Introduction
This episode broke my heart. Even though I knew Shisui was going to die, it still made me cry. Maomao had a dramatic dance scene at the end of the first season. The tradition continued in this episode, close to the end of the second season, with Shisui performing a stunning dance on the battlement in the snowy, starry night. It was her farewell.
The anime did a great job setting up the scene just right so that it felt intensely emotional as Shisui leaped and laughed with the last of her life. Even though she perished, she did, in some ways, also achieve victory. After removing the scum of the Shi clan, having vengeance on her psychopathic mother, and scarring the face of someone with royal blood, there was only one thing left to do: follow those children into the grave. I think Shisui wanted to die on some level after all she had done.
Loulan, or Shisui as I choose to call her, was one of the most compelling characters – if not the number one – in this whole season. Her death was definitely the most climactic event of this episode, but there’s more than that to recap and/or discuss. So, without further ado, let’s review The Apothecary Diaries episode 47 (AKA season 2 episode 23).
Episode 47: The Shi Clan
Episode Rating: 10/10
The first major event was the appearance of Shishou. He tried to shoot Jinshi with the newest Feifa model, but in hindsight, I don’t think it was even a genuine attempt. This episode taught us that Shishou was only playing the part of the traitor for his own purposes and never held ill will against the emperor or his kin. After Jinshi deflected the shot with his saber, Shishou dropped the Feifa and submitted to his inevitable death. He laughed as he died, his body run through by multiple swords. It was a dramatic way to go and quite fitting for someone who was an actor.
As Jinshi led the way through the stronghold, he crawled through a narrow passage and found Shisui waiting for him on the other side, gun in hand. Jinshi agreed to follow Shisui alone and she took him to a room where Shenmei and Suirei were hiding. There, Shisui told the entire story of her father Shishou and his relationship with Shenmei. Throughout his life, Shishou was in love with Shenmei. He even tried to help her escape the rear palace illegally. Shenmei, however, was too prideful to ever show gratitude.
We learned a lot of relevant facts from Shishou’s story. For example, he was the one who crafted the secret passage into the rear palace that Suirei would later use. The most interesting thing that we learned – at least to me – was that Shishou was probably a good man. He was doing the best he could to secure the people he loved. He was also a true friend to the former emperor, who was most likely mentally ill. At some point, Shishou realized there was no redeeming his evil wife, so he and “Loulan” started their plan to cleanse the Shi clan of its garbage, having them killed for plotting rebellion.
Throughout her monologue, Shisui kept openly mocking her mother. Shenmei became hostile and threatened her own daughter with the gun. Unbeknownst to her, Shisui had blocked the mechanism of the Feifa. She continued to escalate, enraging her mother, who then pulled the trigger. The backfire was enough to her kill her in seconds. If Shenmei had just shed a tear for her dead husband, her daughter might have spared her. As things turned out, Shisui finally had revenge against the woman who ruined her clan and abused her and her family members.
Before her death, Shisui asked for a few favors. She requested that the original Shi members who were exiled from the clan be spared from the purge. Jinshi said he’d do whatever he could. Shisui gave Jinshi a piece of paper on which was written her predictions and warnings for the country’s future. Her final wish was to scar Jinshi’s face, thus honoring her mother who hated the emperor’s kin, and symbolizing a small victory against royalty. She used one of Shenmei’s claws and cut Jinshi’s beautiful face. Instead of reacting with violence, Jinshi calmly allowed it to happen.
After that, Shisui began her dance out on the walltop. Jinshi could only watch the beautiful spectacle in silent respect. Though he referred to her in the narration as “once in a generation evil,” I don’t consider Shisui evil. I admire her in several different ways. Anyway, once the rest of the Imperial Guard appeared, Basen saw the wound on Jinshi and realized the cause was the traitor dancing in front of him. He shot at Shisui twice and the second bullet was a direct, fatal hit.
Suirei’s tears and desperation were heartbreaking as she ran to her sister and tried to catch her before she fell. She was a fraction of a second too late. That was the end of “Loulan” AKA Shisui. It wasn’t clear if her body was recovered or not, but I dare not hope she could have survived the fall. Even if she did, she had still been shot twice. I will always love the character of Shisui and wish things had turned out different for her.
The last scene I want to mention was Jinshi’s reunion with Maomao in the tent where the dead children were being kept. Apparently, Maomao insisted on sleeping next to them despite the health dangers of being close to dead bodies. Jinshi knelt down and gently touched Maomao’s hair, looking at her bruises and feeling guilty for what she went through. Maomao woke up and asked what he was doing in her usual deadpan voice. It was a cute moment. Now only one episode is left of season 2.
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
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