When the curtain falls on the story of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, you might be wondering what on earth has been happening the entire time. It's fairly well-presented in the story that a nefarious Taoist by the name of Yu Ji was determined to spread the demon-creating Exlixir across China, but where, how, and why does the Blindfolded Boy come into this?
The final battle of the main story sees you face off against the Blindfolded Boy in the village where you start the game. Before facing him, you've just defeated Yu Ji and the entity known as the Manifestation of Demonic Qi. The cinematic at the end of the game hints towards the true identity of the Blindfolded Boy, and where he fits into the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Major spoilers for the end of the game.
The Ending, Explained
To understand the end of the game, we first need to briefly rehash the beginning.
A character we meet at the start of the game, known only as the Blindfolded Boy, is transformed into a demonic dragon known as Xielong by a person called the Taoist in Black.
The spirit of the Divine Beast, Yinglong, lived inside the Jade amulet both the Blindfolded Boy and the main character possess, and being stabbed by the Elixir caused the Blindfolded Boy and Yinglong to merge together, creating the demon dragon Xielong.
While transformed into Xielong, the Blindfolded Boy does not reappear until the very end of the game. When we fight Yu Ji in the penultimate mission, he tries to merge with the demon dragon Xielong and becomes the boss we fight known as the Embodiment of Demonic Qi. At this time, it is understood that the Blindfolded Boy and his Divine Beast Yinglong are currently merged into one being: Xielong.
As your character fights Yu Ji, you defeat him and the Embodiment of Demonic Qi with a strike enhanced by all the Divine Beasts you've found on your journey. With this, Yu Ji seemingly disappears, while Xielong reverts the Blindfolded Boy and Yinglong back to being separate individuals, effectively separating them and 'killing' Xielong.
No longer merged, you take the Blindfolded Boy back to his home village where the game began. It appears, however, that Yu Ji didn't disappear. He has possessed the Blindfolded Boy and he challenges you to a one-on-one duel, vowing to kill you.
As you deal the killing blow to the Blindfolded Boy, classic plot-armour kicks in and he somehow survives, with Yu Ji being expelled by the blow and killed by the Divine Beast Yinglong once and for all.
With this, Yinglong accepts your character as worthy and the two of you form an oath together. While this happens, we learn a little bit more about the Blindfolded Boy through a cutscene that hints towards his true identity.
Who Is The Blindfolded Boy?
It is strongly hinted in the game that the Blindfolded Boy is Zhuge Liang.
In his own words, the Blindfolded Boy hid his true nature as an ancestor of the clan that bears the Dragon Elixir Field. Due to this link, he sealed off his eyes and the power that resides within them.
The line about his eyes is hinting that the Blindfolded Boy is referring to having the power of foresight, being able to see into the future.
We also see this later when he says his eyes can discern fate.
As Yu Ji drained his energy to create the Ultimate Elixir, he was able to retain a small part of himself. Through the Jade that we possess, the Blindfolded Boy was watching your adventure, seeing you kill giants and never give up in the face of adversity. Because of this, he feels that he can now open his eyes in an attempt to lead the world to a better future.
After this, we see cutscenes of Shu, Wei, and Wu all preparing for some sort of conflict in the years to come. Those of you who know about the Three Kingdoms, know that war will break out between these three rising powers.
The next time we see the Blindfolded Boy, he looks older and his name is now the Blindfolded Youth. He explains to your character that he will stay where he is to forge the next era, setting himself up to be a considerably important figure in the story of the Three Kingdoms.
The Blindfolded Youth removes his eye cover and he sees war: burning ships, the crushing defeat of Cao Cao's forces, and seemingly his own death. The visions he is having are about the decisive battle of Chi Bi, where Zhuge Liang pleaded with Sun Quan and Liu Bei to work together against Cao Cao, and the battle of Wuzhang Plains, where Zhuge Liang died.
With some knowledge of Koei Techmo's Dynasty Warriors games, we can make a few jumps in assumption when it comes to this character.
In Dynasty Warriors, Zhuge Liang is a main playable character who wields a white fan as a weapon. In the final cutscene, we see the Blindfolded Youth holding an almost identical fan.
The battle of Chi Bi was a turning point in the war between the Three Kingdoms, and it was mostly considered to be down to Zhuge Liang's plan to burn Cao Cao's fleet using unmanned boats and a favourable wind. Considering how significant this moment is, it is further implied that the Blindfolded Boy is Zhuge Liang.
What Does The Shooting Star Mean In The Vision?
In regards to the death he saw, in which the cutscene shows a falling star, we can further discern that this is the death of Zhuge Liang. During the battle of Wuzhang Plains, it is said Wei's strategist Sima Yi saw a falling star and from this, he predicted that Zhuge Liang would be beaten.
Considering the shooting star we see in the vision, this is clearly referencing that.
Not to mention, the character we see in the vision is holding a large white fan.
One more thing, a tiny detail that all but cements the Blindfolded Boy's identity. Zhuge Liang was given a nickname during the War of the Three Kingdoms. He was called Wolong, which translates to Sleeping Dragon.