Tear Jerker pages are for post-viewing discussion; they assume that you've already seen the work in question, and as such are spoiler-free.
"She was gone, and we needed you! But you chose those damn rings over us!"
— Xu Shang-Chi to Xu Wenwu
- At its core, the story is a family drama involving the loss of a loved one and the different approaches to it. Wenwu was willing to give up his warrior life and even the Ten Rings to stay with Ying Li, and then his past arrives in the form of a vengeful gang that kills Ying Li. From then on Wenwu lives for only his children, and later on the revival of his wife.
- The scene of Ying Li's death is an absolute gut punch. Ying Li is with her children when a group of men appear and say they've come to get revenge for the Ten Rings' actions against their group, the Iron Gang. Ying Li tells them they have no business with Wenwu's children and the leader of the group agrees not to harm the kids but says he intends to make someone pay. Ying Li sends her children away and prepares to fight even though she doesn't have her powers. She slowly does her fighting stance and for a second it seems like she may be skilled enough to fight them off, but then even more gang members show up. While Ying Li manages to take them all down in the end, she ends up suffering enough injuries that she ends up dying off camera while Shang Chi watches in horror.
- Just look at Wenwu's expression when he arrives home and finds his son crying over his wife's body. Tony Leung's performance in this movie is amazing and he absolutely nails the look of heartbreak and despair. His grief-stricken lament to his young son about what's been taken from him doesn't help either. Really, thanks to him, the MCU gave us a villain so incredibly... human. His pain is felt with every step despite his darker nature.
- While Wenwu and Shang-Chi's relationship is surprisingly heartwarming, there is one horrible moment: During their fight, Wenwu bitterly says that Shang-Chi ran away and hid while his mother was fighting for her life. This is double-sided: While of course it's terrible for a man to expect his seven year-old son to help fight a lethal gang, there's also the implication that Wenwu blames himself for not giving him the Training from Hell to do exactly that.
- He also believed it wouldn't have happened if he didn't give up the rings, which Ying Li made him promise to do.
- Shang-Chi stating this folder's quote and sounding pretty damn close to tears. Even after all these years, it's incredibly obvious how much it still hurts him and Xialing that their father wasn't there for them when they needed him to be. And thanks to Tony Leung Chiu-wai's acting, we see that Wenwu looks genuinely taken aback over the fact that his children could hold such resentment towards him.
- Shang-Chi coldly telling his father that even if he really could bring his mother back, she wouldn't want anything to do with him, all but stating that she would hate what Wenwu has become. Needless to say, Wenwu doesn't take kindly to his son's words.
- Later on, when they finally stop fighting, Wenwu solemnly states that he never wanted to fight with him and just wanted to bring Ying Li back. A truly saddened and sympathetic Shang-Chi then admits that he shares his father's sentiment, and that he also wishes his mother was simply trapped in Ta Lo, as opposed to being gone forever.
- Ultimately, just when a reconciliation seems possible between him and his children, Wenwu ends up giving his life to save Shang-Chi and bestow upon him the Ten Rings. His last moments are split between that and remembering the happy family life he once had. The look of horror and sadness on Shang-Chi's face and Wenwu's solemn but encouraging expression before he dies seals it. When Wenwu collapses, Shang-Chi's first act is to run to his father's corpse and check on him, before realizing he is truly gone and visibly lamenting that they never fully reconciled.
- The remembrance of said happy life is an accompanying montage of Shang-Chi growing up in reverse from Wenwu's point of view. If you're a parent it might hit a little too close to home how, in a way, he always saw his son as the baby he happily held in his arms all those years ago.
- Even worse, Xialing doesn't even get to properly talk to him or say goodbye. The look on her face when she sees his body from atop the dragon says it all.
- Wenwu's final line of dialogue before his death. Tony Leung's delivery is devastating. note
- The scene of Ying Li's death is an absolute gut punch. Ying Li is with her children when a group of men appear and say they've come to get revenge for the Ten Rings' actions against their group, the Iron Gang. Ying Li tells them they have no business with Wenwu's children and the leader of the group agrees not to harm the kids but says he intends to make someone pay. Ying Li sends her children away and prepares to fight even though she doesn't have her powers. She slowly does her fighting stance and for a second it seems like she may be skilled enough to fight them off, but then even more gang members show up. While Ying Li manages to take them all down in the end, she ends up suffering enough injuries that she ends up dying off camera while Shang Chi watches in horror.
- Xialing is still extremely bitter that Shang-Chi abandoned her, after he was the one person she could lean on when their mother's death caused Wenwu to want nothing to do with her. When Shang-Chi calls out her leaving him on his own during their fight with the Ten Rings, she simply says "Now you know how it feels."
- In a Deleted Scene titled "Apology," Shang-Chi tearfully apologizes to Xialing for leaving her alone when she needed her brother most. When he asks if she could forgive him, Xialing tells him that if she were younger, she could. However, despite being somewhat touched by how much he regretted what he did, she tearfully admits "[She's] not the same little girl anymore," implying that she's not ready to forgive and forget yet.
- Relating to this, unless Xialing intends to reform the Ten Rings to a more noble cause, losing her mother, being neglected by her father (whom she never got to reconcile), and abandoned by her brother may have harden her to the point where she chose to continue her father's legacy.
- The villagers paying tribute to those lost in battle by placing lanterns on small floats and setting them adrift on the river. Even the Ten Rings soldiers are honored and Shang-Chi in particular wishes his father peace and is clearly still sad over his death.
- It's implied that Katy's lantern was, more or less, for her mentor, Guang Bo. The poor girl looks close to tears the entire time, and can only lean quietly against Shang-Chi when he comes over to sit beside her.
