The betrayal in Taiwan
*possible spoilers*
Can someone explain Ho's betrayal? How was Shing involved, and why did he escape with Ho?
I don't think he was involved, he was there with him and begged him to stay. But I'm not really sure if he betrayed him then. But on my translation he says he did betray him, he says that when talking to the original boss of their organisation. But I'm not really sure, I don't think there is yet a perfect translation yet to explain, my translation isn't that good. Hopefully the new Dragon Dynasty release will be as good as the hype about it.
shareWow, this is the first I am hearing about Shing's involvement in the ambush in Taiwan.
It doesn't seem correct that Shing would be involved, although it does make a little bit of sense that their boss, Mr Yiu, might have been trying to get Ho out of the way.
If one was paranoid or suspicious, one could look at Mr Yiu's suggestion to send Ho to Taiwan with Shing instead of Mark, as a red flag.
It was obvious that Mark was the muscle, and Ho was the brains.
By separating Mark from Ho, and then saddling Ho with a rookie chauffeur (Shing), Mr. Yiu had left Ho at his most vulnerable.
Maybe this helps further explain why Mark decides to go in person to ask Mr. Wang (the Taiwanese triad boss) about the whereabouts of his nephew, Little Wang (the Taiwanese traitor who tried to kill Ho).
Maybe Mark was playing it safe, electing not to go through his boss, Mr. Yiu, to get the info on Little Wang?
Maybe it had been part of a strategy on Mr. Yiu's part . . . to devise a means by which he would be justified in taking the Mr. Wang to war?
By sacrificing Ho, Mr. Yiu had the justification to go after Mr. Wang's Hong Kong interests.
It is interesting that after Shing has risen through the ranks to assume Ho's former position, Mr. Wang and the Taiwan Triads are not to be heard from again.
Maybe, upon Shing's return, Mr. Yiu manipulated him into going after the Taiwanese Triads that were operating in Hong Kong with a vengeance.
Maybe, along the way, Shing becomes Mr. Yiu's top leader.
Maybe Shing also discovers that Mr. Yiu was explicitly involved in the set-up that almost cost him his young life.
Maybe Shing devises a way to get revenge on Mr. Yiu, but effectively wresting control of the Hong Kong Triad out of Mr. Yiu's hands, after Shing has succeeded in defeating the Taiwanese-based Hong Kong outfits.
It's like the classic case of a victorious general, who, after winning the war and realizing his own strength, turns around and attacks his own king, hoping to usurp the throne.
... in the dialogue between Mr Yiu and Shing (right after Mark steals the magnetic tape) they clearly talk about Shing's betrayal of Ho... it was planned from the beginning.
Though not explicit, it could very well have been triggered by Ho's desire to quit, Yiu probably didn't want a loose end and as we all know from numerous sources, it's not exactly just a two weeks notice and a goodbye to leave an organised crime sydnicate.
But again, in the dialogue, Yiu blames Shing for the theft and Shing says 'You're the one who elevated me to this position' and Yiu replies 'I shouldn't have picked you over Ho, that was a mistake'.
The betrayal of Ho in Taiwan was planned, it's also there to demonstrate the different codes that defined the masculinities of the individual characters.
Ho + Mark were playing by the old codes of 'Jiang Hu' and Shing + Yiu + Little Wang were treacherous and paid the price for their violation of the code.
i dont recall shing and yiu talking about a betrayal. They never do that. Shing cried and all, he absolutely did not betray ho.
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Shing does mention to Yiu about the betrayal. It's in the scene in Yiu's office just after Mark has got the tape and Ho phones Mr Yiu about the ransom for the tape. Shing says something like "I betrayed Ho three years ago. Do you think I'm scared of him now?" It might be a subtitles thing.
shareon my subs it says nothing like that.
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I just had a listen to the scene. My Cantonese isn't great but Shing definitely says "saam nihn" twice which means three years and I think he says "cheut-maaih" which means betray, but I'm not sure. I've watched 2 DVD versions of this and the subs can be totally different.
shareI'd love to be able to speak Cantonese, I've learned a couple of stuff from Woo movies and some cuss words. I knew saam nihn too.
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