Episode 17 recap: Ye Wenjie led Wang Miao to the Red Coast Base.
Shi Qiang quickly found Chang Wei Si again to inquire about Ye Wenjie's declassified files. Initially, Chang Wei Si was indifferent and planned to hand them over to Shi Qiang the next day. However, as soon as he learned about the news regarding the Red Coast Base, he immediately set off.
Shen Yu Fei boarded a train alone and soon received a phone call in her room, informing her that someone was planning to kill her. She became extremely nervous. A mysterious man wearing a hat had been lurking outside the door for a while, causing Shen Yu Fei's heart to race. At this critical moment, she received an order to go to the first carriage. In that moment in the corridor, Shen Yu Fei felt intense fear and unease. Everything around her seemed malicious. She quickly navigated through the train cars and arrived at the first seat, where she saw the commander-in-chief in person.
The commander-in-chief was none other than Ye Wenjie. At that moment, Ye Wenjie was sitting upright in her chair, carefully examining the newspaper in her hands. When Shen Yu Fei arrived, Ye Wenjie stopped what she was doing, and the two of them had a conversation on various topics. Ye Wenjie clearly sensed that they couldn't continue riding on that train. Shen Yu Fei knew that she was the target of the Arrivalist faction and didn't want to endanger the commander-in-chief. She quickly wanted to confirm with Ye Wenjie whether she was inclined towards the Salvationist faction.
In the beginning, before the concepts of Arrivalists and Salvationists emerged, and before Ye Wenjie was referred to as the commander-in-chief, she had no knowledge of the future divergences. The train continued moving forward, and Ye Wenjie prepared to get off the train, letting Shen Yu Fei listen to the voice of the Lord. Afterwards, Shen Yu Fei, Ye Wenjie, and Chen Xue got off the train together and left in a private car.
In the early morning at 5 o'clock, Wang Miao's daughter, Dou Dou, was still asleep. He got up to pack his things for a trip to the coastal city. Although his wife was worried, she couldn't help but prepare the luggage for her husband's departure. After leaving home, Wang Miao quickly met Shi Qiang, and they left together in a car. On the train, the two of them were eating instant noodles when they were approached by police officers who were investigating a murder that had occurred on the train.
After searching back and forth several times, they couldn't find any trace of Shen Yu Fei and Ye Wenjie. Shi Qiang felt that the situation was not good, so he urgently instructed Wang Miao to call Ye Wenjie immediately. Ye Wenjie and Wang Miao agreed on a meeting place over the phone.
On the other side, Ye Wenjie led Shen Yu Fei and Chen Xue to the base. Looking at everything in front of her, she immediately made up her mind to dismantle all the machines and equipment. At first, Shen Yu Fei didn't understand her actions, but Ye Wenjie explained the facts. While she acknowledged the existence of the Trisolarans, receiving messages from them would prove that they could communicate with everyone and change many things. However, they hadn't received any messages, and the Trisolarans chose the ETO instead of contacting everyone directly. Therefore, everything they were doing at the moment would be meaningless.
After Shen Yu Fei finished her tasks, Ye Wenjie asked her to return to Beijing early while she stayed behind to meet Wang Miao. Just as Shen Yu Fei turned to leave, Ye Wenjie called Pan Han and arranged a meeting time with him as well.
Wang Miao quickly arrived at his destination in Shi Qiang's car. Guided by the villagers, he also met Ye Wenjie. Afterwards, Ye Wenjie warmly led him to visit the Red Coast Base where she used to stay. She recalled her past and how she had thought she would spend her whole life there when she was young. But later on, she still missed the place.
As they walked forward, Ye Wenjie vividly described the machines she used to be in charge of to Wang Miao. Now, Wang Miao had arrived inside the Red Coast Base, and Ye Wenjie was ready to confess everything to him. It was at that moment she thought she had completely moved away from the core of technology, only to discover that this place was the true core of the Red Coast and the reality of the base.
In the original work, Wang Miao didn't go to Red Shore Base. Ye Wenjie started this section of the recollection at the Three-Body Assembly. If it were portrayed as such, Ye Wenjie would probably have to talk for several hours, turning it into a tea party.
This would conflict with the tense rhythm of the secret assembly. The screenwriter used Wang Miao's visit to Red Shore Base to gradually unfold the recollection. The production team truly understands the original work.
Bravo, well done!
Many people have been asking why the Salvationists couldn't contact the Trisolarans but had a countdown and the universe flickering. Actually, there's no bug here.
The Salvationists have no knowledge of the information ETO knows, including the existence of the sophons. However, Pan Han can help them. Previously, they did cooperate for similar purposes, but Pan Han only informs them of what the scientists have experienced without revealing the underlying principles.
That's why Shen Yu Fei knows about the countdown and the universe flickering but doesn't know it's caused by the sophons. Therefore, the Salvationists wanted to rebuild the Red Coast Base to establish contact with the Trisolarans, but the Trisolarans didn't respond.
The Salvationists had a very limited sense of involvement in the entire Project Supernova and Project Dyeing, which is why Ye Wenjie only revealed everything to Luo Ji after she herself learned about it.
It's not like she knew it earlier than the audience until that point!