Sorry for the delay. Two questions were posed, and I’ll try to answer them.

A. Submitted by a lurker. Thanks. Edited for brevity. Thanks. –pm3

If we go to the conversations in ep 8.

Lee: Jang Uk will agonize over something bigger than the pain of losing a loved one. He possesses the power of Hwansu. If he wants, he can get rid of JBY’s soul from that body and keep Naksu’s Soul.
So Yul: That is forbiden sorcery like alchemy of soul
Lee: Thats why it will be agonizing. He will not be able to save her even though he has the power to. Jang Uk will agonize over having to make a choice that no ordinary human would ever have to make.

===

It was confusing to hear Lee said this since we are under impression that HE DID this already 3 years ago using his Hwansu power (ie removing BY’s soul and keeping Naksu’s soul). Did he fail? It cant be because Naksu recovered her own face.

And suddenly this becomes Uk’s burden… hurm..

Here’s my take on this, @nudg3sz.

Master Lee is playing with semantics.

He DID use his hwansu power to remove – or shall we say, suppress? – JBY’s soul, and keep Naksu’s soul.

But…

1. Technically, he did NOT agonize over it because he made Lady Jin decide what to do. First, he swayed her into choosing to save Naksu’s soul over her own daughter’s soul. He knew exactly which buttons to push, and it’s Lady Jin’s fault for letting her spite and jealousy cloud her judgment. Then, he said he would abide by Lady Jin’s decision.

In Uk’s case, however, Master Lee knows that Uk’s decision will agonize over it because he’s making the decision entirely on his own. Unlike Lady Jin who fell for Master Lee’s bluff, Uk’s decision will be made with eyes wide open.

2. Also, Master Lee did not kill Jin BuYeon’s soul. Her soul was as good as dead. He merely didn’t revive her. Do doctors kill patients when they don’t resuscitate them?

This is different from Uk’s case, because Uk will have to consciously decide to kill Jin BuYeon’s soul in order to let Cho Yeong’s soul live on.

Of course, given the way this story is being set up, Uk can always follow the “Two Sinking Chestnuts” principle.

3. And as a reminder, performing Hwansu is different from performing the Alchemy of Souls. 🙂

The difference has already been discussed, and I don’t need to go over this.

Hope this helps.

B. @Empress New Clothes asked:

How did you reach the conclusion that the “great soul” inside Mu-deok’s body is Naksu and not Bu Yeon? I have watched that scene many times to determine exactly who he is referring to, but I felt it was kept deliberately ambiguous then.

I try to avoid the Hong sisters’ trap.

The term “great soul” has two interpretations depending on whether it’s used as a common noun or proper noun. The Hong sisters use it interchangeably.

If you followed this blog in Season 1, I noted back then that it was Master Lee who called the blue aura that emanated from the sleeping body of Mudeok, the “great soul.” He said this, “There’s something very special about that soul shifter. It’s incredible that there’s such a great soul dwelling in such a small body. I should keep an eye on her longer.”

When he first used it, he used it as a common noun, written in lower case. He wasn’t sure what the soul was and whose soul it belonged to. He only knew that it displayed special powers he hadn’t seen before. So he said that there’s a great soul residing in the small body as opposed to a garden-variety, mundane soul.

However, his understanding changed when he figured out that the soul belonged to THE Jinyowon priestess (notice my caps?). The soul of the Jinyowon priestess would qualify as the “Great Soul.” The relics in the Jinyowon vault whooped it up when the ice stone entered their midst.

From Season 1, Ep 7:

Relic 1: She’s here!
Relic 2: Who?
Relic 1: It is her. The blind girl!
Relic 2: It’s the ice stone!

For me, that’s when the great soul became *the* Great Soul, with capital “G” and capital “S.” The term is no longer used as a common noun referring to a generic soul which happens to possess unusual powers. The term becomes a proper noun to identify a SPECIFIC soul of the missing PRIESTESS named Jin BuYeon, who doesn’t merely have special human powers but has DIVINE powers.

Divine powers require capitalization, right?

Jin BuYeon’s soul is so great that, according to the 2nd daughter of Jinyowon, ChoYeon, it can control the souls of the powerful mages, and render them helpless by trapping them.

From Season 1, Ep 16:

JCY: Even though unnie was blind, she could see energy and handle relics. Even as a child, her abilities were on par with my mother’s.
Naksu: Well, I’ve heard the Jin family members have stronger divine powers than spell-related powers.
JCY: You saw me handle Gwiju, right? It’s like that. A really powerful priestess can control people’s souls and render them helpless by trapping them.
Naksu: Did you say trapping a soul?
JCY: Mmm-hmmm. If the priestess traps his powers, even the most powerful mage is helpless.
Naksu: Well, I have heard there are shamans who can erase or change memories of a soul.
JCY: (a bit offended) A Jinyowon priestess is in a different league.
Naksu: How did such an amazing girl like her get into such an accident?
JCY: Because she’s amazing!

Given this level of adulation, it isn’t surprising that the power of Naksu’s soul is found meager and inconsequential compared to JBY’s soul.

Naksu’s soul is a great soul (common noun, no caps) because it’s the soul of a gutsy, plucky, do-or-die fighter, but by no means, is it THE Great Soul (proper noun, with initial caps).

However, there’s a twist.

When all is said and done, the Great Soul turned out not to be that great. To accomplish its mission, and to survive petrification, that vaunted Great Soul had to cling for its dear life and depend on energy of Naksu’s great soul. Is the Great Soul really that great when its existence is contingent on a mere great soul?

Obviously, no. Is God really god when his existence is dependent on a mere human? No. How can it be a supreme being when it’s dependent on something inferior?

So let me repeat what I said BEFORE the beginning of Season 2.

That’s why when we reflect on this, Naksu – or Cho Yeong — is truly the one in possession of the Great Soul. She wasn’t born with it or “fated” to have it since she’s only the child of an ordinary mage. But by dint of hard work, force of will, mindset, persistence, drive, energy, giseya, she’s come this far.

source: Alchemy of Souls: Ep 20 Cho Yeong vs Jin BuYeon

Jin BuYeon reminds me of that much-ballyhooed Wizard of Oz. Everybody sings the praises of this Jinyowon priestess, but she really can’t accomplish anything on her own.

That’s why she switched places with the tavern maid that Naksu originally intended to switch souls with. Naksu rejected Jin BuYeon because she judged her body as too weak and thereby, useless. But JBY insisted on being switched with Naksu because Naksu was critical to HER plan. As she was, she isn’t strong enough to hold onto the ice stone. Last time with Jin Mu, it was taken from her.

1. JBY needed Naksu to hold onto the ice stone.

From Season 1, Ep 18:

Naksu: What’s this? Where am I?
Young JBY: It was not taken from us this time. We are inside the ice stone.
Naksu: This is the ice stone?
Young JBY: Because it’s not bound to a shape or size, and become water, fire, or wind.
Naksu: Does this mean I have the ice stone now?
Old BuYeon: No one can truly own the ice stone. You only use its power. Pull and get pushed. Earn one and lose the other. That is the burden you will have to carry.
Naksu: I can gladly endure that.
Old BuYeon: Then try it. Overflowing power means you will not be able to control how much of it you use. Desire rain, and you will get a flood. Desire wind, and you will get a typhoon. Try to endure it.
Naksu: What are you? A relic of Jinyowon?
Old BuYeon: How dare a soul living off my body call me a relic?

Believing her to be doubly ignorant and arrogant, JBY looked down on Naksu. It’s true, Naksu didn’t know what she was talking about or what she was up against. And because she was clueless about the true nature of things, she could make such bold and showy comments like “I can gladly endure that.” JBY expected Naksu to eat crow after experiencing the power of the ice stone.

JBY didn’t expect that:

a. Naksu would give up the ice stone for Uk.
b. her own body would petrify and her soul would need Naksu’s soul to survive.

JBY asked, “How dare a soul living off my body call me a relic?”

Well, Naksu was justified to call her a body a relic because JBY couldn’t survive on its own.

2. JBY needed Naksu’s soul to survive petrification.

Let the record speak for itself.

From Season 2, Ep 2:

Master Lee: The body has petrified without a single ounce of water left, yet she is still alive. How miraculous.
Lady Jin: Please save her. She is my long-lost daughter.
Master Lee: I always wondered why she never ran wild even with Naksu’s energy. I guess it was because the body belonged to a Jinyowon priestess. Naksu did not take over this body using the Alchemy of Souls. Her soul was actually locked up inside this body.
Lady Jin: She called me “Mother.” BuYeon’s soul also remains inside this body.
Master Lee: The choice is yours. The only way to keep this body alive is to use Naksu’s energy that remains inside the body. BuYeon’s soul is clinging to that energy. In order to use Naksu’s energy, we must get rid of BuYeon’s soul while leaving Naksu’s.
Lady Jin: Are you asking me to choose Naksu’s soul over my own daughter’s?
Master Lee: That or let them both die. What will you do? Do you wish to keep the body alive through Naksu’s soul? Or will you keep your daughter’s soul and watch her die? I will respect your decision.

3. She needs Naksu’s soul to get her divine powers back.

Then, we find out that BuYeon’s soul is leaching off energy from Naksu’s soul.

From Season 2, Ep 7:

Master Lee: You shouldn’t be moving around yet.
Yul: Were you already aware of who she was? You must know if you saved the body fished out of Lake Gyeongcheondaeho.
Master Lee: So you recognized her face. I do remember you saying that you met her in Danhyanggok as a child.
Yul: Does this mean you saved her despite knowing who she was was.
Master Lee: Seo Yul. If you’re the only one who knows about this, then feign ignorance. Naksu’s soul will disappear from her body soon. Once the soul of Jin BuYeon the true owner of that body awakens, Naksu’s soul will disappear.
Yul: What? I do not understand.
Master Lee: Two souls are coexisting in her body. But the body belongs to Jin Buyeon. Contrary to my intentions, everything went according to Jin BuYeon’s plans. Jin BuYeon will use up Naksu’s energy. And Naksu will soon disappear.

I can’t stress these three points enough.

First, Master Lee favors Cho Yeong over Jin BuYeon. He was putting his thumb on the scale when he helped her soul survived because he pities this girl whom almost all the mages – and priestesses, including Jin BuYeon – victimized and exploited for their own advantage.

Second, Jin BuYeon, for all her priestessly powers, is like that bloodworm eating away Yul’s core of energy. She’s eating away the energy of Cho Yeong’s soul.

She herself admits as much.

From Season 2, Ep 8.

Cho Yeong: You must be Jin BuYeon, the owner of this body.
JBY: I see you have finally realized who really are. What a shame. If you found out after I retrieved all of my divine powers, you would have been able to leave with no sadness. Thanks to you, my body stayed whole without running wild, and I have regained most of my divine powers. You will soon have to leave this body, for it is not your own.

So, who needs whom?

Cho Yeong never needed JBY to regain her memories. It’s the other way around: JBY needs Cho Yeong to regain her divine powers. Lol. The “Great Soul” aka JBY needs of an even GREATER Soul.

Finally, Jin BuYeon is like Captain Firefly in “Hotel Del Luna.” She looks goody-two-shoes on the outside, but her actions simply don’t stand up to close scrutiny.

I think we’ve been forewarned by Master Lee.

Kim: Ah. I understand. That poor thing. I should hold a memorial service.
Master Lee: Maidservant Kim. You’re very warm-hearted.
Kim: It’s not a gesture of kindness. I’m worried that her spirit will stay here to hurt Young Master Jang. That’s the only reason.
Master Lee: What if her soul really is here? What if it’s lingering near the young master?
Kim: Of course, I’ll get rid of it. How could I let it linger if it’s obviously an evil spirit?
Master Lee: (pensively) Evil spirit. (inhales) Do you know where MuDeok is now?

MuDeok is Jin BuYeon.