Original subtitles

Previously on "Kung fu"...

You are a descendant

of Liang Daiyu,

the first woman warrior.

It was said that one member of

every generation would be chosen

to wield the sword.

Auntie Mei-xue?

This is everything

I know about my sister.

It's yours.

You shut me out.

You betrayed my trust.

I'm sorry, Jin.

A dried plum blossom.

My sister's favorite plant.

She pressed them in between her school books.

This? I don't know.

She sent it with one of her letters.

She would write to us occasionally

just to let us know that she was safe.

Over time, the letters just stopped making sense.

You have no idea where she is?

No. I have no idea.

I have so many questions.

What was she like?

Nicky... look at these letters.

You'll see why I never wanted you

to follow her path.

Our last plan to smoke out zhilan was a bust.

She has the sword, the dagger.

If your hunch is right,

that means she has a third weapon, too.

Every day, she gets closer and closer

to unleashing the true power of the weapons.

Who knows what her plan is

if she collects all 8?

But if the legend is true...

She'll be unstoppable.

We have to get ahead of her.

Your aunt's one of the only people we know

who actually went looking for the weapons.

Henry, if we can find her,

actually talk to her...

Yeah, but your mom said

the letters stopped coming.

You don't even know if she's alive.

I know. But I have to try.

It's my aunt and my family.

I can feel it. This is the last one.

Forwarded to my mom by my Nai-Nai.

The last letter Mei-xue sent home.

And, according to my mom, she sent it

with this red panda figurine,

whatever that means.

She writes affectionately

about an old buddy.

Had to read the letter twice to realize

she was talking about a fringe jacket.

Fringe jacket? What?

When we started running out of scholarly texts,

I started looking at more obscure sources.

Reddit, couple of treasure hunting boards I found.

Conspiracy sites?

Conspiracy-adjacent. Anyway,

most of it was nonsense, but

I did find some old inquiries

posted by professor chau.

He was asking about a mysterious

"woman in fringe" who he believed

was after the weapons in the eighties and nineties.

Rumored to be a loner

and a fierce brawler.

Now, the only details I managed to find on her...

An Asian woman who wore a green fringe coat.

Anything else?

A name. I guessing it's an alias.

Sandra Yang.

You're back.

You started the lunch prep?

I'm almost done.

Jin, should we talk?

I need time, Mei-li.

You kept secrets from me for decades

about you, your sister, Nicky.

I kept secrets, too. But I need time.

Of course, Jin.

Was it painful?

Braces on my legs, my back...

All through childhood.

Exploratory surgeries,

leg extensions,

spinal correction.

Rehab for years.

Pain is a constant for me.

No beginning. No end.

Is that what drives you now?

The source of all this anger?

Enduring pain...

That's how I honed my strength.

My anger comes from elsewhere.

Betrayal.

Tell me, kerwin.

What do you know of betrayal?

We should get back to the scroll.

And this?

Car accident. Alas, no story there.

So, my friend at dhs did me a favor...

Pulled records for a Sandra Yang.

The last hit was 20 years ago.

She entered Canada through Vancouver,

and then after that, nothing.

She disappeared.

What was the exact date?

December 2, 2000. Why?

Mei-xue's last letter.

It was just a few weeks later.

There's gotta be something in here.

"The red panda, a sign, a sentinel...

I believe my journey ends here."

What are you looking up?

Red pandas aren't native to Canada.

Just searching for a connection.

"Roadside curiosities of North America."

Nash creek, small town in British Columbia.

They have a large red panda statue

on the edge of town.

What?

Same design.

She must've sent it from Nash creek.

Mei-xue was there. I have to go.

Nicky... I'm coming.

What about your classes?

I can reschedule.

And you and I can take turns.

I'll study while you drive.

I'll come, too.

Don't you have work?

Actually, I banked some vacation time.

I was heading up to mount hood for some climbing,

but I'm free.

What about your girlfriend?

Sabine's, um, busy.

Alternating drivers, we'd never

have to stop to sleep.

Time for a road trip.

I don't like this, Nicky.

Mama, it's just Canada.

Auntie Mei-xue's the only person

who understands what I'm going through

and what it means to carry this birthright.

If this is my path,

I need to know what she knows.

I need to know what happened to her.

Don't you?

Of course.

Ever since she left, I wanted to know, but

it's been so long, Nicky, and what if...

Sometimes, not knowing hurts less.

This document is hundreds of years old.

It chronicles the 8 guardian families,

those entrusted with the weapons

until they're needed again.

According to this section on the battle axe,

the original guardian, wang yezi,

was given refuge by a religious leader

in kengtung.

Hmm. Modern-day Myanmar.

We need more information on this weapon.

This isn't quite enough to go on.

I know that you two have tension,

but perhaps your father knows something.

Out of the question.

We'll find another way.

I kept my end of the deal

by translating the scroll.

I did not come this far to be stonewalled!

I'm not asking him for help.

Did he do this to you?

Hey.

Hey.

So, what's the plan?

Take it in turns.

Only stop to refuel and stretch.

We can make it to Nash creek in a day.

I'll take the first leg.

Great.

You take the front. You sure?

You need more leg room.

Yeah, I'm good.

Well... here we go.

Women in tech seminar. I'm proud of you.

It's been a while since you've done something like this.

Longer than a while.

When I was working full-time, I always

turned down invitations like this.

What changed?

I want to give back.

And I want to get back in the game after the wedding.

It'll be good to get my feet wet.

Ok, Ryan, students are coming.

What's with the loitering?

I'm bored.

Still on reduced hours at the clinic.

Joe's at a criminal justice

conference in Chicago.

Can't I stay and watch?

N.o. I'm starting to get nervous.

A little advice from the land of

experienced coupledom?

When Dennis is out of town, I

catch up on reality TV,

I eat kimchi and curry,

I wear sweats... it's heaven.

I get to rule my space again.

So, Joe's out of town. Enjoy it.

Althea? Hi. My name's Courtney.

I'm a huge fan.

Oh. Um, thank you.

You're just such a pioneer.

I'm dying to hear everything you have to say.

Like, what are your thoughts on

the move from relational databases?

We've moved on? Yeah.

I mean, these days it's all about mongo.

Mongo. I know.

The default to binary collation

is the worst.

And good luck collating diacritics with mongo.

I'll let you get to it.

Hi.

You sleepy? I can take over again.

No, no, I'm wide awake.

Let's let Nicky sleep.

All right. It's my job to keep you awake.

Won't that wake Nicky up?

Not a chance.

I've pulled enough car trips with her.

She'll sleep through anything.

I saw that.

You saw nothing.

One night, he sat me, my brother,

and my sister down

at our Hong Kong estate.

He assigned US numbers.

A type of ranking.

For how useful we'd been to him.

He gave me a 3.

The least useful.

He spent my entire childhood

molding me into the perfect son,

the ideal copy of him.

But that night, he said

I'd failed to push back...

That he wanted me to find myself

in resistance to him.

Just a sadistic, little test.

A test I failed.

So, I got drunk,

drove off the estate in a rage,

and plowed my car right into a tree.

This hand got crushed

between the steering wheel and the door frame.

Never been quite the same hand.

Yet, I was glad,

because I thought

I'm not him anymore.

I'm me.

Me. Ready to resist.

I'm here working with you

for one reason, and that's

to see the look on his face

when he realizes I did the one thing

he failed to achieve.

You're closer than you think.

Perhaps it's time for both of us

to put all our cards on the table.

Now, kerwin,

what haven't you been telling me?

This was it.

The red panda was right here.

Guess this is why nobody answered

when we called from the road.

We can head to the local sheriff's office,

ask about a Sandra Yang.

Or go to the hall of public records.

See if her name pops up.

She was here.

Uh, Nicky?

Give her a moment.

When she gets that look on her face,

she has a... a way

of finding the right path.

Hi. We were hoping you could help us.

We're looking for someone.

This red panda is the same one on your sign.

Panda? I always thought it was a cat.

My aunt sent it years ago,

I think from this town.

She might even still live here.

Asian. She might be about 60 now,

maybe wearing a fringe jacket?

Sorry, dimples.

You're the first Asian folk I've seen all year.

Mostly white and first nations

living up here and tourism

ain't what it used to be.

How about a round of beers?

And one for yourself?

- Sure thing, honey. - So, this panda.

We were thinking it might've come from

creek carvings, but it looks like

they are closed down.

One of many. Town's dying.

Sorry to hear that. It's beautiful up here.

Funny when people say that.

Grew up here my whole life.

Always wanted to leave.

Cheers.

See that guy over there in the vest?

That's Hank. His dad Duke

used to own this place and the shop across the street.

He might be able to help you,

but he probably won't.

Thank you.

I'm surprised you reached out.

I kinda tanked that presentation.

What? No.

Who cares?

You're obviously brilliant.

Anyhow, I wanted to pick your brain.

I've been getting some offers.

The bigger firms are offering very

competitive packages,

and some vc-baked startups,

like one from chase Matheson.

Ahem. Chase?

I know you worked at cloudrush.

Thought I'd take your temperature.

But I'm guessing it was a bad experience?

No. No.

Well... look, court,

you're obviously a rock star.

You should be somewhere where you can

express yourself.

Somewhere where you can

pursue your inspiration.

I'm sure chase promised you the moon,

but he... micromanages.

You need somewhere where you can flourish,

and I just don't see that for you there.

Ok. Guess it's off my list.

Mind if I ask you a question?

Hey, that's a nice pool cue.

Is that a custom?

It's about Duke.

He's your dad, right?

He was.

So, he's gone?

He's not dead. He's dead to me.

Sorry to bring up a sore subject.

It's just I've come a long way

and if I could just

talk to him, even for a minute.

I doubt he'll have much to say.

He shut us all out.

I'll take my chances.

Hey. Can't you take a hint?

He doesn't want to talk about it.

And besides, you're interrupting our game, so, piss off.

Hey, come on, man. There's no need for that.

Uhh!

Come on, Hank!

Henry, watch out!

Call off your boys.

Why? This is more fun

than I've had all day!

Hey! Whoa-whoa-whoa!

I paid a fortune for that.

We didn't come here to fight.

All we want is your dad's address.

It's a couple miles out of town.

End of briar Lane.

Thanks. Come on.

hmm. What's going on here?

Uh... took your advice.

Taking some me time.

So, you're eating your feelings while

you wait for the spin cycle?

You told me to take advantage of

Joe being out of town.

Sow my oats, do what I want.

Well, catching up on laundry,

looting baba's mint chip

is what I want to do.

That's all? Sounds pretty innocent to me.

And... I'm gonna catch up on

"love after lockup." Mm.

Joe hates reality TV. Don't tell him.

Your secret's safe.

Why are you here?

I'm here to raid Nicky's calligraphy set.

I want to do some mockups on place cards

before I commit to stationery.

Don't tell Nicky.

Althea.

Althea. Hey.

You ok?

Definitely not ok.

Your father has 3 weapons.

Yes. The deer horn knives,

the crossbow, and the short sword.

It took him 30 years to get them all.

3 weapons took you, what,

a few months?

That's impressive.

3 weapons won't bring forth biange.

Well... my father's weapons

won't be easy to obtain.

But when the time is right,

consider them ours.

Why is biange so important to you?

Biange defeated armies. Changed history.

That kind of power,

to shape the future however I see fit...

With that, no one will ever

betray me again.

Two weapons left.

Two weapons we need to get

before your father does.

And no idea where to find them.

My father has been pouring considerable resources

into an archaeological dig in Myanmar.

I always suspected

it was a weapons operation.

And when you mentioned kengtung...

The dig is a recently discovered

religious site close to the temple of dhammayangyi.

I will not reach out to him.

I won't ask him for help,

but...

What are you proposing, kerwin?

We take a little trip to Myanmar.

We steal the axe.

It'll be especially satisfying

taking it right out

from underneath his nose.

I thought I could live with it,

but if I keep silent,

Courtney takes this job, and...

Pfft. It could all happen again.

I have to break the nda.

I have to tell her the truth

and somehow, I have to come forward.

This can't happen again. Not to anyone.

But first...

I have to tell Dennis.

Anyone else clocking the creepy

axe murderer vibe or...?

It's just rustic.

Not that different from my family's cabin.

Oh, right. The cabin.

I don't think there's anyone inside.

Should we look around?

Yeah. I'll check the back.

Hello?

Mei-xue?

Turn around real slow.

Who are you and what are you doing on my property?

My name is Nicky shen.

I just want to talk, Duke.

How do you know my name?

Your son. He gave me your address.

My son's an ingrate.

Probably just screwing with you.

Or screwing with me.

Look, I just...

I want to show you something.

But I have to reach into my pocket.

Slow.

You carved this.

It belonged to my aunt Mei-xue.

She also went by Sandra Yang.

That's her, isn't it?

Get back! Hey! Whoa! Whoa!

Get back.

Hey, calm down.

We're unarmed. Just put that down.

What is this?

You didn't tell me that you brought friends.

Go back to the car.

Nicky...

I've got this.

Duke's not gonna hurt me.

We're just gonna talk, right?

It's ok. I promise.

Sorry. My friends are protective.

Sandra always told me that there were

people after her...

That one day, they'd come looking.

How do I know that you're not one of them?

I just want to talk to her, I swear.

She's my mom's sister.

Prove it.

Prove that you mean her no harm.

Prove it, that you knew her.

I didn't.

That's why I need to find her.

I'm not talking anymore without more to go on.

Now, you better get off my property.

Wait, wait. I... I can prove it.

Nicky, are you ok? Did something happen?

I'm fine, mama. I just...

I think I have a lead for auntie Mei-xue.

But it would help if I knew more about her.

I don't know what else to tell you.

I gave you everything I had.

I need to know about her.

What did she look like?

She looked... beautiful.

Even when she was mad, her eyes were kind.

She always looked out for everybody else.

Animals, people.

She was like you.

There was this one time when this boy

was picking up my bag

and he threw me down into the road

and this car almost hit me,

but Mei-xue was there

and she stood right in front of me

and she put out her hand

and the car stopped.

She risked her life for me.

Mama...

She was my hero.

Thank you, mama.

I'll call you later.

Be safe.

Mei-li? Hey. Uh... uh...

Duke?

Sounded like Sandra, all right.

One day, I was setting some rabbit snares

a few kilometers up in the snow there

and this embankment I was standing on gave way,

and I just started ragdolling my way

down the slope, bashing my head on rocks

all the way to the bottom.

Then when I came to, she found me.

She started a fire and built a splint for my broken leg

and a makeshift sled,

and then she dragged my dead weight

all the way back here.

Did you ever see her again?

Yeah, she... she'd come and visit me on occasion.

She never did tell me

exactly where she lived, though.

She never let me get too close.

She never said who she was running from?

No. She told me to

never go up there and look for her,

but I couldn't help myself.

I went looking for her.

And I felt like I was getting

real close to her cabin,

and then she found me.

It was the last I've seen of her.

How long ago was that?

4 years, one month.

I need to find her.

Told you... I don't know exactly where she lives.

You got closer than anyone.

You go straight through the woods, about a kilometer,

then you hit the creek.

Then you follow that 5 kilometers west...

And there's a gap in the hills to the north.

Her... cabin's up there someplace.

Thank you.

You want a word of advice?

If she sees you coming over the hill

with your... your two friends, she'll spook.

I don't think you'll ever find her that way.

Did you hear that?

Hello, hello! Where'd she go?

What? Where did she go?

I gave her some supplies.

She headed off into the woods.

She told me to tell you.

She said if she told you herself,

you'd just try and stop her.

She's gone.

We're not going after her.

Look, I'm worried, too,

but Nicky has made her decision.

She can handle herself.

In the cold, in the woods,

with half-assed directions, alone?

Yes. We used to go camping all the time.

She's a better outdoorsman than I am.

She's certainly more experienced than you.

If we don't hear from her by the morning,

we call in help and go looking ourselves.

For now...

We have to trust her.

Yeah.

Gap in the hills.

Uhh.

Uhh.

There's plenty of space back here.

It doesn't have to be weird.

I'm... I'm fine.

Suit yourself.

It's only gonna get colder.

I, uh... I never thanked you

for that assist back at the bar.

Technically, you still haven't.

I'm kidding.

And I'm sure you had him.

Still. Thanks.

No problem.

You ever notice whenever we help Nicky

on these... adventures,

they always turn out like this?

You mean she always ends up doing

what she thinks is right,

even if it means going alone?

Mm-hmm. Guess we should've seen this coming.

Can I tell you something?

Sure. You asked me why

I was free this weekend.

I was leaving the city to clear my head.

Sabine and I, we... we broke up.

Oh. I'm sorry. Does Nicky know?

No. With everything she's been going through,

hasn't really been a right time

to tell her, you know?

Yeah. I get that.

Look, I know you and Nicky are, um...

It's ok, man.

We don't have to go there.

Besides, we both know it doesn't matter

what either of us do or what we feel.

In the end...

Nicky will choose.

A trap.

You're hurt. Ok.

I'm not gonna hurt you.

Easy...

Ok. Easy. Easy.

Mei-li, voice-over: A dried plum blossom.

My sister's favorite flower.

Uhh.

Mama and Mei-xue.

She kept this photo all this time.

She missed her sister.

What is it?

I can feel it.

This is what I was meant to find.

I've learned so much in my pursuit of the sword.

Though I never found the sword itself,

I learned more than I needed

about the terrifying, corrupting power

of the 8 weapons.

In the wrong hands, they could unleash biange,

and those hands could bend the world to their will.

With what I know, isolation became my only choice.

To stay here, unfound, to keep my secrets safe,

my journey had to end.

But if you're listening to this,

yours has just begun.

Who buried you?

Ahem.

That's not what it looks like.

Sure.

Uhh.

Glad you made it back.

Did you find her?

She's gone.

Are you ok?

I'm ok.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Yeah. I did.

Every generation, one in our line

will be compelled, drawn to the sword.

This journey is now yours.

Now I feel it is important to preserve

the lessons I've learned

so you don't make the same mistakes I did.

Don't carry your burdens alone, as I had to do.

Hold on to these connections. Savor them.

Let them in.

Connection. This is what life is for.

Take it from me, young one.

You'll never forget the people you love.

My deepest regret is fighting this battle alone.

Greg, move your head.