Welcome to the Open Thread, everyone! Thanks for joining this group watch! ❤️

This is the last one for Part 1, but we’re embarking on Part 2 right away (next week!), so we’re still using the:

ZERO SPOILER POLICY

Only events that occur in the episodes discussed here may be referenced.

No future developments, relationship outcomes, mythology reveals, major twists, or “just wait…” hints — even vague foreshadowing can affect first-time viewers.

If you’re ahead of the group watch, please keep that knowledge to yourself. Let’s protect the innocent! 😉

Since spoiler tags don’t work in email notifications, we will not be using spoiler tags in this Open Thread.

Without further ado, here are my reactions to this set of episodes. Have fun in the comments! ❤️

My thoughts

Episode 19

E19. Well, what a dramatic penultimate episode this turned out to be.

It really feels like A LOT happens, this episode, and it also feels like we get a reasonable amount of resolution, so much so that this could well have been the place our writers chose to pause our story, before taking us into the final act with Part 2.

But it isn’t, which makes me think that this is perhaps the closing of the Act, and our finale might be the introduction to Act 3, to whet our appetite, before Part 2 actually airs?

In flashback, we finally see how Bu Yeon had “died” that day, and I’m rather shocked to see that Jin Mu had pushed her into the water, in order to get his hands on the ice stone.

Wow. The nerve of Jin Mu, to then make the offer to Madam Jin, to help her find her missing daughter!

I’m also glad to find out how Bu Yeon had become Mu Deok; it hadn’t been a soul-shifting thing after all. She’d simply lost her memory and gained a new name, a happening which would have been much easier to guess, if I weren’t so distracted by the magicky possibilities in this particular story world. 😅

Also, although we’ve been told Jang Gang’s story in broad strokes, it somehow hadn’t come together in my mind, that he’d been to blame for so many of the terrible things that had happened.

It’s true that if he hadn’t dabbled in the alchemy of souls, that many things wouldn’t have happened. And it’s also true that if he hadn’t used the ice stone to save Bu Yeon as a baby, a lot of things could have been avoided as well.

And yet, somehow, this didn’t come together in my head until this episode spelled it out for me. Whoops. 😅

What I don’t understand, though, is why Jang Gang considered a soul-shifter, in this episode, and why he gets petrified and dies.

I mean, he’d switched souls for a while with the late King, but he’s been back in his own body for decades?

I’d assumed that soul shifters who get petrified are the ones occupying bodies which aren’t their own?

How does that work, if this is Jang Gang’s body, and also, his soul? 🤔

Beyond that, though, I’m touched by Uk’s choice to sacrifice his energy, in order to save  Yul and everyone else within Jeongjingak.

It is a big sacrifice, and I can see why both Mu Deok and the Crown Prince separately balk at the idea at first.

What I like, though, is how, when Uk frames his decision as wanting to protect someone, just like the way Mu Deok chooses not to use her chance to use the ice stone’s energy in order to protect Uk himself, Mu Deok begins to understand, and comes around to support his effort.

That’s so giving, on both of their parts, and I really like that.

And, the way Uk asks the Crown Prince to take responsibility for the lifting of the fog, in his stead, also feels somewhat sacrificial, even though Uk phrases it as the Crown Prince helping him to clean up his mess.

After all, it does have to do with ceding glory and honor that rightfully belongs to him, to the Crown Prince. I do admire Uk for doing that, and without hesitation too.

Unfortunately, the appearance of the King’s Star means that several people are now out to kill Uk, and among them, it pains me most, that the Crown Prince is starting to perceive him as a threat.

Aw, nooOoo. I was just starting to really enjoy the reluctant partnership and mutual respect that we were getting between him and Uk. 😩

On another note, I really do appreciate the note of closure that we get between Yul and Mu Deok.

It’s time that they both acknowledge the truth, and put the past to rest, so that they are both free to move forward.

I really like the vibe of their final conversation; there’s care and respect, and amidst the lashings of wistfulness, there’s a gentle groundedness that I really like. It’s perfect.

I’m also glad that Uk comes to find out that the man he’d met at Gaema Village had been his father. Ok, well, technically not his father, I suppose, but the person closest to a father that he’s had in his life.

It feels fitting, that in their short conversation, Jang Gang had looked him in the eye and identified him as the son of Cheonbugwan’s Gwanju. That was him giving Uk his acceptance and approval, wasn’t it?

It feels meaningful as well, that Jang Gang had given Uk a drink. It makes me think of how fathers teach their sons to drink, and while it may not be much in the overall scheme of things, it does feel like a precious father-son sort of moment.

And of course, at the end of our episode, there’s the scene where Uk asks his Master for permission to end his training as her pupil.

I love what Uk says, in his little spiel, because it acknowledges and cherishes the efforts that Mu Deok’s put into helping him as his Master, but also points the way to a new chapter, in their relationship.

“Master. As of today, I wish to end my training as your pupil. I am grateful that you always pushed me to train harder despite how lacking I was.

I know that you gave up your chance to regain your energy. And I, too, chose to give up the energy I tried so hard to build.

But instead, I now have someone precious that I wish to keep by my side forever. I do not wish to be used and discarded. I wish to protect and cherish you. Thus, allow me to quit.”

“I, Mu Deok, your Master, will allow my pupil, Jang Uk, to quit.”

“All right, then. Marry me, Mu Deok-ah.”

Awww! Melt. That is so casually, offhandedly, sincerely sweet.

I really love the happy, contented smiles they smile at each other, after Uk’s proposal; it makes me think that these two will be happy together for a long, long time.

I would honestly be happy to just stop our story here (because, happy ending!! *grabby hands*), but I realize, of course, that there are still many unfinished threads to develop, and therefore more story to tell.

I just.. want to bask in The Happy, for a bit. 🥰

Episode 20

E20. Wow. What a finale! 🤯

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this finale, since I tend to like my dramas in single seasons, with closure at the end, and this is most definitely not that.

I’m very pleased to report that all in all, I really liked this finale, AND, I’m also very much looking forward to seeing what else Show is planning to serve up, in Part 2.

When I’d first heard that this was just the first of a two-parter, I’d been a bit afraid that Part 2 would be a long time coming (like with Arthdal Chronicles, which I’m now glad I didn’t get around to watching 😅), so this is excellent news all-around, from where I’m sitting.

This episode, Show does give us many elements of a conventional finale, with good amounts of sweet and cute among our various characters.

From Park Jin finally coming to realize that Maidservant Kim likes him and not Master Lee, to Uk and Mu Deok getting wedding rings made out of their yin-yang jade eggs, to Dang Gu and Cho Yeon preparing for their wedding, there are many things which signal Happy Ending, this finale.

Also, there’s how the Crown Prince tells Jin Mu that he does not see any real reason to eliminate Uk, since Uk’s lost his energy and his ability to cast spells.

I’m glad for that, because I can see that the Crown Prince is really speaking out of a reluctant affection for Uk, and sincerely doesn’t want to hurt Uk.

BUTTTT. Jin Mu’s not one to give up easy, certainly, and that’s when he brings out those darned magic bells, which he uses to essentially hypnotize Mu Deok, in order to make her his weapon.

Urgh. That was pretty hard to watch, even though my brain did clock that Jung So Min does a really good job of toggling between Zombie Mu Deok and Sentient Mu Deok.

Of course, there’s other stuff that unfolds to support the unraveling of our key mysteries, of what had really happened with Mu Deok’s father, and who Mu Deok really is, and of course, the secret that Uk is the one born under the King’s Star.

But, the thing that grabbed my attention the most, is the way Jin Mu turns Mu Deok zombie, and harnesses her for his purposes.

It’s trippy, and unsettling, and upsetting, all at the same time, to see Mu Deok not only attack Jin U Tak, but also, swiftly kill servants whom she’s worked with, and then, fight both Dang Gu and Cho Yeon, looking like she’s ready to kill them.

Most of all, though, it was trippy and upsetting to see Mu Deok come face to face with Uk, and then, after a moment of coming to her senses, slip right back into zombie mode, to stab him with her sword.

Ack. That’s just so horrible and worrying.

And it guts me that Uk seems willing to die by her sword, just like he’d said before, because instead of trying to get away from her, he holds her to himself, which is how she stabs him a second time. ACK. 😭

And then, as Mu Deok comes to, and realizes what she’s done, her anguish is also so sharp and harrowing to witness. What a horrible, horrifying thing for Mu Deok too.

I was expecting Uk to survive somehow, because we’re only in Part 1 of this story after all, but no, he dies, and they even cremate his body, which felt very surreal to me.

I mean, I know that this is a magical world where many things are possible, but it still felt weird to see Uk getting cremated, y’know?

WHAT A TURNAROUND, though, when the power of the ice stone within Uk actually brings him back to life via the fire.

As the fire started burning blue, I remembered all the various times that our characters have mentioned that the ice stone has no form, and therefore, can be water, or fire, or wind.

And it started to come together in my head, that with the cremation, the ice stone is taking the form of fire. Perfect.

I love how that comes together, and how Show’s been educating us on this, enough that it comes together for us (or at least, for me), at just the right time. I love it.

I also love the drama with which we see Uk walk out of that fire. It reminds me so strongly of the legend of the phoenix, which is an immortal bird that gets reborn through the fire. That’s just perfect, isn’t it? 🤩

I’m not super sure of how Mu Deok’s being saved from the water, as Uk comes out of the fire, but I can’t help but think that it also has something to do with the power of the ice stone, since Uk’s wish has always been to use the power of the ice stone to save her.

It feels like SUCH a great moment in our story, where both our leads are being reborn, in a manner of speaking, and in Uk’s case at least, with more power than I’m sure anyone could imagine.

The narrative possibilities arising from this feel very exciting to me, and I’m so pleased to say that I’m very much looking forward to see where Show will take our characters next.

Bring on Part 2, Show – I’m ready! 🤩

Next Open Thread will be up on: Sunday, 10 May 2026!