And now jumping all the way to the end again, Chapter 45: After going for about two-thirds of the story being tempted by the villains with the truth of his parentage and wondering desperately who he is and where he came from, Tai Lung finally learns (with the help of Oogway's ghost and one other departed spirit) where his remaining biological family can be found. So after a trip to Qinghai and checking out the story for veracity, he is reunited at last with his aged mother and two older brothers. (He also has an elder sister he meets later.) And it is as heartwarming and tearfully emotional as you could ever hope for.

This is of course one of the few mysteries remaining in the KFP franchise, particularly from the first movie, and while it seems DreamWorks does plan to continue it, I doubt Tai's past will ever be explained. After putting him through the wringer--a tempestuous romance, learning to trust and believe in friendship, lots of horror, and of course plenty of fighting that came close to killing him and everyone else at the palace--I felt it only right to give Tai this reward.

It may be hard to tell (pay attention to the lines by his eyes) but De is supposed to be older too. Then again I did say both he and Enlai were near-spitting images of Tai, and looked very good for their ages, so. ^_^

Tai Lung copyrighted to DreamWorks, the Qiao family and the story and situation are copyrighted to me. Art by MasterLan12.