Ice Fantasy 幻城 - Episode 2 (Recap)
The Fire King is looking for a reason to start a new war with the Ice Tribe - and he gets one. He wants to be ruler of all the three realms: the gods, the mortals and the spirits and he wants to live somewhere nicer than in that "barren place" the Fire People have been forced to live after the last war. I don't know, but why does it have to be a place full of ice and snow of all places?
SakiVI: and he seems to like things hot, so why an ice castle? Plus, the ice and snow all look pretty barren to me. This is all about his hair. I'm sure of it.
JoAnne: Do you think the hair comes off when the headpiece does?
JoAnne: Do you think the hair comes off when the headpiece does?
Episode 2
Showdown in the Snowmist Forest! It takes a few seconds until the Fireling is on the ground, but of course, he's playing dirty. When Kasuo wants to check on his vitals, he engulfs him in fire. I'm guessing that's not healthy for an Ice Prince. When it looks really critical, Prince Shi jumps in the save his Bro - oh wow, I thought he didn't have magic? He creates one helluvan explosion. Fire Prince: out.
Shi is a hidden bomb and the true hero of this story.
I like him better than Kasuo so far. Not that there's anything objectionable about Kasuo. There's not.
I think you two are subtly bullying Kasuo. I won't have it.
People, meet the Fire King Huo Yi! Lovely costume. The actor is really handsome though. (Too bad about the Wonder Woman outfit.) He is in his Fire Kingdom when he notices that something is wrong with his son. Yes, he has a floating lantern for each of his kids. As long as they burn beautifully, everything is okay. (That's kind of creepy, yet kind of sweet. I can't make up my mind. Okay, I'll go with creepy.) Xin Jue's is flickering though. He has a rage fit.
If a kid of anyone's dies, then yes, I suppose that person would be angry or sad or both. Okay, so far so normalish.
Yes, yes, the Wonder Woman cross-dressing cosplayer who has security cameras on his kids at all times is pretty normal.
The Ice King manages to stabilize the Fire Prince with super magic, but everyone is very concerned. Prince Shi tries to convince everyone that it was him that hurt the Fireling that severely (and Miss Mermaid corroborates that), but of course, Kasuo steps up to take the blame. Shi tries to do magic to prove it, but cannot. Well, Daddy is Solomonic and has both brother's enprisoned in two separate but adjoining ice globes until the Fire Prince wakes up and can tell them who did it.
Noble idiocy, go!
Well, but how's a grown man going to let a little boy accept responsibility when it really was on his behalf, and he knows the consequences politically?
Awwww, you two. Trying to take the blame for each other is cute and all, but I'm getting a bad feeling about this. Two noble idiots? That's probably not going to end well.
I don't think noble idiocy applies here, though.
He is noble and he's a bit of an idiot (though cute), so I think it does!
That night, a mysterious dark grey smoke demon (yes! It looks like the one we had in Mirror of the Witch!) kills the Fire Prince, laughing manically. (Maniacal laughter is a must. How else would we take some grey smoke seriously?) Fire Prince's lantern goes out. The Fire King knows he is dead. Yup, he's really dead. I hope nobody formed any attachment yet? Nope. No? Good. Anyway, his son's death (assumably at the hand of the Ice Tribe) is as good a reason as any to start A WAR against those do-gooders in their ice city!
Better than "you ran away with my wife." Why does this show keep bringing up happily-forgotten Greek mythology in my head?
Smoke Demon got all glittery for this fancy new show. Guess we know where his Mirror money went.
Well, the King isn't against sending Kasuo to the mortals, but he also thinks collecting five leaves will take far too long. They need a quick fix. That means: the need to summon a sacred sword, the Devourer of Gods (Dramafever subs call it Deicide, I don't like that name at all). There is a problem with that, however. It's a malicious sword and it demands a sacrifice: the soul of a royal immortal. "I will do it!" says a clear, high voice. It's Ying Kongshi.
He's really a beautiful child, isn't he? Look at that face!
Vulcano, or volcano? Is that a nod to Vulcans of Star Trek?
No, just a typo :)
Immortalized now. But speaking of Vulcans, those EAR CAPS are crazy bad.
That said, the Ice King isn't exactly nice either. Why is he so willing to sacrifice his sons? I am not surprised that his Concubine hates him.
He's a cold bastard.
Balls of ice, that man. Let's kick them!
Last but not least: if the Ice Veil is so important, why did the Ice Tribe not guard it much, much better? That stupid Fire Prince basically walked in with his eyes closed. And then, he possessed magic enough to plant a "Holy Flame" in there, to doom the entire Ice Tribe? I don't know, it seems far too easy.
Arrogance. The Ice Tribe are arrogant. Just from how they treated Shi suggests they aren't that nice, plus, they don't seem to realize fire burns everything. It can even burn underwater in some circumstances.
If the Ice Tribe melts do they just become the Water Tribe?
I like him better than Kasuo so far. Not that there's anything objectionable about Kasuo. There's not.
I think you two are subtly bullying Kasuo. I won't have it.
If a kid of anyone's dies, then yes, I suppose that person would be angry or sad or both. Okay, so far so normalish.
Yes, yes, the Wonder Woman cross-dressing cosplayer who has security cameras on his kids at all times is pretty normal.
Noble idiocy, go!
Well, but how's a grown man going to let a little boy accept responsibility when it really was on his behalf, and he knows the consequences politically?
I don't think noble idiocy applies here, though.
He is noble and he's a bit of an idiot (though cute), so I think it does!
Better than "you ran away with my wife." Why does this show keep bringing up happily-forgotten Greek mythology in my head?
Smoke Demon got all glittery for this fancy new show. Guess we know where his Mirror money went.
Because of the Fire Prince's death, the Ice King takes Shi's ice prison with him to meet the Fire King at the Infinity Ocean. Wow, he is actually considering turning him over to stop a war?! Since they still stand at opposite sides of a vast ocean, they communicate through the clouds. That's pretty cool.
The Fire King looked Wonderful through the clouds.
Ice King: I'm just a man, standing before you, wondering if you'll accept my ice balloon. There's a prize inside...
Luckily though, the Guardians discover the phallic thing behind the Ice Veil! They can't stop it! It's melting the ice. It's all a trap! An evil plan! Ice King might have an ice-cold heart, but he does realize that handing over his smallest child is not going to help avert a war that someone wants to start at all cost - so he just leaves kiddo hanging up there in the air. You won't get any Dad-of-the-Year Award. It's up to Kasuo to save Little Bro. Awww.
I don't think the Ice King likes Shi. And judging from how people felt free to bully Shi despite him being a prince, I'm guessing the Ice King has let that happen.
Well that does it, he's on my shit list.
The Fire Tribe launches clearair birds against Snow Capital - they're exploding thanks to fire magic (=bombs). They then catch a great wave across the ocean. Oh, they probably practiced that on Hawaii? (you know, Hawaii - volcanoes - good environment for fire people?) We meet the Fire Princess Yan Da and the Fire Crown Prince Shuo Gang.
I love Yan Da and hate Shuo Gang, both with a passion. She's all focused on invasion, and he tries to kill her.
What the hell? I thought he was a jerk but that they were playing. He looks like PeeWee Herman in drag.
And then, the battle begins. I don't understand the laws of this Immortal Realm. These Gods are clearly not immortal. They dissolve.
They are myffic, that's why. They're immortal tribes, not beings who get prayers or answer them. And they're immortal like vampires, which means they can die under the right circumstance.
Trying real hard not to be mean, but may I at least point out that we can SEE the point at which humans are replaced with drawings? Am I allowed to laugh at that much, at least?
Yeah, okay. Laugh.
The Ice Veil is melting, but it seems that the Ice Tribe's power is not diminishing as it should. Hm, Fire King, what now? They retreat for the moment and he says: "It's about time to pay an old friend a visit". This is his thinking face:
 |
| At least he's good looking. He damn sure is. |
Can you guess who that "old friend" is? No, you probably can't, unless you've already watched this. It's the Mermaid Concubine! She's a Mermaid? I had no idea. Didn't she tell us that in the first recap? They used to be lovers! Juicy, I know. Gossip Rag time! And I prefer the two of them together. But where is the Fire King's queen? Did she ever exist? Maybe all his kids are just little fires that broke off from the big fire? That was before she was forced to marry the Ice King, whom she hates (I can actually understand that)(Me too.)(Unanimous vote! He's a dick.) But nowadays, she also hates the Fire King. That's what she claims, anyway, but I don't believe her. He, on the other hand, tells her he still deeply loves her. Is that why you steal her Teardrop Charm and want to force her to tell you she loves you? Vile.
Why did taking off her charm make her float and seem to choke? Is it because she's a Mermaid, so that now that she doesn't have it she's like we would be in water, but in air?
I'm guessing wildly here: but if marrying makes them get permanent legs, won't they lose their underwater abilities? We learn sometime later that the Teardrop Charm gives anyone the ability to breath underwater. Why the FIRE King of all people would be able to be underwater without one of all people beats me though.
Lucky coinkidink has it that Li Luo fell unconscious right at the spot the two hug. She doesn't get to see the face of "the traitor" though. (Is Mermaid Concubine a traitor if she never swore loyalty and was forced into concubinage which is, by definition, slavery?) (I say no.) Fire King asks Mermaid Concubine to tell him the secret of the Ice Princes' and Princess' non-ending power. Will she do it? Let's see.
In the meantime, Kasuo and some other Ice People are trying the heal the Veil. It's using up a lot of his power and Little Shit is quite worried about Big Bro. Also, no Ice Veil = no Ice Tribe. Well, you should have guarded it a bit better, you idiots!
Little Shit? Why is he a little shit?
OMG, haha. Typo, typo!!!!
There is a solution to this problem though. There is a thing called Six-leaf Ice Crystal. It's an ancient relic of immense power and the Ice King believes it could mend the Ice Veil. However, their ancestor wanted peace among the all the tribes of the mortal and immortal realm. He divided the crystal and gave a shard, I mean leaf to 5 mortal tribes, keeping just one. Only the heir to Snowland can go get it back. They guy with the staff is a High Priest by the way. His name is Xuan Ta.
He looks awfully young to be a High Priest.
It's the Ice Ice Skin Regimen he's following.
He's really a beautiful child, isn't he? Look at that face!
Comments
Hateful creatures, those Firelings. Why can't they just be content in their vulcano? Greed, it's always greed that leads to horrible things.Vulcano, or volcano? Is that a nod to Vulcans of Star Trek?
No, just a typo :)
Immortalized now. But speaking of Vulcans, those EAR CAPS are crazy bad.
That said, the Ice King isn't exactly nice either. Why is he so willing to sacrifice his sons? I am not surprised that his Concubine hates him.
He's a cold bastard.
Balls of ice, that man. Let's kick them!
Last but not least: if the Ice Veil is so important, why did the Ice Tribe not guard it much, much better? That stupid Fire Prince basically walked in with his eyes closed. And then, he possessed magic enough to plant a "Holy Flame" in there, to doom the entire Ice Tribe? I don't know, it seems far too easy.
Arrogance. The Ice Tribe are arrogant. Just from how they treated Shi suggests they aren't that nice, plus, they don't seem to realize fire burns everything. It can even burn underwater in some circumstances.
If the Ice Tribe melts do they just become the Water Tribe?