If you’re feeling lost on a person, place or thing check out the Glossary for a spoiler-free reminder.
TL;DR Version
Jie Li shows up and gives Orchid new perspective on her relationship with DFQC. Orchid won’t fix the Destiny Book but hopes charming DFQC will get her freedom. Her efforts fail, but she learns DFQC has had his emotional roots destroyed and vows to restore his feelings. Her first attempt though, nearly gets Jie Li killed. Meanwhile, Chang Heng sets out to rescue Orchid.
Recap
Jie Li, last seen selling Orchid an elixir and sending her to Haishi City, is in the Cangyan Sea marketplace. She evades some guards with magic before showing up at fake-Siming Hall dressed like one of the Moon Tribe women.
Since Orchid was accused of being a spy, Jie Li was implicated and had to flee Haishi City. She wants Orchid to give her shelter. Orchid thinks it’s too dangerous and when DFQC shows up right then, has Jie Lie hide.
First DFQC says he wants to see Orchid and then amends that he wants her to fix the Destiny Book. Orchid is reluctant because he’s going to use it against the Fairy Realm. She’s thinking they’re even, even though he rescued her more he’s the Moon Supreme and she’s a useless fairy.
He does not think they are even. He uses magic to reveal Jie Li and threatens to kill her if Orchid doesn’t fix the Destiny Book.
Shang Que takes a reluctant Jie Li to prison. Mouth racing, contradicting herself, she convinces him DFQC is going to make Orchid the next Moon Queen. But despite her endless arguments, nothing will make him go against his lord and return her to Orchid.
But then Orchid shows up and Shang Que startles her by immediately agreeing to hand over Jie Li. Orchid having no idea he thinks she’s on her way to becoming his Queen.
At fake-Siming Hall, Jie Li works on Orchid and her relationship with DFQC. Orchid thinks his kindness is only because of the Heart Curse and Destiny Books. Jie Li thinks there’s more to it, and though she can’t convince Orchid, Orchid wants Jie Li’s help in coaxing him into a good mood so he’ll let her go.
Shang Que tells DFQC that Orchid wants to see him and DFQC pulls off his emotion-blocking You Jade ring.
Jie Li coaches Orchid until the last moment when DFQC arrives. Orchid is coy and DFQC is uninterested unless she’s fixing the Destiny Book. She gets him to sit down for some flower cakes she flavored especially to help with his sadness. Having been mistreated in her own Fairy Realm, she mentioned how sad it is the way his brother treated him. DFQC accuses her of playing tricks and gets up to leave.
Orchid stops him, calling him Wooden Head. To her, that’s a less intimidating name than Moon Supreme. She’s noticed there are the exact same number of flowers here as the real Siming Hall, meaning he took notice and made sure they’d be there. She thinks this proves he cares about her.
He denies it, showing her the Hellfire as proof. The only other person to ever wield it is Yannv, the first ancestor of the Moon Tribe. The only way to be able to harness and control it is by having all his emotions stripped away. He doesn’t have feelings so he can’t like her.
He flashes back on the nightmare torture that we now see was inflicted by his father, the previous Moon Supreme, in an ancient forbidden ritual to strip his seven emotions.
At the same time, Orchid remembers appearing in the snow at the base of a dead tree right before she met him. This was his Heart Sea and Love Tree.
DFQC demands to know why she’s happy when he tells her this story. She’s relieved that he doesn’t hate her, he’s had his emotions ripped out. She might be a useless fairy, but she can cure everything, including his Love Tree. He thinks this is a waste of time and leaves.
Orchid goes to Jie Li to get an elixir that will amplify emotions. Jie Li also thinks this is hopeless but agrees to sell Orchid the elixir, although it just adds to Orchid’s mounting debt with her.
Orchid’s manipulations cause DFQC to first burst into laughter and then into tears in front of his ministers. He knows it’s Orchid’s work and demands Shang Que get the ring back. Shang Que anticipates DFQC’s need for the ring, when it arrives a moment later a frantic DFQC puts it on and demands Orchid be brought to him.
Orchid and Jie Li are bowing deeply in apology when DFQC uses Hellfire to strangle Jie Li and drag her into the air. He drops her to the ground and threatens to kill Orchid if she does that again.
In the Fairy Realm, Rong Hao magics away the seal Yun Zhong put on Chang Heng. Rong Hao isn’t going to stop Chang Heng from going after Orchid, because he would do the same if he could save his master.
Chang Heng is out on the Memory Loss River when the skies get thunderous, and something that looks like an eye beams down from the clouds above.
Thoughts
After spending the first quarter of the show learning about Orchid in her natural habitat, we continue to get a deeper understanding of DFQC and his history in the Cangyan Sea. Along with that, relationships are shifting around, and even though it’s action-light it’s emotional-action-heavy. Orchid, having thought DFQC liked her, cruelly learned he didn’t, become his prisoner, and then saved his life, understandably starts this episode in a state of confusion over her feelings and his. With the revelation of his own emotional issues, she at least has a better understanding of him and what she can do for him.
I love that on the way to that understanding, while Jie Li had her initially trying to put on an act, the goal she comes up with on her own is all about genuinely helping him to get what she wants. Even if restoring his Love Tree sounds like a euphemism.
Again though, Orchid’s plans for going home where everyone thinks she’s a traitor are a little too hazy for my taste. I wish she had even a line of dialogue about why she thinks she won’t immediately get killed by Yun Zhong. Even misplaced trust in Chang Heng. It’s even more confusing because she seems to be a prisoner again even after DFQC let her go last episode. Maybe that freedom still hinges on the Destiny Books? Or she doesn’t know she’s free?
For the record, I’ve decided that DFQC is already having emotions, though they are shallow and confusing and he couldn’t identify them to save his own life. His building fake-Siming Hall, having the exact number of flowers, and showing up saying he wants to see her before amending it to include the Destiny Book, are all proof. Jie Li might not be that far from the truth. In a way, I feel bad for him, as there must have been something horrifying about having his body taken over by the feelings Orchid forced on him.