Blade and Soul
Wang Ling’s spiritual sword has been a topic of much discussion since it was first revealed at the Games. Wang Ling is hesitant to let anyone know his true power, fearing that it would cause panic and chaos. But with the Games coming up, he’s feeling more confident about his ability and decides to show off his sword for the first time.
He feels the pressure of how seriously everyone else is taking the match so figures there wouldn’t be much harm in just showing it. He checks in with his parents on where the sword might be stored.
The news report is about an explosion that has occurred near a spiritual seal. It seems as though the rabbit heads may have been involved in the explosion. The Immortals are swooping in to right the wrongs and it looks like the rabbit heads may have been responsible.
Zhou Yi, the leader of Shadow Stream Faction, tells a television interviewer that he can defeat the rival faction just as he has before. However, their leader doesn’t take his claim well.
Wang Ling digs through his attic for his sword while his mother worries he’ll hurt himself. As he opens the box, Wang Ling receives a text from Administrator Wang confirming a competition site visit for the following day. ..
Wang Ling’s Sword Spirit has been dormant for 10 years. When he reopens the box to check on it, his talisman flickers. ..
Wang Ling shows the team his spiritual sword. They chuckle saying even a child’s sword wouldn’t be that tiny. Sun Rong declares it cute, sending Chen Chao to tears as he loses another round. Only Froggy 2 spots the sword’s power level.
The instructors arrive to collect everyone. Administrator Wang notices that Wang Ling hasn’t brought a bag like the rest. As he scratches his back with his teeny sword, the narrator explains that he has no intention of actually competing. ..
As Wang Ling pictures the stomach-ache he plans to fake, Chen Chao offers a spare pair of y-fronts. Sun Rong can barely keep it together. The team boards the bus, just an Immortal arrives to update Zhou Yi. But he finishes in time to wave off his ‘master,’ who immediately closes the curtain.
Zhou Yi is informed of the capture of the Shadow Stream Faction Leader, and it is not the real leader. She imagines that her students are setting off a bomb in front of her to kill Zhou Yi. Her driver follows the bus as it makes its way to its destination, and she shares her plan with him to get rid of Zhou Yi. Her primary target is Sun Rong, who will be powerless without him.
Wang Ling’s sword begins to awaken but he continues to suppress it. He reminds it that they’d agreed the previous evening that it would be too much for the other kids to see. Had he bribed it with racoon ramen?
School 60 has a new instructor, Xie. Sun Rong is Sun’s rival and 60 had tried to recruit her. Ms. Pan talks about another student’s misdeeds, which makes the final nail in the coffin for Sun. ..
Wang Ling is trying to find a way to fake an illness so that she can get away with murder. conveniently, Instructor Xie points her out with her power to check her level, but she turns it into the opportunity she was seeking.
Wang Ling’s Sword Spirit appears to tell the Faction Leader his talisman is about to break. Uh-oh. ..
Faction Leader realizes there’s some power about the music and decides to try it out. At home, Wang Ling’s mother notes her eyelids have been twitching but they put it down to resonance.
Our narrator confirms that the sword spirit resonance set off Wang Ling’s spiritual force suppression talisman, and helped along by Instructor Xie’s zap. The spiritual sword notes that he had been trying to update Wang Ling on the bus.
Wang Ling is in need of a spirit suppressing golden elixir stat, as he’s entered a state of imbalance. Sun Rong cradles him in her arms while Pan accuses Xie. And Xie turns on Tang Jingze who thinks perhaps it’s ’that guy.'
Sun Rong is relieved to hear that her exploding dummy plan didn’t work, but she still has a chuckle about how worried Wang Ling is. She comes up with a new plan to keep Wang Ling safe, and she gives it to the faction leader for approval.
Despite hiccups, Wang Ling’s plan to avoid competing has been a success. ..
The Episode Review
This episode wraps up the spiritual sword piece, showing Wang Ling’s huge power compressed in a pretty unimpressive – what looked like wooden – sword package. You gotta love a hero who doesn’t need to front.
Wang Ling, the apathetic protagonist, has some sentiment. He shows up with a sword in hand to deal with peer pressure, but in some ways he believes his friends are still friends even though he doesn’t care about them. This shows that Wang Ling has some sense of self-awareness and cares about his friends.
When Wang Ling’s Dad put twitching down to resonance, he was probably referring to his wife’s cell phone addiction or their permanent station in front of the TV. Was her sensation a premonition about Wang Ling’s predicament?
A Chinese superstition, eye twitching can be a sign of either fortune and good luck or misfortune and unluckiness, depending on the eye. Since she didn’t say whether it was right or left, it could go either way – Wang Ling’s talisman breaking or his tried-and-true strategy to avoid competing. Possibly, she just needs to step away from the online shopping.
In this latest episode of “Shadow Stream”, Shadow Stream Faction Leader has shared some information, but not yet the reason she’s after Sun Rong. It seemed like she and her team were hired guns rather than having their own agenda in earlier episodes. ..
She seems pretty determined – think it’s just a pay check? As having a high schooler as an enemy seems unlikely, there’s gotta be something or someone else connected to drive her obsession. Or maybe she just doesn’t like to lose.
This week’s episode was full of great details, but my favorite is the photo. Add your vote in the comments section below to let us know which detail you think is the best! ..
