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Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 10

I love today’s moodier, contemplative vibe. We still get our dash of humor and our advancing of the Mom-demon mystery, but emotional development is really the focus of the episode, and there’s a lovely air of poignancy about it. Because what’s the use of falling in love when you’re doomed from the start, right? If only the heart listened.

SONG OF THE DAY

I.S. – “Miryang Arirang.” Love the fusion-jazzy vibe, and apparently the director does too; he used most of I.S.’s first album to score The Story of Hyang Dan. [ Download ]

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EPISODE 10 RECAP

Eun-oh’s conscience picks an inconvenient time to rear its head, with Arang leaving with Joo-wal as the little boy begs for his help.

As they walk along, Joo-wal asks what her relationship is to Eun-oh, and Arang fumbles for an answer. She gets all the words mixed up in the wrong order: “Uh, the teacher is the daughter, and temporary left in his care. I mean, the magistrate’s teacher is supposedly my father—I mean, IS my father.”

He says they seemed pretty chummy. She answers that Dad traveled a lot and owes the magistrate money, yeah that’s right, a debt! So she’s here as collateral. They’re not friendly at all.

Joo-wal’s request for help lands them in a clothing shop, where he says he needs her help in knowing her measurements. Ha, sly and also kinda sweet. Although, yes, working for Mother of All Evil. Must remember that.

Arang is touched at the gesture, but surprised. As the shoplady takes her measurements, she thinks back to Eun-oh doing the same and sighs at the irony of how hard she worked to get that change of clothes—in order to impress Joo-wal—and today this comes so easily.

The shoplady wonders at Joo-wal buying a woman clothing for the first time ever, saying that it might be pity, or it might be romantic feeling motivating him. But it’s Eun-oh she pictures taking her measurements, and Arang jerks back momentarily, thinking him real.

Then it’s off to the marketplace to make a date of browsing the various stalls. Joo-wal offers to buy her a snack, and Arang grabs one of everything and stuffs her face.

Eun-oh has a heart after all, and heads back to don his magistrate’s clothing and take care of the matter. He grumps along the way that it’s all Dol-swe’s fault if anything happens, and Dol-swe asks smugly if he means Arang and Joo-wal getting close. He may as well be sing-songing about them sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.

Eun-oh arrives at Lord Choi’s home to demand the imprisoned man be handed over into his custody. Lord Choi scoffs that he has no place here, but Eun-oh begs to differ. He’s on the job, responding to a missing persons report, and the case has led him here.

Lord Choi argues that the man is being held until they sort out the details of his crime, but Eun-oh points out that such work is the purview of his office. If Lord Choi continues to obstruct his job, he’ll be in violation of the king’s own law.

Lord Choi fumes, but he orders the man released. Round 1 goes to Eun-oh, but I wouldn’t be feeling smug about it yet, given the way our murderous Bang glares at Eun-oh’s back. As Eun-oh leaves, he mutters under his breath about Eun-oh’s slave blood, and Eun-oh decks him one. Yeah, that’s satisfying.

He delivers a loaded warning that he’s not to be messed with. Lord Choi sends him off with a smirk saying that playing the magistrate won’t be easy.

Lord Choi rips into Hyung Bang for creating this mess, then instructs him to empty out the storeroom at the government office first thing tomorrow. Just in case Eun-oh should do something with his stash.

Dol-swe recognizes the released father as the man who’d been waiting outside the office the other day, asking for the magistrate’s help. Lord Choi has been paying the people’s national tax for them up front, then charging exorbitant interest. The people have been wondering whether the new magistrate might be more sympathetic, but hadn’t worked up the nerve to challenge Lord Choi by asking.

Eun-oh thinks back to Lord Choi’s taunt about playing at being magistrate. He directs Dol-swe to have the people spread some rumors.

Next thing we know, the storerooms are opened and the people allowed to claim their sacks of rice. Dol-swe protests that it’s Lord Choi’s storeroom—it’s their payment for the taxes he paid. Eun-oh waves them through, saying that he set aside the exact amount in taxes to go to the nation. It’s the extra he’s giving back.

Dol-swe sputters, “You know [what’ll happen], don’t you? YOU KNOW, but you’re still doing this! What happened to the young master who ignored injustice? Don’t get involved and cause headaches! Don’t mess with Lord Choi!”

The Bangs arrive for work in time to see the crowds carrying off sacks, and gasp to realize where they’re coming from. Behind them, Bang-wool comes rushing up the road, hoping she’s not too late. Too bad, I’m pretty sure she’s too late. Will she never catch a break?

The Bangs find the sheds completely empty, and Hyung Bang smears Eun-oh’s name in outrage. That brings out Dol-swe’s protective Mama Bear anger, and they call him a slave of a slave too.

Eun-oh appears before fists are thrown, stopping the fight momentarily. It appears the constant reminders of his base birth aren’t exactly rolling off his back, and he returns to his room with heavy heart.

Dol-swe pummels the Bang Trio and declares that the word he hates most in the world is “slave’s slave.” He shouts, “You can insult the young master all you like, but I will not tolerate you insulting ME!”

It’s the opposite of what you’d expect him to say, but a flashback fills us in on some backstory:

A young Dol-swe endures a beating, his nose bloody from a fight. Standing over him is a haughty nobleman with three peevish boys (scratched up from a fight), and the man scolds the slave’s slave for daring to lay a hand on the boys. He also sneers at young Eun-oh.

Dol-swe rages that his anger isn’t about his master (so don’t talk down to him), and that he hates being called a slave’s slave. Picking up tiny Eun-oh, he tells the nobleman to take it up with Lord Kim if he’s got a problem with it.

Now, huffy Dol-swe finds Eun-oh and demands they pack their things and leave immediately. Eun-oh waves him on, telling him to take care of his business, then heads off on horseback.

Bang-wool gets chased off the premises again, and Dol-swe’s furious enough at Hyung Bang to jump in and confront him. Which, of course, just makes him that much dreamier in her eyes. Haha.

Eun-oh rides off with his mind in a turbulent state, thinking of Lord Choi’s words of his mother being a traitor’s daughter, and his own childhood spent crying for her while she vowed revenge. His wandering takes him up a mountainside, where he broods for a good long while.

Arang and Joo-wal continue their snacking adventures. What, you’re still out? Have you been eating for hours? Joo-wal marvels at her impressive appetite, and as they sit down, a beggar sidles up to Arang, hands out pleadingly.

She holds out a rice cake… which to Joo-wal looks odd, since he can’t see that the beggar’s a ghost. Ha! It’s doubly funny because Arang offers it not to the pushy ghost at her side, but the meeker one behind him—so Joo-wal watches in confusion as she dodges air, and holds out her cake out to more air on the other side of that air. Aw, she’s feeding the skinny cat first. Then she gives another one to the first ghost, and waves as they scamper off. She’s adorable.

Then she remembers who she’s with and pulls back the wave. Lucky for her, he’s not about to make an issue of it (which you’d think should strike her as odder, wouldn’t you?).

Joo-wal comments on her insatiable appetite, and Arang explains that she got used to eating while she could, because she never knew where her next meal was coming from. She sighs sadly about how back then there was never enough to satisfy her hunger… and that gets a keen look from him. Oh, he knows that pain all too well, though in an entirely different context.

She tacks on the story that it was a long time ago when “Dad” was wandering the country. Plus, yesterday she didn’t eat at all because of Eun-oh: “That magistrate! If he’s not hungry, does he think nobody else is?”

But that reminds her that Eun-oh hasn’t eaten either, and she worries that he might be suffering now.

On their walk back, she asks why Joo-wal bought the clothing for her, and he answers, “I just wanted to.” Aw, that’s sweet. False, but sweet.

She says she came today to ask him several things, but isn’t yet ready to say the questions. She assures him she’s not usually so shameless to just take and take all day, though, and promises to pay him back with interest.

Joo-wal doesn’t mind, since he’s enjoying the company, and says it’s too bad night has fallen because he wanted to show her the flowers. Arang says the experience is best at night, but remembering Eun-oh distracts her again, and she worries that he might’ve collapsed from hunger.

In rides Eun-oh, returning from his day of brooding. He’s weary and lacking energy, sighing to see the two of them together. He offers her a hand up, and they ride off together as Arang calls back her thanks to Joo-wal. Hm, is that look on his face real jealousy, or is it just that his get-into-her-confidence plan has hit a bump?

Eun-oh doesn’t head immediately home, saying he wants some air. He asks if she got her answers from Joo-wal, but she says no. He bought her clothing (“What?!” Eun-oh asks sharply), and she was afraid that asking one question would lead her to ask less friendly ones, like, “Why are you doing this when you didn’t for your fiancée?”

Arang finds it frustrating, and Eun-oh agrees, “With you feeling jealous of your own self, I can see why.” Heh. She figures she’ll ask next time, and Eun-oh balks at the idea of a next time—does she have no pride, to ask those things of a man who doesn’t even remember her? Arang returns, “Lee Seo-rim is Lee Seo-rim, but I’m me.”

She’s pleased to deduce that Joo-wal must like her, though, since that’ll make her job easier. That gets a sharp retort from Eun-oh, but he covers it with the excuse of being worried; he’s sure Joo-wal isn’t being sincere.

Arang asks why Eun-oh’s worried about her, and prods, “Do you… like me?” Haha, trust her to bring it up first, and just like that. Eun-oh stutters, “W-w-what?”

He informs her that worrying doesn’t equal liking. She advises him not to like her (he assures her he won’t), because she only has two moons left. That’s news to him, and she explains the Jade Emperor’s deal: If she can’t find out the truth of her death in two months, she’s off to hell. But if she succeeds, she gets to go to heaven. In any case, whether she finds the truth or not, she has to leave.

She keeps her mood chipper, but that’s quite a blow for Eun-oh. NOW will you admit you like her? Time’s tickin’!

She walks off, leaving him behind as he absorbs the shock. Then he dashes off after her and whirls her around to demand why she’s only telling him now.

She says it wasn’t important, so she didn’t tell him. He scoffs, “Not important? Does it really not affect you at all?” She answers that it’s her business, not his.

Joo-wal has a surprise visitor that night, when Mom shows up in his room unannounced. She says she was expecting he’d come by, but since he didn’t she got curious for news. She’s in her sympathetic mode tonight, which frankly makes her scarier to me since I (and more importantly, Joo-wal) don’t know what tiny thing will get snap her back into devil mode.

Mom says that the girl must be harder to woo than expected—is she ignoring the advances of such a young, handsome man? Is there another man in the picture?

Joo-wal answers that he doesn’t think so, which is an interesting choice; one word from her and she could probably have Eun-oh vaporized in an instant. Then again, maybe not, seeing his prowess with his mystically stamped fan—but point being, she’d try. Mom asks Joo-wal to hurry.

At the magistrate’s office, Dol-swe and Bang-wool wait for Eun-oh to come back so she can claim her share, sitting in terribly awkward silence like teenagers with their first crush. She asks why he’s suddenly speaking to her in honorifics (he’d previously talked plainly), and he admits, “Actually… that time… I… your lips…”

Bang-wool shoots up in awkward panic, choosing to leave rather than confront her embarrassment. But she forgets her book and turns back, just as Eun-oh and Arang arrive.

Eun-oh’s in a dark mood and heads inside without a word. Arang sighs to Dol-swe in sympathy, saying he must have it rough with such a bad-tempered master—Eun-oh could probably subsist for years on his crankiness. I love that she’s siding with him, but he still huffs in defense of young master.

Bang-wool catches a glimpse of Eun-oh as he comes in, and thinks that he looks familiar. “Nah, it couldn’t be,” she decides.

Then she looks out at the courtyard where Dol-swe is pestering Arang, asking, “What do you mean by that?” Her mouth drops in outrage—that hussy! Then she thinks belatedly that her voice sounded familiar…

Up in heaven, Mu-young paces with a new puzzle on his hands—how in the world was Eun-oh able to fight off those demons? What is that fan, that allows a human to do damage to beings only heaven should be able to handle? The symbols on the fan are the key, he decides.

Lord Choi receives word of Eun-oh giving away his stash, which he does not take well. Hyung Bang says they’re trying to hatch up plans for sending Eun-oh packing, but that won’t satisfy his bloodlust now: “Bring me his head!”

Eun-oh’s still cranky in the morning, as Dol-swe presents him with his mended clothes from his fall from the cliff, and the curious talisman that was found inside. He also asks Eun-oh to reopen the storeroom for the one last villager, but Eun-oh curtly dismisses him. Dol-swe cries, hurt, “How… how could you do this to me?” Heh, and here I thought this would be standard operating procedure with Eun-oh.

Eun-oh rouses Amnesia from sleep and orders her up.

The Bangs wonder at the unusual quiet these days, on edge for the other shoe to drop. Shouldn’t Lord Choi be raging after the storeroom incident? And the saved villager? This must be the calm before the storm, they’re sure of it.

Bang-wool tries to place the voice she heard last night, thinking it familiar but not quite making the connection.

Dol-swe drops by unexpectedly to give her the sack of rice, and also a package of pork. It’s just the thing to appeal to meat-loving Bang-wool’s heart, since she’s always so disappointed to have nothing to eat but kimchi. Yet it’s also puzzling; she asks why he’s being so nice to her, and tells him not to.

Disappointed, Dol-swe asks, “Do you dislike it?” She exclaims that she does, and tells him to stop speaking “up” to her.

Crushed, Dol-swe agrees to leave her alone, the poor dumb lug. Head hanging, he turns to go, and Bang-wool bursts out that he’s doing it again, and yells, “Just act like you were before! Be crude and rough!”

Omo, is it because you don’t find him attractive when he’s being nice to you? And here he is, just trying to impress you. I know the bad boys are appealing, but honey, you’ve got issues.

He turns back. What did she just say?

She slaps a hand over her mouth and says never mind, but the smile’s back on his face and he puffs up with confidence. Ha.

Up in heaven, Jade Emperor tries to persuade a fairy to increase the fire she’s tending, because a healthy up-and-down, push-and-pull dynamic is what you need to make the fire more effective. I love how she declines his advice dourly, content to keep her fire on low heat, while he applies game theory to the situation.

Jade Emperor says it’s this lack of understanding that explains why she has no reaper courters, which, HAHA. Then he asks if she added his goat flowers (the ones growing from its back) into the fire, and the fairy tells him he’s mistaken in his belief that they have any effect.

Hades arrives to asks when Jade Emperor is going to tell “it” to Mu-young. His face looks troubled, and the only thing to worry him so much is Mu-yeon: “Just tell him! The one killing so many humans and stealing souls to keep itself alive at one time was your younger sister and a fairy of heaven! Mu-yeon!”

Finally, confirmation. It’s what we deduced, but it’s a relief to have that cleared up and in the open. Also, I’m starting to think Hades got the brains in this operation while Jade got the looks.

Hades says that Mu-yeon is stealing the souls bound for hell and turning them into demons. What’s worst, though, is that they know what’s going on but can’t do a thing about it.

Jade Emperor says they can’t act, while she’s in a human body. Interesting. So that’s why she must covet the immortal Arang, who is human in body but not killable; there must be a (super)natural law that keeps the powers of the afterlife from meddling in human concerns.

Hades points out that Arang is moving awfully slowly, distracted with other matters, and at this rate she’ll run out of time. Jade Emperor counters that, though, saying that she’s doing a good job.

Arang is back at the seamstress’s shop… this time directed by Eun-oh. Omg. Are you so jealous that you had to butt in, so Joo-wal wouldn’t one-up you? That’s adorable.

Eun-oh’s a more meddlesome customer, though, telling the seamstress how to measure Arang like he’s totally familiar with her body. The seamstress takes her aside and asks what’s up with the two men, while Arang glares at Eun-oh for his demanding behavior.

Ha, this is what he dragged her out of bed for, and he tosses extra money at the shoplady to insist that the clothing be ready by tomorrow. Let me guess: So she wears your dress before Joo-wal’s?

She points out that she already has new clothes ordered, and he says pointedly, “So what if he has them made? You’re not going to wear them.”

Arang’s all, That’s for ME to decide. So Eun-oh storms back into the shop to toss more money at the lady to cancel Joo-wal’s order. LOL. I do love the pettiness of his response, but poor girl! Who only gets to have one outfit at one time?

And then he melts my budding irritation at his high-handedness by telling her, “I’ll be the one sending you to heaven.” That’s (bitter)sweet. He couches that in his usual gruff way, telling her not to go around ensnaring men who’ll just be left pitiful later. I’m not sure he realizes that he’s not talking so much about other men, even as he’s scoffing at the poor soul who’d fall in love with a ghost with less than two months left to life. The denial is strong with him.

Eun-oh leads Arang up the mountainside, explaining, “I said I’d send you to heaven.” That’s all he’ll say, and she asks if he’s going to abandon her in the woods because he’s sick of her. He’s all, “Will you even stay lost? You’d come find me again anyway.”

Arang finds this trek reminiscent of her journey to the afterlife, peaceful and pleasant, which was at one point so nice she thought that dying might not be so bad. It was this world that was so difficult, after all. Truer words.

But that was just a fleeting moment, she clarifies, explaining falling down the waterfall and meeting the skeleton guard to the underworld. Then there were the two kings of heaven and hell, who give and take away on endless repeat: “They must be perverts.” Haha.

Next time, she’ll ask to take a different path, she decides.

Finally they arrive at “heaven.” It’s a field of wildflowers. Altogether now: Awwwww. He remembered her love of flowers! He tells her to remember the sight well, so she can tell those old fogeys to reincarnate her as one of them, as she wanted.

Sitting in the field, Eun-oh chuckles at the sight of Arang with a flower stuck behind her ear. (Which happens to be shorthand for: She’s crazy.) He says there was a girl who used to go around with a flower in her hair (“She kind of reminds me of you”), and he always found himself responding to her requests.

But one day, he realized she wasn’t around anymore. Then she came back as a wandering ghost and stuck to his side, saying she was a virgin ghost.

Arang asks how long he’s been able to see ghosts. He answers that he was sick as a child, so ill that he almost died. Afterward, it was like something had opened up, and he could see ghosts. At first he was so scared, he did everything they asked. But that led to strange rumors in the village about the boy—no, the illegitimate concubine’s son—who could hear ghosts.

His father threw around some weight to quash the rumors. He even entered Eun-oh into his family registry, and Eun-oh says he was quite thankful for having such a father. Strange, then, that his voice sounds so blasé about it all.

Arang is quiet through his story, and he tells her not to feel pity for him. Then she asks, “Is that what a father is? Does he block everything bad? Why wasn’t Lee Seo-rim’s father able to block that?”

Arang: “When you find your mother, what will you do?
Eun-oh: “I’ll ask her what I meant to her.”
Arang: “That’s all?”
Eun-oh: “We’ll go far away, and live together just the two of us.”
Arang: “Just you two?”
Eun-oh:Arang: “When you find your mother, I’ll probably be in heaven, won’t I?”
Eun-oh: “You’ll probably be in heaven.”

 
COMMENTS

I love the touch of melancholy running through both characters at this point in the story—just before you think they’re heading into a breakthrough where they might, just might, stop dancing around the issue and address their growing attraction, they’re reminded of why that’s a bad idea.

I don’t doubt that Arang truly didn’t think it would be a big deal to leave out that little detail, seeing as how hell-bent Eun-oh was to remain detached from her (and everything, for that matter). Plus, even now they’re skirting around their feelings, so if you were to take everything at face value, it seems logical that she’d spare him all the tedious details. Of course, that’s not how things shake out, so it’s understandable why Eun-oh is angry that she didn’t tell him. But I really appreciate that they moved past anger and into bittersweet acceptance, because that gets me a lot more on an emotional level.

It was a surprisingly thoughtful gesture to send her off to heaven, I thought, and also tinged with such sadness. I like the meaning of Eun-oh wanting to dress her for the afterlife, because it’s the sort of thing you do for your loved ones, sending them off with respect. So what starts out as a joke and jealousy-bait turns into something really quite poignant; he’ll make sure the ghost with no memories gets her final send-off properly. Just like he was the one to give her the funeral in the first place.

It’s also his way of making sure they have a proper goodbye, which totally brings tears to my eyes. Of all things, Eun-oh’s great fear is being abandoned, suddenly, and spending the rest of his life searching for that missing soul. It seems so blindingly obvious to us that I have to remind myself that Arang can’t know this, that she’s not privy to his inner thoughts, because goodness knows he’s not forthright with them. The fact that he works past his anger rather quickly suggests that he’s aware on a conscious level that he values her, because he wants to make better use of their time before she’s gone.

The mystery: Humans are untouchable? We’ve had lots of hints to that effect, but now we know for certain that there’s a fundamental… rule of the universe, or something, that makes the gods literally unable to meddle. I figured it was true at least on a metaphorical level, where they refused to step in on principle. But now we know that there could be a soul-eating demon on the loose and the gods are literally powerless to do anything, as long as her shell remains human. It’s a nice touch, adding a sanctity to human life in this universe where you’d assume the opposite were true, given how many non-human beings roam the earth willy-nilly.

So Arang is the bait, being both human and unkillable. What does that make Eun-oh, then? I like that Mu-young’s starting to question things, and he realizes that there’s something odd about that magistrate. I just hope Eun-oh’s big secret isn’t something heart-crushing like he’s the only one who can kill Arang’s body (with Mom’s soul inside?). ‘Cause once was enough, and after Buffy I don’t think I could take that again.

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yay...of to read.
been refreshing 10 times dis morning

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thank you!<3 now off to read!:D

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I've been trying to watch without subs and going crazy. THANK YOU for the recap!!! Now my sanity can be restored.

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if u want to watch with engsung, then u can go to dramacrazy.net ^_^

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Thank you!

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I think EO mom is dead already and her body is being inhabited by Mu-yeon

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Warning! Rampant speculation ahead!

Reading the part about the fairy and the Jade Emperor made me think it'd be pretty awesome if Arang ends up a fairy and Eun-oh a reaper, so even though they die, they can still get some kind of happily ever after :)

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That's what I speculated too, since it looks like Eun-oh's got reaper powers with the fan move. It would be perfect! But then I can't imagine the Jade Emperor letting Arang run amok as a fairy in heaven....

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I dont trust Jadie and his heavenly scent around women lol. Let them live on earth so they can have babies. If not then let them both be reapers cause Arang is a bit on the wild side. I'm having a hard time picturing her as a fairy. I think she will be kicked out of heaven on her first day lol.

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LOL i LOVE your idea... but seeing how things lie, Eun Oh being a pretty boy and all, maybe he will become the first male fairy and Arang the first female Reaper LOL

But I really really want them to remain on earth! To marry, have kiddies... after Gaksital I need a REAL SWEET GOOD ending.... aaaaaah maybe Jade's goat flowers will FINALLY be something powerful hehehehe its kind of like an underlying joke...

Thank you javabeans for another lovely recap!

AND how awesome is Jade's fringe today? I absolutely love the way they depict him as this vain pretty god.. hahahah

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"I absolutely love the way they depict him as this vain pretty god.."

Lol total player too. Handsome and flirtatious around the fairies.( Yoo Seung-Ho is killing me there ). I still laugh at his epic fail compliment of her hair style and putting on heavenly scent to welcome Arang.
It will be hard for him to trade bodies with Hades for the sake of our young couple.

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me three want them to remain both on earth and live a happy life with load of little satos and arangs , yaaay it will be sweeeeet
thank JB for the update

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i dont think Hades would tolerate that either unless he wants to piss of Jade. But why can she be a reaper too? Arang is quite badass

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If I remember correctly, Hades gets Jade's body if he wins the bet (that she will not find out in time) and Jade asked for having a wish granted. May I dare hope that Jade will win and his wish will have something to do with EO and Arang's happiness?

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I hadn't thought of Arang being a reaper too until after I had posted from my phone, and I wasn't able to reply straight to my comment on there, but yeah, Arang would be a better reaper than a fairy ;)

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Thanks for the recap!!!
It hasn't been fully subbed on viki yet... which i find quite shocking cuz Hana Kimi's like 100%.

I'm getting kinda bored with Arang. it started off great but now i'm slowly losing interest.

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Thank you. That was a pretty nice way to bring the leads together. Your thoughts though, made me tear up a little. The part about him sending her off, that's really very sad by the way.
It's the halfway point, wonder what the story will bring.

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yes :( I was also really sad after this episode. so bitter-sweet...

BUT: I've been thinking for a while now "please, producers, go a bit lighter on the artificial fog" cause there was just too much of the billowing white stuff all the time (plus the same hoot-hoot of an owl, whenever there's a night scene) and then ... there is REAL FOG and rain when they have their romantic get-together in a field of flowers!!! It irritated me so much (cause the sound was also strange in the last scene, with different intensities of rain-sound in the background in each shot) that I forgot to be heartbroken for a while. The longer I think about it, the more fitting this rainy setup actually is ... star-crossed lovers who can never be; and their attempts at romance get drowned in rain and fog.

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I totally teared up when he showed her "heaven."

He mentioned her wish about being reincarnated as "a flower, no, a butterfly."
I imagined that by showing her this meadow, he was inviting her back there in the future, so he could at least be in her presence in her next life. Makes me cry just writing about it again.
As gruff as he has been with his words, all his actions scream his feelings for Arang.
Next up, SAY HOW YOU FEEL, Magistrate!!

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Okay, so after this episode the theory that EO is actually really dead and was brought back to life by the gods to catch his mother is a huge possibility now. I couldn't help but think that when he told Arang this is what heaven is (the flower field) that he's been there since he really died when he got sick. Also that the "quack" doctor/man he trained with in the mountains (maybe heaven) was either JE or MY, and that's where he also got his fan. What a twist, and if true I'm excited to see it unfold.

On another note, more OTP romance! How Arang was thinking about EO on her date, and how EO showed his care for Arang some more, and for the two to ALMOST own up to their feelings (just confess it now guys, I beg you!). I loved the scene where EO was on his horse and saw JW and Arang and he didn't kick and scream out of jealousy. Instead he just calmly rode up to them and offered his hand to Arang to ride. And how heartbroken he was when she told him she was leaving. Aww. The subtle changes in EO are really nice to see.

As for the ending, I hope it's foreshadowing that it's actually the TWO of them who'll be together in heaven. Or earth. Whichever so long as they're with each other.

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The last scene, the way Eun Oh was looking at Arang... I thought he was going to kiss her... I was like... KISS HER!! What are you waiting for!!! hahahha XD

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He might at the start of the next episode, you never know! Hahaha.

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If only... because if they kissed they would have strung us out for a week before seeing the new eps... so I don't think he did... hehehe The moment is soo charged though... aaaww

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If only this was a cable show ....

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me too, me too!! and before, when he ran after her to confront her about why she hadn't told him earlier about her expiration date, I also thought he might get carried away and would finally kiss her.

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agree with you "Okay, so after this episode the theory that EO is actually really dead and was brought back to life by the gods to catch his mother is a huge possibility now. I couldn’t help but think that when he told Arang this is what heaven is (the flower field) that he’s been there since he really died when he got sick. Also that the “quack” doctor/man he trained with in the mountains (maybe heaven) was either JE or MY, and that’s where he also got his fan. What a twist, and if true I’m excited to see it unfold.."

I think he knew his mother is a fairy and so he is, he said he will go far away with his mother ( i think it's heaven) that's why, he said to Arang you probably in heaven.. with him too!! hahaha..

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I was sort of wondering too, if he had died and not realised it. Perhaps his powers are linked to some 'deal with the devil' his mom made (just like hers seem to be).

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Hades says that Mu-yeon is stealing the souls bound for hell and turning them into demons. What’s worst, though, is that they know what’s going on but can’t do a thing about it

Is the stealing of souls includes the killing of pure virgin young girls. So does it mean that those ARANGS are destined to hell, because it says "souls bound for hell"

I don;t understand, how could a pure soul be bound for hell if they haven;t done anything evil at all!

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I wonder if killing pure virgin girls gives her the power to turn bad-souls into demons.

In stories, it's usually the virgin girl that has to be sacrificed in order to bring about some sort of power or open some gate to evil.

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Hades' comment is in reference to the new killings—Mom stealing the newly dead criminals before they get a chance to go to hell, to use for her demon army. He isn't including the virgin souls in that (they say separately that Mom is killing tons of humans, and that's another of her crimes).

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oooh! So that line was for the baddies soul whom Evil Queen collect for her armies
Thank you for the clarification!
As what Anastassia enumerated below, two major crimes it is.

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She did two major crime

1) To make her alive: killing young virgin

2) To created evil demon: catch evil spirit

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Thank you!!

This is my favorite episode, so far. Like you said, I really love how it touched me on an emotional level..I can't wait to see how Arang and Eun Oh will be spending Arang's remaining days because I'm sure Eun Oh will be making the most of everything now that he knows the truth.

It'd really be interesting if Eun Oh did die when he was a kid, met the gods and got his powers. This makes it possible for our leads to make it through and be together in the end :)

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but why Arang has a time limit yet EO didnt? Or maybe he has another set of conditions that we do know yet?

Btw thanks Hades for confirming the siblings' ties, now lets move on to other questions..

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I think that getting Arang will actually be a "poison pill" for demon mommy. She doesn't realize that the girl has an expiration date. HAHA

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oh..that also makes sense..

but i think EO also has something to do with this..there is a bigger possibility that EO will be the one who will kill the evil fairy..it's just so heartbreaking that he has to kill her either on his mom's body or on Arang's..thinking that both women are important to him..

i hope this one won't have a tragic ending, i mean for Eun oh and Arang..i so love them..they have an undeniable chemistry..they look good together..

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Oh the sadness I felt this episode. It's not fully subbed on viki yet but even with the little that was there I felt everything. I want them to own up to their feelings anyway even if they think it's doomed to fail(u say think because i refuse to think of this ending without them together and happy. My OTP will live). So heartbreaking

On the other end of the spectrum. Bang-wol and Dol-swe's romance is a nice contrast. I just laugh and d'aww every time they're on screen together. She needs to work on that bad-boy love though.

Joo-wal is starting to get those "special feelings". I suspect that him not telling Killer Mom is either because he's afraid that she'll have him killed and no matter what crap he's done i highly doubt he enjoys being the cause of anyone's death. It might also be denial because he doesn't want to think about Arang liking some other guy and not him. Or both. I'm hoping for both because that's good for him character development/redeeming wise.

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i would like to think that BW is touched that another person is treating her nicely after all she has gone through, more so it's a man.

I read that a mudang (quack or not) sits very low in status of hierachy in Joseon (emmm, not for some in MoonSun tho)

i do love their scene, truly like a highschooler's first date, lol...

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@Danny: Very good question. IMO

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JB thank you so much. Why am I so sad...WAE ?.

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cos at this point our OTP's future looks bleak when all we ever want is for them to have cute babies at the end of the story..

Lets pray for a twist. This is Arang, anything can happen!!

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Thanks for the recap, javabeans! I was a bit on the fence about this episode. On the one hand, I enjoyed all the reveals (evil lady is Muyeon for sure, Eun-oh finding out Arang's expiration date and is sad about it, Eun-oh's ability to see ghosts came from a near death experience, the Jade Emperor's inability to intervene, Eun-oh being magistrate-y). On the other hand, I was sort of really disappointed by how little headway we're making into the mystery of Lee Seo Rim and the lack of magic. It was pretty much a historical romance drama for most of the episode with a good dash of comedy (giggled like a silly person at Arang trying to explain her relationship with Eun-oh and the ghost-feeding scene). There was just something so heart-pounding, urgent, and fantastical and sometimes even dark about the earlier episodes that make me wish for the same by episode 10. I do like slower beats, as long as they're followed by faster ones.

This drama did a great job casting young Dol-swe. I can totally imagine him growing up into grown-up Dol-swe. And I'm glad Bang-wool is sensing something familiar about Arang. I really want her to see Arang in the flesh!

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Also wondering. I thought that there was only one ghost there and she passed over the human beggar to give food to the dead man.Then Joo-wal not commenting would've made more sense. I need to rewatch the scene, but I didn't notice the tattoo on the first, bigger guy and he wasn't ghastly pale like ghost are(except ghost Arang).
Anyone want to clarify?

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Bakachild, I agree with you. I think there was a human beggar and a ghost one. Arang fed the ghost one first and that was why both the human beggar and JW looked at her strange. Then when she fed the human beggar, they just let it pass.

I like how Arang and EO are having feelings for each other. It's funny how antagonistic they were towards each other in the beginning and then now they're starting to worry about each other just not in front of each other. Hehehe

Mommy demon is scary as always. Man can she give you the creeps. Eek! But I would eventually like to see how EO's relationship with his father was like. Not just in words but in scenes. It would be interesting to see how EO being the bastard son of a traitor's daughter affect their relationship. Also what is the full story behind the treasonous act. There us definitely something there!!!

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I thought there was one ghost beggar and one human beggar too, but got thrown off when it looked like Joo-wal didn't even notice the human beggar, but did notice Arang's actions as weird.

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I also agree that there were two beggars, one human and one ghost. Arang fed the ghost beggar first, who took the "spirit" of the food she offered. Then she offered the "physical" part of the same food to the human beggar.

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Yes, this. The food did not disappear from her fingers after the ghost beggar took it. (There's no scene of her reaching back to her "plate" for another one. And when the camera shows us Ju-Wol's point of view, the living beggar with normal skin is visible; the ghost beggar with powdered white skin is only visible when the camera goes to Arang, and Ju-Wol looks at her weirdly after he sees her yank the food away from the living beggar's mouth in favor of Invisible Guy.) The ghost got the "ghost" of the food and the real beggar got... the leftover?? Will he get any nourishment from eating the "soulless" food, is what I was wondering, LOL!

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I've got to look at this scene carefully to see if the food "disappears" when she gives it to the ghost. Or maybe just the essence of the food disappears. I mean..if food disappears..wouldn't Joo Wal see that? I gotta look carefully.

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Watching Arang eat makes me hungry. I'm seriously craving a rice cake right now, and am actually contemplating breaking out the rice flour and making some mochi...

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Thanks 4 the recaps :) i'll watch the drama subed in dramacrazy then i'll be back to read the recap

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Thanks JB. As always your cultural insights make for a more interesting recap.

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Arang,
what happen to them peaches? Did you keep some for our Satoh?

Anyways, just happy that she gets to eat. Somewhat sad when she offered food to the ghost cos that's the only way they can 'eat'.

Question: if Mu-yeon's in EO's mother's body, where is the mother's soul? Trapped in the mirror or gone? This mean if EO do meet the mother, it wont be his mother. How? Should we tell him?

There's no servants in Lord Choi's household except for the 2 henchmen (one is more nasty must be caused by pent up anger being whacked bu Lord Choi), why? Is it becos Lady Seo requires 'privacy!? Do they know of her existance?

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I wonder if, and this is likely far-fetched, (as the mother can inhabit Arang's body) the fairy/soul eater is not actually Eun Oh's mother, but the fairy/soul eater inhabiting Eun Oh's mother's body.

If she is his mother, did she give him the fan? Did the teacher or his father play any role in this?

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He is using it as a weapon so maybe it was given to him by his teacher.

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I love how this show continues to surprise me and defy my expectations! And I mean this in terms of plot and characterization!

The relationship between Arang and Eunho delights me and breaks my heart at the same time. I think they both now are fully into falling for one another and while outwardly they might tell themselves there is nothing their actions say so much more. They're worried about one another; they are constantly aware of the other's presence even when they aren't physically there. And omom

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I agree, it's heartbreaking ... and after this episode, I might say they both know really well that they are falling for each other, that's why she warns him not to go that way. Sure, he denies that he likes her, but no longer after she tells him about her expiration date. For me, it feels as if they have accepted their feelings for each other quietly but are all too aware that they have no future together. It makes me want to go cry under the table now

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Noooooo my heart just got crushed even more. And how you said they accepted their feelings for each other "quietly"... Sob. ;___;

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It makes me want to cry, too! The "heaven" date that they went on? Omo! Eunho took Arang on this after he found out about her "expiration date." On a certain level he has the self-awareness that he is developing deeper feelings toward her, and that now that he knows she won't be around much longer, it's even more hopeless. But he still can't help himself. He wants to be around her; spend time with her, even when he knows he's just going to fall deeper.

And I think it's so (bitter)sweet that he's trying to give her moments while she is still "alive" that she can enjoy and savor. She has no memories of her past life, so all her memories are of her ghost life--which as we've seen, was rough and not very happy. Our Tin Magistrate has a heart--probably the biggest heart in the Arang universe, which is why he's so scared to open up.

Also, did anyone else see parallels to the location of their "heaven" date and the garden where the Jade Emperor tends to his lamb?

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Eun Oh's "heaven" looked exactly like real heaven where the Jade Emperor's goat grazes, so I was confused when Arang denied that the heavens looked similar. This further fuels the theory that Eun Oh had died and gone to heaven but was resurrected.

The grandeur of the background music when the camera panned back on the colorful field made me want to cry. I was touched how Eun Oh remembered Arang originally wished to be reincarnated as a flower but then changed her mind to be a butterfly instead.

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Arang didn't get to see the heavenly garden. She was brought to the pavilion/bridge place between heaven and hell where the Jade Emperor and Hades meet for their badook games.

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Ugh, comment got posted prematurely on my iPhone....so I just wanted to add, I squealed in delight when Arang, while getting measured with Joowal, kept thinking of Eunho, and even cried out wen she thought it was him. I was kind of hoping that she'd give Eunho one of those peaches to mirror his giving her the peach, but maybe in episode 11?

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I always love your insights on our OTP, Opheliadrowning! You always say what I wish to say eloquently, lol.

It would be sweet if they mirror that peach scene, with another pact maybe like last time. EO and Arang just make my heart happy and hurt at the same time.

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Javabeans... When Arang fed that rice cake to the ghost... only the guy in the back was a ghost. The one in front was an actual person. There was a shot of Arang holding out the cake, with Joo Wal by her side, while the first beggar looking behind him in confusion because there was no one there. And the rice cake only disappeared after the beggar in the front took it.

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oh i love this episode... on the last scene i wish they would do kissing lol... (it means on the next episode lol) :gigle;gigle: the background just sooo goood to have one kiss for them (or is it just my imagination? hehee..)

thank you javabeans for the recap.. i appreciate it a lot :)

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Thank you for the recap. I love many scenes in this episode and in the show in general. I luuuuve the music- it's gorgeous.

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Bu the way, are there only 16 episodes, or i am (hopefully) wrong?

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Thankfully you are wrong, there are 20 episodes. Yay!

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Thank you. And yes- yuppy!

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Why is this show so awesome?

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Thank you Javabeans for your wonderful recap! Love you to death! :D

Arang: “When you find your mother, what will you do?
Eun-oh: “I’ll ask her what I meant to her.”
Arang: “That’s all?”
Eun-oh: “We’ll go far away, and live together just the two of us.”
Arang: “Just you two?”
Eun-oh: Arang: “When you find your mother, I’ll probably be in heaven, won’t I?”
Eun-oh: “You’ll probably be in heaven.”

They look happy during this scene but it's one that made my heart ache for them. They don't know that they're probably looking for the same person - a mom & a killer - although I'm really hoping that EO's mom is only possessed by the ex-fairy & will regain her body back so EO can live with her. But once Arang finds her true killer - mom or JW - will she go to heaven or be reborn on earth as a real human being that she wanted? What's going to happen to our OTP? Please show have a happy ending! Aaaaahhh stresssss! So many questions which makes this show so interesting to watch. Can we have more lovey dovey scenes between our OTP - like the whole hour show! :D

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what I don't get (yet) about the mom-fairy thing is this: is the fairy possessing the mom or was mom always the fairy? in other words, is EO the son of a fairy? if not, why is the fairy now in mom's body? and why did this fairy become evil?

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So many mind boggling questions ey... Hehehe

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loving this show to pieces...glad that for once im hooked to a drama like crazy..and the whole supernatural twist makes it more awesome...and the whole mysteries keep piling up and the writer keeps on giving few answers and raising a hell lot of more questions...:D

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I'd love to know more about Eun-Oh's dad. Lord Kim seemed to be very kind to Eun-Oh, if he protected him, even included him in the family registry and Eun-Oh's running around well-loaded and throwing cash like it's nothing. Maybe even if his dad was decent to him, Eun-Oh still wants to get away from a world where he'll always be known as "the slave's son"? Hm.

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Eun-oh's father Lord Kim Eung Boo was the former Minister of Education and Prime-minister. Eun-oh mentioned in episode 4 that he is Lord Kim's youngest son.
I think that the unjustice that was done to Eun-oh's mom and her family was Lord Choi's doing and thats why he was kicked out and demoted by Eun-oh's father. (Choi was probably a high government official before). I'm guessing that Eun-oh's mom came to Miryang for revenge and end up being the shell for the evil shaman on her own free will because she was a slave,alone and powerless.

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err injustice

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Thanks,thanks for the recap!
I really love this drama!

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Ahhh.. I don't know anymore. I guess Arang is in a really slow pace now. I like how they drop bits andpieces of the mystery every now and then but sonething is lacking. I'm afraid that they won't have enough time to answer all our questions and just rush everything at the last minute.

This episode is so bipolar I can't even. I feel so giddy and all coz of their cute interactions especially at the end but it makes me so sad because I know there's an end to it. Soon. I hope the writers have a really good and believable ending for this drama.

Thank you for the recaps! Satisfies my heart while waiting for it to get subbed. See you next week!

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Did anyone ever feel that shin mina & Min ho(SHINee & to the beautiful u) look alike in version man & woman?or just me feel that way..coz everytime i see Minho i will see Shin mina in him..fan no offends k..hope they will have opportunities together in future projects..

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You are right. There was a clip on youtube with Min Ho dressed as a girl, and I laughed because he did look like Min Ah in the clip.

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Gaahhh.... I don't know who's hotter. Lee Minho or Lee Junki... XXD

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Btw...what I wonder is when they gonna start connecting Lee Seo Rim in all this. I love all the emotional stuff, but I want some action now.

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Thank you for the recap.,. :D I think that this drama will have a sad ending.,. I have the feeling that the way that they always mention about the flower thingy.,. I think Arang will be reincarnated as a flower and LJK will be all alone.,. My stupid thoughts! Hope it will turn out well though.,. :D

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I'm not Korean and not very much into history. Can someone explain to me this thing about being an oelja (illegitimate son or something)?

There has been many interpretations online regarding EO's birth (the one I identify with the most is that his father's a rich man but his mom became a slave after her family was branded traitors).

I just want to better appreciate his character given the family circumstances he had grown up in. Esp in ep 10 where EO mentioned the extent his father went to - i.e. putting his name in the registry. Is this such a big thing?

I had assumed that if EO's really regarded as a lowly person then he wouldn't have enjoyed much status and freedom (I'm taking reference from Timeslip Dr Jin's Young Woong Jae Joong's character and Park Shi Hoo's in Iljimae). But from the way I see it, EO seems very indulgent in his spending and traveling (granted this has much to do with his steely exterior and jaded outlook) but still, this amount of money and freedom??

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I have the same question above. I'm not Korean too so I'm just basing what I know from previous dramas I watched. It seems to me that illegitimate sons of lords were still treated like scum, even if their rich fathers acknowledged them. They're allowed to live with the family, but treated like a servant/general waste of space. But seeing the flashback in this episode EO was already dressed nicely like a proper little lord ever since he was very young.

Right now I'm just going with the assumption that Lord Kim is a decent man. I hope I'm right! I'd love to hear other people's opinions on this too....

And I'll echo your question: How big is it a deal back then for a high ranking minister to add his son with a slave to the family registry?

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It is a very big deal. Majority of the times there is a legitimate son in the picture to keep the family line going. However, if there is not, then illegiment son can continue the line but are usually officially "adopted" into the family as the first wife's son.

This is why I also want to learn about the relationship between EO and his father. It sounds like his father tried to ease EO's way in the world. Also EO's grandfather is the one that made DS promise to stay and serve EO for life. Therefore, there is something more to the story of evil mom's family of treason. Maybe I've watch too much kdrama but people are not "nice" without ulterior motives! ?

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Thanks for the recaps as always.

I'm loving the emotional growth between our OTP however I find the writer kind of lost the momentum of connection of LSR. I hope the brilliant writing is being entangle and connected soon.

But I still am hooked as before just not as intriguing.

Shin Mina and Lee Jun Ki, just get married already!

^^

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I just hope in every ep, they made certain scenes that bring back memories of her little by little by living as a human. Even tough as touching or watching something memorable etc

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i also want them to be together for real..lol

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Thanks for the recap!

Hmm...something abt Eun-Oh's mom/Joowal's "mom" puzzled me...

As far as Eun-Oh is concerned, his mom left him with his dad since he was young, while she lived in isolation. On and off, he was turned away when he tried to visit her. Then 3 years ago, she disappeared after his last meeting with her...

From Joowal's experience, his mom took him on when he was young and gave him to Lord Choi and she has been Lord Choi's wife (since he needs her when he has a releapse). And every leap moon, Joowal present her with a pure soul.

My question... how could Eun-Oh's mom who was living in isolation become Lord Choi's almighty wife all these years? She definitely looked different (in terms of outfits) in Eun-Oh's memories as compared to the mom Joowal visits each time. Also, the reason Eun-Oh came to this town is because this is where she was last spotted i.e. she was elsewhere before that, but Joowal's mom always stays in his house?

This makes me wonder if they are the same person at all.

Or could it be, 3 years ago Eun-Oh's mom gave up her body shell to the ex-fairy (maybe the previous shell was destroyed when she failed to capture Arang's soul), and hence her disappearance?

Alternatively, she has a teleport machine somewhere so tt she could appear in front of the 2 boys with ease. =x

URGHHH.... what happen 3 years ago????

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I was thinking the exact same thing and I hope the writers have better explanation about that... I hope this is not one of those show like Big where they left the audience hanging...haiz please Show be good to us ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

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maybe the ex-fairy inhabited lord choi's wife before eun oh's mom? And in joo wal's flashback they didn't show us her face right? so it's possible lord choi's wife took him in and years later maybe she died (joo wal said something like "don't you remember what happened to your wife" or something of that sort when lord choi saw arang wandering around the house and got all fussy) guess after that eun oh's mom was possessed and still is, plus with all that seething anger for revenge i'm guessing she willingly gave her body lol but it's just my opinion who knows we maybe in for a surprise big time! Yup this drama have a lot of explaining to do and i can only hope that they're prepared with all the answers to the questions being raised with every passing episode. I love this drama and want to until the end so preferably by next week they should pace up with the mysteries behind lee seo rim's murder and the whole ex-fairy turned demon on the loose thing 'WE HAVE ONLY 10 EPISODES LEFT' moreover i really don't want to end up feeling frustrated or silly (without proper reasoning behind all those suspense) having spent too much time investing on this drama ha!

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Thanks a bunch Dramabeans..^^ Im enjoying reading all the recpas since ep1.. I love everything about this drama!! we're half way through, I'll stick with it till the end..^^
Best of health for you girls for writing out such super nice recaps!!:D

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I'm still waiting for the episode to be subbed but watching the raw version and reading the recap has already left me with questions. When Eun-oh found the talismans that unsealed the grave, I wondered why they showed Eun-oh holding on to the last talisman found. Now in the recaps it seems they mention that talisman again and I wonder if something happens when all the talismans are brought together (like he was doing before he fell off the cliff). If this is the case, then it shows Eun-oh possessing a deeper knowledge of the supernatural world, since he seemed to know exactly what to do and made sure to hold on to the talisman. I wonder if this was all taught to him by the teacher who taught him martial arts. The teacher may have given him the fan as well. I really hope they tell us more about the teacher and Eun-oh's time with him. As well as more info on Eun-oh's father. I initially assumed that Eun-oh's father was cold to his son but this episode makes think otherwise now. I also wonder how much his father knows about Eun-oh's abilities.

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If you look back in episode 6, Eun-Ho tries to put together all the talismans as if they were pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and he was able to find them through a simple process of pattern recognition and deduction: if a talisman is marked north, and south, it follows that talismans corresponding to east, west, north-east, south-west, etcetera would be found in those directions as well, so he went off looking for them. There was never really any indication in that episode that he knew what they were for exactly, or what will happen once he takes them all down. He was just hunting down clues, as any good magistrate (sheriff to us Americans) will do.

In episode 7, Eun-Oh fell off the cliff while trying to grab the last talisman hanging on a tree branch. When Arang found him in Ep. 7 and climbed down to help him, he tucked the last talisman down the left sleeve of his robe (as any of us westerners would tuck in something important we find in our jeans pockets), and then they spent the entire episode trying to get off the ledge where they were marooned, while Lord Choi took that opportunity to cover up the bone tomb in the forest and take apart the death-shack-in-the-woods -- so that it looks like they were never there in the first place. Lord Choi also instructed the Bang Trio to get rid of the bones and remains recovered in the tombs, so that if anyone makes any mention of them, they'd appear crazy or at least lack credibility since there'd be no physical evidence to back them up ....

.... except for that last talisman, that is -- the one Eun-Ho had been holding on to all this time. And he'd better hold on to it good, seeing as it's literally the last scrap of evidence he has.

I think the talismans -- when they were still hanging up on tree branches and such -- act more like an invisible fence. Not to keep a pet dog in, but to keep curious interlopers out, and also act as a sort of blind-spot to keep the all-seeing Jade Emperor from getting privy to Madame's where-abouts and murder sprees.

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Can anyone please explain to me why the Bang trio (particularly the one in blue robes) were so pissed at semi-shaman Bang-Wool? What exactly did she do to them? Aside from trying to thieve an entire wardrobe outfit for Arang a few episodes back, and conning Dol-Soe out of a few pennies, I don't recall her doing anything else to or for anybody. So what did she do to the Bangs, and how'd they figure she'd have anything to do with the trouble they're having with Magistrate Eun-Ho now?

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do you remember that it was the shaman, pretending to have heard from the gods, who told the Bangs to kidnap EO to become the magistrate? Arang kept bugging the shaman to talk to the Bangs about that since EO said he'd help if he is the magistrate.

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She was the one who suggested to them that EO be the next magistrate, hence why they kidnapped him.

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Yup, remembered that now. Thanks. ;)

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I had also noticed the scene where EO kept the last piece of the talisman in his sleeve in ep 7 and the mention (again) of the talisman in ep 10 too. Well, it's doubtless that the talisman is gg to be impt in our leads' search for the Big Bad since it's about the only tangible clue they have left given that all other evidence were destroyed.

But I have my doubts that EO has a deep understanding of the supernatural world. Firstly, he hates ghosts so why should he be keen to learn more about them? Secondly, he didn't seem very schooled in the supernatural world when he approached Wool Bang for information after Arang supposedly left for the underworld (and when WB explained to him the different levels of hell, EO questioned the integrity of her knowledge).

But obviously the fan as a weapon must have been inherited/ given to EO by someone. I take it that the person must have known about his ability (or dare I say, has given him his supernatural ability?) and given him the fan as a means of protection. Red beans and peach blossom might have been useful against lesser ghosts but not for the malevolent.

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I ♥ the ending! :D

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I love your comments about this episode JB. Especially the Buffy bit at the end. Season 5 was gutwrenching for me but the emotional beats that played out at the end were my favorite. I love that this show plays each episode out like that. I missed my fantasy and myth genre that Buffy had. =3 Arang is definitely filling up that spot that has been empty for quite a while.

Thank you for this recap! I loved it!

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omo lol love the buffy and angel reference ...I was like "awwww..freakin cute you remember her love of flowers and the conversation about how she wanted to be a flower.." I hope this drama isn't a Shakespearean tragedy..

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At the moment the gods were discussing humans/fairies interference etc, I thought: Aha! Arang, the Christ figure!

Basic Christianity redemption stuff: The dead can only be redeemed by one who is a pure soul both human and divine. The earth is the province of man and only man in human form can redeem it and restore it.

So, will the Christian metaphor pull through? Will Arang have to be sacrificed? Or will she be allowed to be free and to live a great life at the end?

Re: the fairy... well, just speechless. I'm gonna assume that fairies were never human. Which is a big assumption on my part, i know. They aren't good women who died (again an assumption) but are another kind of being. So, do fairies die? And if fairies die, do they become reapers? How can fairies have kids? How can fairies have families that are destroyed by someone? How can fairies have vengeance against someone for knocking off their entire family? I mean.. are humans the only ones with families?

If Big Bad needs human blood to stay alive, then she is kinda immortal on layaway, in a kind of conditional way.....until she gets an immortal person's body. So is Meo-Young sister a fairy who pulled a "leaving her first estate/Genesis 6 transference human-fairy combo" and is living on earth? If Big Bad didn't get human blood, would she immediately be stripped of her human facade and be returned to fairy punishment? Ah the thoughts, the questions!

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Just rewatched the fully-translated episode, instead of the semi-translated and wow! So grims and fairies are humanoid species in heaven? If so, then at the same time Eun-ho's mom's family was being killed off...somewhere else Big Bad was behaving very unfairy-like and going down to earth? So both Eun-ho's mom and Big Bad have revenge issues? ...if they're different people, I mean.

Cause if fairies marry Grims and have children, their kids/semi-divine offspring are in the heavenly realm, right? (if they have kids.)

So if Eun-ho's mom is actually really Big Bad (and not merely swallowed up by her) then Eun-ho's mom's entire
family would've been fairies who were dispatched by the Jade Emperor and her revenge is against the heavenly powers that did her in.

But if Eun-ho's mom isn't big bad, then Eun-ho's mom wanted revenge against a living person -- the one who called her family a traitor and who killed them all and made her a slave. And who the heck was that living person she wanted revenge against? Would she have married him for revenge? Was she Lord Choi's wife who got swallowed up? The great merging of the two vengeful women? But then he would've probably known the sister of the traitor.....uhm...maybe it was someone equally important and lordly.

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Could be that that the fairy fell in love with a human man, got pregnant with EO and that man and his family got murdered by Jade Emperor who might have been in love with her.

She got so mad that she decided to avenge the death of her loved ones. So she resorted to doing what she is doing now.

EO inherited his powers from her. She taught him how to protect himself?

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"So grims and fairies are humanoid species in heaven?"

Base on my recollection of the conversation between Jadie and Reaper Boss in ep 2, my guess is that as the subjects of the afterworld, fairies and grim reapers used to be humans. Perhaps fairies are ex-virgins with pure souls; grim reapers are ex-warriors bound for hell but for whatever reason, are somehow drafted into Hades's army.

So, now that we know that the Big Bad is an ex-fairy, my latest theory is that Mu-yeon escaped back to earth to avenge crimes against herself and her family--something that her brother learned to let go but she couldn't? Would it be a stretch to speculate that around 400 years ago, she returned to earth as kinda like an arang and managed to find a way to enter into a sorta symbiotic relationship with human hosts--with Eun-ho's mom being the latest one.

But to sustain this being's existence, it needs to feed on the energy of a pure virgin soul every 3-4 years. Maybe she did get her revenge back then, but because she killed quite a few virgins in the process, she didn't want to go back to the underworld because she knew that she would be forever doom to spend an eternity in the nastiest level of hell. And now Big Bad is desperate and brazen enough to build a demon army in preparation for the final epic showdown. Eeeeppp!!

I am starting to think that Lord Choi might the man Eun-ho's mom has been after all these years. Mom readily agreed to become Big Bad's new host after the previous expired because she gets to be Lord Choi's boss. If that's the case, then what happened to her soul? Is is merged with the Big Bad or is it sealed off somewhere?

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Episode 9 and now 10... What a great story :) I really loved seeing Eun-oh starting to act as a proper magistrate! And Arang and Eun-oh beginning to show their feelings!

I want to LOL at the thought of Mu-yeong being Eun-oh's uncle though. :P

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I was thinking the same thing about Mu-young being Eun-oh's uncle unless of course the Evil Mother isn't his real mom which I kind of hope.

I agree Arang and Eun-oh need to get it on with only two months left.

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Can anyone please explain to me why the Bang trio (particularly the one in blue robes) were so pissed at semi-shaman Bang-Wool? What exactly did she do to them? Aside from trying to thieve an entire wardrobe outfit for Arang a few episodes back, and conning Dol-Soe out of a few pennies, I don’t recall her doing anything else to or for anybody. So what did she do to the Bangs, and how’d they figure she’d have anything to do with the trouble they’re having with Magistrate Eun-Ho now?

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Simple - if she hadn't approached them with the idea of kidnapping EO and giving him the title of magistrate in ep 1, they wouldn't have been caught in a catch-22 situation like the one they are having now with Lord Choi and EO. :)

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Oh -- forgot about that. Makes perfect sense. ;p

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It's amazing how Shin Min Ah has this aura of innocence along with sex appeal, bitchiness, toughness, etc.. She plays such good characters. I thought that she would be the sweet ghost requesting help from the magistrate but I didn't expect a tomboyish, grumpy, sweet ghost.

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for the first THANK YOU girlfriday <3 I love all the little details of this drama, I find interesting feeling between Arang and Eun-oh that's growing day by day proving that a profound feeling :D so coool...:D I love the character of Eun-oh : as Arang call him cold man with a warm heart, i AGREE :D arang :) despite the solitude and shade to be an illegitimate son of a nobleman of a woman servant traitors a mother devil who abandoned him, despite everything has grown a true noble,OK i admit it i'm in love with lee jun ki :D:D finally he's realizing that Arang means much more, I love the character Arang sweet as the old lee seo rim , after the death acquired tenacity with a strong character and determination isn't afraid of anyone, when she asked to Eun -ih ''if you like me''!? it was so CUTEEEE love it :D I don't believe to in the love's other man :D because it will be too late when Joo-wal will notice his feeling, let's not forget the devil woman is his student, OK OK OK :D many elements in this drama make it one of my fav drama ever REALLY awesome :D I love your recap for this drama gives me another vision more clear is beautiful.......... I also like to read the comments complete my vision to drama Thanks ALL fans of this drama <3<3<3

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Thanks JB!.

This is getting good.

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Javabeans, thank you for the Song of day “Miryang Arirang.” Love lisening to it while reading your recap.
Trying to download it to my phone also.
I'm wondering if that was Lee Jun-ki singing during the scene when he rode his horse and went looking for Arang. Anyone know?.

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It was. When Eun Oh furiously rode off after being called "the son of a slave" and reflected on his own childhood, the song being played is Jun Ki's "One Day."

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Thanks for the answer, I was wondering too! This drama has such a great soundtrack, I'm happy that LJK added his own lovely voice to it :D

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Thank you :).

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wow!! :D

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