#untamed livenlog

[lotus-mirage]

episode 43 liveblog

so I accidentally procrastinated on some things. but they’re all done now and I can get back to this, huzzah!

Okay I’m actually grateful for this exposition/monologue because it is clearing some things up

Oh! Have we heard this music before?

Yeah Lan Xichen’s loyalty kind of continues to be readable as romantic feelings honestly

This is pretty rough on him huh

Big conversation coming up?

Right, the scars... yeesh, likely to be a touchy subject

the Wens :,(

Why is everything on fire

Wait I thought this guy was dead. Is this not Jin Zixun?

‘You are not qualified to talk to me.’ AAHHHHHHHHHHH HOLY CRUD GET HIM

Right, right, Su She. I see now.

... What is Jin Guangyao implying here? That Lan Wangji would aid him in bunkering down here?

I think I’m a little unclear on the timeline here - after the Wens turned themselves in but before the big confrontation? Why would LWJ’s uncle be displeased with him, then? Didn’t he only fight against the others during that last battle?

Nope, I guess he fought them at the burial mounds! What was he doing??

What

300

300 lashes. And 3 years of house arrest, essentially!!?

Wait doesn’t a ‘lash’ imply flexibility? This looks like a stick. Maybe a sharp stick, but... is this separate? Additional? I hope not.

D:

D,:

He has the nerve to say that he’s disappointed. Not enough to force a conversation like this, or reprimand him.

D,:<

He believed in him. D,:

With the implication of background lore on the location ‘silence room’ is now a bit worrying

...those are some really bad implications for parenting capabilities. Or even their ability to do so.

Their dad was isolating himself for years!? Their mother lived in a house like it was a prison!?

She didn’t love him back. That’s. Not good for a married couple, unless that changed before the marriage.

She killed one of his teachers!?

I. How did this marriage happen? It sounds like only one person wanted it, and maybe not even enough to stick around for it.

He locked her up??? It wasn’t a stipulation or anything?????

And what was he repenting for? Possibly marrying someone against their will? Or going against the rules?

I can’t tell who the child is but :,(

Oh that’s a parallel with the pre-Jin Zixuan’s death punishment scene, isn’t it. D,:

He fell asleep there

Oh, she died? D,:

He kept going!! And waiting there!!

Okay first of all, ouch, LWJ really loves him so much. Second of all, I was taken very much off guard when Lan Xichen just started playing his flute all of a sudden. Seemed a bit abrupt.

That’s true, but a kind of an melancholic outlook on identity/self versus perception. :,(

He. He brought alcohol with him. :,)

Awwwww

This scene is so sweet

LWJ looks so tired without his hair up

Wait, the second flautist was there at the pass? When Jin Zixuan was killed? Yikes.

Wait, when did he talk to Wen Ning????

This music is so interesting! There’s the easily recognizable leitmotif kind thing, but there also some weird undercurrent electric guitar sort of thing? For a moment, at least, now it sounds more like piano???Vaguely synth-y. It’s such a cool mix.

Oh that’s an interesting shot right there. WWX is out in the snow with his back to LWJ, who’s facing him from under the overhang.

This viewpoint that WWX is taking is also very melancholic, but true enough.

And now LWJ is playing the song, and I didn’t even notice when it shifted. Very nice.

Also very sweet in the face of what WWX just was saying.

Two-person internal monologue set to the ending song. Wow.

Awwwwwww

Awwww, it’s Wen Qing’s words!!

AND THE VOCALS KICK IN

please, you can’t do this to me mid-episode.

Waiiiit a second whose hems are those.

Shoot it is Jin Guangyao.

Is this part of a plan, or??

Okay, again with the blend of electric guitar and more traditional instruments

Puppets heading towards the Burial Mounds - that’s certainly not good. The other flautist, maybe?

I feel like the screens set up aren’t very effective.

Okay, so the burial of Nie Mingjue seems like a trap.

That is a lot of rabbits.

Awwww

AWWWWWWW

They’re really just playing their in-universe romance song non-stop, aren’t they.

Oh! He got recognized through the song, then? Makes sense.

MIANMIAN!!!!!!

She’s got a family now!

Oh she’s still defending him, too. :’D

Wait, so did LWJ help her out then? Since she’s living so close by.

Okay that’s a fun thing to end on.

End notes:

I was not expecting to see Mianmian again! I’m so happy!

Although I did think about this for a bit longer and I think she may be the only named female character alive right now, aside from WWX’s mother’s teacher. Which: not great. But !! I’m glad to see her.

I’m a little confused on the timeline right now - when did all of the stuff with LWJ happen? When was he defending the Burial Mounds and why? I’d he was taken back after that and beaten, then where in the timeline did it fall?????

Pretty sure both the current situation with the Burial Mounds and the funeral thing for Nie Mingjue are traps.

I want to know what everybody else is doing!! Where’s Jiang Cheng? Wen Ning??

I’m hoping we get a little more elaboration on the Lan brother’s backstory, because I am fervently hoping that the situation wasn’t as bad as it sounds right now. Also because I just want to know more about it in general, frankly.

Also wondering if there are any more scenes with the baby Lans - seems weird to only have a couple (especially considering they had to make kid-sized clothes and cast actors for the part).