Platinum Fox

No, they didn't tell her that Yun Gap died. A mom knows her son's behavior and personality. She knows that he has been acting differently since his near death experience like he has been possessed. With the present situation, he comes back to his senses. He is now acting like himself (not possessed).

The Celestial General is King Yeon Jong's palace guard who suggested that they go to Yongdam to hide from the barbarians. However, the plan was discovered. How did the barbarians know? There must be a traitor among the palace guards.

Instead of facing the barbarians or even sending help to the village, King Yeon Jong sacrificed the people of the village in order to escape on a different path. He left the guard who disagreed with him tied and beat up along the side of the road. At least the king left him alive. It was guard's son who saw Kang Cheol ascend causing Kang Cheol to live as a spirit on earth. Kang Cheol is also a victim of King Yeon Jong's decision.

The Colossal Shadow is the spirits of all the Yongdam Village people who died in that massacre due to the decision of the king to protect his own life rather than help the people in the village. What we don't know is if the guard and his son made it out alive and died later in life or died in the massacre.

Even though the spirits are two separate spirits, you could consider them as one as they both resulted from the same event, the massacre. The palace guard's spirit is more powerful because he was more power than the average villagers. His power was enhanced through BiBi's moonlit pearl that was filled with jealousy, rage, and hate (but with a sliver of love).

Since the entire story has been about the decisions of a person affecting future generations, how will the present king atone for the grievances of something that happened a 100 years ago when his great-great grandfather sacrificed Yongdam village for his own safety. The present king must be willing to sacrifice his own life for the good of the people. Then and only then, will the Celestial General and the The Colossal Shadow be appeased.

As for Yun Gap's situation. The human Yun Gap knows who killed him. He sacrificed his life for Yeo Ri. Now the question is, was this sacrifice one of love for a sister or romantic love? Yun Gap's love story with Yeo Ri (if there is one) needs to be played out. Yun Gap needs to be able to explain himself to Yeo Ri in his own body.

He got a power boost from Bibi's moonlit pearl that was full of rage, jealousy, and hate. However, there is a sliver of love in there. Hope the love over comes the hate.

Thank you for this history lesson. I don't know a lot about Korean history, but it seems like they were invaded a great deal by other Asian countries.

Something tells me that a 100 years ago a brother colluded with the barbarians from the north to overthrow the present day king's great-great grandfather because the great-great grandfather wanted to change some tradition. To make sure that the brother came into power, the brother killed all the king's sons, but one was saved by the Celestial General. The baby was hiding in the village.

Or the other way around, the great-great grandfather colluded with the barbarians from the north and tried to kill or killed the legitimate king. He found out there as a heir to the throne and went to kill the child or use it as a puppet king. This happened all the time.

However, I also think there is a woman involved, just not sure how.

I hear you. I had a hard time keeping the minister of war, the retired minister, and the grandfather apart. Fortunately two of them get killed off.

I am not sure what you mean by shallow and empty as it is far from that. I thought the same thing when I first watched it, and in fact I rated it lower than you as it added nothing new to the genre. However, at the end of it, I had many questions. To find my answers I conversed with many posters, read the book The End of Eternity, read 8 chapters of the source material, and thought about the kinds of roles Zhao Lu Si takes. Once I did that, my mind opened up and was blown away by the sheer genius of the camera work, the changing of the source material to fit the purpose of the drama, and pull off one of the best social commentaries in Chinese dramas. It is not the fluffy, simple love story most viewers believe it to be. It is a social commentary on the age of consent law in China which is 14.

It has taken me two years to fully analyze this drama. Now, I have a deeper appreciation for why Zhao Lu Si did everything in her power to get that drama aired. That Western look you dislike is intentional and many kdramas are social commentaries as well. The closest kmovie that comes close to this is Silenced.

Yes, I read your review of it and was going to write you about it. I will do so under your review. Trust me it is not counterfeit, and it is as warm and gooey as they could make it. Viewers needed to be at ease with the topic.

Exactly, Bibi created the situation that the two brothers were in. The Colossal Shadow just took advantage of the situation. It didn't purposely go out and seek the imugi's pearl. When Bibi ( who has been cultivating jealousy, hatred, and rage) becomes jealous of Gang Cheol, the Colossal Shadow figures out a way to use this to its advantage. Just like the minister of war used Yun Gap being in the woods all by himself to kill him. By the end of that fight, Bibi understands that he created the situation and needs to redeem himself. Thus, he sacrifices himself for the good of the situation.

Presently, we don't know who the Celestial General is, but analyze its behavior. What has it really done? We also don't know what the Colossal Shadow is, but again analyze its behavior. It's coming after the present king, why? Does the Celestial General really want revenge or is it the Colossal Shadow that wants revenge or is it neither?

There is no need for Gang Cheol to get revenge for Bibi. Bibi created the mess they were in and then cleaned it up by sacrificing his life for Gang Cheol and Yeo Ri (the two people he was jealous of). The key word here is change!

Thanks for the discussion, and I understand where you are coming from.

Why, it was Bibi's fault that the two of them were in that situation. Bibi was just redeeming himself.

Who is he going to get revenge on? Do you think Gang Cheol should get revenge for his brother BiBi?

In the first episode Yeo Ri has a vision of herself with Yun Gap and a female child. She believes it is herself married to Yun Gap and their child. In the end, we don't know whose child it will be as now Gang Cheol is in Yun Gap's body. Hope this helps.

I am the one who wrote that the Colossal Shadow is the spirit of all the decisions (good and bad) of the previous kings. The castle wouldn't be haunted if the kings made the right decision at the time they made them. Each vengeful spirit represents some human who was affected by a decision made by a royal.

For instance, the well ghost took her life because the prince raped her. The one legged man lost his life because he took the book about the royal family's secrets. The Celestial General (who kills people with bugs) is the spirit of what appears to be the person who saved the child who saw Gang Cheol. We have yet to meet the Colossal Shadow (the fire spirit). It killed Yeo Ri's grandmother. No bugs infested grandmother. She died by fire. The Celestial General wasn't even present at the time grandmother died. The Colossal Shadow was.

The blind shaman has two separate spirits in him. You can tell it by his eyes. They each possess him when the circumstances require one or the other.

You really don't want to know how I think this will turn out, but yes, I think everybody will get what they need and deserve.

I understand what you mean about romance in this drama. For me, I am more interested in the spirits and what they stand for, but I am also curious if they will allow Yeo Ri to move on from her past life and into a new one with Gang Cheol. It appears that that is were they are heading. I don't think either one will have to sacrifice anything. I think that is the point of having Bibi.

By the end, I think Gang Cheol will achieve his ascension because I don't think ascension will mean the same thing in this drama as it does in other dramas. It is why he didn't get to ascend in the first place and is stuck in Yun Gap's body. jmo

Thank you for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

Interesting that you would say that Chinese dramas lack warmth. I think that is starting to change as two years ago I watched a Chinese modern drama called Hidden Love. It is full of warmth. Also, a historical drama named Flourished Peony is quite warm with a touch of traditional dark. More and more cdramas are moving away from the girls being witches with b and more towards having them work together. It makes for nice change of atmosphere.

Thank you for explaining marriage yoga. It really does make sense for this drama. Happy drama watching!

No teacher, male or female, should be having a romance with a high school student when they are in high school. I don't think anyone here had a problem with it being an older woman and younger man. The problem they had was the inappropriate relationship she had with him in high school. For that, she should have been fired. Now, after he graduated, go for it.

However, this drama set it up that even when he is of age that he still does not understand the consequences of his actions as she is going in to testify about the corruption that took place at the school. Her reputation was already ruined due to the sex scandal. It was why she didn't stop to comment at the press conference. She realized that what he said was a lie. She had fallen love with him when he was in high school.

At first I thought as you because we all thought the events took place 13 years ago rather than 100. But for 87 years Gang Cheol wandered the earth to find a suitable person to help him ascend. He couldn't find one as he felt all humans were the same. One day he comes across Yeo Ri playing in the stream. At that moment she is pure and one with nature. She is different from everyone he has ever come across. She doesn't judge people or spirits. When she is 13, she says that she will help Gang Cheol ascend, but grandmother says no, that Gang Cheol is evil. Being a kid, she believes her grandmother. Grandmother gives Yeo Ri a stone to protect her from Gang Cheol. GC follows her to get that stone away from her, so that he can convince her to help as she must do it willingly.

Notice that once the stone is not on her, she changes her mind about Gang Cheol. She is all grown up and thinks for herself. She realizes that throughout her life he has been the one protecting her. Where as Yun Gap has been in the capital and only comes to get her when he needs her for something. Which tells you that what he told that girl in episode 1 that he only thought of Yeo Ri as a sister was true.

Hope this helps. Happy drama watching.

My question to you is this, are they really fighting against evil or something that has been branded as evil?

Remember Yeo Ri and Gang Cheol hated each other while she had the stone. Her grandmother pressed upon her that he was evil. At that moment, grandmother was right. He was evil as he only wanted her for one purpose, so he could ascend. He was selfish. During the 13 years that she was growing up, he only protected her because he wanted to use her to help him ascend.

After Yun Gap's death and Yeo Ri sees Yun Gap's spirit, does she agree to help Gang Cheol ascend, but only if he helps reunite Yun Gap's spirit with his body. Both at this moment are acting in a selfish manner to get what they want. It is only through the power of love for each other that they can both get what they want. Throughout the drama the reason they are helping each other changes. Now they both are doing it out of love and not for selfish reasons.

You're right at this moment the romantic love does seem kind of forced, but that's because it has yet to play out to the fullest extent. The reappearance of Yun Gap's spirit is the final part of the story. Will Gang Cheol and Yeo Ri's newfound love and bond, stand against this past connection. Yun Gap needs to tell her to her face something to the effect of I only liked you as a sister, go ahead love Gang Cheol. She already seems to have mourned Yun Gap death and is clearly ready to move on. Gang Cheol must make a decision does he want to ascend or stay on earth with her. Can he do both? The answer comes with the decision she makes about Yun Gap.

This whole drama personifies the past and how we need to change from past practices in order to move on in the future. This is why I ask, are they really fighting evil or something else? Romantic love in Korean dramas seems to play out with the old winning over the new. Not always, but most of the time. Maybe that is why you feel the romance is forced? Just a thought, but understand.

Wow, love your thought process. Now let me add even more to your thoughts. In the past kings felt they had the right to be king because the gods willed it. Now by a human spirit eating a deity's power, the power of the gods is not given to the royalty, but to the people. The place where it should have been in the first place.

Thank you for your thoughts on this subject. You have helped me understand this drama so much. Happy drama watching.

You're right. But Gang Cheol is on a journey to understand humans. He cultivated in a pool for a 1000 years, but still doesn't understand humans. It is only when he fails to ascend and literally becomes a human that he grows as a deity.

Romantic love is a part of the human experience. To have someone care about you, love you for who you are, and have your back is a very powerful and important part of being human. To not allow him to experience the full impact of romantic love deprives him of understanding the total experience of being a human. Romantic love is awkward as you don't know if the person you love will love you back. Tradition says that family has to love you no matter what. Romantic love is different, the person who loves you doesn't have to, he/she is doing it of h/she own free will. That is very powerful feeling.

In Chinese fantasy dramas, I have always found it silly when they say that falling in love is a calamity. Why? True love makes us better people.

Happy drama watching.