Hot off the press. lol.

1. New symbol for Uk

Last season, I pointed out that Uk’s symbol was water. That dawned on me when he showed a weird obsession for baths and tortured Naksu to bring him buckets of water from the well. That theory proved to be right because a) every time Uk grew in power, water would be involved, b) his source of energy is water which connects the sky to the everything on land, and c) his King’s Star revealed itself when the sky was filled with the energy of the Daeho waters, just like it was prophesied.

This season, his new symbol will be the rose. This time, instead of a star reading from a royal astronomer, he gets a flower designation from the royal astronomer’s daughter.

Cho Yeong: Are you leaving? (clutching his sleeve) All right, then take me with you.
Uk: You want to leave with me?
Cho Yeong: I have not gone out in ages. (sniffing) I smell the flowers on your clothing. The roses must have bloomed already.

This is significant because in the opening scene, she didn’t notice the scent of the flowers. There had been another man on the pathway. It was the Joseon version of the Fed-Ex guy delivering wine. Though the roses were in full bloom even then, Cho Yeong walked through without remarking on the fragrance in the air. This tells me that her senses – at least, her sense of smell – is awakening because of Uk.

Later, she ponders over Uk’s confession that he was helping her because they were kindred spirit. They were both guilty of the “crime” of existing when they should have died. As she mulls over his words, rose petals drifted through the window.

Cho Yeong: The roses must have really bloomed.

She smiles.

Outside, Uk strides down the path bordered by roses bushes.

This moment is when she attaches meaning to the rose. I know Gertrude Stein said that “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” But for Cho Yeong, a rose is simply Uk.

That’s why on her wedding day, she has the rose petal in her hand, and her faux sister, Jin ChoYeon, asks her about it.

JCY: What is that? A petal?
Cho Yeong: It came to me when I was at my most desperate. I hope it will return.

She means Jang Uk. Like the rose petal, he appeared out of nowhere and gave her a means of escaping her three-year-old prison. She hopes that he’ll once again come and rescue her.

JCY: I know you hate it, but you should not run away again.
Cho Yeong: I know. I’m waiting.
JCY: Waiting? For whom?
Cho Yeong: My groom. (then in her head) Please come and take me away.

She clutches her rose petal.

On the boat ride to her wedding ceremony, she’s resigned that Uk won’t come to free her. She glances at the rose petal one more time then drops it out the window. Before it can land in stream, the water begins to swirl around her, rocking the boat.

Lol. This is a mirrored scene, too, @Mrs RHK1. In Season 1, the young Buyeon’s boat was rocked by the Ice Stone, and she was pushed out of the boat by Jin Mu. She disappeared for 10 years. In Season 2, Cho Yeong’s boat is rocked by the power of the Ice Stone in Uk, and she disappears.

So what’s the meaning of the rose petal for Cho Yeong? I think it means deliverance.

2. Who’s the female lead?

It’s Cho Yeong.

Many pre-released media blurbs (sorry, I couldn’t find the original source) on Season 2 claimed that the title of Season 2, “Light and Shadow” referred to the main leads and the meaning of their names. Jang Uk’s name supposedly means “rising sun” and Cho Yeong’s name means “dark spirit.”

So what about Lady Jin’s comment?

Jin CY: The wedding date has been set already? This is too sudden, mother.
Lady Jin: It was not easy to find a suitor. She must obey my words.
Jin CY: Mother. Why are you so cruel? As I expected, is she not BuYeon, but that other woman?
Lady Jin: Jin ChoYeon! She is BuYeon. The original soul was already dead when we retrieved the body from the lake three years ago. That body belongs to my daughter, Jin BuYeon.

My comments:

a. As expected of the Hong sisters, this is 100% Obfuscation.

b. I’m not sure if Lady Jin is in denial, just stupid, or cruel.

Jin ChoYeon thinks that her mother is being cruel by imprisoning a woman who they know isn’t BuYeon but really Cho Yeong. Maybe she thinks that her mother is making Cho Yeong pay and/or using her as a substitute for BuYeon.

c. Lady Jin insists that Naksu’s soul (the original soul) is dead and the only one that remains is BuYeon’s soul. Note: at the Ice Stone Demonstration, she was the only one who saw both Naksu’s and BuYeon’s soul coexisting in MuDeok’s body.

Of course, she would think this way. It’s inconceivable for her that someone from her “superior” bloodline would get beaten by an upstart like Naksu in any soul-swap.

But she’s wrong there. That’s Cho Yeong’s soul.

WE know that BuYeon’s soul is missing ever since Jin Mu used those darn (cow)bells on Naksu and Naksu went on a rampage. If BuYeon’s soul had been there, she would have prevented Naksu’s killing spree.

d. As for MuDeok’s body, Lady Jin is right when he says that the body belonged to Jin BuYeon. I don’t know why she gave up on the BuYeon’s body and opted instead to use Cho Yeong’s body. My guess is people recognize MuDeok as the assassin and didn’t want any stigma attached to her daughter’s “soul.” At least with “new” Cho Yeong’s body, Lady Jin is starting from scratch.

e. I don’t know too how she got a hold of Naksu’s body when it was burned on the pyre.

f. How did Cho Yeong see the ice stone inside of Jang Uk?

Who knows? Maybe the Hong sisters just want to make a parallelism here because Jang Uk spotted Naksu’s blue eyes, when no one else did.

3. On the meaning of “Light and Shadow”

Because of this, people are inferring that Uk is the light and Cho Yeong is the shadow. When you look at the characters however, this match-up doesn’t seem right.

Just look at the colors of their outfit here in the beginning. Visually, she’s light and he’s shadow.

Then, also here in the end.

Mood-wise, Cho Yeong is everything light. She’s flirtatious, spirited, animated, fresh.

In contrast, Uk isn’t light nor light-hearted. He’s gloomy, depressed, melancholic, pessimistic, doomed, and inconsolable. He’s barely hanging there.

This is what we learn about Uk after three years.

a. Looking at the talisman, he says, “If I keep this with me, I will not be able to see you even if you come.” This is rhetorical device; he’s talking to Naksu although she’s not beside him. Uk then destroys the talisman. This tells us that after three years, he still hopes that she’ll come back to him.

Note: there’s a difference between belief and hope. (I discussed this somewhere in another drama. Was it “Memories of the Alhambra”?) Uk doesn’t believe that Naksu is still alive, but he hopes that she comes to him.

b. Mage Heo wants Danggu to stay close to his buddy, especially on those days and nights when he’s killed a soulshifter. He explains, “Since he used the power of the skies, the wraiths swarm toward him to feed on that power. They are noisy, cold, unsightly, and pitiful. That’s the price one must pay for taking the ice stone and using the energy of the sky.”

This is a new development. We didn’t know that wraiths were included with the ice stone. Did the Queen/Shaman Choi also have to deal with wraiths or this is another one of the Hong sisters’ last-minute additions? 🤦‍♀️

c. From the conversation with the CP: The CP observes that his place is dark and gloomy. I think, on a superficial level, he understands what Uk is going through but he wants to keep it light and friendly between them. So, he jokingly tells Uk, “You are always as annoying as a splinter in my finger.”

And Uk bristles at this and so attacks him, “A splinter in your finger? What a joke. Did Jin Mu tell you to think that of me to make you feel better? Am I not too strong and too significant to be a mere splinter? I understand that you are frustrated, but you are not the victim here. That splinter cannot be more painful than a sword through my chest.”

In other words, Uk is reminding him who the real victim is in this situation. Not only did he suffer physical death at the hand of Naksu, but he’s still non-stop emotionally suffering because her death/absence in his life is like a sword through his heart.

d. The Head Gisaeng reiterates this idea that Uk is a walking wounded. In her description of Uk to Cho Yeong, she says, “…and lastly, there’s Jang Uk. He is probably the strongest man in the world right now. But I do not recommend him….You should never date a man with a past as painful as a stab to the heart.”

e. Then, to Park Jin, he confesses his wish to die.

In other words, death is infinitely better than the hellhole he is in.

That’s how Uk has been living these past years. He doesn’t appear at all like a “light” person. His miserable life indicates that he’s the “shadow” of the pair.

So, what do the meaning of their names mean?

You may have your interpretation, this is mine:

To Cho Yeong, Uk represents the light. As I already discussed in the rose symbolism, Uk appeared to her when she was at the most desperate. He’s the light shining through the window and brightening her dark prison cell. He saves her.

Whereas to Uk, Cho Yeong (and her previous self, Naksu) is the dark spirit forever following him. She is his shadow. You know what a shadow is, right? It can be dark silhouette trailing after you and it can be dark shape casting shade on you.

As a dark spirit, Cho Yeong weighs upon his mind. Why? I can think of three reasons.

One, he loves her. Two, he feels guilty that he failed to protect her. Three, given it’s his task to kil soul-switchers, he must feel like he’s killing Naksu (and her kind) over and over again.

Ha! Methinks this is the reason he looks into the soul of the soul-switcher as he kills them. Unconsciously (or consciously?), he’s looking to for Naksu’s soul among the soul-switchers.

I also think it’s fitting that Cho Yeong tugs on his sleeves and wants to go with him

To me, she’s like a wraith, those “noisy, cold, unsightly, and pitiful” wraiths he carries with him everywhere. Except of course, she’s beautiful. 👻

Wraiths are by definition dark spirits, like Cho Yeong’s name.

Moreover, she’s a deadweight on his heart. He can’t be at peace with her gone.

Uk: If a priestess as powerful as Jin Seolran exists, will she be able to extract the ice stone within me?
PJ: If she can, would you extract it?
UK: (silence)

I think he’s silent, not because he’s undecided, but because he doesn’t want Park Jin to hear his answer. His answer will trouble Park Jin.

PJ: (reminding him) You are only alive thanks to that stone.
UK: You said the ice stone should be destroyed since no human can control its power. Yes. You are right. It is too much for me…to handle.
PJ: Maidservant Kim told me that it was too painful to watch you live with a wounded heart. Is it still very painful?
Uk: I should have died then. As a human, I should have died then and there.
PJ: Do you think removing the ice stone would heal your wounded heart?
Uk: (not answering)
PJ: But if you do that, you will die.
Uk: At least, I will lift the weight off my shoulders and finally be at peace.

He’s obviously not just talking about the weight of the ice stone, but also the weight of Naksu, remembering her and living without her.

Thus, it’s so fitting that the last scene was of Cho Yeong hanging around his neck.

That’s great cinematography right there.

Mind you. It’s NOT great cinematography because it makes a pretty picture (although sure, it does). It’s great cinematography because it conveys the theme of light and shadow. It tells the story visually.

Do you see it? Do you see what I see? 🙂

He’s the weary soul carrying all the burden of their ill-fated romance. And she’s the unbearably heavy weight hanging around his neck. If he wants to know real peace, he should allow her to hang on to him like that.

Like that proverbial albatross around the neck.

So the “light and shadow” metaphor does not mean Uk and Cho Yeong per se, but what they signify FOR EACH OTHER.

4. He reached Hwansu.

We knew that already.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

There’s more but I have to go.