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Continuing from last episode's Empathy, the protagonists witness how Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue's friendship fell apart up until the latter's demise. Afterward, a confrontation between them and Jin Guangyao ensues, with the rest of the guest cultivators watching.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: As if witnessing his brother's qi deviation in the novel wasn't bad enough, in this adaptation Nie Huaisang saw it happen right after he lashed out at him for burning his art collection, making him feel remorseful for his actions.
- Adaptation Distillation: To shorten the length of the Empathy flashback without losing the essential plot points of Nie Mingjue's declining stability, the Nie brothers' argument over burning Nie Huaisang's art collection and Nie Mingjue's qi deviation occur in the same scene.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Jin Guangyao replaces Nie Mingjue's head with Wen Ruohan's dagger before the protagonists and other cultivators barge in his secret room. A couple of moments later, an emotionally unstable Qin Su grabs that dagger to stab herself.
- Wei Wuxian spots his sword Whatever while he escapes the secret room in his paperman form. Later during the confrontation with Jin Guangyao, he grabs that sword by instinct as an act of defence against the other cultivators... thus accidentally outing himself as the Yiling Patriarch.
- Continuity Nod: Wei Wuxian showing interest in Mianmian and saving her at Xuanwu Cave was brought up at the emergency meeting, as a way to ridicule the woman for defending him.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: As Nie Mingjue suffered through his qi deviation and died, Nie Huaisang tearfully held his brother's body in his arms.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Although Nie Mingjue's frustration with Nie Huaisang's lack of progress in his saber training was understandable, burning his entire art collection was certainly harsher than necessary. This was a sign of his worsening temper and impending qi deviation, as it's implied he never punished him that badly despite his strictness.
- Dramatic Irony: Nie Huaisang was unwilling learn the saber in the Empathy flashback and ranted that there's no point since he's not going to become the clan leader anyways. As the audience knows, that's exactly what he becomes, and a lot sooner than he would had liked.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Qin Su reappears with her eyes lacking any light, still shocked by the letter and her confrontation with her husband from the last episode. It's a sign of her being so distraught that she grabs hold of the dagger to kill herself.
- Faint in Shock: Nie Huaisang collapses and passes out into Lan Xichen's arms after being told that the dismembered corpse was his deceased brother.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing:
- Jin Guangyao smiles sinisterly when he sees Wei Wuxian draw a nearby sword from its sheath to defend himself. Moments later the sword is revealed to be Whatever, meaning Wei Wuxian has just unintentionally revealed his true identity to all of the cultivators at the scene.
- After Wei Wuxian's identity is outed, Jin Ling looks unwell when he staggers toward him with Hidden Eyes and his sword in hand. Just as Wei Wuxian attempts to explain himself, he finds himself stabbed by the teen.
- Flower Motifs: The younger Lan Wangji grabbed hold of a flower petal but it slipped out of his hand with the wind, symbolising his conversation with his brother about wanting to bring someone home (Wei Wuxian) yet being unable to convince him. The older Lan Wangji manages to catch the petal while he watches on, symbolising that he has finally now gotten hold of Wei Wuxian.
- Gossipy Hens: The cultivators at the emergency meeting were quick to make sexist gossip about Mianmian and accuse her of blindly defending Wei Wuxian because he flirted with her at Xuanwu Cave.
- Inelegant Blubbering: The Empathy flashback showed Nie Huaisang loudly crying while desperately clinging to his dying brother.
- Internal Reveal: In the climax, everyone else finally finds out that Wei Wuxian has come back to life in Mo Xuanyu's body via the Sacrificial Ritual.
- Only Sane Man: The only people at the emergency meeting who vocally defended Wei Wuxian when the other cultivators jumped to absurd conclusions and gossip about his behaviour when saving the Wen refugees were Lan Wangji and Mianmian. Lan Wangji pointed out that he never disrespected Jiang Cheng, while Mianmian argued that he was simply taking revenge for Wen Ning rather than outright murdering the Jin cultivators.
- Parting-Words Regret: Nie Mingjue had his qi deviation immediately after Nie Huaisang lashed out at him over burning his art collection (due to his subpar saber training). The younger Nie was horrified and tearfully hugged his dying brother while promising he won't make him mad anymore.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Fed up with the cultivators at the emergency meeting (including her own clan) for belittling her, Mianmian decided to not just leave the meeting but also her clan itself, wanting nothing to do with their plans about Wei Wuxian and the Wens.
- Slow-Motion Pass-By: The scene of Wei Wuxian escaping briefly slows down when he runs right past Jiang Cheng, who has a dark look on his face but otherwise makes no effort to stop nor chase after his former martial brother.
- Staircase Tumble: Frustrated with Jin Guangyao's passiveness towards Xue Yang's punishment and his previous murders, Nie Mingjue kicked him down the Jinlintai stairs while calling him a son of a prostitute. This was the final nail in the coffin for the two's relationship.
