Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy 九州海上牧云记 - Episode 17 (Recap)

Panda: This was hard to watch.
kakashi: On so many levels. 
JoAnne: This was terrible.  And so FAST. One minute everything is fine and the next, boom.

Episode 17

We resume with Shitty Helan bro questioning Jin Ji about his actions in Han prefecture. He admits to having been part of the Muru calvary that 30 years previously wiped out 200,000 men from the 8 clans in Han prefecture. Through this all, HeYe looks shocked and Helan bro twists the knife further by asking if he wants to spend his life with a Muru. He doesn’t answer but rather demands for his wife. TT__TT
200,000.........that sounds like genocide. I was shocked too.
I guess we know why those tribes are so small now.
Helan Bro gets headbutted for his grandstanding but eventually poor Zhu Tai is revealed wrapped in a blanket with Kusu Da. Kusu Da claims they had been together for 4 years even as Jin Ji struggles to go smack those blasphemous words from his mouth. Poor girl just screams. My heart.
Everything about this is revolting. Also because it's such an obvious LIE. But the dishonor is real. 
I was so angry I felt like ...you know when your throat closes up and you just see red?  I wanted to rip them apart with my bare hands.  I felt her screams in my soul.
HeYe doesn’t say a word but methodically punches Kusu Da to near death - hate scenes like that - and carries off Zhu Tai without a word but not without giving Helan Sis a hate filled stare. She however says confidently that he will be back and goes off to get him a gift.
A hate filled stare only makes her hot. PUNISH the witch
I want him to END HER.
Jin Ji tries to say that it must be Helan sis that planned Zhu Tai’s rape but HeYe shouts at him to keep quiet. Zhu Tai asks brokenly if he believes her and he says yes. She asks if things will be the same and he says yes and yet he flinches as she tries to touch his face.
This couple hasn't had time to build any trust between them (since they've met 5 days ago and got married 5 days ago too)...so sad.
Well, I never could buy HIS love for her being so sudden.  Her - sure, she got struck by a lightning bolt.  Him, it was more gratitude and appreciation I felt.  But to see her this way, to know that she would not be in this situation if she never met him, or if he didn't accept her.  Imagine his guilt and rage.  I know there are men, too, who cannot bring themselves to desire the woman they love if she has been 'defiled' in this way, but I really don't want this to be the case with him.  Let it be that his guilt makes him shy away from her touch.
She calls for a stop and tells her dad to give them some privacy. She talks about what would have been a beautiful future with the two of them and their kids and talks about how it’s a pity.  She knows it's over, whatever future they had.  Not so much because she was raped, but because of WHY. She says if he stands by Helan sis side he will have what he wishes for and although he says he already has her by his side, she says she is content. She tells him she will give him a present but that he has to promise to always remember her how she used to be. He says yes, she then hugs him fiercely, takes his dagger and kills herself.
He seemed numb, but I believed him. He wanted to do the "right" thing by her, but he needed some time. He wanted to forget and go back to his quiet life with her, as if nothing had happened. He did it all wrong though. When he flinched, she made up her mind. She felt like she was a burden, a broken, used thing, not worthy of him.
I don't think he would ever be able to look at her without pity or guilt, and I don't think she could live with that.
At a burial, HeYe tells a broken Jin Ji that he will be back to kill him in 3 day after reiterating his vows to burn Tian Qi city to the ground. In the night, he goes back to the site and discovers that Jin Ji was dead and had been eaten by wolves.
Would he truly have killed him? I don't think so.
He would have stayed with her, but killed her father?  How would that have worked?  He does have this 'anything for the cause' mentality but...would he have let Dad live as repayment for getting the daughter killed? Maybe.
HeYe goes back to the Helan clan and asks to stay with the clan and help Helan Bro become King of the prefecture. He kneels and vows to show his obedience and Helan bro after grandstanding accepts him into the clan.
Oh WOW. This...this was so uncomfortable to watch. He Ye crawling like that. Please tell me this is all part of his revenge plan?! Or has he gone crazy?!
I could not believe what I was seeing.  He better be planning to kill them at some point and this is just to get them off their guard.
Helan sis comes back, her gift was the iron axe his dad had buried when they were younger. Helan bro grabs at it and HeYe asks him if he wants it but he reluctantly hands it back. Wielding the axe, he walks outside where it’s suddenly gone stormy and all the clan kneel to Lord PandaR. Helan Bro definitely looks churlish at the scene.
Yup, Helan Bro. You're just a stepping stone. Meet the man who will be King. 
Fuck you AND your sister, Bro.  You're going down.
The next day an expedition led which includes a grown Sa Tan (Shaman) (on a leash), Helan Bro, HeYe amongst others goes in search to the forbidden forest for the Danyao - the magic wielding clan.
Oh. That sounds exciting (and it was - some of my favorite episodes coming up)

Comments

My Heart! I am Angry with everyone in this episode. And while my rage is mostly white-hot towards the disgusting Helan siblings, I have some things to pick with HeYe as well. WTF did he flinch from that poor girl?? Why?? You know what, part of me believes he is happy to be free from her- he definitely knew she was going to kill herself. So, so sad.
Did he know? I'm not sure. From his reactions, it seemed to me he was under shock. He wasn't thinking straight. I didn't think he knew she would kill herself. At least not in a way that would have enabled him to stop her.
I don't think he set out carrying her thinking that's how it would end, but I think when she started talking he knew where it was going and gave her the dignity of choosing her own way. And that flinch could have been as much about him and whether he deserved her love as anything else.

I am far behind so I definitely hope he has plans to avenge her death and fuck up the Helan siblings. Only way I will be appeased. I know his relationship with Helan bro can’t be smooth, the brother is already jealous of him.
Oh me TOO. Waiting for these animals to be smacked down so hard. 
Please let it be painful and slow and humiliating.