The first two episodes were difficult to watch because I was bombarded with many faces that look alike and Korean words that are incomprehensible to me. So, let me get my house in order. I’ll list the four important families and their attributes as I understand them.
A. The Four Clans of Daeho
Many viewers can draw comparisons between this drama and “Harry Potter” because the subject is magic and the main characters hail from four powerful clans. These four clans live in the mythical land of Daeho, just like the four houses coexisted in Hogwarts School. But I think the similarities between the drama and the children’s series are broad, rather than defined.
1. Jinyowon
Like the House of Ravenclaw, this clan is dominated by women and led by a woman, Jin Ho-Gyeong. Her heiress apparent is her youngest child, Jin Cho Yeon (CY). But CY is a dutiful daughter, and not a strong-willed Hermione.
She was once engaged to the hero of the drama, Jang Uk. For some yet to be revealed reason, he called off their engagement. This leads me to wonder whether she’ll play a scorned woman or a lovesick puppy in this drama. My guess is the latter because from the looks of it, she hasn’t gotten over him yet.
The family heirloom is the Gwiju. The Gwiju is the spirit of a fearsome dog that can sniff out soul-shifters. Supposedly, there’s a gap found between the soul and body from which the evil energy seeps out. The Gwiju can detect this leaking energy.
Although the Gwiju is only a short-lived prop in Episode 2, it generated two scenes I like.
First, the scene when Uk and MuDeok/Naksu were introduced to the Gwiju. I like this scene because their reactions to the Gwiju reveal their mindset.
MD: Uk, feign ignorance even if I get caught. (stepping back from him)
Uk: Is this loyalty?
MD: It is my duty.
What’s the difference between loyalty and duty?
I say that loyalty implies devotion to an individual or a group. Duty signifies devotion (or allegiance) to a mission, cause, task, or responsibility. Since loyalty is person-oriented, a personal connection is formed and developed. Conversely, duty is impersonal and objective. Despite these differences, however, a person who’s duty-bound can be as zealous as a loyal one. Naksu proves this when she endures the torture for Uk’s sake.
Uk: (stepping back, too, and reaching for her hand)
MD: I do not want to become a laughingstock once they find out I asked you for help.
Here, it’s obvious that Uk has misconstrued MuDeok’s reason for stepping back. He thinks she’s protecting him. In his mind, she doesn’t want to endanger or to involve him, since she’s about to get caught as a soul-shifter.
Moreover, I believe Uk’s train of thought is on display here. He grew up with a sense of security that he’d be protected by the mages around him. Because of his inability to do magic, he’s pampered. He expects MuDeok to do the same and protect him, out of loyalty to him.
But MuDeok’s reply disabuses him of that delusion. She stepped away from him for entirely self-centered reason. She prides herself in being an extremely fearsome assassin. She has a duty to protect her reputation and image.
To me, this will be an overarching theme in this drama. Uk’s understanding of loyalty stands in total contrast to Mudeok’s sense of duty. Interestingly enough, although his loyalty and her duty are diametrically opposite, the end result benefits both of them. It’s a win-win situation when he seeks loyalty, and she does her duty — as we shall see with the poison crisis at the end of Episode 2.
To continue…
Uk: Stay right by my side. No one here will let that thing attack me. (And he clutches her wrist)
Note: This is not the first time that Uk offers her his protection. He’s been doing it since the beginning when he bought her from the brothel. He wants her in his household, under his roof.
Neither is this the first time that Uk guarantees her safety by his side. He already told in the barn that she wouldn’t get caught if she laid low with him.
But to me, this moment marks the first time that Uk reveals his AWARENESS of his great worth – or his “preciousness” – to the congregation of mages.
His confidence that everybody will come to his protection reminds me of the King’s confidence in Episode 1 that he was “a king protected by the skies.”
Despite Uk’s ignorance of his true bloodline, he sounds as imperious and autocratic as his father the King was.
Then the Gwiju leapt over them.
I like the visual metaphor of this moment. Uk is a force field protecting somebody for a change. If MuDeok is the weapon he needs to open his gate of energy, then UK is the shield MuDeok needs against those who want her dead.
Now, that’s the first scene I like involving the Gwiju. The other scene I like was when Uk smashed the Gwiju’s pottery, thus stopping it from killing MuDeok.
I like this for three reasons.
a. It demonstrates Uk’s novel approach to solving a problem. He goes to the heart of the matter. He knew he couldn’t kill a spirit, but he could smash its vessel.
b. The scene shows the forbearance of Park Jin, the powerful leader of the Songrim clan. More on him later.
c. Last, this scene foreshadows the destruction of Naksu’s corpse on the pyre. Naksu’s original vessel, i.e., her body, is destroyed but her spirit lives on in MuDeok’s body, just like the spirit of Gwiju lives on and can be reanimated.
The house of Jinwoyon may appear insignificant in these two episodes. But its precious heirloom, the Gwiju, establishes it as a force to reckon with in Daeho.
2. Sejukwon
The Sejukwon clan maintains the infirmary which is well-stocked with medicinal herbs as well as poisons. The head of the family is Heo Yeom. The noble son of the family is Seo Yul (Yul).
If ever there’s going to be a second lead in this drama, then Yul is it. Heo Yeom and Park Jin, the leader of the Songrim clan, call on Yul to look at the body of Naksu.
HY: Yul, come here.
Yul: Is she Naksu?
HY: Yes. (showing him the blue circle on her shoulder) This marks shows that her soul has left the body. Remember this mark. When someone tries to switch bodies, it leaves a blue bruise like this right on top of their heart.
Yul: Does that mean her soul escaped her body?
Park Jin: She seems to have tried, but I think she failed. This proves that her soul has escaped her body, but we found no signs of her soul having entered another body.
The fact that these leaders are divulging sensitive information about the “alchemy of souls” to Yul indicates their trust and confidence in Yul as the future leader of his peers.
Yul: It is a whistle.
HY: A whistle?
Yul: I once had a similar one myself back when I had a pet bird.
HY: Did she have a pet bird?
Park Jin: (referring to the whistle) I think she had it for quite a while.
HY: It looks like it is an important item. She may have been an assassin who killed people like it was nothing, but she was still human. She must have had a story of her own.
I like that Heo Yeom tries to humanize Naksu. This is another noticeable difference in personalities between Heo Yeom and his heir apparent Yul. Sure, Heo Yeom gabs incessantly while Yul is uncommunicative. But Heo Yeom relates to people in a personal and sympathetic way while Yul is reserved and guarded.
Heo Yeom has no way of knowing that Naksu was once Yul’s close friend because Yul himself can’t remember her. They were close enough friends that he gifted her with a whistle he’d carved of his pet bird, and that she kept the whistle with her as a precious memento.
Note: Yul’s memory lapse is one of the Hong sisters’ signature tropes. True lovers are supposed to recognize each other no matter what. Even if they inhabit another body, have amnesia or travel through time, there’s bound to be a special quirk or feature that sets the beloved apart from the masses. The true lover alone can identify this mark.
Thus, this whistle scene shows that Yul has failed the “true lovers test” because he can’t remember the girl.
In contrast, Uk knows she’s the one as soon as they met because of her eyes.
Uk: I heard a blind girl recently joined the place. But you can see. They told me your name. I think it starts with a “D” or something.
Naksu: No. (thrusting the crab leg closer to his neck)
Uk: Oh. I remember. MuDeok.
Naksu: (rolling her eyes) Yes. I am MuDeok. I know what you look like, so if you do not stay quiet until I leave, I will come back and behead you.
Uk: (scoffing)
Naksu: What’s so funny?
Uk: You have beautiful eyes.
Naksu: (flustered) Cut the nonsense!
Uk: Right, sorry. Only your eyes are beautiful.
Naksu: You must be crazy.
If the bird whistle indicates missed reunion between Yul and Naksu, then Naksu’s eyes signifies the start of a connection between Uk and Naksu/MuDeok.
Naturally, Naksu misconstrues his words as flirtatious. But nothing could be further from Uk’s mind. At this point in time, Uk is merely thinking of a transactional relationship with her. With just one look into her eyes, Uk recognizes her as the one to teach him the ways of a mage.
He informs her of his intention in Episode 2.
Naksu: What are you doing here?
Uk: Because of your eyes.
Naksu: My eyes?
Uk: I knew the moment I saw you. You are my master.
Naksu: Did you find something special about me, Young Master?
Sidenote on the wordplay here. For Uk, the word “master” doesn’t just mean a mage with vastly superior magic skills. More important than the magic skills, he needs an individual who’s bold and fearless to defy his father’s command and break open his gate of energy.
For MD, when she calls Uk “Young Master,” there’s derision in her voice. She’s obliged to use the honorific title because of her social status as his maid. But they both know that there’s nothing masterful about him, and that she’s way more powerful than him. She only agrees to act servile because of her current weak, incapacitated state.
Uk: I told you that you have beautiful eyes. Right, sorry. Only your eyes are beautiful. The soul shifter’s blue mark has bloomed inside them.
Naksu: (thinking) So the mark was inside my eyes.
Four things:
a. Uk has twice qualified his compliment about her eyes. Only her eyes are beautiful, he says.
I don’t know if the translation is precise, but I like his poetic description of the appearance of the soul shifter’s blue mark. It “bloomed” like flowers in her eyes.
Since eyes are commonly regarded as windows to the soul, I think Uk means that her eyes are beautiful, but her assassin’s soul is not. Her fine eyes don’t blind him to the evil she’s capable of doing. He brings it up when Naksu unsheathes her sword.
MD: I had regained my power inside that lake. I should go back there.
Uk: Then what? Will you live underwater like a fish?
MD: (thinking) I felt a surge of energy underwater. That is how I regained my power. (saying aloud) That is it. Someone who has energy as powerful as that lake should push out the energy within me.
Uk: And who exactly? Will you be searching for a master too? Do you think there is anyone that power to begin with? Even if there was, would they want to help you? You are Naksu, an assassin who shifted her soul.
MD: (glares at him)
He’s brutally frank here. He’s under no illusion that she’s a saint.
At first, I thought she’s glaring at him because she’s hurt by his words. Now, I think this is the moment she got the idea to use his energy to activate hers.
While Yul may have the advantage of being prewarned by Park Jin and Heo Yeom about the “alchemy of souls,” Uk recognizes the assassin Naksu’s soul in MuDeok’s body from just one look at her eyes. This is a credit to Uk’s intuition and astuteness.
b. I like how Uk covers Naksu’s eyes by instinct. He thinks Yul will spot the blue marks in her eyes, so he protects her identity.
c. I suspect, however, that the soul shifter’s blue mark in MuDeok only blooms in Uk’s presence. This is part of the “true lovers’ test” I mentioned earlier. In a sense, her eyes function like her sword.
“An excellent blade recognizes its owner,” according to Uk.
Similarly, the blue light in her eyes glows in recognition of her destined master…or “Young Master.”
d. I’m also curious why the soul shifter’s mark didn’t show up as a bruise on top of her heart but appeared in her eyes instead.
My theory here is that the soul exits the body from both the weakest and strongest points of the body.
For most people, the heart is the weakest link because, metaphorically speaking, the heart is easily bruised and broken. Having said that, the heart is also the source of the person’s greatest strength when it’s resolved to endure and fight.
For the original MuDeok, her weakness was obviously her eyes because she was blind. I’m guessing that the original MuDeok bravely chased after Naksu after Naksu shoved her in disgust. She sacrificed herself in the place of Naksu’s intended victim and ended up shifting souls with her.
3. Songrim
The head of the Songrim is Park Jin. Since Songrim is in charge of controlling the dark-soul related spells, Park Jin is recognized as the mages’ de facto leader.
He also has the unenviable task of parenting Uk. He must balance compassion with sternness. He could’ve easily used dark magic to detain and punish Uk for destroying the urn of the Gwiju. But he treated Uk with the patience of a father toward a recalcitrant child. To me, he’s another stock character in the Hong sisters’ drama repository. He’s a benevolent tyrant just like the Mago in “Hotel del Luna.”
I think many of the mages in Songrim show the same leniency towards Uk because they’re overcompensating for the “injustice” his “father” Jang Gang had done to him. They’re appalled that Jang Gang blocked his path to becoming a mage. They’re sorry that Jang Gang abandoned his child. And they feel helpless about the situation.
I also think that we’re seeing many different forms of fatherhood. Let me see now:
There’s the biological father, the King,
the absentee father, Jang Gang,
the surrogate father, Park Jin,
the grandfather figure, Heo Yeom,
the evil stepfather, Jin Mu.
Uk’s unsuccessful apprenticeship under 12 masters corresponds to his failure in his search for a foster father.
So whether he likes it or not, Uk’s father figure is Park Jin. I guess, it’s a good thing too that Park Jin doesn’t have a son of his own. His heir apparent is his nephew Park Dong Gu (DG).
Unlike the serious Park Jin, DG is outgoing and laid-back. He and Uk frequent the gisaeng’s house, Chwiseonru. He doesn’t merely practice his spells he also ferrets information. Park Jin scolds DG for going to bars and listening to rumors. But Heo Yeom chides him for underestimating the importance of gathering information.
(Lol. Just think how useful spies are.)
DG indulges Uk’s every whim because he thinks Uk is physically weak. If you ask me, DG behaves more like Heo Yeom’s kinsfolk, and Yul is more like Park Jin’s clan member.
The Songrim maintains the Jeongjingak (the equivalent of Hogwarts in “Harry Potter”) where the young mages master their skills. Located in the Jeongjingak are the Secret Room where Naksu’s body was hidden, and the Sword Room where all the best swords of the mages are kept.
4. Cheonbugwan
Since the hero of the drama, Jang Uk, belongs to this clan, it would be natural for viewers to assume that Cheonbugwan parallels Harry Potter’s House of Gryffindor. However, considering the inner machinations, hidden ambitions, and practice of dark sorcery, the Cheonbugwan resembles the House of Slytherin more.
The head (or Gwangju) of the house is Jang Gang. Of the four leaders, he’s acclaimed as the best mage. But he’s been away for two decades, purportedly to improve his magician’s skills. His assistant, Jin Mu, is the interim chief.
Predictably, Jin Mu cannot wait to be declared leader. He wants to eliminate his opponents, starting with Park Jin, the head of Songrim. He sends his best-trained assassin, Naksu, to kill Park Jin, but Naksu gets mortally wounded and switches bodies to save herself.
a. I find the link between masters and pupils intriguing. Jang Gang’s pupil was Jin Mu. Jin Mu’s best pupil was Naksu. And Naksu’s pupil is Uk.
Jang Gang had cast a magic spell on the baby Uk to bar him from doing magic in the future. But despite the ban, Uk ends up learning the craft of magic that’s been handed down from Jang Gang in an unbroken line of instruction from master to pupil.
b. To everybody in the land of Daeho, Jang Uk is Jang Gang’s son. But there are widespread rumors that he’s an illegitimate son resulting from his mother’s secret affair.
In truth, he’s the biological son of the King who ordered Jang Gang to switch bodies with him. The King was dying and wanted an heir. Although Jang Gang at first refused to swap the souls in the bodies on the grounds that it’s forbidden sorcery, he ended up doing as the King’s order.
My theory for Jang Gang’s change of mind is that his ego was flattered by the King’s praises of his skills. I’m reminded of Adam and Eve’s temptation in the Garden of Eden. Like the Serpent deceived Eve that she had nothing to worry about and that she’d equal God, the King smooth-talked Jang Gang into thinking that he had absolutely nothing to worry about when he performed the magic because he could shift souls like no other. Jang Gang was seduced to perform his magic without thinking of the repercussions.
To me, Jang Gang’s moral compass has been faulty from the start. In the opening scene with the distraught mother of a soul shifter, he was agitated that “they” were doomed if word got out that he shifted souls.
lol. I can tell you that her doom was the last thing on the mother’s mind when her son was about to die.
This moment was a red flag to me because a) he ignored the mother’s entreaties to help her son, and b) he disregarded the welfare of the innocent mother and child who were almost killed by the monster he created.
Instead, he worried about his ruin and downfall.
Given this character flaw, it wouldn’t be hard to persuade him to perform the “alchemy of souls” if the barrier of shame and disgrace was removed. It’s clear to me that what’s stopping him from performing dark magic is the fact that it’s forbidden, not because it’s deadly, destructive, dangerous…and wrong.
Once the King flattered his skills and approved the practice of dark magic, Jang Gang consented to do it without a thought to the ramifications.
King: It saddens me that I do not have an heir.
JG: I wish you a quick recovery.
King: I cannot do anything with this sick body. But I might have a chance if I were to live in a body that is young and healthy.
JG: There is no way for humans to switch bodies.
Jang Gang looks uncomfortable here. He feigns ignorance. But the King already knows that he’s been experimenting in it. The mother said that it was Jang Gang who turned her son into a soul shifter.
King: But you can. (smirking) The alchemy of souls.
I can see here where Uk got his obduracy: from his father. Uk is persistent and obstinate in getting his own way, e.g., finding his own master.
JG: That is forbidden sorcery.
He’s merely parroting the official policy of the kingdom. But note this: he doesn’t deny that he can do it.
JG: If a soul clashes with the body, it could even turn into an evil spirit. How could I dare move the soul of a king to another person’s body?
King: How about your body?
JG: (stares at him)
King: Not for too long. Just seven days. Let us switch bodies for just seven days. I heard you once gave a soul a dead man’s body and that it lived in that body for over half a year. I am a king protected by the skies, and you are the best mage in this land. So what is there to worry about? And after seven days, you can turn things back. You have mastered the ability to do something that only the best mages can do.
Ugh! He should have known what the King was trying to do here.
King: (continuing) Yet you are wasting your time shifting souls into dead bodies. Jang Gang. Give this king a different body.
So Jang Gang gives in because the King insists. He knows the “alchemy of souls” is wrong because he’s had eight failed experiments. But he gives in.
Of course, he didn’t expect the King to target his own wife. The King left a missive, “I shall make Do-Hwa mine. If she bears a child, know that it is mine.”
c. What happened to Do-Hwa is rape by fraud.
This would be similar to an identical twin posing as his twin brother to sleep with his twin brother’s wife. The wife wouldn’t have consented to the intercourse had she known who he was. Legally, however, rape by fraud, deception or impersonation, is a gray area. Depending on where you live, it may or may not be a prosecutable crime.
The King is guilty of rape. He purposely switched souls because he intended Do-Hwa to beget his child. But Jang Gang is guilty of aiding and abetting rape. He knew soul switching was dangerous. He knew the King intended to impregnate some woman. He would’ve been fine if the King assaulted another woman. He just didn’t care because he didn’t expect the victim to be his wife.
d. Small mercies
Based on these two episodes, it appears like Jang Gang never confessed to his wife about the switching of souls, and she died at childbirth without knowing that the King had violated her.
I don’t know Jang Gang’s motivation for non-disclosure, but I’d like to think that he did it to:
-spare his wife from the trauma that she had sex with a stranger because of her husband’s dark magic,
-save his clan from a power struggle with the monarchy should it be discovered that Uk is the legitimate heir to the throne,
-and last but not the least, protect the unborn baby. No matter the crime of his father, the child is innocent.
In my mind, Jang Gang banished himself from Songrim to bear the guilt alone.
B. Naksu/MuDeok
Naksu/MuDeok doesn’t belong to any of these clans but it seems to me that her family must have been once influential in the kingdom to require all four leaders present at its destruction.
For such a fearsome assassin, she dwells in a shack inside a cave in Danghyanggok.
To me, she bears resemblance to the lead characters in the Hong sisters’ previous works.
One, the Hong sisters have used servitude or enslavement as premise to force the male and female leads to bond together. For example, in “Couple or Trouble” (a remake of Goldie Hawn’s “Overboard”), the male lead takes advantage of the heroine’s amnesia to make her serve the family. In “Hotel del Luna,” the hero Chansung is obliged to work in Manwol’s hotel to honor the promise his father made
Then, in this drama, Naksu/MuDeok has no choice but to agree to become the personal maid of Uk. Her weakened state constrains her to seek refuge in his household until she fully recovers.
Second, in the Hong sisters’ dramas, a desire to avenge an injustice is a valid rationale for the heroine’s wickedness. In “Hotel del Luna,” for example, Manwol was turned into a berserk killing machine when she witnessed her whole tribe massacred.
In this drama, Naksu saw her home burned down and her parents killed by the leaders of the Jin, Seo, Jang, and Park clans, so like Manwol, she carries a grudge. She trained to be an assassin to get back at her parents’ murderers.
Third, being dependent on the only source of supernatural energy is a trope in previous Hong sisters’ stories. In “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho,” the gumiho gave her fox bead to save him from death. However, there are dire consequences in giving away one’s source of energy.
In this drama, Naksu/MuDeok wants Uk to be her source of energy.
Uk: Lie low and live as MuDeok. This is all I can do for you.
MD: You are wrong. I want you to be my Lake Gyeongcheondaeho. You said you risked your life many times for me. Do it one more time.
Without context, her words sound romantic. It’s as if she’s asking him to be her “moon, sun, and stars.” But since we know that she just poisoned him, her words are those of a cold-blooded killer. We’re reminded that she’s a trained assassin.
Uk: (feeling the effects of the poison)
MD: It will be pretty painful.
Uk: What did you put in here?
MD: One of the poisonous herbs. (tossing away the vial) I am betting everything on you. So I hope you will survive. If you do, I will be your master.
Then Heo Yeom and Park Jin arrive. Naksu tells them about the poison.
MD: His heart will stop in six hours.
HY: What is it?
MD: It will be too late by the time you find out and concoct an antidote. There is only one way to save him. Open his gate of energy and remove the poison with both of your energy.
They’re stunned.
MD: Open his gate of energy. Or else he will die.
I think this is a splendid way of killing two birds with one stone. Uk finally gets his gate of energy opened, and Naksu is one step closer to getting her own energy back.
And lastly, she bickers with Uk. A bickering couple is pretty much standard in the Hong sisters’ scripts.
gifs from yesdramas’ tumblr
********
Will end here.
Depending on the topic, I may have to put a few of my posts for this particular kdrama under password-protection. If you promise not to test my patience, I’ll give you the password. 🙂
Yes please I usually just lurk and read your impressions on a drama I like. But I didn’t know who to ask for the password so I just drop by every week to read the open thread.
Hi @pm3!!! How are you?
I’ve been away for a few weeks and i’m back to watching Kdramas and reading =). I’m not sure if i’ll get to read more today, but happy to be back to reading and watching.
I binged watched these episodes this week and I’m so happy you are watching this one too. I had not thought of Harry Potter but I love how you compared them. I can see it. Thanks for bringing up the trends in Hong’s sisters writing too. Since I’ve only seen two of their dramas it helps. I’m also not setting my expectations too high for episodes 11-20 lol
I have a silly thought here though. In Greek mythology (if I remember correctly), Zeus would impersonate (shift) as human/husband/boyfriend to bed women. I agree it’s rape btw.
It was not soul changing, then the offsprings would be demigods. But UK’s dad had the king’s soul, not the seed. You mentioned The King is the biological father. I’m not familiar with soul shifting lore so I’m bringing it up because I’m use it seeing it the other way I guess. In my perspective, JG is UK’s dad because only the soul changed and not the sperm. Although I can see where that story line helps with the conflict setting.
I really enjoy your impressions regardless if they are controversial or not, I really like the way you present your thoughts and views. Even if I were to disagree with you, I would not bother you or pester you =). Obviously I read your blog because I find your mind interesting, like other BODers here, the ability to present an opinion and examine a subject in a written form is admirable to me. Anyways, please share a password with me if/when the times come =)
Take care!!
Hello!
I am back after a long time. Please share the password. I am enjoying the show and while I (I’m)patiently wait for the episodes to be released I would love to read all that is there about the drama, specially your take.
Also, I was wondering if Natsu was related to the Jinyowon clan as her master (who you term as Uk’s evil stepfather) is the illegitimate brother of the lady who heads the house while the Lady lost her older daughter at some point. Just a conjecture.
It is good to have a fun drama to watch and read about. Hope everyone has been well.
Kalimera @Packmule3!
Thank you for writing these points! Especially the four houses analysis is very helpful!
I would like to ask though, can we say techinically that Uk is biologically the late King’s son, since the King’s soul occupied Mage Jang’s body? I was thinking myself that we have a Host and a Vessel principle here. Or we assume that since the late King was using Mage Jang’s body “became” his own for 7 days?
The fact is that Gwiju could see or so they showed to us in that scene:
Jang Uk’s soul scan IS kinda weird than the other people. His soul scan resembled a bit that of Naksu / MuDeok, but not entirely.
I agree with you that Jang Uk has a lot of fathers:
The King is the soulfather that did the deed with Do Hwa.
Mage Jang shared his genes.
Mage Park is his parental figure.
Bravo for pointing out that Do Hwa was raped by deceit! I was so pissed off when they made her an adulteress…
@No one, yes this theory circulates, but I think Naksu was living in the house of the person who was the Royal Astrologer and noticed the stars the night Uk was born. I will check the following days the scenes from Episode 1 + 4, if what I have noticed is correct, i.e. Naksu’s father was the Royal Astrologer and I will write it on the Episode 3-4’s thread.
P.S. I would love that password as well @Packmule3! Thank you in advance!
Thank you for your thoughts, @packmule3. It brings some things into perspective for me. If a password post comes forth related to this drama, please may I get the password?
The open threads sure do have great discussions, @M. Glad you’re back.
Kalimera @Packmule3!
As it seems my comment awaits moderation… 🙂
Seeds! lol, @Carolina.
True, those Greek gods, especially Zeus and his brothers, were a bunch of degenerates by our modern standards. But I do cut them some slack because it’s not logical to judge them our modern standards. The worldview back then is different from ours now; they were still in the “infancy” stage when it comes to understanding concepts of autonomy, freedom, and personhood.
Honestly, when I think about this, I don’t think we’ve come very far anyway. lol.
I guess it’s similar to judging the artwork of kindergartners and artwork of students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Different standards should be applied since there’s a difference in cognitive development, understanding of design principles, mastery/control of artist’s tools, and so on. But the fact that kindergartners have a rudimentary grasp of art doesn’t make their creative works any less beautiful to behold to an appreciative parent. 🙂
You made a good point there, @Carolina. The sperms should have still carried Jang Gang’s DNA
Sorry, @Cleopatra. I don’t know why your comment was put in my spam box.
Interesting theory there about Naksu being the child of the Royal Astrologer. That’s a possibility.
All I know — based on Episodes 1 and 2 — is that he must be somebody important because the 4 mages were called to witness his death. If he’d been a commoner or a nobody, the mages’ bodyguards could’ve been sent to kill him and his family off. But this was a public execution.
At the very least, he was a mage just like them.
@Packmule3,
It is okay. I noticed it earlier and I thought to inform you when you were online. ☺
There is a flashback in Episode 4, If I remember correctly, that we see Naksu’s “father” again. I need to make a screenshot of the scenes to post it on the threads for validation. But, he should be a mage too, for the reason you said.
Another theory that circulates is that Naksu is the lost first daughter of the Jin family. If that is the case, maybe Naksu doesn’t remember correctly what happened that night and “evil stepfather” / step-uncle Jin made her believe that she was originated from the clan that was annihilated, in order to manipulate her? If this theory is true, then “evil stepfather” Jin is the most unethical man in Daeho.
So, if we make the same assumption about Naksu’s fathers, we get the following:
She might have :
Her real father from the Jin family
Her “given” father from the clan that was annihilated
Her “evil stepfather” Jin
Hey @Carolina,
It is good to see you here! Welcome back!
I confirm that in greek mythology Zeus could so, but he was not the only one…*winks*
I had a similar thought myself that I am not going to repeat, since I wrote it on my first comment above. Hope to see you more!
After hearing @Cleopatra’s theory that Naksu may have been in the household of the royal astronomer, I had wondered if the new King had learned of the royal star appearing at a child’s birth (where have we heard that before???) and had the astronomer and household vilified and killed to prevent the news from spreading? The 3 mages were there, as @packmule3 says, to witness it as a public execution. Jin Mu was there, but hooded. He took Naksu into his care secretly to groom her as an assassin to kill off his mage competition so he could gain ultimate power.
@pm3 great observations!
Thanks for calling out Jang Kang shady because that’s what I’ve been thinking all along
Technically,any child born using his body will be biologically his. But he cared lest unless it was about his own wife. Maybe he wouldn’t have cared for any child born either, but here he did because that one would’ve legally belonged to his household, hence resulting in treason.
@Cleaopatra and @Fern that’s a good observation on Naksu’s parents. However, my only concern is that Yul seems to know Naksu before she became what she is right now. Younger Yul and Naksu are shown as teenagers so I think it’s hard to dupe her. Or maybe I’m not remembering correctly if Jin Mu approached a child.
As @Fern mentioned, it’s more likely that the astronomer was killed on the King’s order. Since Jin Mu knows a lot more than many others and the king blindly follows what he suggests.
@Cleaopatra I guess there are more chances of Mu Deok being Jin family’s daughter than Naksu. Speaking of that where is the soul of the og Mu Deok? I believe both are in Mu Deok’s body right now.
@wapz, if Jin Mu took Naksu away as a child and yet she spent time with Yul when she was a teen, there was time for her to become indoctrinated and trained by Jin Mu; she may have been introduced to the community later. I guess what I’m saying is that she may have been trained privately, but had a public persona as well, perhaps in a place away from Songrim and the other mage communities. She and Yul may have met by chance, since Park Dang Gu didn’t know the story of the whistle as a gift to a girl.
@wapz and @Carolina, I agree with you in a scientific sense that Jang Kang was Jang Uk’s father (sperm, genes and all that) but this is a fantasy and we are asked to believe that the King is the father because his soul was in Jang Kang’s body at the time of fertilisation. I like @Cleopatra’s idea that Uk has 3 fathers: a soul father, a physical father and a foster father. Honestly I feel for Park Jin who has none of the joy and all of the hard work raising and protecting Jang Uk.
Excellent analysis, @pm3. I would like the password as well.
Hi. I just started on this thread. I have not been watching and commenting the live threads, but reading this thread after just watching episode 2, I was struck by the similarity to the Farseer fantasy novels by Robin Hobb, I believe it was in the Assassin’s Quest, the third in her first set of three (the entire grouping is 4 sets of three linked stories, all linked by common characters). Similar to this story, the King begets a son using the skill (and body), in that case of his nephew. In that story, the Queen sees the nephew as the King (although later books suggests she also ‘knew’). This makes the young prince the legitimate son of the King (because who would gainsay the Queen), but the biological son of the nephew, who, like the mage here lent his body to the King. In that series, the nephew is doing this at the royal command of the King (his duty). Both the King and the nephew have the capability of using magic; both use it in the service of duty to the kingdom and the subjects in that kingdom rather than personal aggrandizement. Although I agree with that Jang Gang is likely using this to show off his skill, it is possible to see this as duty to king.
I forgot: It is 16 novels in total. One set, this of four, is less directly connected, but is in the same world construct. Definitely a stellar set of fantasy novels.
Quite long post.
It gives light to the switching soul of Naksu, about why the blue mark is her eyes.
I wonder if there will be more secrets about the original MD.
About the mage, he wasn’t clever to accept to Alchemy of souls. When the kind said he want an heirs. It was obvious he would take the first woman at disposal, the mage wife.
I find it nice you know very well Hong sisters writing. Like an expert!
So we get one of their usual “stock character”. And their “signal of true love”! ^^
Pingback: Alchemy of Souls: Ep 6 On Cheating and “Just Anyone” – Bitches Over Dramas
Hello! Can I please get the password for your protected posts? Thank you!!
I really like your analysis of the situation. Just i noticed one parallel with the King arthur legend. If im not wrong the father of Arthur took a magical potion to change his features and have relation with Arthur mother. And then Arthur born from this night.
Welcome to the blog.
Please participate in the comment section if you want the password for my future posts. Thank you.
Welcome to the blog, @myryamata.
Yes. I noticed the similarities with King Arthur. A few other posters commented on this, too.
But I didn’t know that Arthur’s father took a magical potion before sex with Arthur’s father. When we think about this, rape/pseudo-rape fantasies aren’t uncommon in literature, mythology, and culture.
@packmule3 thanks for the welcome
Regarding the pseudorape yes it is and unfortunately i think its even more common since a few years…
Girls/women fantasize about it (i dont know if this word exist 😅😅)
but what i mean is: they dream and made a fantasy regarding men who force women for kiss or more, saying its romantic…
we clearly doesnt have the same opinion about romantic😟😟😟
@packmule3 and sorry but i didnt understood what do you mean by having password for your future posts.
I just found your blog surfing on the web and found it interresting so i wanted to share my pov.
@myryamata, In the future, a few of my posts on Alchemy of Souls will be password-protected and only available to posters, especially when I’m writing about “hot-button” issues.
It’s containment.
I don’t have to deal with irate posters spamming my blog and trying to make me change my mind.
I sometimes do put a temporary password when I just need more time to take screenshots or finish transcribing the dialogues. But I’ll do a permanent password for those posts I expect to generate strong reactions. I’ll limit the posts to regular BODers.
Oh ok i understand. Im often pretty busy withwork so im not sure i’ll really be an active membres but i m not against having the pasword for the alchemy of souls posts
So far we have comparisons to Harry Potter and the King Arthur legends. ***Spoiler Alerts from you haven’t but someday plan to watch or read Game of Thrones.***
My first thought was that Jang Uk is the Jon Snow of Daeho.The present king and his son are the Baratheons. The other “Seasons” are like the siblings Jon grew up with but couldn’t fully be accepted as family. I guess that would make Naksu/ MD, Daenerys.
I hope she and Jang have a happier ending than Jon and Daenerys, but looking at Packmule3’s analysis of the Hong Sisters’ finales- maybe not. They need some dragons! Where are dragons when you need them!!