S.M. Carrière . com
Connect:
  • Home
  • About
  • Titles
    • Daughters Of Britain
    • Dear Father
    • Ethan Cadfael: The Battle Prince
    • Human
    • Skylark
    • The Dying God & Other Stories
    • The Seraphimè Saga >
      • The Summer Bird (v.1)
      • The Winter Wolf (v.2)
    • Your Very Own Adventures >
      • Skara Braens
      • Sky Road Walker
    • WIP Updates
  • Art
  • Other Projects
    • Editing Services
    • Charity Efforts >
      • Gàrradh nan Leannan
      • Have a Heart Campaign
    • Journal
    • Martial Arts
    • Silver Stag Entertainment
    • The Adventures of Grimglum the Nord
    • SMC Awkwardly Plays
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Art Prints
  • Contact

The Untamed Take Two: Episode Fifteen

12/4/2021

0 Comments

 
Good morning, Readers!

Sooo... LWJ and WWX have escaped, killing the slaughter tortoise. Heh. That’s just such a hilarious phrase. LWJ has gone to the Cloud Recesses, and WWX has returned home to Lotus Cove, where his adopted father dotes on him. But shit’s about to go down.
Picture
Unlike the previous few episodes, this one opens on an entirely new scene. Jiang Fengmian is summoned into his throne room where two members of the Yao Clan - a small cultivation clan - lay injured on the floor. The Clan Leader is in absolutely terrible shape. They reveal that the Wen Clan attacked them, practically obliterating their Clan. These two, the clan leader and his heir, are now the only survivors.

Well, shit.

Turns out the Wen Clan are systematically obliterating all the clans whose heirs escaped the cave of the slaughter tortoise and thus the Wen Clan indoctrination.

WWX with Jiang Cheng’s aid convince Jiang Fengmian that the Jin Clan would be helpful here. Even if the Jin Clan leader will not publicly revolt against the Wen Clan, his son, Jin Zuxian (the peacock) is definitely on their side, and will be able to help them. Sweet. Allies in unexpected places.

Jian Fengmian decides to go then to the Jin Clan, bringing his daughter with him. This leaves Jiang Cheng and WWX in charge. In a pretty sweet moment, Mama Jiang, who is actually called Madam Yu, brings a bounty of food for her daughter, and medicine for her husband, revealing that she actually cares about him, even if she’s acting really bitchy about it currently.
to write or not to write -- MXTX Ladies Week: MDZS
We jump over to the Nightless City, and the weird volcanic throne room of the Wen Clan, Wen Chao enters, as a multitude of puppets shuffle and twitch around the lava pit over which three pieces of the Yin Iron float. The throne is empty, and we find Wen Ruohan sitting on the steps instead. Dude looks a wreck.

We find out that Xue Yang, that weird little psychopath, has gone awol, and Wen Ruohan wants Wen Chao to track him down and get his fragment of the Yin Iron. This enrages Wen Ruohan, and with his worsened temper, he loses control of his own hand. When he demands Wen Qing for his acupuncture, Wen Chao reminds him that he sent her away. Why would you send your doctor away? What a tool. He refuses to recall her.
canary3d's a bit obsessed -- Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 15
Credit to canary3d for so many hilarious gifs.
Then Wen Chao reports that the slaughter tortoise is dead, and they’ve found suppressing sigils on the beast, which was probably why they failed to notice it before all the trouble at the cave. When Wen Ruohan asks after the artefact responsible for the suppression, Wen Chao reports it was gone. Then Wen Ruohan sends his son to Lotus Cove, telling the coward he can kill them all if he wants.

Not. Good.

Back at Lotus Cove, we’re at another session of archery, where everyone is shooting at kites. Jiang Cheng and WWX are supervising. Bored WWX declares he’s had enough, and the youngest disciples are sent to go collect the arrows and kites.

In the collecting, they come across Flirty McBitchface and a contingent of Wen Clan soldiers. She’s holding a kite and demands to know whose it is. It belongs to the youngest disciple (we met him previously when Jiang Fengmian was showing him how to shoot properly). Flirty McBitchface demands that the soldiers seize the boy.

Don’t all the disciples come running to Jiang Cheng and WWX.

All the commotion brings out Madam Yu.
Picture
"What's this ruckus?"
She stands her ground as Flirty McBitchface and her soldiers arrive. It’s a bitch-off, guys.
The Untamed -- The Untamed Favourite Moments: Wang Lingjiao Vs...
This jumped up harlot of the Wen Clan sits on the throne and demands tea. One of Madam Yu’s handmaidens basically tells her to pour the damned tea her damned self.

Oooh. Sassy.

Flirty McBitchface says that servants should know their place. A little hypocritical, since she herself was a servant before Wen Chao decided he liked her better than his wife, her mistress. She says that Madam Yu’s servant would earn herself a slap to the face if she behaved that way in the Wen Clan.

Madam Yu tells Flirty McBitchface that no one can slap them. No one would dare.  Flirty McBitchface insists that servants should behave like servants. Madam Yu does the equivalent of saying, “Yeah, WWX. Know your place.”

When pressed as to why she seized their disciple, Flirty McBitchface says that it was because the child was conspiring against the Wen Clan. She uses the kite as proof - it’s round and golden, like the sun, which I guess is the symbol of the Wen Clan, apparently. WWX points out that if that’s the reasoning, then no one should be peeling and eating oranges, as they are golden and round like the sun. But oranges are a personal favourite of Flirty McBitchface.

Madam Yu demands the reason for the visit - was it really for a kite. Apparently not. No, Flirty McBitchface is there to seek punishment for a particular someone. That someone apparently distracted Wen Chao when he was fighting the slaughter tortoise. Luckily, Wen Chao killed it anyway (the lying cow), but the person who cost him the first fight needs to be punished. It’s WWX, obviously.

Jiang Cheng tries to step in, but is silenced by his mother.

Then Flirty McBitchface strikes a nerve, saying that if anyone in Lotus Cove was shielding him, it would lend credence to the rumours that WWX is actually Jiang Fengmian’s illegitimate son. Well, Madam Yu is having none of that. WWX loses his temper and goes for Flirty McBitchface, but Madam Yu hits him full in the chest with a whip of purple electricity that magically unleashes from a bracelet on her wrist. It’s the same weapon that older Jian Cheng lashed WWX with in the second episode.
image
Jiang Cheng steps between them, and Madam Yu warns him to butt out or he’ll feel the lash too. Her maids pull Jiang Cheng away and poor WWX gets lashed four more times. Once again, Jiang Cheng moves between them, tearfully begging his mother to stop.

She stops. Despite WWX in agony on the ground, Flirty McBitchface is not impressed. She demands that Madam Yu cut of WWX’s right hand - that’s his sword arm. Being WWX, we learn from eavesdropping on his thoughts, that he would gladly give up his right hand if it would mean the Wen Clan leaves the Jiang Clan alone.

By all accounts, it looks as though Madam Yu is going to do it, despite her son’s protestations. Flirty McBitchface then does something stupid. She reveals that the Lotus Cove is going to become the Wen Clan supervisory office - stripping Madam Yu and her son of their home. Well, doesn’t that get under Madam Yu’s skin. She full on backhands Flirty McBitchface, sending her sprawling. AND she puts her foot on Flirty McBitchface’s head and reminds her that she is just a servant, and that “I am superior, and you are inferior.”
wang lingjiao | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs | Tumgir
Look, I don’t like Madam Yu, though I kinda understand her lashing out, but there is not denying she is an absolute boss. I am absolutely cheering for her here.

Her badass servants then become a blur of murderous activity, slaughtering the Wen soldiers. Then they go for Flirty McBitchface. She screams for Wen Zhuliu - Wen Chao’s bodyguard, also known as the core melter (or crusher, depending on the translation you’re reading). Well, doesn’t it seem that Wen Zhuliu and Madam Yu know each other. She greets him as Core Crusher. He greets her as Purple Spider.

It looks like they aren’t going to fight, but Flirty McBitchface forces the issue. Amazingly, Madam Yu makes the first move, noting that Wen Zhuliu isn’t a Wen at all, but that he abandoned his own clan to join the Wens. That’s a backstory I’d really want to learn more about. Regardless, there’s a fight.

WWX shouts for Jiang Cheng to stop Flirty McBitchface from firing off the beacon, which would summon more Wen Clan soldiers. He does, but gets distracted when he sees Wen Zhuliu gain the upper hand in the fight against his mum. He goes to help her, but gets badly beaten by Wen Zhuliu. Meanwhile, Flirty McBitchface sends up the fireworks, sounding the alarm.

Madam Yu uses the distraction to collect WWX, who is still on the floor 'cause of his recent lashing, and her son, and flies off with them to the quay. She puts them both in a boat and checks Jiang Cheng over, relieved that the damage was not severe. My guess is she was very worried that the Core Crusher crushed his magical core.

What follows is a heartbreaking goodbye. Madam Yu ties both boys together with her purple whip, saying it belongs to Jiang Cheng now, and will recognize him as its master. Also, the bindings will not loosen until they’re both safe. She makes WWX swear he will protect Jiang Cheng with his life, if necessary. She doesn’t soften to WWX at all, blaming him for everything that has happened. But when Jiang Cheng begs his mother to come with them, she pulls him close
Yet ANOTHER Side Blog -- linglynz: The Untamed || Jiang Cheng + family...
She kicks the boat off the pier, watching them go with tears in her eyes, before turning and rejoining the fight.

Distraught, Jiang Cheng screams for his mother as the boat drifts down river. They come across their father’s boat. He is returning with Jiang Yanli. He releases the boys, discovering that the Purple Lightning Whip recognizes him as a master (giving hint to his wife’s feelings for him). Jiang Cheng explains everything, and begs for his father to take them back to the fight.

NOPE!

Jiang Fengmian ties all three of his children up with the purple lightning, telling them they’re to go to their grandmother’s to hide. There’s another touching goodbye before Jiang Fengmian leaves his children to go to his wife’s side.

His three children:
mylastbraincql: “gif request by @rosweldrmr : yunmeng bros handhold (II) ”
Me:
Gif to describe your current mood -- The Bump
And that’s where we end the episode.

What I Liked

Ugh! All the tears! Look, there’s a part of me that really enjoys having my heart torn out and stomped on, and this horrible tearing apart of parents and children definitely does that. I might have sobbed on my first watching. Hard. Like, my pillow was soaking wet. I held it together better this time around. Just.

There wasn’t so much action this episode, of course. It is a drama after all. But the tension in this episode was done extremely well. And they did rip my heart out. Sometimes those kind of scenes can be extremely corny - either the writing or the acting (and sometimes both) are inexcusably bad. Not so here. It was all so well done, and I was destroyed on my first watching.

What Could Have Been Better

Uh... there were no goofy action pieces this time around (which is really where I find my biggest complaints), so finding a complaint is tough. I’m not looking closely enough to see wires that appear on camera, or if there are any costuming mistakes. I honestly, don’t have anything that I’d do differently this time around.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    S.M. Carrière, a Celtic Studies enthusiast, writes fiction.  And this blog.

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Book Reviews
    Events
    Gaming
    Human
    Life
    Rants
    Reading
    Seraphimè Saga
    Seraphimè Saga
    Skylark
    Television
    Training
    Travels
    Writing
    YouTube

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly