[Drama 2022] Alchemy Of Souls: Light and Shadow ✴ 반환

[Tina288]

51 minutes ago, frozentundra said:

Whatever the reasons for it or where they plan to go in the script with Buyeon, her ability to bind Naksu's powers and develop/heal Naksu as a person has been pretty important. There was a lot of damage done to Naksu's soul, you know? Seeing her dad killed, being used by Jin Mu and turned into his pet murderer, her inability to love others and accept love from them... Tying up her powers and forcing her to care about other people has really been good for her. 

 

One more question I have is this: what hold does Mudeok/Buyeon have over Soyi? Soyi is a thief, she doesn't seem to care who she swindles or who gets killed for knowing her. But curiously, she is protecting Mudeok, even though she is scared Mudeok will be discovered as the real Buyeon. What is the story there?? 

There is a possibility that mudeok saved her life or cover her thieving ways. Or was always kind to her. Mudeok in a way seems to have a gift of foresight that soyi will meet her again in times of danger. Soyi decided to become fake jin buyeon to live. It was against her will. Especially with blood worm. She had no choice. I think buyeon was very kind to her in the past. I think soyi was scared because she did not tell Jin mu to eliminate mudeok. The blood worm will eat her alive. It was fear jin mu instilled in her. Also she doesn’t know she is real buyeon. She thought jin buyeon was really dead but linked the crest that mudeok is real jin buyeon that will cost her so much trouble especially knowing she is Alive. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Tina288

[frozentundra]

12 minutes ago, iamsherry said:

Off topic. Saw some replies here without react button. Why is that? Was it sensored because of lenght? Or waiting the approval from moderator(s). 

I am also curious. I wanted to like some posts and could not!

[SleepyKitty]

19 minutes ago, iamsherry said:

Off topic. Saw some replies here without react button. Why is that? Was it sensored because of lenght? Or waiting the approval from moderator(s). 

Firsthand experience here! I just recently created this account and there hasn't been any reaction until i reached fan level 3. Up until i reached that milestone, there was even a limit of the number of replies i could post in a day.

[sadthe1st]

37 minutes ago, iamsherry said:

Saw some replies here without react button.

its due to new accounts.. they cannot react to posts and we cannot react to theirs.. its a new method to counter those who created multiple accounts and had been cyber bullying chingus with their unamused and off topic reactions causing others to get -1 in the reputation.. now all these unamused and off topic reactions no longer pose any negative effects on chingus already..

 

LOVE THE MODS FOR THIS FUNCTION!!!

 

 

@frozentundra yups, i think @Tina288 is right.. so-i raided mu deok’s grandma house after she had passed away.. but mu deok has always been kind to her despite that.. 

[Paperx Atelier]

Ep16; BuYeon reproduce the ice stones since Master Lee mentioned all ice stones were destroyed. And since she was born with ice stone assistance..and Jin Mu actually discover this..so when BuYeon tried to destroy her ice stone, JinMu pushed her to the lake and retrieved the only ice stone which was produced by BuYeon maybe accidentally. Since nowadays some of MuDeok internal voice is done by another actress, high chance Naksu will be in another body than MuDeok. If they are bringing back Naksu the assassin role means the actress will be doing a lot of wire works and sword fighting..looking forward to that. SoMin the actress actually has dancing background so to act in WuXia drama is expectable..so new actress can also be somebody with dancing background and able to carry 10 ep S2 stress level..maybe rookie actress not suitable for such.

If MuDeok is in S2..mostly she will carry the Jin Clan to partner with Songrim Clan to strategize against the Queen and her followers which are growing rampantly in the kingdom. Its going to be a chess game of who is who by the end of S2..if the villains step up on their chess placement game and no matter how well JangUk and Naksu grow in terms of skill..they can't fight against the villains in terms of headcounts thus alignments of sort need to happen. Well till 2 weeks later. Cheers everyone..

Just realised..there's couple of ending for the JangUk and Naksu couple.

#1: retire in Dahnyangguk with Master Lee. But is there such a thing as retirement for famous hero in WuXia world? Maybe for staycation

#2: Naksu to train in Cheonbugwan her birthright while JangUk train with Songrim and MuDeok to lead Jinyowon..Yul mostly will be at the fortress taking over border protection suitable for his personality. Just because the villains are destroyed doesn't mean those using sorcery for soul ejecting or learning hwansu to transfer soul will still have good intentions..so gatekeepers of the Daeho kingdom still have to be vigilant and grow. This personally will be the ending I feel more suitable especially when duty and loyalty theme. Also Naksu and JangUk can continue their trainings as master and pupil..who says love has to end with marriage and kids..sometimes it ends with career and swords instead..which is more progressive in my opinion.

Let me throw a couple of well known actresses with dancing background and have acted in WuXia drama before.. Park Min Young and Shin Hye Sun. Both are very capable of bringing the role to Naksu S2 10 ep. They will slip into the role smoothly opposite of JangUk. Problem is..whose schedule are open at the moment and who has been extremely quiet during these transitional time. Doesn't hurt to discuss. Who doesn't want to be part of the Netflix family nowadays. Just a stone thrown into the lake of discussions.

[kwayteow_mama]

3 hours ago, frozentundra said:

Whatever the reasons for it or where they plan to go in the script with Buyeon, her ability to bind Naksu's powers and develop/heal Naksu as a person has been pretty important. There was a lot of damage done to Naksu's soul, you know? Seeing her dad killed, being used by Jin Mu and turned into his pet murderer, her inability to love others and accept love from them... Tying up her powers and forcing her to care about other people has really been good for her. 

 

One more question I have is this: what hold does Mudeok/Buyeon have over Soyi? Soyi is a thief, she doesn't seem to care who she swindles or who gets killed for knowing her. But curiously, she is protecting Mudeok, even though she is scared Mudeok will be discovered as the real Buyeon. What is the story there?? 

Second u there. There was some form of healing there for Choyeong when her powers are sealed by JBY. For the first time in her life, she's forming genuine connection with others.

 

My own buyeon theory - she is like a guardian angel to uk/ naksu. Perhaps she already divined uk and naksu's (and perhaps even her own) destiny and is gently guiding them along the right path without intervening too much except during a crisis.

 

Other than MD/buyeon's hold on So-I, i wonder the other way round. Did buyeon saved so-i on purpose when she helped open the jinyowon door? Like she knew so-i's circumstance that her whole survival hinges on pretending to be her. In the same vein, did she "absorbed" naksu's soul to save her because she has sensed naksu's situation?

[K-dramafan22]

After hearing Cho-yeon talked about the power that Bu-yeon has about controlling souls and trapping the power they have.....my curiosity about BU_YEON has grown super BIG  

 

Really can't wait for 2 weeks to see the development of Bu-yeon's character.    Is she merged with Naksu for now since she can control Naksu?    So does it mean that sometimes the reaction for Jang Uk is not from Naksu?  

The complexity is intriguing....

[kwayteow_mama]

1 hour ago, Paperx Atelier said:

Park Min Young and Shin Hye Sun. Both are very capable of bringing the role to Naksu S2 10 ep. They will slip into the role smoothly opposite of JangUk. Problem is..whose schedule are open at the moment and who has been extremely quiet during these transitional time. Doesn't hurt to discuss. Who doesn't want to be part of the Netflix family nowadays. Just a stone thrown into the lake of discussions.

Interesting. This is the second time i've seen similar comment about shin hye sun and this drama. 

 

2 hours ago, Paperx Atelier said:

If MuDeok is in S2..mostly she will carry the Jin Clan to partner with Songrim Clan to strategize against the Queen and her followers which are growing rampantly in the kingdom. Its going to be a chess game of who is who by the end of S2..if the villains step up on their chess placement game and no matter how well JangUk and Naksu grow in terms of skill..they can't fight against the villains in terms of headcounts thus alignments of sort need to happen. 

 

#2: Naksu to train in Cheonbugwan her birthright while JangUk train with Songrim and MuDeok to lead Jinyowon..Yul mostly will be at the fortress taking over border protection suitable for his personality. Just because the villains are destroyed doesn't mean those using sorcery for soul ejecting or learning hwansu to transfer soul will still have good intentions..so gatekeepers of the Daeho kingdom still have to be vigilant and grow. This personally will be the ending I feel more suitable especially when duty and loyalty theme. Also Naksu and JangUk can continue their trainings as master and pupil..who says love has to end with marriage and kids..sometimes it ends with career and swords instead..which is more progressive in my opinion.

If the drama ends the way you have theorized above, then i would consider this to be a good ending. Except i don't know how they can fit all this into 10 episodes if they run S2 the way they do S1. Also I have one idea to add though not all would agree - buyeon will pose a little romantic tension to our OTP. Btw, reading your comment makes me connect the almost all female jin clan like the emei sect in wuxia. 

 

Yes i totally agree that these day happy end for couples doesn't entail marriage and starting a family and all that.. 

[orion00]

2 hours ago, Paperx Atelier said:

Park Min Young and Shin Hye Sun. Both are very capable of bringing the role to Naksu S2 10 ep.

Well looking at the cast of the drama, as mentioned earlier in the thread, the orignal main casts are rookie actor and actress. I don't think they will cast another well-known actress for this drama. Park Min Young now more focus on modern drama and not sure about Hye Sun.  By this time around probably the S2 already shoot around 3/4 of the whole drama knowning Netflix want a pre-production drama

[sadthe1st]

behind the scenes...

 

cr.: owner

 

cho yeon and her parents squatting there taking a group photo so cute and funny!

4:20 danggu the photo bomber!

 

 

@partyon

THIS IS FOR YOUUUUUUU!!!

Spoiler

cr.: owner

 

[partyon]

21 minutes ago, sadthe1st said:

THIS IS FOR YOUUUUUUU!!!

It's Hobo Ahjussi Oppa now.

[maribella]

4 hours ago, sadthe1st said:

all these unamused and off topic reactions no longer pose any negative effects on chingus already..

 

LOVE THE MODS FOR THIS FUNCTION!!

This is good. I have seen first posts lecturing the posters on how to watch kdrama claiming deep meaning messages in the plot. 

 Ok if the show resonates with her, but lecturing?. Why didn't I think of the method before?

1 hour ago, sadthe1st said:

behind the scenes...cr.: owne

 

cho yeon and her parents squatting there taking a group photo so cute and funny!

4:20 danggu the photo bomber!

 

 

@partyon

THIS IS FOR YOUUUUUUU!!!

  Reveal hidden contents

cr.: owner

 

The soul shifting dog??? So cute.

[partyon]

Poll Time: While We Wait....

 

....for ahjussi oppa to shave...

 

...there's time to vote in our poll.

 

Your Event Organizer,

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Tagging:

@LeftCoastOppa @sadthe1st @maribella @orion00  @SleepyKitty @TheQueenReturns @kwayteow_mama @K-dramafan22 @Paperx Atelier @Tina288 @iamsherry  @Rollito Deprimavera  @backstreetboysfan @frozentundra @andy78 @marrez1 @Jeannie @AlterEgoNo9  @emsel @rocat @CA C @deishii @Pinkypoo @rocher22 @Yinye @Gumiho  @ilovenico @lilyphenix   

[LeftCoastOppa]

Lots of great theories and insights chingus, its a big part of makes this such a great thread.

 

As we approach the last 4 episodes I just have to say, I truly hope the articles suggesting part 2 is about the supporting characters and their side stories is indeed true.

 

Personally, I'd like to see part 1 end with Jang Uk & Mu Deok/Naksu still together as they are now, no more soul shifts.  Have Mu Deok honor her pledge to help Yul in his task at the Seo fortress, and if Yul indeed has her old body, have her tell him to burn it as she is no longer that person - while Bu-Yeon's back story is intriguing there is no way to flesh out a full fledged character with 4 episodes left, I like the idea as some of you have already posted of Bu Yeon being a type of guardian angel, let her and the spirit of Naksu merge in the end ( I'm still holding out that she is in spirit at least, the original Jin founder )   As long as it has taken to bring Jang Uk and Mu Deok/Naksu to where they are, I cannot see any sort of realistic (bad word in a fantasy drama, I know ) ending for them if Naksu returns to her old body.  Jang Uk is not Yul, he never knew/saw Naksu in here old body - He is clearly in love with the combined Mu Deok/Naksu.

[partyon]

2 minutes ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

while Bu-Yeon's back story is intriguing there is no way to flesh out a full fledged character with 4 episodes left, I like the idea as some of you have already posted of Bu Yeon being a type of guardian angel, let her and the spirit of Naksu merge in the end ( I'm still holding out that she is in spirit at least, the original Jin founder )  

 

I think the original idea might have been to bring back original Naksu and separate her from Bu Yeon/Mu Deok. Reason being that they are bringing back Original Naksu in Season 2.

They need Bu Yeon/Mu Deok back in order to lead the Jin family. If they don't do that, then Cho Yeon and Dang Gu can't get married.

Who knows what's gonna happen now that they are rewriting the whole thing.

[LeftCoastOppa]

6 minutes ago, partyon said:

 

I think the original idea might have been to bring back original Naksu and separate her from Bu Yeon/Mu Deok. Reason being that they are bringing back Original Naksu in Season 2.

They need Bu Yeon/Mu Deok back in order to lead the Jin family. If they don't do that, then Cho Yeon and Dang Gu can't get married.

Who knows what's gonna happen now that they are rewriting the whole thing.

 

 

Are you certain they're re-writing it? A few articles do indeed mention that the original Naksu will be in part 2 but a few also would not say she was a female lead, maybe its just stories of her time as the assassin prior to the events in part 1  

 

Bu Yeon/Mu Deok is back albeit without her memories, however when we saw the first Bu Yeon (fake) she clearly didn't have any memories either and Mother Jin didn't seem to mind. 

 

Bu Yeon/Mu Deok/Naksu merge - she retains a bit of the Jin divination power - she stays with Jang Uk.   This is the mistake corrected that the Songrim founder & Jin founder made in not expressing their feelings in the past. 

 

Jang Uk leads Songrim - Bu Yeon/Naksu leads Jin - the Crown Prince becomes King - Yul guards the kingdom from fortress Seo ( with So I perhaps??? )  and that free's Cho Yeon & Dang Gu to marry. 

 

Works for me -

[emsel]

26 minutes ago, partyon said:

Who knows what's gonna happen now that they are rewriting the whole thing.

Why are you sure that they are rewriting when they are in the middle of shooting S2? It can be re-editing scenes. Maybe they shot two alternate endings and are now deciding on the finale scene. Whatever I want the current story to be wrapped up in S1. I can't withstand more fillers. Also, assuming S2 is a spin-off why do they need entire cast except Bu Yeon because they never fully fleshed any supporting characters or their skills.

[Jeannie]

I don’t think it’s a prequel because I read somewhere that they are doing a season 2 because they can’t fit everything in 20 episodes. Maybe there’s a huge cliffhanger which I hope not leading up to season 2. 

[partyon]

31 minutes ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

Are you certain they're re-writing it?

 

18 minutes ago, emsel said:

Why are you sure that they are rewriting when they are in the middle of shooting S2?

 

I am not sure at all. But in cases like this where they go on a hiatus, it has most of the time (not always, but more often than not) meant that they have re-shot certain scenes / made changes to the story.

This was of course more common back in the day when dramas were more or less filmed at the same time as the drama was airing (an episode sometimes only finishing on the day it was supposed to air ).

 

I cannot be certain therefore that this is what is going on, but in my experience I would say that it's likely that changes are being made to the already filmed episodes story wise. This would affect season 2 as well.

 

31 minutes ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

A few articles do indeed mention that the original Naksu will be in part 2 but a few also would not say she was a female lead, maybe its just stories of her time as the assassin prior to the events in part 1  

 

I feel like I read some articles where it stated that original Naksu was gonna be FL in season 2, though? Or was I hoping that would be the case?

Again, my memory might be failing me, but I feel like it was stated that the ending of season 1 would be the reason season 2 would air and that it would all make sense once season 1 completed.

Doing a prequel just doesn't sound that logical nor exciting to me.

 

 

5 minutes ago, Jeannie said:

I don’t think it’s a prequel because I read somewhere that they are doing a season 2 because they can’t fit everything in 20 episodes. Maybe there’s a huge cliffhanger which I hope not leading up to season 2. 

 

Glad that someone else remembers reading this too. Thank you @Jeannie

[LeftCoastOppa]

23 minutes ago, Jeannie said:

I don’t think it’s a prequel because I read somewhere that they are doing a season 2 because they can’t fit everything in 20 episodes. Maybe there’s a huge cliffhanger which I hope not leading up to season 2. 

 

19 minutes ago, partyon said:

I feel like I read some articles where it stated that original Naksu was gonna be FL in season 2, though? Or was I hoping that would be the case?

Again, my memory might be failing me, but I feel like it was stated that the ending of season 1 would be the reason season 2 would air and that it would all make sense once season 1 completed.

Doing a prequel just doesn't sound that logical nor exciting to me.

 

 

This is a link to one of the articles about the actresses and Part 2 that I posted earlier -

 

https://www.kdramastars.com/articles/125806/20220712/jung-so-min-not-reprise-role-alchemy-of-souls-part-2-why.htm

 

Key takeaways -

 

Quote

Because of the intricate and gripping storyline of "Alchemy of Souls," director Park Jun Hwa decided to divide the narrative into parts.

 

"Alchemy of Souls" Part 1 consists of a total of 20 episodes with one hour running time each, and focused on the main story of Jung So Min, Lee Jae Wook and Hwang Minhyun.

 

Meanwhile, Part 2 will introduce the supporting roles' side stories and spin-offs organized into 10 new episodes.

 

Quote

Jung So Min's performance in the drama was considered the best against her vast filmography and acting roles.

 

When the production unit of "Alchemy of Souls" announced that the South Korean beauty won't be joining the main cast of the series, fans and viewers drew mixed reactions.

 

The actress appeased fans through her agency, Blossom Entertainment, and said "I'm not leaving. We are discussing appearing in Part 2."

 

Quote

It is said that Go Yoon Jung, a rising actress with gorgeous visuals, will lead the second part of "Alchemy of Souls" alongside the male lead stars in the first season.

 

While she took the Hallyu world by storm, the production unit hasn't confirmed her appearance as a lead in the drama so stay tuned for more updates!

 

 

On the flip side of all of this speculation is that we only have to wait out 4 more episodes to know the truth one way or the other - if the Jang Uk/Naksu storyline completes then Part 2 is most likely spinoffs - if Part 1 ends in a cliffhanger then we agonize over the ending and the inclusion/exclusion of the Part 2 lead actress ... and our wait continues