Ron Does Stuff

I was supposed to do this yesterday but I was so tired from work that I just went to sleep right after my shift ended. Also, it didn’t help that they were going with the “I’m being mean to you for your own good” trope that I am honestly so tired off already. I just thought it would be better to just doze off.

But it’s a new day! A weekend! No work day! So let’s dive into this and the next new episode that’s out this weekend!

At the end of the last episode, Jang Wook was being thrown out of Songrim to protect him. Which would have been all well and good if he knew it was for his own good but to him all of this just looks like the elders being mean. Like I said, I am tired of this trope.

We being the episode with a flashback of Jang Wook being born, as well as a look into the conversation between the previous king and Geon. Apparently, there was a ~prophecy~ that a son born to the previous king would have the energy of the ~King’s Star~. Do-hwa, Geon’s wife, does give birth to the king’s son, and lo and behold he is ~The Chosen One~. After which we spiral back to the present and we see the top of Jang Wook’s tiddies. I am a man of simple pleasures.

At least no time is being spent with Jang Wook being mopey. It’s not his first time being thrown out of Songrim, apparently, and he’s intent on mastering the torrent of energy he’s received so that everyone back at Songrim will want him back.

It also appears like the flogging has accelerated the process of Jang Wook harnessing the energy within him, so now Naksu/Mu-deok has to take care of him and we get some heterosexual hurt/comfort which I really am not mad at but would have been better if they had more chemistry to be honest.

Back in Songrim, the mages are looking at the petrified body of the soul shifter, as well as a little more explanation about how soul shifting is actually achieved. As it turns out, it’s the next level of their magic system. As discussed in the previous episode, Jipsu, Ryusu, and Chisu are the first three, with mages like Seo Yool and Naksu being adept at them. Soul shifting, or the titular alchemy of souls, is the fourth level, Hwansu, changing water into fire and vice versa. Since the soul shifter was supposed to be studying at Jin Mu’s domain, Dang-gu and Seo Yool are tasked to keep an eye out.

Meanwhile, there’s a stranger in the Jin household that has called the Gwigu to him and transferred its essence onto that of a real dog. They’re going to hunt for soul shifters, and this character looks like it’s going to be an antagonist for both Naksu-Jang Wook and Jin Mu.

Back in hurt/comfot land, Jang Wook is asking Naksu to tell him something heartwarming as he slowly freezes to death. And she accomplishes it by telling him that her life is solely in his hands. Okay, okay this is getting better with the forced proximity and hurt/comfort, but still not on the same Naksu/Seo Yool level.

But let’s set that aside for now as the crown prince has arrived at the Jang household. And also on the way are the rest of the Four Seasons! With Arin on board it’s time for me to add this again because I can.

As expected, the crown prince is a dick, being under the tutelage of Jin Mu. Jang Wook shows some spine though and stands up to the crown prince. Again, I am a simple man, so show me a passably attractive guy showing some competence — as Jang Wook does in this fight scene — and I am onboard!

There’s actually a really nice fight scene and then a whole comedic sequence involving chamber pot water and a brown-nosing the crown prince that all works really well! There’s even a scene where Jang Wook and I think the series is really finding its stride, but will it be able to keep it up for the remaining episodes?

Apparently they can’t even keep it up within the same episode because we are back to Songrim and the whole “I am being an asshole about this because I care for you as a father figure” business. Fuck this shit. How long are they going to keep this up? There’s 16 more episodes of this and a second season. Somebody have mercy on me.

There’s a whole drawn-out thing where Jang Wook’s father figure tells him he’s the result of an affair that devastates Jang Wook even further that I roll my eyes at because are we not over this in the year of our Lord 2022?

ANYWAYS. We move on to the political machinations going on in the country of Daeho. Jin Mu wants Jang Wook’s arm cut off for ~threatening~ the crown prince, but Naksu proposes that a duel be held instead. Jin Mu takes the bait and says that no one will be held responsible even if somebody dies. While the mages of Songrim think that the crown prince will not take up the challenge, Jin Mu makes sure he does.

BUT! Dang-gu and Seo Yool help Jang Wook and Naksu escape, with Naksu taking him to her hometown where he will be trained hard and put away wet because back there Naksu is the master and I am looking forward to it!