Legend of the Condor Heroes

When their husbands were killed by the Song army, two pregnant women found safe haven in foreign lands. Li Ping gave birth to Guo Jing, a sturdy but blockheaded young man who roamed the Mongolian prairie with the family of Temujin. Bao Xi Ruo gave birth to Yang Kang, a smart and crafty young man who became the son of Wanyan Hong Lie, a successor of the Jin empire. When a pact between their martial arts masters brought them together and the truth behind their fathers' deaths was revealed, one found martial arts enlightenment and a cause greater than his own while the other descended into darkness and destroyed everything and everyone around him.

 

Finally! I finished all 50  episodes of this 2008 Wuxia drama. I had wanted and am waiting to see the 2017 version. Of course, it's a drama that has been a steadfast series forever in China. Although, I thought this one got a little silly, and somehow a later story I had watched which supposedly these characters were their ancestors by Jin Yong. He wrote this back in 1957. He was a journalist and obviously a daydreamer too. He probably made the Wuxia genre popular. But then again, storytelling is like a second skin to the Chinese. 

Like the LOST TOMB series..you suddenly come to an end. And you just have to wait for more. Now, from what I have found out, this version went rather soft on the 'Other Brother' who was so focused on revenge that he went terribly evil. It's not quite a Kane and Abel kind of story. It starts out with the war between the Jin and the Song. Throw in Genghis Khan and you have a historical perspective of this story. Who in the end just wanted these two (kind of like a tribe or a clan) to kill each other off. But as they say it's always a story within a story. Still, in many Chinese epic dramas, you get that tribal feel because China does have many tribes and as you watch a Wuxia drama like this as an American you can't help but think of the tribal warfare right here in our country. So in a sense, it comes full circle..kind of.

In a Wuxia drama there is that thread of who's the best. And how do you become it, through martial arts? Naturally, some like their arts rather dark and there are all sorts of ways and traps to fall into. In this particular drama, there is the venom of snakes used to make those become deadly. And as the hunt goes on to find this book or who knows this technique with it comes all sorts of trickery. Of course, by the end they are faced with reality which usually means war between the territories and this was just a dream of some kind.

Yet, back to the beginning, two young fellows with families are just farmers of the Song group, but the Jin come and of course, they are killed while one wife who is pregnant is saved by a Jin noble, yet never really falls completely for this guy. While the other takes off to the prairie with her baby son. Somehow, before they got separated some martial art guy (He had a big title, but it's easier explaining it this way) had given both families a dager and named the boys (no less). This leads to a promise, "In twenty years they'll meet up and fight each other!" (rolls eyes.) Of course, I start to think of the horror film THEM..where the two men meet, fight each other and then become friends. I don't know if this is a universal concept, but in this case, well, it was sort of like that. They become sworn brothers yadyadayada..and then the one who's not so easygoing because all this time he thought he was a prince's son gets all evil and mad that the easy-going one has learned all these martial arts techniques and won't teach him any of his secrets. (Well, I might be mad too.) 

Of course, what puts me off with all this chivalry stuff is elders and higher up always telling you what you should do. Thank God, for modern times. I would have never survived. But honestly, I am not sure I want to watch this part of the story ever again. Once was definitely enough. I can't recommend this as my favorite Wuxia drama.