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TL;DR Version
Orchid’s kiss causes another body swap, and DFQC realizes too late he needs thunder and lightning to switch back. “DFQC” gets “Orchid” locked up, and then discovers how hard it is to be Moon Supreme. Once “Orchid” breaks free, the two agree to work together to keep from being killed for the next three days, until the next lightning storm.
Recap
Body swap time! This is going to get confusing, so from here on out DFQC-in-Orchid’s body is “Orchid” and Orchid-in-DFQC’s body is “DFQC”.
The thunder and lightning are gone, and “DFQC” is annoyed that DFQC was causing it this entire time. “Orchid” goes for another kiss, discovering too late what Orchid already figured out, they need thunder and lightning to make the swap happen.
Orchid’s body is too weak to make lightning, and when “Orchid” goes to strangle “DFQC”, Shang Que shows up to defend his lord. “DFQC” orders that “Orchid” be locked away, who can do nothing as he’s carried off.
Dressed in Moon Supreme garb, “DFQC” is getting stuck on curtains, lifting her skirts, and walking nothing like the real Moon Supreme. The first order of business is to go to the main hall for a ceremony honoring DFQC’s return, and “DFQC” doesn’t even know how to get there.
After awkwardly climbing some steps and kicking around her robes, “DFQC” is horrified to be expected to sacrifice a recently captured fairy spy. Not wanting to become a murderer but on the spot, “DFQC” first tries to enlist the fairy, who seems to want to be sacrificed, then flings the heavy sword off to the side, then finally goes through some verbal contortions about wanting to kill the fairy on the battlefield. The ministers and brother are probably more confused than convinced, but they let the fairy go. “DFQC” notices Xun Feng eyeing her with hatred.
Worn out by the tense situations, “DFQC” escapes any more work by telling Shang Que she’s tired. Alone in bed, she realizes that her situation hasn’t improved much. In this body, they’ll immediately kill her in the Fairy Realm, and even in her real body, she’s not sure how to convince them she’s not secretly from the Moon Tribe.
In prison, “Orchid” tricks some guards into coming into his cell and attacking, causing the Bone Orchid bracelet to knock them out so he can escape.
Some aggressive women show up to molest the Moon Supreme and “DFQC” sends them out and asks Shang Que in. “DFQC” starts asking about DFQC and comes up with the excuse that she’s lost her memory and some of her magic. Shang Que warns that if anyone knows this, they’ll kill her. “DFQC” wants to know if Shang Que can protect her. At a loss, Shang Que doesn’t say much more than he can’t when “Orchid” shows up and tackles “DFQC” for a kiss.
“Orchid” gets rid of Shang Que by asking if he really wants to see them get intimate and keeps trying to push “DFQC” into another kiss. “DFQC” stops the kiss-assault by pointing out there is no thunder and lightning so this is pointless. “Orchid” needs to accept the status quo.
They air some personal grievances first, with “Orchid” upset at how his body can be used to do things without his consent and “DFQC” upset that there are women ready to serve the moon Supreme. “Orchid” denies that he’s intimate with any women and “DFQC” points out that it doesn’t matter since he never really liked her.
But the real issue is that if anyone knows about the body swap they are both dead. Done being “DFQC” after less than a day and ready to swap back, she tries to summon lightning using the DFQC’s powers. Instead, she looks silly. “Orchid” says there will be a lightning storm in 3 days so they have to wait.
Rong Hao in his Lord of Haishi city outfit learns from his spy, one of the earlier Moon Tribe women, that DFQC has the Destiny Book and knows it’s Chi Di’s. However, something is stopping him from using it to get his soldiers. They need to get rid of DFQC, and as powerful as he is, even DFQC will succumb to the Evil Spirit.
“Orchid” is giving “DFQC” lessons on how to be the real DFQC, which ends up making “DFQC” laugh. “DFQC” thinks they should tell Shang Que and get his help, but “Orchid” isn’t willing to trust anyone. “DFQC” wants to know why DFQC killed his father.
Now masked again, the Lord of Haishi City meets up with Xun Feng. They have a history of helping each other out in the 30,000 years that DFQC has been gone. The Lord of Haishi City promises to help Xun Feng avenge his father and kill his brother. Xun Feng has a flashback to watching his brother, much younger at the time, impale their father on a sword.
“DFQC” is surprised that DFQC really killed his father to become Moon Supreme. She didn’t think he was that kind of person. “Orchid” says he is that kind of person and she needs to become that kind of herself too for them to survive.
“DFQC” physically shoves “Orchid” out of the chamber, stopping only long enough to declare she’ll never be that kind of person.
Thoughts
The acting in this section is great. Yu Shu Xin, who for this episode is playing DFQC in Orchid’s body, admittedly gets less of a chance to showcase her talents. DFQC isn’t even trying to pretend to be Orchid, and no one in the Moon Tribe knows her anyway.
But Wang He Di gets to have fun, not only being Orchid in DFQC’s body but being Orchid pretending to be DFQC in his body. He pulls it off really well too. At first he’s just obviously Really Orchid. So obvious that it’s surprising everyone around DFQC doesn’t realize anything is up. But he’s been gone for a while so I’ll let it go. Then, once Orchid realizes she needs to try to be DFQC, it’s clear that it’s the light-hearted Orchid trying to look stern and serious, rather than the natural cold seriousness of DFQC. He really does a great job.
The funny thing is, I don’t really like body swap shows. It was part of my hesitation before starting this one. There’s some a bit existentially-nightmare-ish about being forced into another body against your will. But since this is the Xianxia world where men can also be Dragons and Orchid flowers can become fairies, that bothers me less.
Story-wise, this is an interesting time for Orchid. She’s just discovered that the DFQC she’s been getting to know for the last 10 episodes has been lying the entire time, and questions everything she knew about him. But because she’s in his body now, she’s also getting a chance to understand who he really is and where he comes from. Just like how DFQC was forced to understand her in order to get what he wanted, she’s being forced to understand him in order to not die.
Besides that, their relationship is progressing because now they are genuinely working together without any false pretenses about the situation. To a degree anyway. I love that Orchid is refusing to become a jerk and not taking DFQC’s dire warnings too seriously.