Ice Fantasy 幻城 - Episode 25 (Recap)

kakashi: Can this show ever top fishtail-sex? Probably not.
SakiVI: That was pretty creative, though. Unfortunately, it got me looking up the love life of sharks, and I can't unsee that now.   
JoAnne: I had fish for dinner twice this week, and both times that scene ran through my mind. Thanks.  

Episode 25

We open with the Fire Tribe (they really have the tackiest of tacky CGI sets, the poor sods) (Have you noticed this tribe has zero walls?)  and we learn that they're still searching for missing Prince Shuo Gang. Ah, yes. I kinda forgot about him. They sent a "fiery hawk", but it has not returned. Yes, because the black smoke killed it, buahahaa. Yan Da is bullied by some of her fire-ball brothers (yet she always defends whichever douchebag bro is around instead of letting him die from his own stupidity) until Daddy suddenly makes an appearance. Oups, nobody told him Shuo Gang is missing. Daddy is displeased, but too weak to punish anyone. Finding Shuo Gang is made Priority No 1 though, because of some lamp and the need to have it protected by nine sons. There are only 8 left. Whatever.
Go make more sons, Fire King. You clearly hit more Y's than X's.  
He's all weak and ailing now, though.

At Ice City, Kasuo is happily feeding his Ice Baby with blood. The little sucker is hungry.

No one ever mentions how gross this is.

Lan Shang comes in and wants to feed it too. I was kinda hoping the Ice Baby would throw up, but instead, it just bites Lan Shang in the finger. Fair enough. Lan Shang cries and is annoying. Because Lan Shang says how worried she is about him, Kasuo once again tries to explain to the Mermaid that he is really, really NOT interested. She does what little kids do when they don't want to hear anything. She then has the glorious idea to "take the ice nucleus for a walk". She thinks that will put it into a good mood and it will grow faster. WHATEVER.

I really wanted it to have some wildly negative reaction to her blood, but I was happy that it bit her. The little ice baby knows that Lan Shang is an interloper too.

During all of this, Luna is watching everything from the sidelines - she promised Li Luo to watch over Kasuo. Awww, Li Luo, such a good subject. But what is that? Bear Man is also tasked to watch over Kasuo! By the Ice King. So, many people are babysitting Mr. Ice Prince. I'm sure we're headed straight towards a happy ending.

Anyone would think Kasuo was the baby.

He is kind of baby-ish, though.

Luna conveniently remembers at that time that Li Luo told her something about a spy conspiring with the Fire King that night before the attack. Dreamer comes in and has an idea how they can investigate this strange affair. He will try to work "from Li Luo's memory". He has a way to make her remember. (I wonder why he is not trying this 30 episodes later, but let's not get ahead of ourselves!)

I don't like Dreamer.  I want him to die horribly.  It's just my dream.

You don't like him? He's one of the good guys, though, right?

I have NO idea where Saki's (sudden?) massive dislike of him comes from. Maybe something happened during her holidays? I continue to like him a lot. Actually, I like him the most of all the Tribesmen. 

SakiVI: I've not liked Dreamer for a while now. He's always interrupting scenes and he's a Goody Two-Shoes. I hate Goody-Two-Shoes.

He visits Li Luo in her dream. There's a cute rabbit, too. Since memories and dreams seem to be the same in this universe (except they're different things), he is able to take her back to that time she overheard Flame and Lotus at the seashore. They want to look for clues, beyond what she remembers. And Lord of Dreams finds one: the particular type of magic "the woman" used when she blasted the stones near Li Luo. So, in short: They're looking for someone who can blow up stones at this exact angle.

That could be anyone, though.

Don't be a negative Nelly, Saki.

Look at the northern borderland! Horrible! Poor Li Luo.

Funny, I was actually expecting it to be cold and snowy. North, you know. But this makes sense. If you're at the North Pole (cold and snowy) and keep heading 'north' you will end up some place desert-like eventually.

Later, Lan Shang thinks it's a good idea to go visit Kasuo's Ice Baby again. WHY. It runs away from her. I would do that too, yes. Kasuo needs to come back from moping on the balcony to retrieve it.

You know, this is not her house, but she just goes into everyone's bedrooms and stuff like she has the run of the place. I am continually shocked by the rudeness - and then I laugh because with all the crazy stuff that goes on in this palace, the thing that bothers me the most is that a mermaid has problems with boundaries.

And then, it's time to show the Ice Babies to Papa. Kasuo's is sturdy and happy. He is praised for his patience and compassion. Shi's on the other hand ..... seems sick. The Ice King says, well, things are clear now. But Lady Lotus - who has kept smiling misteriously - says: look again. And yes indeed: the Ice Baby "responds". It even has two little ice-hairs on top! What the heck?

It did look poorly, didn't it? In his room, too. All grey and swirly but dull.

Oh my god. Lady Lotus did something HORRIBLE. She got pure Ice Tribe Blood from somewhere and fed it to Shi's ailing Ice Baby in secret. In the flashback, we also get the answer to how Kasuo can get his powers back. He "just" needs to kill another immortal and steal his powers.

She is so pretty!

Oh, do you think that's what's happening to the people in the Forest of Snow and Fog?

In the here and now, Lady Lotus says her son's Ice Baby has nucleated (is that even a word? Yes, but I'm not sure it's used properly here, and thus am confused by the usage. After all, it has a nucleus and it has developed more cells around it, not formed a nucleus, as far as I can see.) in two corners, so he is the winner. The Ice Queen wants to wait until they have grown into full-fledged six leaf crystals, but Lady Lotus says there is no time. Who knows what the Fire Tribe might plan. That very moment  they're all informed about five dead bodies of Ice children in the forest. That's so horrible. Lady Lotus deserves to die for this.  

I dunno, those ice children are all kind of annoying...

I guess I was right, then.

Love your sense of justice, Saki. "Oh, A and B are super annoying. Let's kill them!" 

People panic, thinking it was the Fire Tribe - and they all clamor for a decision on the next Ice King. The Ice King has a new tasks for his sons though: a "fair fight". He really is just making up stuff as we go along, isn't he?!

Anything to keep the throne from Shi.

How 'bout just saying 'he's not my son' ? It's not like the Mermaid Saint would defend Lan Ji or whatever her name is. I'm not calling her Lotus.

 The Ice Saints are of course supremely unhappy about this turn of events and they swear they will "use the powers authorized by our ancestor She Mi" to destroy the unsuitable successor in case he makes it to the throne (= Shi).

See? See? Why not just say it?

While everyone talks about whether the upcoming fight is fair or not, Kasuo himself still thinks Shi would make a good king. He also thinks his destiny is the black smoke. He says he will fight it until "the very end in order to protect all I love". Awwww. But what to do about those evil sword fairies? Dreamer has the brilliant idea to go see Shi who has the Deicide, which can control them.

Doesn't Dreamer have a tribe of his own to run?

What's the animosity toward Dreamer all of a sudden?

He left his sister in charge, actually. Much less sure about the Bear and the Healer.  

Already there, Xuan Ta (that's one of the Seven Saints), demanding Shi hand over the Deicide (at the command of the Ice Queen, as we learn later). Otherwise, it wouldn't be a fair fight. Fine, says Shi, just take it. They can't, of course. The sword even attacks Xuan Ta! Shi thinks it serves him right, (it does serve him right!) until Kasuo and the Dreamer come in too and Kasuo gets stabbed by the sword. Oups. But Kasuo just rips it out again. He is unhurt and the sword fairies are quiet. Oh, good!

Interesting development. Are the sword fairies in him now, do you think?

I think they went back into the sword! 

Just then, an owl comes in and summons them to the main hall. Since everyone is concerned about how fair this fight will be, the Ice King has decided that Kasuo and Shi will have to select tribe leaders that are willing to fight for them. It will be a Team Kasuo vs. Team Shi kinda match! To make sure they are not lying about their loyalty (which would mean they could lose deliberately), Dreamer suggests they use the "Truth Mirror".

How much did Dreamer's agency pay for him to have so many lines, do you think? 

So mean.

In the vicious desert, something attacks Li Luo. Oh no. She falls into a deep, deep hole. Something is sucking her in. Hm....

Comments

Come on, Ice King. Don't you think you can no longer stall this?! It's pretty unusual that those Seven Saints have the power to go against the King if it comes to the successor though - and I guess that is the main reason why Ice King IS stalling. He knows that Shi cannot be next king, or all hell will break lose. Why he is playing along all this time though I don't know. 

Why don't the Saints say, "We are the Electoral College, er, the holders of She Mi's secrets, and we don't want Shi as King, so tough luck, he's out, whatever you plebs want."

Seriously. I don't understand all the hemming and hawing.

Lan Shang continues to annoy. So yes, she is very sincere in wanting to help Kasuo. But she also continues to overstep all the time. Kasuo is just much too kind to kick her out. 

Even being harsher won't shut her up.

Just GO. AWAY.