Lan Xichen’s “Mistake” Line
There’s been much ado about Lan Xichen calling Wei Wuxian his brother’s “only mistake.” To a reader, it’s quite a soundbite. But I’d like to make the case that that line doesn’t say anything more or different from the rest of LXC’s rant speech. Which is to say, it wasn’t passing a romantic or even personal judgment on WWX or Wangxian.
This isn’t a translation meta, but any time a short line gets outsized attention, I like to check against the original just in case. The word here is 错, which has similar breadth to the English word “wrong” - covering things from being incorrect on a test to moral fault to, yes, mistakes. So in that sense, it’s not wrong (hah) to translate it as “mistake.” But I think that brings some baggage and does bias English-speaking fans’ reactions in a way the original text may not.
@spicychickenyang once suggested to me that a better localization would be “transgression.” I think that’s perfect.
See how it changes things?
You were his only mistake.
You were his only transgression.
The latter makes clear that it’s not LXC’s personal opinion that WWX is ‘wrong’ in some sense. It’s rules and society that claim WWX is in the wrong. WWX knows that; he’s not going to be bothered by LXC saying so.
[This isn’t the place for me to talk about translation vs. localization, but here’s a nice article about it.]
That LXC is speaking about societal judgment is also clear in the other instances of 错 being used in the same speech.
Do you know how he’d knelt in front of the the Wall of Discipline?! When I went to see him, I told him, ‘Young Master Wei was already in the wrong [大错], why add onto the wrong [错] committed?’ And he said……. He can’t affirm whether what you did was right or wrong [对错] . But no matter what, he was willing to shoulder all of the responsibility together with you. (x)
LXC’s comments immediately before the “‘mistake’ line” is also all about societal perception (or the perception of authority, when he invokes LQR).
With the ways in which he looked and talked to you when he saved you and hid you in that cave, even someone who was blind or deaf could perceive his feelings, which was why my uncle was in such anger. WangJi was a model for the disciples when he was young, and a prominent cultivator when he grew up. In his whole life he had been honest and righteous and immaculate—you were the only mistake he made! (ExR translation)
In other words, everyone saw LWJ as above reproach. The only time he acted out of accord with that was for WWX.
Recall that this–the societal condemnation of LWJ for helping WWX–was precisely LXC’s fear after the events of Nightless City.
I was afraid that if some other sect had reached the two of you first, WangJi would be treated as your accomplice. His name and reputation would be ruined forever or, worse, he would be killed instantly without trial. (x)
The anger in LXC’s delivery was personal (even then still from a place of not wanting to see LWJ get hurt), but what he was telling WWX was all about societal and external consequences to LWJ, not LXC’s personal feelings about LWJ’s behavior.
If you go back to the top and follow the overall arc of what LXC and WWX are talking about, it boils down to this:
WWX: How did he get his scars? Did it have something to do with me?
LXC: How could it not have something to do with you? [Exposition.] Wangji has been perfect in all else; his only transgression that could earn such punishment would be in relation to you.
Maybe this is still offensive to some fans. But it doesn’t make LXC a Wangxian anti. And the words are not something that WWX would be bothered by (separate from the underlying facts, which do bother him of course) or that LXC should need to apologize about afterwards.
