In the first half of The Long Ballad, Wei Shuyu's existence is completely a waste of screen time to me. He was the golden boy of Chang'an, but that's before Xuanwu Gate Incident. He clearly wasn't just Changge's childhood friend, or brotherlike. He had a crush on her and was stuck between wanting to help her and protecting his family. His ideal righteous and bravery now become such a heavy burden, he obviously didn't know what to do. But what could Wei Shuyu do about Changge and the power shifting? Even his father was down during that period. When I first watched the drama, it was so tiring watching him whining, blaming other people, taking responsible and talking big without actually making any difference. But gradually, he becomes one of my favourites for his growth.
Despite being listed as one of the five main characters, Wei Shuyu is clearly being used as a background for the other four. For some reason he is underrated more than many other supporting characters like She'er, A'Dou, Mimi Guli or Mu Jin. And don't get me wrong, all of them are my favs too, but don't you think it's unfair for him? I love how most of the characters in this drama has their background stories or being really well-developed. Except for Wei Shuyu. His growing process is off-screen, and while some others are being a little bit over-exaggerated, his achievements are being underestimated. Take a look at the gifs above, my top 4 moments of him.
① Being Datang's envoy, representing his country, he is the main responsible person for the meeting with the desert's tribes about forming alliance. And he firmly faced Khatun of Ashile Tribe, getting all what his emperor had ordered. The old Wei Shuyu could never do that.
② He was the only one trying to understand the crown prince. Everyone sees the prince as a little spoiled brat (including me), but Wei Shuyu, with the same patience & gentleness for Changge, was able to reason with him.
③ He was leading one of the two groups sneaking in to rescue those being captured by Yi Cheng. Then he escorted Empress Xiao & her grandson back to Chang'an. He was weaker than Hao Du, but that's before. Now he's strong enough to be assigned for such important mission.
④ Lastly, he was able to let go of his crush for Changge and sincerely wishes her happiness with A'Sun. Of course not only for her, he wishes happiness for everyone.
In the end, he was able to stay true to his ideal righteous & bravery while still maintaining the gentleness, the kind-hearted part. So, doesn't all that prove he really deserves more appreciation?
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