Platinum Fox

Every time Si Eun uses a weapon, hasn't he crossed a line? Yet, people are okay with him using a weapon when he fights. When Baek Seom wanted to use the mic, Suho stops him. For Baek Seom, the mic would have evened the playing field against his previous bullies.

Let's play out the scenario, if Baek Seom would have been allowed to fight with the mic and beat up his previous bullies, Baek Seom's story would have been over as everything would have been wrapped up for him. He would have accomplished what his father wanted him to do. He would have friends who really and truly cared about him and backed him up, and he wouldn't be a minion of Suho. He would be able to fight his own battles which is what his father wanted him to do.

Now, since Suho did the beating himself, he treated Baek Seom as an underling who needed to be protected. Baek Seom wanted and needed to feel powerful and wanted to do things on his own. Suho wouldn't allow him to do that. Thus, Suho betrayed the belief system that Baek Seom had grown up with, fight your own battles. I think even if Baek Seom had lost fight with his previous bullies, his confidence would have risen, and then the next time he may have been able to beat them. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

When Baek Seom changes to the other side, he fights exactly how Suho taught him, use other people. Something the rich do anyway. Baek Seom's money allowed him to do that. In the end, Baek Seom's money protected him. He was shipped overseas. Suho didn't need to protect him at the karaoke bar. Baek Seom's money would have done that.

Hope this helps. In dramas, viewers want a villain. Baek Seom is their villain, but actually it is everyone in the drama as they believe the only way a boy can grow up tough is by being beaten up. Whoever comes out on top wins the prize.

Thank you for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

You're right. After a while when the Celestial General is no longer needed, the spirit will be weakened, but it will always remain. The Celestial General is the personification of progress (change). In certain moments it will be very strong, but when the change has solidified it will weaken and return when it is needed again.

The blind shaman has two spirits in him: the Celestial General and the Colossal Shadow. The Celestial General kills people using bugs. It is dressed in clothing that looks like the person who was holding the child when Gang Cheol ascended. It is the one who took Yeo Ri's grandmother and Yun Gap's souls to feed to the Colossal Shadow. It doesn't kill the crown prince or the present king, why, because they want change. The Celestial General's spirit personifies decay (bugs), but from decay comes new life.

The Colossal Shadow seems to be the spirit of all the people who have been affected by the decisions of the royals. All leaders should be possessed by the spirit of the people. Every decision a leader makes should be seen through the eyes of the people. What will help them most?

The present king has to make a decision to either continue the old ways or change the way things are done. The king wants to change the way things are done. The Celestial General is helping him by killing the royals who don't want change, but only after being given the chance to change themselves. The present king must make a decision in the end, will he fight against the voices of the people or will he be possessed by them?

This is a very well done drama and represents the fantasy genre well.

Remember Bibi is an imugi, a heavenly deity. The spirit is a human who has died. The ball feeds the spirit's energy.

Okay, then it needs the imugi's power to fight whatever it is going to fight. I think you will find your answer in episode 12 at the very end.

The fire spirit is not the one who got the imugi's pearl. It was the Celestial General that is a bug spirit.

Depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for lots of hugs and kisses. It has a few. If you are looking for none, then I would have to say, don't watch because the whole drama really is about love.

He plays Yun Gap, the archivist, but dies in the first episode. He plays Gang Cheol, an imugi, for most of the drama. Hope this helps.

You must have watched The First Frost. I was going to suggest it as it answered all my questions.

Yes, it can because it is an imugi spirit ball. Remember Gang Cheol boosts the power of the one legged spirit to get at Yeo Ri at the very beginning?

Because the 8 ft. creature is not the fire spirit. It is the bug spirit. The fire spirit seems to be the Colossal Shadow.

I disagree. The Celestial General has done nothing but help the royal family by eliminating the royals who are considered irredeemable: the prince who raped the well spirit. The prince had a chance at redemption, but didn't take it. The grandfather had a chance at redemption, but didn't take it. He was plotting another rebellion. Presently the blind shaman is three personalities (the Colossal Shadow, the Celestial General, and the blind shaman. The Colossal Shadow seems to be angry at the present king. Why, because of a decision that his ancestors made.

The Colossal Shadow started the moment the great-great grandfather took the throne. He must have been the first king from that branch of the royal family.

Ask yourself, why do these spirits remain on earth it is because they have unfinished business. Once their business is done, they can cross the river with no regrets. When you die, you either die peacefully or full of vengeance. That means your soul is either filled with love or hate or both. Bibi's was filled with hate and rage because that is all he experienced when he ate the "bad" people. Yeo Ri stops him from eating them because she understands this concept.

Yeo Ri and her grandmother are very different types of shamans. The grandmother assumed all spirits were evil and needed to be disposed of quickly without getting to know why they were still haunting the earth. Yeo Ri, on the other hand, is a pure, innocent, loving soul. She doesn't make judgements about people. She accepts them for who they are (except Gang Cheol and the Celestial General).

When she first starts to fight the Celestial General, she tries to fight like her grandmother because she presumes her grandmother was right in that the spirit is evil. When she finds out that it was the Colossal Shadow who killed her mother, she realizes that she needs to understand what is going on and the motivations behind all these killings. She always gives people and spirits the chance for redemption unlike the grandmother.

Actually, Bibi's character is crucial to the drama. His moonlit pearl is filled with all the rage and hate of the humans he has eaten. This is why Yeo Ri stops him from eating the "bad" officials. In appearance it looks like he is doing a good thing, but it is changing who he is as he is experiencing human emotions through these people. People who are filled with jealousy and hate. Gang Cheol, on the other hand, experiences human emotions through taking on a human body or literally becoming human. He experiences Yeo Ri and other's friendships and the most important emotion love. Love is the most powerful weapon out there. Bibi is Gang Cheol's foil. As Gang Cheol falls in love, Bibi becomes more jealous.

However, at the very end, Bibi gives his life and his moonlit pearl lights up (the manifestation of love). The Celestial General now has a moonlit pearl filled with jealousy and hatred, but it also has a sliver (glimmer) of love. If the Colossal Shadow had eaten Gang Cheol's moonlit pearl it would have died and it would never of had the chance of redemption.

Redemption is the foundation of the fantasy genre. Everyone in this drama has been awarded a chance at redemption, but not all of them have taken it: the grandfather, the blind shaman, the prince, etc. However, some have: the queen dowager, Bibi, Gang Cheol, and even Yeo Ri.

Happy drama watching!

Yes, she trained with the monk.

Actually, the 8 ft. creature is not invincible. There are two things that can bring it down love and understanding. The actual spirit of death can't kill it because death has no understanding of love and hate. The 8 ft. creature can absorb the moonlit pearl because it is made of mostly hate and rage. Remember there are two ways an imugi can ascend meditate for a 1000 years or eat "bad" people. Bibi understands human nature and human emotions through the people he eats. Gang Cheol understands humans because he is now in a human's body and is interacting with humans on a daily basis. The more Bibi eats, the more jealous he becomes of Gang Cheol and Yeo Ri to the point that he does something "stupid". Bibi's moonlit pearl's essence is that of hate and rage, with a glimmer of love. Bibi sacrificed himself for Gang Cheol and Yeo Ri. The Colossal Shadow is filled with hate and rage, but now there is a glimmer of love. It is said that love is more powerful than hate.

There are many patterns in this drama, and the writing is very clear and precise. What happened in the spiritual world is being played out in the human world. This drama is a morality play.

The plant is in Yongdam with Choi In Seon, the girl who was saved by Yeo Ri in the beginning and likes Yun Gap. Her father will be explaining to the king what happened 100 years ago.

Also, I loved your thoughts about marriage yoga. I figure in the end, love will be the most powerful weapon against the vengeful spirit.

It helps me understand what is going on when I can explain it to someone else. Here is a list of the characters and their equivalents. Spiritual world first, then human world.
1) Gang Cheol (wants to change things so he can ascend) = the present king (most powerful to deal with the masterminds) wants to go against customs, traditions, etc.
2) The Colossal Shadow (the decisions good and bad, customs, traditions, etc.) = the grandfather and other guy (the masterminds) They want things to stay the same.
3) The Celestial General = blind shaman and queen dowager the underlings
4)Bibi = grandmother (the sacrifices)
5) Gang Cheol=Yeo Ri both are spiritual as well as human. Both are able to mediate between the spiritual and human realms.

The human masterminds are planning a rebellion against the present king as they did against past king and are using the Celestial General to achieve this goal. Only it has backfired on them because the queen dowager's wicked son was killed. So now we need a new heir to the throne. The scholarly, innocent prince who has just come to the palace serves this purpose.

The Celestial General also seems to be planning a rebellion against the Colossal Shadow. Maybe the Celestial General is working with the spirits of Yun Gap and grandmother. Remember the grandmother died by fire.

These are just my thoughts. This whole drama is a morality play. I haven't watched 12 yet. I will tomorrow.

Thanks for reading this and all the discussions.

Yes, the Colossal Shadow and the Celestial General are two different spirits. The Colossal Shadow is all the spirits of the kings who have come before the present king. Whenever a person becomes king, the present king has the shadow of all the good and bad decisions of previous kings. One particular king, the present king's great-great grandfather must have done something so horrible. The Celestial General is the spirit who brings wondering spirits for the Colossal Shadow to feed upon for power (Yun Gap and the grandmother).

The story is playing out in two ways, the spiritual world reflects the human world. In the human world the grandfather of the king and the other guy who Yeo Ri stopped BiBi from eating is the equivalent of the Colossal Shadow (the mastermind). What we don't know is why the grandfather wants to rebel (it seems to be the slave issue). The blind shaman is the equivalent of the Celestial General, they are the underlings who do all the dirty work for the masterminds.

However, there seems to be a big difference in the mindset of the two underlings. The blind shaman is on board with dismantling the present king's reign. The Celestial General, on the other hand, seems to want redemption and is willing to take on a water spirit's essence in order to kill the Colossal Shadow. Remember the crown prince said the Celestial General is sad. Why is it sad? Why did it not kill the king and the crown prince, but only the wicked prince? In the past 13 years only certain members of the royal bloodline were killed. Why?

These are just my thoughts after episode 11. Episode 11 gave us an alternative ending, so that Gang Cheol doesn't have to die. Now, we also need to know why the monk gave Gang Cheol a tree.