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dangermousieI have finished The Myth - I took a break yesterday because I could not handle it emotionally any more, and finished the last 3.5 eps today.
Anyway, this is a huge ramble. Have a picture of Xiang Yu and Xiao Yue to compensate you.
I think, ultimately, though it had some flaws, it has officially become my N1 drama and one of my favorite pieces of fiction anywhere (for the record, imo, eps 2-42/43 were amazing, first ep was OK, eps 44-46 were good but not as good as what came before, 47-48 got the amazingness back, and 49-50 were solid but I think I was too strung out at that point to truly appreciate them).
But oh, God, how bleak! How horribly bleak! The Myth seems to embrace the stoic philosophy that there is no reward, now or ever, for being a good person but that you must be one anyway - because it is good and right. So many of the sacrifices were for nothing here - to take just one random example, back way when Yu Shu refused to run away with Xiao Chuan and instead proceeded to become Qin Emperor's concubine, for the good of her homeland. Only that led to her homeland being eventually flattened. The drama is full of that sort of bitter irony. And then there are all the times where helping out or mercy led to horrible outcomes - if Xiao Chuan was just a bit more ruthless (or plain indifferent to suffering of others), none of the horrible things set in motion by Zhao Gao, Lu Zhi, or the Qin Emperor would have ever happened.
At one point Xiao Chuan, at his lowest point, muses that what is the point of anything - short or long life, everyone will die, why meddle but that is the thing - he does meddle despite such a recognition - because those few extra moments of happiness given to someone matter (Xiao Yue's whole life is proof of this principle), because not to meddle would be to deny his own humanity.
And I also loved that the drama didn't truly have heroes and villains - not pure examples of such. Xiao Chuan is amazing, probably my biggest drama crushes ever, but he is flawed - he has a major tendency to passivity for one. And even horrific people like Zhao Gao and Lu Zhi are not all monsters - Lu Zhi genuinely loves her son and her father and even the horrible things she does - somehow you get into the head of that character and understand her headspace (does not make her any less of a monster but it makes her understandable). And we witness why Zhao Gao became the way he was - we witness his devolution and his brutal, horrifying existence prior to his ascent to power. Even when he was at his most revolting, when he was torturing Xiao Chuan, or gleefully tormenting Yu Shu, I could not hate him. Not really. And no matter what, he always did love his little sister, be she Xiao Yue or Gao Lan.
I think this ambiguity is nowhere more present as in the story's contrast between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Both are sworn brothers of Xiao Chuan, both lead a rebellion to overthrow the Qin. Yet they are utterly different. And while I loved Xiang Yu ridiculously much (can I have a drama just about him?), the very qualities that made Liu Bang not someone I liked, made him much more fit to be an Emperor - he had no rigid code of honor (or one at all, actually), but he was able to wheel and deal and be flexible. And while he could do all sorts of horrors to benefit himself, he would never do it just for spite (and would in fact subjugate his private grudges to his advantage) - he is such much smarter but also a better prospect as a ruler than the Qin Emperor. The very qualities that made Xiang Yu so amazing - suicidal bravery, honor, refusal to give up, being capable of loving someone the way he loved Xiao Yue, total straightforwardness - these all would have made him an unfit ruler, really. The drama addresses it explicitly at one point - when Xiao Chuan is talking to Liu Bang and asks him, in the event Liu Bang wins the civil war, to spare Xiang Yu's life. And Liu Bang smiles at him, not unkindly, and replies "do you think Xiang Yu is the kind of man to surrender instead of dying on the battlefield with glory?" and adds, as Xiao Chuan has nothing to say to that "but if our fates are reversed, will you speak a kind word for me to him?" Liu Bang has no notion of dying on the battlefield. And Xiao Chuan's sad, whispered "that is why you will win the world" really sums up the whole drama to me - being heroic and honorable and selfless may be praiseworthy but in order to survive and thrive you cannot be any of these. And that is Xiao Chuan's situation even more than Xiang Yu's - he will not bend so he breaks. Oh, how he breaks. I do not doubt the genuineness of his love for Yu Shu in the least, but I really believe that part of the strength of his obsession for her is because he is so broken with nothing else worth living after a certain point. He fixates on her the way a drowning man would on the one rescue buoy. And, so of course, he gets that ending - Yu Shu dead in his arms, he too psychically damaged to reconnect with his family again, probably dying soon, and with nothing at all to live for. It was one of the bleakest endings I have ever seen.
You know, in episode 48 I didn't just cry, I literally had hysterics. I got red and blotchy and nauseous. I could not see. It was horrible. I don't think I have cried so for a drama since Love Contract. Thank you for breaking my heart, drama!
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Short version - Xiang Yu, Xiao Yue and the tiny remnants of their army are surrounded by Liu Bang's troops. Zhao Gao is there, helplessly watching as the one person he loves in the world, his little sister, refuses to leave her husband's side, saying that in life or death, she will follow Xiang Yu. And then the battle starts as Xiao Chuan, horrified, knowing what happens now, is desperately trying to get to them. And Xiao Yue she gets shot.
This where I started sobbing without realizing it. Hell, capping it necessitated a lie-down. He tells her he won't let anything happen to her and she says she is not ready to leave because she has not seen enough of him yet.
And then...
Flashback time in case I wasn't sobby enough already.
Xiang Yu, who never has cried in this drama is left with her dead body, and he is screaming and sobbing - even when his uncle died in battle, he refused to weep - in fact he told Xiao Yue he won't cry because it means his enemies have won. And now...
And Xiao Chuan is finally here, so Xiang Yu looks at him and tells him "I did not take good care of her." OK, excuse me, while I go sob somewhere.
And no matter how Xiao Chuan tries to get him to leave, to gather troops elsewhere, Xiang Yu refuses. He says the only place he wants to be is the one where Xiao Yue went. And adds "I am a warrior king, I will die on the battlefield!" He asks Xiao Chuan to take Xiao Yue's body away so she won't fall into enemy hands.
And he turns from them to make his last stand, alone.
Liu Bang watches. He wants power but he is not glorying in the death of his former 'brother.' One of the reasons I never hated Liu Bang is that he is pragmatic and even callous when needed but he never takes pleasure in pain.
And Xiao Chuan can do nothing but watch as his 'older brother', life savior, and the first friend he's made in this place goes to his death. As he is left with the body of the woman he considered his little sister and who has saved him repeatedly.
And he is so hardcore he kills scores of the enemy soldiers and climbs up on a pile of their corpses.
Holy !!!!
I really loved Liu Bang's weariness when he said "I will give you what you crave" (i.e. a warrior's death). That sums up their incompatibility - to Liu Bang such a concept is an insane waste but traditional notions of honor are rather alien to him in general (hello, Mr. "I am going to sell my friends into slavery to save my butt") - and that is a much more modern notion. Just as is the notion that Liu Bang never fights with his own army, he stays safely in the back - much less heroic certainly, but much more prolonging a life expectancy.
"Xiao Yue, I am coming" and he slits his own throat. You know, I think Meng Tian and Xiang Yu would have gotten on perfectly - they are the closest to embodying this sort of "death before dishonor" ideal of that society (Xiao Chuan, heroic as he is, has modern notions in that respect - he will die to save someone but not to save a nebulous concept like honor. But of course Xiang Yu has nothing left to live for and Xiao Chuan has the hope of Yu Shu so their situations are not analogous until the very end).
Anyway, this is a huge ramble. Have a picture of Xiang Yu and Xiao Yue to compensate you.
I think, ultimately, though it had some flaws, it has officially become my N1 drama and one of my favorite pieces of fiction anywhere (for the record, imo, eps 2-42/43 were amazing, first ep was OK, eps 44-46 were good but not as good as what came before, 47-48 got the amazingness back, and 49-50 were solid but I think I was too strung out at that point to truly appreciate them).
But oh, God, how bleak! How horribly bleak! The Myth seems to embrace the stoic philosophy that there is no reward, now or ever, for being a good person but that you must be one anyway - because it is good and right. So many of the sacrifices were for nothing here - to take just one random example, back way when Yu Shu refused to run away with Xiao Chuan and instead proceeded to become Qin Emperor's concubine, for the good of her homeland. Only that led to her homeland being eventually flattened. The drama is full of that sort of bitter irony. And then there are all the times where helping out or mercy led to horrible outcomes - if Xiao Chuan was just a bit more ruthless (or plain indifferent to suffering of others), none of the horrible things set in motion by Zhao Gao, Lu Zhi, or the Qin Emperor would have ever happened.
At one point Xiao Chuan, at his lowest point, muses that what is the point of anything - short or long life, everyone will die, why meddle but that is the thing - he does meddle despite such a recognition - because those few extra moments of happiness given to someone matter (Xiao Yue's whole life is proof of this principle), because not to meddle would be to deny his own humanity.
And I also loved that the drama didn't truly have heroes and villains - not pure examples of such. Xiao Chuan is amazing, probably my biggest drama crushes ever, but he is flawed - he has a major tendency to passivity for one. And even horrific people like Zhao Gao and Lu Zhi are not all monsters - Lu Zhi genuinely loves her son and her father and even the horrible things she does - somehow you get into the head of that character and understand her headspace (does not make her any less of a monster but it makes her understandable). And we witness why Zhao Gao became the way he was - we witness his devolution and his brutal, horrifying existence prior to his ascent to power. Even when he was at his most revolting, when he was torturing Xiao Chuan, or gleefully tormenting Yu Shu, I could not hate him. Not really. And no matter what, he always did love his little sister, be she Xiao Yue or Gao Lan.
I think this ambiguity is nowhere more present as in the story's contrast between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Both are sworn brothers of Xiao Chuan, both lead a rebellion to overthrow the Qin. Yet they are utterly different. And while I loved Xiang Yu ridiculously much (can I have a drama just about him?), the very qualities that made Liu Bang not someone I liked, made him much more fit to be an Emperor - he had no rigid code of honor (or one at all, actually), but he was able to wheel and deal and be flexible. And while he could do all sorts of horrors to benefit himself, he would never do it just for spite (and would in fact subjugate his private grudges to his advantage) - he is such much smarter but also a better prospect as a ruler than the Qin Emperor. The very qualities that made Xiang Yu so amazing - suicidal bravery, honor, refusal to give up, being capable of loving someone the way he loved Xiao Yue, total straightforwardness - these all would have made him an unfit ruler, really. The drama addresses it explicitly at one point - when Xiao Chuan is talking to Liu Bang and asks him, in the event Liu Bang wins the civil war, to spare Xiang Yu's life. And Liu Bang smiles at him, not unkindly, and replies "do you think Xiang Yu is the kind of man to surrender instead of dying on the battlefield with glory?" and adds, as Xiao Chuan has nothing to say to that "but if our fates are reversed, will you speak a kind word for me to him?" Liu Bang has no notion of dying on the battlefield. And Xiao Chuan's sad, whispered "that is why you will win the world" really sums up the whole drama to me - being heroic and honorable and selfless may be praiseworthy but in order to survive and thrive you cannot be any of these. And that is Xiao Chuan's situation even more than Xiang Yu's - he will not bend so he breaks. Oh, how he breaks. I do not doubt the genuineness of his love for Yu Shu in the least, but I really believe that part of the strength of his obsession for her is because he is so broken with nothing else worth living after a certain point. He fixates on her the way a drowning man would on the one rescue buoy. And, so of course, he gets that ending - Yu Shu dead in his arms, he too psychically damaged to reconnect with his family again, probably dying soon, and with nothing at all to live for. It was one of the bleakest endings I have ever seen.
You know, in episode 48 I didn't just cry, I literally had hysterics. I got red and blotchy and nauseous. I could not see. It was horrible. I don't think I have cried so for a drama since Love Contract. Thank you for breaking my heart, drama!
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
Short version - Xiang Yu, Xiao Yue and the tiny remnants of their army are surrounded by Liu Bang's troops. Zhao Gao is there, helplessly watching as the one person he loves in the world, his little sister, refuses to leave her husband's side, saying that in life or death, she will follow Xiang Yu. And then the battle starts as Xiao Chuan, horrified, knowing what happens now, is desperately trying to get to them. And Xiao Yue she gets shot.
This where I started sobbing without realizing it. Hell, capping it necessitated a lie-down. He tells her he won't let anything happen to her and she says she is not ready to leave because she has not seen enough of him yet.
And then...
Flashback time in case I wasn't sobby enough already.
Xiang Yu, who never has cried in this drama is left with her dead body, and he is screaming and sobbing - even when his uncle died in battle, he refused to weep - in fact he told Xiao Yue he won't cry because it means his enemies have won. And now...
And Xiao Chuan is finally here, so Xiang Yu looks at him and tells him "I did not take good care of her." OK, excuse me, while I go sob somewhere.
And no matter how Xiao Chuan tries to get him to leave, to gather troops elsewhere, Xiang Yu refuses. He says the only place he wants to be is the one where Xiao Yue went. And adds "I am a warrior king, I will die on the battlefield!" He asks Xiao Chuan to take Xiao Yue's body away so she won't fall into enemy hands.
And he turns from them to make his last stand, alone.
Liu Bang watches. He wants power but he is not glorying in the death of his former 'brother.' One of the reasons I never hated Liu Bang is that he is pragmatic and even callous when needed but he never takes pleasure in pain.
And Xiao Chuan can do nothing but watch as his 'older brother', life savior, and the first friend he's made in this place goes to his death. As he is left with the body of the woman he considered his little sister and who has saved him repeatedly.
And he is so hardcore he kills scores of the enemy soldiers and climbs up on a pile of their corpses.
Holy !!!!
I really loved Liu Bang's weariness when he said "I will give you what you crave" (i.e. a warrior's death). That sums up their incompatibility - to Liu Bang such a concept is an insane waste but traditional notions of honor are rather alien to him in general (hello, Mr. "I am going to sell my friends into slavery to save my butt") - and that is a much more modern notion. Just as is the notion that Liu Bang never fights with his own army, he stays safely in the back - much less heroic certainly, but much more prolonging a life expectancy.
"Xiao Yue, I am coming" and he slits his own throat. You know, I think Meng Tian and Xiang Yu would have gotten on perfectly - they are the closest to embodying this sort of "death before dishonor" ideal of that society (Xiao Chuan, heroic as he is, has modern notions in that respect - he will die to save someone but not to save a nebulous concept like honor. But of course Xiang Yu has nothing left to live for and Xiao Chuan has the hope of Yu Shu so their situations are not analogous until the very end).
