There are no surprises here. I’m a bitch, as you know.

A. The reunion of “father” and “son” was a dud.

JG: (taking a swig from his bottle) I only followed you because I recognized the sword.
Uk: Do you know the owner of this sword?
JG: The man who abandoned that sword was a madman. His wife had an affair and died. Then he abandoned his own son and public post and just ran away. Jang Gang, the man who went mad.

Wait! Didn’t he sob his heart out at his best friend, Mage Cho’s death, too? I thought that was a big deal for him. Why doesn’t he include that in his laundry list of failures? Isn’t it relevant anymore? Lol.

Uk: Everybody secretly talks about him, but no one has ever said that to my face. Do you hold a grudge against him?
JG: What if I do? Will you take vengeance on me on behalf of your father?
Uk: No. Even if I am his son, it is not my place. He wouldn’t want that.

But the thing is, he isn’t Jang Gang’s son. JG said he wasn’t the father.

JG: Then why do you carry your father’s sword?
Uk: If I go around denying that he’s my father, it would make my mother seem too pitiful.
JG: (pausing)

This is a very good point. Uk wasn’t carrying his father’s sword for his father’s sake but for his mother’s. He couldn’t care less about his father. But he didn’t want people to believe that his mother had an affair with someone, so he pretends that he’s Jang Gang’s true son.

JG: Dohwa…Dohwa was the biggest victim of it all.

Uk: Do you also know my mother?
JG: Dohwa was the most beautiful woman in all of Daeho. Everyone in Daeho knew who she was.
Uk: It seems like everyone in my family is famous for something. I must say I didn’t expect to run into anyone who recognized me at a place like this.
JG: (offers him a drink from his bottle)

Note: Uk didn’t turn his head away from Jang Gang when he drank. I expected him to turn away and cover his mouth because Jang Gang was obviously older than him. But I guess this sort of formality isn’t observed in Daeho.

JG: This is where people secretly practice sorcery despite it being banned by Songrim. What is the son of Cheonbugwan’s Gwanju doing at a place like this?
Uk: Well, I was told I’d be able to witness sorcery such as curses and soul magic.
JG: You are a mage of Jeongjingak, yet you go around in search of such sorcery?
Uk: Not exactly. I am here to find a shaman who performs such sorcery.
JG: A shaman?
Uk: She was a shaman who was very good at soul magic, which bewitches souls and drives people mad. She was caught 20 years ago by the mages of Cheonbugwan and ran away after her house burned down.
JG: What business do you have with Shaman Choi?
Uk: How did you know that was Shaman Choi? By any chance, were you one of the Cheonbugwan mages who worked with my father?

Sigh. With Uk’s keen intuition, I’m surprised that he hasn’t yet connected the dots and suspected this stranger of being his father in disguise. After all, he recognized Naksu as the assassin with just a look in her eyes.

JG: (dodging an answer) The Choi family was a family of mages that was destroyed by Master Seo Gyeong a long time ago. Your curiosity will put you in danger. If you become consumed by your curiosity for sorcery, the darkness will take over your soul, and you could end up losing everything. Once that happens, it will be too late to go back.

Jang Gang is speaking from experience, of course.

JG: Stop looking for those who perform sorcery. The world does not approve of such things, and you will never be forgiven.
Uk: Wait. (returns the bottle) Here. Are you hurt?
JG: Yes, I am hurt. I am damaged to the very depths of my soul.

My Comments:

1. I should have known not to expect anything from the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan. As I told @Cleopatra in the Open Thread, I was appalled to learn that Jang Gang had exiled himself from family and friends, NOT to atone for what he did to DoHwa, NOT to better himself as a mage, and NOT to look for the child of his best friend Mage Cho (as Maidservant Kim said), but to wallow in recrimination and pity.

What a loser. He didn’t want to face the consequences of his bad choices, so he decided to skulk around Gaema, the village of shamans, for 20 years.

2. There’s a big difference between him and Uk.

Twenty years ago, Jang Gang decided to run away from his woes. Meanwhile, Uk decided at an early age to fight against the fate his father had ordained him. He was told that his Gate of Energy was blocked, but he persisted in finding a way to unseal it.

That’s why Naksu admires Uk’s “giseya” or motivation, spunk, and passion. She didn’t think it was stupid that he desired to unsheathe his sword and prove others wrong in their estimation of him. She approved of it.

I highlighted giseya in another thread because I knew it was going to be a relevant theme.

3. Thank goodness for Naksu.

Back in Episode 4, Naksu was furious with Uk when he lost his will after Park Jin’s revelation about his real father. She said, “I cannot tolerate this any longer. How long will this pity party last? Get up!” and she kicked him up. She was angry that he allowed Park Jin’s words to discourage him. She ridiculed him as weak.

In this episode, we see in Jang Gang’s character what happens to a mage when there’s no tough master like Naksu to force him out of his despondency.

B. Jin Mu is a one-dimensional villain.

He only exists to be bad.

He could’ve been a better villain. He already has a compelling backstory. For one, he was ostracized by Lady Jin for being an illegitimate child, then banished from Jinyowon. Generally, this kind of family history would’ve made a villain more sympathetic in the viewers’ eyes because he suffered injustice himself. But no, Jin Mu undermined any initial goodwill towards him. He simply has no likable quality. He just does bad things over and over, without nuance.

For another, he had to fend for himself until Jang Gang took pity on him and took him in. I thought given his circumstances, he would’ve felt a kinship or some sort of mercy and kindness towards those who are downtrodden in society like he once was. But no, he exploited the orphan child, Cho Yeong, and now SoYi. He doesn’t feel empathy for the weak, despite being once weak himself.

The kdrama would’ve been better if the Hong sisters had given him a redeemable quality to make him more relatable. But no, he exists in the story just for evil’s sake. He’s a cardboard cutout of an evil guy.

He’s no Edward Cullen, that’s for sure.

Jin Mu: I just met His Majesty. He brought up the King’s Star again.
Crown Prince: He seems to want it so much. You should just give him a fake constellation plate with the King’s Star.
JM: Then he must find everyone who was born that day. And kill them.
CP: Why? It could be a hero like Master Seo Gyeong instead of a traitor wishing to conspire against the king.
JM: They say Seo Gyeong saved the world with the ice stone. But that is not true. In truth, he controlled the world by forbidding everyone from using that immense power.
CP: The ice stone enables sorcery which is why it is dangerous.
JM: That is the logic set by Songrim. The ice stone has the power to bring eternity to finite things. Instead of aging and dying, its power could enable us to stay young and beautiful.
CP: Are you talking about the Alchemy of Souls? The sorcery that was banned by Songrim?
JM: But what if the ban gets lifted and the use of the ice stone becomes permissible? Your Royal Highness. What do you think would happen then?
CP: Those who possess the ice stone will be able to live forever. But it would be dangerous if that kind of power can be used by anyone.
JM: Not everyone will use it. We will create a new order where only those specially chosen, like you, Your Royal Highness, will be allowed to use its power.
CP: We need to find the ice stone in order for that to become possible.
JM: Jin BuYeon, the long-lost daughter of Jinyowon, has returned.
CP: Jinyowon?
JM: The woman who helped Master Seo Gyeong find the ice stone was the first leader of Jinyowon. And Jin Buyeon has divine powers that parallel that of the first leader. If the ice stonen appears just like it did 200 years ago, the priestess of Jinyowon will surely find it once again.

My Comments:

1. I expected Jin Mu to have a BELIEVABLE motivation.

In my opinion, if he’s going to kill people for the ice stone, then he should have a good reason for doing so. But here in this episode we’re given an unbelievably simplistic rationale. He wants to create a new world order.

Why anybody would think his goal is a good idea is beyond me. Doesn’t he get the pitfall of his ambition? There’s no order in his new world order. He’ll forever be on guard that people will plot to kill him, steal the stone from him, or replace him. There’s no peace, only discord, in his vision of the future.

2. I’ve been saying that there’s a misconception among the lead mages about why sorcery is evil. They believe that sorcery is evil BECAUSE it is forbidden.

This is faulty argument. It’s actually the other way around. Sorcery is forbidden BECAUSE it is evil.

a. I pointed this out in the beginning – with Jang Gang’s example. Rather than be concerned that the soul-shifter he created was KILLING people, he was worried that he (and his reputation and family) would be doomed if he was caught engaging in sorcery. Once the King DEMANDED him to perform sorcery (thus, making it no longer “forbidden”), he agreed to perform AoS. It didn’t enter his head that dark magic, in particular soul-shifting, was destructive, deadly, dangerous, and simply wrong. He cooperated in the evil act, and unintentionally did irreparable harm to his wife.

b. Then I brought the issue up again in Episode 9, with Park Jin’s example this time. He warned Uk about practicing sorcery and he ordered Yul to list the punishments given to mage who perform sorcery. Their entire energy flow would be cut off, making it impossible for them to cast spells. They would be banished from Daeho, and their descendants would never become mages. I pointed out that, once again, the emphasis here is the FORBIDDEN aspect of AoS. There’ll be punitive consequences to those who disobey the ban of sorcery.

c. And now, it’s Jin Mu’s turn. He’s trying to convince the Crown Prince that the use of the ice stone is regarded as bad only because the rules of Songrim FORBIDS it. If they remove these regulations which the duplicitous Songrim had imposed on the mages to “control” them, then they can supersede Songrim and create their new world order.

Jin Mu’s premise, like that of Jang Gang and Park Jin, is that bad things are bad because they’re forbidden. It’s similar to arguing that we must obey laws because it’s illegal to break the law. Lol. We obey laws mainly because laws maintain peace and order in society, protect people from injury or conflict, and ensure that individual rights aren’t violated.

So it’s a good thing that Crown Prince is there to correct Jin Mu. He reminds Jin Mu that to use the power of the ice stone is dangerous. It’s forbidden to use the ice stone because its power can be abused by just anyone who gets his or her hands on it.

3. Frankly, I find Jin Mu’s reason for hanging onto the ice stone so jejune that I had to laugh. “The ice stone has the power to bring eternity to finite things. Instead of aging and dying, its power could enable us to stay young and beautiful.”

Well, he’s short, gray-haired, old, and ugly. Why doesn’t he soul-shift himself?

C. Lady Jin is a fool.

Four things:

1. Sure, she feels obligated to assist Jin Mu after he supposedly found BuYeon. But she knows full well the harm that she’s doing by taking down Songrim. She doesn’t have to cooperate with Jin Mu’s plan. I say that, in this episode at least, she’s complicit in the evil, even more so than Shaman Choi, given her level of cooperation with Jin Mu’s plan and its impact on the land of Daeho.

2. So…it’s the ice stone that she’s been griping about?

Jang Gang apparently did NOT return the ice stone after she gave it to him to perform AoS on her dead baby in the womb. In her mind, she was only LENDING it to him for temporary use. But for some reason, Jang Gang thought it was his to keep and use – perhaps as payment of his service.

But I don’t get why she didn’t ask for it back – and DEMANDED for its return – as soon as her daughter was born, and why she’s blaming Songrim for Jang Gang’s action. Isn’t Jang Gang the Gwangju of Cheonbugwan? Jang Gang’s actions reflected on HIS Cheonbugwan, not Songrim.

3. She’s a narcissist and plays the victim all the time.

As sad as her struggle was to find her long-lost daughter, what really gets me is her playing the victim each darn time. She’s good at manipulating events (and feelings of Park Jin) to guilt-trip people. She thinks that she’s beyond reproach and that she’s entitled to special treatment because she’s the Lady of Jinyowon. She’s perpetually outraged, accusing Park Jin and others of taking her for granted, like, “After all I’ve done for you, this is how you pay me back??”

Lady Jin: The capital has been suffering from chaos due to many incidents regarding soul shifters ever since the appearance of Naksu. Thus, Jinyowon has generously tried to help Songrim find the source of sorcery. However, Songrim took our cooperation for granted, and arrogantly began to make unreasonable demands and requests. They barged into Jinyowon as well as Cheonbugwan with the excuse of patrolling for sorcery. They also tried to use the relics of Jinyowon to investigate all the families of mages as if they thought everyone outside of Songrim performed sorcery. Worse than that, they even took one of our relics into the royal palace.
Other mages: (protesting)
Park Jin: Lady Jin, did you gather the Unanimous Assembly to vent and complain about Songrim?
Lady Jin: Look at him, I have only just started speaking, and he is already trying to shut me up.

Lol. Park Jin should have objected. She’s instructing everybody to prejudge whatever he says as hostile attempts to shut her up, while she can say anything without being questioned.

Lady Jin: I, Jin HoGyeong, the leader of Jinyowon, wish to stop Songrim’s arbitrary actions they justify as patrolling for sorcery. That requires me to break the 200-year-old rule that has been kep until now, which is why I have gathered you all.

And she calls on BuYeon to bring forth the ice stone. She introduces her as her successor.

Lady Jin: Songrim has been going around in search of the ice stone, the source of the alchemy of souls. However, that ice stone has been inside Jinyowon all along.

This is a colossal lie, of course. Fortunately, however, Uk realizes the plan. The Queen/Shaman Choi, or the person whom they knew was originally hiding the ice stone, plans to use this opportunity to switch souls into the future leader of Jinyowon.

4. I hope Lady Jin suffers for this.

That’s it.

D. The King is wicked, too.

King: The ice stone holds the power of Hwansu. Am I correct?
Jin Mu: It has the power to control water, fire, and wind, as well as the power to freely control the souls of humans.
Park Jin: That’s why its power should be forbidden to mankind.

Sigh. Explain further, man! List the consequences. Expound on the dangers of the stone getting into the wrong hands. Remind them of history. Stop circling around just the “forbidden” aspect of the ice stone.

King: It is hard to believe that such a small piece of ice holds such great power. I must see it for myself.

Is he a kid? Does he think this is a new toy? What’s up with this moron?

King: Has anyone here witnessed its power with their own two eyes? Were you fighting over the ice stone without even having witnessed its power? Then, how about we check how powerful it is with everyone here as a witness?
Park Jin: How exactly do you suggest we do that?
King: If it controls the soul, then it should be able to bring back a dead person to life. The power of Hwansu is not sorcery, so it is not forbidden.

See what I told you about people’s hang-up on this “forbidden” element.

King: And bringing someone back to life is a good deed.

No, it isn’t. Saving someone from death is a good deed but bringing someone already dead back to life isn’t a good deed. It’s tampering with nature, with the essence of life and death.

King: Lady Jin, you brought the ice stone here, so you should show its power to us.
Lady Jin: Your Majesty. No one here is dead. Who are we supposed to bring back to life?
King: Then kill someone.

He’s psycho. This is how little he values life that he can propose killing a person for his curiosity, his convenience, and his education on the power of the ice stone.

King: (calling to Naksu) Hey, you. Come over here. Kill her and bring her back to life. She’s a maid who knows no spells. So you will not have to worry about her getting close to the ice stone.
Park Jin: Your Majesty. We cannot kill someone for a mere experiment.
King: What I want is to see her come back to life with this?
Park Jin: How could you ask someone so young and weak to do something so fearful?
King: Tell me. Are you fearful, too? I will pay you 100 yangs worth of gold. What do you say?

This seems so unbelievable that he would put a price a human life. 100 yangs. Even if he offers 100,000 yangs for her life, his proposition reveals how grotesque his character is. He isn’t fit to be a king.

For me, the delicious irony here is that he, the King, wants this person Naksu killed on a whim for the ice stone, when Uk, the King’s Star, intends to save this very same person’s life with the ice stone.

E. Jin BuYeon??

It’s noteworthy that Naksu has been skeptical of BuYeon’s power. She brought it up twice already

First, with ChoYeong, in Episode 16.

CY: A really powerful priestess can control people’s souls and trap them to be helpless.
Naksu: Trap the soul?
CY: Yes. Even the most powerful mage is helpless if the priestess traps his power.
Naksu: I heard there are shamans who can erase or change memories of a soul.
CY: A Jinyowon priestess is in a different league.
Naksu: How did such an amazing girl like her die?
CY: Because she is that great. She is definitely alive. We will see her again.
Naksu: If she is alive, I’m sure you will.

I thought Naksu just dissed BuYeon but she does raise a valid point.

If BuYeon was all that great, then why did she fall right into Jin Mu’s trap? She should’ve known of Jin Mu’s evil plan, avoided him at all costs, and saved herself? (BTW, we still don’t know how Jin Mu convinced her to go on the boat with him that day.)

Naksu’s skepticism is mine as well. Remember I said that if Jang Gang had chosen an “auspicious” day for BuYeon’s birth, then why did she disappear? Couldn’t he have foreseen that she’d go missing?

Second, with Uk.

Naksu: The eldest daughter of Jinyowon has returned alive. She seemed like an ordinary blind girl. I thought she was a powerful priestess. I wonder if she lost her power. I guess it is possible seeing that she failed to find her way home for ten years.

She’s implying that if BY’s really all that powerful, then she should have returned years ago. What kept her?

To me, as much as BuYeon is a powerful priestess, she still needs Naksu the assassin to carry out her plans to get rid of the ice stone once and for all. BuYeon can’t accomplish her mission on her own.

Okay, I’ve to go. I’ll edit this later.