The thread is open.
But first, I’ve to a) redo what I wrote in Cho Yeong vs Jin BuYeon because of the amnesia aka reboot, and b) connect-the-dots of Master Lee’s prophesy in Episode 19.
A. Cho Yeong
• Beloved daughter of the Mage Cho, the royal astrologer
• Trained to become assassin by Jin Mu in the valley of Danhyanggok
• Childhood crush of Seo Yul
Other Names: Naksu
Who knows she exists?
Previously, only Jang Uk and then Yul know of her existence as a soul-shifter. Master Lee figured it out. Now, everybody knows that MuDeok is the missing Naksu the Assassin.
Nobody but…
Yul finds her familiar. Yul lost touch with her when they were about what? 15? 16? It’s a kdrama trope that she would have changed a lot/little after all those years. Naksu led a tough life.
Jin Mu recognizes her, but he seeks confirmation. Jin Mu is the last person who saw the real Cho Yeong alive. He was her “boss,” the one giving orders for the assassinations.
Master Lee, obviously.
B. Jin BuYeon
• Much-beloved oldest daughter of Jin HoKyung
• Sister of Jin ChoYeon
• Friend of SoYi, con artist from the same Sari village
Other Names:
• MuDeok: The old lady from Sari Village named her after her deceased granddaughter
• The Great Soul: according to Master Lee
• Filthy MuDeok: The CP’s pet name for her. He didn’t like it when other people, e.g., the head gisaeng called her that, though.
Who knows she exists?
Well, everybody now that her “Wanted” poster went up but…
• Master Lee knows the truth.
• But SoYi knew the real one.
• Her mother finally heard her daughter calling her “mother” at the Ice Stone Death Demo.
• Jin ChoYeon, the sister, accused her mother of imprisoning Naksu.
Note the great insert shot here.
We know who the cage bird is, right? Actually, when you think deeply about this, Cho Yeong isn’t the only one imprisoned in Jinyowon. Jin ChoYeon is also imprisoned. (She displays signs of Stockholm syndrome.) And so is Lady Jin….
JIn ChoYeon: 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.
Lady Jin is imprisoned by her own frame of mind. She insists that the body is Jin BuYeon. To me, Lady Jin’s denial of the truth is similar to a pregnant woman who insists that the baby growing in her uterus belongs to her body and is part of her body. Both refuse to see that a new life is growing into a distinct, self-developing, and completely unique human being.
Lady Jin admits that the original soul aka BuYeon’s soul is already dead when the body was retrieved. And the soul that was revived with Master Lee’s powers, has simply returned to its original body, Cho Yeon, as he prophesied in Season 1, Episode 19.
Remember the scene when he was talking with the kids?
This scene.
Note the landscape. I said before that stones and boulders represent Naksu’s fate and the water is Uk’s. Every time you see them prominently featured in the background, that’s a visual cue for you. By Episode 20, we saw the fulfillment of their fates. Naksu petrified, and Uk became the King’s star full of the energy of Daeho’s water.
Master Lee: In this world, there is a very sad star called the King’s Star.
Girl: What is the King’s Star?
Master Lee: It is a star that appears for someone who is allowed to use the sky’s energy.
Girl: It means your power gets even stronger, right?
Pay attention now. According to Master Lee’s definition of a King’s Star, we have a few people permitted to use the energy of the heavens.
a. Uk is the obvious one. He uses the sky’s energy because he has the ice stone inside of him. He has divine powers. He has reached Hwansu, and it’s the strongest man in Daeho.
But note here. We should NOT forget that Uk has another source of power. In Season 1, it was his master, Naksu. She trained, guided, and pushed him often to his death, literally, several times. If the heavens gave divine power to Uk, then it was Naksu who gave him human power. And this human power is propelled by “giseya” that I’ve mentioned ad nauseum.
In Season 2, Uk’s replacament energy source will be his “Lousy Priestess” Cho Yeong.
b. Then, there’s Cho Yeong. To escape her prison, she uses the energy of the skies found within Uk. Uk is the vessel of the Ice Stone. With Uk by her side, her latent powers become stronger.
c. But there’s also the Crown Prince. He wasn’t asking for the sky’s energy. In fact, he didn’t understand Uk’s request to take credit for Uk’s actions. “So if the ice stone disappears, you are telling me to let others think that I did it, not you and deal with the aftermath? You are telling me to take credit for something that you have done?”
But Uk was expecting a fallout, and he wanted the Crown Prince to cover for him. But things didn’t go as planned. People actually celebrated and praised the Crown Prince for being the King’s Star. And the Crown Prince had Uk killing monsters. In effect then, the Crown Prince was an accidental beneficiary of the sky’s energy, too.
To continue…
Girl: It means your power gets even stronger, right? That’s a really good thing.
Master Lee: I am not so sure. I do not think it’s that good. You see, if you are given great power, you also have to bear many things.
Boy: You mean, bear, like an animal?
Master Lee: It means doing things you don’t want to do. It’s a painful and lonesome star.
And this, as we know it, is how Jang Uk spent the last three years. He was doing something he didn’t want to do. He was killing monsters; he was chased by monsters. He was enduring the pain and loneliness.
After the kids left, Master Lee looked up to the skies and prophesied the future.
Master Lee: The star will soon appear. And then when it does, those who must go will go, and those who must return will return.
Viewers thought he was merely referring to the deaths of Jang Gang, Queen/Shaman Choi, and her brother. Me? I think differently from others. I believe he also foretold the departure of Jin BuYeon. Her soul and body had to go. And sure enough, in Season 2, Jin BuYeon departed, soul and body.
Cho Yeong’s fate, however, is different and distinct from BuYeon. She’s a person in her own rights, and she’s the main character in this story. Her soul and body had to return to complete her evolution from being victim of the mages to master of her own destiny.
The way I see it, Master predicted the future but he also intervened to make sure that the future he had envisioned for Uk and Cho Yeong actually happened. He had his own giseya, too.
Keep these in mind and…
Let’s enjoy the show.
Kalispera @Packmule3,
Thank you for the thread.
I will comment tomorrow. I will watch the episode later tonight!
Let us enjoy the show!
Another excellent episode! Cho Yeong meeting the CP was priceless.
Kalimera everyone!
I enjoyed the episode for several reasons.
I wanted to comment though about the Part 2’s “baddies”.
As I have written somewhere in Part 1’s threads about the most “Unethical Characters in Aos”, I am not surprised at all to see the Queen being manipulated by Jin Mu about a new body. Afterall, she is vain and cruel, she brought the demise to her doorstep the minute she wanted to become prettier in a new body and went to Shaman Choi.
Jin Mu like the master puppeter he is, is doing once again the thing he is most good at, i.e. manipulating and using people to his needs, while he is not punished for his crimes.
So, the Queen, Jin Mu, So-I the swindler and many more continue to be on my Unethical List. I might repost it as the show progresses.
Also, as it seems, someone is making the wells to run dry by using magic. The artifact looked like a dragon, but I am not specified to asian art. My guess is that Jin Mu and the Queen are behind this, because they want from a Jin Priestess to do a rain ritual that would bring them down another godsend Ice Stone. Simply they don’t learn from their mistakes…
This time around, Master Lee has discovered those artifacts early.
Hopefully, he will realized it sooner or later, what are they are up to!
I just hope that their demise will be grande like the way they have destroyed so many lives, but in the square. They are going to blame Naksu again for all the bad deeds they are doing. Let us see how this will go…
I am glad that in this second part, Cho Yeong is so bold in liking Jang Uk and expressing it. As @Packmule3 said, before Ukkie was not sure about her feelings and I agree. This time around, Yeong is being unapologetically herself but in a tabula rasa form and I like her for that.
I also liked how Yeong shut down Sun-i – rings a bell? Uk did the same in Part 1 – from saying mean things when it was not her place at all as a maid. Yeong is Uk’s betrothed or wife the fact that SHE missed Ukkie and SHE wanted to see him, for me is a warning to everyone on how she will act from now on, regarding Jang Uk.
The fact that everyone arounds her are not revealing the truth about Naksu and her real relationship with Uk, is for the building up.
Cho Yeong will remember it at some point and it will be painful to watch that scene. I do hope the Hong Sisters will not drag this revelation. It was their choice to use the (cows)bells in the first place.
Lastly, regarding Yul’s condition if he knew about the parasite, he could take if off. So-I though, didn’t share that knowledge with him, in order to repeatedly give him that powder. In my book, So-I is not in love with him, she is obsessed. A person who loves another person wouldn’t want him / her to be in pain and suffering from something so wicked.
I do hope that in the end Yul won’t die, because he is going to be used against Uk at some point.
Thanks, @Cleopatra.
I wanted to explain — bitch-splain — a couple of things in a “Quick Take” but was so sleepy I was dozing off in the middle of my dictation. 🤪
Oh well. 🤷♀️ I’ll do it later.
Re. the Queen
A leopard can’t change its spots. That’s the moral lesson we can derive from her.
She got conned by Shaman Choi bec of her vanity. And here she is again, still vain. She’ll be conned by Jin Mu this time.
She isn’t very different from Lady Jin.
Re. Soyi
Agree with you on Soyi. She used the antidote/medicine to tie Yul to her for three years. She isn’t any different from Jin Mu. She could have informed him about the bloodworm so Yul could find out how to cure himself. I get that she was scared for her safety, but when her sham identity is no longer a secret, she should have come clean. But nope, she’s still looking after her own needs first.
Please. Will those viewers who want a loveline for her and Yul get their heads straight?
Why does Yul have to end up with that hag? Just so everybody can have a match?
Don’t they hate it when their senior family members pester them to marry somebody, ANYBODY! so they won’t miss the marriage train? So why are they following the same crap mentality and foisting a bad choice of a girl on a good guy? 🙄 Better to be single than date someone with mental issues.
Re. Yeong
Yes, I saw the parallel reprimand. Uk scolded the Heo’s maid in Season 1 for addressing him casually like their equals and Yeong does the same in Season 2.
Yes, I like how her haughty side is showing. For one, if she’s going to be a Jinyowon princess/priestess then she shouldn’t accept a maid like Suni to talk down to her. How dare Suni. Suni’s impertinence isn’t really a good look on her mistress, Lady Heo.
For another, Naksu wasn’t pushover. So ordering somebody like Soyi to come out of her hiding place is in keeping with her old personality. Naksu had no fear facing Park Jin and the Songrim mages in Ep 1.
Re. the thing in the well
I don’t know what it is but I know how to counter-attack. It’s the turtle. 😂
Hey @Packmule3!
I do hope you slept well. I was talking with a friend and she was telling me she was pissed off because we are running in circles.
As tried to understand her and the only thing I told her is that in Part 1 the Evil was not punished, they found scapegoats and they blamed them for everything.
I was pretty certain about the Queen being awful. Yes she was full of vanity and she is being conned for it. Lady Jin is also in my “Unethical Characters List”
So-i is a big NO NO NO with NEON lights. There is not love line for Seo Yul and if there is, she is not his.
About Yeong you are right.
I was happy that she speaks her mind, like Mudeok-ah did. She is saying truths and her stance is very distictive.
Lady Heo should move on, she is not in her right mind as well. Jang Uk never wanted her and in a way she is obsessed with him, covering it as “I am a healer and I want to treat you” kind of thing.
I agree with you about the Turtle vs the Dragon.
Does it have to do with Feng Shui? It also refers to the golden turtles the Crown Prince was giving to the winners vs Jang Uk in the bet battles. So the CP is a turtle? Hmm…😁😂
Oh…Tonight’s episode made me happy… *smiles*
Why, @Cleopatra?
Because Uk kissed her? Does he know who he’s kissing?
The female lead in “Forbidden Marriage” was right to feel distressed at the end of Ep 2, when the King told her that her hands looked like the hands of his beloved wife, his deceased beloved Queen.
And Maidservant Kim was right to be furious with Park Jin when he brought up the dress that Yeong was wearing. He excitedly blabbed that he remembered the dress because Uk’s mom wore it and he even wrote a poem for her. 🤦♀️ What a fool!
No girlfriend and no wife wants to think that she’s a replacement, a reminder and a shadow of her man’s first love.
Uk kissed her. But I hope to goodness that he was sober and he knew who he was kissing and why he was kissing her.
Or he’s a worse fool than Park Jin. 😒
The ending is worrisome to me.
No @Packmule3, I was not happy for the kiss per se.
You are right to be worried about it. I agree with what you said above.
I have rewatched the scene and he first saw Naksu/Mudeok-ah and then he saw that BuYeon / Yeong was approaching him. I do hope that Uk will remember who he was kissing and why she was there.
I admire BuYeon for going there because she was worried about him and trying to console him. I do hope that Uk will respect her for that.
I was happy for the fact that Jang Uk realized Jin Mu’s plan early and managed to save Bu Yeon’s / Cho Yeong’s life in the Queen’s Banquet.
I am happy because the episode started with them being in a fight and it seems that during their time together, they have found a way to communicate. That was why I am happy. BuYeon is growing on him. That’s why Uk brought the fireflies to luminate her way into the night.
In Part 1, Uk was the one who protected Naksu, in Part 2, Cho Yeong is doing that.
I am happy that Master Lee is back and most likely things will be out in the open now. His reaction about them being together also made me happy.
I am kinda sad because I don’t want Yul to die. I wrote it above and it is a big possibility that he will be again in the brink of death and Uk will find out what happened to him. So, we have Yul and the Crown Prince who will bring out in the open the deeds Jin Mu has done so far.
Does the Crown Prince know about the bells? What is Jin Mu threatening him with?
The fireflies?
😂 I expected that.
He did the lantern too, you know. At the Assembly. Cho Yeong had nothing to do with lighting that thing up. He lit it by himself when Cho Yeong grabbed him. (This is one of the things I was too sleepy to explain…)
So…
If you list the number of times he helped her out when he said he wouldn’t…
1. Constructing her escape
2. Hiding her from the Jinyowon guards
3. Buying her chicken
4. Kidnapping her before her wedding
5. Breaking her wristlet
6. Killing the swamp monster
7. Watching her overnight to make sure she didn’t get cold
8. Lighting the lantern
9. Announcing their marriage and freeing her from Jinyowon
10. Destroying the spool of thread once and for all
Checking up on her after he told her to endure the pain on her own
11. Sending the fireflies
12. Killing her once and for all and releasing her from Naksu’s stigma
Overall, not bad. Not bad.
@Packmule3,
Did you see that smile for the fireflies? Cho Yeong is in love with him.
About that scene with the lantern, I took it that she indeed did it, because he was involved. She didn’t want him to leave her there. That’s why she did it, but I don’t mind if he did that as well. As long as he took her away from her captor.
I think that subconsciously Jang Uk has already fell in love with her and he hasn’t realized it so far, because he is mourning Naksu and I find this believable.
About 10, he made a fuzz in Jinyowon by going to his Mother in Law and telling her straight to the face: “My wife cannot sleep. Don’t summon her this time of the night.” *swoony indeed*
And the Jin Matriarch the fool she is, she didn’t do anything afterwards. I just hope that Park Gu will take away Cho Yeon from her as well. She doesn’t deserve her daughters. Park Jin went to Jinyowon to let her know that what the others are planning before they kill her daughter. I also liked what BuYeon-ah responded to the Queen about her younger sister. Cho Yeon was really happy that her Unnie reacted like this. I do hope they will continue to have such a relationship and not be bitter about what happened in the past.
Yes, he is protecting her without knowing who he is protecting. Not bad Jang Uk, not bad at all! *Grins*
I’ll break down the lantern scene in a post. I’ve to look for screenshots first.
Heads-up: If it’s with a password, I’ll send the password. 🙂
I wrote before that they were SOULmates. He’s protecting her because they’re soulmates. He recognizes her in a deeper level, not just at the DNA-level.
He even said “She’s of no use to me, and yet she’s a nuisance.” 😂
@Packmule3,
I will be waiting for it! 😊
@Packmule3,
True. They are Soulmates and I am glad Uk does all these things because when the truth is out about her identity he will be at peace with himself.
That he did. Today he called her pretty… Mirroring the scene in Part 1. 😁
@packmule3
How do you send the pw? I have been reading your analysis on part 2 bc I was just confused. The last time I was on here was DOOM AT YOUR SERVICE.
Hi BOD! I’m back, just lurking..
I am currently watching Alchemy of Souls Pt 2 without watching Pt 1. I hope it’s okay 😅
I could still follow what’s happening in Pt. 2 thanks to the insights and explanations @packmule and everyone here in BOD share. Now I’m commenting just in case of locked posts 😁. I would like to receive a pass/es @packmuke unnie 🥹
Looking forward for more Jang Uk swoons as well. I’m so glad I can finally watch Jae wook again 😄
@packmule3
Ohhh yes please, that lantern is making me curious!
First off, I LURVE Episodes 3-4.
S2 is really on a roll, but in terms of the emotional quotient and relational dynamics / chemistry, I thought 3&4 really hit all the right notes.
Various random comments:
1) As commented in the Park Jin food experiments post, these kitchen vignettes are parables all by themselves and serve as a companion reader guide to how we can decode the theme of the episode (or at least what would happen in the next story beat).
2) I slightly differ on my take regarding the idiom “making meju out of red beans” when it comes to Uk’s interpretation of the saying.
And I like that the writers are adroitly walking that line of ambiguity when it comes to viewers’ interpretation.
Qn: “Did Jang Uk deliberately extinguish the lantern or did he not?”
A case can be clearly made for both schools of thought, but I would like to contend that it doesn’t matter, it’s a Schrodinger’s Cat scenario.
He has considered all possibilities and can flow with whatever will transpire next in order to “hide the dish and make sure no one gets to taste it.”
3) Then it just got BETTER with the next dish “rice cakes with honey/fish sauce”.
The key to decoding this culinary parable is contained in Seo Yul’s comment: “If we doubt your rules to begin with, then this world is no longer predictable.” (and this is the reason why Uk is the rule-maker & rule-breaker, and Seo Yul is NOT).
4) Love how they short-fuse the relationship progression and our FL is already meeting all the family, extended family, childhood BFFs, elders, love rival, potential suitors at one shot.
5) Character development of Naksu from Ep 3 onwards: she really started to come into her own now and I am warming up to her.
I like her self-possessed and fearless authority when it comes to reading energies (either of the jade egg, or of people); her ability to take the lead (deftly GPS-ing a flustered Yul out of Gaema Village and calling him out; and doing very dignified smackdowns of Lady Heo & maid (for throwing shade). That this gutsy Naksu told Park Jin she would protect Uk is just SO *fist pump*
6) So-Yi & Seo Yul: To be fair to So-Yi, I don’t think she was stringing him along and withholding precious info about the bloodworm for emotional leverage.
She groveled before Jin Mu to continually get the medicine for him because she loves him and also felt indebted/guilt-wrecked about what happened. She did not wish to claim credit for it nor exposed herself (cos it’s complicated let’s just say) hence all these years she sent the meds by proxy under anonymity.
But what deeply saddens me about Seo Yul was this sense that out of guilt for what happened 3 years ago (when our OTP died in the most horrific and tragic ways) he seems to have given up on living. He seems to accept it as a form of personal penance, tantamount to a death wish. I hope our Yul will snap out of it once he realises Naksu is not dead!
7) Very glad our 3 boys are back into the easy banter/camaraderie mode. E1 was heartbreaking to watch with that awkward tension amongst very old dear friends.
8) Lady Heo is fast degenerating into a catty lass (alongside her maid) — it left a bad taste in my mouth. I hope she snaps out of it quickly. I liked her in S1.
9) Yeah the drought — obviously man-made *cough*cough* (evidenced by medieval sink stopper LOL, and evil Queen loud-stage-whispering to Jin Mu they need a rain ritual so they can get another Ice Stone(?!?!) PLEASE.DO.NOT.OPEN.THE.PANDORA.BOX.
10) Love the deeply brooding Forest of Slaughter full of cypress trees.
Did a check on its possible symbolism — how apt
“The Cypress is depicted as a variation of the tree of life motif, which represents everlasting life. The cypress tree is used in rituals with the dead, but symbolizes the eternal life that comes after death.”
11) Jade eggs/recovered memories vs spirit channeling: great plot device, well played. It is reminiscent of the same ruse as “Moon Embracing the Sun” where the shaman mistakenly think her returning memories are actually flashes of psychic insights.
This cleverly ties our dear divine priestess in a messy knot — cos ANY recovered memories would now simply be dismissed (or at least doubted in their veracity) as tapping into her divine powers to read the memories of others.
12) And the category award winner for “Best Husband Material” goes to….Jang Uk!
Winning Clip: Unceremoniously destroying tracker and coolly setting boundaries with evil Mother-in-law
Winning dialogue: “My wife can’t sleep. Stop calling her in the middle of the night. After all, we are newly weds.”
Men who stand up for their wives against MILs are the sexiest. Whether in ancient Daeho or modern Korea.
This ALONE gives me a nosebleed. So satisfying
Kalimera Everyone,
Ella did another amazing video for our lovely OTP…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEotYELO1Pk&t=6s
Enjoy it!
Hello,
I would appreciate it if you could send the password to me as well. I am new to the comment section but I have been a fan since reading the analysis on hotel del luna and doom at your service. I recently finished the 1st season of alchemy as well and I hope to have access to your protected posts from season 1 as well. I am enjoying the show and I am a bit frustrated and praying I get a coherent ending with this season.
I wonder why the stone tower collapsed, even if the jade was there, isn’t it powerless unless you fill energy in it ? I thought she has to physically touch things for her memory to be triggered(sword) or she should have been there (the entertainment house) and then the associated memories would come back ? I also wonder why she changes the topic when it comes to describing yuls energy.
I really enjoyed the analysis on the park jin kitchen. Thanks to that, I started looking for similar associations and I felt it was there in episode 4 as well with the honey rice cake. It was a representation of the relationship between naksu and uk as well for me. Because according to rules soul shifters need to be destroyed. But Uk got to know one , he took the risk and he had to face the consequences of his decision. Everyone pities him but he knows how precious and painful those memories were for him, someone believed in him and pushed him, similar to only him knowing whether the cake had honey or fish sauce. I like how consistent Uk’s characterisation is . He knew the consequences of being by naksu’s side. And they used it again during the queens banquet: According to rules naksu would come and kill buyeon, therefore if uk kills a soul shifter that attacks jin buyeon , he kills naksu but only he knows if he actually killed naksu. I found it interesting how he did not look into the eyes of the soul shifter this time. He knew it wasn’t naksu.
I was a bit confused about the killing of jin buyeon in order to start a constant loop for uk to keep catching naksu, but didn’t jin mu want her to leave uk and remarry the queens cousin?
I also like the conversation between the crown prince and jin buyeon about the turtle and how he tells her that it is indeed possible for him to love the turtle despite having previous pets whom he adores. Similarly, I believe Uk will come to see her charms as her own, I see the woman naksu would have grown up to be without the dark upbringing and this time she is trying to protect uk instead of the other way around. Even though Uk seems to be protecting her most of the time.I genuinely wish he falls for her before she regains her memory.
Where on earth are these soul shifters coming from. I initially assumed they were the masters that jin mu had been soul shifting to create the new order, but this targeted soul shifter (the one who tried to attack jin buyeon in ep 4) how do you get them to do it when you know uk will track you down to kill you. I hope they answer it because if jin mu is creating them even without the ice stone is his skill level Hwansu?
I feel yul lied about not taking the medicine in order to get soi to confess that she knew what was inside him. I don’t see a relationship between them at all. Just that look from yul, I’ve never seen him look at anyone like that in the show. He was angry as hell.
This episode felt like a good closure for uk as well. That is the first time I heard him acknowledging that she may be dead. He always kept saying he never saw it with his own eyes. He was in denial and he feels guilty for not protecting her because he wanted the ice stone to protect the monsters not kill them. But that kiss still made me uncomfortable, I sincerely hope he wasn’t drunk.
Hello on B.o.D @iamsarang!
I wanted to write more about the souls shifters, so I am going to answer you here.
In part 2, we saw a lot of soul shifters being around in DaeHo. Lots of them are not old ones but newbies, like the one Jang Uk was fighting when they introduced his character three years later.
The Soul Shifter aka Naksu that was after Jin Bu Yeon / Cho Yeong in Episode 4, is not a real soul shifter in my opinion. We haven’t see before a person transforming in all those stages in a matter of less than a minute.
My guess is that Magic is involved and she was not a soul shifter, but a mirage. Yes, she had a body. But did really she have a soul?
Since it was Naksu’s three year anniversary from her passing, the “Naksu” in the Queen’s banquet was not that believable to me, because of what we already know about soul shifters.
She transformed too soon, without apparent reason and by her own volition, without being “hungry” for energy. She was almost petrified, but she managed somehow to fly away?
Since Jin Mu was involved with “Naksu” reappearance, that means Sorcery was involved.
Still, the Hong Sisters need to explain this batch of soul shifters, because the Ice stone is destroyed, the Soul ejector as well, which means that someone creates more and has a soul ejector and we are not being told about it yet…
I do hope that helped.
Recent lurker here as well who would like the password! I found your blog when watching AOS Part 1 and love the insights shared here. It has definitely helped deepen my understanding of the show and explains some of the weird inconsistencies I think I see. Thank you!!
I would like the password too. Thank you!
Hai, i’ve been a silent reader for long. I enjoy this blog very much it became my compass in watching K-Drama. Please kindly share the password to me too. Thank you.
hi
not to really rush you but when you’re gonna explained about episode 4..????pretty please…?uwu
its been two days now and i’m still stuck on 47:02-49:50…can u please entertain me about this particular part…?is this scene can be change of Uk & Yeong dynamic as husband and wife?
the way i gasp when maidservant Kim folded the trimmed nails…the music changed, her eyes changed..
u see, i’m not really particular about micro expression..but here, the lead actors move their eyes n facial muscle just nice so i can see what they felt at the moment..what are they thinking, maybe..
and there is a wars about the kiss scene…who is Uk kissing really?is it Yeong?is it Naksu?
@packmule3. I am only up to episode 2, but wanted to mention a parallel. I agree that the budgie sitting calmly in the cage was a metaphor for Cho Yeong and possibly the other Jin women as well.
As a parallel, in season 1, when MuDeok/Naksu came to Jinyowon, the caged birds panicked, but the Jin matriarch didn’t notice. I thought that they were reacting to Jin Buyeon/Mu Deok’s presence. Did the matriarch have them around to react in case Buyeon returned? A friend of mine who raised birds in California said that her birds acted startled before earthquakes, so I wondered if there was something about the birds recognising BuYeon’s power in a similar way.
Also, in season 1, a Jinyoeon bird escaped and flew to Naksu as she blew the flute, so found a place that it felt comfortable and safe. In Season 2, the bird sits in the cage without moving a feather despite the presence of Naksu/BY. I would take that as a sign that Buyeon is indeed gone. I think the enormous slap that the matriarch planted on her elder daughter broke Naksu/BY’s link between duty and self-preservation and like the bird in season 1, she became ready to fly as Naksu.
I like to think that the lantern was lit by the combined energy of Naksu and Uk, but should watch more today, because I may be well off the mark.
Great points, @Fern. Thanks. I didn’t think to compare the reactions of the birds to Naksu and BuYeon.
You also reminded me of something I wanted to mention before. That slap. Because the face isn’t Jin Bu Yeon/MuDeok’s face, it’s easy for Lady Jin to slap it in a fit of fury. It took her a few seconds before she realized that she hurt her daughter, too. The veneer of maternal love is only skin-deep. If ever she finds out that Jin BuYeon is gone.gone, she can be vindictive again. With only 6 more episodes to go, I don’t really want to focus on her rehabilitation. I just want my happy ending.
I’m sure Lady Jin will try to make full use of the stitching on Naksu’s back. I’ve lost any sympathy I ever had for her. She also consistently ignores her other daughter’s warnings and concerns in her obsession with getting an heir from ‘the first daughter.’