The second half of NiF 2 is a lot better
Feb. 13th, 2018 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkObviously this is subjective, but after it took me weeks to watch the first half of Nirvana in Fire 2 and I didn't really mind waiting days between episodes, I started watching the second half on Sunday and then binge-watched the rest of it until I was finished. I enjoyed it a lot! Season 2 still doesn't come close to season 1, but to be fair very few shows do.
Finally we have plot! Battle plans, political machinations, conspiracies and those who try to uncover them, grand plans and their unraveling: I was always interested what would happen next. We got new characters and I liked most of them a lot, I was especially glad that most of them were smart and competent. And Pingjing finally grows up!
(No sibling feelings anymore though :( )
Pingjing survived! I was very surprised by that. And Feizhan survived too, very nice. I thought for sure the revolt would end worse. It was very nicely done, with how expertly Yuanqi got General Di Ming on his side, and how, when the Spring Hunt was canceled, he just took the capital instead, and to prevent the army there from fighting just had most of their leaders assassinated. I really liked the Empress Dowager's end, to my surprise: dying for her son makes complete sense. A great scene was also when Yuanqi and Yuanshi sat next to each other with wine and Yuanqi monologued at his cousin.
Yuanqi made a great Big Bad, and I say that after initially rooting for him to stay one of the good guys. He almost resisted temptation, but Marquis Mozi was just too good. And once he gave in one time – I mean maybe in theory he had more chances but in practice? Not really. And the whole way you could always see how he justifies things to himself, to the point where he's baffled by Anru's perspective on it all. (Poor Anru. And especially Pei'er. Anru at least could have done more to stop her husband.) Even after Pingzhang and Tingsheng are dead and Pingjing left the capital, he still never gets rid of comparing himself to Pingjing, so when the Chang Lin banner arrives…
Their final duel – it was a bit stupid for Pingjing to agree to it, but he was at one point fond of Yuanqi. I really liked their conversation beforehand, too, where Pingjing pointed out that Yuanqi blamed everyone else for what he's done and that Yuanshi might be an unknown, but Yuanqi is definitely bad.
I liked Pingjing so much better in the second half, it was a huge relief (though I disliked that it took his brother's death to make him grow up, but his development after that made sense.) He is smart, and he was a great general. I especially liked when he begged Minister Xun not to read the decree and then went ahead with the battle anyway, for the good of the citizens of the country, and how he "defended" himself in court by admitting everything and then holding a speech about the value of citizens' lives. Of course he had to be punished, he was lucky to get away with his life (he even kept his noble title!) I really liked the scenes of Pingjing with his father after Pingjing came back to the capital. Finally they seem to be able to understand each other! …and shortly afterwards Tingsheng dies. Ouch. Pingjing mourning at his father's memorial and still wishing that Pingzhang should be alive instead of him was also a good scene.
It makes sense for him to stay at Langya Hall for so long, especially after his father explicitly released him from his military/political obligations. No surprise that he'd prefer to travel the world with Lin Xi – but of course he can't stay away and let Yuanshi be overthrown and killed. He did very well with that, with a short moment of stupidity when he thinks that in a city controlled by his enemy the best place to go hide with the Emperor is his own family's house *facepalm*, nobody would ever think to search for him there. If at least he'd thought of the secret tunnel in advance. Su Manor was a great callback :) The bracelet too, though it deflecting the sword was almost OTT.
I liked basically all of Pingjing's scenes with Yuanshi, especially the last ones. I wish Pingjing had finished telling him about Pingzhang, who was also the son of a traitor but good and honorable, but hopefully Yuanshi was sufficiently reassured.
Lin Xi doesn't really have any plotlines in the second half except be Pingjing's love interest. A bit of a shame but better than to force her presence as they sometimes did. At least their relationship is genuinely sweet, I liked that they wrote each other letters, how excited Pingjing is for her and her studies, and his proposals were very nice.
I liked that they got their happy ending, and that Pingjing doesn't cut his ties to Jinling completely and at least promises to write. Nice compromise.
General Yue was also right in that it was probably the best for the political stability, too. Pingjing being able to reassemble the Chang Lin army on the fly to rescue the Emperor turned out to be a good thing – awesome scenes, I cheered when each regiment arrivedand tried to ignore the impossible timeline – but it was also a scary display of power. Pingjing was happy that Yuanshi restored the Chang Lin army name, but in terms of politics… Pingjing is still a prince, and (if I understand correctly) Ce'er when he grows up will be too, as will any future children of Pingjing. But at least the next generation won't have the same intimate ties to the Emperor, so it'll be easier for him to restrict their power to a safe point. Because if the next generation doesn't have the same ties it's also harder to be sure of their loyalty. Long-term Chang Lin manor's power will have to be restricted, Minister Xun was not totally wrong to be worried.
Speaking of General Yue Yinchuan, I loved him. Finally another competent character! Who is also likeable, has loyal subordinates, and tries to figure out what's going on and fix it. I really liked for example when he first contacted Minister Xun, when he finds out that he's too late and the rebellion has started, when he gets the seal from the Emperor, when he tells his soldiers to go, and when he first meets Pingjing.
I liked that right before Minister Xun died, he at least had one moment of self-awareness where he wondered if he himself had also made mistakes, not in intention but in action. More general than the Empress, who is directly told that the revolt would not have happened if she hadn't been instrumental in driving Pingjing away, but still. I knew he was going to die when he talked to Feizhan about the dumplings ^^ Poor Feizhan: the whole time his family put him in a really difficult situation, and then his uncle dies, and shortly afterwards his de-facto sister, and then he has to help rebuild basically all the guards.
A favorite minor character of mine was Lin Jiu at Langya Hall. Very unlike Lin Chen ^^ He's called Ninth Brother, but seems to pretty much run the place. And he tries to stay neutral like Langya Hall should, but, exactly like Lin Chen, doesn't quite manage when it comes to his friends, and despite their different personalities he and Pingjing seem to be good friends. (Langya's pidgeon network was involved in Pingjing mobilizing the Chang Lin army again so quickly, I wonder if that could cause problems for their reputation of neutrality if it gets out.)
One thing I dislike about NiF 2 is that it has far fewer wonderful female characters than season 1. No inner palace politics, no women in official roles like Nihuang or Xia Dong, the Imperial family apparently never has any daughters… Qianxue had a lot of potential but spends 99% of her time first being a wife and then being a mother, with no plotline depending on her own agency. Lin Xi doesn't really have that either that I can recall, or only minor influences. Anru is a great example of how wives are bound to their husbands and suffer, but she does nothing. The Empress is pretty much the only woman who frequently influences the story, and even that is frustrating because in comparison to the Empress and Consorts in season 1 she seems stupid. Other women who influence the plot: Madam Laiyang by having killed her sister and seeking revenge for her husband's death but I didn't like her and she dies early, Princess Chonghua shows up in less than a handful of episodes but kills her brother which leads to a war, Madam Qi assassinates Minister Xun Baishui but is overall just doing what Mozi told her to, Lin Xi's sister Jun infects Pingjing with the sickness but on Puyang Ying's orders, and Pei'er shows some agency when she tells General Yue about Yuanqi's betrayal but then basically never shows up again. (Did I forget anyone?) Compare that to the importance of Nihuang and Xia Dong and Consort Jing and Consort Yue and the Empress and Gong Yu and Grand Princess Liyang and Qin Banruo and even Princess Xuanji and their choices, and it's very disappointing. …wow, directly compared like that it looks even worse than I remembered.
I'm curious if there will be a more than a handful of fic and if yes, which characters/pairings, and also which time periods: before season 2, during, or after. I would love epistolary fic, Lin Xi&Pingjing or Pingjing&Yuanshi. Or maybe something with ghosts. Or something where any of the women of NiF 1 (Gong Yu?) is reborn as Anru and when she finds out about Yuanqi immediately stabs him, that would be short but satisfying.
Finally we have plot! Battle plans, political machinations, conspiracies and those who try to uncover them, grand plans and their unraveling: I was always interested what would happen next. We got new characters and I liked most of them a lot, I was especially glad that most of them were smart and competent. And Pingjing finally grows up!
(No sibling feelings anymore though :( )
Pingjing survived! I was very surprised by that. And Feizhan survived too, very nice. I thought for sure the revolt would end worse. It was very nicely done, with how expertly Yuanqi got General Di Ming on his side, and how, when the Spring Hunt was canceled, he just took the capital instead, and to prevent the army there from fighting just had most of their leaders assassinated. I really liked the Empress Dowager's end, to my surprise: dying for her son makes complete sense. A great scene was also when Yuanqi and Yuanshi sat next to each other with wine and Yuanqi monologued at his cousin.
Yuanqi made a great Big Bad, and I say that after initially rooting for him to stay one of the good guys. He almost resisted temptation, but Marquis Mozi was just too good. And once he gave in one time – I mean maybe in theory he had more chances but in practice? Not really. And the whole way you could always see how he justifies things to himself, to the point where he's baffled by Anru's perspective on it all. (Poor Anru. And especially Pei'er. Anru at least could have done more to stop her husband.) Even after Pingzhang and Tingsheng are dead and Pingjing left the capital, he still never gets rid of comparing himself to Pingjing, so when the Chang Lin banner arrives…
Their final duel – it was a bit stupid for Pingjing to agree to it, but he was at one point fond of Yuanqi. I really liked their conversation beforehand, too, where Pingjing pointed out that Yuanqi blamed everyone else for what he's done and that Yuanshi might be an unknown, but Yuanqi is definitely bad.
I liked Pingjing so much better in the second half, it was a huge relief (though I disliked that it took his brother's death to make him grow up, but his development after that made sense.) He is smart, and he was a great general. I especially liked when he begged Minister Xun not to read the decree and then went ahead with the battle anyway, for the good of the citizens of the country, and how he "defended" himself in court by admitting everything and then holding a speech about the value of citizens' lives. Of course he had to be punished, he was lucky to get away with his life (he even kept his noble title!) I really liked the scenes of Pingjing with his father after Pingjing came back to the capital. Finally they seem to be able to understand each other! …and shortly afterwards Tingsheng dies. Ouch. Pingjing mourning at his father's memorial and still wishing that Pingzhang should be alive instead of him was also a good scene.
It makes sense for him to stay at Langya Hall for so long, especially after his father explicitly released him from his military/political obligations. No surprise that he'd prefer to travel the world with Lin Xi – but of course he can't stay away and let Yuanshi be overthrown and killed. He did very well with that, with a short moment of stupidity when he thinks that in a city controlled by his enemy the best place to go hide with the Emperor is his own family's house *facepalm*, nobody would ever think to search for him there. If at least he'd thought of the secret tunnel in advance. Su Manor was a great callback :) The bracelet too, though it deflecting the sword was almost OTT.
I liked basically all of Pingjing's scenes with Yuanshi, especially the last ones. I wish Pingjing had finished telling him about Pingzhang, who was also the son of a traitor but good and honorable, but hopefully Yuanshi was sufficiently reassured.
Lin Xi doesn't really have any plotlines in the second half except be Pingjing's love interest. A bit of a shame but better than to force her presence as they sometimes did. At least their relationship is genuinely sweet, I liked that they wrote each other letters, how excited Pingjing is for her and her studies, and his proposals were very nice.
I liked that they got their happy ending, and that Pingjing doesn't cut his ties to Jinling completely and at least promises to write. Nice compromise.
General Yue was also right in that it was probably the best for the political stability, too. Pingjing being able to reassemble the Chang Lin army on the fly to rescue the Emperor turned out to be a good thing – awesome scenes, I cheered when each regiment arrived
Speaking of General Yue Yinchuan, I loved him. Finally another competent character! Who is also likeable, has loyal subordinates, and tries to figure out what's going on and fix it. I really liked for example when he first contacted Minister Xun, when he finds out that he's too late and the rebellion has started, when he gets the seal from the Emperor, when he tells his soldiers to go, and when he first meets Pingjing.
I liked that right before Minister Xun died, he at least had one moment of self-awareness where he wondered if he himself had also made mistakes, not in intention but in action. More general than the Empress, who is directly told that the revolt would not have happened if she hadn't been instrumental in driving Pingjing away, but still. I knew he was going to die when he talked to Feizhan about the dumplings ^^ Poor Feizhan: the whole time his family put him in a really difficult situation, and then his uncle dies, and shortly afterwards his de-facto sister, and then he has to help rebuild basically all the guards.
A favorite minor character of mine was Lin Jiu at Langya Hall. Very unlike Lin Chen ^^ He's called Ninth Brother, but seems to pretty much run the place. And he tries to stay neutral like Langya Hall should, but, exactly like Lin Chen, doesn't quite manage when it comes to his friends, and despite their different personalities he and Pingjing seem to be good friends. (Langya's pidgeon network was involved in Pingjing mobilizing the Chang Lin army again so quickly, I wonder if that could cause problems for their reputation of neutrality if it gets out.)
One thing I dislike about NiF 2 is that it has far fewer wonderful female characters than season 1. No inner palace politics, no women in official roles like Nihuang or Xia Dong, the Imperial family apparently never has any daughters… Qianxue had a lot of potential but spends 99% of her time first being a wife and then being a mother, with no plotline depending on her own agency. Lin Xi doesn't really have that either that I can recall, or only minor influences. Anru is a great example of how wives are bound to their husbands and suffer, but she does nothing. The Empress is pretty much the only woman who frequently influences the story, and even that is frustrating because in comparison to the Empress and Consorts in season 1 she seems stupid. Other women who influence the plot: Madam Laiyang by having killed her sister and seeking revenge for her husband's death but I didn't like her and she dies early, Princess Chonghua shows up in less than a handful of episodes but kills her brother which leads to a war, Madam Qi assassinates Minister Xun Baishui but is overall just doing what Mozi told her to, Lin Xi's sister Jun infects Pingjing with the sickness but on Puyang Ying's orders, and Pei'er shows some agency when she tells General Yue about Yuanqi's betrayal but then basically never shows up again. (Did I forget anyone?) Compare that to the importance of Nihuang and Xia Dong and Consort Jing and Consort Yue and the Empress and Gong Yu and Grand Princess Liyang and Qin Banruo and even Princess Xuanji and their choices, and it's very disappointing. …wow, directly compared like that it looks even worse than I remembered.
I'm curious if there will be a more than a handful of fic and if yes, which characters/pairings, and also which time periods: before season 2, during, or after. I would love epistolary fic, Lin Xi&Pingjing or Pingjing&Yuanshi. Or maybe something with ghosts. Or something where any of the women of NiF 1 (Gong Yu?) is reborn as Anru and when she finds out about Yuanqi immediately stabs him, that would be short but satisfying.
