I’ve been silent about this because I was waiting to see if people would pick it up.
Back in Episode 7, when Yeo Heom revealed to Yul that Naksu’s father was a soul-shifter, Yul didn’t follow up with LOGICAL questions.
This is what Yeo Heom told Yul:
YH: Naksu’s father, Cho Chung, was a soul shifter. When we found him, he had already run wild and killed everyone in his family. The four families had to get involved to stop any further killings.
Yul: Naksu’s father was also a soul shifter?
YH: In the eyes of the child, we probably seemed like murderers for having killed her father. She must have thought her father was murdered by us. That is probably why she came to Songrim as an assassin. (switching topics) What is the important matter you wanted to talk about? Do you recall anything about Naksu?
These should have been Yul’s questions:
1. Why did Mage Cho switch souls?
To me, when Mage Cho was with his daughter, he looked like he was very happy with his life. He loved his job and he doted on his daughter.
What possible reason could he have to switch souls? Was he coerced to switch souls? Was he the UNWILLING participant of AoS?
Was he the VICTIM or the PAWN of another more powerful mage who wanted to use his body, like Mage Kang forcibly switched souls with his assistant in Episode 11?
2. Who did Mage Cho switch souls with?
This should have been the most obvious follow-up question because if Mage Cho switched souls, then the man that Park Jin killed was NOT Mage Cho.
Who was this man? Whose soul is occupying Mage Cho’s body?
If Mage Cho was a soul-switcher, then whose soul ended up getting switched into Mage Cho’s body?
Don’t tell me that Mage Cho switched bodies then switched back again into his old body just before he was executed.
3. Where is Mage Cho’s soul then? In whose body was he shifted to?
These are relevant questions.
For every Alchemy of Soul done with the soul ejector, there are two bodies and two souls involved.
Mage Cho’s body was killed but his soul went missing.
4. Why did this soul-switcher kill Mage Cho’s entire family and destroy his home?
I keep on pointing that out. This is an aberration.
The primary goal of a soul-switcher is to continue living. The soul-switcher only had to suck ONE human energy at a time to hold back petrification. Just one.
So why did this soul shifter go on a rampage and massacre the CHO clan? Why did he burn down the buildings? How would burning the place down help him get energy?
I’m a broken record when I say this: There’s more to Mage Cho’s death. It doesn’t make sense.
All the four mages, Jin HoGyeong, Park Jin, Heo Yeom, and Jang Gang were there to witness his execution. If it was an ORDINARY Alchemy of Souls, then Park Jin’s presence would have been enough because eliminating soul-shifters is the purview of Songrim.
Also, we’re led to believe that when a soul-shifter runs wild, he kills everybody in sight.
Running wild = going berserk and killing everybody??
But that’s been proven wrong with the recent cases of soul-shifters. For example: the son in Episode 1, Naksu, the Songrim spy, the Eunuch, Gilju, Mage Kang.
They don’t kill everybody. They avoid drawing attention to their existence as soul-shifters. They lurk and hide. They’re afraid that exposure will get them killed. So they suck on one human energy at a time.
They only start killing people in a mad frenzy when they’re cornered, like the Songrim spy and Gilju. They turned wild like a trapped animal because they wanted to survive.
My opinion: if a soul-shifter has an independent, sustainable, NONHUMAN energy source, then he wouldn’t have to kill in order to survive. But that kind of energy source is only attainable by Hwansu level of magic. That’s why Uk becomes the King’s Star when he achieves Hwansu. He’s the alternative energy source, the alternative ice stone.
lol.
So, those are the four questions I would have promptly asked if I were in Yul’s shoes. Yeo Heom’s story sounded a bit pat, a bit prepared, a bit rehearsed.
(lol. But it could be due to the actor’s performance, too.)
But personally, I’m more curious to know why Jang Gang wept at Mage Cho’s death, but not at his own wife’s death? Inquiring minds want to know.
Compare and contrast.
Here he was at his wife’s death.
This was him the night before…
He could hear her in his office.
He was reflecting on his conversation with the King.
He told the King:
But the King insisted:
So, on that night while his wife was giving birth to Jang Uk, he decided to do something painful.
He clutched his heart; he had tears in eyes. These are standard portrayal of a man agonizing over his decision…
…a decision which he executed anyway the following day.
He removed baby Uk’s star chart (or at least he THOUGHT he removed it) and sealed Uk’s gate of energy.
Compare his actions at his wife’s death to his crying here at Mage Cho’s death. He was weeping as if his heart would break.
According to Jin Mu, he was weak. He said, “He was weak. He sealed everything and fled because he did not have what it took to handle it all.”
That’s weird, don’t you think?
My three comments:
a. I don’t think Jang Uk was weak. Remember: on the night when Lady DoHwa was giving birth to baby Uk, he was agonizing over a decision, then resolved to act on it.
To me, he was more heart-broken, than weak. But heart-broken over what?
b. The amount of lamentation is not commensurate to the level of relationship Jang Gang had with the two people. Lady Dohwa was his wife, the wife he grievously wronged. He should have been sobbing at her death.
Mage Cho was merely one of his mages recording the constellations at Cheongbugwan. Sure, he recorded the King’s Star on Uk’s birthdate. But why was he wailing for him?
c. This gif. lol.
And we have a super interesting conjecture and segue 🙂
Did he shift his wife’s soul to the astrologer’s body and vice versa? However, his wife’s soul was too weak to handle the change?
And of course, UK’s family has to be the one who has to ruin his Juliet’s initial years 🙂
I am game for the reveal.
@NoOne,
All I did was to line up the obvious and the inconsistent. 🙂
I thought people would notice by now, especially after Episode 11 with Mage Kang switcheroo, that if Yeo Heom claimed that Mage Cho was a soul-shifter, then the Mage Cho they killed was NOT who he was.
Unless Mage Cho did a 360 degree soul-switch and returned to what he was. That’s always a possibility in the Hong sisters’ worldbuilding. I still remember the finale of “Big”.
I think I commented re: Mage Cho on Cleopatra’s theories but did not draw the link between the inconsistencies of Gang’s anguish/ mourning wrt Cho and Do-Hwa!
As I mentioned- whoever was inhabiting Cho’s body appeared to have been tasked to kill. In this, it means that something about Cho’s family demanded their silence. A silence as great as the silence that Uk’s birth went against nature, was illegal and eventually could be seen as treason.
I wondered then if Cho’s knowledge of Uk’s star chart was a factor. Or if there was a clash of charts which foretold some great secret, I don’t know! Perhaps a foretelling of the rise of the Choi family?
I wouldn’t put it last Jin Mu to have played a part then- he wasn’t conveniently just showing up to pick Cho’s daughter for a future plan. He also knew about the change of the charts. He had planned the kill.
Gilju said that both Naksu and Cho were not just soul shifters. They were also exploited. Jin Mu and the Choi shaman must have been involved.
The bigger plan, I’ve yet to figure out.
Leaving my mind open re: where your conjecture is leading to as well.
Nonetheless, whoever was inhabiting Cho’s body was very dear to Jang Gang, and he didn’t seem to care very much about his (shell) of a wife.
Thanks for the post, @pm3!
Pay attention now, @Crosslurking. 🙂 I DID not say that Mage Cho’s body was switched with Lady Dohwa’s body. It’s up to you and the readers to conclude that.
All I said that there were obvious and inconsistent things going on in Episode 7 and in Episode 9.
Obvious: Mage Cho isn’t Mage Cho.
Inconsistent: A soul-shifter going on a rampage like the “Mage Cho” imposter.
Inconsistent: Jang Gang crying at Mage Cho’s death when he didn’t even cry at his wife’s death. Of course, the writers could show, in retrospect, that he was crying all night. (shrug)
As for your comment on Cleopatra’s thread. Sorry. 🙁 I’ve skipped her thread because I don’t want to copy her original ideas. I’ll read it after I’m done writing my posts.
BTW, I don’t read all the posts on the blog. I’d go crazy if I do. There’s a lot of posts that come in daily, not counting spam and “nuisance” posts. I allot only 30 minutes to an hour in the morning to read them AND to reply to posts.
I usually get to read the latest posts on my queue, then I scan for posts by @GB, @agdr03, and @nrllee. They’re usually correcting me or ordering me to do something for the blog (in other words, I’m THEIR servant. lol).
Aigoo you’re a poor Mudeokie.
Yes yes I haven’t made THAT link yet as well, being a good reader and using my brains to continue thinking thinking thinking and not jumping to conclusions. I usually ask more questions than give answers so if you’re wondering why I just ask questions, it helps me reflect 😛
Helps to know you don’t read everything hahaha I’ve been dying to read your protected posts 🥺
Oooh a fun different area to speculate over.
To me, I don’t think the Mage Cho’s soul was swapped with DoHwa’s. Jang Gang’s tears seemed to be guilt ridden to me- that his starting back up of Soul shifting led to a terrible tragedy where one his men not just died but committed a massacre before dying. He saw the scale of evil that soul shifting would unleash, compounded further by it coming at the heels of what he did to his own wife and Uk.
Additionally, Gilju mentioning both Naksu and her father were exploited means he knows who the exploiters were. It seems much more like Jin Mu and Shaman Choi were culprits and this was their plan.
What this plan was and why Cho went on his rampage is still a mystery. Very interested in seeing how it unfolds and for the rest of your theories here.
Questions:
If Mage Cho switched souls into another persons body, do we think it was Jang Gang who performed the switch as a third party?
If so, and the person in Mage Cho’s body was out for revenge, why not kill all of Jang Gangs family instead? What did Mage Cho do or what did that person think he did that would make him want to slaughter Cho’s family.
Also
Once the king was done with his 7 days as Jang Gang, how soon after did he die after switching back into is body. Or did he switch back into HIS body? I remember Jang Gang asking Jin Mu for help and I know Jang Gang was able to return into his own body but are we sure the kings soul went back into the kings body? And if it did, did he tell anyone what happened so they’ll know Jang Uk is his child? Or was he leaving it up to the kings star?
🙂 Remember what I did say and didn’t say.
I didn’t say that Mage Cho and Lady DoHwa body-swapped.
I said many viewers totally missed the obvious and inconsistent elements of Mage Cho’s story.
It’s like when an individual confesses to a crime, a prosecutor still has to check out his story; he can be covering for someone or covering up bigger crime.
Mage Cho’s death doesn’t pass the stink test.
As for Gilju saying that Naksu and her father were exploited, you’re forgetting two things, @MrsRJH1.
1. Lady DoHwa was exploited too. She was raped.
2. Anybody who was part of the AoS but did NOT consent to it (or could NOT consent to it because of their limited knowledge of it) was exploited.
If Jang Gang was crying because of the massacre, then it’s a case of “Too Little, Too Late.” He should have cried a river when his wife was raped. Moreover, he should have known the enormity and the GRAVITY of evil he created by then. He created the King’s Star, for heaven’s sake!
The massacre of Cho’s clan <<<< The birth of the King’s Star who can create CHAOS to the Kingdom
Ugh. No questions allowed, @birdie007! 😈 I’m on vacation!
I tend to agree with MrsRJH1 about JG mourning over Papa Cho’s dead body, at least I felt that way when I was live watching the episode.
But PM3 am having fun with what you have put together. It would serve as a nice plot, though whether Hong Sisters will go that way or not we will see.
I am wondering in what ways can the new girl who will take BY’s place (I have no Chintu girl as she is known on Instagram) harm MD. And there has to be a crossing of paths.
Anyway, am here to just say, isn’t it like divine justice that Uk will end the era of what his dad (soul king but body of JG) had started/exaggerated!
Nice theories everyone. I’ve left this part to time. It was indeed quite inconsistent. We’ll see as the episodes proceed but I see a few plotholes.
Come to think of it nobody in Songrim has pondered over the innocent deaths that happen after AOS. Soul shifters are bad but those with whom the body has been switched are at no fault. That means Naksu hasn’t really been that great of an assassin either. She was killing weaker people in weaker bodies. Not the powerful mages but again completely innocent people. So when people say Mage Cho was a soul shifter, they disregard that maybe the soul in his body had nothing to do with AOS too. Now was that soul even mage cho, we don’t know yet.
@wapz
I agree… that reveal about Naksu killing innocent and not that powerful people got to me. When I keep the romantic aspects (I mean seeing a character romantically) aside, I can’t help but think about justice, deaths and rights/wrongs.
As much as I don’t want to see the plot in the realistic light and keep it at fantasy, I can’t help but think that Naksu should feel some guilt over what she has done because until now she has been proud of being an assassin and there is no retribution. now we are also learning that she might also not be that powerful as she killed the weaker/not needed souls.
@NoOne,
I like the romance but I watch kdramas for the screenwriters’ POV. How do they view the world? What’s the central message of their drama? Is it right? Is it true? Is that so?
I don’t like garbage. Because we become what you watch/read/eat/consume. 🙂
Think about it in simplest terms: Why don’t I let the crazy fangirls in the blog?
Because if you read “I love oppa!” “Oppa is handsome!” “Lee JaeWook is hot!” “I can’t with Lee JaeWook’s smiles!!” “I cant sleep because I dream of him” “The feels when he looks at Jung Somin.” “Their chemistry is out of this world.”
you’ll soon normalize this level of reacting to the kdrama,
think this blog is for fan adoration,
and start writing about dimples, smiles, muscles, and nose bridges, too. (And ~~chemistryyyyy~~~🙄)
Instead of looking at themes, symbolisms, significance, purpose, camera work, cinematography, language, cultural norms.
Vapid posts attract vapid posts. So I limit them from the start. Too much of them gives me an indigestion.
Now, with screenwriters, some of the messages can start off as innocuous. Example: Love has no boundaries.
For me, the deeper, more insightful writers would see that no, true love DOES have boundaries. All relationship should have boundaries; a lover respects and protects the boundaries of his/her beloved. Having boundaries indicates self-awareness and validates the other person as a unique and independent human being.
Once I see that the story is vacuous, going nowhere, lacking depth, or failing to add new insights, I’m out. There are better ways to spend 16 precious hours than on garbage.
Agree 💯 percent, @wapz.
Naksu should feel guilt (not some, but a lot) for the assassinations that she did and face consequences.
True, she must want to avenge her father’s and clan’s death.
True, she was gaslighted.
True, she was young when she was manipulated.
True, she grew up in a most unfortunate environment.
But there still needs to be justice done.
I wonder how the writers will handle this. In “Hotel Del Luna” Manwol had to face 1000 years for her deeds. And she could have claimed mental insanity, but she paid the full price of her killing spree.
@birdie007,
I don’t think you noticed that Director extended the story of Jang Uk’s creation over FOUR consecutive episodes.
Ep 1: the King’s request and Jang Gang’s agreement to do AoS
Ep 2: fast-forward to day of baby’s birth: Jang Gang moved to block the baby’s fate to become the King’s Star by closing the baby’s Gate of Energy
Ep 3: flashback to Park Jin stepping in to defend the baby and questioning Jang Gang’s claim that the baby isn’t his.
Ep 4: more flashback. This time, on the night of the baby’s birth. Jang Gang was listening to wife’s pain as she delivered the baby. He recalled his encounter with King AFTER the King had seven days with Jang Gang’s wife. 🤮🤮🤮🤮 Jang Gang looked at the skies and decided on some things.
So to answer your questions:
Yes, the king returned to his body.
Yes, the king left a note that Lady DoHwa’s child is his (can’t you see my screenshot?)
No, the king didn’t anticipate that Jang Gang kept the letter out of sight. (I wrote about this in my First Impression)
I think you need to rewatch the drama. 😂😂
Wait, @NoOne,
Naksu is powerful. She did reach Chisu level at a young age on her own. She was self-taught.
Yul, the supposed “genius” of Songrim had just reached Chisu level himself and they’re about the same age.
But yeahhh. She had been killing the “pawns” in this AoS. She wasn’t killing the real evil mages, just their weaker shells.
@crosslurking
Email me at …
Identify yourself so I’ll know who you are on the blog if your email address isn’t identical to your name on the blog. (Don’t give me your drivers license, lol)
Pm3
@pm3
Aaahh…ok. I thought the king wrote the note before setting off to bed dohwa and that there was never confirmation the king also successfully switched back into his ailing body and then died. Just rewatched the beginning of episode 4 and I absolutely did not recall ever seeing that. You’re right, a rewatch is in order. I shall now skitter off with my tail tucked between my legs and just be thankful you still allow me access 😉 enjoy the rest of your vacation
I told you, @birdie007, I’m channeling Naksu, the evil assassin and master. 😂😂
Get to work, girl! I’m cracking the whip.
On another note, I rewatched the Ep 12 scene with Uk carrying the bucket of water for Naksu. He teased her about the jade bird egg’s power. He said that it made the CP froth in the mouth and faint. And suddenly, she perked up. She was all ears. She said that she should have known (of its toxicity) because it came from Jinyowon. It could be used for something lethal. She was excited.
Uk just grinned in secret.
She was his blood-thirsty Naksu alright.
I liked that scene because it’s a sign of acceptance. He doesn’t expect her to be a sweet girl like Heo Yeom’s granddaughter. It’s consistent too with what he said in the beginning. That her eyes are beautiful but just her eyes. 🙂 He wasn’t so besotted that he was blind to her ugly parts as an assassin.
@packmule3 I hope you’re enjoying your vacation. Mine is almost over.
This is interesting. I hadn’t given it much thought. I don’t think that Cho was switched with Jang Kang’s wife. Soul switching is usually done between 2 people who of the same sex and similar in other characteristics, but it can be done across sexes. However proximity would be necessary. Why would Cho be near DoHwa, a pregnant noble woman? Mostly I would hate to think of Cho laboring and giving birth. Jang Uk has enough baggage!
If JK shifted his wife, I think he would have used the ice stone to keep her alive, rather than sealing it. Someone should have noted the blue spot on DoHwa’s body when she was dressed, if she had shifted.
The rampage could have happened during that nine month period when Jin Mu knew the secret of soul shifting. He could have shifted a member of his clan and killed the real Cho, as an experiment. Alternatively, Cho could have been one of Jang Kang’s early experiments.
No matter who or why her father was shifted, Naksu has real reason to blame the Jang family. Maybe, she’d be happy to know that Jang Kang is not Uk’s real dad.
I had another thought. What if Cho Chung was switched with someone in the palace? This would have been ordered by Shaman Choi or Jin Mu.
Cho Chung recorded the stars the night Uk was born under the King’s star. It would have hurt Shaman and Mu if the general public were to come to know that a child had already been born under the King’s star. It could threaten the Old King’s brother (the new heir to the throne- and CP’s father).
Thus they wanted to kill him and anyone he may have told, such as his family. Better to have Cho Chung be dismissed as insane or a soul shifter who murders his family, rather than risk the general public believing him about it.
The palace would be the only ones to really benefit from this.
There’s no way it’s Do-hwa’s soul in cho Chung. And packmule I know you didn’t say anywhere that it was…just responding to others who have said it is. To me, Just because he cried a lot doesn’t mean it was Dohwa.
@Dlia,
You wrote this:
“The rampage could have happened during that nine month period when Jin Mu knew the secret of soul shifting. He could have shifted a member of his clan and killed the real Cho, as an experiment. Alternatively, Cho could have been one of Jang Kang’s early experiments.”
If you’ve been reading my posts, then you would have remembered me saying repeatedly that the timeline is convoluted.
However, we can say these:
1. The rampage of Mage Cho happened all on one night.
I already mentioned that the young girl Naksu was even wearing the same outfit she wore when she visited the Constellation Hall with her Dad.
Rewatch Ep 1 and Ep 5.
2. The rampage could NOT have happened during the nine-month period. It happened sometime AFTER Uk’s birthday.
Why do I say this?
Because Mage Cho was still alive on Uk’s birthday. He was the one who was looking at the Constellation Chart and he recorded it. He saw the King’s Star.
Rewatch Ep 4.
3. Jin Mu did NOT start using the ice stone BY HIMSELF till after he found it with the help of BuYeon ten years after Uk’s birth.
Rewatch Ep 9, the discussion of the Queen and Jin Mu.
The ice stone was in Jang Gang’s possession. He ordered Jin Mu to retrieve it when he was in the King’s body. He then taught Jin Mu how to use it because somebody had to do it as he was weak at that point.
But I doubt he allowed Jin Mu to use the ice stone by himself, without his direct supervision, after that one time.
Why do I say this? What’s my basis for saying this?
Because Maidservant Kim told Park Jin this. 🙂
From Ep 8, I already transcribed this:
“Madam DoHwa was indeed once concerned that the Gwangju was interested in learning a strange spell. However it did not last long. He DID NOT COME HOME FOR A YEAR. He practiced spells with JinMu in the Cheongbugwan Secret Room. However, HE STOPPED DOING SO AFTER HIS WIFE BECAME PREGNANT.”
Rewatch Ep 8.
See that?
Based on Maidservant Kim’s statement, Jang Gang was practicing for a year. During this time, he soul-shifted that son in Ep 1, and BuYeon.
The king heard about the AoS, and asked to be soul-shifted too.
Jang Gang agreed. His wife was violated. He returned to his own body with the help of JinMu.
He stopped doing AoS because his wife became pregnant with the King’s son.
Then, nine months later, Lady DoHwa gave birth and died. Uk was born. Mage Cho recorded the King’s Star.
Following the birth, Jang Gang stole the record and replaced it with fake one. (But Jin Mu discovered the theft and replaced it.) He also closed baby Uk’s gate of energy and left the baby.
Sometime after Uk’s birth, Mage Cho was turned into a soul shifter and the imposter Mage Cho massacred his family. The four mages witnessed the imposter Mage Cho executed. Jin Mu spirited young Naksu away.
So the question still remains: where is Mage Cho’s real soul if the “Mage Cho” killed by Park Jin was a soul-shifter?
Also, how could he have been soul-shifted when the ice stone was in Jang Gang’s possession all the time? (Jang Gang didn’t report the ice stone missing or lost, did he?) Why him of all people? He was exploited for what? Up until then, his claim to fame was having recorded the King’s Star. — And I guess, having a young daughter is also noteworthy.
*****
Please EVERYONE!
I don’t mind theories. I welcome them.
But before making theories on this blog, rewatch the drama, and support your theories with scenes from the drama. Cite the episodes to BACK UP your theories.
I don’t have time looking for your proofs. I’m on vacation. 😂
Thanks!
Sorry, @MrsRJH1.
As of Episode 12, there’s no proof that Shaman and Jin Mu were in contact while Jang Gang was still in Cheongbugwan and the boss of Jin Mu.
Jang Gang left Cheongbugwan shortly after Uk’s birth and he hid the ice stone. Jin Mu took over Cheongbugwan as Assistant Gwangju in his absence. Jang Gang has been away for 20 years.
10 years after he left, Jin Mu found the ice stone. By then, he’d already teemed up with the Shaman.
From Ep 9
JM: Ten years ago, WE succeeded in getting OUR hands on the ice stone that was sealed by Jang Gang.
Maybe we’ll find later that Jin Mu had been conspiring with Shaman Choi even when he was STILL serving as Jang Gang’s assistant. But I think that would be pretty disloyal of him, considering that Jang Gang took him in when he was kicked out of Jinyowon and had no place to go. Don’t you think so, too?
I get that he’s the villain. But even villains must have a code of conduct.
If Jang Gang had stayed around, Jin Mu wouldn’t have coveted his position. But once he had a taste of power, he wanted to keep that for himself. He thought he could easily usurp the power because he could do Alchemy of Souls with the Soul Ejector.
@Packmule3 Kalimera!
I have read only your thoughts and not what everyone has written below. I will do so when I post my comment.
I agree that Mage Cho’s case is weird. I have referred to it on my Theories post as well.
I have taken as an assumption that a soul swap did happen, but Mage Cho returned back to his own body. For me this is a bizarre incident that doesn’t have a logical explanation yet. The whole thing is either a plot hole or we don’t know of something.
It doesn’t make sense WHY Mage Cho run wild and started killing his family and servants. When he could just absorb energy from someone and become a “monster”.
At the same time, Jang Kang’s behaviour is very contradicting. He didn’t cry to his wife’s death, but he did so to his friend’s. They either omitted such a scene in the montage, or Jang Kang is a very good actor. (sic)
I do hope we get to see what happened and the explanation will follow the logical route. I am waiting for it…
Right, @Cleopatra. 👍
Even if Mage Cho was a failed attempt to soul-shift ala GilJu, there are still obvious and inconsistent anomalies.
1. How did he have access to the soul ejector?
The ice stone was in Jang Gang’s possession. The shaman and Jin Mu only got their hands on it 10 years later.
All AoS at that time were done by Jang Gang. If somebody else did the AoS on Mage Cho (like his assistant Jin Mu), it could only have been because Jin Mu used the ice stone without his authorization.
2. What’s Mage Cho’s motivation for soul-shifting?
He had none.
Per episode 11, the primary reason for people to soul-shift is to prolong life. They want to live on, not die.
But Mage Cho looked happy when he was with his daughter at the Constellation Hall.
Early on, I speculated that he must have learned devastating news at the Constellation Hall while he was looking at her daughter’s chart. He went berserk, killing his family, burning down his home, even wanting to kill his own daughter. I said, the discovery could serve as his motive to kill everybody in sight (including his daughter) but as of now, it’s a mystery.
Then we were told that he was soul-shifted. 🤨
The fact that he soul-shifted still does NOT answer why he killed his family and burned down his residence. It actually raises more questions.
Burning down his home is unusual for a soul-shifter who’s running wild and leaking fluids. Imagine GilJu running around the village with a sword in one hand and a lighted torch in another one. Imagine him thinking, “Hmmm…should I burn 🔥 a house first or get more energy ⚡️⚡️first? Hmmmm… Otoke!” 🤔🤔
Burning down a place wouldn’t be the priority of a soul-shifter leaking energy. His priority is getting energy from a human source.
But “Mage Cho” set his place on fire and slashed his family and servants, instead of draining energy. What a genius!
3. What’s Jang Gang’s motivation for soul-switching Mage Cho?
Plenty.
Look: even if Jin Mu is the villain here, I don’t think he was lying when he said this to Park Jin:
From Ep 7
Park Jin: You knew about the King’s Star?
Jin Mu: Do you think things stayed quiet thanks to Cho Chung’s death? Who do you think turned him into a soul shifter IN THE FIRST PLACE?
As the recorder of the constellations, Mage Cho could have found out about Jang Gang’s secrets.
What secrets?
a. That his baby Uk is the King’s Star
b. That he had personally picked a birthdate for baby Buyeon
From Ep 11
Lady Jin: Unlike other babies, it took her 13 months to come out of this world. She was born on the very day that Gwangju Jang Gang picked a blessed day from the skies.
4. Who would have switched souls with Mage Cho?
Even if this AoS was a FAILED ATTEMPT to soul-shift, who was the other person?
Naksu had MuDeok.
GilJu had planned to switch with UK, but he failed.
Eunuch wants to be soul-switched into SoYi’s body because SoYi’s going to be BuYeon. He wants his soul in a body that wields power.
So, who was the person? The other person was a witness to Jang Gang’s AoS.
My next post is on the ice stone. I’ll password-protect it because I’m tired.
@Packmule3,
Excellent points! I really dislike when there are loose ends in a script and I totally get you. Even today, I don’t seem to forget the HP2 fiasco. When I was saying afterwards that the script was altered to “fit” with what the audience wanted, some people – not here – replied: “No! It was perfect.” *facepalm*
Let’s return to AoS. Regarding #4, the only person we can tie Mage Cho with is the younger man that went wild in Episode 1. We have zero data about him and he was on the opening scenes of AoS. He did exactly what you said in your #2, what was expected from him to do, since everyone acted the same in all the cases you posted above.
So, we have a specific amount of soul shifters who acted as expected and Mage Cho who didn’t. Some people may not be curious about it, but we are. I do hope we get to see the fully story behind Mage Cho’s death.
I totally understand you, though. Take your time and rest, you are in holidays after all. <3
Oooh so right (as always) @packmule that the Shaman and Mu only got it 10 years ago, vs the 20 years ago when he ran wild.
It seems like 4 mysteries, 1 more easily answered than the other 2.
1. Who performed AOS on cho Chung?
You are right- thanks for opening my eyes that it was more than likely Jang Kang who switched his souls.
Originally when I watched the scene with Jin Mu and Park Jin, I had thought Mu was being deceitful in trying to imply it was Jang Kang when it was actually him who did it…but then again, Jang Kang was desperate to hide the fact that the baby was born under the King’s Star.
It could have been that in his grief and heartbreak he continued his streak of unforgivably terrible decision making (starting with Dowha’s rape) to now destroying the life of Cho Chung.
2. Who did he switch cho chung’s soul with?
I don’t have the foggiest.
3. Why did Cho Chung kill his whole family?
As you pointed out, this kind of murderous rampage and fire starting is not the normal behavior of shifters gone wild. It could be related to his daughters chart, or something to do with the new soul that shifted into him.
4. If another soul was in cho chung’s body during the rampage, then where is Cho chung’s soul? Could there be hope for Naksu to be reunited with her father?
They seem to be drip feeding the details on Cho Chung frustratingly slowly. I’m so glad you brought up this additional mystery to the forefront, Hong sisters have us focusing more on the BuYeon/MD mystery and other plot twists.
This is just one of the millions of reasons why I love your blog so much. Nothing makes it past you, and I learn so much each time I read. I so appreciate you!
Yes, @MrsRJH1, BuYeon/MD mystery is not the only mystery.
We have at least four more:
The mystery about Jang Gang’s whereabouts.
The mystery about Mage Cho’s soul-shifting and death.
The mystery about Shaman Choi and the real Queen’s AoS.
And the mystery of Master Seo’s failed courtship of the Jinyowon Blind Lady.
Five mysteries so far.
The only thing that’s not a mystery is Uk’s attachment for Naksu in MuDeok’s body. 🙂
Yes, Jin Mu is the villain in this drama. But telling Park Jin about Jang Gang performing AoS on Mage Cho was his “ace card.” He was counting on it to shut up Park Jin. He knew Park Jin would be rattled by the inconvenient truth that Jang Gang committed forbidden magic.
I believe Jin Mu then.
I’m not counting on a reunion between Naksu and her father.
a. If the AoS failed (like Gilju failed), then the father was Mage Cho killed by Park Jin.
b. If the AoS succeeded, and Mage Cho was indeed soul-shifted into another body, that new body is more than 20 years older now. It couldn’t have survived that long as a soul-shifter without more human energy. It would have petrified by now.
This raises such interesting questions.
I’ve been slowly catching up on reading AoS posts and commenting, so I’m only now getting to this thread. I feel I’ve walked onto the site of a battle: no fatalities, but people slumped here and there panting, some bruised, all spent from exertion.
@Crosslurking and @wapz, I appreciate points you’ve brought up, and am happy to see you sharing your thoughts. @birdie007, don’t be discouraged: keep commenting! This blog is Bitches over Dramas for a reason. We’re proud Bitches. We don’t insult one another, but disagreeing–reasons given–with arguments is part of the intellectual discourse we love here. Packmule3 is encouraging you to level up by putting in some work. Asking questions is good, but the first one who should try to answer your questions should be yourself, otherwise you’re cheated of the opportunity to wrestle with material and make your own discoveries. Those a-ha! moments are satisfying.
@Packmule3, please forgive my writing this comment without researching the episode and timestamp: I’m entertaining neighbors for dinner tonight at my mountain cabin and need to start food prep in an hour. (We’re celebrating a full-time resident moving back home after December’s ice storm sent a tree trunk crashing into her kitchen…as she was sitting at her dining table!) I’ll describe the scene I want to comment on.
It takes place in an earlier episode, in Cheonbugwan’s Secret Room. Jin Mu and Gilju are talking. The room is littered with petrified bodies, and when the scene opens, we see Eunuch Kim feeding energy from a man who also becomes petrified. Jin Mu orders servants to take away the bodies. Gilju has trouble hiding his disgust, although he acts the polite right-hand-man toward Jin Mu.
In an earlier scene we’d seen Eunuch Kim spontaneously–in the open, on a city street–feed from, and petrify, one of his litter carriers. He was scolded for doing so. Eunuch Kim seems to need frequent recharging, and my impression is that he is voracious. My first impression of the Secret Room scene described above was that Eunuch Kim, himself, fed from all those people. Now, I’m not so sure.
Jin Mu has mentioned more than once that he switches souls in order to place spies. The eunuch is in the palace; Jin Mu wanted to send Gilju–in a eunuch’s body–to replace him because Eunuch Kim’s utility had diminished due to his greed. There was one mole caught in Songrim. So not all soul-shifting is done for the purpose of life extension, some is done so Jin Mu can place eyes and ears. I suspect those seeking immortality, like Mage Kang, were Jin Mu’s paying customers…approved by Jin Mu as candidates because he can make use of their talents once they became beholden to him.
I now suspect that the Secret Room scene with multiple petrified bodies relates to how Jin Mu keeps his spies in place: by regularly feeding them energy so they don’t run wild. Some of the eight soul-shifters mentioned as having run wild may have been Jin Mu’s spies whose release of energy outpaced their rate of recharge.
This view of humans as a commodity–sources of energy to be used and discarded–is what makes Jin Ju evil. He’s on par with illegal organ harvesters and slave masters who drive their workers to death.
I am now convinced it was Jang Kang, not Jin Mu, who did Alchemy of Souls on Mage Cha. After Uk was born, Jang Kang went outside and looked up, only to see cloudy skies. No one other than those with magical sight–the constellation recording mages–would know the King’s Star appeared the night Uk was born. So that clutching of the chest Jang Kang did may have signified his decision to sacrifice his junior colleague in order to ensure that night’s record plate was switched to a fake one. Jin Mu knows Jang Kang did AoS on Mage Cha, and also has in his possession the true record plate. Either Jang Kang trusted Jin Mu enough to reveal his doings to him, or Jin Mu spied on, and double crossed, Jang Kang.
It initially takes two for Alchemy of Souls.
–With the King and Jang Kang, both were volunteers.
–With Naksu and BuYeon, both did it by choice; the barmaid did NOT choose to participate–didn’t even know what was going on–and Naksu would have ejected the soul of an unwilling victim if her AoS had gone as planned.
–Master Lee sent the soul-sniffing spirit into a dead dog: no soul to displace there.
–Gilju did not like the idea of switching souls with a eunuch, so tried to force Uk to switch with him. Uk was unwilling, and BuYeon appeared to help him resist the switch, so Gilju’s AoS was unsuccessful. Gilju’s soul returned to his own body, but he now had all the weaknesses of a soul shifter. Uk did not get the characteristics of a soul-shifter, but gained more power–or more control of his power (including Heo Yeom’s torrent of force)–from the experience.
–The Queen’s body was overtaken by Sorceress Choi; Eunuch Kim hinted that the Queen’s soul might still be alive, presumably in the sorceress’s discarded body.
–Mage Kang wanted to switch into a younger body, and provided his own victim who was unaware of what was to happen to him, and unwilling once he realized the situation.
–Aging or ill mages whose skills Jin Mu wanted to preserve and utilize would have their souls switched into young, healthy men. We can assume, as we saw in the case with Mage Kang, that the younger men were first tricked, and then unwilling. We can also assume all such “seeking immortality” AoS was done in the Cheonbugwan Secret Room, with witnesses. The old bodies of the mages containing the souls of the young men were then killed by Naksu.
–People loyal to Jin Mu had their souls switched into the bodies of people with access to information useful to Jin Mu. We assume the bodies of those loyal to Jin Mu with the victim’s souls were then eliminated.
Seems like all this would lead to a high murder rate in Daeho. Other than the assassinations of the “mages” attributed to Naksu, I’d think the other deaths would need to be covered up to keep suspicion from rising.
And all the people who were kidnapped to feed the soul shifters, didn’t their sudden disappearance come to anyone’s notice? Are servants (palanquin bearer) and poor people invisible to the rest of society?
Oops. Gotta go. Spent too long letting my mind wander.
🙂 I told you all I was channeling Naksu, the wicked assassin and tough master. To be honest, that’s how I am at work. It’s only in the blog that I seem mellow but I eat nails for breakfast to make “things” easier to hammer down during the day.
A. Anyway, yes, I remember that scene you described with the Eunuch stealing energy from an individual in the secret room was in Episode 3. There were three petrified bodies on the ground, and the Eunuch was working on the fourth one. I don’t know if he had sucked their energies all at once, or at different times, or the three other bodies were sucked by another soulshifter.
All I can say is that those petrified bodies/people weren’t noticed missing most likely because they were in jail paying time for some crime. They were wearing white garments.
According to Master Lee, there are three things that the Soul Ejector can do:
1. bring the dead back to life by summoning their souls (like Gwiju’s spirit/soul that Master Lee summoned from inside the Jinyowon and placed in the dead Sapsali dog)
I already discussed this in the recent thread on BuYeon’s soul
2. shift souls from one body to another
I also discussed this in that same thread
3. expel the soul of the living and steal their energy.
like the Eunuch was about to do to Naksu in Episode 12.
B. As for Jang Gang performing AoS on Mage Cho, I’m glad you’re seeing my point. That chest-clutching scene gave us the impression that he was distressed about his wife giving birth, but no. I don’t think that was all there was. I think he realized that he had to do something more drastic to “correct” the errors he unwittingly caused. He didn’t INTEND for these things to happen (e.g. the divination about the King’s Star that he gave the king on the king’s coronation). He only had GOOD intentions but he still messed up royally.
So that night, on that night of his “chest-clutching” he was actually going to do something (e.g., close Uk’s gate of energy, perform AoS on Mage Cho, self-exile, abandon Uk, etc.) with BAD intentions.
C. Don’t forget Lady Jin’s husband. I’m betting that he’s a soulshifter, too. He’s the sibling in Jinyowon that the Eunuch mentioned in Ep 11.
D. Yes, there’s a high murder rate in Daeho. If they actually had a police department, FBI, or some agency in charge of “irregularities” in the kingdom (and quit relying solely on magic to solve everything), they would have statistical data on unexplained homicides.
E. The people kidnapped to feed the soul shifters have been set from the beginning of Episode 1. The rich mom was targeting the poor mother and child.
Then we have the Eunuch Kim feeding off the prisoners and the cart driver.
Mage Kang and his worker.
There’s a social commentary being made here that the rich and powerful in society target the poor and powerless, because those are the easiest to exploit.
It’s ironic actually that Jin Mu is doing AoS on them, since he too was poor and powerless. Instead of defending these people, since he’d been on of them, he victimizes them.
@Packmule3, I wish I’d had a real nail-spitting ability this weekend. We’ve been working on our cabin’s parking deck, re-sinking nails and screws that have popped up the past year as the wood has swollen and shrunk from wet-dry, hot-cold cycles. Many nails have had to be replaced, bent when snagged by the snow shovel.
Good point about Jin Mu doing an about-face on the rights and needs of the powerless and poor once he became powerful and wealthy (I assume from his clothing, and ability to maintain an army of minions). As far as I can recall, he’s never demonstrated empathy. He was softer around Maidservant Kim, but for self-serving reasons.
In comments above you talked about worldview of the writers. I think, so far, one of the key points the Hong sisters have made is about protecting the world from monsters, and monsters from the world. But they’re still working on defining their monsters. It appears the Hong sisters have levels of monstrosity they tolerate.
Monsters from whom the world should be protected:
–Jin Mu – sacrifices innocents for his self interest.
–Jang Kang – sacrifices innocents for his self interest, sometimes as an unintended consequence of a bad decision (e.g. his wife, the household of Mage Cha).
–Naksu – as an assassin, killed many people as commanded, with pride rather than remorse; tried to do AoS with an unwilling subject.
–Master Kang & other mages seeking immortality – tricked younger men into their deaths after stealing their bodies.
–Jin Mu’s minions – unquestioningly do their master’s bidding when directed to kill.
–Sorceress Choi – stole the body of the Queen and secretly manipulates the King, including feeding him herbs without his knowledge.
–Jin Woo Tak, husband of Mistress Jin – misrepresents activities he pursued for ten years when supposedly looking for his oldest daughter; is disloyal to his wife and her clan. May be a soul-shifter.
–Soul shifters that run wild – steal the life force of unwilling innocents, petrifying them.
Monsters Uk thinks should be protected from the world:
–Naksu – Due to having been manipulated by Jin Mu since a young, impressionable age, she is not fully responsible for the murders she committed on order of Jin Mu or deaths that resulted from her defending herself. There is possible redemption for her.
–(logical assumption) Unwilling AoS participants who do not run wild and steal the life force of innocents.
–Zombie detectives contributing to society while fueled by raw chicken (oh, wait…that’s another show)