The Kings Avatar Live Action Review – Episode 20 (Quanzhi Gaoshou)

The previous review of the  Kings Avatar, we were introduced to the excellent new character Qiu Fei who is played by Di Zilu. This dude is a bit of a cheeky upstart in the general scheme of things but we soon learn that he is very talented.  He also has a quick temper and can be manipulated if he isn’t careful.

The baddie, Chen Yehui (played excellently by Hao Shuai) also returned and was up to his usual dastardly tricks.  In this particular case, he wanted to take the likely-place on the first team away from the up-and-coming (and very talented) new member of the Jiashi guild, Qiu Fei.

Chen Yehui tricked and cheated his way in to the first team at the expense of a very annoyed and disgruntled Qiu Fei.  The new star decided to take an offer of training abroad and went away for a year before returning to find that his old mentor had left Excellent Era to start a new eSports Glory team.

Kings Avatar Episode 20 Review – Summary

This was a great episode that you cannot fail to enjoy.  Maybe it’s me getting so excited after what seems like some poorly directed and acted episodes.  Suddenly we see the saga back to it’s normal game enthused self.  Lots and lots off high points,. Su Mucheng was in the episode a lot which is always good, we are introduced to yet another character who is going to play quite a big part in the next few episodes.

Oh yeah, and Chen Yehui gets smacked in the face! OMG actual “The Kings Avatar violence!”  (erm… outside the erm…. the game that is).  The biggest news though, was that one of the biggest guilds in the Glory professional league gets relegated!

Seriously, there was a lot of good stuff in this episode and it’s one of the lengthiest reviews I done for a while.  Needless to say, I really enjoyed it and am so very pleased we are back to the cool storyline and character development.

As usual. If you need a recap of any of the episodes so far, all the previous Kings Avatar episode reviews are here: Kings Avatar Live Action News & Reviews Thread.

Key Players Appearing In This Episode

Name:  Ye Xiu ID:  Lord Grim (Jun Mo Xiao) Class:  Freelancer Guild:  Happy (Xing Xin). Once known as God Ye Qui when he was with Excellent Era (Jiashi).  He currently works for Chen Guo as the Team Captain for the new Happy Guild (Xing Xin) and raiding team and as the  Network Manager in her Internet Cafe.

Name:  Chen Guo ID:  Chasing Haze Class:  Gunner Guild:  Happy (Xing Xin). Manager Happy Internet Cafe and Guild Master of the Happy Guild.   She now manages Ye Xiu as a Network Manager in her Internet Cafe and Team Captain in the Happy guild (Xing Xin). She is a very enthusiastic supporter and player of Glory although we rarely see Chen Guo win a match. Her pet name of GuoGuo by Tang Rou.

Name:  Su Mucheng ID:  Dancing Rain Class:  Gunner Guild:  Excellent Era (Jiashi).  Childhood friend and staunch ally of Ye Xiu and his biggest supporter.  She is a exceptional Gunner who is rated as the best in her class.

Name:  Tang Rou ID:  Soft Mist Class:  Battlemage Guild:  Happy  (XIng Xin).  Tang Rou is affectionately called Xiao Tang (Little Tang) by Chen Guo. She originally thought that Glory was boring but was beaten by Ye Xiu in a duel and has vowed to get even.

Name:  Bao Rongxing ID:  The Invader Class:  Ranger/Brawler Guild:  Happy  (XIng Xin). Works in a warehouse. Unusual way of playing but quick and agile fighter with a good sense of spacial awareness.  His ambition is to game professionally. His old character was called Steamed Bun

Name:  Qiao Yifan ID:   Ashen Moon Class:   Assassin Guild: Happy  (XIng Xin). Considered a very weak player in his old guild Tiny Herb (Wei Cao) and not usually picked for any team activities.  He decided to change class and leave to join Happy (Xing Xin).

Name:  Luo Ji ID:  Mei Guang Class:  Cleric Guild:  Happy (Xing Xin).  The Guild tactician, he is very good with statistics and calculating probability.

Name:  Sun Xiang ID:  Autumn Leaf Class:  Battlemage Guild:  Excellent Era (Jiashi).  Is new to Excellent Era which was handed to him after it was taken away from Ye Xiu. His  previous class was a Berserker.  He is not very popular with Su Mucheng.

Name:  Chen Yehui ID:  The Darkness Class:  Battlemage Guild: Excellent Era (Jiashi).  All round scumbag.   Rarely wins his battles and although considered a good solo player, does not do well in a team.  He bares a grudge against Ye Xiu who once threw him out of the team for selfish play.

Name:  Qiu Fei ID: Combat Form Class:  Battlemage  Guild:  Excellent Era.   He is an extremely good player but quick tempered (he also suffers some family conflicts which doesn’t help).  He went away to train abroad and it was widely expected that once he returned, he would become Ye Qui’s apprentice.

Name:  Xiao Shiqin ID:Sheng Lingmie Class:  Mechanic Guild:  Thunderbolt.   He is a S-Level player (whatever that means) and recognised as one of thee four highest rated tacticians in the game.  His team basically relies on him to do the work.  It is fair to say that he carries the other players of Thunderbolt.

The Kings Avatar Episode 20 Review

The show opens with the continuation of the chat between Ye Xiu and Qiu Fei.  It is revealed that the reason that Qiu Fei left to go away on an eSports training course abroad, was because of the recommendation by Ye Qui (Ye Xiu that was).  It was felt that Qiu Fei was inexperienced and that he was also a bit of a loose cannon (quick tempered and easily manipulated and tricked by Chen Yehui for instance).

A few months away on a training course would hone his skills in an environment that would help him mature as a player.  Ye Qui also promised that if he went on the training, when he returned, Qiu Fei would be the recipient of some ‘Silver’ gear (normally only given to First Team players).

Qiu Fei justifiably wanted this in writing but Ye Xiu was not happy at the presumption and only wrote on the IOU that Ye Qui owes him ‘glory’.

The IOU For Qiu Fei

Back in the present day, Qiu Fei brings out the scrap of paper that Ye Qui gave him and presents it to Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu of course tells him that he will give him glory but doesn’t elaborate.  I guess it’s a philosophical statement rather than a promise of remuneration for gear or title. 

When Qiu Fei leaves to return to the gaming practice room at Jiashi, he is met by the deceitful Chen Yehui.  While most of use would just punch the dude, Qiu Fei listens to him spout silken vitriol about how they have both been victims of Ye Qui’s trickery and deceit and that his play style is now out of date.

Chen Yehui is trying to get Qiu Fei to join him in his attack on his old mentor.  He tells Qiu Fei that Ye Xiu’s team is fledgling and if attcked properly, can only last for a few days.

SMACKDOWN!

Qiu Fei smiles and stands up to leave. When Chen Yehui holds on to his arm to talk more, Qiu Fei strikes him on the chin.  It was a very good punch and well timed.  Chen Yehui is more shocked than hurt. Qiu Fei tells Chen Yehui that he does not deserve a mentor like Ye Qui. and leaves telling him that if he bad-mouth’s his mentor again, he will be beaten again.

Back at the Happy Internet Cafe, the beautiful Su Mucheng notices that Bao Rongxing (aka Bao Zi), Qiao Yifan and Tang Rou are all away and she tells Ye Xiu that she feels lonely (she says it with a flirty smile – the brazen hussy!).

We soon learn that Qiao Yifan has gone back to the Tiny Herb guild where he has tendered his resignation.  Poor Bao Rongxing has been promoted because the wonderful work that he did in his little warehouse while playing Glory seemed to be just what his employers wanted (I’m being sarcastic of course – that never happened to me!…. ever!) and the pretty Tang Rou who was enrolled at her music school to continue her piano studies discusses options with her father.

Su Mucheng continues her chat with Ye Xiu and mentions that the ‘Little Devil’ her nickname for Qiu Fei (presumably because of his tempter) is talented and can achieve whatever he wants – if he really wanted to.

The Prodigal Core Team Returns

She goes on to make a convoluted point that just because players want to hang out with Ye Xiu, it doesn’t mean that he is responsible for their lives.  As if to drive the point home, the three core players in the team return back to the Happy Internet Cafe and join him in-game to say hello.

Indeed, things seem to be coming together nicely for the Happy Glory team.  The lovely Chen Guo is the proud recipient of her certificate of Guild Management (or whatever it is called) and Ye Xiu gives her a present of a ‘First League’ badge from his days of being in the first league (in Excellent Era).

The team go out for dinner at a local restaurant.  Ye Xiu makes a point of confirming that he and his character Jun Moxiao (Lord Grim) will always be with the Happy team (Xing Xin). This makes Chen Guo very happy as it is basically what she has wanted for many months!  The rest of the core group also pledge their loyalty, firstly the pretty Tang Rou with her character ‘Han Yanrou’ (Soft Mist), then Bao Xi with his character ‘The Invader’ and lastly, Qiao Yifan with is character, ‘Yi Cunhui’ (Ashen Moon).

They all hand over their game cards to a very grateful Chen Guo.

The Tournament

Them we are taken to the tournament arena with a lovely and very capable introduction to the next match from the beautiful and talented Xiao Lu.  The tournament is the Twelfth game of the Eighth season.  Everyone is excited and the Happy team are in the spectator stand chatting about the next match between Excellent Era and Thunderbolt.

Although Sun Xiang is a capable player, he has yet to prove himself as a team captain and he is about to start a match against a team which has one of the four great tacticians, Xiao Shiqin as their captain.  He is a S-Level player (whatever that means) and plays a Mechanic class – his avatar is called Sheng Lingmie.

The beautiful lady announcer, Xiao Lu starts the game.

One of the other commentators mentions that both teams are struggling.  Although the team captain of Thunderbolt is one of the ‘Four Tacticians’, the rest of the team don’t have a great deal of skill (not a very nice thing for a commentator to say) and although the Excellent Era team has the ‘God of Fights’ as it’s team captain, they have yet to win a qualifying team match.

 Bao Rongxing shouts some insults to the Jiashi team and is immediately chastised by his boss, Chen Guo.

Excellent Era versus Thunderbolt

The battle starts with both sides on the attack. Sun Xiang shows off his skill at using the Dragon Head move to take out one of the Thunderbolt players.

But the supercool team captain of Thunderbolt is not about to give up.  He charges at Sun Xiang to make him to attack.  Sure enough, a confident Sun Xiang uses his ultimate move, the one he has been practicing for weeks, the Dragon Head Rising manouvre.  Everyone thinks that Xiao Shiqin will fall but a mechanic of his class is the ability, at the right time, to step back.  He does this at a precise moment to allow him to avoid too much damage and continues his attack on Sun Xiang.

It’s a cool a but all too quick battle.  Now that Xiao Shiqin has managed to avoid death at the hands of Sun Xiang he commands his team to re-double their efforts to attack a now slightly weakened Jiashi team.  Amazingly, the lesser team begins to turn the tables and at the end of the allotted time for the match, the Jiashi team have the less health points and therefore lose the match.

The points systems means that historically, Jiashi are now relegated from the first league.  Since they have not won a key match since Sun Xiang became their captain, they have gradually lost their top place and slid down the rankings – now they have been relegated.  The audience is shocked – so are the Xing Xin team, they aren’t as happy as you might think since they will be facing Jiashi when they begin their campaign next season.

A Sudden Departure

The wonderfully eloquent, beautiful and talented Xiao Lu graciously thanks the audience for their attendance and bids them farewell.

Then, in an unusual and surprising turn of events! The captain of Thunderbolt, Xiao Shiqin resigns as captain!  He has just almost single handedly saved his team from relegation and then he resigns! He doesn’t give a reason to his shocked team mates, just tells them that he will no longer be their Captain!

Sun Xiang on the other hand, is still brooding as his team mates try and work out what they are going to say in front of the press gathered outside.

Su Mucheng Faces the Press

It’s big news that Jiashi is now relegated and the press want to interview the members of the team.  Someone has to take the fall for this, someone needs to face them and explain.

In the end a tearful Su Mucheng leaves the players enclosure and bows tearfully in front of the press.  She slowly, wordlessly, leaves the arena tearfully remembering the good times she has had with jiashi and how badly they team has fallen.

All these scenes were fired at us like bullets from a gun, it was very intense and difficult to keep up!  Gripping stuff!  After the lethargy of the last few episodes, this was positively jam-packed with action and intrigue.

To Be Cheered Up By An Old Friend

As Su Mucheng leaves the building, she notices Ye Xiu has been waiting for her.  He tells her that he will take her to a familiar place.  However, they end up going to an Internet cafe that Su Mucheng hasn’t been to before.  Ye Xiu asks her to accompany him in the Glory game to an old map – the first place she played Glory with her brother.

It’s quite a moving sequence after the excitement of the previous few minutes, I godda admit, it was a bit of a tear-jerker.  Ye Xiu insists that they duel again as they did back then and Su Mucheng is able to demonstrate to Ye Xiu why she is such a good player.  I think he just wanted to help build her confidence up again after such a depressing defeat in the tournament.

The Path of Glory

As they battle, a bug appears in the landscape.  It’s an old bug that Su Mucheng’s brother was supposed to have fixed.  Possibly he left it in on purpose.  The two old friends are transported to another area of the game.  There isn’t anything there, just some great scenery.  They begin walking and talking.

Su Mucheng tells Ya Xiu that she feels lost in Jiashi despite trying hard.  She is upset that the team are doing badly despite having such good players and feels that she has lost her way a little.  Ye Xiu tells her to stick to her path and that she would be ok in the end.  At least that’s my interpretation of the dialogue.  It seemed really poignant and important and quite moving too.

Ye Xiu asked Su Mucheng if she would name the path that they were on (the bug in the game).  She called it ‘Path of Glory’.

And at this point, I thought that the show was going to end.  but no, they decided to drop one last bombshell!

Welcome Comrade

The next scene is later, back at the Jiashi building.  Su Mucheng is showing a new player around the building.  He is non-other than Xiao Shiqin, the ex Captain and tactician of the Thunderbolt team that just beat Jiashi into relegation!

Su Mucheng shows him to Ye Qui’s old room and she asks him directly if he is here to take away some of Sun Xiang’s power.

I think it’s fair to say that she hope’s he will and the way she said it must have obviously indicated her feelings about the situation to Xiao Shiqin.  He politely asks her not to push him on the subject, but adds that he doesn’t want to take anyone’s power, he just wants to fix Jiashi a ‘screw’ at a time.

The final scene of this excellent episode is in the local bar.  That evening, Sun Xiang is drowning his sorrows with whiskey and he is joined by Xiao Shiqin.  They spar a little, pitting their wits against each other but it isn’t Xiao Shiqin’s intention to antagonise, I think he is trying to get the point across to Sun Xiang, that he can help – whether Sun Xiang wants that help or not.

Kings Avatar Episode Review – Conclusion

I have to say, I really enjoyed this Kings Avatar episode review.  So much happened and it certainly moved along at a great pace.  It seemed as though they got through more of the saga in this episode than the previous three or four.  I enjoyed every minute.

I’m not a big fan of antagonism in a story but this episode was pleasantly overpowering. It was intelligently done.  I felt sympathetic with all the protagonists and there were few scenes that were unrealistic in the way they dealt with the drama.  Sun Mucheng was a star of the show and her tears at the press conference were quit moving.  The direction of the episode was much better than previous ones.  The acting was better and the action sequences were great to watch. – Or was it simply that more happened?

I wasn’t bored for a moment!

I’d therefore rate this a wonderful 9.2 out of 10.  Surely you agree?  Why not let us know what you thought by clicking on the Users tab in the review block at the top – right of this page (you don’t need to register) – we’d love to see what you thought.

See more details of this on the Kings Avatar thread of the Sci Fi forum

The pictures, story, news details and everything else about the Kings Avatar Live action TV series are copyright Tencent Penguin Pictures, Linmon Pictures and Phoenix Entertainment. All rights reserved.

This article is copyright Tony Fawl and not for reproduction without the authors express permission.