Ice Fantasy 幻城 - Episode 30 (Recap)

Kakashi: Damn, after his little run in with Daddy Black Smoke, Shi develops heterochromia iridium, which really is a problem, considering how suspicious everyone is of him already. It's kinda cute though. It makes me think of puppies.
JoAnne: He looks sort of lizard-y now. Yes, I know, wrong pupil shape and whatever. Still looks lizard-y.
Still pretty to me.  

Episode 30

When Momma Shi hears about the assassination attempt on her son, she throws a fit. But the Dreamer says the four Saints (to clarify: that's four out of the seven, not a splinter group) are missing and Kasuo is unconscious, which just leaves Shi's testimony and that's apparently not to be trusted. Xuan Ta has an opinion too (of course (Urgh, just shut up, Xuan Tu!)) and thinks it's not the four missing saints fault at all (the injuring two princes and burning down a whole chamber), but someone evil's, someone trying to make it look like it's the Saints' doing.
That seems reasonable to me.
Not to me. These Saints aren't saints. 

Sweet bejeesus, this is complicated. I don't like Lian Ji much, cause she's a killer, but I am thoroughly on Shi's side in all this. The Ice King, the coward, orders them to stop quarrelling and wait for Kasuo to wake up and tell them "how it really went down".   Xuan Ta gets ordered to further investigate the traitor they know is in their midst. Well then, Ice King. I hope you bump your head against an icycle, I don't like you.
I don't like any of them any more. Except maybe Li Luo. Shi: Weird little kid; Kasuo: Whiny manboy; Lian Ji: bitter murderer; Lan Shang: omg no; Ice King: world's worst father; Mermaid Saint: first rat off a sinking ship; Yan Da: moody tomboy with Daddy issues; Shuo Gang: not even out to himself; Ice Queen: couldn't be more useless; Fire King: cruelty comes from the disappointment of not being able to dress EXACTLY like Wonder WomanWhen you're right, you're right, Jo. 
Ice King really doesn't like Shi, and totally doesn't like second wife Lian Ji, and if he'd been nicer with her, she might've got over that whole Fire King heartbreak. 

Shi is in his chambers (wait ... I thought they had burned down?) and looks at something strange and a bit creepy in the mirror: his left eye has turned amber. Those pupils are far too wide too, maybe he took some painkillers.
Is this photoshop? Look how blurry his nose is and how different his skin is one side to the other.
All the coloured eyes are photoshop.

When his mother comes in to rant about the Ice King, he quickly covers the traitorous eye with a plastic patch.  Well of course. No one will notice that. Good thing he had it just lying around. People will think he's injured. To make the ugly thing look less stupid, there are two playful stones set in it. Why not. I do wonder how it stays in place, but I'm guessing this is ice magic?
Tiny little ice fairies hold it in place.

Next, one*-eyed Shi visits Kasuo (to cry by his bedside) who is like this:
*two

Of course he is.

What's new, right?!
But wait, here's a close-up of the plastic patch.
Happy Meal Toy, Ice Fantasy Campaign 'Look like Shi! Capture Kasuo's heart with this gleaming eye patch, modelled after Shi's own!'
He's glamourous.

Oh no, we cut to Shuo Gang, shivering in his cave. So annoying.  The shivering is okay, but not the Shuo Gang part. Exactly.  He freaks out when he hears something, but it's only Shi (why can he come and go and not the Fire Prince?), bringing him something to eat. Shuo Gang claims he misses his sister. Huh? Really? He may be delirious.
Shuo Gang is trapped in a prison of his own greed and cruelty.
I clearly remember Shuo Gang trying to kill Yan Da in during the Fire Tribe invasion back in episode 2. He knows she's his only competition for the Fire Throne.

Ah, no, he uses his sister's name to plead for pity. But Shi's in a pickle: release the ugly prince and the world will know he can do fire magic vs. Yan Da will be in deep trouble for pulling an anti-ice stunt without her father's knowledge. In his desperation, Shuo Gang jumps out of his prison and tumbles to his death. But! Yan Da is already there to save him. On a fiery cloud. Awww. But so stupid.  Also, I think she's the only Fire Brat who can float on air.
If you ask me, this is the questionable sibling pair.
In what way?

Oh, Kasuo has awoken. First thing the remaining Saint Xuan Ta asks is what happened at the Charcoal Chamber. But.... ahahaaaa, Kasuo has amnesia!!!! Cause of the sword fairies. Excellent plot twist.
Immediate mental picture: dozens of tiny sword fairies stumbling around crying 'brains, braaaaains'

The Ice Baby jumps up and down when it sees Kasuo - cause it's happy, I should add - but ... no-can-do, Kasuo does not remember a thing.
The Ice Baby just wants some of that Kasuo blood.

And then, this happens:

And to top it off, he asks whether she's a maid. Ahahahaaaaa, damn, it makes me laugh so much. She is amazingly self-effacing with him, that's why. I should be sad, because we're informed Kasuo only has about 15-30 days left to live. Even though he has no clue who she is, Lan Shang takes Kasuo out for a walk, cheerfully trying to be of use. Is he her dog? Right at that moment, Li Luo rides into town. When Kasuo sees her, his face lights up and he calls out her name. That's bitter, Lan Shang. He has fogotten everything, but not this woman. Get it now?
Will she just go away, now?
No, she'll never understand.

No, she doesn't. Or she's a really stubborn fangirl determined Oppa is hers no matter what.

Fairies time! Xuan Ta proves he has no humor at all when he gets angry at the flirty little chatter boxes. They have found something useful though: a branch with magic on it that a crow took into her nest from the scene of the murder.
Magic just spooges all over like that?

By looking at the magic on that branch, Dreamer now knows that the kids' murderer and that traitor Li Luo overheard down by the sea are one and the same person! 

Magic DNA. I guess it does spooge.

good word, spooge.

At Fire Central, Daddy forgives Shuo Gang (how magnanimous) and when he realizes his son has something interesting about Ying Kong Shi to say, he dismisses Yan Da. (It's kinda hard to kick somebody out in a place with no walls, but he seems to be able to do that just fine) (Magic walls.). Fire King hears about Shi's fire powers and is very happy.

Oooh? Secret crush?

In the meantime, all the head of the tribes, Li Luo  and Kasuo have gathered in a tent to celebrate her safe return. (Shouldn't they actually wonder about that?! I thought her mission was secret?) I thought she was banished. They're all making fun of the Bear who wants to prove he's better at drinking than Li Luo and even practiced, but then, Qin Chu comes in and things become a bit awkward. He hates Li Luo hanging with the immortals and makes everybody feel it.

Look how fancy he did his hair for today.

Li Luo does not want to leave, and when Qin Chu tries the good old wrist grab on her, she struggles hard. Unfortunately, that triggers the fairies inside of Kasuo - and he creates several forceful explosions. I get it, man. This guy also annoys me.
I love how he has no magic, except for when he all of a sudden has magic.
He should just learn how to channel the fairies. No, wait, that would mean taking some positive action. Never mind.

When Kasuo comes to and realizes what has happened, he is utterly shocked and totally devastated though. He slowly walks away from his friends to cry somewhere in private.
Tell the truth, boy, that felt good.

Lian Ji has prepared a new coat for her son's coronation, but Shi has other things on his mind. He just fed his Ice Baby with his blood and it's disintegrating horribly in front of his eyes. That is a problem because a) he has to present his Baby at the coronation as a proof of heritage (you just made that up show, admit it!) and b) that Ice Baby his mother brought in the other day sure wasn't fed with HIS blood.
I mean, he knows this. Does he just like killing the little things?
It'd be nice if they weren't alive. 

Momma Shi will do anything to get and keep her son on the throne though - she has a plan. She asks Kasuo to present HIS Ice Baby to Shi - as a blessing from the new king's brother, a sign of loyalty and solidarity. Of course, Kasuo is more than happy to do that for his brother. Kasuo's Ice Baby seems concerned though, lol.
Ha, little dude's all no, nooo, don't kill me!

Our smart and handsome Dreamer takes this opportunity to get everyone to "present a gift of their own magical powers" to Shi at the coronation ceremony. Why, you ask? Because they want to see everybody's power trademark right then and there - and then BOOM! They have the spy!
Clever Dreamer!

Li Luo tries to see Kasuo, but he refuses to open the door for her. She decides to get drunk in front of his room, saying bitter words about his broken promises. He remains silent and heartbroken ... fearing to hurt her, knowing his life is coming to an end.
Too bad he isn't still immortal, he could stay in there until she's just a pile of bones. Wait! Li Luo is the one I like it. He should do that to Lan Shang.
Lan Shang is painfully immortal. That's thousands of years of Lan Shang. 

Comments

Poor, poor babies ... I don't like this suffering. I don't assume anybody truly believes Kasuo will die in a few days, but we do need to believe that he believes it (and everybody around him, except for Li Luo, who doesn't know), so I can understand this renewed bout of noble idiocy on his part. And yet, why not live every second with the person you love if you know you only have a few days left? I'll never understand that.
Me neither.  Ever.
Also, tell them what the situation is. Or just go have fun with them.  

As for the rest: Li Luo's Guardian friend was far more annoying that Lan Shang in this episode, so that's a win for me.
Everyone is annoying.
Shi and Lian Ji don't annoy me. The rest, yes.