Warning: This post contains spoilers Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Commandments.
exist Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Commandmentsviewers are introduced to the realm of Ta Lo; an interpretation of the world, its myths and fantastical creatures. Love Qi Box office domination, easily breaking Labor Day weekend totals record, all fueled by critical acclaim and word of mouth, as well as excitement to see a pan-Asian cast Marvel’s first Asia. In the pantheon of the original MCU feature films, Love Qi Rated near the top, if not at the top.
Audiences are also excited to see martial arts properly incorporated into the MCU. With all due respect to the Netflix series set rightBut the film’s martial arts were simplified and the fight scenes were hampered because Iron Fist actor Finn Jones had no prior martial arts or stunt training and had little time to learn combat choreography first. when filming. So many old fans assumed that Love Qi Became the true introduction to martial arts in Marvel’s live-action projects, and it certainly delivered.
But another important piece of the MCU’s Phase 4 puzzle was also introduced, which is the Ta Lo realm. The entire third act and final battle takes place in other worlds, and it looks like it will be very important to the MCU going forward. The world and mythology of Ta Lo, including all its creatures, are explained here.
Ta Lo World & Dimension Description
The MCU is no stranger to fictional lands and mythical spaces; locations like Asgard and Wakanda featured in the movie, and parallel worlds like the Dark Dimension that have been visited before. But Ta Lo is something new and a little different. The best way to describe it is pocket size. Unlike Wakanda, a real place on Earth in the MCU, or even Asgard, where countless characters move back and forth at any time, Ta Lo is much more difficult to reach.
However, unlike the completely separate cosmic darkness, the Tarot is independent but interdependent. The border between Ta Lo and the main universe of the MCU is opened once a year, allowing anyone with knowledge to enter the mythical kingdom of Ta Lo from this world. In this respect, Ta Lo is unique among all Marvel’s fictional locations in that it is not always accessible, depending on one’s magical skills but only accessible. for a limited period of time. Outside that window, humans can only enter with the help of one of Ta Lo’s mythical creatures, guiding them through the deadly maze – and even then, they may not success. In many ways, this makes it one of the most inaccessible fictional worlds and other dimensions of all of the MCU’s fictional realms.
Magical Animals and Creatures in Tarot
Ta Lo is also home to seemingly mystical creatures and animals not found on Earth. Some would be forgiven for thinking that these creatures were invented just for the movies, but that’s not the case. They are essentially creatures taken from Chinese myths and legends, each with its own meaning. For example, Ta Lo’s giant guardian lion Love Qi, known as shishī, are common creatures in Chinese mythology and architecture dating back to Imperial China, when carved stone lions often sat at the entrances of important buildings like palaces or tombs to protect them. A pair of lions is usually a male and a female, following the Buddhist concept of yin and yang: balance. is a suitable topic Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Commandments Because Shang-Chi’s main struggle is balancing the light and dark side of him, his mother and father.
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Ta Lo’s other creatures delve even deeper into Chinese mythology. For example, his furry companion Maurice is known as the Goblin, a creature associated with the Chinese gods Chaos and Chaos Elemental. The Tarot is also home to the unicorn, a unicorn with the body of a deer and the tail of an ox, which traditionally heralds the arrival of a great new king. Also, check out the fèng huáng, a mythical bird often confused with the Chinese phoenix, which dominates all other birds. Like the Chinese guardian lion, fènghuáng and qílín are often found in pairs, symbolizing balance. Other creatures include the hulijīng, an adorable nine-tailed fox creature discovered when Shang Qi and his friends drove into the Tarot for the first time. Not surprisingly, they symbolize duality and can be good or bad, good or bad. The Tarot is also home to Ryoma, a winged horse-like creature covered with dragon scales that, like a unicorn, heralds the rise of a legendary ruler.
How Powerful People Are (And What They Are)
Of course, Talo’s most legendary creature is the Great Protector, the dragon god who resides in Kingdom Lake and is the source of the kingdom’s power. It was this great protector that gave the people of Talo their incredible abilities as well as armor and weapons. Although the Great Guardian can travel between dimensions, she has spent most of her time sleeping in the lake in central Talo since she first helped defeat and imprison the Shadow dwellers. devouring the soul, destined to wake up from her sleep if the Devil is to unleash and join the fight. Despite her absence, the Great Guardian still supports and empowers Talo’s warrior Guardians in two ways.
First, her scales have magical properties, and the Tarot has used dragon scales to enhance their armor and weapons, giving them mystical properties as well as immense toughness and strength. . But second, it was the Great Guardian who taught them how to harness the power of qi and manipulate the natural elements (i.e. water and wind) to their will. In flashback, it shows how she imparts knowledge to them, granting them superhuman abilities to protect the Tarot and the Dark Dwellers’ prison. Practitioners with special skills can harness the natural energy of the world, can even manipulate the wind to create powerful offensive and defensive whirlwinds, or bend water.
What’s unknown is whether Talo can maintain power beyond that realm. The Great Guardian is directly attached to Talo, so as long as her people remain within its borders, they will benefit from her powers. But Shangzhi’s mother, Yingli, told Shangzhi in her memory that she “give upShe has the ability to leave Zuo Lu and follow her father, Wenwu. However, it is not clear how this happened. It is possible that she lost her powers when she decided to give up her role of guarding the entrance to Ta Lo, thus breaking some form of contract, or if she lost it now, she was out of bounds. Ta Lo’s world and outside the influence of the power. Great protector. It’s also possible that she agreed to give her up Love Qi Being with Wenwu is to keep the Tarot a secret. There’s even a chance that her powers will wear off as she lives a normal life as a wife and mother.
Comparing the history of Ta Lo’s comics and movies
Honestly, Tarot doesn’t have much comic history in Marvel Comics, so Love Qi and the legend of the Ten Commandments It is possible to configure it specifically for the MCU. It is only seen or mentioned a few times in the comics so there is very little information available. Its minor plot in the comics is changed a lot in the movie. In the manga, Ta Lo (or Ta-Lo) is considered one of the Chinese gods, the tallest of the thirty-six heavens of the Chinese gods, hence the alias “Da Hua Gai Tian” . It is inhabited by an extra-dimensional race known as the Immortals, and like in the movies, many creatures of Chinese mythology.
However, that’s where the similarities stop. In the comics, Ta Lo plays the Chinese version of Asgard, and Xian is the Asgardian from Chinese mythology in the MCU from Norse mythology. The Xi’an are a completely different race, worshiped as gods; In the film, the inhabitants of Ta Lo appear to have supernatural abilities, but otherwise are all ordinary people, see how Yingli is able to leave and live the lives of ordinary people. Similarly, the Tarot in the comics is more accessible than the Tarot in the movie, and each of the five great mountains in China has a multidimensional connection: Mount Tai to the east, Mount Hua to the west, Mount Beiheng to in the north, Mount Heng in the south, and Mount Song in the heart.
Everything else about Ta Lo, including the great protector, and the fact that it is a kingdom destined to protect other universes from its dark inhabitants, is dedicated to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Commandments. The cinematic version of Ta Lo is a fascinating place, and the movie barely scratches its surface. Hopefully, like Asgard or Wakanda, this kingdom will be added and returned regularly in future MCU projects.