Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy 九州海上牧云记 - Episode 13 (Recap)

Panda: Episode that satisfies a lot of Shawn thirst.
kakashi: What an exciting start to his arc! Later, alas.... *gets distracted by the pretty* never mind.

I want to do things to this man and his nose

Episode 13

We open up wit Han Jiang and his merry band. Since he won the wager - by staying longest in the water - he reads his friend Wang’s letter where he discovered Wang’s sweetheart had almost been engaged to another. Oh no... Friend bemoans his fate and wishes he could be promoted but he is just a commoner. He longs to be a superior officer so he can then marry his lady and claims to be the kind of official that just needs to work smarter. Hmm.
This friend will be trouble, that's clear from the start. Also, Han Jiang's white teeth bedazzle everybody, including the viewers.
I am bewildered by the teeth, it's true. We may never have seen such blinding whiteness, ever.  Shawn's teeth are whiter than the Klan.

There’s a tense moment when Wang refers to Han Jiang’s “secret” but he merely means Han Jiang’s secret lady love. Pfft. Pffft indeed. I wish he'd chosen another lady love. Anyway, Han Jiang shows him rations he intercepted from two bandits on the mountain. He feels there is something strange about it as they have very high quality weapons. They both plan to sneak to the bandits camp that night for further investigation.
I will sneak places in the dark at night with you, Han Jiang.

The bandits camp is deserted and creepy. Suddenly Han Jiang hears pleas for help as he sees a man being pulled underground. He tries to save him but is unsuccessful, however he picks up a small gold ornament dropped by him and his friend also gets a helmet. Wang says to tell their superiors and pushes as he sees a promotion in the cards for reporting, but Han Jiang refuses that the Superiors will have no interest. He feels there’s something up about the place and they leave.
It was creeeepy alright. There were skeletons there too, two. Quite some burial site. And somebody knew where it was and started excavating it. Who might this have been? And: whatever pulls people underground killed everyone in the camp? (So far, I'm on episode 26 and I haven't found out myself)
I am way ahead of you and past the point of finding out the mystery underground but I'm still not entirely sure that I'm right about what pulled them under.

Back at their camp, Wang is very excited over their treasures but Han Jiang is more interested in figuring out the mystery behind the gold ball. Another one obsessed with balls. A marking on one of the weapons catches his eye and makes him wonder if they belonged to the King of the Wise. He tells Wang a story he learnt from his mentor - Earlier in Great Duan, the Wise had a state called Sumo State and Duan ancestor bestowed a crest on them...
Hm. Makes me wonder about how the Wise then buried their dead... just in the ground? That doesn't feel befit for a King.
I think Han Jiang and I should hole up somewhere private and have a think about this.

Han Jiang goes to meet a weapon maker in the camp to ask about how to set Wise locks and he is given  a book on lock designs. However when he gets back to his tent, the weapons are gone. He correctly infers that Wang took them to the superiors. However the superiors don’t act as impressed as Wang had anticipated and seemingly are more concerned with how many people knew of the discovery. Oh? I wonder whether it is ever cleared up why they acted this way. When he is dismissed, there is discourse between the two over whether to tell the royal court or not and eventually one of them goes behind the other’s back to deliver the news to Prince Lu.
One seemed pro ruling family (the one who alerts Lu), the other is clearly a Nanku man. Wanna bet he'll also tell someone? 
I was impressed at how un-upset Han Jiang was when his friend basically went against his wishes, and not only that, took credit for what Han Jiang had done.

Wang goes back sheepishly to Han Jiang who is not upset but rather disappointed in his friend for lying about his role in finding the weapons. Wang wears him down with emotional blackmail and Han Jiang agrees to let him take all the credit. Things don’t work out as planned sadly and Wang gets beaten instead for making up rumors and acting without orders.
I couldn't even feel bad for Wang. He was too greedy. At first, I actually thought he'd steal the treasure, but he just wanted his promotion.
I had sympathy for him because of his desperation to get promoted so he could get married to his girl, and I figured if Han Jiang could be understanding so could I. So I did feel bad for his punishment even if he did deserve it.

Prince Lu arrives as a bloodied Wang is to be relieved of his duties as a Corporal and Han Jiang steps forward to proclaim they got the wrong man. He tells them he was the one who went to the campground and something about him seems familiar to Muyun Lu. His fighting style! And/or his weapon. Or have they met before? I don't remember. He quickly susses that he is Muru Han Jiang and gives him the condition to be his man else he will expose his identity. Han Jiang refuses and Lu tells everyone he is a Muru. LOOL.
I liked this scene. Han Jiang thought Prince Lu would not do what he said he'd do? He is silly.
Okay but now I'm mad at Wang. This is his fault.

Everything changes in camp with the reveal and even Wang isn’t grateful for saving his life. The ingrate. Instead he is pissed (jealous too) and tells him he only came forward to save him because he was a Muru and has his daddy arranging stuff for him. Frustrated with everything, Han Jiang leaves the camp.
Wang seems sorry to see him go - what an idiot. I'd have left too. With everybody bowing and treating him like something better, Han Jiang's life would have fundamentally changed. Plus, he just doesn't want to be a Muru. Tough luck, boy. Cause you ARE.
I think Wang was sorry to see him go.  He had his petty hissy fit and I think he'd have gotten over it, but I'm still mad at him even though Han Jiang WAS stupid to think he could get away with hiding it forever.

Mmmmmm...

Comments

Yayyy! He is here, the thirst can begin to be assuaged. I felt both pity and anger for Wang. It’s sad that his background will deny him his dreams, yet he knew all those from the get-go and it wasn’t fair that he made Han Jiang to be a Daddy’s boy. Surely they had been friends for a while, he should know him better. I will admit I laughed when Lu without a second’s pause gave up his background.
I really liked this episode. The burial ground and the mystery surrounding the golden ball was intriguing. Prince Lu shone too. He seems genuinely nice - not like his weasel brother He Ge.
I guess we'll find out?