Love of Nirvana was a heartbreak fest from the start. It stars none other than Allen Ren Jialun, an actor known for having seven dramas with BE (bad ending), which basically means it had sad ending, in his 10-year career. In many of his roles, either Ren Jialun’s character dies or, if not him, then his leading lady. In Love of Nirvana, Landy Li plays the leading lady, and fans of hers may remember her previous costume drama The Starry Love. With these two leading the drama and a premise that starts with the heroine ruining the male lead’s revenge plans and him trying to kill her, it already seemed like the kind of story where you know how it will end. Spoilers ahead!
The Emperor Reveals the Truth Behind the Massacre
In the finale (episode 40) of Love of Nirvana, the emperor finally reveals the truth behind the massacre of Wei Zhao’s (Xiao Wuxia) tribe. It turns out Qi Wang wasn’t killed but committed suicide, though it’s still due to the pressure from the emperor, who then pinned the blame on Xiao Wuxia’s father, leading to the Yueluo tribe’s enslavement. In the final showdown, Wei Zhao kills the emperor just before the place collapses in flames. Before dying, he manages to tell Jiang Ci, “It’s all over now. No one can hurt you anymore. You can be free wherever you go—Yueluo is your home.” He also asks Pei Yan to take care of Jiang Ci.
What happens to Wei Zhao at the end?
At the end, Pei Yan requests the abolishment of the Yueluo tribe’s slavery and clears their grievances. But what about Wei Zhao? We then see Jiang Ci with their son finally returning home. As they approach, mother and son see Wei Zhao. Jiang Ci smiles and tells her son, “Your dad has always been waiting at home for us.” While this open ending suggests Wei Zhao could be alive, it seems more like her imagination since, logically, he died in the fire. Still, this ending feels fitting and follows the BE route in the novel. His vengeance complete, his wife and child safe—it’s tragic, but I can accept it.
Ren Jialun’s Dramas with Sad Endings (BE)
If you’re still not used to Ren Jialun’s BE roles, just look back at One and Only. Fate was cruel to him till the end, though thankfully there was a second drama to make up for it. He’s been playing these tragic roles since his acting debut in Detective Dee, where I believe it was the heroine who died. And it was the same for The Glory of Tang Dynasty, one of his breakout roles. Then there’s the xianxia series The Destiny of White Snake, live-action series Burning Flames, even the Republican-era drama Autumn Cicada where he was the literal hero, putting a cycle of his characters always facing heartbreaking fates.
Source: 1
Thuy Anh Nguyen
Love of Nirvana is Ren Jialun’s most polished product. He was really great playing both roles and seamlessly going to one another. His eyes and gestures conveyed so many different emotions.
Una
Because he has a face that always has the same expression – that of the long suffering, misunderstood and lonely hero.
tsuyoi_hikari
He has 16 dramas where he is the ML.
10 dramas with happy endings (With 2 dramas; Forever and Ever & Love A Lifetime with very long happy endings).
4 dramas with sad ending (Glory of Tang Dynasty, Autumn Cicada, One & Only, Love of Nirvana)
2 dramas with open ending (But very lean to happy ending with all the clues).
I dont know why he has this reputation of bad ending for his drama? Since its not AT ALL. If anything, his drama endings always seemed unique like what they did for Destiny of White Snake, Ms Crow with Mr Lizard & The Blue Whisper — happy ending but before that, they messed up a bit with our head lol. I really dig that kind of creative endings.
Destiny of White Snake & Burning Flame do not have sad endings — it wasnt even Open Endings. 😅
May
There will be spoilers if you haven’t watched his series yet.
2016 – Noble Aspirations – He was a minor character but him and the girl he liked in the series both died, sad ending
2016 – Memory Lost – He was a very minor character but he died, sad ending
2017 – The Glory of Tang Dynasty – His character became king and his female lead died, sad ending
2017 – Detective Dee – His female lead died, sad ending
2018 – The destiny of White Snake – It was taken down so I am not sure what the actual ending is, they are both seen on the bridge at the end and hugging, but that could have been a spin-off ending (I’m not sure) so in this case I will go with open ending
2019 – The Lost Tomb – He was a minor character and there was no love line written for him, but he didn’t die
2019 – Under the Power – Happy ending, none of the leads died
2020 – Autmn Cicada – On the train, he died, sad ending
2021 – Never Say Goodbye – It was an open ending because it ended with him in Thailand with a new name, female lead was not mentioned
2021 – One and Only – They both died, sad ending
2021 – Forever and Ever – Happy ending (season 2 of One and Only)
2022 – The Blue Whisperer – I am going to say open ending because they changed it from the novel, it seemed more like an imagination than their actual ending because she became a mermaid like him when she is a fox, in the novel it was a happy ending
2022 – Blue Flame Assault – Happy ending
2022 – Thousands Years for You – He died, sad ending
2023 – Twilight – Happy ending
2024 – Burning Flames – she died, sad ending
2024 – Love of Nirvana – he died, sad ending
I have no say about his dramas that have finished filming but are yet to air. The novel ending may be different from the actual series. I don’t considered open endings as happy endings, so he has more sad endings than happy endings.
DrQuack
Correction:
Detective Dee – Open Ending but the drama ended with him seeing the FL again and smile.
The Destiny of White Snake – Have 2 endings. Both endings ended up him with the FL on the bridge where they promised to meet again so a definite happy ending.
Never Say Goodbye – Happy ending. It ended with him with a new mission. He messaged the FL at the end to meet her in 10 days.
The Blue Whisper – Happy ending with him meeting the FL on the cliff. It wasnt imagination. You can read the reason why the FL becomes a mermaid as it got to do with the pearl he gave to her before she jumped into the volcano. It circulate around weibo. You can find the explaination on the ending at MDL as well.
Thousand Years for You – It ended with the FL spotted him again when she was searching for him at a new town. Not even an open ending as we clearly see he is alive.
Burning Flames – It ended with him meeting the FL back at their house. There is explanation on the ending at MDL.
So, he has definitely more happy endings than sad endings for his dramas.