The forty-first episode of the Web Series premiered on August 12, 2019.
Synopsis[]
Wei Wuxian's paperman is pulled into Empathy with the head of Nie Mingjue, to the concern of Lan Wangji, who watches over Wei Wuxian's body.
In Qinghe, Nie Mingjue wins a battle and seeks out Meng Yao for his efforts cleaning up the battlefield.
Finding him outside a cave, away from the others, Nie Mingjue overhears many members of the Qinghe Nie Clan mocking Meng Yao's past. After his mother's death, Meng Yao left Yunmeng and approached Lanling with a keepsake of his mother's, requesting acceptance into his father's clan. Instead, he was kicked down the stairs of Golden Carp Tower.
Infuriated at their mockery, Nie Mingjue chastises the men and encourages Meng Yao. He then offers to make him his deputy, to Meng Yao's excitement.
Nie Mingjue then shows Wei Wuxian the smile on Meng Yao's face as he murdered the abusive general. After speaking alone, he kicked Meng Yao and recalled that the general had told him that he has seen Meng Yao speaking suspiciously to Xue Yang the prior evening. The general presumed ulterior motives.
After banishing Meng Yao instead of executing him, Nie Mingjue's memories then turn to Nightless City. After his capture in the palace of Wen Ruohan, the Nie Mingjue was incensed to see Meng Yao working for the Wens.
After fellow captive cultivators uses the slur "Wen-dog" in Wen Ruohan's presence, Meng Yao kills them. Nie Mingjue still uses the word, but instead of killing him, Meng Yao shows him Baxia and uses it to mock his father's death at the hands of Wen Ruohan. Nie Mingjue shoved Meng Yao away, and Meng Yao kicked him.
After the assassination of Wen Ruohan, Nie Mingjue could not forgive the murder of his fellow captives. While Lan Xichen blocked his blows with Shuoyue, Meng Yao pled that he had no choice, given Wen Ruohan's cruel and proud character, but Nie Mingjue refused to listen.
Eventually, Meng Yao knelt to apologize for his mockery of Nie Mingjue's father, but Nie Mingjue told him he should apologize to those he killed, not him. Eventually, he sliced a lamp in half instead of Meng Yao before departing.
After briefly showing Wei Wuxian their swearing of brotherhood, Nie Mingjue shows the Impure Realm.
Lan Xichen plays Purification Tone to soothe Nie Mingjue's growing saber spirit. Jin Guangyao compliments his guqin skills, and Lan Xichen offers to teach him to play Purification Tone, typically a secret of the Gusu Lan Clan, so that he can play for Nie Mingjue. Soon, Jin Guangyao plays for him regularly, though his saber spirit seems to worsen.
Nie Mingjue bursts in to a meeting between Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao as they plan a Floral Banquet. He privately confronts Jin Guangyao about the commuting of Xue Yang's sentence from death to life imprisonment, pulling Baxia on him. Nie Mingjue accuses Jin Guangyao of interfering. When Jin Guangyao says that Xue Yang cannot hurt another person, Nie Mingjue accuses him of defending Xue Yang. Jin Guangyao then insists that the decision was Jin Guangshan's, as Chang Ping had withdrawn his statement, and Nie Mingjue accuses him of hiding behind his father.
Nie Mingjue demands that he kill Xue Yang, insisting that his pitiful act does not work on him. Jin Guangyao replies that it is not an act, as he was not born with a high status, nor did he have a chance to develop a high level of cultivation, unlike Nie Mingjue. He mentions that his father has chosen to recognize another illegitimate son rather than consider him a successor, and freely admits that he fears losing his position in Lanling Jin Clan.
Angered, Jin Guangyao asks why, since Nie Mingjue has killed more people than him, yet he holds those he killed against him. Nie Mingjue answers that he killed in battle, not for societal gain.
Jin Guangyao retorts that if he killed "one to save a hundred," is that wrong? He accuses Nie Mingjue of claiming that those whom he has killed deserved it, and asks how he determines who deserves to die.
When Nie Mingjue, in response, asks Jin Guangyao considers his life more valuable than those he's killed, Jin Guangyao declares that he is obviously different.
Nie Mingjue kicks him down the stairs of Golden Carp Tower, echoing the actions of his father from years ago. With Baxia drawn, he shouts that Jin Guangyao is the "son of a prostitute."
Suddenly, Nie Mingjue begins to suffer a qi deviation, hallucinating Jin Guangyao surrounding him. The real Jin Guangyao slowly climbs the stairs before taunting him that he should have paid more attention to the music he played for him.
Nie Huaisang rushes over, hysterical at the sight of his brother, but Jin Guangyao holds him back as Nie Mingjue dies.
The next scene depicts the Puppet of Nie Mingjue chained to a table in Jin Guangyao's treasure vault. Xue Yang uses Baxia to kill Nie Mingjue.
Wei Wuxian escapes Empathy to find Jin Guangyao waiting for him. He narrowly escapes, using his own former sword Suibian to battle Jin Guangyao.
Wei Wuxian returns to his body, and informs Lan Wangji that Qin Su is held by Jin Guangyao in a secret treasure vault. He and Lan Wangji rush towards the Fragrant Palace, but are blocked by guards.
Lan Xichen and the annoyed Jin Ling arrive, alerted to the ruckus. A smiling Jin Guangyao appears, and Lan Xichen insists that he allow them to search his treasure vault. Jin Guangyao agrees, but Su She appears to mock Lan Wangji's manners. Wei Wuxian immediately responds that for someone who defected from the Gusu Lan Clan, Su She imitates him quite a bit, even using the same guqin weapon as Lan Wangji.[1]
Characters[]
In order of appearance:
- Wei Wuxian
- Lan Wangji
- Nie Mingjue
- Jin Guangyao
- Meng Shi (mentioned)
- Jin Guangshan (mentioned)
- Lan Xichen
- Jin Zixuan (mentioned)
- Mo Xuanyu (mentioned)
- Nie Huaisang
- Xue Yang
- Qin Su (mentioned)
- Jin Ling
- Su She
Events[]
Locations[]
- Golden Carp Tower
- Qinghe
- Lanling (mentioned)
- Nightless City
- Hejian (mentioned)
- Impure Realm
Creatures[]
Cultivation Abilities[]
Cultivation Tools[]
Divergence from the Novel[]
Episode 42 contains a number of significant divergences from the novel.
In the novel, the murder of the commander and Meng Yao's decision to leave the Qinghe Nie Clan happen quite differently. Meng Yao does not join the Qinghe Nie Clan until the Sunshot Campaign, and Nie Mingjue first notices him at the Hejian Front. Rather than banish Meng Yao for a murder, Nie Mingjue sends Meng Yao to the Lanling Jin Clan with a recommendation letter to earn Jin Guangshan's approval.[2]
Unfortunately, Jin Guangshan refuses to see his son, and when Nie Mingjue arrived in Langya, he witnesses Meng Yao murder a bullying commander. Nie Mingjue insists that Meng Yao turn himself in, but Meng Yao insists that Jin Guangshan will not show mercy. Ultimately, Meng Yao feigns suicide by stabbing himself before freezing Nie Mingjue with qi so that he can escape.[2]
In Nightless City, after his assassination of Wen Ruohan, Meng Yao flees Nightless City carrying Nie Mingjue's unconscious body, rather than stay in the Sun Palace. Nie Mingjue awakens to chases Meng Yao with Baxia in the middle of a forest before Lan Xichen arrives to intervene. Thus, once Nie Mingjue relents from his determination to kill Meng Yao, he slices a boulder in half, not a lamp.[3]
The Web Series cuts Meng Yao's description of his mother's purchase of scam cultivation manuals so that he would not fall behind, along with Nie Mingjue's threats to burn Nie Huaisang's art as his saber spirit grows.[3]
When Nie Mingjue confronts Jin Guangyao over Xue Yang, Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen are discussing his proposal for the watchtowers in the novel, not the Flower Banquet.[3]
More significantly, the timeline of Jin Guangyao's decision to poison Nie Mingjue is greatly altered in the Web Series. In the novel, after Nie Mingjue kicks him down the stairs and calls him the "son of a prostitute," he attempts to kill Jin Guangyao. He declares that Jin Guangyao is "beyond redemption," and Lan Xichen intervenes to save Jin Guangyao's life. Nie Mingjue then returns to the Impure Realm unharmed.[3]
The next day, Jin Guangyao arrives to witness the furious Nie Mingjue burn Nie Huaisang's entire art collection.[3] Jin Guangyao attempts to smooth things over with his sworn brother by promising Xue Yang's head in two months time,[4] and Wei Wuxian strongly implies that at this point, after the "son of a prostitute" comment, Jin Guangyao begins to poison Nie Mingjue instead.[4]
Nie Mingjue's qi deviation occurs less than two months after the stairs incident later in the novel, and it happens during a martial arts tournament in the Impure Realm, not at Golden Carp Tower. As in the Web Series, Nie Mingjue hallucinates Jin Guangyao everywhere, but unlike the Web Series, the hallucinations are actual people whom he kills in his delusions.[4]
Rather than be held back by Jin Guangyao, in the novel, Nie Huaisang breaks through his brother's hallucinations to reach Nie Mingjue's side before he dies.[4]
Additionally, Nie Mingjue dies as a result of his qi deviation in the novel, but in the Web Series, he is first turned into a puppet, then killed by Xue Yang. Xue Yang was not involved in Nie Mingjue's death in the novel.[4]
Wei Wuxian does not mock Su She for imitating Lan Wangji in the novel, though he mentions it later during the Second Siege of the Burial Mounds.[5]
References[]
- ↑ Web Series, Episode 41
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Novel, Chapter 48
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Novel, Chapter 49
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Novel, Chapter 50
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 80