I NEED to talk about how important and amazing it is that Mac is able to literally cure Wukong's sickness/corruption in Moon Mist while also doing other things because it is seriously incredible ok.
BASICALLY Wukong gets poisoned, okay. With blue orchids, okay. And so, they're in his body messing with the magic inside. Immortality and invincibility are connected to Wukong's magic because of the immortal peaches, the furnace, all the spells and potions he drank at the banquet, plus the forms of immortality he gained on the journey. So many of them come from ingesting things. So if you put a poisonous, immortality-draining and LIFE-DRAINING flower into a big ol bowl of celestial immortal magic, it's going to get slowly twisted and corrupted.
The poison is going to interact with the celestial magic in ways that can't be described, because the poison is draining everything, meanwhile the magic of immortality is trying to sustain life and keep Wukong invincible. these two forces are in opposition INSIDE of Wukong's body in Moon Mist, resulting in him getting all kinds of sick: fevers, chills, fatigue, nausea, dry mouth, sore throat, coughing, aches and pains. Think of it like Wukong's immune system is entirely gone, so his body is trying (and failing) to fight back all these infections.
As the conflicting forces battle in Wukong's body, it results in corruption. Blue orchids are magical plants, made with wood and death magic. When two instances of magic interact this closely, it can result in corruption, which is something that is hard to undo. Wukong's eyes are corrupted as a result of the furnace and all the potions he ingested. It's spontaneous. No one knows what the end result will be.
Macaque is trying to prevent that corruption from spreading, and to do so, he has to manually remove the poison that's actively trying to kill Wukong. And he has to constantly do this. He cannot stop for a moment.
He's literally REVERSING the corruption as it spreads. As the poison gains ground in corrupting Wukong's celestial magic, Macaque is, essentially, strengthening Wukong's "immune system" and trying to restore Wukong's celestial magic to how it is normally. But that's incredibly difficult to do, because to be able to return a person's magic to how it was before the corruption, you have to know that magic inside in out. You have to know how it felt to be cast, how it moved, how powerful it was. Everything. You have to know that magic as if it were your own.
And that's why Macaque is the only one who can save Wukong right now. No one else knows Wukong's magic that well.
The orb on the kitchen table in Moon Mist is a real time visual aid for showing that ongoing battle Macaque is fighting. In order to gain ground in fighting the corruption, he has to actively work, and so he's doing this in the background. Yes, he's staying with Wukong and cooking and whatever, but WHILE doing all of that, he's using the shadows in Wukong's chest (from their bond) to counteract the poison. He's using additional shadows to heal Wukong's symptoms. And he's using even MORE shadows to look after the mountain since Wukong is unable to use his magic during this process.
That. Is a great deal of love and care. The greatest showing of love and care. And Macaque didn't have to do that. He made that choice to help Wukong because he loves him.
Wukong nearly sacrificed his life to break Macaque's curse. And now that it has, Wukong is now suffering as a result. Macaque doesn't want Wukong to die...he's the only one who's allowed to hurt Wukong, after all. 😤
If Macaque was still cursed, it would take him MONTHS to do what he's doing now, if not a full year. But now that it's gone and Macaque can use his full power, it will only take about two weeks for Wukong to recover.
That's why they have to stay in close contact. That's why Macaque can't do any more shadow plays for the moment. It's why Wukong's wounds are instantly healed. It's why Macaque reassures him that he's always looking after him, because he literally is. Wukong sneezes, and Macaque knows. He's keeping Wukong's blood pressure stable, regulating his body temperature, monitoring his heartbeat. He has to...
The magic of immortality just prevents old age. The magic of invincibility prevents death from serious injury. Both of those things are achieved by strengthening the magic within a person - immortal peaches and everything did that. And Wukong is a celestial primate; celestial magic lines his body. It's integral to him. It's vital.
Macaque is literally the only thing keeping his murderer alive, and i think that's really neat and symbolic and a great character arc for him to go through. THIS is the culmination of Macaque's arc. when faced with the choice to either let Wukong die or help him, what would he choose? After all that time repairing their relationship, what is more important to him? Revenge or love?
And Macaque chose love 🥺💜🧡
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