I didn’t anticipate liking this show so much. I adore the presumed OTP but also enjoy Mudeok’s interactions with Prince Wan. The actor playing Yul is a bit of a blank slate for me but he has a gorgeous voice so he will do. Jung Somin is a gem in this and fortunately for me, I love Lee Jaewook in this as I either love his role in a show or can’t stand it (when he is constantly being an arrogant, shouty, aggressive jerk like in Extraordinary You).

This weeks installments was both enjoyable and not enjoyed. I hope the mirrorverse situation in Jinyowon will propel Mu-deok-Naksu storyline/situation. This chimera plot not moving is what I'm dissatisfied with in AoS.

Alchemy of Souls is really playing with it's actors. What a juxtapose of Master Heo bowing to a clearly younger Teacher Lee (Im Chul-soo), I just got lost in the laughter... Park Jin running around in diapers🙈😂 some decades ago and Lee patting Jin's back afterwards with Jin receiving the pat and grinning ear to ear...what a parody. I enjoyed the parody over and over thanks to the backward button. I don't know how much laughter they'd have shooting this in the behind the scenes but this is my highlight for this week in Alchemy of Souls.

I'm guessing Cho-yeon played dirty with her sisters disappearance. Not the villain kind of dirty, but the understudy kind of dirty.

I guess we are now having a love heptagon with Cho-yeon and Dang-gu in the mix, though I pray she notices Dang-gu before it's too late.

Just ramming on on the romance pairs. On the basis of soul(Naksu), there's a good glimmer of hope that they'll (Uk and Mudeok) be, but if it's body(Mudeok), this will be an asymptote love. I hope they tow the soul route when that arc materializes and save me the heartbreak if they know they won't pair Mudeok with Yul or CP Won.

I can't help but see elements of Arthurian legend in this series. The magic perfume and rings that bind lovers thing just screams Tristan and Isolde to me, with a mistake by the messenget leading to the the love magic working on the wrong people.

Wook's Cottagecore Fantasies is the spinoff home decorating/House-on-Wheels/Hyori's Homestay show I never knew I needed. Just imagine the weekly special guests!

I have no idea where this story is going…& I love that.

There’s a lot of beat changes within a single scene which is both hard to write, & certainly a challenge for actors to both understand the quick shifts in beat/tone and to act it out well - JSM & LJW do it so well in mastering the craft of acting, playing out the nuances with so much depth & subtle changes that forces me to rewatch each episode to catch it all. Ahh, such brilliant acting from the two.

I like how even though MD has lingering nostalgia & feelings for Yul, she is as rough & honest with him as she is with Wook…which leads me to wonder what MD in love will actually look like….(throwing finger hearts at Wook instead of knives?)

Can't wait to see Go Won and Jang Wook's chemistry in next episode.
If they are not cousins, they can really be a best friend together.
I sincerely hope MuDeok's character will not involves in triangle/square love... can't remember Hong sisters drama which emphasized on one 🤔.

Thank you, @alathe, for the weecap! I like the interactions between the three men-seasons. Though they are from different families, they grew up together and consider each other a brother.

The show is beginning to divert from the main story. The training was too short and Uk arrogance is growing as more attention is paid to Mu-deok. Master Lee is the most interesting character because his skill surpasses all others but he roams like an outsider.

The palace politics is another muddy side channel. At some point, the Crown and mages battled for control with a separate truce between magic and state. The Jin clan seems to weld more power than the other three major houses ( and what of the 7 lower ones?) The Crown Prince seems to be an outlier, too. The dead king relied on Jang magic; the new king has it with his son and Jin Mu.

The biggest tangent is MD going missing under a Potter-like spell. The show hits on all cylinders when MD and Uk are together. And the marriage solution is a non-starter.

Yul was swoony when he declined breakfast as not to burden Mu-deok, then offered to help and learn how to cook. He even lied to Jin when asked if he remembered anything else about Naksu. Their childhood connection would've made an epic love story.

I love Mu-deok's newfound relationship with Crown Prince Won. She speaks so freely to him. It was sweet how he looked out for Wook as he has no intention of killing him and offered to take in Mu-deok.

Were the Four Seasons not childhood friends? Cho-yeon calls them "young master" and Dang-gu calls her "lady." I wish the four of them spoke casually ("Wookie") and hope she doesn't end up with Dang-gu as a consolation prize whom she has no feelings for.

Master Lee is the funnest character. He's brave for bringing Gwigu to Songrim where someone from Jinyowon could catch him. I want him to be Naksu's master since Wook already has a master. Celibacy must be the fountain of youth.

Wook's pettiness toward Yul by telling him to drink the chaste tea was amusing. Thanks lots for the weecap, @alathe!

This show isn't pulling it's SLS punches for me, every time either of them are reminiscing I’m entranced omg (Wook being like ‘wait what’s going on??? where is this sudden breeze coming from???’ is me). I think it’s extra magnetic because I’m a sucker for a tragic romance, so it’s even more heart tugging since technically Naksu as Yul knew her is dead and for Mudeok it’s all just a painful reminder of her even more painful past. Don’t come for me, I’m team Wook for endgame still but ah sweet and gentle Seo Yul with those glossy lips *sighs*. I absolutely love that it seems like the Crown Prince has been added to this hot mess of geometrical love where everyone is in love with everyone and most of them in love with Naksu/Mudeok (well on their way to). Jury is out (but also heavily not in favour of) on Spring right now though, she's a bit grating with her one track 'I want Wook' mind.

As for the rest of the plot that isn’t Gossip Girl-esque, interesting what they might be setting up in terms of who MD really is (seems like they could be hinting at her being the long lost daughter?) but also the hints that MD's soul is alive 'still' and an interesting twist about Naksu’s dad going a bit insane, I wonder who was behind that. I love that both the ‘bad’ and ‘good’ guys are matching each other in terms of strategy somewhat - flushing Jin Mu’s secret out and having Yul and Danggu spinderman-ing on the roof was smart play by Jin, but for a man so smart why on earth isn’t he realising he’s going to create his own worst enemy by continuing to ostracise Wook and keep him in the dark? But I can also see that Wook would be the type of idiot - uh passionate individual - who would jump straight first into the problem if he was told about it so I guess rock and a hard place it is indeed.

Sooooo good. How many boys will be in love with Mudeok by the time this is over? Even the crown prince is becoming besotted. 😆 Hong sisters are doing what they do best which is banter. And most of it in the FL to all the flower boys. I’m staying until that gets old.

this show reminds me of a bunch of anime. in particular demon slayer, naruto and gintama. which is a huge compliment cuz I like all those animes

Not my favorite episodes - 25% was taken up with non-starter Yul and Naksu.

"In a magical haze, she comes face to face with the original Mu-deok. " haha, original Mu-deok turned around to look at Natsu/Mudeok as if to say - Hi there! I've been here all along. (I'm sure that Mu-deok's soul is still in her body - keeping Natsu's soul on life-support)

"In Jinyowon, Mu-deok stands before the mirror, watching her own face smirk back at her" The mirror image didn't just smirk - she said: "So it is you. It has been a long time."

Only a JIN can open up the vault at Jinyowon.

As far as I'm concerned, this particular mystery is wrapped up - but there are 10 more behind it

All aboard the Cho-yeon/Dang-gu ship! His infatuation with her is (so far) my favorite thing about her, but I love it enough to make me forgive her for being so annoyingly self-centered and waaaaaay ahead of herself with this marriage. And her warning to Dang-gu that he needs to make sure Uk reads the letter when there aren't other women around? My money is on some sort of spell that makes the reader fall in love, and I'm so ready for Mu-deok to be around to receive that (or some other totally random and perfectly hilarious mix up)! How did the Jin family get so much powerful stuff? Is that just their thing? Whatever, I'm here for it.

I think I can totally understand Uk's lack of motivation in these episodes, but sometimes I wish he would explore his reasons out loud just a bit more. He was just rejected (again) by his father figure and from what he considers his birthright, and told the man he always thought was his father isn't, and that's a big deal. It makes sense to me that hiding out in the woods fishing with a new eccentric friend would be more fun than having to train and facing all of that, but sometimes I have to remind myself that that's what he's going through, and his reluctance to train is very likely related to all that baggage. I'm sure some of it is also latent laziness and Uk being Uk, but he went through a lot to get here, you know? So to me his actions make more sense in the context of his recent emotional trauma.

I'm really interested in what happened the night Naksu's family was killed. I mean, she was warned to hide from her father, which is pretty chilling. I also wonder how the (gross, crappy, dying, original) king's death played out - did he not want to advertise what he had done? But then did he still expect "his" offspring to become the next ruler? Did his brother take it by force, or was the brother (and current king) the one who covered up the fact that Uk was born under the star? I'm guessing all these events are connected, and I'm looking forward to unraveling them more in the coming weeks.

Still totally loving this show! It is more fun than it has any right to be, and even Wan is growing on me despite at first being presented as the absolute worst kind of male.

Thanks @alathe! Another great recap and couple of episodes. JSM and LJW are killing it - just get together already, Uk and Mudeok, and spend your lives flirting with each other!

However, every time Im Chulsoo turns up on my screen, I get Vincenzo flashbacks and keep referring to him as Agent Ahn. The side-effects of doing too well in a previous role...

And the enjoyment continues into week 3! Thank you for the recap - it captures the excitement and appreciation for the drama and all it's fun touches. I'm enjoying a lot of the interactions and combos of characters - not just the ones between the OTP- which I always see as a good sign. And I liked how Jin and Yeom now know Nak-soo's identity as the rogue constellation recorder's daughter because Seo Yul shared info like how a normal person would, and they had put the into together.

I think it was sort of sad and great how much Wook enjoyed living the simple life. He learned a lot of life skills in the few days he was there than his entire life. But with the whole deal with Naksu and the duel...you can feel fate pulling him in a different direction.

The drama seems to be pointing to OG Mudeok as the missing Jin daughter, but 10 years isn't a long time ago and the mother doesn't seem to recognize Mu-deok's face. And if she was the heir before she went missing, the others in Songrim would have thought Mu-deok looked familiar. I wonder if there may have been several rounds of soul-swapping and now we don't know who has whose soul.

Just want to highlight my favorite comedic moment was when Lady Do-Joo was like she would get rid of Wook's hussy by paying her off with a pouch of money so that hussy would crack out of her egg and fly away! The actress did an amazing job with the wing-flapping.

I super like the scenes where Mudeok refused the offers of Yul and CP. Hahaha.
She said she won't let "just anyone" help her climb the tree and that she won't let "just anyone" become her master.

I'm kinda tired by Wook. He's acting like a child. Naksu spends her time to manipulate the fragile ego of Wook and the Crown Prince.

They burnt Naksu's body, so where is Mu-Deok's soul now? If she still exists and wants to recover her body, it will be complicated.

If she's the missing daughter, it could explain why Naksu's soul chose this body and why the body is not turning in stone, she's from a family of mages.

Cho-yeon is annoying. She doesn't care about Wook's wish to marry or not. She's to accuse a maid for breaking her jade becaue of her jealousy.

I like the past story between Yul and Naksu. Yul is the only character who seems to be sensitive to what is happening around him.

"Don't cheat on me"
"Just anyone"
are gonna be the lines I am going to use to flirt here onwards🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm loving Jang Uk and Mu Deok's subtle attraction for each other underneath their arguments. The drama feels like a mash up of all the best elements with reference to so many fantasy/magical stories/novels/dramas and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Finally the training sessions have started. I was already getting a wee bit impatient, especially with episode 5 I had the impression that it was dragging on a bit. Then with episode 6 the pace was right again.

It's a pity that the idea of the chastity potion was pushed aside so quickly. I would have loved to see Wook have to drink it. The resulting temporary consequences would certainly have been interesting.

I like that Wook never seems laughable or cowardly despite his apparent laziness, fastidiousness and lack of fighting skills.

By the way, the landscape scenes were once again dreamlike.

This week was a lot of fun! But also too slow? I feel like nothing happened and if this is why they want 30+ episodes I'm worried I'll get tired by the time they reach 15. And the ending with the mirror--I hope it's not just a filler. That was more magic than I expected lol.

Oh my @alathe I'm loving these recaps so much, this show is my current favorite so its great to read a recap be someone as in love with Mu-deok/Naksu and Jang Uk as I am.

Dang-gu and Cho-yeon are cute, but I hope their relationship doesn't become one in which Dang-gu loses his morals and self-respect for her *cough cough Jeo Pal-gye in Hwayugi cough*.
I like Naksu's personality, but I wish we had more insight which led to the fostering of her current temperament and mindset. I understand her Machiavellian ways, yet for someone who was--from what we see--more like a proud solo assassin, she is quite the social butterfly? Maybe it's due to her unmentioned training as a spy which taught her how to blend in, but for someone who worked and lived alone, and hid herself, she is sure good at sucking up to people. Naksu is really a puzzle.
I had my thoughts that Do-joo had the potentials of a possessive mother, still it was hilarious how she announced to Wook that she'll scare away his "lover" in the typical fashion of K-drama mothers-in-law.
I really hope the mirror arc is not a filler plot line to Wook's eventual duel with Go Won, and episodes 5 and 6 showed some tinklings of shortfalls in world building with the insertion of politics. .

I predict that Mu deok will find the elder Jin sister in the mirror. I was confused when I first saw the mirror that the image was of Cho Yeon and I thought it was because they were identical or something, but then the last scene helped me understand. Also, for me, the introduction of a magic mirror was like a cup of strong coffee. The rest of the plot was getting too arcane and hard to parse, when suddenly the plot device from my favorite childhood book Through the Looking Glass shows up. Suddenly everything else came into focus and the plot got interesting! The whole "two souls in one body" problem is going to figure a lot in the question of who is Wook's real dad, too.

Here are my two cents worth of predictions based on the comments from various sources:

1. Mudeok is the elder Jin daughter.

2. She may be blind or have predictive eyesight that requires her to cover her eyes.

3. If Mudeok is the elder Jin daughter, Buyeong, Uk may have a legitimate engagement to her. The mom mentioned that Choyeon wouldn't have had to marry for political reasons if the sister were around.

4. Eventually, Mudeok (Buyeong) and Naksu cannot share the same body. Who will survive? Who will Uk choose to end up with? Will we feel murderous ala Mr Queen?

5. Naksu's father went on a killing rampage for some reason; I think it was at Bitches Over Drama that said that he might have been trying to avoid the tragedy of someone in his household being the source of bloodshed - which eventually came to pass anyway since Naksu became an assassin to avenge his death by the hands of the four families, who were in all likelihood merely trying to stop his massacre. Classic Greek tragedy.

6. The soul shifter in the eunuch's body is not the former king, but Jin Mu's minion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so subservient after being chastised.

7. Hemp Master Lee reminds me of Hong Qigong or Zhou Botong in Jin Yong novels (The Condor Heroes 《射雕英雄传》， Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre 《倚天屠龙记》). Through sheer dumb luck and a dash of talent, the protagonists met and were taught coveted and esoteric martial arts skills by these eccentric masters.

8. Naksu also reminds me of the unconventional heroines (Huang Rong and Zhao Min) in the above two books. They think outside the box for solutions, and are often misunderstood for their unorthodox ways which get results.

9. Choyeon will likely end with Dang-gu. Poor boy's a smitten kitten - if Choyeon had been the protagonist, he would have been the self-sacrificing SML.

10. It doesn't matter if our modern sensibilities feel that Uk is Jang Gang's biological son. The lore of the story is souls can be switched, and if so, it makes for messy genealogy. Even in our world, a baby born of a surrogate would have to derive nutrients from her, even if she did not contribute the egg. Similarly, the king's essence, his soul, was in Jang Gang's body. Therefore, Uk is a fusion baby with 2 fathers. His fate would reflect the contributions of both. And yes, they did his mom dirty.

I'm really hoping that the plot doesn't fall off a cliff or get tediously repetitive. With 20 episodes this season and another 10 for next, I'm definitely worried the Hong sisters can't sustain the frenetic pace so far. Fingers crossed! 🤞🏼

I really enjoyed the first 4 episodes, but this week was awful.

Uk’s lack of respect for Mu-deok/Naksu is ruining the show for me. The way he behaved around her was like a moronic child. He has no respect for her even though she is the only reason he got his gate unblocked (something he could only dream about during his entire childhood). And now that he has access to his magic (because of her), he doesn’t fucking care and just bum around doing whatever.
I think a normal person would actually feel grateful towards Mu-deak/Naksu and give her some respect for helping him out and being so helpful. But no, he couldn’t care less. He just treat her like shit. It’s so stupid.

I’m also getting tired of how weak Mu-deak/Naksu is. I really hope they won’t keep her completely powerless for the whole show at this point.

Wonder if Mu-deok is the missing daughter of Jin family…That would make things more complex and complicated…
Amazed if it’s even possible in their universe for a body to be inhabitated by 2 souls(that is why i think Naksu can’t use her powers as well)…
The fox/evil spirit in the mirror did recognize Mu-deok as i take she talked about the original one not Naksu…So it’s quite hightly possible she is the older dauther of the Jin family…
Just hope the show doesn’t go the usual drama route we’ll be told Naksu's Dad was the evil one and the 4 families even after killing him end up being good as they had to do it as a justification…
I'm really loving the trio of friends(Dang Gu is funny and endering) and even the Prince even when i wanna smack him,we can already see there is more to him that just a puppet...Quite curious if he will end up being the rulling king as i don't know about others but hope Jang Uk will continue to live free along our Naksu/Mu-deok rather than chained by a crown he never wanted....
Lastly Jang Uk is such a fun character,he is by far perfect but the little subtle gestures give such complexity and Lee Jaewook plays it so well(that's why it's important to have a leading man who can act)
I find it so funny and intresting how Jang Uk reacted right away when Dang Gu mentioned that Mu-deok is teaching Yul how to cook,that change at light speed along his constant mentions of betrayer and cheating,im quite sure in his mind even if he might not know he is intertwining stuff far more than a master-pupil relationship...

I am a little late to the discussion, but I had to chime in because I am enjoying this ride. The second best thing after finishing the new episodes is to come to your amusing recaps, @alathe.
These two episodes were my element for the romantic hyjinks, excuses me master and pupil hyjinks. But I am most curious about Mu Deok's new ability and why it appeared in connection to the Jin family. And is it Naksu or Mu Deok who is the cause? And when Mu Deok saw the original My Deok, what was that about?
I think that is what I am enjoying right now. I can sit back and enjoy the relationships without the plot getting in the way. It is just tantalizing enough that I am enjoying it though. I am really looking forward to the next two episodes.
Also, I am not one for SLS, but Yul breaks my heart. He and Naksu have that sweet first love going on. Without Wook, I would be rooting for them. But anyone who is breathing can see the "blistering hot thing" , to quote alathe, that they have between them in addition to a somehow-soothing-mutual knowing thing they have between them. I really hope all the marriage references--Master Lee calling them a married couple and Wook sharing his wish to marry--are foreshadowing and not the Hong Sisters mercilessly teasing.

Dear @alathe
This review was thoughtful and very well written. Thank you.

I especially didn't realize that MD was distracted or that Uk might have been exhausted which is why he couldn't seem to control his sword again.

Your write up is funny :) I totally agree we are all waiting to see the leads bicker and bicker some more (and then do some tsundere style caring!)

But MD is a handful. She doesn't know how to lie low and keeps attracting attention. I wonder what will she do when she gets her power back? She is on her own if not for our Uk.

Needless to say that I am enjoying the show and am crossing my fingers that it keeps me entertained till the end :) I can barely wait for Saturday.

This is the best drama on at the moment imo. Thank you beanies for all the theories, I think they are great. My own one is regarding Naksu's father. I was wondering if he went on the rampage due to Uks star chart being tampered with. Or at least that he knew too much about it and became a liability in some way. It doesn't explain everything, but might have played a part in his eventual demise.

I love everyone's take on the recent episodes that I can resist jumping in!

My thoughts at the opening of ep 6 (or was it ep 5), the one where Naksu's dad brought her to work. I thought it's so cool that people can bring their kids to work in this universe. So glad this is a fantasy genre. I can so totally imagine history buffs kicking up a hissy fit if this is a sageuk.

At this point, I would hold out dismissing Uk as the childish, pampered boy or Mudeok being unbearably weak/ clumsy instead of bad ass Naksu (Go Yoon Jung's excellent bad ass look just makes things worse) . I think this story is about the growth in character. Now we're only seeing the gut reaction phase where characters come into contact with each other. Next will be how they assimilate/ digest that reaction to solidify their character/ relationship. I just find it very cute ever since Uk's heart is moved, probably for the first time in his young life, by Mudeok's tale of the lone bird egg and its mother bird, he just label what he feels for Mudeok as that. E.g. to Master Lee question on why he can accept his maid's demeanor, oh because she's a lonely bird egg. When he's worried about hurting her during the training, he's the mother bird who's worried her egg. Or why he can't marry Choyeon, he can't leave his lonely bird egg alone. I think he's still at that stage where there's warm feelings stirring but he hasn't really call it out as love just yet.

For Naksu, other than her physical weakness at the moment, I noticed that she's quite single track in her thinking. Yes, she's a tad surprised that she's floated into an unintended body or she doesn't really have a mark but she's so into recovering her former strength that she (and Jang Uk both) doesn't stop to wonder why/worry she hadn't go berserk yet. But probably that's the direction her character growth needs to go - to shed light on other aspects of human existence other than a spartan lifestyle of training to be powerful and take out her enemies.

I think there's something stirring in Mudeok/Naksu regarding Uk too. For an assassin who's super protective about her personal space (unless she's killing someone I guess), she allowed Uk to apply medication on her, hug her (under the falling autumn leaves) and showing her more vulnerable side while keeping him warm through the night (I believe statistically there're very little chance any warm blooded and more heterosexual oriented guy would not be moved in such situation. Also, the irony of the gag of keeping Uk warm through the night in the first episode!).

At the scene where Uk and Mudeok discussed his marriage on the boat, I do wonder, if Mudeok is only invested in Uk to regain her strength, nothing really changed if Uk were to marry someone else. I mean, yeah sure it will be a bit more troublesome and dramatic to sneak out to train every now and then. Uk did say that she can still remain as his maid and thus staying protected. And...

Oh and the master don't cheat on me scene! Thanks to AoS that's the most original master/disciple conversation I've ever seen 🤣

'Well, you see, there’s this girl who’s like a bird’s egg in a tree… Do-joo’s skepticism is drowned out by my delighted squeal.' you and me both, love love loved realising he was that aware of his feelings