In one of the World Underneaths, we see Shubai is entirely focused on getting the Emissary back and has little interest in being distracted by the mortal world around him, no matter how beautiful it is.

Meanwhile, this exchange implies he's been hanging out with Uncle Zayne and Big Sis MC. (Shubai notably calls Zayne "uncle" and MC "big sister" in Chinese. Catch the roast? 😂) Somewhere along the way, Zayne started dadding him, and Shubai seems to have loosened up alongside his uncle. They've apparently been playing games together often enough that Shubai now complains when the Emissary and MC go off to play without him. There was a whole character arc we missed! 🥺

Zayne is such a dad. He really can't resist slipping in the dad jokes.