What will he do in Dixing post canon? Has his character changed by the end? Does he have any redeeming characteristics at all?
In the flashback to the Regent's running things before Shen Wei wakes up (ep 35, 29:39), he says, "Ten thousand years ago, the Black-Cloaked Envoy worked hard to make this refuge viable. I can't be the one to ruin that with my old man's inefficiency." When his off-sider remarks, "In my opinion, it's because the Black-Cloaked Envoy was too much of a coward that we have to live here at all," and the Regent silences him with a sharp look and sends him off to check on the Sky Pillar/Ye Zun.
So at one point, the Regent was doing his best -- respectful of the Envoy's legacy, keeping an eye on Ye Zun, sending Ding Dun and co aboveground in search of the missing Hallows, with the express permission of the Dept of Supervision -- so he had a good working relationship with Haixing. (He was also already complaining: "Calm down! The fuss you're making gives me a backache.")
So maybe he's just someone who, the worse things get, the worse he gets? I realise this is probably a vastly over-optimistic reading of him, but... there's a chance that post-canon, with light and resources restored to Dixing and Ye Zun's corrupting influence taken out of the mix, he won't be completely terrible? I mean, probably not at all progressive, but not actively oppressive either? *fingers crossed*
Re: his grovelling to Shen Wei in the SID in episode 15, I mean, he's come to Haixing behind the Envoy's back (I'm guessing the Regent is more or less the boss of Dixing, while the Envoy/Ambassador has jurisdiction over Dixing stuff in Haixing[1]), AND he's made contact with the SID without consulting/notifying the Envoy, AND he's broken the law and lost the book. Both the Envoy and the Regent have to at least pay lip service to the law or they lose any legitimacy, so the Regent here is taking his lumps. Given what Dixing usually does to lawbreakers, a little grovelling and abasement isn't that bad!
[1] This would explain a) how the Regent can ignore Shen Wei's proposals for a school, and b) why he might think Shen Wei was impertinent for sticking his oar in to domestic affairs.
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In the flashback to the Regent's running things before Shen Wei wakes up (ep 35, 29:39), he says, "Ten thousand years ago, the Black-Cloaked Envoy worked hard to make this refuge viable. I can't be the one to ruin that with my old man's inefficiency." When his off-sider remarks, "In my opinion, it's because the Black-Cloaked Envoy was too much of a coward that we have to live here at all," and the Regent silences him with a sharp look and sends him off to check on the Sky Pillar/Ye Zun.
So at one point, the Regent was doing his best -- respectful of the Envoy's legacy, keeping an eye on Ye Zun, sending Ding Dun and co aboveground in search of the missing Hallows, with the express permission of the Dept of Supervision -- so he had a good working relationship with Haixing. (He was also already complaining: "Calm down! The fuss you're making gives me a backache.")
So maybe he's just someone who, the worse things get, the worse he gets? I realise this is probably a vastly over-optimistic reading of him, but... there's a chance that post-canon, with light and resources restored to Dixing and Ye Zun's corrupting influence taken out of the mix, he won't be completely terrible? I mean, probably not at all progressive, but not actively oppressive either? *fingers crossed*
Re: his grovelling to Shen Wei in the SID in episode 15, I mean, he's come to Haixing behind the Envoy's back (I'm guessing the Regent is more or less the boss of Dixing, while the Envoy/Ambassador has jurisdiction over Dixing stuff in Haixing[1]), AND he's made contact with the SID without consulting/notifying the Envoy, AND he's broken the law and lost the book. Both the Envoy and the Regent have to at least pay lip service to the law or they lose any legitimacy, so the Regent here is taking his lumps. Given what Dixing usually does to lawbreakers, a little grovelling and abasement isn't that bad!
[1] This would explain a) how the Regent can ignore Shen Wei's proposals for a school, and b) why he might think Shen Wei was impertinent for sticking his oar in to domestic affairs.