English subtitles comparison and lost in translation

I watched TLOSL from WeTV with English subs. With the very little Chinese that I have,  I noticed that sometimes the subs didn't make sense, or were not translated enough. Sometimes, more words were spoken than translated). Unsatisfied, I sought a different version, and found VIU subs from avistaz.to. In quite a few instances, I prefer the VIU version. 

One very stark example was in episode 26: 

(VIU) timeline 00:14:44,559 -->00:15:02,722
From now on, I will always be by your side to protect you.
Even if Sky's Beyond* collapses,
even if the Three Realms are ruined,
I'll keep you safe.
I won't let anyone hurt you again.

* 'Extranatural Heaven' in WeTV version

(WeTV) - From now on, I will always be by your side to protect you

No matter what,

No matter how,

I will protect you from all harm.

VIU version is much more accurate.

2nd example, in episode 21:

(VIU) timeline  00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:33,762
So, this is what it feels like to be stuck in a dilemma.

WeTV: So this is how it feels to be caught in the middle.

I prefer the word "dilemma" than "in the middle". The former explains the emotion more.

3rd example, in episode 21:

(VIU)  - 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:18,202
If even you are not around, then this lonely world would be too cruel to me.

(WeTV) : If even you were gone by then, then this desolate world would be rather too cruel to me.

I get it now why XZ lost control and rebelled against Heaven after Shen Li died. He was too lonely. He couldn't live another thousands and thousands of years in this loneliness again. And it offered insight to an earlier episode when  he said he would give up his life to compensate for Shen Li's if she died in battle. That was a love confession already! 

Could you offer some better translations in the drama? Your contributions would make our viewing of TLOSL a much more enriching and memorable experience.

Some of the translations aren't great, but sometimes Chinese just doesn't translate well. For example, when they are visiting Jin Niangzi, she says 你们夫妇二人 (Nimen fufu er ren). 夫妇 means husband and wife, but in English this fufu is lost in translation because you can't say that in an idiomatic way in English so all you can translate it as is "You two" but that then misses the fact that she has addressed them as husband and wife.

Another translation that irritates me is calling the Ling Jie  灵界 the Demon realm, whereas it's more like the Spirit Realm. In English, the word demon is associated with evil which obviously isn't the case for Shenli's realm.

Yeah Viki subtitles are a bit off with the names for the realms and peoples. They've also changed recently. At first it was also the Immortal Realm and then the subs changed it to Demon realm, which is incorrect. The problem is again how things get lost in translation when there isn't an English language equivalent. English doesn't have as many words for different types of immortal/spiritual beings, so this is where it gets tricky to make subtitles. Shen, Xian, Yaoling, Yaogui, Mo, Gui and so on... We have about half the vocabulary in English. 

Extranatural Heaven is a super weird translation but it does give this impression that it is another dimension altogether. It is called Tian Hai Tian, but I'm not sure which "Hai" character it is. It would probably have been sensible for subbers to simply call it High Heaven, which is more natural sounding in English.

 Firefly88:

Yeah Viki subtitles are a bit off with the names for the realms and peoples. They've also changed recently. At first it was also the Immortal Realm and then the subs changed it to Demon realm, which is incorrect. The problem is again how things get lost in translation when there isn't an English language equivalent. English doesn't have as many words for different types of immortal/spiritual beings, so this is where it gets tricky to make subtitles. Shen, Xian, Yaoling, Yaogui, Mo, Gui and so on... We have about half the vocabulary in English. 

Extranatural Heaven is a super weird translation but it does give this impression that it is another dimension altogether. It is called Tian Hai Tian, but I'm not sure which "Hai" character it is. It would probably have been sensible for subbers to simply call it High Heaven, which is more natural sounding in English.

Highest Heaven  or Higher Heaven would be better rather than Sky's Beyond.

I shared this in the thread before but for the realms, I would personally go with:

灵界/Líng jiè  - Spirit Realm (also Demon)

仙界/Xiānjiè  - Sky Realm (also Celestial, Divine or Heaven)

天外天/Tiānwài tiān  -  Sky Above (simplified from Sky Above Sky) (also Extranatural Heaven, Heaven Above Heaven or Outer Space).

The only thing I found really WRONG with both Viki and WeTV was the use of Immortal Realm because it can be used correctly for either realm so its just oxymoron to use it in either case.

 Lucy Ng:

3rd example, in episode 21:

(VIU)  - 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:18,202
If even you are not around, then this lonely world would be too cruel to me.

Sigh! If even you cannot outlast me, then this lonely world would be excessively cruel to me.

 Lucy Ng:

Ep 9 Viu
00:22:07,079 -->  00:22:20,482
Divine Lord Xing Zhi is acting weirdly.
But think about it.
With that cleansing aura,
if it was us and not Divine Lord Xing Zhi, we would've been cleansed.

WeTV:
His Excellency does seem a bit odd.
But think about that refreshing spirit.
If it had been us who went with His Excellency, we'd probably have got weak knees.

Could someone offer a better translation, please? Also the next one...

Shangbei asks Mofang:
Do you think Xingzhi bullied our King Bicang? (by forcing her to accompany him to reinforce the seals just after she recovered)
Xingzhi's behavior does appear a bit eccentric
But if you think about it, that powerful cleansing aura would made any one of us weak at the knees.

He is just telling Mofang only King Bicang had strong enough cultivation to accompany Xingzhi on his miasma  cleansing mission. Xingzhi just didn't bother to explain himself to peons like Mofang and Shangbei or even Shen Li. He is a grumpy old god that doesn't like being pestered.

I have no further comments on the rest. From what I can see the subs overall look ok, I have seen a lot worse. I think some of the missing bits are just specific to the story or Chinese mythology which the subbers didn't bother to elaborate on.

No worries, happy to help.