Back in Ep 16, I wrote about the King’s Star. In light of what we’ve come to learn in the last four episodes of Season 1, I’m going to revisit my analysis in order to prepare for the new season.

Source: Ep 16 My Notes, Part 1

I think there’s ambiguity about the term “King’s Star.”

True, I wrote this piece because some viewers were finding it hard to understand that the “King’s Star” was NOT one monolithic concept. We’re seeing different interpretations of the term because the characters in the story interpret the significance and function differently ACCORDING to their needs and situation in life. Take for instance, the King…

a. For the King, it [the King’s Star] means the rightful heir of the throne. He fears the “King’s Star” because he believes he’ll be replaced by someone more entitled, capable, and befitting to the throne he presently occupies.

b. For the CP, the “King’s Star” is the defender of the throne, not a usurper. Unlike his weakling father, the Crown Prince has self-confidence.

An aside: It seems to me that the Hong sisters like the actor’s portrayal of his character too so he’s being given more wiggle room to become a hero-in-waiting.

In Episode 19, the CP discovered the true meaning of “King’s Star” to him.

He had witnessed Jang Uk destroy the barrier created by the Ice Stone, thus rescuing all of them. But Jang Uk didn’t want to claim the glory and instead, asked him to take responsibility. Believing that the long-prophesied King with the King’s star has emerged, the mages rejoiced in the CP. When his eunuch apprised him that the constellation of the King’s star – which appeared on the night he made the Ice Stone disappear – had been engraved on a plaque in Cheonbugwan, he declined to see it. Why? Because he knew it didn’t appear on his birthday.

He found Jin Mu hiding in the Secret room of the Cheonbugwan. Without preamble, Jin Mu offered to protect him from the “owner of the fated King’s Star.”

CP: (confused) The owner of the King’s Star?
JM: You also know that it does not belong to you, right? The one who shall outshine your light. That is the one who everyone shall worship instead of you. The one who will bring you to your end. The owner of the King’s Star who must not appear beside Your Royal Highness is in fact, Jang Uk. I, Jin Mu, shall be sure to extinguish that ominous light for Your Royal Highness.
CP: (pensively) So the thing that I desired…belonged to Jang Uk.

Hmmm…Netflix’s subs were boring compared to the Dramacool’s subs.

Then, the scene shifted to Naksu trying out a wedding dress.

In this precise moment, a new meaning of King’s Star is revealed.

I might have mentioned this before that the Hong sisters like using this word play on the names. In the “Master’s Sun” for example, the hero’s first name indicates that he’s the master, while the heroine’s formal address, “Miss Tae,” or “Tae Yang” is the homonym of the word sun or Taeyang. The master’s sun is literally the heroine.

In this drama, the CP realized that the “King’s Star” meant the girl. For him, the King’s Star was Naksu, or MuDeok as the CP called her. And the owner and master of Naksu was Jang Uk.

It galled the CP to know that the one thing he desired most of all belonged to another man.

In Episode 20, when he met Naksu/MuDeok unwittingly reminded him of his ridiculous situation. She bowed before him saying, “May the light of the King’s Star shine forever and always!”

She’s pretending to be servile and to exalt the CP when, literally, she was praising her own self. She’s the King’s Star, so she’s telling the king that her glory will shine on him for all ages (tsk tsk while bowing down to him). Hilarious!

I discussed this scene in my Ep 20 Notes. The two important things to remember here are a) the CP gave her his word not to grab something (or someone) that plainly didn’t belong to him, and b) he ordered her to flee from him.

CP: I told you before that I do not hold on to things that I know I cannot hold on to. Do you know what happens if I try and still fail to hold on?
MD: Will you blame that person and get rid of that person?
CP: If this pathetic, wretched feeling turns into a violent, wicked one, simply avoiding me will not cut it. Go far away where I cannot reach you. (walking away)

I admire his determination to rein in his jealousy and let Uk have the “King’s Star.”

c. For Uk who’s so far unaware of his fate as the “King’s Star,” it’s the auspicious date of his birth. On his birthday, the star appeared at “the center of the Big Dipper that contains nature’s secrets. It only reveals itself when the sky is filled with the energy of the Daeho waters.”

He’s born with great powers but whether he’ll wield them for public and maximum good – as Master Seo Gyeong did – is still unknown. He claims, however, to follow his heart, and we know where his heart lies. With Naksu.

Yul: And it is our duty to protect this world…from such monsters.
Uk: We can also protect the monsters from this world. Once we keep them in check, the world will be at peace. Everyone had high hopes for you ever since you were little, so you think you need to do something grand. But I was told to sit still all my life. I will follow my heart.

In episode 19, the King reminded everyone of Jang Gang’s deathbed confession.

King: As he died, Jang Gang said the boy was not his blood. We can’t punish Jang Uk for this.
CP: (who wasn’t there at the death) So, Jang Gang never revealed who Jang Uk’s father was even in the end.
Park Jin: (silent)

Park Jin kept quiet because he couldn’t broadcast that Jang Gang had in fact reveal who Uk’s real father was. He had left Park Jin a box containing the seal of the King and the previous King’s declaration that Jang Uk was his son.

These two items, plus the engraved plaque of his birth constellation, were physical proofs that Jang Uk was born the King’s Star.

For Jang Uk, the term “King’s Star” means the King’s son. As the legitimate son of the previous king, it’s his fate (or destiny, depending on how the story ends) to be the heir, successor, and representative of the King.

When the King’s Star appeared in the constellation of the Big Dipper, and the barrier around Jeongjingak disappeared, the mages took these events as a sign that a mage as powerful as Master Seo had appeared. They thought they had nothing to fear because Master Seo had restored balance in the mages’ world.

Mage 1: The King’s Star also appeared 200 years ago when Master Seo Gyeong ended the Great Chaos.
Mage 2: Then that means someone among inside Jeongjingak has the same fate as Master Seo Gyeong.

These poor clueless mages!

They were all agog when they saw that the King’s Star turned out to be the CP himself. But Park Jin looked troubled.

Not for one minute did he believe that the CP was the King’s Star. His eyes went in search for Jang Uk and he saw him standing in the corner with Naksu. Jang Uk wielded his father’s sword.

For Park Jin, this moment signified that Jang Gang’s prophesy was coming true.

Remember this? From Episode 3.

PJ: Who did you say was the father of this child?
Gang: He’s the late king’s son. That child is the only heir of the king!
PJ: You’re saying he’s the king’s…who died last year? The late king died from an illness so severe that in his final days, he couldn’t even move. So how’s that possible?
Gang: On the day this child was born, a star that symbolizes the king was found in the night sky. The late king’s brother had already taken over the throne, and he even has a son to succeed him. If that royal family finds out that this child was destined to be king, they will see it as treason. His existence will bring chaos. He should not attract attention or challenge anyone. We must make people think that he is nothing special.”

There! While the mages celebrated the appearance of the King’s Star, only Park Jin feared that this sign from the skies marked the beginning of chaos.

He had failed to stop Jang Uk from becoming the King’s Star. But he was planning to avert chaos in Daeho by keeping secret the incident surrounding Jang Uk’s birth.

d. Lastly, in Episode 15, Master Lee expounded on his understanding of the “King’s Star.”

King: Master Seo Gyeong was born with the energy of the King’s Star.
Master Lee: However, he did not become the king.
King: Are you saying that there could be another person with the energy of the King’s Star?
Master Lee: Even if he exists, the light he emits will be faint. And the energy of the seven stars surrounding him will not show yet. A power strong enough to defy the laws of nature and bring chaos to the world has returned once again.

From his statement, the “King’s Star” is only the eighth star in the Big Dipper. By itself, the power of the “King’s Star” is weak. Its full energy is contingent upon the emergence of its surrounding seven stars.

Now, there’s a couple of ways to interpret the meaning of the seven stars of the “King’s Star.”

One, the seven stars could refer to the people around Uk who have helped him thus far, and who will help him in the future. He has so many people assisting him that it’s difficult to limit the auxiliary stars to just seven. There’s Naksu, Yul, Danggu, the Crown Prince, Master Lee, and Maidservant Kim. That’s six stars right off the bat.

Then, whether he likes to admit or not, he also owes gratitude to Mage Heo and Mage Park Jin for raising him while his father was away. There’s also Heo YunOk and to a lesser extent, his ex-fiancee, Jin ChoYeon.

And now, his father, Jang Gang, has arrived. He can possibly be the seventh star surrounding the “King’s Star.”

Many of the viewers thought this was the way to interpret the meaning of the seven stars. However, I suggested an alternative. I said that the stars should be seen as a series of developmental stages in order for Jang Uk to become the King’s Star.

Two, the seven stars could also refer to the number of steps or hurdles Uk must take in order to achieve greatness. Let’s remember what he went through.

First, he needed to find a master. He found one in Naksu. He actually coerced her to be his master.

Second, he needed to open his gate of energy. He did it when he took the poison Naksu gave him.

[Third] Then, he had to possess the torrent of energy he was given temporarily by Mage Heo. He learned Mage Heo’s breathing technique to own it, and he reached Jipsu level.

[Fourth] After that, he got flogged so his energy surged. Although he couldn’t control his energy, he was able to unsheathe his father’s sword just in the nick of time to save Naksu from the Crown Prince’s sword. He reached Ryusu then. He was the same level as the Crown Prince and Yul.

[Fifth] When he learned Naksu’s specialty, Tansu, he defeated Gilju. But it wasn’t till he defeated the Crown Prince that he amazed everybody with his mastery of Chisu. He jumped ahead of genius mage Yul.

Let me correct this. From Ep 8.

When he defeated the Crown Prince in a duel with his Tansu move, he hadn’t achieved Chisu yet. He was interrogated by Jin Mu.

JM: Jang Uk, why don’t you tell us. Could you have really managed to learn Tansu so quickly without first mastering Chisu?
Uk: No, it’s not like that. I still don’t know how to gather energy, so I can only use Tansu if I have water around, sir. I was only able to learn how to flick water with it [Tansu move]

When he was pressed to tell who the master was who helped him train, Master Lee appeared and rescued him. He told everybody in the assembly that he did.

Park Jin: Jang Uk, explain yourself. Who’s been helping you learn how to cast spells all this time?
Master Lee: I did. I’m the one who was with him. And everything Jang Uk just said is the absolute truth.
JM: Who are you? How dare you try to intervene?
Mage Heo: Shut your mouth! That man is the former pupil of Master Seo Gyeong, the Great Master Lee Cheol! All of you, show some respect.
Master Lee: I witnessed everything while he was living with me in Danhyanggok. Every day, he’s practiced flicking water droplets with his sword. And the only one at his side was no one other than his young servant.

Finally, he did the impossible by learning Hwansu. By going fishing with Master Lee, he achieved something only two other mages have done before.

I have to correct this one, too. He had only reached Chisu level. From Ep 14.

Park Jin: Uk was born with a fate that could bring chaos into this world. What if we support and raise him into an uncontrollable individual, and he draws the full attention of the entire world?
Master Lee: Are you afraid he will want to become king as his fate describes and bring chaos and destruction to Daeho and all of its people?

There. Remember what I said: King’s Star = King’s heir = King of Daeho = Also, bringer of chaos

Park Jin: It may be possible if he learns of the King’s Star.

At this point in time, Park Jin was the only one who knew of the constellation plaque showing Uk’s birth star.

Park Jin: (continuing) The way he views the world and his desire to achieve greatness will increase boundlessly without a doubt.
Master Lee: Jin-ah. How long did it take you to reach Chisu?
Park Jin: Chisu? It didn’t take me long to reach Ryusu, but it did take quite a bit of time to reach the level of Chisu. It took me three years to master the sky’s energy, three years to master the land’s, and four years to feel the energy around me. The energy from the sky, the land, and the water that bridges them…it took me ten years to master them all and finally reach Chisu.
Master Lee: That’s incredible. It took me three years than that. And it took Yeom twice as long.
Park Jin: I was one of the fastest after Jang Gang.
Master Lee: But you must know (taking water from the air)…we say this energy flows between the heavens and earth. But in fact, it’s only water. It took us over 10 years to finally understand the essence of the energy is water. But there are those who can feel it from birth.

And Jang Uk fished the energy from the sea.

Master Lee: Simply put, they are extraordinary. But to the world, they seem reckless and unreliable, even dangerous at times.

Jang Uk was shocked that he achieved Chisu.

I like this shot. With the camera down below him, and the sun shining behind him, Uk looked larger than life and heroic.

Master Lee: This is because they’re truly different. Some could be jealous and envious of them, while others could be worried and concerned for them. Because we do not know how they will use their immense, frightening power, we cannot be sure if they will save this world as Master Seo Gyeong did, or plunge it into utter chaos, sunk in darkness.

I like the contrast here. While Master Lee was speaking of the frightful things that Jang Uk could do, the visual image we were getting was that of a harmless Jang Uk. He was happy of his new skill, and Naksu was beaming at him.

Uk didn’t look terrifying at all.

Park Jin: So are you trying to say that you will continue to merely watch him?
Master Lee: There’s no need to worry. I’m debating as well. If we have to get rid of Jang Uk, I will do so with my own hands.

Note here: this is a good perspective to take on life. Park Jin favored curtailing Uk’s power even BEFORE he had done something wrong with it. He was all for preempting the evil that Uk had the potential to do. But Master Lee advised him to wait and see what would happen before taking action. Park Jin shouldn’t be driven to action by fear.

Heo Yeom: The alchemy of souls was not a type of sorcery from the start. You can only perform this once you have mastered Jipsu, Ryusu, Chisu, and ultimately, Hwansu.
DangGu: Hwansu is the godlike power of changing water to fire and vice versa. Is it not? Humans cannot reach that level.
Heo Yeom: Right. But Master Seo Gyeong, the founder of Songrim, did. There was also someone else.
DangGu: Who?

That was Master Lee, of course.

I don’t think it has dawned yet on Uk the “godlike” power he has in his own hands. He’s an alternative to the ice stone; he can shift his soul into another human.

And that’s why meeting his father Jang Gang is the seventh star — or the last hurdle — Uk must do before he can fully become the “King’s Star.” He has issues with Jang Gang that he needs to resolve in order for his light to fully shine.

Correction again: his meeting with Jang Gang – and Jang Gang’s death — were critical to Uk’s reaching the seventh stage.

That’s the whole point of Master Lee’s letter to Jang Gang. He commanded, “If you still possess the energy to read this letter, expend what energy you have left for the sake of those who have borne hardships in your stead. It is a chance to finish what you started. So if you do this, a star will rise and the stone will fall.”

Sure enough, Jang Gang fell on his knees to confess his sins, then turned himself into a stone (petrified as a soul shifter, remember?) and disintegrated. That was one way of fulfilling Master Lee’s prophecy.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the skies, Uk woke up.

At first, he thought he was dead. He had lost his Chisu power to generate water from the atmosphere. But then, he discovered the Ice Stone on the ground.

This fulfilled Master Lee’s prophecy. Uk, the King’s Star, had risen in the sky, and the ice stone had fallen by his feet.

He picked it up and wondered, “Is this the ice stone? Has it fallen into my hands now that I’m empty and useless? It is just nothing but a mere stone to me now.”

This made sense to me. Remember what the priestess Jin BuYeong said, “You can only borrow the power of the Ice Stone. When something is pulled, something is pushed. When something is gained, something is lost.” Uk lost his power but he gained the power of the stone.”

And then it lit up.

And he became the King’s Star in the skies.

Back in Ep 8, Jang Uk’s original plan was to get the ice stone from the “DanJu” (or Queen) in order to prevent Naksu from running wild.

By the end of Ep 20, he possessed the ice stone, but it was completely useless.

Master Lee: What happened to the ice stone that day? Is it perhaps inside you?
Uk: (staring at his hand) Even if it is, it is completely useless. I can no longer catch a waterdrop, let alone a Golden Fish.
Master Lee: If you train again, you will be able to use that power.
Uk: I witnessed how the desire to win that power made people violent and evil. It is only right not to awaken the ice stone’s power.
Master Lee: You are greedy with catching fish but not with the ice stone? Ha! You are better than me.
Uk: In any case, since I have the ice stone, I can protect one individual. If MuDeok runs wild, please help me use this power to stop it.
Master Lee: She will be fine as long as she does not try to bring out her power. That small, weak body is housing the powerful soul of an assassin. If anything, she would have already run wild. The reason why she has not is that her body is in control of the soul’s power.

My Comments: 

a. The Hong sisters were obfuscating again.

Note what Master Lee said there. (Was the sub correct?) The weak body was in control of the power soul of an assassin. I thought that the power soul was the “Great Soul” belonging to the priestess Jin Buyeong? The soul had “no malice,” remember?

I wish they’d make up their minds. Is it Jin Buyeong’s great soul or Naksu’s? By flip-flopping on this, they’re  confusing viewers on who’s in actual control of MuDeok’s body.

b. Note Uk’s idealism. He didn’t want to use the power of the ice stone because he’d seen how its great power corrupted people and made them evil (like Shaman Choi and Jin Mu).

So…was he now in agreement with Park Jin that sorcery is bad? Or did Jang Gang’s warning sink in? Jang Gang told him, “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.”

But I guess his declaration not to awaken the power of the ice stone is short-lived because in Season 2, he uses it anyway.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

May edit this tomorrow. Just want it out of the way now.