Holy shit... [EP 50 ENDING SPOILER]
MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD, AS IN, I AM WRITING OUT THE ENTIRE FKN ENDING SO YOU’VE BEEN WARNED
I’ve also included some of my own commentary at the very end if anyone cares to read what I thought about the finale.
Wei Ying was fully expecting Lan Zhan to stay with him and explore the world together but he turns around and Lan Zhan isn’t moving.
Wei Ying can sense that something isn’t quite right so he turns around and hesitantly asks, “You... are not coming?” as he stares at Lan Zhan’s back. Lan Zhan’s expression is extremely complicated, you can see he’s troubled. Meanwhile, Wei Ying looks, for a lack of better words, heartbroken.
Finally, Lan Xhan turns around and looks at Wei Ying apologetically. Wei Ying stares right back in sorrow.
Wei Ying smiles, but it’s more painful than happy. He’s holding back tears. (omg)
Lan Zhan slowly raises his head and looks at Wei Ying again. Wei Ying continues smiling as he nods, eyes red and still holding back tears, understanding everything Lan Zhan doesn’t say. (wow fuck me right)
The scene cuts and their song starts playing with Yibo and Xiao Zhan singing. Cue WangXian duet near the falls, with Wei Ying playing his flute on one edge and Lan Zhan strumming his guqin on the other. They continue playing and their gazes meet. Lan Zhan is the first to look away. Wei Ying’s eyes linger a second longer before closing them, expression peaceful.
It cuts again and this time, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are standing side by side.
“Lan Zhan... To be honest, I really didn’t think you’d take the position as Chief Cultivator,” Wei Ying says while holding a jar of Emperor’s Smile in his right hand.
“We have made a promise here before,” Lan Zhan replies as he stares straight ahead.
//flashback to episode 7, when they lit the lanterns and Wei Ying swore to eliminate evil, protect the weak and live without regrets//
“May I, Lan Wangji, eliminate evil, protect the weak... and live without regret,” he repeats the same words uttered by Wei Ying 16 years ago.
Wei Ying glances in his direction before smiling, nodding and blinking a few times as he looks away. He takes a swig of the Emperor’s Smile as Lan Zhan glances in his direction.
“Lan Zhan...” Wei Ying turns to face Lan Zhan. “You do indeed deserve to be called Hanguang-Jun,” he says with resolve and a small smile.
Lan Zhan turns his head to look at Wei Ying in the eyes. “And you are indeed Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying chuckles, giving Lan Zhan a huge smile that makes his eyes disappear. Lan Zhan stares at Wei Ying, eyes soft and blinking slowly before a smile of his own appears.
They continue staring at each other until Wei Ying looks away first and they both turn to look at the falls in front of them.
//insert scene with Nie Huaisang//
Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are now on top of a grassy hill as the series theme music plays in the background. They stand facing each other, Wei Ying holding Chenqing with one hand and Lil Apple’s reigns in the other, face resolute as he looks at Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan’s eyes are downcast, before he slowly raises them to connect with Wei Ying.
Wei Ying raises his hand as he points towards the road behind Lan Zhan.
Lan Zhan waves towards the area behind Wei Ying. “I will go this way.”
Wei Ying continues staring at Lan Zhan resolutely. Lan Zhan shifts his eyes downwards, once again unable to maintain eye contact.
Wei Ying smiles, eyes looking down.
“So you’ve decided? Where you want to go?” Lan Zhan asks.
Wei Ying chuckles ruefully as he shakes his head. He thinks for a moment. “But the world is vast, and the Heavens, endless. One drink, one mount, wandering to the corners of the world, the Four Seas as my home, right?”
They once again look at each other (so. many. gazes. fml.). Once again, Lan Zhan is the first to look away as he nods. Wei Ying’s small smile disappears as his expression grows serious, eyes never leaving Lan Zhan.
“Lan Zhan. I am leaving.”
Lan Zhan stares, not saying a word. Wei Ying drops his eyes, smiling sheepishly.
“Let’s go, Lil Apple,” he calls as he nudges his ride forward. He gives Lan Zhan one last lingering look before walking past him. He turns his head slightly, smile tightly drawn, as if he wants to have one last look. Instead, he faces forward as his smile drops, continuing forward without looking back.
“Mountains never age, streams flow forever, we shall meet again some day!” Wei Ying calls out as he waves his arm in the air, steps never faltering as he continues onwards. Lan Zhan’s eyes never leave his back, silently watching him leave. Finally, he turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction.
We see them getting farther and farther away from each other as the theme song reaches a climax.
Lan Zhan is walking when he suddenly hears their song, played by a flute. He stops.
He turns his head, as if trying to look back. He recalls Wei Ying’s words to him with a small smile.: “Lan Zhan, the next we meet, you have to have come up with a name for this song hm?”
He replies in his heart as he continues walking once again, “I have already come up with one.”
//potential timeskip as Wei Ying’s clothes have changed//
Cue Yibo and Xiao Zhan singing as the camera shows Wei Ying playing his flute on the edge of a cliff.
He closes his eyes as he plays. The camera pans around showing the vast landscape.
Right as he is playing the last few notes—
—comes Lan Zhan’s unmistakable voice calling his name.
Wei Ying never finishes the last note as his eyes slowly widen. He remains unmoving, eyes wide in shock as if he can’t quite believe the voice he just heard. His hands slowly come down, eyes barely blinking.
Slowly, he starts smiling, eyes shifting to the side. He slowly turns around as the WangXian/WuJi instrumental starts playing, expression serious. The wind blows his hair back slightly.
He barely blinks, staring intently at what is in front of him, as if not believing his eyes (or not wanting the image in front of him to disappear).
Suddenly, he breaks out into the softest, most relieved smile.
I hope y’all enjoyed reading this, I tried my best to capture their moments in writing but damn, it’s hard.
All in all, I honestly loved this ending. Their separation showed me that, as much as I thought Wei Ying was oblivious to any kind of deeper feelings, he actually isn’t. He simply never expected Lan Zhan and him to go separate ways. That scene where he was barely holding back tears absolutely destroyed me.
You might say that the finale was a rollercoster of emotion and I’d definitely agree. Was all of it necessary though? I would venture out and say, yes, it was necessary. Why? Because it allowed us, the viewers, to see such rich array of emotions from both actors.
From Wei Ying, we saw his carefree happiness when he thought that he’d have all the time in the world with Lan Zhan to explore, his barely concealed pain once he realized that it wouldn’t be so, his attempts at putting on a brave face and walking away when it seemed like it was the last thing he wanted to do, his shock once he realized who exactly was calling his name and finally, his joy at being reunited with the one person he wants by his side forever.
From Lan Zhan, we saw his troubled face when he struggled to tell Wei Ying that he couldn’t follow him, his steadfast reassurance of Wei Ying’s character, his complicated expressions when he was in a constant battle with himself, torn between wanting to fulfil his promise but also wanting to stay by Wei Ying side, his wavering when he heard the flute playing their song and finally, his voice when he calls out to the person that matters most to him.
As noted by @misscamthenorwegian, it is safe to assume that some time may have passed between the two of them going their separate ways and their final reunion. Does it affect anything? Yes and no. Yes, because we don’t know how much time has passed and despite Wei Ying having never told Lan Zhan where he was headed, Lan Zhan still managed to find him regardless. And no, because they were meant to be together regardless what happens to the time spent apart doesn’t change the fact that they still found each other in the end.
All in all, it may not be the perfect happy ending that some people wanted, where you see without a shadow of a doubt the two of them being cultivation partners and night hunting together; however, in my opinion, this ending left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
This is as explicit as it is going get: regardless of time and distance, they found their way back to each other again.
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