Happily Ever After

Today is the last episode of the TV series Happily Ever After. I only watched the beginning part and then the last episode (storyline keeps dragging -.-), and the last episode was really nice.

The TV series is based on the ancient Chinese folk legend about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. If you haven't yet, check those two Wikipedia articles out. I am not going to bother with a brief introduction of the folk legend or the synopsis of the TV series. :P

From what I can tell from the last episode (hey, I didn't watch a lot of earlier episodes other than the first few), main character Tianying (reincarnated from Cowherd) had a car crash before/during/after his wedding with Tianqin (reincarnated from Weaver Girl). While he was unconscious, he somehow (from what I can tell, the Jade Emperor aided him to) traveled to the future (four or five years later). Then, he is married to Tianqin and had a son named Yang Guo (the protagonist of The Return of the Condor Heroes, also named Yang Guo, ironically have parents Yang Kang and Mu Nianci, thus the Yang Guo in this TV series is not the same as the protagonist in The Return of the Condor Heroes).

The three was a happy family, until for some stupid reason, Tianying had to return to the Heaven, thus disappearing from the lives of Tianqin and Yang Guo. On the day Tianying knew he would disappear, he called his wife at the bridge where he professed his love for her a few episodes back, saying goodbye and all those stuff. Tianqin demands that they meet up, but Tianying did not dare face her. Hurriedly, Tianqin simply ran off from work and ran around, looking for his husband to no avail. Then, he boarded a taxi and went to the bridge, indeed finding him. After talking mushy stuff with a lot of tears, the two hugged and Tianying simply disappears just like that. (Come on, that's an obvious rip off from the ending of Final Fantasy X, where Tidus, having to disappear, hugged Yuna and jumped off the airship Fahrenheit. Now that's way cooler.)

Tianying finds himself back in Heaven with the Jade Emperor, and the latter starts to explain the situation. He bought Tianying to see the future, whether he still wants to marry Tianqin or not when he goes back to the present. Tianying did not know what to do. His heart wanted to marry Tianqin, but he feared making his love sad due to his sudden disappearance in the near future. The Jade Emperor, after offering him to follow his heart, kicked his ass (literally) back to the present.

We see Tianying gaining consciousness in the hospital. Tianqin (wearing a wedding dress, thus denoting that the car crash takes place before/during/after their wedding), together with the crowd of characters surrounding his bed, starts to rejoice. Tianying, following the Jade Emperor's advice, still decided to marry Tianqin.

Four/five years later, the exact same thing that was showed to Tianying (also the day that he feared) happened. The day before he was supposed to disappear, Erlang Deity kidnaps the Queen Mother and forces Tianying to divorce Tianqin (doing so will allow Erlang Deity to win a bet he had with the Jade Emperor. If he wins the bet, the Jade Emperor will abdicate and the Celestial Court will follow democracy (hurry, all shout WHAT THE FUCK?!). Erlang Deity starts to choke Tianying, forcing him to say that he does not love Tianqin. Regardless of the threat of death, Tianying persistently said that he loved her. The Jade Emperor arrives, laughing, and explains the confusing storyline.

The Jade Emperor and the Erlang Deity, after Tianying and Tianqin won (which means that Erlang Deity had lost the bet, although he is unwilling to accept it), had another bet again, with the Jade Emperor hoping that Erlang Deity would this time be willing to accept defeat. The terms for victory are the same. If Tianying, under pressure by Erlang Deity, said that he does not love Tianqin, Erlang Deity would win, which is exactly the opposite Tianying did. Thus, Erlang Deity had lost the bet, and he lost it willingly, as two guards came and arrest him for a list of one bunch of crimes he commited.

And so, Tianying, Tianqin and Yang Guo lived happily ever after, as the title suggests. The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother then went on to look at how they are doing after thirty years. The Jade Emperor finally reveals how he has been so calm throughout the entire TV series, and it is because he already knew the ending by reading the Book of Heavens. Diao. -_- The two finally remarks how they can have peace, when it is announced that Liang Shanbo, Zhu Yingtai, Romeo and Juliet have all eloped as well (Cowherd and Weaver Girl did that before the start of the TV series). I laughed out loud when I heard it, lol, after thinking about the song Liang Shanbo and Juliet. Maybe those two will get together. XD