History Tearjerker / TheUntamed

** What might hurt more is that after Jiang Cheng reflects on the time he drew the Wens' attention to himself to save Wei Wuxian, he has a wistful and resigned expression on his face. He still cares for Wei Wuxian and gives up on his hatred for him, but he's still left with mixed feelings. After all, he knows that they'll never be like how they were before and their promise of becoming the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng will remain unfulfilled. Wei Wuxian may not have died again, but Jiang Cheng still feels like he lost a brother and this time, for good.

** What might hurt the fans more is that after Jiang Cheng reflects on the time he drew the Wens' attention to himself to save Wei Wuxian, he has a wistful and resigned expression on his face. He still cares for Wei Wuxian and gives up on his hatred for him, but he's still left with mixed feelings. After all, he knows that they'll never be like how they were before and that their promise of becoming the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng will remain unfulfilled.

** It gets worse when Episode 33 reveals that [[spoiler: no, he didn't kill Wei Wuxian. But given the look on his face when Wei Wuxian fell to his death and Lan Jingyi mistakenly reminds him that he killed Wei Wuxian, it's possible that Jiang Cheng feels that he may as well have been responsible]].

** In response to the above question, Jiang Cheng flinches and gives an expression of complete guilt. What doesn't help is that the series has the saddest version of when Jiang Cheng asks Wei Wuxian, "Who are you?". In the donghua and the audio drama, Jiang Cheng sounds mostly like he's simply suspicious; but in ''The Untamed'', Jiang Cheng sounds less skeptical and more distressed.

* If the last few shots in the ending credits are any indication, the series may end with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji ultimately going their separate ways. It doesn't help that the music video of the ending song has Wei Wuxian specifically says "the next time we meet" to Lan Wangji.

-->'''Lan Wangji:''' At the Nightless City... I wasn't on your side...

* Lan Wangji's first drunken scene has a more tragic turn. After Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji a few harmless questions, he caps it off with asking why the latter is helping him, and the outcome leaves both of them (and most likely the viewer) melancholy.

-->'''Wei Wuxian:''' Why did you help me?

-->'''Lan Wangji:''' I have regrets...

* Wen Qing finding Wen Ning's corpse and breaking down in tears while cradling her little brother. It doesn't help that unlike the novel, which spared details on how he kicked the bucket, ''The Untamed'' showed exactly why he died. What drives the knife further is when Wei Wuxian finds that Wen Ning held onto the talisman that he gave him back in the Cloud Recesses. It's easy to understand why Wei Wuxian decided to turn his back on the cultivation clans by saving innocents, even when he knew what it could cost him.

* If the last few shots in the ending credits are any indication, the series may end with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji ultimately going their separate ways.

* Wei Wuxian having to survive the night in a cell with a vicious man-eating dog is more NightmareFuel than anything else, but what makes this sad is seeing Wei Wuxian being so frightened and helpless, which is completely unlike him.

-->'''Lan Jingyi:''' [[ArmorPiercingQuestion But was it not you who killed him?]]
** In response to the above question, Jiang Cheng gives an expression where both grief and guilt are palpable on his face. What doesn't help is that the series has the saddest version of when Jiang Cheng asks Wei Wuxian, "Who are you?". In the donghua and the audio drama, Jiang Cheng sounds mostly like he's simply suspicious; but in ''The Untamed'', Jiang Cheng sounds less skeptical and more distressed.

* The scene where Jiang Cheng first realizes that Wei Wuxian has returned from the dead has a slightly sadder twist than the original canon, right after Lan Jingyi argues to Jiang Cheng that Zidian had already proven that "Mo Xuanyu" can't be possessed and that Wei Wuxian has been dead for a long time.

-->'''Lan Jingyi:''' [[ArmorPiercingQuestion But aren't you the one who killed him?]]

* The preview for Episode 21 shows Wei Wuxian act ''very'' coldly towards Lan Wangji after overhearing the latter warn Jiang Yanli about how demonic cultivation might further harm him. It's especially jarring since it's in contrast to how he was practically fawning over Lan Wangji in the previous episodes.

Given the novel that it's based on, the series having a lot of sad moments is no surprise. What is surprising is that even with the said moments already having been adapted twice, ''The Untamed'' is still able to drive the viewer to tears.

Given the novel that it's based on, the series having a lot of sad moments is no surprise. What is surprising is that even with the said moments already having been adapted twice, ''The Untamed'' is capable of driving the viewer to tears.

* If the last few shots in the ending credits are any indication, the series may end with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji ultimately going their separate ways.

* Wei Wuxian having to survive the night in a cell with a vicious man-eating dog is more NightmareFuel than anything else, but what makes this sad is seeing Wei Wuxian being so frightened and helpless, which is completely unlike him.
* Jiang Cheng confiding to Wei Wuxian about his insecurities about being TheUnfavorite and AlwaysSecondBest is still sad to watch in this adaptation. Unlike in the donghua and the audio drama, where he sounds explosively emotional (in the former) or annoyed (in the latter), in ''The Untamed'' Jiang Cheng sounds completely resigned.
* The series still follows the novel's scene of Madam Yu sending Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng away to safety. But then when the two later talk to their father one last time, they're now accompanied by Jiang Yanli, who's just as tearful as them. As if what happened in the original story was still lacking in tragedy...
* If the way the donghua adapted Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan's deaths wasn't bad enough, ''The Untamed'' shows the two dead ''while holding each other's hands''. And in this adaptation, Jiang Cheng ''runs away'' rather than try to get to them because he couldn't bear to watch for another second. Yeah, in terms of tragedy the series is pulling out all the stops.
* Wei Wuxian nearly getting apprehended by Wen soldiers, before they got distracted by something else, then he returns to the inn and finds that Jiang Cheng has gone missing. Viewers who have read the novel know exactly what that "something else" is and where Jiang Cheng has gone, and the connection between the two makes it even more painful.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cql_tearjerker.png]]

* If the last few shots in the ending credits is any indication, the series may end with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji ultimately going their separate ways.