spoilers to crouching tiger hidden dragon 2
Meng si zhao/Silent wolf is literally so Extra like - his great solution to stop being an obstacle to his best friend Li Mubai and his betrothed Shu Lien is to Fake His Death. Fall off a cliff after a lost duel and then don’t come back, give no notice, just go and be a hermit in the mountains. What “isolation to gain enlightenment?” That was clearly a side extra from doing nothing but hiding and aesthetically sword training in the snow, not to do with why he left.
Anyhow, the move he took was calculated, but man, is Silent Wolf bad at math. Because Ned Stark must have taken lessons from both Mubai and Shu Lien on Excessive Honour To The Point of Self Destruction, because after Silent wolf’s death neither Mubai or Shu Lien dared talk about love for about ten plus years until the events of crouching tiger 1.
They both knew they loved each other but just didn’t-couln’t pursue it because it would have been An Insult to their dear dead friend, Silent Wolf, who died, and would have been totally betrayed and uncool with them marrying, who is definitely dead. (Men si Zhao/ Silent wolf, w h y - you could have said ‘let’s not marry, Shu Lien, I know you like Mubai, instead of pretending to die I’m going to talk to you both so you don’t have to spend years mourning my death and get married already.)
