In life, and in omelets, eggs have to be broken.
To the poster who wrote this in the comment section, I’ll have to break your eggs. Are you ready?
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?
In my opinion, this scene that you’re giddy about is NOT the happy scene that you think it is. 😂😂
Uk is accommodating Cho Yeong’s wishes and turning on his charm because he needs her cooperation on a serious matter. Remember what the Crown Prince said in Episode 3 when the Eunuch informed him that Uk married a beautiful woman?
CP: I heard that Jin BuYeon has some great divine powers. Did he marry her because he needed those powers?
Yes and no. Uk plainly stated that he was marrying Cho Yeong because he needed her divine powers. But when she couldn’t demonstrate any of her powers, he still took action and took her away from the Unanimous Assembly.
Eunuch: Her portrait was posted throughout Daeho. Apparently, she is a great beauty.
CP: Because of her beauty? I know Jang Uk pretty well. He would only seduce a woman to use her, not because he fell for her looks.
Hate on the CP all you want, but he was right on the money here.
Summary: Jang Uk is plotting to kill Naksu once and for all, and he needs Yeong’s help to make it convincing. That’s why he’s being super-nice to her and yields to whatever she wants. He keeps his plan secret from her but inveigles Park Jin’s and Maidservant Kim’s help behind-the-scene. He only informs Yeong of his scheme at the banquet during the fireworks.
Your eggs are broken.
source: getty images
Uk: You look busy. Your outfit is extravagant for someone who is awfully confident about her looks.
Cho Yeong: Do not be mistaken. I was not trying to look good for you.
Uk is saying that her dress is over-compensating. A real beauty didn’t need flashy clothes; she could wear a potato sack and still look beautiful. Note, however, that the standard compliment is the one that Park Jin paid Maidservant Kim a few scenes later. Park Jin asked her if she was going to the banquet and when she said yes, he mistook the everyday/house clothes that she was wearing for her party clothes. She was flattered, of course, to know that she looked beautiful in his eyes whatever she wore.
There’s a reversal between Uk and Park Jin in Season 2. In the previous season, Uk knew the right things to say to compliment Naksu, while Park Jin was perpetually offending Maidservant Kim.
Uk: Yes, I know. The Queen invited you to a banquet. You may not have dressed for me, but may I see? (steps closer) You look pretty.
Cho Yeong: (startled, she stares at him)
If she had been Naksu, she would have eyed him suspiciously and accused him of being crazy. But this is Cho Yeong and the dear girl is gullible…or “foolish” as she and Yul described themselves.
But she must naturally be wary of his unexpected compliment. After all, their last meeting was at the stone graveyard where he yelled at her for making him dash all the way there in hopes of seeing Naksu. So, she must be wondering what’s gotten into him to make him change his tune.
Uk: Ah. I mean, the outfit does.
This mirrors what he told Naksu in Season 1. He said his eyes were beautiful. Embarrassed, she told him to quit it. He apologized and said only her eyes were pretty. She mumbled, “You must be crazy.”
With Naksu and Yeong, Uk’s standard practice is to pay the girl a fulsome compliment to get her attention. Then he retracts his compliment or qualifies it. For example, he didn’t think Naksu was beautiful. Just her eyes. And he doesn’t find Yeong pretty. Just her dress. He’s such a tease.
Cho Yeong: (ignores his barb about her face and just looks away)
I find this sad especially since she has a one-sided relationship with him. She likes him more than he does. She’s more invested in this relationship than he does. So obviously, barbs, pettiness, and slights like this will hurt her more. I guess, this is some sort of cosmic payback. In Season 1, Jang Uk was the one clinging to Naksu and invested in their romantic relationship.
Uk: Give me your hand.
Cho Yeong: Why?
Uk: You hurt your hand while taking it out on the stone tower.
He takes her hand.
If you look at her body, she’s leaning back.
She doesn’t trust him. And she’s right not to trust him. It’s been a few days since she hurt her hand. If he’s really that concerned, he should have healed her hand back then in the mountain.
This is when it’s good to remember what the Crown Prince said about him.
Uk: Your nails have grown. Ask Maidservant Kim to trim them for you.
Cho Yeong: (tugs her hand away) Am I a child? Why would I ask her to trim my nails for me?
Uk: Do as I say. You are precious.
🙄 Liar, liar. Pants on fire.
If Cho Yeong was truly precious to him, why did he let her walk down the rugged mountain all by herself with just the fireflies to guide her? Sure, the fireflies were pretty. But fireflies were practically useless. They couldn’t catch Yeong if she happened to trip on a rock or twist her ankle in a rabbit hole.
Seriously. Don’t accept crumbs of affection from this dude, Cho Yeong!
Uk: I mean, your nails are.
There he goes again. He gives a compliment then he takes it back. She’s precious… nope, just her nails. What’s wrong with him? 😒
Cho Yeong: Why are you suddenly mentioning my nails?
Well, as we all know now, he’s focused on her nails because he’s hatched up a plan to create her doppelgänger using her fingernails and Lady Jin’s spirit rat.
Uk: All right. I will leave you to it.
Cho Yeong: (remembering the fireflies)
Cho Yeong: Wait.
Uk: (turns around)
Cho Yeong: By any chance…
She wants to ask him about the fireflies but she hesitates out of fear that Uk will mock her for being fanciful. Remember that time when she asked him if he lit the lantern for her at the Unanimous Assembly? Yeahhhhh, she doesn’t want to be ridiculed again.
Uk: When you go to the banquet, sit where everyone can see you. I want everyone there to see you that day.
Cho Yeong: No one will be interested in me. They will be busy talking about your wife who might return to life that day.
Uk: That is why you should show everyone that you are my wife now.
My reaction gif:
He makes it sound like he wants to proclaim to the whole world that she’s his wife when in reality, he wants her to sit in center stage because he wants the soulshifter to spot her easily. He plans to replace Yeong with her doppelgänger during the firework so the soulshifter will kill her doppelgänger in full view of the guests at the banquet.
The gullible Cho Yeong believes Uk. She’s too innocent to suspect that he has ulterior motive and that he’s using her as a decoy to lure that fake Naksu.
Cho Yeong: Then can I wear the ornament with your family crest?
Uk: Sure.
He doesn’t care what she wears, but the family crest is actually a great idea. Why?
For one, it’s like adding a bullseye target 🎯on her so fake Naksu can find her. For another, the other guests will think that she deliberately enraged Naksu by wearing the family crest and thus, she deserves to die at fake Naksu’s hands. They’ll call it karma, hubris, comeuppance or something. They’ll blame the victim.
Thus, as far as Uk is concerned, wearing the ornament with the family crest is a great idea.
Cho Yeong: Can I also tell everyone that we get along well?
Uk: (hiding a smile) Of course.
Sigh. I feel for Cho Yeong here. She thinks she’s getting all the advantages here because he’s agreeing to all her demands. She doesn’t know that her requests actually make HIS plan go easier for him.
If she brags to everyone that she and Uk are getting along well, then people will think that she deserves to suffer the brunt of Naksu’s jealousy. After all, she’s stealing Uk away from Naksu and is provoking her retaliation.
Cho Yeong: I will also boast to everyone that you lit up a dark path for me late at night.
She’s referring to the fireflies of course. But I doubt that Uk is thinking of that incident.
I suspect that she has unknowingly given him an idea on how to time the soulshifter’s attack on her doppelgänger. He’s going to light up the skies with fireworks, thus giving the soulshifter the perfect stage to kill the doppelgänger. All eyes will be on the Queen as she announces that Naksu has killed Jang Uk’s betrothed. The fireworks — and the death of Jin BuYeon aka Cho Yeong — will be the highlight of the party.
Uk: Sure. Go ahead.
Cho Yeong: (smiling)
Note: this switching back and forth from a close-up of Yeong’s and Uk’s faces is cleverly done. We’re given his-and-hers reactions so when we rewatch this scene, we can see the difference between her expectations and his reality. Yeong has girlish expectations of the banquet while Uk has to deal with some harsh realities.
So there you go. That’s MY interpretation of this scene and it’s not at all the romantic scene that you thought it would be.
From Cho Yeong’s naïve perspective, Uk is being an agreeable husband all of a sudden. And she’s happy positively GRATEFUL that he’s showering her with all these favors. In fact, when Maidservant Kim trims her nails, she’s glowing with happiness. She’s delighted with Uk.
Sigh. She’s unaware that Uk is pulling her strings.
At the banquet, Maidservant Kim announces the fireworks and tells her to meet Uk in the garden. She excitedly goes to meet him. Uk comes out nowhere and drags her by the hand around a corner.
Lol. Remember that hand? That’s the hand that was injured at the stone tower. Whateeeevvvver.
Note his lack of tenderness. He’s very solemn. This isn’t the face he showed her in the study when he was granting her all her wishes.
Cho Yeong: You came here all by yourself? To lighten up the night sky?
Uk: Yes. Did you boast around?
My reaction gif:
There’s no need to be excited because he isn’t really interested in people’s opinions, much less their approval, of his marriage. He’s only checking to make sure that his plans were followed.
Cho Yeong: (very pleased with herself) Yes. Now everyone here truly believes that we are married.
Uk: Good.
Listen to his very unenthusiastic “good.” His praise is perfunctory. To me, he made a list of things to do and he’s merely crossing off the items. He couldn’t care less whether everyone believed that they were happily married or not. Why should he when he’s planning on dying anyway?
What’s important is the stage’s been set for the specter of Naksu to be killed properly.
Uk: Then Naksu will show up here soon.
Cho Yeong: (confused) Naksu?
Uk: This event was arranged to summon Naksu.
And by “event,” we should be able to see that there are two simultaneous events taking place here. One, the Queen’s banquet which was organized to summon Naksu and entrap Uk. Two, Uk’s maneuver to summon the fake Naksu out of hiding and end all rumors about her appearance.
Cho Yeong: Why?
Uk: So that my wife would get killed by Naksu. (pausing) Jin BuYeon. I am sorry but you will have to die now.
Lol. So dramatic. This is a typical Hong sisters’ plot twist, though, so it’s funny to watch.
He finally reveals to her the reason he acquiesced to all her requests.
And this isn’t just pretty screenshot, you know. The cinematography is telling us that this is the moment of enlightenment; everything becomes clear to Cho Yeong. That big firework bursting in the sky is like the lightbulb turning on inside her head. She finally sees the light.
Uk: If I do not get rid of Naksu myself, people will constantly spread rumors about her. I want her to rest in peace. So, help me out.
Remember what the Crown Prince said. Jang. Uk. needs. Yeong’s. help.
Once Jang Uk’s mission is accomplished, Cho Yeong explains to the Queen and the guests what really happened. Since the Queen herself has declared that Naksu is the assassin, the Queen can’t retract it now that Cho Yeong reveals the body switch.
Cho Yeong: Once he gets rid of Naksu the soul shifter, she will forever be gone from our lives.
The Queen knows she’s been played.
There you go. The eggs are broken so it’s up to you all to create the omelet. I’m an indifferent cook as most the regulars in this blog know.
I agree that this exchange between CYeong and JU in Episode 4 was more odd rather than romantic. The reveal of JU’s plan confirmed that. Speaking of food, I can imagine Park Jin having his own cooking show in which he also dispenses valuable life lessons to his audience.
Right, @Snowflower?
At first pass/watch, sure, the dialogue may appear romantic to many. I’ll concede that much. Generous and indulgent Uk is dreamy.
But the dialogue definitely wouldn’t (it SHOULDN’T!!) be romantic on the rewatch because Uk’s endgame would’ve been revealed by then. Shady, shifty, devious Uk played Yeong. However you cut it, it was simply an underhanded way of getting what he wanted.
🤪
But the omelet here (ugh! I’m spoiling you all by giving away the answers) is Naksu’s finally gone. Yeong said it herself. “Once he gets rid of Naksu the soul shifter, she will forever be gone from our lives.”
Hallelujah!
Let’s see how it goes moving forward.
Hehehe yes, between UK and Yeong, she should have realised that after their meeting at the stone tower, he was a jerk. She said it herself and so for him to say boast to everyone that you are now my wife. She could have asked why the change? 😆
But she’s really into him so yeah, it sounded romantic. 😀
But wasn’t Naksu’s actions in Season 1 like this Uk’s too in Season 2?
The way she kept pulling his strings to keep him going? I thought she was nasty on a few occasions, like when she was about to deliver Uk to Jin Mu’s sidekick or when she made a bet with the CP and gambled away his precious egg jade.
IMO, what Uk did here pales in comparison. However, it is going to *hurt Yeong more because a) she’s naive, unlike Uk who knew that Naksu was ruthless, and b) she’s hero-worshipping the dude. 🤦♀️
I have to admit that JU’s plan was brilliant. He played Jin Mu and the Queen, and got cooperation from Lady Jin. He killed 3 birds with one stone (probably 4, because CP was clearly displeased with Jin Mu). Was it right to use his wife’s affection to achieve his goal? Of course not! I hope he will apologize soon.
Agree, @Snowflower.
His plan isn’t only great, it’s inspired.
But he could have been upfront with Yeong and told her that he needed her help, instead of keeping it from her until the fireworks.
It’s the secrecy entailed that gives the underhanded vibes. As I “lectured” before when determining the morality of an action, the end goal/objective alone doesn’t determine if the action is good or bad.
You have to look at the method used, and the motives.
His motives and objectives were good. Check! He wanted to give Naksu a proper rest, to end public fear and speculation, to restore calm. And so on.
But his method was all wrong. He used Yeong. Using another person as a means to an end is wrong.
His cause, no matter how noble it is, is invalid and invalidated.
But of course this is kdrama, so morality and ethics aren’t on most people’s radar, or are low on their priority.
Yes! I didn’t like that about Naksu in S1 when she threw that bird egg in the pond to bet with the CP. I thought that was nasty too.
I think that’s why I’m not into Naksu in S1 and liking this Naksu more.
I can’t wait till UK realises that it’s really her but much better. 😄
Yes, I like that Naksu was cunning but there’s a meanness and ruthlessness about her that didn’t sit well with me.
Same. I think I like Yeong better. She’s innocent but she isn’t a ditz. I like how she confronted Soyi in that empty room. She sounded a bit scary and menacing like the old Naksu. And she was smart to hide in the vat of water.
She always ends up in water, doesn’t she?
@packmule3, your statement that Yeong is hero-worshipping JU is exactly how I feel. His words warned her at the stone tower, but she chose to look at his words and actions later in a positive way.
My question is this: at the end of episode 4, JU was pouring alcohol down his neck and he blearily hallucinated that Yeong was Mu-Deok/Naksu as he knew her when Yeong stepped through the door. Did he realise it wasn’t Mu-Deok/Naksu when he was comforted, or even more, when they kissed when he woke? If we accept that he’s manipulating Cheong, it’s a bit creepy in either way – either he’s kissing his dead ex or he’s kissing his wife, using her love to manipulate her – keeping her by his side until she can remove the ice stone.
When he killed the soul-shifter/musician outside of the banquet (again on a bridge!) he didn’t stop to inspect her soul as he did with other dying soul-shifters. I get that he understood that it wasn’t Naksu, but I was a bit surprised that he wasn’t curious.
Now if she can see bad energy, can’t she get some feeling for what JU is doing? I was wondering the same thing when she gave the explanation to the queen, who has almost reached the fake queen’s unpleasantness levels. If we agree with Cheong that she can see energy within people, then she did really well before the queen and guests.
Poor CP. Does the turtle episode mean that he is doomed to have no heirs, or will he give that turtle away in time? Like the Lurch-like servant in Forbidden Marriage, he seems a bit too masculine to pass as a eunuch. I also wonder why Cheong is deceived by his disguise.
The number of people who have been found to be soul shifters seems very high. Jin Mu and the queen must have been profiting greatly. It reminds me of adverts for miraculous results from plastic surgery by dodgy practitioners. Expensive and dangerous.
I apologise if this has been discussed and decided, but would Cheong in her current state be considered a soul shifter? When Buyoung as a baby was revived by Jang Kang, how did he do that without performing alchemy of souls which would have made her a soul-shifter?
We’ll find out in Ep 5 whether he knew he was kissing Yeong or not, @Fern.
My guess is he was still drunk and out if it. 😒 So there’ll be a make-up kiss at the end of Ep 6 or something.
As for manipulating…
He suggested trimming her nails and sitting in the spotlight.
Wearing the family crest, talking about her marital life, and lighting the skies were her ideas. He only consented.
She was the one who decided to forgive him and his harsh word at the stone tower because she saw what he did with the fireflies.
I think she realized that he was mourning Naksu that night. She was reflecting on his words, “I want her to rest in peace.” Essentially, he killed a soul shifter posing as Naksu on Naksu’s death anniversary in order to give Naksu closure.
For me, the bigger question is how many times did he kill Naksu on her death anniversary?
Three times?
He killed the imposter Naksu.
He killed the rumor of Naksu.
He killed all hope and dream of Naksu ever coming back to him when he visited her watery gravesite.
He finally buried her.
That’s why —as I said in my noodle thread — he’s conflicted about this whole mourning thing. Park Jin (and everybody else) thinks it’s a good thing to mourn because it’s a sign of accepting her death and slowly, gradually moving on with life.
But for him, to accept her death is tantamount to abandoning her all over again when he had promised to stay at her side for always.
Note: The first time he abandoned her was when he died on her. He left her. In his mind, if he hadn’t died, if he hadn’t left her side, he could have prevented her for running wild and jumping off that cliff.
You know, @Fern, I really hate it when scriptwriters mess up their own logic in their world-building and I end up having to make sense of it for viewers in this blog.
Hong sisters are repeat offenders. That “King: Eternal Monarch” writer was another. They write in broad strokes, leaving befuddled viewers to piece together the details. Ugh!
This is what I remember explaining before:
The Soul Ejector (note: I didn’t say Ice stone) can do three things:
a) it can summon a soul back into its dead body to bring it to life
b) it can switch souls of two bodies
c) it can suck the soul out of a person and steal his energy.
(From Ep 7)
Using this list, Baby Jin BuYeon falls under Category 1. Her soul was summoned back to her dead body. So she is NOT a soul shifter.
As for Cho Yeong, I say she fits Category 1 too. Her soul and BuYeon’s soul were in BuYeon’s body. BuYeon’s soul was dying. Lady Jin herself admitted it was all but dead when the body was retrieved. It was only clinging to Naksu’s soul who had the will and energy to keep alive.
So Naksu’s soul was chosen to stay, and BuYeon’s soul was let go.
Using Master Lee’s Hwansu energy (not the Soul Ejector, mind you), Naksu’s soul was summoned back to BuYeon’s dead and petrified body. As the soul regenerated, it took over and transformed BuYeon’s body into Naksu’s.
It’s a matter of self-preservation, I guess. “The body and soul have to be one so she won’t run wild.”
As she stands then, Cho Yeong is not a soul shifter since technically speaking, no souls were shifted in Master Lee’s AoS procedure. Her soul remained, while the other was let go. And the body she’s living in right now was hers from the beginning.
That’s my understanding.
Dear @packmule3. Thank you for the explanation of the use of the soul shifter. It makes more sense now.
It’s strange to think what would have happened if Mu Deok/Naksu hadn’t killed Uk. She had already injured or slain a number of people under Jin Mu’s hypnotic bell spell. She may have stayed alive due to the ice stone in Uk’s possession, but to protect her Uk would have had to hide her forever unless he could prove that she was under a spell (and possibly even so). Yet Uk had made her promise that he would be the first person to be killed by her sword, so he was destined to abandon her by death. The relationship was doomed to darkness, imo.
Lol, @Fern. My explanation of soul shifters will self-destruct in 3…2….1.
I find that theories are often useless with the Hong sisters because they’re consistently INCONSISTENT. That’s why their fantasy dramas suck. They can’t seem to keep up with their world-building so they toss in last minute a “deus ex machina” to solve their problems. 🙄 Take the (cow)bells that Jin Mu used in Ep 20.
Really, Hong sisters?
@packmule3, not only the shaman bells but now the soul incense that will allow Jin Mu to read Jin Buyeon’s mind to see if she is indeed Naksu. Ep. 3, 42.35. what next? 🙄.
Right, @Fern? It’s frustrating that Jin Mu can do whatever with these magic relics with impunity. I can’t wait for his day of reckoning.
On a different note, I was sad this morning. 😞 Three more trees 🌳 🌳🌲were cut down this morning in our property. My hubby promised to replace them this spring but how can one replace 60 – 70 ft trees? The five replacement trees I got two, three years are still growing.
Jin Mu and Soyi can destroy each other. That would be pleasant. Any sympathy I had for her being used by Jin Mu has dissolved completely.
Also as creeped out as I was by the king’s fascination with the ice stone, the current queen seems to have fewer brakes on her ego. I can imagine it’s the damage caused by her captivity and inability to have her attractive body, but she’s become quite horrid. I feel that the CP doesn’t have much to choose from between the false queen and the true one.
I’m sorry about your trees. Do you have any tall ones left? Here, you have to get a permit to cut mature trees, even on your own property. If the council deems that they add value to the area, they can slap a tree protection order on them. But why did he have them cut down? Were they encroaching on the house’s foundation, a fragile variety likely to shed limbs or interfering with the plumbing/sewage lines?
My husband is almost too far to the opposite extreme. He dislikes yard work and doesn’t like to interfere with what he calls ‘habitat’ for slow worms, hedgehogs and insects.
*sigh
After camping for whole days in that moment, then it hits me. I have been putting myself in JinBuyeon shoes, after supposedly fireflies moment. I’ve been manifesting a JinBuyeon, too deeply at that.
Feeling happy & giggling non stop not knowing the man I love and loyal to have other plan other than romancing me back.
I think i caught up in the moment when Uk agreeing to everything she said…and him saying she’s pretty and precious. Affirmed that he summoned fireflies of light up her path. Also that one last look for her with small smile?! I should’ve known better..!!
*ugh..all men do is LIE…!