Should Sung Yeun Kiu have taken the fall for what his son did?

[Ian Liew]

Yu Lianzhou modified their Tiger Claws into a truly devastating art even if it was immoral in ZSF's mind, so he was quite talented in his own right and probably their best fighter. He was impressive throughout the story.

That's one thing I really really liked about the 09 HSDS - Yu Lianzhou was given much more credit than he ever had in the other adaptations. In all the others, he was almost a silent kelefe (with his meeting of ZCS back from the Fire Ice Island being his only extra part). 79 version at least made him talk a bit, but 86, 00 (both TVB) and 04 (Alec Su's - I can't even picture the poor chap's face) really gave him kelefe treatment. In 09, YLZ was arguably the most likeable of the 6 uncles - he had really good judgement, and trusted Wuji the most, while SYQ was made to look a little less decisive and wise. During the pagoda rescue, YLZ was the first to jump, virtually without hesitation. He also had a lot of lines, and you could see even early on that he was more suited to lead Wudang than SYQ.

[Trien Chieu]

Looking at the facts, however, did Sung Yeun Kiu really *deserve* to be demoted?

No, the guy did nothing wrong and always a great person from the very beginning to the end. You can't blame the guy for the wrong doing of his son. He is always a very well respectable guy in jianghu. If the same standard apply to people in modern society, most of the world leaders would be demoted.

[ByTmE]

But the setting of the novel is ancient China? Why use modern values to judge characters from a different age? That's out of context.

[kidd]

That's one thing I really really liked about the 09 HSDS - Yu Lianzhou was given much more credit than he ever had in the other adaptations. In all the others, he was almost a silent kelefe (with his meeting of ZCS back from the Fire Ice Island being his only extra part). 79 version at least made him talk a bit, but 86, 00 (both TVB) and 04 (Alec Su's - I can't even picture the poor chap's face) really gave him kelefe treatment. In 09, YLZ was arguably the most likeable of the 6 uncles - he had really good judgement, and trusted Wuji the most, while SYQ was made to look a little less decisive and wise. During the pagoda rescue, YLZ was the first to jump, virtually without hesitation. He also had a lot of lines, and you could see even early on that he was more suited to lead Wudang than SYQ.

Which one is the more faithful depiction of Yu Lian Zhou? 09 or the other adaptation? Is LYZ's leadership quality obvious in the novel?

[pannonian]

Which one is the more faithful depiction of Yu Lian Zhou? 09 or the other adaptation. Is LYZ's leadership quality obvious in the novel?

Song Yuanqiao never showed much leadership quality in the novel, other than as the eldest of the Wudang heroes. Zhang Songxi got some noveltime as the strategist, while Yu Lianzhou was the best judge of character, and was probably the closest to Zhang Sanfeng in how he saw people.

[tape]

Which one is the more faithful depiction of Yu Lian Zhou? 09 or the other adaptation? Is LYZ's leadership quality obvious in the novel?

I think he had a lot of random one liner moments that make him very likable. In the Brightness Peak battle he shows his displeasure when one of the Kongtong (I think) people try to pick on a wounded Yin Tianzheng despite his obvious grudge with the evil sects/Yin Susu -- it shows his righteous spirit.

He was the first one to jump out of the Pagoda, trusting Wuji and realizing there was no other choice anyway -- it shows his decisiveness.

He judges Yin Susu pretty sternly at first, but after getting to know her he wholeheartedly treats her like a sister and shows he has a rather open mind.

His kungfu is constantly touted as up there along with SYQ, but he gets a lot more screentime and we see him in action a lot, so to me it seems even higher. He definitely has the capabilities to become the leader, but whether SYQ is better I don't think we have enough information.

[Ian Liew]

I think he had a lot of random one liner moments that make him very likable. In the Brightness Peak battle he shows his displeasure when one of the Kongtong (I think) people try to pick on a wounded Yin Tianzheng despite his obvious grudge with the evil sects/Yin Susu -- it shows his righteous spirit.

He was the first one to jump out of the Pagoda, trusting Wuji and realizing there was no other choice anyway -- it shows his decisiveness.

He judges Yin Susu pretty sternly at first, but after getting to know her he wholeheartedly treats her like a sister and shows he has a rather open mind.

His kungfu is constantly touted as up there along with SYQ, but he gets a lot more screentime and we see him in action a lot, so to me it seems even higher. He definitely has the capabilities to become the leader, but whether SYQ is better I don't think we have enough information.

He was wonderful in the novel. Here are a couple of scenes which stand out:-

When Yin Tianzheng was tired after his friendly duel with SYQ at Brightness Peak, YLZ and Yin Liting had every right to challenge YTZ next, but decided against it as it wasn't fair. Unfortunately, that led to Kongdong's Tang Wenliang attacking, and YTZ used the last bit of strength he had to trick TWL and break his arms and legs. Kongdong's Zong Wenxia then came up and started by kicking a rock at YTZ casually. Yin was so tired he didn't see it and was felled by the rock to the head. ZWX didn't expect to hit YTZ so easily, but nevertheless advanced for the killing blow. Cue to our hero...

YLZ actually walked out and stood between YTZ and ZWX, and tried to dissuade Zong from harming YTZ any further. This was motivated partly out of righteousness, and partly out of his memory of Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu. It threatened to get out of hand, climaxed with Zong insisting that he at least break YTZ's arms and legs in revenge for TWL, and YLZ effectively threatening ZWX that he would seek him out and challenge him when they got back to the central plains. SYQ, seeing that there was no solution, then asked YLZ to let it go, and YLZ walked back with that classic line "Hao Yingxiong, hao hanzi" (a sarcastic "what a hero") - Hong Qigong used a similar phrase to Ouyang Feng when OYF made him vacate the cave where he was resting with Huang Rong so that Ouyang Ke could rest in there. OYF threatened H7G, who was already wounded and defenceless thanks to OYF's ambush while he was trying to save him. This phrase, to OYF's credit, made OYF lower his eyes, and in this case, ZWX too had to pretend he didn't hear it. The Ming sect then started their chant, and YLZ was quite moved by the courage of the words chanted. Then, of course, Wuji came, but the hero of the scene so far was definitely YLZ.

The second part was much earlier on, after YLZ had met ZCS and YSS, and YLZ, as tape mentioned, had started to like YSS very much, rating her even above many orthodox sect hypocrites. They were on this boat, and having a normal conversation among the three of them. ZCS casually mentioned about how if Shaolin, Ermei and Wudang shared their knowledge their martial arts would be so much more powerful (I think it was because they were talking about 9 Yang, and how it was split into three parts). YLZ then laughed and said that ZCS was really observant, and that ZSF was absolutely correct in anointing him as his successor. ZCS then objected, saying that in terms of achievement he was not only nowhere near brother 1 2 and 4, after so many years in the wilderness, even brothers 6 and 7 were probably better than he was. YLZ then reassured ZCS that leadership consisted of many things, not just martial arts ability (which he admitted he was superior to ZCS in). He ended by saying that all brothers were equal in ability, but ZCS was the wisest.

He then, suddenly and unexpectedly, turns to YSS, and asks her to watch over Wuji inside the boat, and don't let him be frightened. He and 5th brother will handle the situation outside. YSS looks around confused. YLZ then says that there are enemy boats around the corner, and that he saw some reflections off some blades. YSS strains her eyes, but it's all peaceful and she can't see anything - maybe YLZ was mistaken? YLZ then announces loudly that he and ZCS were here, and wonders if the friends would come out to meet them. The enemy boats suddenly appear out of nowhere, and YSS is filled with admiration for her second brother.

YLZ was really cool, and although I'm sure SYQ had his moments too, he didn't have as much opportunity to show it. YLZ is a great choice for the head of Wudang!! =)