Word of Honor Question Analyses and Theories (SPOILERS)

This post includes spoilers for episode 30-36 + Bonus Episode 37 by answering questions regarding those episodes!

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Q: Why episodes 31-36 seem so rushed? 

A: Word of Honor was supposed to have 45 episodes but got cut down to 36 episodes due to budget problems (remember the nut company advertisement? They sponsored the drama) which forced the screenwriter to put story of 9 episodes into the little number of episodes they had left. 

You can imagine that this is bound to lead to rushed storytelling as they try to wrap up everything and give answers to the audience. 

Without the cut we probably would have seen a clever scheming from Wen Kexing (WKX) to reveal the truth about the villain and clearing his own name and reputation, getting justice for himself. 

Q: The Ghosts were working for Scorpion, why did they help Wen Kexing to rescue Zhou Zishu? 

A: That was part of the deal WKX made with Scorpion King. In exchange for Zhao Jin's life WKX could get his army for the rescue of ZZS. 

Q: How did Chengling forgive Wen Kexing? 

A: That's hard to answer based on the drama. We only see how WKX goes to see CL and Shen, by then they already know his identity because of the ghost book (a book stating the ghosts with drawings of their appearance so everyone can identify them). 

WKX goes to see them to tell Chengling the entire truth about him and what happened. We can only guess that Chengling was able to forgive WKX because he have seen the good in him. WKX helped him multiple times, comforted him, taught him martial arts and was a model Chengling wanted to follow. Their plan was to live together and bring ZZS's sect back to life after all. 

Q: When did the Scorpion King decide to betray his father and make a deal with Wen Ke Xing? 

A: There have been doubts in Scorpion King for a while at this time, especially after Scorpion King meets Tragicomic Ghost who has a past with Zhao Jin. At first he doesn't want to believe her words but when he founds proof, he slowly begins to realize that Zhao uses others as tools as long as they're benefitting to him and once he discards them he keeps a souvenir sort of thing. Scorpion King does have such a souvenir as well and maybe that opens his eyes and make him realize that he will not achieve his goal as long as he keeps believing the sweet-talk of Zhao.  Helping WKX will not only make him reach that goal but also give him the upper hand over Zhao. 

Q: When did Ye Bai Yi forgive Wen Ke Xing for being the Ghost Valley Leader? 

A: Probably when WKX came to him and told him about his plan. I think he changed his way of thinking about WKX when he gt confronted by ZZS who said YBY has no right to judge WKX. You can see how he lowers his sword and tries to make it look like he's bored and just leaves. My impression is that YBY is open to reason and just in his decisions. Judging WKX and calling him evil is not right per se, because WKX has really good reasons for his actions even if they lead to harming others. 

Zhou Zishu once said: "A bad guy can be forgiven by God if he puts down the sword. So why should a good guy be sent to hell if he only did something bad once?" 

That applies to WKX and just like Chengling I think, YBY is able to see that as well. 

Q: What happened in episode 37? How could ZZS save WKX? 

A: Ha, good question because that really isn't explained. Let me share two comments I saw on a video on Youtube and who I find pretty reasonable and well executed: 

https://i.imgur.com/9tAD0Mb.png

https://i.imgur.com/eW06bgR.png 

I would explain it like that, maybe with a combination of both. There must've been something useful inside the mountain, when you remember all those scrolls and books just inside the library, not to mention the Yin Yang Manual. Also, ZZS became immortal so that means his Qi must be endless and more than sufficient to heal WKX meridians or at least restore a stable condition for WKX. Not to mention the Qi WKX had received from YBY only a couple hours earlier. 

We see a lot of time has passed between the end of episode 36 and 37 so mabybe WKX couldn't be healed right away but I'm sure ZZS found a way. Time was the least of his concerns after all. ;) 

Q: Why did Changling's name his daughter Xiang? 

A: I  think he named her after Gu Xiang, because Xiang became a good friend to Chengling and a person he could rely on as she cared about and protected him. So it's only natural to honor her by naming his daughter Xiang. 

Q: Why did YBY "lie" to WKX about the requirements for combined six cultivation method? 

A: Personally I think YBY wanted to test WKX and see how much he would be willing to give to save ZZS. So when WKX answered immediately that he would do anything even if that meant giving his life, YBY knew that WKX was a trustworthy person. He smiled and said "Good answer". Considering that YBY just helped WKX to survive it wouldn't make sense to support him now in being a noble sacrifice. He knew that WKX and ZZS are willing to die together so he must've known that allowing WKX to sacrifice would lead to ZZS's heartbreak or even death. For me, YBY is not that kind of person. He puts justice over everything else. 

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Spoiler End. ^^

 dee100:

Another thing about the ghosts helping WKX to rescue ZZS....I think they did that simply because WKX is the valley master and he ordered them to bring their numbers. They may betray him and even kill him if they get the chance but for right now WKX is their master and they are his subordinates. They will never fight him face to face. They don't have the guts. They know they are no match for Lunatic Wen.

Exactly. They didn't serve Scorpion King because they wanted to in the first place. He used a drug on them that made them dependent on him so they probably would've taken any chance to get out of this situation. You can see how loyal they were to WKX after all when they claimed that they didn't know him and therefore denied his identity as Ghost Valley leader. xD If they really wanted to betray him, they would've only needed to confirm his identity and one of the clans would've killed WKX at the spot. 

About ZCL forgiving WKX.

In episode 34, minute 18:21, ZCL says to his master: "You've known Uncle Master's past and difficulties that couldn't be told, but why did you not tell me directly? You didn't believe me or our ties as uncle master and disciple?" So ZCL himself  tells us that the bond between him and WKX is strong enough to survive the revelation of WKX's past.

I'm curious about Ye Baiyi and Chang Qing's relationship. Who is Chang Qing?

I get a sense that he's hoping Zishu and Kexing would be able to live happily, something him and Chang Qing do not manage to do.

On why YBY lied to WKX:

As far as I understood, to save ZZS, he and WKX have to master duel cultivation (WKX "broke" his own meridians to channel into ZZS and both of them rebuilt them by transfering the qi he got from YBY to each, thus making them immortal) - something, that according to the lore of their world needs absolute dedication and "true love" to be successful. WKX and his zero hesitation to give up his life for ZZS convinced YBY of his sincerity and that they might both survive the louhe skill. Theoretically, YBY didn't even lie to WKX, he just conveniently left out additional factors that might influence the outcome.

 moonchild:

That's hard to say based on the drama. I started reading the novel and hope it's giving more insight to this character and Ye Bai Yi. As far as I know Chang Qing was a close friend of Ye Bai Yi. Maybe they even had a similar closeness like Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, but that's only speculation. 

That would explain why he was helping them to a happy end/life. 

Thanks for the info. I love how the series pays attention to such details.