The Myth ramblings (not really spoilery)
Jun. 14th, 2010 12:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI think the thing I love the most about The Myth is that it does not have easy answers for all the moral dilemmas it raises. And the constant tension between the very modern protagonist and the medieval theater of cruelty he is thrust in is fascinating - because even as he is doing his best to keep his modern morality, he cannot help but be shaped by the world around him. He is still an amazing person, a heroic one, but more and more within medieval parameters (I realize using the term medieval towards a society of third century BCE is incorrect, but that is what that world reminds me most - Western Early Middle Ages, only obviously vastly more sophisticated and cultured). The world he is in leaves him no choice - he has gone from someone who has refused to use a sword even if the alternative was being worked to death as a slave, to someone who just does his best to take the opponent army with minimum loss to both sides, but what option does he have? As Meng Tian, his 'brother', points out, if Qin falls, million of people, including his beloved Yu Shu, would have their lives wrecked. Not doing anything is as bad as harming them, really - if he does not come up with a plan to defeat the enemy, for example, 30,000 of Qin soldiers would die in the desert - his life is increasingly a series of horrible choices - past a certain point it is an interesting point - what is more important - his personal integrity and happiness or lives of others? There is no easy answers at all.
And I love how this horrible brutal world is underscored again and again - even those we view as 'good guys' commit morally heinous deeds. There is an amazing sequence when he finds out from the woman he was 'given' as a present by Meng Tian that the 9 other women he did not take will be executed for spying in Qin for their tribe (he took the woman in question because she refused to kneel and was being beaten and he did it to stop the punishment - he told her she was free as soon as he got her home). And he goes to Meng Tian to beg for their lives. And despite his kneeling for a day straight on the front steps, in the rain, literally standing there until he faints, he finds out when he comes to in his own bed, that they were executed anyway. And the woman he did take is there, bowing to the ground to him, thanking him because due to his kneeling, they were executed quickly.
My God.
And his face at that - when he asks her what kind of world is this, where being killed quickly is something to be grateful for, is a sort of an accepting horror - it breaks my heart he is not surprised any more.
And the thing is, Meng Tian is someone who is praiseworthy by standards of his society - he is a loyal subject, a brave general, a good friend to Xiao Chuan. But he does not think twice of doing this.
In a way, the reason Xiao Chuan loves Yu Shu so much is because he needs something sane to fixate on in this mad world - if he finds a reason for living in her - he does not need to face the horrors of every day as much.
On a more shallow note, Hu Ge really does have a wonderful bone structure - even with the extremely severe period hairdo, he is gorgeous:
Oh, and did I mention my love for secondary OTP? The scene when he was outlawed and came to say goodbye and she did not know it was him so she stabbed him with her hairpin and he insisted on keeping a sliver of it in as a memory and gave her a new pin as 'compensation' - eeeeeee! No wonder Xiao Yue falls for him.
And I love how this horrible brutal world is underscored again and again - even those we view as 'good guys' commit morally heinous deeds. There is an amazing sequence when he finds out from the woman he was 'given' as a present by Meng Tian that the 9 other women he did not take will be executed for spying in Qin for their tribe (he took the woman in question because she refused to kneel and was being beaten and he did it to stop the punishment - he told her she was free as soon as he got her home). And he goes to Meng Tian to beg for their lives. And despite his kneeling for a day straight on the front steps, in the rain, literally standing there until he faints, he finds out when he comes to in his own bed, that they were executed anyway. And the woman he did take is there, bowing to the ground to him, thanking him because due to his kneeling, they were executed quickly.
My God.
And his face at that - when he asks her what kind of world is this, where being killed quickly is something to be grateful for, is a sort of an accepting horror - it breaks my heart he is not surprised any more.
And the thing is, Meng Tian is someone who is praiseworthy by standards of his society - he is a loyal subject, a brave general, a good friend to Xiao Chuan. But he does not think twice of doing this.
In a way, the reason Xiao Chuan loves Yu Shu so much is because he needs something sane to fixate on in this mad world - if he finds a reason for living in her - he does not need to face the horrors of every day as much.
On a more shallow note, Hu Ge really does have a wonderful bone structure - even with the extremely severe period hairdo, he is gorgeous:
Oh, and did I mention my love for secondary OTP? The scene when he was outlawed and came to say goodbye and she did not know it was him so she stabbed him with her hairpin and he insisted on keeping a sliver of it in as a memory and gave her a new pin as 'compensation' - eeeeeee! No wonder Xiao Yue falls for him.
