Some students had escaped by rappelling from a nearby bridge to be whisked away by waiting motorbikes, but most failed to escape without facing arrest. Dozens went to the hospital for hypothermia after a failed sewer getaway.

The waning battle had made for the most violent week in months of protests, and represented the police force’s most direct intervention into the territory’s university campuses.

And this week, hundreds of parents of young protesters under siege came to the front lines of the fight as they begged for their children’s release. Many said seeing the police’s response firsthand changed their minds about the demonstrations.

Related: When our Travel desk put Hong Kong on its 52 Places to Go list, it didn’t anticipate the months of escalating tensions and unrest. Our columnist, who spent part of his childhood living there, found it hard to reconcile his memories with today’s reality.