Battle of Memories (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Zhang Daichen refuses to sign the divorce papers because she wants Jiang Feng to recover his erased memories first. The painful memories Feng tried to erase included their relationship, and she believes he cannot make a clear decision about their marriage until he regains those memories. This creates the emotional core driving Feng to pursue the memory restoration that leads to the entire crisis.

Foreshadowing: Early in the film, Feng's emotional detachment when delivering the papers hints at the memories already affecting his judgment.

• zhang daichen
• divorce papers
• memory erasure
• marriage
• jiang feng

During Feng's memory-erasure procedure at the memory center, an unexpected incident occurred that caused him to drop his memory-restore-key card. This technical failure appears to have mixed his own restored memories with those of the serial killer. The memory center incident created a fusion between Feng's consciousness and the killer's, allowing Feng to experience murders from the killer's perspective.

Foreshadowing: The dropped key card during the procedure foreshadows the memory contamination that later unfolds.

• jiang feng
• serial killer
• memory transfer
• mind
• procedure

The police began believing Feng because his memories contained extremely specific details that matched real crime scenes, angles of entry, timing of murders, descriptions of victims, and physical evidence. When officers Shen Hanqiang and Lei Zi cross-referenced Feng's detailed recollections with actual forensic evidence, the match was too precise to dismiss as coincidence or delusion, lending credibility to his claims.

Foreshadowing: The investigators' initial skepticism gradually shifts as Feng's account aligns perfectly with evidence.

• police
• shen hanqiang
• lei zi
• evidence
• crime scenes
• investigation

Shen Hanqiang used Officer Chan as a decoy to cover his tracks, directing suspicion toward him while operating in plain sight as an investigator. This allowed him to control the investigation while eliminating anyone who got too close to the truth. Chan's death was orchestrated by Shen to silence potential exposure, making him appear as both protector and predator.

Foreshadowing: The investigation's focus on Chan as a suspect was actually a red herring planted by Shen himself.

• shen hanqiang
• officer chan
• serial killer
• disguise
• investigation

Feng's escape from prison was an attempt to protect his wife by disrupting the killer's plan, but it failed because he was still being monitored and the killer had already positioned himself ahead of Feng's moves. The escape backfired, leaving Feng in custody while the situation grew more dangerous, demonstrating how the killer's control over Feng's memories gave him a strategic advantage.

Foreshadowing: Feng realizes the killer can access his memories, making any secret plan predictable.

• jiang feng
• prison escape
• wife
• plan failure
• capture

When Shen Hanqiang tried to kill Feng, Daichen stepped in front of him. At that critical moment, Shen experienced Feng's memories flooding into his own mind, memories that now contained Daichen's presence. This unexpected intrusion of Feng's consciousness momentarily paralyzed Shen, preventing him from pulling the trigger and allowing Lei Zi to arrive and arrest him.

Foreshadowing: The memory connection between Feng and Shen, established throughout the film, becomes the decisive factor in the climax.

• shen hanqiang
• zhang daichen
• memories
• shooting
• climax
• paralysis

When Feng dropped his memory-restore-key card during the erasure procedure, it triggered the technical failure that caused his memories to fuse with the killer's. This single incident set the entire chain of events in motion, making the dropped card the pivotal moment that transformed Feng from a man wanting to forget his past into someone haunted by a killer's violent history.

Foreshadowing: The dropped card during the procedure directly causes the memory contamination that defines the story.

• memory restore key card
• procedure
• accident
• memory center
• tech failure

The exact cause of the memory center incident is not detailed in the summary, but it occurred during Feng's memory-erasure procedure and resulted in him dropping his memory-restore-key card. This disruption was enough to contaminate the memory restoration process, creating the fusion between Feng's consciousness and the serial killer's memories that drives the entire plot.

Foreshadowing: The incident happens early but its consequences echo throughout the entire narrative.

• memory center
• procedure
• incident
• accident
• erasure

Lei Zi deduced that the killer could be someone close to the victims, leading to Officer Chan being named as a suspect. This was a deliberate misdirection by Shen Hanqiang, who used Chan's position within the police force to redirect investigation attention away from himself. Chan became an unwitting pawn in Shen's elaborate scheme to evade capture.

Foreshadowing: The suspicion toward Chan blinds the investigation to Shen's guilt until the climax.

• officer chan
• suspect
• lei zi
• red herring
• police

Feng realized the killer was using his memories to target Daichen when he connected the pattern of murders to information only the killer could know, details from Feng's own restored memories. This revelation prompted his desperate escape attempt, as he understood that the killer could anticipate his moves and potentially harm his wife using the intimate knowledge gained from Feng's consciousness.

Foreshadowing: Feng's growing awareness of the memory connection culminates in his dangerous escape attempt.

• jiang feng
• memories
• realization
• danger
• wife
• killer access