I love this scene! This is a great summary & analysis of it, and I love the choice of screencaps. It's so fascinating to watch all the changes Zhao Yunlan makes in his approach.
Zhao Yunlan starts out with an implied apology for thinking the Envoy cold and heartless, ending with an attempt at commiseration: “Must be hard”. His attitude is both confident and patronizing.
Hmmm, interesting! I wouldn't have called it patronizing. I think I see what you're getting at, though. But for me, it feels like Zhao Yunlan is smug about knowing Shen Wei's secret identity, but I don't get that he's being condescending about it. I guess there could be a tinge of feeling temporarily superior to Shen Wei in having found out his identity. But I don't feel that he's being condescending or patronizing about Shen Wei being the Black-Cloaked Envoy.
For question 4, I think it's hard for Shen Wei to turn his back on an appeal "for the greater good," and peace and stability were what he wanted in ancient Haixing. I don't think that's changed for him: a peaceful, stable world is the goal. And Zhao Yunlan finally moving beyond the personal, "do it for me" appeals may be the closest Zhao Yunlan has come to being Kunlun (so far), at least in this scene. Mentioning "as long as we work together" harkens back to Kunlun telling Shen Wei he doesn't have to take the step alone, he has Kunlun.
Question 6: really interesting questions! I wonder if Zhao Yunlan starts with personal appeals because he hopes the secret identity was the only personal barrier between them. He wants Shen Wei and himself to be closer. He knows Shen Wei keeping secrets has been a barrier between them, and it would be easy to assume the secret identity is the biggest secret/barrier. Which, of course, it isn't!
I don't know if we see enough of Zhao Yunlan's interrogation techniques to know if the way he switches tactics is just the detective in him. Shen Wei is the most unforthcoming of the people we see him question... Or the difference is that Zhao Yunlan isn't willing to leave without an answer/promise this time.
For what Shen Wei is thinking, comparing Zhao Yunlan to Kunlun... It's easy for me to imagine some really sad thoughts here! But another way of looking at it is that I like to imagine Shen Wei getting to know the man he fell in love with. That there are aspects to Zhao Yunlan Shen Wei didn't expect, perhaps, but they complete the picture.
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Zhao Yunlan starts out with an implied apology for thinking the Envoy cold and heartless, ending with an attempt at commiseration: “Must be hard”. His attitude is both confident and patronizing.
Hmmm, interesting! I wouldn't have called it patronizing. I think I see what you're getting at, though. But for me, it feels like Zhao Yunlan is smug about knowing Shen Wei's secret identity, but I don't get that he's being condescending about it. I guess there could be a tinge of feeling temporarily superior to Shen Wei in having found out his identity. But I don't feel that he's being condescending or patronizing about Shen Wei being the Black-Cloaked Envoy.
For question 4, I think it's hard for Shen Wei to turn his back on an appeal "for the greater good," and peace and stability were what he wanted in ancient Haixing. I don't think that's changed for him: a peaceful, stable world is the goal. And Zhao Yunlan finally moving beyond the personal, "do it for me" appeals may be the closest Zhao Yunlan has come to being Kunlun (so far), at least in this scene. Mentioning "as long as we work together" harkens back to Kunlun telling Shen Wei he doesn't have to take the step alone, he has Kunlun.
Question 6: really interesting questions! I wonder if Zhao Yunlan starts with personal appeals because he hopes the secret identity was the only personal barrier between them. He wants Shen Wei and himself to be closer. He knows Shen Wei keeping secrets has been a barrier between them, and it would be easy to assume the secret identity is the biggest secret/barrier. Which, of course, it isn't!
I don't know if we see enough of Zhao Yunlan's interrogation techniques to know if the way he switches tactics is just the detective in him. Shen Wei is the most unforthcoming of the people we see him question... Or the difference is that Zhao Yunlan isn't willing to leave without an answer/promise this time.
For what Shen Wei is thinking, comparing Zhao Yunlan to Kunlun... It's easy for me to imagine some really sad thoughts here! But another way of looking at it is that I like to imagine Shen Wei getting to know the man he fell in love with. That there are aspects to Zhao Yunlan Shen Wei didn't expect, perhaps, but they complete the picture.