30 Days Dynasty Warriors Challenge
Day 8: Least Favourite Stage
When someone reclaims something of theirs, I don't think that is considered stealing.
Each of the last XL stages for the kingdoms presents something out of the ordinary - for Wei, searching for Cai Wenji results in interrupting other night activities; for Wu, the 'four talents of Jiangdong' 江东四杰 are pitted against each other; for Jin, we finally learn the effort that goes into making baozi. And for Shu, we get to know exactly why the Chinese have a saying: When Liu Bei borrows Jing province, it is a one way trip 刘备借荆州,有借无还.
The one thing that gets me the most about Shu is their sense of entitlement (despite most of the starting group having nothing much to begin with). Once they get their hands on something, it instantly becomes theirs to command, regardless of how their obtained it. Just like how they took over Jing province, so it is with how they treat Red Hare.
Because Guan Yu owned Red Hare for a time, they instantly assume that Red Hare belongs to them, permanently. And when Red Hare disappears, they start randomly accusing people of stealing it. But if Red Hare should belong to anyone, it is Lv Bu.
It is together with Lv Bu's name that Red Hare is mentioned - 人中吕布,马中赤兔 (among men Lv Bu [is the greatest], among horses Red Hare [is the best]). And it stayed with Lv Bu until his death and wasn't given away (it was taken by Cao Cao). Therefore Lv Lingqi should have a claim on the horse as well. I wasn't surprised to see her taking Red Hare away, and I would assume Red Hare went pretty willingly as well.
But even if we consider Lv Bu's claim on the horse void once he died, then Red Hare should rightfully belong to Wu (can we possibly make it Lv Meng's steed as well?). After all, they are the ones who defeated and executed Guan Yu, and so have equal claim as when Cao Cao took it after Lv Bu's death. If that is the case, Zhu Ran and Lu Xun have every right to tell those three girls to scram.
Whichever way, I don't see how Guan Yu's family gets sole claim on Red Hare. And with such a storyline behind the stage, I just cannot bear to play it more than the one time (to complete all stages).