Ice Fantasy 幻城 - Episode 10 (Recap)
Kasuo is still asleep while the Fire King plots evil things with the help of the Dream Lord and Li Luo, looking like the Fire King, tries to wake him up. But! The Dream Lord, we learn, isn't really evil at all, but totally HAD to do all this. Luckily, his sister is much smarter than him and it's only thanks to her that things do not get out of hand completely.
Yay for sisters! Yay for dreams! Boo to Fire King!
You always have a choice, Dream Lord. It's wrong to say you don't. An option being unacceptable to you does not mean it is not an option.
This was so pretty. Dream Weavers are super-stylish.
Sorry, I'm still laughing.
The effect of all this is that he can control people's minds through their dreams! We see how he forces the Mermaid Saint to hand over her ice crystal to WonderWoman and obey her from here on out.
That he can get someone as stubborn as the Mermaid Saint to do his bidding suggests our Lord of Dreams is incredibly powerful.
Well you know, those crystals were pretty big. Although I suppose it's not the size of the crystal as much as it is what you do with the crystal. Still...a big, pretty crystal is very enticing. And two of them? Together? How could you resist?
But our Lord of Dreams spits blood after this. I'm sure he did. Not everyone can handle crystals of that size. This forbidden spell just cost him 500 years of his life! Oh, that's expensive. Yes, he knows he has done something very evil, and he is ready to give his life for this, but he cannot afford any regret. He thinks he has no other choice! The Fire King is also making pressure - hand over Kasuo or else!
Maybe our Lord of Dreams should be interfering with the Fire King's dreams and making him take up crochet and needlepoint.
GENIUS. Why didn't our dear Lord Dreamer just invade the fire dreams from the start and end the bullshit before it began? I have never been more impressed with whichever one of you suggested this.
Dream Lord has Li Luo and Kasuo positioned in a carriage... both are still sleeping. The Dream Lord doesn't want them hurt, but the Firelings are obviously of a different opinion. As they are rushed through the forest - destination unknown to us - Li Luo and Kasuo continue to dream. Dream Kasuo is not as happy as he was a short while ago. He has not found the bamboo-flute and he is increasingly confused about things. In particular, he does not remember how the war between Ice and Fire ended. And apparently, he's been married to Li Luo for 100 years! He looks flabbergasted.
100 years is nothing to these people, though.
I think his shocked look means he is asking himself why he cannot remember having sex with her during all this time?
I guess he doesn't have any crystals.
He should at least be able to dream that much detail. That's a bit weak, Kasuo.
Taking his doubt for a walk, he goes to the ice prison where the "Fire King" is held. In case you're confused, this is not the Fire King at all but Li Luo, who just looks like the Fire King to Kasuo. It's kinda like this dream's defensive mechanism I guess! Naturally, the imprisoned Li Luo once again tells him that she's the real Li Luo, that he is still dreaming, that he needs to wake up! If this were all real, how come that the Dream Li Luo, who is a mortal, still looks the same after 100 years? (Plastic surgery? Botox?)
Dream interpreters will say you see the opposite of what you want. And living in all that ice froze Dream Li Luo as she was.
So if he sees the Fire King in the ice ball, does that mean he actually wants Li Luo in the ice ball? Or would it mean he wanted the Fire King free to roam the Ice Lands? Maybe he could take his ice balls with him as he roams.
He wants Wonder Woman in ice balls.
She's got a point there though. He is doubtful enough to free the "Fire King" from the ice ball, but of course, the "Fire King" immediately tries to kill Kasuo, cause you know, he needs to wake in real life, which means he needs to die in the Dream World. That doesn't go down well with him for obvious reasons and he ice-blasts her away. Dream Prince Shi joins him and blasts her some more. I think they kill her. In the dream people, in the dream!
When this is all sorted out she should still use it against him somehow. Maybe he could give her some crystals as an apology gift.
Smooth crystals.
Very, very important detail. Very.
Wait, shouldn't she have woken up? Oh, right ... if this happens too many times, you don't wake up anymore!! Anyway, the Fire People have decided to push the carriage over an infinite cliff (it's all a bit infinite in that realm) (I'm infinitely confused how they ended up in a carriage.) in order to kill Kasuo and Li Luo. Why not. Exactly. At this point, why bother with magic? Pushing a carriage off a cliff might be prosaic, but it gets the work done. Or does it? Prince Shi followed them though, jumps on the carriage before it goes over the cliff and keeps shouting for Kasuo to wake up! And wake up he does, in a very anticlimactic way. Shi promptly saves Li Luo from falling down an infinite distance and Kasuo thanks Shi profoundly afterwards (mainly for playing the flute).
Such a bop.
Okay but wait. If you fall forever (which is what you would do if you went over an infinite cliff) you would never die, because it's not the falling that kills you, generally speaking. It's the landing. (Airplane heights, I don't know. Maybe at a certain level you would burst, but that doesn't apply here because they're fine at the top of the cliff.) Anyway, they'd never die, because they'd never hit bottom. But since they're asleep until the Dream Lord wakes them, who cares? And what's the difference, then? Just leave them as they are.
Cut to the Ice Palace, where they notice that the Dream Princess has escaped. Granny is carrying her on her back! She is so strong! But uh-oh, Fire Soldiers take pursuit on horses! In the Dream World, the Dream Lord becomes aware of a disturbance in the force and he quickly teleports to help his sister in the real world.
Yay for responsible-ish brothers!
No, not responsible. Not even a little bit. Just nuts about his sister. Think of all the people he's willing to have die, just so he can have her around. That's not responsible.
Okay, yay for caring brothers?
Kasuo has taken the unconscious Li Luo to the dream city, where he hears about Xing Jiu's latest escapades. He also immediately guesses that Dream Princess must have heard something in Snow City that made her escape. Is he right about that? Let's see!
Gosh, I wonder what it was?
Oooh, I bet those crystals were HERS and her brother is not supposed to be using them.
Granny now has a carriage and horses, in which she carries Lord of Dream and Princess of Dream to safety. Xing Jiu is angry at his sister: why did she risk everything by escaping? He had reached an agreement with the Fire King! All was going well! ... is what he thinks. In truth, as Kasuo has long guessed, Xing Gui overheard a conversation between the King of Fire and his ugly son... the King of Fire has no lotus.
Shocking! The Fire King lied! Pranking him into a crocheter would've been worth 500 years of life, Xing Jiu!
Excuse me. I forgot to go back and say anything but since you bring it up, as a life long practitioner of the needle arts, it's not a punishment! Why not make him yodel forever, or listen to heavy metal, or ride horses, or practice handwriting?
Because a macho man - despite the wonder woman crown - will hate needle arts the most.
Common misconception.
Our Lord of Dreams has been used! Badly used! In fact, the Veiled Lotus is so powerful that possessing it would have been enough to conquer the three realms immediately. Dream Lord should have known that, don't you think? Maybe too much dreaming messes with your brain.
Weird he didn't think a bit more deeply. Must be all that excessive sleep.
Begs the question then...who DOES have this spectacular lotus, the one by which all men may be ruled? Perhaps it's Granny but it's been so long, she forgot how to use it.
Granny calls the Fire King a "nasty jerk" and that he is! At least he's good looking. Better looking than either of his kids, even dressed like Wonder Woman. I like Yan Da, though.He personally comes to deal with the runaway Princess, ready to barbecue her and her brother. A few great balls of fire later, he laughs his nasty laugh and looks at them burn, but .... Kasuo interferes! He saves them! Yay! Three cheers for Kasuo.
Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!
Yay for Kasuo, who knows how to cool off a man's fiery balls!
The Fire King does not want to let them go and is being nasty again, but Xing Jiu has something else up his sleeve... his daughter! Who is caught in the dream world, currently running through a forest, desperately calling for someone named "Peng Peng". Oh, a mystery person? Her messenger owl. Anyway, smart Kasuo has made sure that Yan Da is hidden somewhere Daddy won't find her and because he kinda seems to like his daughter, the Fire King lets them be.
I wonder why the Fire King likes her considering he doesn't seem to care about anyone really? Anyway, I'm glad one of her relatives cares whether she lives or dies. Also, ROFL at "What kind of stupid dream is this?"
I must have been asleep here. I think I would have liked it, too. Dammit.
In the Dream City, Li Luo wakes up all by herself. She checks whether she's alive or sleeping and is then informed that Kasuo has awoken. He is getting some healing vibes from Granny, because he was injured during his fight with the Fire King. Everyone is very curious to hear about his dream. He immediately starts to worry about Li Luo, who, so he realizes, got ice-blasted by him. But here she is! Overjoyed to see the prince.
I wonder if that healing treatment is why they look so young, too. Blast away a few wrinkles while they're at it, you know?
He smiles at her like the sweet dork that he is and she smiles back like the sweet woman that she is. Oh, but Granny really wants to know what happened in that dream! Awkward? Totally awkward. Poor Kasuo. So Li Luo says, Kasuo was really mean with her in the dream! He must have really disliked her all this time! Massively so! He even saw her as Fire King and killed her. Dreams reveal the deep truth about people.
I wouldn't even have called this truth that deep. Maybe our Kasuo is shallow.
He is chagrined. He even pouts! But I think he knows that she knows. And she's just teasing him. He is meant to be teased.
I thought he was going to cry. You think he was just cute-pouting? That is marginally better than lip-quivering crying. Marginally. (Funny how my darling wolf So's lip quiver totally works on me, though.)
Ffward-button forehead comes running in, informing them of major trouble in the throne room. Well, the Elders are calling for Xing Jiu's abdication. What he did is such a disgrace to them all! Kasuo tries to speak on his behalf, but it takes Xing Gui to turn the situation around. She knows something that changes everything... the ice crystal is ... in her arm!
If it has to be in her somewhere, the arm seems as good a spot as any.
Her flounce over to the edge of the stage kills me. All defiant like she's going to show off a tattoo.
It was their father who planted it there, in an attempt to save the Dream Tribe from destruction. They used the ice crystal to become insanely powerful, but in the process, the crystal turned dark on them by absorbing all their sins. Obviously, Daddy Dreamer feared that it would shatter, which would mean they'd lose all their ability to interpret dreams forever. Rather than have this happen, he planted it into his daughter, thereby shifting all of the Dream Weaver's sins into her. Wow, is there any halfway decent father in this show?!
Nope, none.
They're also exceptionally ugly.
So then, before they had the ice crystal they weren't Dream anythings? They were just people with odd make-up and strange sleep patterns? Who maybe like their siblings a little too much?
If he'd tone down the DC Comics cosplay a bit, the Fire King would be rather dishy. (agreed)
What this all means though is this: Xing Jiu had to get Xing Gui from the Fire King at all cost, because the release of the caged sins in her would have destroyed the tribe. Never mind that he almost killed Kasuo in the process.
Um, okay. I have no response to this.
Very convenient excuse. Since the Fire King obviously didn't KNOW that the crystal was in her, how would it get released? If you tell me it's released when she dies, then I tell you this: she's going to die anyway, so what happens then?
She was walking around in a sleeveless outfit and that crystal bruise is large. People must be blind.
Because the Mermaid Saint has been bewitched in her dream, she is now very nice to Fire Prince Shuo Gang. And he is lusty after Lan Shang. Mermaid Saint immediately promises him her granddaughter. Who is very much against the Fireling. He really is an ugly one! She defies her grandma and walks away instead of sitting next to Shuo Gang. Rebel!
I don't blame her for one minute.
They really shouldn't cotinue to give us close ups of his clogged pores.
Puke.
Later, Mermaid Saint goes back on her word. When the Fire King hears about it, he knows that the Lord of Dreams has taken back his dream control spell. Wow, he paid 500 years for absolutely nothing! I'd be so annoyed. Almost as annoyed as Fo Ye, who spent his entire fortune on useless medicine. For the Fire King, this means... War!
See, he misused that spell.
What would you have suggested? I would ask for more crystals. Maybe slightly bigger. I dunno though. They were pretty big.
They looked sharp and uncomfortable. Smooth your tools, Lord of Dreams!
He carries a lot of guilt and has to atone somehow.
The Mermaid Saint is reconsidering her position. Will she remain neutral or will she join the Healers and the Dreamers in their position against the Fire Nuisances? Oh lookie who's here. Shuo Gang and Yan Da. He has recolored his hair, I see? He is now wearing purple. Yan Da whip-kills a few Mermaid servants and Shou Gang says what about that marriage you promised me. They have her and Lan Shang come to the Snow City with them.
So, because Yan Da had to be saved by the Fire King, for some reason that meant she had to assist Shuo Gang. How annoying.
I think she's planning ahead for when she wants to grab someone, not that he seems all that unwilling.
Ooh, yes!
The Dream Tribe is busy preparing for war... I'm sad about their beautiful city, but Granny is all "yay, a war!" but Shi tells her to go play hide-and-seek. Yes, he really does. And she really goes.
Granny has the right idea though, since no other way out.
I love Granny the most.
Once they're alone, Prince Shi asks Li Luo once again about that dream that obviously kept his brother so entranced, he didn't want to wake up. She tells him that it was beautiful, that the battle between Ice and Fire was long over and that Kasuo was really happy, and he and Shi were close. When he asks about what she did, she claims she forgot. But Shi knows. Shi knows that these two people are already deeply in love.
Shi is the smartest one here.
Shi's the bee's knees.
Our Lord of Dreams is very cool to look at. I don't find him that interesting as a character, though.
I like the shape of his robe, overall.
And the brightly-coloured knobs.
Princess Xing Gui is actually an interesting character. She is very ill - though not because of the ice crystal, she was ill before - and is then used as a sin-repository by her father, but still has that many powers? She must be immensely powerful if this sin-crystal does not kill her faster! I am not quite sure where she stands in all this though. Let's watch her for now. Until she dies, that is, because we all know her 100th birthday is coming up soon!
Hmm, I wonder if she will really die? We don't need her out of the way like we did that Fire Prince or the excess Ice Princes and Princesses.
All the dads really suck in this.
I like the Dream Tribe episodes (9 and 10) so much because the story was unexpected. Also, I thought the writing was really clever. The Dream Lord's intentions and link to the Fire King were kept a secret for long enough to make the reveal surprising. Kasuo's blissful dream of being married to Li Luo is touching and speeds this love story up considerably, especially since she knows what he dreamt. Plus, they're really bad at lying, both of them. They really cannot get more obvious, can they.
Nah, and now they've got Shi shipping them.
I have bad news for Kasuo that I heard at some point this weekend... Li Luo is dating Little Master.
Out of the two options, I would take Little Master. And out of three options, Shi, Kasuo and Little Master, I would so take Shi.
In real life... the actor who plays Kasuo. He's manly and somewhat age-appropriate. But I'd entertain very, very inappropriate thoughts (and a flirtation, if I could) with Little Master. I want to play with Shi's hair, too.
Yay for sisters! Yay for dreams! Boo to Fire King!
You always have a choice, Dream Lord. It's wrong to say you don't. An option being unacceptable to you does not mean it is not an option.
Episode 10
Our Lord of the Dream Weavers has the very colorful esoteric crystals in his possessions! And he is going to do forbidden magic with them. OMG. He inserts them into colorful crystal place holders in a golden basin full of colorful glass stones and creates a little universe in the throne room, spinning nebula and all. He then takes a golden ball from the air and there are some explosions. Super nova, maybe. I know, it all sounds a bit strange.This was so pretty. Dream Weavers are super-stylish.
Sorry, I'm still laughing.
That he can get someone as stubborn as the Mermaid Saint to do his bidding suggests our Lord of Dreams is incredibly powerful.
Well you know, those crystals were pretty big. Although I suppose it's not the size of the crystal as much as it is what you do with the crystal. Still...a big, pretty crystal is very enticing. And two of them? Together? How could you resist?
Maybe our Lord of Dreams should be interfering with the Fire King's dreams and making him take up crochet and needlepoint.
GENIUS. Why didn't our dear Lord Dreamer just invade the fire dreams from the start and end the bullshit before it began? I have never been more impressed with whichever one of you suggested this.
100 years is nothing to these people, though.
I think his shocked look means he is asking himself why he cannot remember having sex with her during all this time?
I guess he doesn't have any crystals.
He should at least be able to dream that much detail. That's a bit weak, Kasuo.
Dream interpreters will say you see the opposite of what you want. And living in all that ice froze Dream Li Luo as she was.
So if he sees the Fire King in the ice ball, does that mean he actually wants Li Luo in the ice ball? Or would it mean he wanted the Fire King free to roam the Ice Lands? Maybe he could take his ice balls with him as he roams.
He wants Wonder Woman in ice balls.
When this is all sorted out she should still use it against him somehow. Maybe he could give her some crystals as an apology gift.
Smooth crystals.
Very, very important detail. Very.
Such a bop.
Okay but wait. If you fall forever (which is what you would do if you went over an infinite cliff) you would never die, because it's not the falling that kills you, generally speaking. It's the landing. (Airplane heights, I don't know. Maybe at a certain level you would burst, but that doesn't apply here because they're fine at the top of the cliff.) Anyway, they'd never die, because they'd never hit bottom. But since they're asleep until the Dream Lord wakes them, who cares? And what's the difference, then? Just leave them as they are.
Yay for responsible-ish brothers!
No, not responsible. Not even a little bit. Just nuts about his sister. Think of all the people he's willing to have die, just so he can have her around. That's not responsible.
Okay, yay for caring brothers?
Gosh, I wonder what it was?
Oooh, I bet those crystals were HERS and her brother is not supposed to be using them.
Shocking! The Fire King lied! Pranking him into a crocheter would've been worth 500 years of life, Xing Jiu!
Excuse me. I forgot to go back and say anything but since you bring it up, as a life long practitioner of the needle arts, it's not a punishment! Why not make him yodel forever, or listen to heavy metal, or ride horses, or practice handwriting?
Because a macho man - despite the wonder woman crown - will hate needle arts the most.
Common misconception.
Our Lord of Dreams has been used! Badly used! In fact, the Veiled Lotus is so powerful that possessing it would have been enough to conquer the three realms immediately. Dream Lord should have known that, don't you think? Maybe too much dreaming messes with your brain.
Weird he didn't think a bit more deeply. Must be all that excessive sleep.
Begs the question then...who DOES have this spectacular lotus, the one by which all men may be ruled? Perhaps it's Granny but it's been so long, she forgot how to use it.
Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!
Yay for Kasuo, who knows how to cool off a man's fiery balls!
I wonder why the Fire King likes her considering he doesn't seem to care about anyone really? Anyway, I'm glad one of her relatives cares whether she lives or dies. Also, ROFL at "What kind of stupid dream is this?"
I must have been asleep here. I think I would have liked it, too. Dammit.
I wonder if that healing treatment is why they look so young, too. Blast away a few wrinkles while they're at it, you know?
I wouldn't even have called this truth that deep. Maybe our Kasuo is shallow.
I thought he was going to cry. You think he was just cute-pouting? That is marginally better than lip-quivering crying. Marginally. (Funny how my darling wolf So's lip quiver totally works on me, though.)
If it has to be in her somewhere, the arm seems as good a spot as any.
Her flounce over to the edge of the stage kills me. All defiant like she's going to show off a tattoo.
 |
| That just looks painful! |
Nope, none.
They're also exceptionally ugly.
So then, before they had the ice crystal they weren't Dream anythings? They were just people with odd make-up and strange sleep patterns? Who maybe like their siblings a little too much?
If he'd tone down the DC Comics cosplay a bit, the Fire King would be rather dishy. (agreed)
Um, okay. I have no response to this.
Very convenient excuse. Since the Fire King obviously didn't KNOW that the crystal was in her, how would it get released? If you tell me it's released when she dies, then I tell you this: she's going to die anyway, so what happens then?
She was walking around in a sleeveless outfit and that crystal bruise is large. People must be blind.
I don't blame her for one minute.
They really shouldn't cotinue to give us close ups of his clogged pores.
Puke.
See, he misused that spell.
What would you have suggested? I would ask for more crystals. Maybe slightly bigger. I dunno though. They were pretty big.
They looked sharp and uncomfortable. Smooth your tools, Lord of Dreams!
He carries a lot of guilt and has to atone somehow.
 |
| look who's woken up! |
So, because Yan Da had to be saved by the Fire King, for some reason that meant she had to assist Shuo Gang. How annoying.
I think she's planning ahead for when she wants to grab someone, not that he seems all that unwilling.
Ooh, yes!
Granny has the right idea though, since no other way out.
I love Granny the most.
Shi is the smartest one here.
Shi's the bee's knees.
Comments
We continue to move really fast! We also don't worry about morals too much, cause the Lord of Dreams wasn't being selfish or anything, he did it for his people! I guess he is re-established as a good guy now? Good. I still like him. Despite of his hair. Or maybe because of his hair? Have you noticed how it always goes static? That's kinda cool.Our Lord of Dreams is very cool to look at. I don't find him that interesting as a character, though.
I like the shape of his robe, overall.
And the brightly-coloured knobs.
Princess Xing Gui is actually an interesting character. She is very ill - though not because of the ice crystal, she was ill before - and is then used as a sin-repository by her father, but still has that many powers? She must be immensely powerful if this sin-crystal does not kill her faster! I am not quite sure where she stands in all this though. Let's watch her for now. Until she dies, that is, because we all know her 100th birthday is coming up soon!
Hmm, I wonder if she will really die? We don't need her out of the way like we did that Fire Prince or the excess Ice Princes and Princesses.
All the dads really suck in this.
I like the Dream Tribe episodes (9 and 10) so much because the story was unexpected. Also, I thought the writing was really clever. The Dream Lord's intentions and link to the Fire King were kept a secret for long enough to make the reveal surprising. Kasuo's blissful dream of being married to Li Luo is touching and speeds this love story up considerably, especially since she knows what he dreamt. Plus, they're really bad at lying, both of them. They really cannot get more obvious, can they.
Nah, and now they've got Shi shipping them.
I have bad news for Kasuo that I heard at some point this weekend... Li Luo is dating Little Master.
Out of the two options, I would take Little Master. And out of three options, Shi, Kasuo and Little Master, I would so take Shi.
In real life... the actor who plays Kasuo. He's manly and somewhat age-appropriate. But I'd entertain very, very inappropriate thoughts (and a flirtation, if I could) with Little Master. I want to play with Shi's hair, too.