- Joined
- Nov 23, 2019
I was thinking about the story from Lan Di's perspective and whether or not it's possible to learn anything about his motives or the CYM based on what we know so far.
The facts so far:
- Longsun Zhao was born in 1955. His father is Sunming Zhao, martial arts master (of Tiger Swallow) and all around good guy.
- Sunming Zhao is best friends with Yuanda Zhu and at some point before 1968, he is entrusted with the mirrors at the Cliff Temple to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Chi You Men.
- Sometime in the 1960s, Sunming Zhao meets Iwao Hazuki and they become friends and train together before something happens in Meng Cun and Sunming Zhao dies, Iwao is blamed for his death, returns to Japan with the mirrors, and fathers Ryo.
- Longsun Zhao is adopted by the Chi You Men (around 12-13 years old) and eventually becomes known as Lan Di, one of (or possibly THE) leader of the Chi You Men. He believes that Iwao murdered Zhao and learns that he moved to Japan with one of the mirrors. He murders Iwao in 1986 and steals the Dragon mirror; he only ever demands one and seems content when he finds out it's the Dragon mirror. He heads back to Hong Kong.
- Lan Di hates Yuanda Zhu and orders the Yellowhead gang to kidnap him. When he sees Ryo on the rooftop, he is content to abandon him and head to Guilin where the CYM has ordered the stonecutters of Bailu village to be kidnapped.
- Lan Di resides in a castle in Niaowu, near where Yuan is being held/interrogated and we know that Yuan knows that "one who holds the phoenix" is heading to Bailu Village to join Shenhua.
- Not much is said directly about the CYM but we learn that the mirrors are either keys to a treasure or the means to "opening the gates of heaven and earth and allowing Chi You to resurrect itself and devour this world of ours". Also worth mentioning that Xiuyu Xia, the owner of the Russyia China shop, says that praying to the stars on a moonless night will grant your wish when explaining the Phoenix Mirror. They also name themselves after emperors and wear imperial clothing (thus far Lan Di is the only one whose name we know).
- Lan Di learns that Iwao had both mirrors and when Niao Sun assumes that she has successfully betrayed Lan Di, she declares herself the de facto leader of the CYM.
- Lan Di is headed to the Cliff Temple with the Dragon Mirror, presumably to confront Niao Sun.
From this I think we can infer a few things:
1. Lan Di knows about both mirrors. No one ever doubts the fact that he knew about both, his father had both in his possession, and he makes moves to find the Phoenix Mirror. Many people know about both mirrors and they even sell a convenient replica mirror in Niaowu, so it's possible that they're a "known" thing, at least in that part of China. Lan Di also knows about the Cliff Temple, so it stands to reason that if he thought the Dragon Mirror was all he needed, he would have headed there immediately.
2. If we take the bad endings into consideration, Lan Di appears to know of Shenhua's powers and claims that Ryo has "outlived his usefulness". It's not canon, but it leaves the impression that Lan Di knows more about the situation than the facts above would lead us to believe. It also explains why he flies away at the end of S2.
3. Lan Di and the CYM are stuck without the Phoenix Mirror. The bad endings imply that there is a "path" that is open for a finite amount of time and that, even if Ryo were to have stayed in Yokosuka, Lan Di would eventually find him/ the mirror.
4. Lan Di certainly has a reputation for being someone not to fuck with but thus far he has only killed one person that we know of and when he is shown encountering Ryo, he doesn't kill him automatically or really appear to want to kill him. He's also about as respectful as one could be to the murderer of one's father, so he definitely has some kind of code that he lives by. He's not a sadist and doesn't necessarily view himself as a villain.
5. Thus far Lan Di is the most proficient martial artist in the series, appears to have nearly limitless wealth and resources, has climbed the heights of the criminal underworld and attained the revenge that he wanted for most of his life so the big question is: what does Lan Di want? He's not shown lacking power or money, he mocks Ryo for having a death wish so it's unlikely that he's the leader of some kind of suicide cult who wants to resurrect a monster to destroy the world, he's certainly not arrogant or self-aggrandizing so does he really fancy himself some kind of literal ruler/emperor? It's possible that his robes, which show the dragon clutching a pearl with 5 talons, offer insight into what Lan Di might want: wisdom, enlightenment, eternal life etc. particularly if he knows about Shenhua and her connection to reincarnation, past lives etc.
6. It's possible that Lan Di's cold, calm reaction to Niao Sun's betrayal indicates that he doesn't necessarily align himself with the CYM. He may be using them as a means to an end.
7. Suzuki has all but declared outright that Ryo won't be killing Lan Di by the end so could Lan Di be headed for redemption? Or is he destined to go out like an Indiana Jones villain, consumed by the very treasure he sought? Or maybe he'll die in a freak Shenhua Qi blast accident? Or maybe Lan Di will literally summon a dragon and Shenhua will literally summon a phoenix and the two will duke it out?
The facts so far:
- Longsun Zhao was born in 1955. His father is Sunming Zhao, martial arts master (of Tiger Swallow) and all around good guy.
- Sunming Zhao is best friends with Yuanda Zhu and at some point before 1968, he is entrusted with the mirrors at the Cliff Temple to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Chi You Men.
- Sometime in the 1960s, Sunming Zhao meets Iwao Hazuki and they become friends and train together before something happens in Meng Cun and Sunming Zhao dies, Iwao is blamed for his death, returns to Japan with the mirrors, and fathers Ryo.
- Longsun Zhao is adopted by the Chi You Men (around 12-13 years old) and eventually becomes known as Lan Di, one of (or possibly THE) leader of the Chi You Men. He believes that Iwao murdered Zhao and learns that he moved to Japan with one of the mirrors. He murders Iwao in 1986 and steals the Dragon mirror; he only ever demands one and seems content when he finds out it's the Dragon mirror. He heads back to Hong Kong.
- Lan Di hates Yuanda Zhu and orders the Yellowhead gang to kidnap him. When he sees Ryo on the rooftop, he is content to abandon him and head to Guilin where the CYM has ordered the stonecutters of Bailu village to be kidnapped.
- Lan Di resides in a castle in Niaowu, near where Yuan is being held/interrogated and we know that Yuan knows that "one who holds the phoenix" is heading to Bailu Village to join Shenhua.
- Not much is said directly about the CYM but we learn that the mirrors are either keys to a treasure or the means to "opening the gates of heaven and earth and allowing Chi You to resurrect itself and devour this world of ours". Also worth mentioning that Xiuyu Xia, the owner of the Russyia China shop, says that praying to the stars on a moonless night will grant your wish when explaining the Phoenix Mirror. They also name themselves after emperors and wear imperial clothing (thus far Lan Di is the only one whose name we know).
- Lan Di learns that Iwao had both mirrors and when Niao Sun assumes that she has successfully betrayed Lan Di, she declares herself the de facto leader of the CYM.
- Lan Di is headed to the Cliff Temple with the Dragon Mirror, presumably to confront Niao Sun.
From this I think we can infer a few things:
1. Lan Di knows about both mirrors. No one ever doubts the fact that he knew about both, his father had both in his possession, and he makes moves to find the Phoenix Mirror. Many people know about both mirrors and they even sell a convenient replica mirror in Niaowu, so it's possible that they're a "known" thing, at least in that part of China. Lan Di also knows about the Cliff Temple, so it stands to reason that if he thought the Dragon Mirror was all he needed, he would have headed there immediately.
2. If we take the bad endings into consideration, Lan Di appears to know of Shenhua's powers and claims that Ryo has "outlived his usefulness". It's not canon, but it leaves the impression that Lan Di knows more about the situation than the facts above would lead us to believe. It also explains why he flies away at the end of S2.
3. Lan Di and the CYM are stuck without the Phoenix Mirror. The bad endings imply that there is a "path" that is open for a finite amount of time and that, even if Ryo were to have stayed in Yokosuka, Lan Di would eventually find him/ the mirror.
4. Lan Di certainly has a reputation for being someone not to fuck with but thus far he has only killed one person that we know of and when he is shown encountering Ryo, he doesn't kill him automatically or really appear to want to kill him. He's also about as respectful as one could be to the murderer of one's father, so he definitely has some kind of code that he lives by. He's not a sadist and doesn't necessarily view himself as a villain.
5. Thus far Lan Di is the most proficient martial artist in the series, appears to have nearly limitless wealth and resources, has climbed the heights of the criminal underworld and attained the revenge that he wanted for most of his life so the big question is: what does Lan Di want? He's not shown lacking power or money, he mocks Ryo for having a death wish so it's unlikely that he's the leader of some kind of suicide cult who wants to resurrect a monster to destroy the world, he's certainly not arrogant or self-aggrandizing so does he really fancy himself some kind of literal ruler/emperor? It's possible that his robes, which show the dragon clutching a pearl with 5 talons, offer insight into what Lan Di might want: wisdom, enlightenment, eternal life etc. particularly if he knows about Shenhua and her connection to reincarnation, past lives etc.
6. It's possible that Lan Di's cold, calm reaction to Niao Sun's betrayal indicates that he doesn't necessarily align himself with the CYM. He may be using them as a means to an end.
7. Suzuki has all but declared outright that Ryo won't be killing Lan Di by the end so could Lan Di be headed for redemption? Or is he destined to go out like an Indiana Jones villain, consumed by the very treasure he sought? Or maybe he'll die in a freak Shenhua Qi blast accident? Or maybe Lan Di will literally summon a dragon and Shenhua will literally summon a phoenix and the two will duke it out?