor any obligation to anyone in the cave below so what does it matter to him if the ropes are cut? Wen Qing on the other hand, is helped up the ledge by Wen Chao himself, but she is slow to climb because she’s so obviously worried about the fight below, and she announces her own allegiances when she cries out and tries to stop the ropes from being cut. Wen Qing’s lack of loyalty to the Wen clan despite her repeated promises not to help Wei Wuxian and others again is so incredibly visible. 

But when Wen Qing and Wen Chao are verbally sparring about Wen Chao sealing up the cave, Wen Zhuliu is tuned the fuck in on that conversation, but it is not Wen Chao that he is looking at, it’s Wen Qing. 

And when Wen Qing starts to call out the glaring flaw in Wen Chao’s plan to seal all the cultivators in to the cave, Wen Zhuliu looks away. Obviously he is blurred out in the background and a lot of Feng Ming Jing’s acting work relies on microexpressions, so we are not going to catch exactly what emotion is going on here. But I do think that Wen Zhuliu has a tendency to look away when he is in silent agreement with whoever is standing up to Wen Chao. But that is a whole lotta me reading in to things, so I digress. 

It is fun for me that Wen Zhuliu is the one to take Wen Qing by the arm and drag her away from the mouth of the cave. 

Now, I think the part of the show that got me really deeply interested in Wen Zhuliu as a character is, predictably, his participation in the fall of Lotus Pier. Because I can almost guarantee that this man does Not Want to Be There. 

Like, a) he redirects his attack before he can actually land the hit on Madam Yu to attack Jiang Cheng instead  

and b) he stands there and fully watches them fly away, and they spend time on that dock. Like, there is a full two minutes of run time where they are talking, and fighting, and she is just standing there on the pier watching the boat float away and she is not interrupted by Wen Zhuliu at all during that time. I fully believe that he let them get away.

And maybe this is because I don’t know how his powers work, re: melting golden cores (I assume that it requires more than just him laying a hand on you), but it was not lost on me that Wen Zhuliu is practicing non-lethal methods of martial arts when he is attacking Lotus Pier for almost the entire battle. He does not draw his blade until Jiang Feng Mian arrives, and Wen Zhuliu does not even engage him in a fight. Jiang Feng Mian’s death is swift, and Wen Zhuliu’s blade is bloody. But afterwards? When Wen Zhuliu is overseeing the collection of all the dead, he does not look pleased in the slightest to have achieved a victory here. He even ensures that Jiao Jiao does not further desecrate Madam Yu’s body (“This bitch Yu! I initially wanted to stab her a few more times. That Wen Zhuliu had the audacity to stop me.”) and Wen Chao even remarks on Wen Zhuliu’s disposition and the beliefs he tells Wen Chao about (“Wen Zhuliu has a strange temperament. He talked about warriors rather being killed than humiliated. This person was killed by him. Why is he still talking about these things?”)

So, it is clear to me that Wen Zhuliu does not agree with the Wen Clan’s decision to attack Lotus Pier, he is upset about the death of Madam Yu, and he even stops Jiao Jiao from disrespecting her corpse. He has not been eating, drinking, or paying attention to Wen Chao at all since the banquet started. And yet, I agree with Wen Chao’s assessment that Wen Zhuliu deserves the most credit for the massacre of the Jiang Clan. 

He grabs his drink only after Wen Chao tells him to, and here is where we get into the good stuff. Because this man smells his drink, knows something is up, and minds his own goddamn business. This man willingly lets himself be drugged. And says absolutely fuck all to Wen Chao about the fact that their alcohol has been roofied. 

gif by @icantgetanythingdone

And thus the question of Wen Zhuliu’s unflinching loyalty truly comes in to play. Because what are his boundaries? He is so loyal to the Wen clan that he will unwillingly facilitate the massacre of an entire martial arts sect, that includes someone he obviously cares about or otherwise deeply respects, but that loyalty does not extend to warning the Wen clan about active threats to their health and safety?!

Like, this man is not a double agent, he defends Wen Chao with his life until the end of his life, he is not using this loyalty as a cover to betray Wen Ruohan down the line, he agrees with what enemies of the Wen clan are saying from time to time and he still attacks them anyway. But this man knows that his drink is drugged, that all their drinks are drugged, meaning something is about to go down, and he will have no control over what happens to himself or anyone else around him if they consume that alcohol, and he drinks it anyway. 

I cannot emphasize enough that the entire Wen clan is knocked the fuck out by this drug and are therefore defenseless to the point where if Wei Wuxian wanted to he could have just walked his self-sacrificing, arrogant, bisexual ass back in to Lotus Pier, pulled a blade, and slaughtered everyone. (He doesn’t, but he could have, and he definitely should have) but Wen Zhuliu drinks anyway and does not breathe a word of it to Wen Chao. 

It fascinates me. Like, is this his way of punishing himself for carrying out the wishes of the Wen Clan? Is this a manifestation of his guilt? I’d be inclined to say yes, but it’s not like this is the first time or the last time that he will keep shit to himself. And I can’t even say that it’s because Wen Zhuliu knows that Wei Wuxian is tied to Madam Yu because she hates that boy. And he melts Jiang Cheng’s golden core so he clearly is okay with completely destroying Madam Yu’s biological son’s ability to cultivate (which I do think leans more toward the humiliation v. death thing that WZL was talking about earlier).

Speaking of Golden Cores, the scene in Episode 19 where he hits Wei Wuxian is the other major moment that really got me when it came to solidifying Wen Zhuliu’s character as one of my favorites in the show. Because, yet again, he knows something is up and he keeps his mouth fucking shut. 

gif by @contagiousrhythminmybrain

So we know that at this point in the show Wei Wuxian has given his golden core to Jiang Cheng, thus making him mortal and taking away his ability to engage in cultivation. In a number of different ways, Wei Wuxian is no longer a threat. They could kill Wei Wuxian in this moment and it would be easy and I do not think it would be anywhere close to a massive leap for Wen Zhuliu to make the connection between Jiang Cheng’s core being melted, him disappearing, and then Wei Wuxian no longer having a core. This is also critical information that the Wen clan should have if they are to continue doing their evil deeds. 

With someone as (theoretically) loyal as Wen Zhuliu, who has continuously facilitated evil, it would not be difficult to assume that he would find the potential restoration of Jiang Cheng’s golden core pretty fucking important intel for Wen Chao to have. It is much less likely that the Jiang clan would be able to rise again and rebel against the Wen clan if Wei Wuxian is dead and Jiang Cheng is mortal. But once again he does not bother to open his mouth, and thus the fate of the entire martial arts world is sealed. 

And I genuinely don’t have a good understanding of how much Wen Zhuliu is okay with throwing Wei Wuxian from this great a height and letting him die in the Burial Grounds. I can’t say that he looks particularly happy about it.

But I have to say, they were flying for quite some time, long enough that Wen Zhuliu definitely had room to let Wen Chao know that Wei Wuxian no longer has a Golden Core and that they might want to find Jiang Cheng because his might have been restored. Saying nothing in the moments before a man is about to plummet to his death will not take care of the problem at hand. As someone who owes a debt to the Wen Clan for recognizing his talents, is he not obligated to report something that could be a safety concern for the clan he’s sworn loyalty to? 

Regardless, we reach Episode 20 and it’s time for everything to crumble. Again Wen Zhuliu is exhibiting genuine care towards members of the Wen clan, literally wiping tears from Wen Chao’s eyes, tending his wounds, trying to keep him calm. And what does Wen Chao do? He threatens him, calls him worthless, tries to send him away. And sure he immediately backtracks cause he’s a coward and he’s just lashing out because he is scared. Wen Zhuliu has kept his mouth shut on many occasions, but he has also continuously carried out the will of the Wen clan whether or not he agreed with what they wanted, and after all of that, Wen Chao is still treating him like shit and Wen Zhuliu still stays with him until the end. 

gif by @suriquesse

Wei Wuxian shows up, serving cunt with his evil little flute, and Wen Zhuliu looks like he knows he’s about to die. 

And I doubt Wei Wuxian has picked up on the same things I have when it comes to Core Melting Hand, but he still gives Wen Zhuliu the opportunity to step aside. Not in a “you’ll be spared” kind of way, but in a “I will give you the chance for your last act on Earth to not be protecting this sniveling little baby” kind of way. 

And Wen Zhuliu, despite almost certainly knowing that what he says here will not leave the room, that Wen Chao is going to die here, that he has the opportunity to actually step aside and just let Wei Wuxian put him out of his misery, remains loyal to the Wen clan.

There is a fight, and Wen Zhuliu dies choking on Madam Yu’s purple lightning, in what I would consider a full circle moment. RIP to my guy. 

In conclusion, I want to make it clear that I do think that Wen Zhuliu is evil. The fact that he does not want to be doing the majority of what he does absolutely does not absolve him of his actions. And normally I would not be as interested in a following orders type of character. I think because of how Feng Ming Jing performs this role, I am utterly convinced that Wen Zhuliu does not think that he is better than the rest of them because he's just following orders. Anyway, he is compelling to me as a character because of how his loyalty manifests. It is so much more evil for him to go kill everyone at Lotus Pier than it would be for him to tell Wen Chao that his drink is drugged. It is much worse for him to melt Jiang Cheng’s golden core than it is to tell Wen Chao that Wei Wuxian doesn’t have his core anymore. So why is it that he minds his own business in those moments? 

I think what it boils down to is that there is just enough information about the Core Melting Hand in the show to hint at something deeper and more complex below the surface, but there is not enough information to give us a solid understanding of why he is carrying out these orders. All we learn is that the Wen clan appreciated his talents, we have no other context, and I am truly curious how my interest in this character would change if I had more information. Would I consider him in a higher tier of evil if the appreciation was something small instead of like a major turning point in his life? Maybe. 

Anyway, Wen Zhuliu is an incredibly compelling character despite minimal lines and screen time, and I really have to hand it to Feng Ming Jing for breathing so much life in to the Core Melting Hand that I wrote a whole essay about him.