Episode 15 Summary: Reunions & Departures

So in this episode we lose a big character but we see the reunion of Jing and Li'er

-Li'er hesitates many times before leaving. She points out to elder brother that if she leaves, her son will be in danger. She knows that people are after his life because someone tried to kidnap him. She knows Zheng better than anyone else....and she still leaves. After all, elder brother says, 'we will come up with some kind of plan to get him back and Zheng will protect him'. REALLY? Zheng isn't even there, and he's proven to us that Tian Ming is a tool to be used to anchor Li'er at his side. I don't think he will be a big ally. Not to MENTION that Zheng is extraordinarily spiteful; if you harm him he gets back at you ten times.
But she goes.

-Elsewhere, Jing is drinking himself to death when Lan'er finds him to give him the news that Li'er has managed to escape with her elder brother's help. At the same time, Brother Gao shows up and implores Jing to keep training and remain true to his goals

-Ghao learns of Li'er leaving and his first action, naturally, is to arrest all of her servants and submit them to brutal torture. Not only has her decision to leave made them negligent and caused them to fail in their duty, it looks like they helped her. I don't think she thought of that.

-Ru'er is pleased with the turn of events

-We learn that Jing still does not know she gave birth to his child. It seems she wants to tell him personally.

-The reunion scene with Li'er and Jing was very poignant and emotional--although I find it very interesting that just before she goes in she has flashbacks of the emperor....--and they embrace and vow to never leave the other again.

-Meanwhile, Lu Buwei listens to his retainer tell him that he has accomplished so much but Lu Buwei laughs and says what do his achievments mean when his own son views him as a snake and will not acknowledge his parentage?

-Lu Buwei commits suicide.

-The emperor learns of the suicide and his face is utterly affect. he comments that he really is Lu Buwei, perhaps implying that Lu Buwei never relinquished control and got the last word by taking his own life and yet he has flashbacks of childhood memories of meeting him and the scene in the throne room where he swore allegiance, perhaps implying that he might actually feel the rare feeling of regret--but this is cutshort when another messenger shows up to tell him Li'er is missing, and for two days. Well he freaks and rides back.

-The Queen Dowager is devastated when she learns Lu Buwei has died--and left her alone--which is clearly her greatest fear.

-Now an incredibly cheesy scene unfolds of Jing chasing Li'er and it looks like they are frolicking in some kind of paradise where its just them and there are no other problems--but they juxtapose this with the emperor furiously riding back, which makes me think the purpose of the scene to establish how out of touch with reality the two currently are--there things at work that are not only more powerful than her but things she will not be able to escape. I think things are going to be bad for her.

Thoughts: I really liked how they filmed Lu Buwei, as we saw a lot of insight to his personality and thoughts. And his suicide was filmed in a very cool way i.e. the discovery of his body. In addition to this, I think that the relationship between the emperor and Li'er will never be the same because now I understand why they had him visiting his mother the last episode. It was like to remind the audience that he thinks his mother abandoned him. He thinks Lu Buwei only wants to use him. And here it looks like Li'er abandoned her child for her lover--kind of like re-traumatizing him and opening up all these old wounds. He will probably react by punishing her. After all, Li'er has never done anything to make him dislike her--she's fulfilled her promises, she's shown loyalty to her family, she's not asked him for anything (well, except the antidote but he set up that trap) and she doesn't play games. She's honored her promises. These are things he cannot have, in spite of all his might, without intimidating others. Now she has 'betrayed him' in his mind. I think

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