And That Yul Would Be A Better Choice - Tumblr Posts
Let’s throw out all our previous assumptions and look again at what happened 200 years ago.
Things we know:
Jin Seolran and Master Seo subdued the firebird to stop the drought and created the Jin vault as its prison
Jin Seolran did the tansu dance to refill the big lake and rivers and also created powerful ice stones (yes, plural)
Ice stones were used to create many magical relics, including soul ejectors which came to used to perform the alchemy of souls
The Great War broke out as the Choi family vied for power
Many people willingly and unwillingly switched bodies due to the alchemy of souls
Master Seo destroyed all but one (known) ice stone
All other magical relics were collected and imprisoned in the Jin vault
Mage Choi was permanently locked in a prison created by Jin Seolran
Jin Seolran was dying
Master Seo loved Jin Seolran but did not send his hidden ‘love letter’
Hypothesis:
JIN SEOLRAN WAS IN LOVE WITH ‘MONSTER’ MAGE CHOI AND LOCKED HIM AWAY FROM THE WORLD TO SAVE HIM & MASTER SEO DID NOT CONFESS HIS LOVE FOR JIN SEOLRAN BECAUSE HE KNEW IT WAS UNREQUITED.
Like innovative technology today, sorcery can be used for good or it can be used for evil. The philosophy of Songrim that any use of sorcery is bad comes from its founder, Master Seo. He created a whole school to train mages with his values to try to keep the peace. He also allowed himself to be banished by the King. Master Seo is a rule follower. Like present day Seo family member, Yul, was Master Seo only willing to bend the rules and not break them? Would Master Seo really be willing to break the rules to save the woman he unrequitedly loves, Jin Seolran?
However, Jang Uk thinks there is nothing wrong with using sorcery to save a loved one. His philosophy is use whatever means necessary, as long it doesn’t hurt others in the process. Jang Uk also doesn’t believe everyone labeled a ‘monster’ truly is one. Instead of killing them, he will fight to keep them apart from the world if they can’t live in it. Which brings us to the odd choice of Jin Seolran locking a single Choi mage in a prison that Naksu immediately notes does not seem like a prison instead of killing him. The Choi family is blamed for starting the Great War in their pursuit of power. Their family was demoted and exiled. What if Mage Choi was Jin Seolran’s lover and in trying to find a way to save her created the alchemy of souls? What if his family got ahold of this spell and used it for their own means to gain power? What if he did succeed at saving her but both of them became ‘monsters’ in the process? What if, to keep the peace, they locked themselves together in the expansive alternate dimension ‘prison’ with the official story being that he was being punished and she ‘died’?
While the story has alluded that Naksu/Cho Yeong and Jang Uk are the next incarnation of Jin Seolran and Master Seo, there doesn’t seem to be a one-to-one correlation between the people 200 years ago and the people in the present. First off, Cho Yeong is not from the Jin family and Jang Uk is not from the Seo family. However, there are many descendants of the Jin, Choi and Seo families in this story. To even get these two in position to be the next incarnations, the alchemy of souls spell had to be done successfully twice (Bueyon was brought back from the dead in utero and Jang Uk was conceived via a soul shifter) and unsuccessfully once (Buyeon trapping Naksu’s soul). Naksu only gained access to divine priestess powers by being in Jin Buyeon’s body. While Master Seo and Jang Uk both have King’s Star power, they are complete opposites. Jang Uk saves monsters, ardently confesses his love, and breaks rules like its his job. The Choi family and Naksu ended up in exile after the alchemy of souls was used in their family. Seo Yul has unrequited love for Naksu the way Master Seo had unrequited love for Jin Seolran. The same elements are there but they are mixed-and-matched differently. So the ending should be different too.
Predictions:
Seo Yul will be the leader of Songrim.
Even though Master Seo was effectively banished from the capital, it’s interesting that the whole Seo family resides far away as well. Honestly, smart, wise, rule following Seo Yul seems like a much better match to lead the school his ancestor started. In the beginning, I mistook him for Park Jin’s nephew due to their interactions. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Songrim is a school without students with Danggu in charge.
The Jin vault and its relics will be destroyed.
This vault is a Pandora’s box waiting to spring open. Master Lee has been going around the kingdom destroying all the relics he can find that are outside of this vault. Jang Uk has also destroyed quite a few of the relics that have been removed from the vault. I find it odd that Master Seo with his extraordinary powers didn’t destroy more of these relics and instead helped horde them together giving the Jin family alot of power. It’s why they always need someone powerful to defend it. Tying the women down to only marry men with no assets of their own. But if the vault and its relics were destroyed, it would keep Daeho safe with no chance for power hungry mages to use the relics to take over the kingdom. So if Choyeon didn’t need to defend the vault anymore and Danggu stepped down from leading Songrim, they could put down the things that have burdened them most of their lives and happily get married. Also, it would free up Danggu to become the businessman he is meant to be.
Jang Uk and Cho Yeong will be free to live in the world together.
If fate went to this much trouble to make them the next incarnations of Master Seo and Jin Seolran, I think it’s to fulfill what their predecessors could not. It’s the universe’s second chance to get it right. Before there was unrequited love, death, and exile. Now there should be reciprocated love, life, and acceptance in society. The two biggest differences between then and now is Uk and Yeong love each other and the crown prince is on their side. These two factors could turn the tide. I’ve seen the theory that they could be appointed Gwanju which makes sense because they are the most powerful protectors the kingdom could have and they now have the trust of the crown prince (aka future king). These two have led traumatic lives cut off from their place in society. They deserve to heal and finally become a part of it.
I am an eternal optimist but I am bracing myself for a tragedy. As long as the Hong Sisters make it make sense, I will respect the ending.