A day before Althea's wedding, Mei-Li's mother, Popo Yuemu, arrives from China for her wedding. Although Popo seems to be an ordinary, if overbearing, old woman, Nicky suspects that she might know more about the sacred weapons, as her family are destined to wield the sword after all.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Nicky and Henry declare their love for each other before the former heads to Pei-Ling's monastery.
- Bait-and-Switch: Turns out Popo tore Althea's qipao because it's too tight, and she prefers one that is looser and comfier.
- Connected All Along: It is revealed that Popo was friends with Fang-Su, Pei-Ling's and Zhilan's mother, who gave her the sacred sword and taught her to use it. Nicky deduces that this may mean the Shen and Zhang families have been intertwined for generations.
- Death by Childbirth: Fang-Su died giving birth to Zhilan. She was long sick by the illness contracted from her husband's job at the Tan empire's mines, and the childbirth was merely the final straw.
- Love Cannot Overcome: Zhilan recognizes that she has fallen in love with Kerwin, but it doesn't change the fact that he is still part of the Tan empire, which she wants to bring down.
- MegaCorp: The Tan conglomerate has arms in nearly everything, including cybersecurity. Zhilan mentions that had Russell Tan got his way to biange, he would have easily become dictator to the whole world.
- My Beloved Smother: Popo. To quote Althea, she will always try to find something to criticize. It's easy to see where Mei-Li got her attitude from.
- Outliving One's Offspring:
- Popo learns second-hand that her daughter Mei-Xue has died.
- Russell Tan may suffer this when Zhilan stabs Kerwin.
- Plot Parallel: Both Nicky and Zhilan are forced to abandon the love of their lives in the quest to seek Biange. While Zhilan takes Kerwin out thanks to a personal vendetta, Nicky leaves Henry because she doesn't want him to be involved in her vendetta.
- Where It All Began: The Forge is located beneath Pei-Ling's monastery back in Yunnan. Nicky's journey has come full circle.
- You Are Not Alone: Pei-ling basically states this when Nicky attempts to seek the Forge alone. This convinces Nicky to invite Henry to go with her to the Yunnan monastery.
