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TL;DR Version
It’s the wedding day and nothing will go as planned. Orchid learns of DFQC’s plan and is brokenhearted over what to do. Rong Hao releases Evil Spirit to cause chaos. DFQC fights it off and goes after Chi Di’s primordial spirit. In front of Dan Ying, Xiao Run/Chang Heng is killed by an Evil Spirit possessed Wan Qing/Chi Di, who then attacks Orchid.
Recap
Shang Que and Jie Li hang wedding decorations. Jie Li explains mortal wedding rituals and Shang Que explains dragon marriage rituals and devotion. Jie Li pretends not to be moved.
Jie Li is upset over a missing bead despite it being a fake wedding. Wan Qing/Chi Di acts like a concerned sister, showing up with jewelry to help Orchid. Meanwhile, Xiao Run/Chang Heng treats DFQC like a brother as they greet guests.
DFQC and Orchid escape preparations and sit together. She’s feeling guilty but doesn’t think DFQC will understand. But he feels the same towards Chang Heng. Orchid wants them to pretend to be mortals for the day and forget the fairies or the Moon Tribe.
Dan Yin is back, dressed as Cricket. She helps Xiao Run/Chang Heng prepare and the missing bead falls from his wedding clothes.
Dan Yin takes the bead to Orchid and reveals herself and Yun Zhong’s plan. Both want to protect Chang Heng, but Orchid is defensive of DFQC. Rong Hao shows up in front of both of them with a plan to stop DFQC from killing Chang Heng. Rong Hao wants Orchid to lure DFQC away because she’s the only one DFQC trusts.
Orchid is reluctant. Rong Hao explains how Chang Heng always loved her and was hampered by his engagement. Orchid is still reluctant. Rong Hao tells her about how DFQC is there to get Chi Di Nu Zi’s primordial spirit to release the soldiers. Orchid realizes that DFQC lied. Rong Hao gives her poison to weaken DFQC so Rong Hao can rescue the others.
The bead drops. Rong Hao picks it up and hands it back.
The wedding comes and goes! It starts snowing and the guests leave. Xiao Run/Chang Heng discovers Wan Qing/Chi Di waiting for him on the bed and leaves right away.
Orchid and DFQC wait with some tea that might be poisoned. DFQC pours it and talks about how happy he is today.
Orchid stops him and asks his true purpose there. He says it’s nothing to do with her but she says if it’s about killing all the fairies it is to do with her. She’s crying and bringing up their promise not to lie. He reminds her that he’s the Moon Supreme, he wants to destroy Shuyuitan, but it sounds forced. She thought he was enjoying the peaceful time they had as mortals, being with Xiao Run/Chang Heng. DFQC says Xiao Run and Chang Heng are different, and he will kill Chang Heng when he sees him. He can’t do anything about it if she hates him for this. She takes off the crown and gets up.
Rong Hao and his henchwoman are lurking. Rong Hao isn’t worried about the poison because he stuck Evil Spirit in the bead he handed back to Orchid, now in her crown.
Wan Qing/Chi Di is looking for DFQC when she hears a flute playing. She remembers a boy in bad shape in the snow, playing that song. I don’t think she sees him, but she follows after him.
Orchid is crying because she doesn’t hate DFQC. She understands the importance of his duty and his people, but she doesn’t know what to do. He looks about to hug her but the camera warns us this won’t happen by focusing on the evil bead.
Dan Yin appears as her fairy self and tries to warn Xiao Run/Chang Heng but he doesn’t understand.
The Evil Spirit escapes and Orchid shoves DFQC away as the thick black smoke overwhelms the area. It gets to Wan Qing/Chi Di and the Hellfire mark on her neck glows. DFQC pushes into the smoke despite Orchid warning him away. Wan Qing/Chi Di comes across Xiao Run/Chang Heng. Dan Yin recognizes the Evil Spirit from earlier and tries to defend him, but he gets stabbed in the gut.
DFQC yells and the Evil Spirit all gets sucked up somewhere, into DFQC?
Xiao Run dies in front of Dan Yin. Orchid hugs DFQC who claims he’s okay. He wants to know if the poisoned wine and Evil Spirit are from the same person. Orchid admits it’s from Rong Hao. DFQC knows Rong Hao is Chi Di Nu Zi’s disciple.
DFQC goes to find the fated couple. Dan Yin hides from him with Xiao Run’s corpse and promises to avenge him. Orchid is chasing after DFQC when Wan Qing/Chi Di attacks her. Crazed by the Evil spirit, she’s about to stab Orchid.
Thoughts
That is an intense and wonderful episode. Especially that last sequence. Everyone was desperate to control fate and yet each character gets trapped in their own nightmare. In the dark. In the snow. After a wedding. The atmosphere is so tragic and haunting.
Orchid gets big revelations all at once, about Chang Heng and DFQC. If there’s one thing that doesn’t work for me, it’s Orchid being surprised to learn why DFQC is in the mortal realm. I’d even forgotten she didn’t know his plan. Why did she think he was helping them?
The show tries to play it off as her having forgotten while they were enjoying the peaceful, mortal life, but that didn’t quite seem to be what was happening either. She and he were fighting, first about this very issue and later over the love square. Looking back I can kinda see it, but I wish they’d made it more obvious that they were on a kind of vacation from reality.
That doesn’t get in the way of my loving the scene where they were arguing right before everything fell apart. It’s almost a repeat of the scene in the cold cave, it’s the same conflict, except in the cave DFQC seemed angry and Orchid firm. This time DFQC doesn’t sound like his heart is in it, and Orchid is so conflicted and confused that she’s crying. Maybe it hasn’t worked how Orchid wanted it, but being together in the human realm with the more trivial issues and pleasures has changed their perspectives.