Cau:
Flaws:  - Its  similar to Naks story.

                - How the  supposed daughter would soul shitf since her brother and mom died because of this...i dont know.

If I understood correctly, the queen wants to come back to the days soul shifting wasn't forbidden. She wants to destroy Songrim (they stopped the practice and go after soul-shifters) so they could use the alchemy of souls freely to regain power.

 Kathryn_51:

My understanding is that Cheonbugwan is a "royal agency".  

Songrim is  some sort of "corporate entity" and its headquarters appear to be located w/in a magical boundary;  it also includes the hospital and the mage training facility.

And then there's something called "The Fortress" - they haven't been very clear about what that entails, but from  one image (that I cannot locate at the moment) it  appears to include The Royal Palace and Cheonbugwan, I presume that Jang Uk's family estate, Jinyowon and the general town/wharfs/etc. are located w/in The Fortress.

The way I understand these institutions is by comparing them to the FBI and the CIA. They both conduct investigations and deal with law enforcement, but they attend different purposes. Cheonbgwan attends to royal matters only (like constellation records because the royal family is linked to celestial things). Songrim deals with intelligence, and research concerning the whole magician world. 

I know the comparison doesn't fit well because Daeho is, apparently, isolated from other countries, but I tried my best to think of something close to what we know. I could be wrong though, we don't have many details about Cheonbugwan and Songrim.

I believe we are getting close to the reveal of Mu-deok's true identity.  A significant part of the audience has finally figured it out (I'm basing this on Twitter and other message boards), so it's not going to be a big revelation to the audience - but it will be fun to watch the shock on the characters' faces!   Not to mention "Naksu" who really doesn't like young Jin sister very much - in fact, I think they have upcoming scene sometime this weekend - one of the remaining ones from the 6 minute preview/trailer.

Something has always puzzled me and it is the description of Mother Jin (Ho-kyung).   

Jin Ho-kyung - Jinyowon director, the head of the Jin family, who continues to inherit the maternal line. Behind her powerful charisma, she has affection for her eldest daughter, whom she lost when she was young. A first-time mother.

What is meant by "first-time mother".???  When the show began, I speculated that Eldest Daughter wasn't born a Jin but became a Jin when her father married into the Jin family.  If that was the situation, she would be a step-daughter to Ho-kyung.   [And Holy S**t  what if Dad's original surname is Choi!!?? - okay, I digressed; my apologies; BUT. . . . What if?? ]

There are no other hints at this, but I hold that "first-time mother" in reserve to see if it means anything.

What happened to 10 (?) year old Bu-yeon?  The story in my head is that she somehow got into Jinyowon, touched the Ice Stone (I don't think she swallowed it!), was blinded and Mom/Dad sent her away for "someone" to care for her - because a blind girl would not be able to be around magical artifacts, good or evil.  That someone died and  "blind girl" Mu-deok   was "sold off".  Dad's been in Sarin looking for her.

That's the story in my head.  And I still want to know what is in Jin Bu-yeon's constellation plate.

Meanwhile, if they ever show what happened to 10 year old Jin Bu-yeon, I still think the child actress is going to be the same as the one on the boat with Master Lee.  

 jxxwxxstan:
Songrim deals with intelligence, and research concerning the whole magician world. 

My understanding is that Songrim is THE major corporate (business) entity in Daeho - we have seen Dang-gu worrying about shipments, delivery dates, etc.  The Park family is apparently very wealthy because they lead Songrim.  Songrim also includes Jeongingsk which is supposed to be educational but they sure didn't hesitate to investigate Cheonbugwan so you are probably right - they have their own intelligence gathering organization as well.  

 Kathryn_51:

My understanding is that Songrim is THE major corporate (business) entity in Daeho - we have seen Dang-gu worrying about shipments, delivery dates, etc.  The Park family is apparently very wealthy because they lead Songrim.  Songrim also includes Jeongingsk which is supposed to be educational but they sure didn't hesitate to investigate Cheonbugwan so you are probably right - they have their own intelligence gathering organization as well.  

Yeah, I remember Danggu saying he's always at Chwiseonru to gather intelligence. Park Jin did mention to Uk about joining the trade and learning business, so you're right. They must have a trade and business college/operation.

What if Nakdu and Mudeok actually exchanged souls in episode 1, and they just haven't shown us yet Mudeok's side of the story? And like those mystical Phoenix, Nakdu's body is reborn and her soul goes back to her own body and vice versa but the real  Mudeok goes missing. Like that's the end of part one. That's why the actress  Go Yoon Jung becomes the lead in part 2.  

 Kathryn_51:
I believe we are getting close to the reveal of Mu-deok's true identity.

Hopefully!  But I suspect we're in for a filler episode or two with Jang Uk's escapades at the mage academy.

I continue to have some doubts that Mudeok with turn out to be the elder Jin daughter (though it's most likely the case). The apparent lack of recognition of Mudeok by the Jin mother and others seems implausible to me, and explanations like "people change a lot in 10 years" aren't persuasive (would be a bit of a plot cludge without further explanation). And there's also no evidence that the ear Heo Yeom recognized belonged to Jin Buyeon  rather than some other elite person with access to  Sejukwon .

Blindfold-Mudeok's powers over the alchemy of souls strikes me as more in line with Master Lee than what one would expect from a Jin daughter, perhaps explainable by some connection with the ice stone. (Whoever she is, Jin Buyeon or not, the blind girl Mudeok  is related to the ice stone.)

I still wonder about mother Jin's refusal to let a high-level mage like Park Jin  enter the vault, because her trust "was once broken by a Songrim mage". Makes me think some previous Songrim mage might have taken the ice stone from the vault. Who, I have no idea. (Jang Kang is Cheonbugwan  not Songrim? Could Master Lee have been a Songrim mage even though he was a student of Seo Gyeong?)

As an aside, I also don't really understand the difference between, say, a Songrim mage like Park Jin and a Jeongjingak mage like Seo Yul (who mother Jin did let into the vault).  Isn't Jeongjingak  located in Songrim? Is it the family affiliation (Park/Seo/Jang/Jin) so a Songrim mage is one in the Park family? But master and student aren't restricted by family and Jang Uk is joining Songrim? Does that make him a Cheonbugwan  mage or a Songrim mage? So confused!

Why do I have this feeling that both JSM and GYJ would be returning in Part 2? Boo!! It’s perhaps a my wishful thinking kicking in. 

A bit of defense: It’s not right not to have her in Part 2 if it’d be about revelations and twists. I mean she worked hard to build up the story, isn’t it unfair not to have her in the climax? Unless the main goal of Part 2 is to just explain the loopholes in Part 1.

 jxxwxxstan:

I stan BTS, I know the struggle. Min Yoongi has so many names, the guy had 3 different profiles on spotify disuhduihsuidhsudihs

Oof, well, gotta stan hard for your bias ahahah

Another day, another theory.

Naksu is the real daughter of Jin family. She is the missing Jin Buyeon. Besides Uk was supposed to marry the eldest daughter. When she opened the vault, Naksu was dominant of the body so it might be her presence that opened the door. When her “father” was killed, she was hiding the entire time. Thus, Mother Jin didn’t get to see and recognize her. Jinmu might be aware of it, thus he took her in.

 It’s also possible that Buyeon and Naksu’s souls were swapped. Can a mage switch the souls of two people, excluding himself? Or was it done by accident? Or was it done by Jang Gang? He is obsessed with the spell because he can’t reverse them back. How come neither of them had ran wild? Could it be one of them is the carrier of the Ice Stone? Or both of them carry it? Like how the jade was split in half. That’s how Naksu, in ep1, attracted Mudeok when she was performing the alchemy because the Ice Stone recognized its other half.

I think the soul inside Mudeok remembers everything, but she doesn’t have physical strength to do things. Her eyes might have a critical clue. Hence, she covered it up to lay low. While the soul in Naksu has the powers and strength but have lost her memories.

What bothers me is that there’s a poster shoot where JSM is pointing a sword towards LJW? Do they have some beef between them that both aren’t aware of atm? It could be considering how harmonious their relationship now. Peace before the storm.

The show also constantly put significance on circles (don’t know why). The intro, the jade, during the training, the way they always turn during swordmanship, the water droplets.

Ohh!!! Could it be Tansu, the splitting of water droplets to gain energy, is a clue that something (or someone) important was slice in half? And they needed to put them back together to solve the mysteries.

 wanderee:

Why do I have this feeling that both JSM and GYJ would be returning in Part 2? Boo!! It’s perhaps a my wishful thinking kicking in. 

A bit of defense: It’s not right not to have her in Part 2 if it’d be about revelations and twists. I mean she worked hard to build up the story, isn’t it unfair not to have her in the climax? Unless the main goal of Part 2 is to just explain the loopholes in Part 1.

My gut feel is JSM will appear as a cameo.. just because she's PD PJH go to actress LOL

 scenesonabridge:

My gut feel is JSM will appear as a cameo.. just because she's PD PJH go to actress LOL

What is PD and PJH lol?

 wanderee:
What bothers me is that there’s a poster shoot where JSM is pointing a sword towards LJW? Do they have some beef between them that both aren’t aware of atm? It could be considering how harmonious their relationship now. Peace before the storm.

Yeah, I have been worrying about it since I watched the BTS video of the photoshoot. There will also be another poster where Jang Uk hides Mu Deok's right eye. where the light emitting is the weakest side. Will he hide sth from her? (but not entirely because only one of her eyes) Will he try to prevent someone from escaping the body? (because one eye for one soul) Ughhhhhhhhh ohh god, our boi Jang Uk tryna save them both?

 wanderee:
The show also constantly put significance on circles (don’t know why). The intro, the jade, during the training, the way they always turn during swordmanship, the water droplets.

Ohh about this, we have discussed it, but it has been buried because of the new theories lmao. We think the ring on Naksu's sword can be used to put the Ice Stone in it.

 Fujihara Tomomi:

What is PD and PJH lol?

Director of AoS: Park Joon Hwa 

JSM and the director had quite a few past collaborations, be it as lead or cameo roles.