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TL;DR Version
DFQC pulls Tai Sui into his Sea of Heart, where Orchid’s magic lives and can help him trap Tai Sui there. Tai Sui works on DFQC’s insecurities, and in a brief moment of weakness, gets control of his body. The Fairies and the Moon Tribe work together, giving Orchid the time to go in and kill them both. 500 years later, love is everywhere, and DFQC comes back.
Recap
Orchid and Chang Heng approach Yun Zhong for their marriage while DFQC strides across the surface of the moon. He enters the Soul-Shattering Abyss and calls Tai Sui out.
Evil God Tai Sui wants his body and spirit and will give him Orchid in return. DFQC has other plans, and he pulls Tai Sui into his Sea of Heart. DFQC is going to bury them both there. Tai Sui thinks he doesn’t have enough power, but DFQC says the power Orchid planted in him will be enough.
Flashback to that first episode, Orchid waking in the barren frozen wasteland of DFQC’s Sea of Heart. She touched the tree and sent green magic into it. Now it’s blooming and filled with her power. Tai Sui tries to escape, but Orchid is all over DFQC’s Sea of Heart.
Tai Sui appears as DFQC, smoldering with Evil Spirit. He starts to work on DFQC’s insecurities, but DFQC is calm and secure in his choice. He’ll do anything for Orchid.
Meanwhile, Chang Heng and Orchid are getting married. Dan Yin and Jie Li are there. No one looks happy.
Tai Sui/DFQC threatens that DFQC will be erased, which DFQC points out is Tai Sui’s fear. But when Tai Sui/DFQC mentions Orchid forgetting him, DFQC hesitates and his eyes open before he says ‘so what’. This is enough for Tai Sui. His eyes glow red and Evil Spirit floods the Sea of Heart and wraps around DFQC.
He’s back in the Soul-Shattering Abyss, yelling, eyes black, Evil Spirit tattooed on his neck, and hair white again. He’s very heavy metal.
Orchid has just placed her hand on Chang Heng’s when the Suiyuntian sky becomes dark. All the fairies confront the swirling, whirling mess of Tai Sui in DFQC’s immortal body. Yun Zhong says how bad it’ll be if Tai Sui is free and they have to work together. He still sucks.
Power shoots from the fairy’s hands and creates a sphere around Tai Sui/DFQC. Orchid goes in despite Chang Heng trying to hold her back. He’s worried she’s too weak since she just transformed, but she just keeps pushing against the magic.
The fairies are knocked back, and Shang Que catches Jie Li. The Moon Tribe is there to help, by order of DFQC. Xun Feng affirms the order and says he won’t make past mistakes. He also still sucks.
Chang Heng still calls to Orchid to give up, but Orchid reaches DFQC and kisses him. Red flame surges out from them.
Chang Heng says Orchid’s power has now been activated. Xun Feng thinks his brother’s Hellfire is back, but Yun Zhong says it’s Glazed Fire. It’s the fire of compassion, only mastered by those with great love and compassion who’ve also suffered.
Orchid is in DFQC’s Sea of Heart where he’s held by the Evil Spirit. DFQC wants her to kill him. She says it was her destiny to save the world, not his. He says it was his destiny to save her. Sobbing, she blasts him with green power.
They kiss in the center of the red flames, and all signs of Evil Spirit disappear from DFQC. They float into the stars. He says he’s changed her fate for her, and while she sobs and tries to hold onto him, he floats away. A tiny moon pendant like the one on her Bone Orchid floats back and lands in her palm.
At Xishan Siming Hall, Xun Feng asks Orchid if his brother will be back. Orchid says no, but also asks if he believes in miracles.
500 years later
Orchid narrates from one of the Siming Halls about how love can change the world. There’s no longer war in the realms. Chang Heng is being Xiao Run in the mortal world. Dan Yin visits him and says she’s joining the fairy army. He’s going to step down as god of war and go traveling. Xun Feng is now a good leader, and the Moon Tribe forests are filled with happy children. Jie Li is there, scolding Shang Que. We even see the sad graves of Rong Hao and Chi Di.
Orchid narrates about the one that love changed the most, DFQC, who gave up his life for love. We see that in the Siming garden, the little moon pendant is floating under a leaf canopy. Orchid turns away, but then stops and turns around.
Because DFQC is there, and he says he’s back. She smiles with tears in her eyes and they kiss.
Thoughts
The first time I watched this I burst into tears after it ended. I’m not a crier. This show is about a bunch of fantastical gods and fairies and heavy metal devils and body switches and ridiculous torture methods and Glazed Fire and all kinds of silly things, and yet it managed to make me feel things. That’s when stories are magic.
There’s definitely not enough DFQC at the end. Five more minutes. That’s all I wanted. Just to see him and Orchid enjoying being together again after being apart for 500 years. (Though I console myself that in immortal time 500 years really isn’t that long).
I could have used another beat with Jie Li and Shang Que too, before seeing them together at the end.
What was Chang Heng’s plan in calling Orchid back during the climactic fight? I think maybe he wanted her out of there so they could seal Tai Sui/DFQC in again and then when she was stronger she’d destroy the both of them? That’s my best guess.
And what did Orchid mean about miracles when talking with Xun Feng? I think the moon pendant contained DFQC’s primordial spirit, and since she’s the Xishan Goddess she would be able to bring DFQC back using it. Was that just a bit of plot dragging the angst out?
One of my favorite parts of the entire show is how the fantasy world of Fairy and Devil is more than just a setting, it’s this wonderful emotional landscape. How wonderful that DFQC drags Tai Sui into his Sea of Heart, which had been a barren wasteland that represented his own emotional emptiness, now a serene peaceful place from his emotional healing.
And there Tai Sui turns into a manipulative, evil version of himself, which is so psychological and surreal. In contrast to Rong Hao’s sympathetic bad guy, Tai Sui was a fantastic, pure evil villain. It wasn’t anything more than insecurities personified, but that made it so powerful. Because the final, climatic moment was not about who was strongest, but all about feelings.
Tai Sui makes me realize how weak the Great Turtle character was because it didn’t seem to represent anything in particular. It feels like it should have been the opposite of Tai Sui, but it wasn’t. Xun Feng’s turn for good was a little unconvincing, and Yun Zhong should have died in that final battle. All the rest of the characters were amazing though.
Still, despite its flaws, it is one of the best endings and one of my favorite Chinese dramas.