This is absolutely spectacular, my scalp is tingling!
My goodness, this might be the TV show with the most astonishing plot twist I've ever seen. What were the screenwriters thinking?
Viewers glued to their televisions, computers, and phones were left reeling.
This reversal came too suddenly, too powerfully, completely shattering their perceptions.
Because, according to the established norms of television dramas, protagonists were always embodiments of righteousness. Whether male or female, they had to be on the side of justice and could not be villains.
Even if they strayed from the path and were deeply stained by sin, they would ultimately have to redeem themselves, turn over a new leaf, and become champions of justice.
This is because a "happy ending with a full moon" is a tradition in Chinese dramas.
Take, for instance, the most suffocating melodramatic family dramas. No matter how much a mother-in-law tormented her daughter-in-law, or how outrageously she behaved, the ending always saw the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law reconciling and the family reunited.
As for the daughter-in-law getting a divorce, striving independently to become a strong woman, while the mother-in-law faced retribution, abandonment, and a desolate end with no one to care for her in her old age – such outcomes were simply impossible.
The same applies to patriarchal families. No matter how biased parents were towards their sons, it was rare to see the daughters named "Zhao Di," "Lai Di," "Pan Di," or "Yin Di" completely break ties with their families of origin in the finale, nor to see their biased parents suffer consequences.
Moreover, Xiao Ting, the male protagonist, had a dark heart from the start.
Indeed, there was a Chinese drama in the past where the male lead of the second season caused the death of the entire clan of the female lead. That was "Goodbye My Princess."
The issue with "Goodbye My Princess" was that Li Gouzi, the male lead, was the prince of an enemy nation. With both sides fighting for their own country, it was difficult to definitively assign blame.
Viewers could call Li Gouzi a scumbag, but they couldn't label him a villain because everything he did was for his own nation.
Xiao Ting from "Heavenly Sword Heroes" is different. He obtained the Heavenly Sword to conquer the world and achieve supreme dominance.
The forces he led, the Blood Moon Divine Cult, committed countless atrocities and disregarded human life. This is something that cannot be whitewashed, no matter how you try.
It was precisely this ingrained mindset from traditional dramas that led no one to anticipate that the male lead of this show would turn out to be the mastermind villain, King Abhiraja.
Casting the male or female lead as the villain is also known as the "impossible phenomenon in film and television."
Yet, now, this impossibility has actually come to pass, leaving people utterly astonished.
Following this realization, the audience then thought of the female lead, Tang Ruoxuan.
If Xiao Ting is King Abhiraja, doesn't that make him the true culprit behind the death of Tang Ruoxuan's entire family?
It's over, it's over. The familiar taste, the familiar formula. The female lead's romance is about to be toasted!
It was supposed to be a love made in heaven, a beautiful and blissful union. But that last sentence from Blood Phoenix before her death has completely turned it into a tale of love and hate. I'm already witnessing a greater tragic romance than Jin Shiyijiu and Li Sheng Nan.
The hatred for one's parents is irreconcilable. If Tang Ruoxuan learns the truth, she will never forgive Xiao Ting, nor will she forgive herself for falling in love with her enemy!
Not necessarily. There are too many cliché romance novels nowadays. What's a dead family? Even female leads have had their hearts gouged out, eyes removed, kidneys taken, and still ended up with the male lead. What's impossible?
True, a "love-brained" woman who gathered wild vegetables for eighteen years, her brain long gnawed by dogs, only thinking of her lover, would she even have parents or family left?
But, speaking of which, Jiang Yulei is so awesome! I really want to see what he looks like wearing King Abhiraja's clothes and taking off his mask!