The Untamed: A Primer

The Untamed, also known as the ancient gay Chinese pyramid scheme, is a Chinese drama, or c-drama, that is currently streaming on Netflix. (You can also watch it on Viki, with ads that are very disruptive but with subtitles that very occasionally make a lot more sense; or on YouTube.) There are fifty glorious episodes. It is based on a webnovel entitled Mo Dao Zu Shi, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (of which there is a fan translation available here), and it is about two soulmate cultivators (i.e., magic martial arts doers) who are trying to navigate (open and covert) warfare among clans, as well as solve some murders. One of them is a sunshine. One of them is a stormcloud.

I’ll mention some deaths in the character lists below. If I mention that someone is dead, it’s because their death is mentioned within the first few episodes OR because their death occurs before the start of the show and is reported to us casually, rather than as a plot reveal. Other than that, I won’t tell you anything that doesn’t get revealed within the first five-ish episodes.

The one exception is that the last question deals with on-screen character deaths. Obviously, the answer to that question will be very spoilery. Do not click on it if you don’t want to know.

• the stormcloud one is soft for the sunshine one
• so, so gay
• internecine warfare
• also zombies
• swooshy robes
• siblings having every emotion about each other that siblings have
• extra
• genuinely so extra
• like even if you came up watching soap operas, this show is still very fucking extra
• cws: suicide, violence/genocide against refugees, one instance of killing a child, nongraphic torture

Yeah, this is tricky. Most of the characters get called by different names at different times, and it’s quite confusing, especially when you’re first starting out. Here is a list of characters. I have included a picture of each person and a list of the other names they get called. If you spot anything I’ve missed or gotten wrong, give me a shout and I’ll update!

Edit to add: The lovely Vanessa Fogg linked me to this explainer of how the naming conventions work! So in case you want to understand why the names in this show are the way they are, this link can help!

Wei Wuxian

• Names
  • Wei Wuxian
  • Young Master Wei
  • Wei Ying (use of this name denotes “I feel affection for you”)
  • The Yiling Patriarch (use of this name denotes “I think you are evil”)
  • A-Xian / Xianxian (use of this name denotes “I am your loving older sister, have some soup”)
• Family ties
  • Parents: Wei Changze (servant of the Jiang clan, dead) and Cangse Sanren (student of a rogue cultivator, dead)
  • Adoptive parents: Jiang Fengmian, leader of the Jiang clan, and his wife, Madam Yu
  • Adoptive older sister: Jiang Yanli
  • Adoptive younger brother: Jiang Cheng

Lan Wangji

• Names
  • Lan Wangji
  • Second Young Master Lan
  • Lan Zhan (use of this name denotes “I feel affection for you”)
  • Hanguang Jun (use of this name denotes “I respect you, and you are also famously very beautiful”)
  • Wangji (use of this name denotes “I am your older brother and I wish you’d make a friend”)
• Family ties
  • Parents: The prior Lan clan leader (dead) and his wife (OH YOU’LL FIND OUT)
  • Older brother: Lan Xichen, the current leader of Lan clan
  • Uncle: Lan Qiren, not the current leader of Lan clan but still makes a lot of decisions and appears to have quite a bit of authority, which makes sense since he raised Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen

Jin Ling (present day only)

• Names
  • Jin Ling (basically the only thing he gets called)
  • Jin Rulan
• Family ties
  • Parents: Jin Zixuan (dead in present day) and Jiang Yanli (dead in present day)
  • Uncles: Jin Guangyao (formerly Meng Yao, leader of the Jin clan in present day), Jiang Cheng, and Wei Wuxian

Lan Sizhui (present day only)

He has no other names or known relations. It is typical of Lan Sizhui to make things simple for us, because Lan Sizhui is the sweetest duckling.

Jiang Yanli

• Names
  • Yanli
  • Shijie (use of this title denotes “you are my older sister whom I revere and adore”)
• Family ties
  • Parents: Jiang Fengmian, leader of the Jiang clan, and his wife Madam Yu
  • Adoptive younger brother: Wei Wuxian
  • Biological younger brother: Jiang Cheng
  • Fiancé, later husband: Jin Zixuan

Jiang Cheng

• Names
  • Jiang Cheng
  • Jiang Wanyin (he never gets called this though)
  • Young Master Jiang
  • A-Cheng (use of this name denotes “I am your loving older sister, have some soup”)
• Family ties
  • Parents: Jiang Fengmian, leader of the Jiang clan, and his wife Madam Yu
  • Older sister: Jiang Yanli
  • Adoptive older brother: Wei Wuxian

Wen Ning

• Names
  • Wen Ning
  • Wen Qionglin (but nobody calls him this)
  • Ghost General (after he becomes a zombie)
  • A-Ning (use of this name denotes “I am your loving older sister”)
• Family ties
  • Older sister: Wen Qing
  • Grandmother: Granny Wen

Wen Qing

• No other names! Just Wen Qing!
• Family ties
  • Younger brother: Wen Ning
  • Grandmother: Granny Wen

Wen Chao

• Names
  • Wen Chao
  • Young Master Wen
• Family ties
  • Father: Wen Ruohan, leader of the Wen sect
  • Brother: Wen Xu
  • Mistress: Wang Lingjiao

Lan Xichen

• Names
  • Lan Huan
  • Lan Xichen
  • Zewu-Jun (use of this name denotes “I respect you, and you are also famously very beautiful”)
• Family ties
  • Parents: The prior Lan clan leader (dead) and his wife (oh you will FIND the FUCK OUT)
  • Younger brother: Wangji
  • Uncle: Lan Qiren, not the current leader of Lan clan but still makes a lot of decisions and appears to have quite a bit of authority, which makes sense since he raised Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen
  • Sworn brother: Jin Guangyao (in present day)

Jin Zixuan

• Names
  • Jin Zuxuan
  • Young Master Jin
  • “the peacock”
• Family ties
  • Father: Jin Guangshan, leader of the Jin sect
  • Fiancee, later wife: Jiang Yanli
  • Son: Jin Ling

Meng Yao

• Names
  • Meng Yao (in flashbacks)
  • Jin Guangyao (later, and in present day)
• Family ties
  • Parents: Jin Guangshan, leader of the Jin sect (illegitimate) and Meng Shi, a prostitute
  • Half-brothers: Jin Zixuan, Mo Xuanyu
  • Nephew: Jin Ling
  • Sworn brother: Lan Xichen (in present day)

Nie Huaisang

• Names
  • Nie Huaisang
  • Young Master Nie
• Family ties
  • Older half-brother: Nie Mingjue, leader of Nie clan

Nie Mingjue

• Names
  • Nie Mingjue
  • Red Blade Master
• Family ties
  • Younger half-brother: Nie Huaisang

You will not! The first two episodes make no fucking sense, and that is not your fault. Hold on, get through it, and you will soon find yourself washing up on the shores of the flashbacks, whereupon you will get to spend thirty-five episodes watching the stormcloud one become soft for the sunshine one. This experience is an indescribable blessing. You do not want to miss it just because the first two episodes made no fucking sense.

First up we have Wei Wuxian.

He is cuddling a rabbit because he’s a delight, but also—apparently—because there’s a Chinese rabbit god that’s considered to be God of the Gays. This is but one of the many ways in which the show is much, much gayer than is immediately obvious.

As you can see from this gif, Wei Wuxian is absurdly pretty. He brings a chaotic sunshine energy to all that he does, to the annoyance of those who do and do not care about him, but beneath his chaos exterior he is a person of very great, though chaotic, integrity. This does not mean he adheres to rules. He is excited to break every, every rule. His two modes of interaction are “flirt” and “bother.” A third mode, “threaten,” appears midway through the series, under great provocation. If you pay close attention you may perhaps catch glimpses of the rare and precious fourth mode, “dazzlingly bright emotional sincerity.” Yes, I know this mode is not a verb like all the others. I didn’t make the rules; I’m just reporting the facts.

Wei Wuxian is an exceptionally talented cultivator. He was born of poor but honest parents, servants to the leader of the Jiang clan. After their untimely deaths, tiny baby Wei Wuxian lived on the streets, fighting dogs for scraps (that’s why he’s now afraid of dogs), until the Jiang clan leader finds and adopts him. Since then, he has been raised as a brother to the Jiang clan leader’s biological children.

At the start of the show, we are told that Wei Wuxian was an evil cultivator who used a wicked kind of magic (“resentful energy” in the Netflix subtitles, “demonic cultivation” in the translated webnovel) and had to be killed by a group effort of all the clans together. We witness him falling backwards off a cliff whilst a person we will learn is his boyfriend tries in vain to save him and a person we will learn is his brother tries to prevent him from being saved. The show then flashes forward sixteen years, when Wei Wuxian is reincarnated. I cannot emphasize this enough: Don’t worry too much about the mechanics of the reincarnation. It will never make sense, but more importantly, it does not matter. You will never need to worry about it.

Very most nextly there is Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan, or Lan Wangji, belongs to the Lan clan, whose home base is in Cloud Recesses, a very beautiful mountain palace near the city of Gusu. Lan Zhan and his older brother are famously beautiful; the Lan sect is famously honorable and above it all, and they have more rules than you can shake a stick at. They wear robes in various shades of white and pale blue, as well as a white headband that only their family members or boyfriends can touch.

Lan Zhan is an elegant and refined stormcloud composed of pure integrity. He does not make facial expressions. He is excited to follow every, every rule. When the flashbacks begin, he is deeply unthrilled about having to talk to other humans, but he has to, because his clan is hosting lectures. He especially does not want to have to talk to humans who break the rules of Lan clan, flirt like breathing, and ruffle his composure by being unsettlingly pretty and chaotic. He stares at Wei Wuxian’s mouth a lot.

In present day, Lan Zhan is still an elegant and refined stormcloud composed of pure integrity, with the minor alteration that he now actively despises the great majority of prominent cultivators across multiple clans. You will not immediately understand why he is giving Jiang Cheng the cut direct at every possible opportunity, but please give yourself the gift, when you have wrapped up the flashbacks, of going back and rewatching the first two episodes. It is unjust that the writing of the show ensures that no first-time viewer can appreciate this moment as it deserves to be appreciated.

Because a TV show coming out of mainland China could not make this relationship explicitly gay in the sense of having them kiss or talk about being married, it does absolutely everything else possible to indicate that they are together-together. They get symbolically married like four times (according to Tumblr). This show never met a heart-eyes reaction shot from either one of them that it didn’t want to hold on for an eternity.

The relationship between Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian is so romantic that it defies the petty limits of language. At some point, you start to think that every scene they have together is the peak of all romance, but then another scene comes along and you’re like, oh wait, no, okay, that’s the peak of all romance. Opinions differ as to which bit really is the peak of all romance. In my opinion the peak of all romance occurs in episode 42, on the steps of Carp Tower, but you may feel differently when you watch it.

They are his brother and sister! When I began watching this show I assumed that my primary emotional investment would be in the romance. This was deeply wrong. Two days and seven episodes into my viewing of it, I became suddenly unable to cope with the knowledge that Wei Wuxian’s sister would die and that his brother would become his enemy. I keened, I grieved. When the time came, it was even more tragic than I had initially imagined. Fuck this show and its cruel manipulation of my stupid heart.

Here is Jiang Cheng. He is the heir of the Jiang sect, and although he is Wei Wuxian’s younger brother, he has an older brother energy in many ways. They are constantly bickering and shoving each other. I sympathize terribly with Jiang Cheng. He is perpetually impressed and outclassed and inconvenienced by his chaos brother’s chaos impulses and chaos integrity. It’s a difficult mix of emotions to navigate. Plus there’s some parent stuff that you’ll find out later on, and he’s dealing with that too.

In the present day, Jiang Cheng is responsible for raising his nephew Jin Ling. His primary parenting strategies are:

• harshly scolding Jin Ling about everything while dispensing no praise
• instilling in Jin Ling a deep and abiding hatred for the late Wei Wuxian

Jin Ling is a nightmare of a duckling in some ways, but you can see why he is the way he is. He just needs an uncle who will encourage him and praise him when he does well. Under such circumstances I believe that he would thrive.

Here is Jiang Yanli. As you can clearly see, she is an adorable angel. She and Wei Wuxian have the sweetest and purest relationship on this entire show. They would do anything for each other. He sticks up for her at every opportunity, and she makes him comforting soup when he’s had a bad day.

When the show opens, her parents have promised her in marriage to the heir of the Jin sect, Jin Zixuan. Everyone believes that a marriage to Yanli would be a bit beneath Jin Zixuan, except for Wei Wuxian, who believes (and says, aloud, noisily, to anyone who comes near him) that marriage to Jin Zixuan would be greatly beneath Yanli. Wei Wuxian is the one who starts calling him “the peacock.” It’s sweet.

Short version: Power.

Long version: The MacGuffin for much of the flashback is this thing called the Stygian Iron, which is a very powerful magical object that was broken into pieces years ago, on the basis that it was too powerful when not broken. The shards still carry power, however, and the more of them you have, the more power you get. The leader of the Wen sect, Wen Ruohan, is trying to get all the shards so that he can use them to raise hella zombies (or as the show calls them, puppets). He already has one shard in his possession when the show begins, which means he can zombify some people but like, not as many as he wants.

In service of this goal, Wen Ruohan has sent some of his clan members to Cloud Recesses, ostensibly to attend the lectures, but actually to search for a piece of the Stygian Iron that he suspects is hidden there. He sends his younger son, Wen Chao, a smirky asshole, and siblings Wen Ning and Wen Qing.

Wen Ning and Wen Qing are in a slightly different situation from the other cultivators of Wen clan, in that they are the last scions of a branch of Wen clan that specialized in medicine. (Presumably the main branch specializes in zombies.) Wen Qing is tough as nails and will kill a man for looking sideways at her brother. Wen Ning is a medically fragile cinnamon roll who worships Wei Wuxian.

I’m honestly still not sure, but I think the answer might just be that they’re rich.

Here is an explainer of the main clans! It’s super useful in laying out information about the clans that the show doesn’t explicitly tell you, or doesn’t tell you until like forty episodes in, or mentions once in passing but you don’t realize it’s important and then forty episodes later it becomes THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. The section on the Jin clan does contain a few (vague and minor, in my opinion) spoilers for the show.

Okay, so in addition the main clans/sects, there are lesser cultivation clans who have various alliances and allegiances. The Chang sect is one of these. While they aren’t super important to the main plot, they are involved in this secondary plot involving Xue Yang, Song Lan, and Xiao Xingcheng.

I know, right? Don’t be mad at me, be mad at The Untamed. So these guys are part of the aforementioned secondary plot. Here are their faces:

Xue Yang (v smirky)

Song Lan

Xiao Xingcheng

It’s a bit weird? It’s like we have the main story about Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan and the five major clans, but we are also on the sidelines of this other grand and epic romance that occasionally intersects with our grand and epic romance. You don’t need to knock yourself out trying to understand how these guys are involved in the main plot. They’re more like a crossover event! They intersect with the main plot here and there, but by and large they’re a separate story.

They are also there to be a kind of alterna-couple to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. As a viewer, you may not have feelings about them but you can still have feelings about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji having feelings about them.

Geez, you’re incorrigible. Okay, the deal is that there’s this guy called Mo Xuanyu who wants revenge on his horrible family. He is one of the many illegitimate sons of the leader of the Jin clan, but he belongs to the Mo family, and they treat him very badly. Because he is not a strong cultivator, he does not have the power to take revenge on his abusive family. Instead, he does a spell that sacrifices his soul to resurrect the powerful, wicked Yiling Patriarch (Wei Wuxian). Once resurrected, Wei Wuxian has a wound on his arm for every person Mo Xuanyu wants to see dead. As each of those people dies, one of the cuts on Wei Wuxian’s arm heals itself.

I promise you—I absolutely promise you—that none of this matters. The whole thing is but a device to get Wei Wuxian back into the arms of his severe and swooshy boyfriend.

Taste is subjective. I know you’ll think that’s code for “no,” but it’s more code for “depends on how you’re defining ‘good.'” If you’re measuring it by whether the writing hangs together coherently, maybe not? There’s a lot of stuff about this show that I picked up from metatexts, and by metatexsts I mean, like, Tumblr. Sometimes the writers include things that the webnovel presumably explains, but the show never does. I would not say this is classically the mark of good show writing, and indeed I have been quite severe at the Harry Potter movies for this very flaw.

What the show is good at is developing relationships. At this, it is very, very good. I am not a crier, but there were points in this show that I cried two crystal teardrops like I was [redacted] learning that his [redacted] had [redacted] on behalf of [redacted]. I’ve probably said enough about Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to last a lifetime, but I will also mention that the way it sets up the relationships among the Jiang siblings is phenomenal. When the show begins, it’s hard to imagine anything coming between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian for very long; but by the time their estrangement occurs, it’s this bone-deep inevitability. It’s genuinely impressive, and I take my hat off to the writers for it.

All to say, I don’t know if the show is good. I know it was the most fun I’ve had watching a TV show in a really long time. But again: I came up watching soap operas.

Okay, deep breath in. Here’s a list of everyone important (good and bad) who dies, and in what episode. A couple of people die by suicide, and I’ve marked which ones in case that’s something you want to avoid. Because I don’t want anyone to accidentally get spoiled, I’m going to include a few charming gifs. If you don’t want to know who dies, don’t scroll past these gifs! Stop reading!

• the Jiang parents (Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu), in episode 16
• Wang Lingjiao, in episode 20 (suicide)
• Wen Chao, in episode 20
• Wen Zhuliu, in episode 20
• Wen Ruohan, in episode 23
• Wen Ning, in episode 26 (but he comes back as a zombie)
• Jin Zixuan, in episode 31
• Wen Qing and most of the Wen clan refugees, in episode 31
• Jiang Yanli, in episode 32 (this one’s fucking brutal)
• Wei Wuxian, in episode 33 (but he gets reincarnated)
• Xue Yang, in episode 39
• Xiao Xingchen, in episode 39 (suicide)
• Nie Mingjue, at an unspecified time, but we see it in a flashback in episode 41
• Jin Guangshan, at an unspecified time, but we see it in a flashback in episode 45
• Jin Guangyao, in episode 50