Why did Jet Li decide not to assassinate the Emperor and then complete 95% of his elaborate assassination scheme anyway?

Why did Jet Li decide not to assassinate the Emperor and then complete 95% of his elaborate assassination scheme anyway?

It's like if John Wilkes Booth went into the theater, pulled his gun, shot off Lincoln's hat and then went "lol j/k you aight"

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It was about sending him a message

because he realizes that for the greater good of all China, the Emperor must live and complete his conquest to unite the entire country.

Because there was no way it would get past the sensors.

Because post-handover unification propaganda

>Quentin Tarantino presents
Fuck off

because the King of Qin was the best chance of ending the centuries of war and bloodshed that plagued the 7 kingdoms during the Warring States Era.

all the 7 kingdoms more or less spoke same language, with regional dialects, and they had been fighting each other for centuries with only limited border chances, and the peasants were sent to kill other peasants from neighbouring state year after year.
it got even more bloody and tiresome during the final centuries of that era.
The film captures the idea that the nations are hostile to each other because of ancient grudges and war after war leading to more vengeance and retribution.
However the Qin might stand a chance, win over the other states, and then there might finally be peace all under heaven.


also why do I have 200 pepes in my reaction image folder but not a single map of ancient China

I was pretty disappointed, desu. No feet worship, nor a single "nigger" or "motherfucker" to be heard.

This is an explanation of Jet Li not killing the Emperor but it isn't an explanation of Jet Li going on a suicide mission for an almost assassination

What was the message?

Because the emperor was not assassinated IRL, despite many many attempts on his life.

I can't remember much of the movie since it's been so long, but I think he still wasn't sure he was going to kill him so he has to see the Emperor with his own eyes to see what Broken Sword saw.

If I remember the movie, didn't he only make the decision at some point while talking to the Emperor?

Like, I think one of the dead assassin's dropped the "our land" line, and then it wasn't overt, but the emperor said a bunch of stuff that linked to that concept.

>What was the message?
The he *could* have assassinated him, but didn't. He owes a dead man his life. He cannot repay him, obviously, so the only way to get even is to be a fair and just ruler.
Its like indians counting coup. It takes more bravery for a symbolic victory than to just outright kill someone.

killing the Emperor was the initial plan
the other 3 assassins also were initially planning the same
they sacrifice themselves so that JetLi can get a chance to visit the Emperor, who is curious about the man who killed 3 well known assassins that were hostile to the Emperor.

when he gets the chance to enter the court, he is divided on the idea, part of him wants to do it, but then he decides in the end that one of the 3 assassins was right, and that if the one Emperor can "unite all under heaven", then it is worth sparing the life of a tyrant. Allowing one bad man to live is better, if the same bad man can put an end to the eternal wars that kill so many people.
Which can be understood, that allowing the state to do sometimes bad things is okay, because it prevents the land from sliding into anarchy and civil war. The film is somewhat controversial, most people can't decide whether it is pro-government or anti-government, as it is slightly both.

he intended to go through with the assassination until near the end, in telling the stories, he recalled the war and violence that plagues his country, his world, and came to the realization that this enemy he came to kill was the only path to peace

It's just pro-China. They can look like tyrants and impose themselves on provinces so far away from the capital they might be foreign countries, but in the end it's China so you suck it up and assume they have the best in mind for you.

I think the real message is simply that the ends justify the means. Not only from the point of view of allowing the state to have great power in the form of the emperor but that it is also worth dying to make the state aware of the fact that it is it's duty to have good ends in mind and that if the ends are not good that it is ultimately at the mercy of the people in one form or another.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989#Censorship_in_China

china never does bad things, ask any chinaman

Dramas about the attempted assassination of the Qin emperor have been popular in china since before communism was a thing.
Also China had the dynastic cycles down to a science. You could not rule china without the "Mandate of Heaven" which was a fickle mistress.
Chinese history is super interesting and they made it a point to study it throughout the ages.

I hate plebs who argue that it's just pro-Chinese propaganda and not anything more, failing to see the classic Hobesian themes in it

It's not as though the film portrays him as bad, its clear the Emperor has noble intentiosn and he isn't a coward either. He also respects his enemies totally and fully commits to any combat. It boils down to whether he's capable of conquering China, if he is then he deserves to rule more than any other.