TTEOTM LIBRARY - Collection Of Notes & Trivia

23 May 2023

@wengweng shared the below link which shares hidden details in the show which we might have missed in our angsty states when we were watching TTEOTM for the first time.  

The link brings us to a detailed write up by Reddit user,  Technical-Abroad8918.  Has spoilers, so you may want to skip this if you have not watched the drama yet. 

Easter Eggs! (Lots of spoilers) : r/TilltheEndoftheMoon (reddit.com) 

I have also copied the article here for easy reading. 

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Easter Eggs! (Lots of spoilers) by Reddit User -> Technical-Abroad8918

Now that everyone's had a chance to watch and rewatch, here's a list of easter eggs or hidden details from the show or screenplay that I jotted down. I really love all the clever details, many of which were not in the novel in the first place but added for the drama. Some are very obvious, others veer towards fan theory.

Throwaway lines that foreshadowed the end:

• At the end of episode 1, Susu asks her servant what is TTJ's Achilles Heel, and Chuntao responds it is Ye Xiwu. We all think this is funny because YXW is a bullying wife, but this is actually foreshadowing for the ending (Susu is TTJ's Achilles Heel after all)

• Pang Yizhi seems like a joke but is actually right on critical things:

  • When he first meets TTJ, he predicts that TTJ would be rich and powerful, which Susu thought was indication that Xiaoyou Sect’s standards have declined. Pang is actually correct as TTJ did end up reuniting the Jing and Sheng kingdoms.

  • In episode 6, he predicts the person who will unite the kingdoms and bring lasting peace is in his presence (Xiao Tiao & Ye Qingyu). Everyone assumes he is referring to Xiao Tiao, who is in line to be king, but in fact it is Ye Qingyu who takes over from TTJ in ruling for 500 years

• In episode 7, YXW's dad was so excited that Ye Qingyu stayed overnight at a lady's place that he says he would accept this daughter-in-law even if she's a "widow or even a demon". Pianran is in fact a fox demon who's had a previous lover.

• In episode 19, when Pianran gives YXW the suggestion that she should cook for TTJ, she joking wishes that TTJ would be poisoned by YXW. He was indeed poisoned by YXW later.

• The entire sequence in the festival where YXW is chosen to play the goddess and TTJ is chosen to play the demon god is foreshadowing for what happens in the end. The demon god willingly allows the goddess to kill him. In fact, there's a fan theory that the "ancient tale" is left by the prophets as instructions for what must happen in the end.

  
  

Connections between the Dream Arc and the rest of the Story:

• Time God Jize says to Sangjiu that they have a special connection, a connection that "you [TTJ] know, she [LSS] knows, but Sangjiu and Mingye do not know", hinting he is aware that she is Susu is playing Sangjiu and that she would experience the dream of wisdom (Bo're Dream).

• Chufeng also says she feels a strange sense of familiarity with Sangjiu. Susu is actually her daughter. She doesn't know because, unlike Jize, she doesn't have prophetic powers.

• Jize also knew the entire time that he had to wait in the Abyss for 10,000 years to tell Susu the prophecy i.e. how to defeat the demon god and pass on the Mirror of the Past

• Mingye also knew his one last contribution is to educate the reincarnated demon god, which is why he left his dream behind and lured TTJ in (he recognizes him because he's seen the Ancient Demon God without his mask on)

• TTJ didn't trust Dimian because he's the only one aware that he betrayed the Ancient Demon God

• The drama very clearly explains what happens to the three weapons of the Demon God after the ADG falls 10,000 years ago:

  • During the fight, the God-Piercing Bow (屠神弩) is cast into the Weak Sea by Mingye. 10,000 years later, it is absorbed by TTJ while searching for YXW’s soul

  • The Marrow Cleansing Seal (洗髓印) creates the Buzhao Mountains and was later collected by Mingye, who tries to repurpose it into a tool that can cleanse Sangjiu’s demon bone into an immortal bone. After Sangjiu dies, he uses his remaining powers to lock it under the water mirror in the Upper Immortal Realm. It remains there for 10,000 years until Siying attempts to steal it.

  • The Heaven-slaying Sword (斩天剑) is stolen by Dimian to stab the ADG in the back. It later resurfaces when a power-hungry Dimian uses it to kill Susu's adoptive father and steal LSS’s extracted demon bone

Special Relationships between Objects and Characters:

• TTJ has a special connection with the Dragonheart Shield (护心鳞) – it comes from Mingye and is later refined by Cang Jiumin, connecting and symbolizing the goodness in the two characters:

  • The Dragonheart Shield originally comes from the dragon scale protecting Mingye’s heart, which he gave up in order to retrieve the Purge of Immortality Stamp at the Buzhao Mountain, hence it was left with the Xiaoyou Sect. This happens 10,000 years ago in Mingye’s dream

  • The Shield is then offered as a wedding gift to Xiao Tiao (perhaps to protect him from future events?) from the Xiaoyao Sect. (This is its first appearance to the audience.) XT then gifted it to TTJ as a gesture of goodwill in order to secure protection for Ye Bingtang.

  • The Shield protects TTJ from YXW's three final nails, suggesting some protection from Mingye and his faith that TTJ is still salvageable

  • After TTJ disappears, it was safeguarded by Ye Qingyu (as masked Jin emperor) for 500 years. In the draft screenplay, Cang Jiumin and Li Susu were supposed to collect it from YQY (that was why they had to fight the nightmare demon - YQY wasn't willing to give it up because the demon was impersonating Pianran).

  • CJM then distils the shield’s powers to form a protective boundary for the cultivation world and was given the shield for safekeeping

  • Later it's suggested he left a fragment of himself in the Shield. Some fan theories state that he would eventually be able to take physical form after years healing in the Shield

• Similarly, LSS has a connection with the Jade of Doom (倾世之玉) – it is created by Sangjiu and later absorbed by Ye Xiwu, connecting and symbolizing tragedy in the two characters

  • The Jade of Death is created by Sangjiu with the fallen bodies of the Snake Clan in order to resurrect her family. As this is a violation of natural order, Sangjiu invites a divine trial of purple thunders, which she does not pass, even with Mingye’s immortal bone, due to her lack of a physical body.

  • The Jade is then left at the bottom of the Mo River. LSS has a dialogue with the jade’s unseen creator. It is later absorbed by YXW to divert it away from TTJ and prevent him from gaining its powers but suffering a cursed fate

  • Later YXW uses the Jade in her body to rapidly cultivate an immortal bone, which she successful swaps with TTJ’s demon bone, giving him cultivation powers. This also attracts purple thunders that serves as YXW’s divine trial, which she passes and travels back to 500 years later as LSS

• Similarly, the Ice Crystal Casket has a connection with TTJ, Xiao Tiao, and Ye Bingchang – it is used twice to resurrect XT using powers of TTJ and YBC, symbolizing rebirth and redress:

  • It is first created by Mingye from a 10,000 year old ice crystal guarded by the Snake Clan (Tianhuan’s clan) in order to resurrect the Clam Clan, specifically Sangyou. Sangjiu breaks the box in front of Mingye and says she will find another way to resurrect her brother

  • After Xiao Tiao dies, Pang Yizhi repairs it to resurrect XT, using TTJ’s blood and YBC’s tears as ingredients to rebuild him into a new character, GZJW.

Demon Gods and Time Traveling

• Demon God 2.0 (the one at the beginning of episode 1) recognized Li Susu as his ex wife Ye Xiwu and sent her back to "rescue" him on purpose. He could have stopped her from going back. (This was also suggested in one of the novel extras). In the novel it's because he wanted to take a bet for a happier ending, take a gamble that Susu would love him too. There are also alternate theories that he foresaw his death with the Tongbei Way and wanted to prevent it

• Ancient Demon God, too, predicted that in one of the realities, Li Susu would come and rescue TTJ and told Dimian TTJ's tragic "screenplay". (This is also a clever reference to the novel's original title, Black Moonlight is guaranteed a BE screenplay) Everything is true in the screenplay, including TTJ's eventual "murder" of his teacher

• Li Susu time traveled to just before TTJ was supposed to die from the punishment inflicted on him by YXW. In fact, YXW saved him multiple times, (e.g. from drowning, poison, and from TTML) and kept him alive long enough to gain his dark powers that protected him later on

• In the alternative timeline, Li Susu is born with developmental challenges as she never completes reincarnation as Ye Xiwu, who perishes from the thunder trial. When original timeline Li Susu travels forward 500 years after she completes her mission and is recombined with alternative timeline Li Susu through phoenix nirvana (凤凰涅槃). It's later explained that 10 years before, alternative timeline Li Susu went into spontaneous combustion and was in seclusion for 10 years while a thunder cloud emerged atop her. (This explains how Susu woke up 500 years later with her memories in tact even though her physical body has already perished)

 kwanto:

Great and thanks, we should tell new watcher to always check on this discussion so that they understand how excellent TTEOTM story is and it is not just a superficial love story, it is much much deeper ....

Yes, some folks are confused by the condensed storyline and then at episode 40 get an "unsatisfactory" ending due to misunderstanding the actual meaning, definitely affects the ratings.  

there was the final letters BTS with the leads played as their characters writing their final letter to each other about their feelings after the finale.  Susu's letter to him said since he had searching for her for 500 years, now it's her turn to search for him like in the novel.

Now we wait when Youku released the audio SE

 Megumi-H:

1. @Chun Tian, this is great way to keep track on especially what we missed out for this drama. Thanks for starting this!

My pleasure. 🙂

Don't forget that Pang Yi Zhi is also the little boy that dropped the camellia flowers Ji Ze "stole" from the God of Flowers(?), and who was in turn pushed from the divine platform by Ji Ze so he can cultivate safely in the mortal realm. (Posted on youku youtube channel)

 charleymiamore:

Don't forget that Pang Yi Zhi is also the little boy that dropped the camellia flowers Ji Ze "stole" from the God of Flowers(?), and who was in turn pushed from the divine platform by Ji Ze so he can cultivate safely in the mortal realm. (Posted on youku youtube channel)

And I just learnt recently that Xiao Lin are the Camellia flowers from the heavenly realm. Wow right?

 ChunTian:

And I just learnt recently that Xiao Lin are the Camellia flowers from the heavenly realm. Wow right?

And in epi34, Mo Nv patches up GYJWs clothes with Camellia flower embroidery