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Arang and the Magistrate: Episode 16

Wow, oh wow. We’re treated to a whole buffet of revelations today as the pieces come slamming together in a collision of buried secrets and rediscovered memories. I love that we’re still making discoveries, especially in a show where we’ve had a good long while to think we had everything figured out. With the truth coming out, we see a bit more into the mind of the big bad—and our hearts break just a little more for Joo-wal. Okay, I won’t speak for yours, but mine sure did.

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EPISODE 16 RECAP

Just as Arang gives the benefit of the doubt to Joo-wal, she’s hit with a memory—of herself warning Eun-oh’s mother not to go with Joo-wal. Even eerier is the realization that she’s seeing the murder shack in the woods. Why would Joo-wal be there?

Eun-oh admits to himself that he’d been afraid to voice his suspicions that his mother was connected to Arang’s death. But now he decides it’s time to share what he knows with Arang. Thank you. Granted, she’s already made that connection, but it’s the thought that counts.

When she arrives at home, he says he’s got something to tell her. So does she.

He goes first, telling her of his mother being Mu-yeon’s host body and his intention to find a way to bring her back. He’s still half-incredulous over his teacher being the Jade Emperor.

Arang says these events are too much to be coincidence. The Jade Emperor taught Eun-oh to fight ghosts, sent Arang back as human, and supplied the hairpin that brought the two of them together. She ventures, “Me searching for the answers to my death, you searching for your mother—I think he planned it all. Why would he do that?”

She also requests that Eun-oh find who killed Seo-rim’s maid. He sends her to bed, assuring her that he will. And now it’s Arang’s turn to withhold a suspicion, because she decides she’ll wait to tell him about Joo-wal until she remembers more. Sigh. Just think of how much progress they could make if they pooled their brain trust!

Eun-oh commands his new patrolmen to search the woods for the maid’s dead body. I love how Dol-swe has taken on role of Eun-oh’s lieutenant; he was always his unofficial right-hand man, but now he’s taking on his responsibilities with gusto.

As usual, the Bang Trio moan and groan over the magistrate’s interference, desperately wishing he’d keep his nose out of everything. Or should I say, the Bang Duo; the two turn around to see Hyung-bang trotting off after the men to join in the search party. They shoot him a betrayed look, ha.

Since Hyung-bang was our murderous Bang, I’m not entirely certain whose team he’s on. But he oversees the search and breathes a sigh of satisfaction to watch men at work, remembering, “Ah right! This was originally my job!” Let’s hope this newfound sense of professional pride means he’s on the good guys’ team now.

Of course, this also means he’s balking at Dol-swe for performing his duties. He starts directing the men in earnest, but they ignore him. “Who are you?” one asks. Haha. Well that’s what happens when you shirk your job for years on end: People assume it’s not yours to begin with.

The men discover the body and call Eun-oh to the scene. It’s indeed the maid, and Arang follows him to take a look. He urges her not to see, reminding her of how he tried to block her from seeing her own dead body.

She walks past him anyway, brushing dirt from the old woman’s face and covering her up from the cold. “I’m sorry,” she tells the body.

Eun-oh reminds her to take the ID tag that the woman grabbed from her killer. She finds it. Eun-oh instructs Dol-swe to treat the body with care and bring it back to the magistrate’s office.

Dol-swe fumes with righteous anger as he arrives to arrest Lord Choi’s man. Villagers watch him being dragged off in criminal’s ropes, filled with newfound satisfaction over having an active magistrate in town. This leaves Lord Choi stewing at the loss of a minion, and he calls for Lee-bang.

The dead woman’s daughter tearfully thanks Eun-oh for finding her mother; at least now she can pay her the proper memorial rites. Arang remembers how the servant had been crying over Seo-rim’s corpse, and tells Eun-oh so.

Arang: “Back then, I didn’t see. My sadness was too great, I must not have been able to see hers. When I saw her body, I understood—there was someone who cried for me other than myself. If I’d known that earlier, I wouldn’t have wandered in the wrong places looking for Lee Seo-rim. Then I would have found out about Joo-wal easily too.”

It’s a bittersweet realization, one in a string of them showing Arang that she did matter to somebody. A lovely, sad moment.

Arang asks if Eun-oh’s going to give up his magistrate work now that he’s caught this culprit. He reminds her that the real villain is Lord Choi, so he’s not through yet. She’s relieved, saying she thought he’d be done with that business. Eun-oh: “I’m not that kind of magistrate.”

Eun-oh wonders why Lord Choi wanted to know about Arang, which leads to the question of whether Joo-wal knew all about her as well. Her internal monologue immediately denies it; he couldn’t have, because “Lee Seo-rim wouldn’t have loved someone like that.” Aw, sad. She tells herself there’s another explanation. She doesn’t sound convinced, but looks like she’ll cling to her hopes a bit longer.

Joo-wal, meanwhile, mulls over his last conversation with Arang—why is she suddenly interested in his reaction to Seo-rim’s death?

He heads to another cabin in the woods, where Mu-yeon has relocated now that her dungeon has been discovered. He asks if she remembers Seo-rim, since he doesn’t even recall her face. He looks like a heartbreakingly lost puppy as he asks, fearfully, “Did I kill her?”

Mu-yeon replies, “Yes. You did.” She describes the night it happened: Seo-rim followed him to the murder shack and saw everything, so she had to die.

Joo-wal looks devastated. Tears spill from his eyes, and she figures it’s because the girl was almost his wife. She chides him for digging up old memories: “Why do you think I always erase your memories of murdering?” Ahhh. Well, this explains A LOT about his character. And makes him a lot more tragic.

He asks why she did it. She acts like he’s the irrational one for asking: “Why did I do what? Erase your memories? Or leaving her to die?” Chin trembling, Joo-wal whispers, “Both.”

Mu-yeon calls him ungrateful, telling him she erased his memory because he wanted it, so that he could live.

This triggers a flashback. Joo-wal, dressed in black, carries Seo-rim’s corpse to the shack and lays her down. At home, he huddles in shock, lost in his misery. Mu-yeon asks if he’s still suffering, conceding that killing people is difficult business—but what use is he if he acts like this every single time? She says if she’d known how weak-hearted he’d be, she would never have taken him in.

Quivering in fear, Joo-wal begs, “Save me.” Mu-yeon offers to erase his memory again, as much as necessary. She performs the deed, and visibly his shuddering eases.

Now, Joo-wal asks why Seo-rim followed him that night. She retorts, “How should I know? If you meet her again, why don’t you ask?” After he leaves, she decides that it’s not yet time to reveal that Arang is Seo-rim—she’ll wait for “a more useful moment.” Oof. Just thinking about how that’ll break him makes me feel for that moment.

Over a game of heavenly badook, Hades prods Jade Emperor to admit that he’s been taken by surprise, and that he hadn’t expected Mu-yeon to weaken this much. Jade says that he didn’t realize Eun-oh’s mother (her original spirit) was this strong, so yes, it’s a curveball. Hm, interesting. So is there hope that Mom will come out of this alive after all?

Hades chuckles like a petty little schoolboy, crowing that there are things even the Jade Emperor doesn’t know, despite his know-it-all attitude. I enjoy his reaction, because really, this is the thing you’re fixating on? That your rival-brother isn’t as cool as he acts? ‘Cause there’s a whole heaven-earth devastation on the line…

Jade Emperor merely replies that this is why he has faith in humans: There’s an unpredictable power to the human heart that you can’t know.

Mu-young, still on probation, sighs heavily and wonders what he can do to save Mu-yeon. Uh, I think that ship has sailed, brotha. He wonders if she’s lost herself for good, and thinks back to their prior selves.

A flashback takes us to the time when they were new to heaven, he as a reaper and she as a fairy. Mu-yeon calls him oraboni, ignoring his chiding not to (as that’s a remnant of their human pasts), and asks incredulously if he truly likes it up here—”Where today is like tomorrow, and tomorrow just like today!”

He asks why she hates it. She bursts out, “They tell you not to have anything! What’s so wrong with desiring things? But here, they don’t let you have anything! Even if I’m stuck rolling in dog shit, I like it better in that world, where you’re permitted to have desires. I want to live there.”

Mu-young wonders whether her current twisted incarnation is the life she so desired. I’m going to speak for her for a moment and say no, since Mu-yeon is currently shaking like a leaf in her cabin, weak and uneasy.

Arang treks up to the creepy mountain, determined to visit the gravesite and jog more memories.

She’s not the only one with that idea; Joo-wal arrives at the filled-in grave, thinking of Arang’s words about Seo-rim’s love for him. And how he’d carried her dead body here.

And so, when Arang arrives she finds him already there. She asks why, telling him she’s been here once before, in a deserted shack. Does he know it?

Joo-wal stammers a denial and starts to leave. She stops him: “When Lee Seo-rim died… at that place… were you there?”

He doesn’t reply, but they both know the answer. Arang starts to cry as the realization settles in.

And then, a new figure arrives in town. It’s Lord Kim, Eun-oh’s father, commanding immediate respect.

He seems pretty warm toward Eun-oh, which is a relief; I’m pretty full up on negligent and abusive parents in this drama and don’t know if I could’ve endured another one. He seems like a stern but fair man, and he has come in response to Eun-oh’s letter inquiring about Lord Choi. Eun-oh explains his hunch that his mother came to Miryang looking for Lord Choi, and asks about the connection.

Lord Kim calls it a deep sorrow dating back a long while, and explains that Eun-soo’s maternal grandfather, Lord Seo, had been a powerful government minister. He’d tried to punish Lord Choi, also a minister, for his evil deeds—but Lord Choi retaliated by scheming up a plot that framed grandpa. Eun-oh’s mother was the only one who escaped death.

Lord Kim urges Eun-oh to understand his mother, whose grief was to blame for her neglect of him. That’s why she decided to bear the sorrow alone and leave him, for Eun-oh’s sake.

As he heads out to leave, Lord Kim casts an appraising eye around at the magistrate’s office his son has built up, with the men training busily in the courtyard. He tells him there’s one main principle in governing a nation and its people: “Be on their side. Listen to them. Don’t forget that.” He adds that Eun-oh ought to let him know if he encounters trouble, because Dad will exert some of his influence for him. Which, just, AW.

As he exits, Lord Kim wonders to himself whether Mom truly came here to kill Lord Choi. Eun-oh is wondering the same thing, remembering her vow to get her revenge.

Arang goes to Seo-rim’s room to look in the mirror she always uses to talk to Seo-rim. She says, “Finding the person who killed you… approaching that truth… I don’t know why it hurts my heart so. If I want to find out the truth, if I want to go to heaven, I have to find that person and punish them. But doing that… is that what you really hope for, Lee Seo-rim?”

Eun-oh finds her in the room and joins her in the dark. He sees that she’s been crying and asks what the matter is. At her nonresponse, he backs off and says, “I don’t know what it is, but until you go up to heaven, don’t forget that I’m here next to you.”

Eun-oh tracks down someone who was around three years ago when the traveling woman arrived in town. She did a bit of work in the kitchen after pleading for the job, but a few days in she was caught poisoning Lord Choi’s food. After that, there was no trace of her.

The man has a separate request to make of the magistrate, and alerts him to a problem. Apparently there have been people forcing citizens into forced labor, saying they’re rounding people up for the government despite not being of the usual department. He puts Dol-swe in charge of the investigation.

Dol-swe retorts that they’re obviously doing it for Lord Choi. Eun-oh’s all, Duh. That’s why I said to investigate.

He finds more people at his office, here to have their problems heard. They’ve heard Eun-oh is looking into Lord Choi’s misdeeds, and while most people are too scared to open their mouths, these people tell him of being beaten, starved, and being forced to sell off children because of him. They wail and beg for Eun-oh to do something.

Lee-bang is called to fill Lord Choi in on the magistrate’s doings, and there’s a lot to report: He’s training patrolmen, he punished the maidservant’s murderer, and worst of all, the public sentiment these days feels different. People keep going to talk to Eun-oh, but he doesn’t know what they’re saying.

Dol-swe finds Hyung-bang loitering around the magistrate’s rooms, shrewdly figuring that he’s up to some sort of troublemaking. Hyung-bang contradicts him, saying that he’s not here to interfere: “I’ve picked my route. I chose the magistrate. No matter how I think of it, the magistrate suits my tastes.”

Aw, I’m absurdly pleased with his show of allegiance. I’m sure he’s cowardly enough to jump ship if challenged, but I love that he’s starting to think for himself, apart from his buddies.

But even funnier is the way Dol-swe—oh, dim, one-track-mind Dol-swe—hears his words. Rather than relief or even suspicion, it’s territorial jealousy. Eyes bugging out, he exclaims, “Tastes? Don’t you dare come on to the young master! Are you giving your heart to him?” Hyung-bang’s just confused, but Dol-swe complains, “Just live like you were before!”

Lord Choi instructs Lee-bang to take a message to his fall guy in jail (for killing the maid). The question: “Will you live a thick, short life? Or a long, thin one?” Of course, neither messenger nor recipient has any idea what this means. Bang No. 2 interprets: “He means keep your mouth shut.”

Lord Choi fumes at the shifting tide of public opinion, and orders a servant to take a message to the governor.

Bang-wool sits at home stewing in frustration at the sight: Her ghostly ancestors sit at the table she’s prepared, eating heartily. But she can’t hear them, and she finds this a perverse trick of the fates.

At least we can hear them, and the ladies cackle over the delicious pork brought by that man courting Bang-wool. Mom says they spend all their time feeding each other and being lovey-dovey that she can hardly stand to see it.

Bang-wool, meanwhile, wonders at Mom’s demand for the pork. Now we see how she remembers the scene of shoving the food into Dol-swe’s mouth—not lovingly, but to shut him up. Ha. Oh, Moms. Forever misinterpreting the romancey stuff in our lives.

Bang-wool gasps, though. Does this mean they know “all about me and my guy”? She blushes in mortification.

Eun-oh fills Arang in on what he’s learned about his mother’s motives. She wonders if it’ll be possible to save Mom from her possessor, and he says determinedly, “I have to save her.”

Eun-oh deduces that Mu-yeon has been at that house a lot longer than Lord Choi, and that everyone who’s lived there has enjoyed power because of her. That means Lord Choi won’t give up his claim to power and wealth, and is hiding her away somewhere. But how?

Ha, and our ghost spies make their reappearance. Turns out they’d run away in fear of the tremendous evil power surrounding the house, and they blame each other for prompting them to run. (“I wasn’t going to run, but they all did so I did too.” “I wasn’t going to run either, but being on my own scared me.”)

They’re back now that they see the house is removed of its evil. Eun-oh grumps, “Thanks to ME!” Haha. They tell him that Eun-oh’s got quite the reputation among the ghost population, and have to be prodded to repeat it: “They say the magistrate is scarier than ghosts.”

Eun-oh reassigns the ghosts to patrol that house, and to report on the movements of any of its people. So when a minion makes his suspicious way along a road clutching a parcel, the ghosts are on his tail. Hilariously, they tiptoe and hide behind trees (which would be too skinny to cover them even if they weren’t invisible), which is just adorable.

The ghosts amble along until the minion arrives at a house—Mu-yeon’s temporary new digs—and immediately tremble at the bad juju. Spooked, they scramble off.

The ghosts accuse Eun-oh of tricking them, because that evil presence was supposed to be gone. Eun-oh realizes they’ve located Mu-yeon, and gets up to head there straightaway. Arang insists on going with him, overriding his protests by saying, “We don’t have many more days to be together anyway. Whatever happens, it’ll be better with both of us than either one alone.” Aw. Also, finally. I could’ve told ya that ages ago.

The ghosts lead them to the house. Inside, Mu-yeon can feel a change in the energy, and feels Arang near. She emerges and greets them both. I know Mu-yeon needs Arang’s permission to take over, but there’s no denying that her mere proximity makes me very, very nervous…

At her approach, Arang lands on another memory—this one of the night Seo-rim died.

Seo-rim watches from a distance as Joo-wal brings Eun-oh’s mother to that shack. Mu-yeon has a different body, but she’s recognizable by the clothes she wears. She starts to convulse like she’s suffering some kind of attack… and then a black energy bursts out of the body and shoots into Eun-oh’s mother. Mom calms as Mu-yeon’s spirit settles, and the former shell falls dead.

But moments later, Mom starts to convulse again. The body is rebelling, and she gasps, “This isn’t right. I thought wrong!” It’s Mom, briefly regaining control in her last-minute change of heart, and she grabs Joo-wal’s dagger and tries to thrust it into her chest. But Joo-wal grabs her wrist, stopping her.

Mom turns the knife against Joo-wal now, warning him away. Then Mu-yeon’s spirit surges again, momentarily claiming dominance. But Mom fights back again and raises the knife against Joo-wal. And in the moment that she thrusts it toward his chest, Seo-rim darts in front to save the man she loves, and gets stabbed.

Seo-rim falls gasping in pain, and Joo-wal just stares, dumbfounded. Mom looks horrified at what she’s done, but finally Mu-yeon reasserts herself for good.

Seo-rim looks up at Joo-wal and whispers, “Young master.” She closes her eyes, dead. Mu-yeon asks what this is all about, and he’s so stunned he stutters, “I-I don’t know.” He doesn’t even recognize her as his fiancée, or know why she’s here.

Mu-yeon declares that they’ll have to get rid of the girl who saw everything, and waves her hand over Seo-rim’s face. But she’s already dead… OH I SEE. She can’t leave any traces of her actions because the girl’s spirit can take that info up to heaven—which explains why Arang awoke in the reaper’s care with no memory whatsoever. It all makes sense now.

Joo-wal is left to take care of the body. He carries it out, and as he does, the hairpin drops out of Seo-rim’s grasp and falls to the floor.

All this flashes back to Arang as Mu-yeon nears, aligning the three of them in the same formation as the night Mom lost her body. Get away! Get away NOW!

Mu-yeon reaches to touch Arang’s face. Eun-oh’s hand darts in and stops her.

 
COMMENTS

The story is finally complete, or very nearly so. And while some of the answers we got were the big ones, I’m just as gratified at the smaller mysteries that have been answered, things I’d either forgotten about in light of the big picture, or that I figured were just going to be left as is.

For instance, Arang’s memory. I’d almost forgotten to question her amnesia until we were given the reason for it. I don’t mean in a literal sense of not knowing she had memory loss since her quest to discover what happened to her is the driving force of the show. But I’d chalked it up to it being another of the mysteries of the universe. Perhaps it was merely a plot device to get the plot rolling, or maybe the Jade Emperor had done it as a step in positioning her as an agent of his master plan. Seeing how it fits in to the big mystery reinforces how carefully plotted this world is, and once again gives me reassurance that there is a real, sensical resolution awaiting us around the corner. I dearly hope that’s true; I’ve certainly had enough of dramas that string you along and then leave you hanging.

It was a nice touch to show how stifled Mu-yeon was by heaven, despite the general prevailing opinion about heaven being an awesome place to go. Being told you weren’t allowed to want things? That’s a pretty bleak way to live out eternity, no matter how pretty the surroundings (or your flirty overlord). It doesn’t acquit her subsequent actions, of course, but it definitely adds dimension to her character. (Aided by Im Joo-eun’s performance. Love her. Aside from being back in cameo form for the PD who directed her in Hon, PD Kim says he wanted Im because she has a face that can go both good and villainous. Which is certainly true.) It also makes her less of a paint-by-numbers Bundle of Evil than a terrible cautionary tale of what happens when you get too twisted up in your desire for… well, desire. And freedom. And accomplishing those things by any means necessary. The Jade Emperor’s fascination with the human heart becomes clear now, given the extremes to which it can drive a person.

And whether this is a part of his master scheme or just a nice bit of symbolic synchronicity, it makes sense now why defeating Mu-yeon is a job for a human. Rather than, say, the god-tyrant who doesn’t quite understand, who doesn’t feel that same conflict and desperation the way that someone who could never give up humanity feels. Ironically, it’s what also twisted her far past humanity into monstrosity.

Now that Arang’s getting snippets of her memory back, I wonder if that means the barrier between Arang and Seo-rim will gradually fade away. And what will that mean for her feelings for Joo-wal? I don’t fear for the loveline between Arang and Eun-oh because that’s such a strong connection at this point, but I do question how she’ll react to knowing the full truth of Joo-wal. He didn’t kill her after all, but he’s definitely not the man Seo-rim fell in love with.

Speaking of Joo-wal… I’ve struggled with my sympathy for him all drama long, in that I totally feel for him despite knowing in my head that he did terrible things and probably had everything coming to him. Maybe I just felt his fear and longing too keenly, or maybe it’s the actor’s fault (credit?) for giving Joo-wal such pathos, but I just couldn’t hate him. And now that I see that he’s been having his memory wiped, it just makes him that much more wretched. It explains his hot-cold dichotomy, and how he can be so indifferent to things (or people) he has no business being indifferent toward. To see how shattered he was by Mu-yeon’s hold over him, and powerless to do anything about it, though—that broke my heart.

He’s still got to be held accountable for his crimes, because no matter his remorse, the fact remains that he did go out there and kill. But now I can see him as a weak coward drowning in fear, and not the psychopathic murder with no remorse. He’s just so tragic!

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Ty!

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tq..
so his mother is not a slave
and what a HANDSOME father that he have..
lol~~
now i know wer he got da looks from

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Right, she wasn't originally a slave but a noble princess. Not sure whats worse, being a slave or being a daughter of a traitor. I wonder if Lord Kim took her in to save her life.
Eun-oh's daddy is awesome, glad to know Eun-oh was loved and maybe spoiled also. I hope we will get to see him again later. If not, thank you Lee Jae Yong <3.

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All this while, I was itching for the Father to make an appearance and he finally did!! It's nice to know that Eun Oh's father is so warm towards him :') I too hope that we will get to see him again later.

It was mentioned that Eun Oh's father was the ONLY one who managed to unseat Lord Choi. I'm curious as to how he was able to do that since Lord Choi had the backing of Mu Yeon to defeat all his political/non-political enemies...

Does Lord Kim have powers of some kind too? Or is he just plain awesome? I hope they won't leave this part unanswered...

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Lord Kim was the Prime Minister at the time. The only one above him was the king. He must have found out that Lord Choi was the culprit behind the Seo family's demised so he stripped him of his govenment post, kicked him out of the court and the capital.
I dont think he has any special power like his son. He is just plain awesome :).

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err government.

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Well, she is a slave. Many many episodes ago, it was all explained that Saddo's Mom was from a noble family, but when her entire family was prosecuted for treason, her status dropped to that of a slave.

What the drama does not clarify, even in this episode, is when all this occurred. Was it when she was a mere toddler or did she become a slave after she was already married to Saddo's Dad? This matters to Eun Oh's status in caste - Was Eun Oh born fully noble or only half noble?

This episode was way too mopey and dopey. You would think that the entire cast was in mourning or something. And I don't think it suits Eun Oh to be so subdued, like he has just been neutered. He is far better when he is bombastic and running his motor mouth. Think adrenaline and testosterone, not Prince Hamlet.

The drama spilled a number of beans in this episode in the form of lookbacks. Well, when it rains, it pours. Not that we had not already guessed most of the secrets. What surprises me is that the drama is getting sloppy, as it tries so studiously to connect all dots between past and present episodes. Do you need examples? Then watch this episode again.

But I will say it again. This is not a drama that calls for overthinking or overanalyzing. That gets in the way of enjoyment of this genre.

Finally, I really don't give a damn as to what happens to Ju Wal, a villain who is "a weak coward drowning in fear," as Javabeans put it. Tragic? Sympathy? Au contraire, I think the drama has only one need for him, which will come in the final episode. His final act of redemption will handily solve the dilemma for both Arang and Saddo and save Heavenly Emperor's face. What a half-man!

Now if only we can have some real fun all the way to the finish line! Like Arang and Saddo in compromising situations, all hot and bothered ...

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I think the slave thingy it was after Mom has given birth to Eun Oh. Probably explain why she's the only one who escape death. You know because she is married to the prime minister aka Eun Oh's father.

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The timeline for this show can be dang difficult to follow. Eun-oh is an illegitimate son so I dont think the noble Lady Seo would have that kind of relationship with one of the most respected man in the country without proper marriage. I think Lord Kim saved her by taking her in as a concubine. He must have been close friends or in the same faction with Lord Seo. Maybe he begged him to save his daughter.

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Maybe after she got demoted as a slave than Eun oh's status automatically become semi slave? because in today's episode little Eun oh dressed up as a noble kid. then in previous episode when he's bit older the scene where they showed Jade emperor giving Eun Oh the second life, he's dressing like a slave/beggar

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If Lady Seo was Lord Kim's woman before her family were executed then Eun-oh wouldn't be a illegitimate child. She would have kept her noble status because she belongs to Lord Kim's family unless she was directly involved in the treason.

Eun-oh was younger when he lived with his mother and met Jade. He was older when she sent him away to live with his father.

Thats just my take on the whole noble/slave situation based on my limited knowledge of the Joseon era.

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pondering the definition of a slave. IF someone comes from a noble family and becomes a slave, does that make her a true slave? How far back does one have to go to be considered a true slave and not merely a fallen noble? There's a saying, "every slave has a king as an ancestor, and every king has a slave as an ancestor." So, although it sits well with me to see how noble Eun Ho's forbears were -- on both sides of the family line-- it bothers me a little when folks say "she was (just) a slave" as if slavery is something that goes all the way back through the generations to the beginning of time. Er: The Creator made you and your descendants slaves for ever.

I think mopiness is valid in a drama. Dopeyness, as well. If all stories were only about emotions folks found acceptable and action-packed, we wouldn't see the whole scale of human emotions and interactions. This was the memory and love chapter...everyone coming to himself/herself. Eun Ho discovering his own history, redefining his memories and realizing that his mother loved him. Joo Wal realizing he lost himself when he decided to not own up to the consequences of memory and guilt, and that he had been loved. Arang realizing that with lost memory she also lost her ability to understand she was loved. All very valid emotions, I think.

I really think Jade Emperor will be vindicated because he's doing this to vindicate humans... In addition, I am hoping that perhaps having seen the fairy's desire for some kind of fun in heaven, he might change a few of the heavenly laws to loosen heaven up a bit. So far, there's gardening, fishing, goat-tending, fetching dead souls and badook-playing. Not a real exciting place.

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Once you are demoted to a slave you are slave no matter what. Eun-oh may hold government positions because of his father but his mother being a slave does not make him a true noble unless her status is elevated. If her father is cleared of treason even after death then her noble status will be restored.

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Wow, so the status of the mother is what determines class? I suppose cause men are pretty free with whom they sleep with. And marriage and pure blood are extra important. I guess I understand that. So basically Eun Ho is still a slave or a semi-slave? Despite his father's class and despite his father's educating him and despite his father's love for him?

Still, what I was saying is that there is really no such thing as a noble. . . as the old saying goes, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the 'gentleman'?" As a black person, I've had to deal with folks who seem to think my ancestry means I was born of a people who are and have been fated to be slaved...while those people apparently forget that their ancestors were probably slaves as well. So I'm kinda touchy on the whole slave child of a slave until someone declares you noble thing.

The idea of gentility and nobility has always been problematical for me. I do like all the noble tragic lords/princes and near lords/princes. After all, Joo Wal is raised up from the street and treated like a lord but he was originally a poor peasant. While Eun Ho is raised wealthy, but not treated like a lord and is always being called a slave's son. So, in this drama's world, stuff like class are not so cut and dried.

As Arang said earlier, "I know the Jade Emperor and he doesn't think like that." (Something to that effect) So there is that very subtle idea in the story of people being naturally noble and naturally ignoble because of their spirit and/or education and not because of their bloodline.

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Not just the mother but both parents. Thats why most marriages were rarely for love but for political / social status reason.
If you watch Dong Yi you can see it clearly there, how one parents' low status can affect her child even if daddy is the king of Joseon.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts Carole <3. I do understand. I wish I didnt have such a hard time explainning things in English with 3 other languages in my head.

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Wow...that one scene was creepy

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Thank you as always. :)

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So good. After all that setup yesterday, I knew today's episode would be SO GOOD. But it makes me wonder what we'll be doing for the next two weeks... Writer-nim, PD-nim, I trust you.

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Would be about the romance, lol, wishing, hoping!!!

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They better because now everything's almost out in the open and I have been deprived of romance for way too long now lol.

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Ok done deal, she's going to heaven for sure now, Sato. Now can we PLEASE just have some happy loving fun for the remaining moon for these two? The lady really needs some kisses to be lasting her the rest of heavenly eternity!

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I really, really, really salute the writer. All the scenes, plot, story is make sense and carefully thought and well written. Tough some said the mother identity is dragging but most of us didint think so. Since we have know from the beginning then we feel like it took longer time ti be discover. But the pace is just right since all the plot, story is far trancending then we ever imagine and complicated to be settle in.

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YAY! thank you!
so technically it was the Mom who killed her, though it was by accident, so does that count as Seo-rim killing herself?
very suspenseful episode, i want to know what happens now! what is your plan Jade? i wish it was next week already~

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Nah, it was a sacrifice of love

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Yeon Woo Jin played the scared puppy, my heart breaks for him. i still remember him as maknae though.

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OJAKGYO BROTHERSS! <3

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Ahhhh can't discuss this right now but just wanna say I was stunned by the beauty of that shot that's the main screenshot here. Watched it last night and it was so lovely. And overall strong episode <3

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omoooo... now she had regained her memory thats mean... she will be leaving sato soon!

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at least that means she gets to go to heaven!!!!

but yes, T______T *WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*

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I'm half hoping Eun-oh is living on borrowed time too since he was brought back to life by Jade. Thennnn...they maybe they can live together in heaven!!!! *continues to daydream*

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Eun-oh doesn't know that he is on borrowed time like Arang. When Jade resurrected him after he died he said that one day he will remember.
I'm guessing that Eun-oh will end up taking Arang to heaven himself then he will realized that he was saved and trained by Jade to portect her.

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Finally it's here.,. :D Thank you so much.,. Off to read! :)

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Thank you! <3

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Thank you so much !! Off to read as I eat lunch

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Im feeling sad over Joo Wal's tragic life. Oh drama, how are you gong to end???

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thank you.

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That was so so so Superbbb !!! Looking forward to next week !!

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That was so so so Superbbb !!! Looking forward to next week EPISODES !!

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Indeed JOWAL character is so tragic! If you decide to be EVIL, then be EVIL all the way, ifyou allow a little humanity (that is conscience) in you, then it becomes
your hell! So JOWAL upon realizing all these things has been living in hell at every leap full-moon (that's why he kept looking at the moon at the bridge, it's not because it's beautiful but a reminder of evilness he had to do again and again.)

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in addition :

Arang has 20 episodes right? So four more to go.
My take ,
EO stabs his mom heart with the hairpin.
but Arang has the hairpin, so Arang will stab EO's mom.
or
Mu-Yeon will take Arang's immortal body so this makes
Mu-yeon not human anymore, so finally the grim reaper can stab his sister .

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I never thought about that last scenario. If Mu-yeon were to get Arang's body for whatever reason, she would no longer have that "human" status that allows her to be free from being harmed by the heavenly beings. So Mu-young can use his familial ties to her to stab her not human body. Interesting.

Maybe that's another contingency plan that Jade has set up. Though he seems so have such confidence in Eun-oh and Arang that he's not even talking about it.

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my theory is that Mu Yeon will be stabbed on her way to Arang's body. Because Arang, to save EO's mother will give consent to give her body. The other scenario will be EO will stabbed her Mom/Mu Yeon at the behest of her mom's soul inside the body. She could still be guilty of killing Seo-rim and wouldn't want anything to happen to her.

But there's still a twist, coz, whether, Arang found out or not who killed her, she will have to return to heaven or hell. right? So will that mean Mu-Yeon's transfer will be moot and academic?

I found a glitz in the writing (but please somebody tell if i'm wrong). Isn't it when JW was still a street kid, the one who approached him if he want to change his life is Mu-yeon in EO's Mom's body already? Or i just thought about it? But i haven;t watch this episode 15, so i could be wrong on my thoughts. I want to check that episode but, i can't remember what eps it was. Or maybe there's a pic in the recaps of JB and GF, will check that too.

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they never showed her face but you could tell it wasn't his mom. That's around the time that people started speculating more than she was possessed and not a demon herself.
I generally trust the writers. No holes to be seen yet, which is wonderful.

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There is one scenario that isn't touched on but hinted at in one of the beginning episodes.

No one will be able to stab her but they will use the crest to make her disapear forever. The question becomes will it be both reaper and sister or Arang and Mu Yeon?

The other scenario I see is that Mu Yeon does gain Arang's body and Eun Oh has to stab Arang....or Mu Yeon still takes Arang over and Arang fights to get both of them into the crest.

That leaves room for the Jade emperor to get a wish and request that Arang be returned to him so that Eun Oh and Arang can still have their happy ending (maybe Arang can let Eun Oh that she is there ala MGIG....

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I'm pretty sure the woman that approached Joo Wal when he was a kid was not Eun Oh's mother. It was the woman (who we saw in that forest scene with Joo Wal) before Mu Yeon moved on to Eun Oh's mother's body.

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Arang is immortal for 3 full moons only, so, even if Mu yeon takes her body, she will have a very little time to use it.

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Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot about it.
I guess the Jade Emperor's big plan was to make Mu yeon want to take Arang's body and succeed in doing it. Then, Arang and Mu Yeon will be taken up to heaven together when the 3rd full moon comes. That sounds like a nice plan :)

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Woooooowww.

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Aww, Joo-wal! :( Hmm, with all these mysteries slowly being solved, I'm wondering what's coming next. Whatever it is though, I'm looking forward to it. I really love how fast-paced most of this drama's been so far.

Also, still cannot get over Eun-oh in a magistrate's uniform. So hawt. <3

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Yeah man, what's with that....his hawtness in uniform is ridiculous. <3

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He'd be hotter if he took his upper garments off. And splash some water on him.

I have yet another scenario for this... he goes swimming in a pool and then has to emerge from the water quickly because Arang is in danger. I'm still waiting.

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The most handsome magistrate, EVER. Period.

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I will NEVER get over EO in satto-uniform (with the hat, peacock feather and all). So hot!

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Just watched ep 15 and came to peek on the recap. I'm really loving Arang.

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Thank you..great recap. I feel the same about Joo Wal, a different twist to the usual Kdrama love triangle. For the next 2 episodes can I see more kisses between Arang and Eun Oh ?????? lol

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All I can say is that I am impressed that almost everything is coming together, like every single detail! I have not been as satisfied with a drama like this in a while since other dramas tend to not wrap everything up neatly. Since we've got 4 episodes left I have trust in the writers that the show will have no loose ends. I sure hope so, especially with Arang and Eun Oh together PLEASE! I need some romantic scenes now too, I implore you dear writers.

One thing I'm not looking forward to though is Lord Choi sending that messenger to the governor. Why do I get the feeling that he's gonna do the same thing to EO what he did to his grandfather (ie., framing him). UGH CHOI. JUST GET OUT. I hope this guy gets what he deserves. If he dies, that he'd get the worst level of hell.

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When he burned the talisman received to drink the ashes I so wanted it to be poisonous... but that'd be too little of a punishment for all his evils

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The last two episodes of Arang have been so satisfying. I hope the momentum continues to build and resolves in an equally satisfying manner.

I'm trying not to think about the fact that Muyeon lied to Joowal about the circumstances behind Seorim's death, just to keep him feeling so guilt-stricken that he couldn't possibly dare to leave Muyeon. I rarely ever want to get violent on another girl/woman, but she makes me want to take every one of her hair decorations and stab her repeatedly with them.

It was so lovely to see the warmth in the relationship between Eun-oh and his father. And for Eun-oh to learn that he would have been of a very honorable lineage, had it not been for Lord Choi's machinations. I sort of wish the drama had given him some time to dwell on that, given how much he'd struggled with his slave status. After all, he'd begun this entire drama being an aimless drifter in the belief that his status barred him from taking an active part in life. How lovely would it be for his lineage to be reinstated upon Lord Choi's demise.

And back to Joowal. Oh Joowal. I hope it is you who's able to put the nail in Muyeon's metaphoric coffin. Something to give you a means to redeem yourself, however much that's possible. It would be symbolically so meaningful to have him be the one to put an end to Muyeon's enormity.

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Wow, me too. Totally agree. I'm looking at the under-current of selfishness versus self-sacrifice, murder versus suicide. Seo Rim sacrificed herself to save Joo Wal. Am not sure I like the idea of her sacrificing herself to save Eun Ho. I mean, it's okay if she does but heck I don't want her to be continually sacrificing herself for the one she loves.

The way I see it (the way I hope, anyway) is that Joo Wal's crisis of (renewed reborn) conscience will make him do the self-sacrificing, that maybe he will die for Arang because Seo-Rim died for him.

Mu Yeon says she will wait for the right time to tell JW that Seo Rim and Arang are the same body/soul. A kind of iffy thing to do. It's pretty silly of her to assume he will not discover the truth unless she herself tells it. It's also pretty silly to assume that when he discovers the truth his response will be exactly what she thinks it will be. While the Jade Emperor wants to understand the human heart and perhaps understands human love, Mu Yeon doesn't understand love or the human heart. She can manipulate hearts of Grim and boy-murderer alike but she doesn't truly understand it. I suspect heavy surprises in store for her when she sees how Joo Wal has grown away from her and into the understanding of true human love/hearts.

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What if Arang will sacrifice herself since she thinks she's dead already anyways or have a life expiration date? Does it still count as self-sacrificing or a way to tell Jade Emperor to fix his own problem? LOL! Her only problem is to find out who killed her so she can go to heaven and the last scene seemed like she found out that it was EO's mom who *accidentally* stabbed her. The sad part was she also found out how Joo Wal just abandoned her lifeless body.

Now I'm interested if old Choi still have the power to make his enemies suffer like he used to. Will he be able to produce another fabricated crime to EO like what he did to his grandfather now that the evil fairy is weak? Will EO's mother allow that to happen? Ugh so many questions! Is it Wednesday yet???? Hurry up Wednesday so Thursday can come to but then we'll probably have more questions when that time comes.

I'm really hoping that Arang will show some loving affection to Eun Oh or I'll kill myself and take herspot - nyehehehe

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I think when she gets over her confusion over Joo Wal and Seo Rim and after she stops being hit with all these heavy-duty emotions. It's hard I think to get all passionate and loving and horny when one's nanny (who mourned one's death so intently) has just been murdered for identifying you. PLUS getting Seo Rim's memories PLUS Eun Ho's mother being Big Bad.... I would think it would be very weird indeed if she actually started giving Eun Ho some loving. Would feel weird and unbelievable. PLUS she's got one full moon left and she's got this sorrow for poor Seo Rim's unrequited love for Joo Wal. She's kinda stumped and stunned right now, I think.

As for Jade, I kinda think she feels she owes him even though he's been so slick with her. She threw herself in harms' way, she died. Normally Jade wouldn't care much about dead humans so his bringing her back to life was actually a good thing. Even if he's using her as bait.

Ah, these slick old fogey gods! The games they play!

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Thanks for the recap!

It is interesting that every character has a story behind them to lead them to where they are now.

I'm glad that the story is slowly unfolding, answering our questions as it goes along.

I begin to wonder what is Eun-Oh's mother's greatest desire that make her agree to allow Mu-yeon to possess her. Initially I thought is to seek revenge on Lord Choi. But if that is her desire that Mu-yeon need to fulfil in order to let her possess the body, Mu-yeon is not paying her end of the bargain since Lord Choi is alive and kicking, and making things difficult for her son (though she doesn't know that).

Perhaps, Jade Emperor's real chip is the mother's love for Eun-Oh. At the big confrontation, the strong mother's love would either overcome Mu-yeon's control and stab herself or to expel Mu-yeon out of her body so that Mu-young or Eun-Oh could kill her.

Dunno why this suddenly reminds me of Harry Potter...

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LOL the moment you said 'mother's love for Eun-Oh' my mind went straight to '....harry potter?!'

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I just finished watching yesterday episode. What a great episode it is! They both shown their emotions by two personal scenes:- 1) Eun Oh by saying." i will be together with you until i send you to heaven" 2) Arang by saying. " should we go together? Arent the time left is little so we should do things together. I cried in many scenes. I love how this drama is soooooo very different and i'm satisfied on how it goes. Its keeps getting better and better. Whatnw well written drama. I understand why some viewers found it not interesting. It didnt have political dramas like Moon Sun, or angsty like melodrama out there or too many romance. I love, how twisted, complex, complicated but the story make sense and entangle each other in the most complex relationship I ever encountered. Will continue later after i had some time.

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you said everything I thought..Bravo !

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Javabeans, great recaps!

How I love the show. In kdrama-land where one is almost always forced to accept something as taken for granted, it is surprisingly delightful for a drama to capture and take into account such exquisite details, never wasting a single sound that has ever been uttered, a single piece of prop, a single gesture. And every single time us viewers think we are one step ahead of the story, think again - we are chastised time and time again by curveballs, twists and more turns even to this time as we approach the real sequence and cause of death of LSR. And when we think we might have the answer, the truth ended up being all the more hurtful and tragic.

To the extent that most of us have been inclined or led to believe that JW was LSR's murderer, we have been upsetting ourselves by how hurtful both Arang and JW would feel when they find out the truth. But the truth turned out to be more tragic and surprisingly logical if we follow the LSR-was-deeply-in-a-one-sided-love-affair-with-JW thread in the plot - LSR died in defence of her love from the person who would turned out to be the singular most important person to the one that Arang loved.

Jade Emperor had said this at the onset - Arang's real cause of death was immaterial and I could almost understand why he said that. Only ghosts with unfulfilled wishes remain on earth. LSR died for a cause - to defend her love. If she were to have retained her memory, I believed that she would have been willing to leave with MY, albeit with a bit of regret that she hadn't had been able to be with JW till the end but at least satisfied that she had been able to be there for him when JW needed her (i.e. when EO's mom struggled and tried to stab JW). It was her amnesia and a bit of 'prank' from the Jade Emperor that set her free from her past life and breathed life into Arang, giving her another chance to find a truer love, one that is worth her life, her death.

Jade Emperor said this to EO in the mountains, there is no such thing as a worthless death or useless life. LSR's death gave herself a new lease of life as Arang. Whereas LSR could only learn about the world behind closed doors and fantasize about the love that she thought was the one and only for her, it was in fact only life's trials and tribulations that would allow Arang to find the one true love that was destined for her but one that had been sorely missed until the time was ripe.

One could quip if it's a useless life as Arang if she could only have less than a handful of days on earth with the one she has come to love, but I think the two episodes this week has shown us that Arang has just discovered for herself just how self-centred she used to be and how much she's actually loved by the ones who know her (i.e. her nanny and EO). For once, she responded with her mind and heart in tandem, no spiteful response to EO's pleas - just a simple gesture to show her last respect to her nanny and a simple request to follow him wherever he goes not because simply she wanted to be on the contrary but because she simply wanted to be with EO.

Does it hurt any less to have EO's mom killed LSR and not JW? Certainly not, even if EO's mom has done it unintentionally. Certainly this upped the tragedy since it was a move that was so unintended that if it was a brutal murder it might have made us more accepting of the truth. The only question now is, what would EO and Arang do now when she tells him the truth of LSR's death? I wait with bated breath.

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Again! Great review...^^

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Lovely analysis, again! <3

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Thank you! I enjoy reading your reviews as well :)

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Love this, such a greet view :)

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You wrote: "Jade Emperor said this to EO in the mountains, there is no such thing as a worthless death or useless life. "

YES!!!!! Joo Wal's death will not be useless. It is probable -- indeed, quite possible-- that his death will (in addition to EO, Arang, Meo Young) be the final destruction of Meo Yeon.

To think, Meo Yeon has been evil for all these years, trapping souls right and left, and Joo Wal's death will be part of bringing her down. I think Eun Ho will see that and respect that. Heck, I see Eun Ho standing over Joo Wal's body (or leading Joo Wal's ghost into the after-life) with a deep half-brotherly-respect (okay, they're adopted step-brothers who never knew each other, kinda, but you know what I mean. Eun Ho is gonna somehow bond with Joo Wal at/after Joo Wal's death.

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I want to applaud this review <3

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So he didn't kill her. So he only has one killing of Arang to account for. I'm still a bit confused as to why Seo-rim was warning Eun-oh's mom away. And Joo-wal noticed her too(at least it looked that way). I was assuming that she ran to catch up to them, asked what was going on and was dragged, or willing followed Joo-wal into the shack of utter death. Presumably so he could sacrifice her later or something. I just want to know for sure but if we're left to assume then I'm okay with it.

Also javabeans, he was taking some random girl into the shack of horrors in the memory erasing memory. I assume that was just one of many scenarios where the emotional turmoil was getting to him before she would come and erase his memories.

Joo-wal you tragic soul. You still must repent, like I've been saying since early in the series, but my heart bleeds so much. His memory being erased does make the whole set up make loads more sense. He disconnects completely with what he's done. Doesn't even remember it. Such a complex character. I just want to give him a hug.

Also in hindsight, I shouldve figured that Mu yeon was the killer because Jade sent her down to fix that whole issue. But i was thinking that Joo-wal did it and in the process of killing ( D: ) him, or during his self-sacrifice if it came to that, that Mu-yeon would be killed because Eun-oh would be trying to get mom back. But now MOM (totally unexpected that it would just be his mom and not mu-yeon influenced mother) has to die for her to go to heaven. This fuckery. Arang crying at the end because she realizes that his mom is her killer is just heartbreaking.

Next couple episodes are gonna kill me. The wait commences. Wednesday come soon!

Thanks for the recap JB!

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I was wondering about the same thing too. Since it's still bits of her memories - like how she remembered she tripped on something and grabbed the hair pin - then they show how she grabbed it and said "don't go" - why would she say "don't go"? and who she was talking to? The mom or Joo Wal? And they both kinda looked side ways which I interpreted as if they heard her but just didn't pay attention. If she was hiding, how did she end up inside that hut?

Also, when she was still a ghost, she said that she felt like she was stabbed but she was putting her hands under her chest or does it count if the knife was too deep????

ugh! is that a plan to confuse viewers like me? hehehe

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Some episodes earlier, nanny told Arang that after engagement was broken, Lee Seo Rim went to the bridge every day to see Joo Wal. Could it be that she saw what he did with other girls (before Eun Oh's mom), and hence the warning ?

A small curiosity about Lee Seo Rim's hoodie. At first I imagined she walked around with a thin veil covering her face. Turn out that it's more outrageous than I thought. There may be some surprise revelation about it in next episode.

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Same here! With bits of memory revealed here and there, I'm a bit confused with the chronology of events.

There was first a memory of Arang being still (barely) alive in the shack, grabbing the hairpin off Mom's hair and saying "don't go" while JW leaves before Mom.

Then there's now this scene where she was hiding and rushed out just to get stabbed and died in JW's arms. After erasing her memory in the shack, Mom leaves before JW.

So when did they first know Arang was there with them? Does this mean that they placed her in the shack first before MY switched bodies to Mom's? Why was Arang placed in the shack first place? Did I miss something?

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Btw, wasn't it night time when Arang snatched the pin out of Mom's hair, but daylight when Arang jumped in front of JW to take the stab?

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Sorry.. looked again and it was night. Their night scenes are so bright :D

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Thank you for the recap, Javabeans! I love today's episode with all its reveals. Yesterday we had the reveals of stuff we've already suspected. And today, we got some unexpected reveals. I definitely would never have imagined that Seo-rim would sacrifice herself for him. How sad that he didn't even know who she was when she was dying. That's a worse way to die than having Joo-wal lure her into a shack and stabbing her. =*(

And how messed up of Mu-yeon to let him think he had killed her just to eff with his already tortured soul!

And I really liked how there was an actual explanation for her memory loss and that it tied in with Joo-wal getting the killings removed from his memories. At first, I was like Joo-wal getting his memory erased so he wouldn't feel tortured by the guilt- what convenient voodoo! Now we're supposed to think he isn't that bad of a guy. But I was impressed how that scene was later layered with Arang's memory loss. Great work from the writers!

So proud of Eun-oh today for telling Arang what's been on his mind and for doing his magistrate duty! And then stopping Muyeon-in-his-mom's-body from touching Arang.

I wish the music people will bring back the Jang Jae In "Fantasy" song and revisit the other OST songs before the series ends. They've been playing that KWill song. I really like it but I miss the other ones too...

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I'm actually proud that I stay tuned with this drama from the start.,. I just miss Gumiho and LJK.,. LJK is so HOT.,. :D HOPE this will end WELL.,. Beacause seriously this drama stayed within it's scope, and connect the dots concisely. It may not focus on romantic things that MOST people want to yet turned out very decent with all genre I think.,. Thank you for the recap.,.:)

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I miss Gumiho very much too :(
I droped this drama in the 4th episode , but I still come to read comments and recap
I wish Miho came back with romantic fantasy drama

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Thanks so much for the recap!

I'm so impressed with how well-written this drama is! :) I'm sure they'll give us a memorable ending..hope it's something on the positive side though!

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This episode is breathtaking! geezzz...my heart is still beating fast after watching it..
Couldn't agree more with javabeans, poor joo wal is just so TRAGIC!
can't wait for next week, what will Eun Oh do ????
man, this show is unbelievably GOOD! =)))

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Great! Wasn't this a killer episode? (Yeah, no pun intended).
Thanks for the fabulous recap! :D

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Omg i'm laughing here like crazy. Totally made my day!

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I love the part regarding the visit from Eun Oh's father.

I have read a comment before on how people didnt understand what is so tragic about Eun Oh life. Lord Kim save him, make him as his legitimate son and also put him on the registry. Me wondered too on why Lord Kim want to take this woman ( eun oh ) mother in a have child with her.

Now that the part oh that unfold I understand why Lord Kim did so. So her mother come from a noble, and high position family yet been destroyed just like that by Lord Kim. Knowing that the family has been framed and come from a good family, Lord Kim take his mother inside his household and seek justice by taken away all Lord Choi position in the ministry. Now that make sense and ties all the dots neatly.

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Typi: been destryoed by Lord Choi

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Typo again. Destroyed. Ipad keyboard.*sigh*

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could it be that he (Lord Kim) simply fell in love with her (Eun Ho's Mom)?

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Great great episode.
Thanks for the recap.
LOL'ed and rewound at this:
Hilariously, they tiptoe and hide behind trees (which would be too skinny to cover them even if they weren’t invisible), which is just adorable.

Wasn't that the best moment? I like a director who can find funny along with the terror.

So glad JW didn't kill Arang (that one time.)

Sato was looking extra-extremely hot tonight. How does Arang resist him?!!!!!

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Maybe a deathly experience?

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But he look so hot, I agreed. I cant get enough of him and started called my hubby " my Satto" hahahah

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Lol, tell him to call you A-raang. Just the way Eun-oh says it.

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I'm melting already!LOL

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Me too ~~~~~~~~~

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I just AH.DOOOORE the way sato calls ARANG , it heartmelting , all his love tenderness and worry is put in that one name he calls , sighhhhhhhhh wonder if someone will love this same way too

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So True.......his voice is so SEXY ....LOL ! I wish some one can call me....the way he call arang !!! Everything about Junki ( Sato) is so SEXY !!! LOL !!!

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Joint the Club.....totally agree...junki (Sato) SEXY from Head to Toe. All the girls ( ladies) here still more preserved than another website (krdrama or couch kimchi or soompi or allkpop ??? - I forgotten the website ...but I remember how they comments about Junki - Sato... they start imagine him half naked ...some even said he must be good in Bed. Hahaha....
To be honest I'm not surprised at all.... I mean...that's true Sato is extremely attractive, charismatic, manly , hot , sexy man.
I'm in love with junki since the king's man ....when he looks like a girl ...but now...i'm in love with him when he become a manly man....Well, now I'm confused with my tendency, Hahaha...
One things for sure ...he (junki) drives me crazy. We love him....either as a girl or as a man. What I can I do ????? Jesus Christ !!!

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I refused to believe he killed LSR from the beginning. Glad the writers are on our side.

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But he did kill her at least once.
She got better.

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True but thats why I mentioned LSR not Arang if that makes any sense to you.
I want to know how her body end up at the waterfall.

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It's the uniform and actually doing his job - makes him look so manly!

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arang told him that he looks cool in the sato's uniform :)

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She meant sexy but you know, she really cant say that out loud.

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So True.......his voice is so SEXY ....LOL !!! Everything about Sato is so SEXY !!! Gosh , Where can I find a hubby like him ...

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Thanks for the recap!

This was an awsome ep. Really like the revelation. All the side storylines that interwine with the main one has now started to unreval and make sense. I'm also liking the pace of the last two eps. We no longer have to guest who, what, where, when it happend... the show unfold each for us. Just a little more and we will get the complete story. Yay for that!
However, I do want a little skinship with the OTP. There is only 4 more eps and with how great the mystery is going, I don't know if there will be any time left to spend together before the show end.
But keeping my fingures cross that this has a happy ending whether they end up as human, goes to heave or get reborn again.

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Definitely agree with more OTP scenes.

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Yay!Looking forward to watch episodes 15 and 16. Thanks for the recap JB!

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Thank you, 감사합니다 , Danke, תודה, grazie mille....<3.

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Thank you for the recap. I can't wait for next week's episodes!! XD

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ILY Papa Kim. So cute to have supportive K-drama dads...especially to 'good' kids like Eun-oh

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thank you!!

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i think this drama not ARANG AND THE MAGISTRATE
It more like arang and joo-wal...

sigh....

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I think it is more MAGISTRATE EUNOH himself, since she is his mom, he was the kid who has chosen by The JE, but That's just me maybe... lol

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Agree with Joongirl. This drama is for "Magistrate Eun-oh"~!! He will be the leader in wrapping up all these evilness. He's the ultimate weapon of Jade Emperor..lol^^

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And the meaning of the Korean title "아랑사또전" is "The Chronicle of Arang's Magistrate" ^^

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I was always wondering what was the meaning of the korean title , thanks dear ^^

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Absolutely ....Sato The magistrate...since the beginning... this drama become so ....interesting, worth watching, enjoyable...all because of Sato. Though the second characters add the flavor.
LSR loves Joo-wal but Arang loves Sato . It's all in the past !!!!!

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Yaaaaayyyy! Arang is finally getting back its momentum! The last several episodes really dragged (why hasn't Arang been doing anything? And EO deciding to tell her about Mom "later" for no reason? Give me a break), but this brought it right back up to speed. I didn't realize how much I missed EO's haughty throat clearing until this episode! And more stunning revelations! It's going to be such a long week waiting for the next episode!

(I do wish Arang would do something about liking EO, though. Come on, guys, there are only 4 episodes left! We need more skinship!)

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What a great episode... When i think everything has been revealed already...

Lee Seo Rim and Joo-wal... What a tragic love story. Such bad timing for both of you. I feel sorry for the love that could have been...

Im really glad that Joo-wal did not kill Lee Seo Rim... And so it was "Mom" who took Lee Seo Rim's memory.

Four more episodes and i want some loving between Arang and the Magistrate please.

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Don't understand why LSR is so in love with JW, they didn't even talk or have any eye contact or whatever, love at first sight? may be is the sadness/loneliness in his eyes attracted her.

Also about mu-yeon, she wanted to be human but she is not enjoying her being human when she can only confine herself to the "closed space" and sitting all day in the room.

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It was probably love at first sight. And if you think about it, she's been so sheltered, he's probably the only guy who

1. is age appropriate
AND
2. not a servant of her family
AND
3. decent looking

There is really only one fish out there is Miryang for her and it's Joo-wal.

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Alas, all truth are revealed in episode 15 & 16 and it hards for both EO & Arang to handle.. But nontheless,this two comforts each other when they are facing hard times.

I'm looking forward the next four episodes on how this 2 will work together to get rid of the evil Mu Yeon, and I think EO will remember his connections with JE.. I don't want to expect too much on romantic development anymore as I will feel dissapointed if PD-nim & Writer-nim for not fulfilling my hunger for romance :p

But since they genre of this drama is fantasy melo-drama, they better improve the romance progress as well since the mysteries is finally resolved this week.

Thank you for the wonderful recaps JB, that's why I always love to follow your site in any drama progress~~

**Huggs**

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that explain why whenever they film jade interacting with his beautiful angle they always mention that they have been doing the same thing, dressing the same way for thousand of years with such a neutral uninterested tone. I suppose they are making heaven out to be quiet boring and though beautiful, it lacked soul. It's just Jade who seems to be 'enjoying' things. hahaha

At least now arang could feel at least some what that the person who killed seo-rim wasn't the one she love. if i was like that, then she would be such a tragic character. But now there are more complication for arang and eun-oh as it was his mother who killed seo-rim.

there's 4 episode left. A large junk of stuff have been unveil. Wonder if there are more stuff we should know or are they just going to concentrate on who to get rid of evil

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haha, it certainly seems like even throwaway jokes about how the fairies don't change their looks hold nice deeper meaning now

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Whoa. WHOA. I never expected things to turn out this way. Watching episode 15, I was certain that JW killed LSR but wondering why the bell hasn't rang yet. I believed it to be true then boom! I can't explain what I feel. I almost didnt go to work today coz I had to finish watching.

The writers deserve applause for doing this but I'll be holding it for a while until the last episode, in case they decide to just get over things and not give us a good ending. Still, I believe you writer nims! Fighting!

Eun Oh's father is so nice ><

I love how Dolswe does magistrate duties more than EunOh yet it is very ominous coz I feel that he will be magistrate soon. Either EunOh resigns or dies..

Sigh. My life forever ruined by Arang. We only have 2 weeks left. I hope we'll get more OTP moments coz if not next episode, WHEN?!

Thabks for the recap! Enjoyed it a lot!

And I still want to punch Jade.

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i get why the otp has to take a backseat while they're making all these mindblowing discoveries... especially when arang's memories have to do a lot with love for another guy.

But hey, maybe we'll get an epilogue episode with nothing but cute otp fluffiness..flower viewing, bickering, pajama walks and all...><

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I want to punch Jade too, although not in the face coz he;s too darn beautiful! lol

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Someone on Soompi referenced an earlier episode, saying that the bell won't ring until the person who killed Arang dies... If this is true, it leaves Eun Oh in a big rut. :(

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Really? I thought it will ring when she realizes that that person killed her. Oh gosh. I think I have to watch again from episode 1 before the last episode airs. Just to be in the right track. Lol

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OK haven't watch this episode yet (can't wait till I get home tonight!!) but I am SOOOOOO glad the part about who murdered Seo Rim was finally disclosed and cleared up! I thought all along that Joo-Wal was the one, coz we have been given little hint on any other possibility so far! FINALLY!

Not that I think JW is a saint (angel), far from it. But knowing that he didn't kill the girl who gave her heart to him is just such a relief coz at least this means that Seo Rim was not murdered by the person she loves so much! If Arang has retained Seo Rim's memory AND heart, she would have at least gained some sort of salvation by knowing this fact although her love was not returned.

Someone mentioned above that this drama seems more like Arang and Joo Wal rather than Arang and the Magistrate. At this point, I feel that this drama is :

1) Seo Rim and Joo Wal
2) Arang and the Magistrate and Joo Wal

The story itself does circle around Arang/Seo Rim's death, and obviously Joo Wal was involved in it! The Magistrate too, was involved in her death (via his mom). All 3 characters' life (and death) are linked so much so that if 1 of the 3 is to make a move, all 3 will be affected. Hence I think its apt to have 2 love stories in this drama: a) Seo Rim and Joo Wal; b) Arang and Joo Wal; and c) Arang and the Magistrate.

I can't wait to see what JW will do next, and frankly I also want to see JW redeems himself by being the ONE to kill MONSTER. Yes, can JW become a Reaper or something to pay his debt for a thousand years before being able to reborn? I certainly hope he is given a chance to do good and consequently not end up in hell (you hear me Hade?!) forever.

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Dont like this feeling!!!! Grrr !!!! Why do i need to wait for another week!!! I love this drama!!!! Most esp lee junki!!!

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What will happen to joo wal and lord choi if muyeon already gone???? Thy kill a lot of innocent people in the past until now... Heavy punishment for lord choi ?????

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DUDE. WOW. WHAT A REVEAL.

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I didn't see that one coming. It never crossed my mind that Seo Rim died because she was saving the man she loved. And I think there's going to be lots of angst when Joo Wal remembers and then puts things together. Especially since Moo Yeon lied to him about it. Poor thing! I agree that he has to pay for his crimes, and I don't exactly like him, but I really feel for him.

I'm so glad to finally get some answers. I mean a lot of answers, especially about Arang's memory loss. It really makes so much sense, and is a really nice touch. I think this show has everything basically plotted out, which just delights me, because it adds so much richness and beauty to the story.

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One more thing. I loved how this episode subtly showed Arang's feelings for Eun Oh. When she discovered Joo Wal's knowledge of the scary shack, she immediately understood the implications. But later, when she interacted with Eun Oh, you could just see her analyzing how he treats her. Like when he tried to keep her from her servant's body, she suddenly understood WHY he's doing it and why he did it with her body.

I love how she also seems to be responding to his honorable intentions to not pressure her. He's very tender and loving towards her, but he gives her space, and it seems to make her respect/love him more. I really think Arang (or Shin Min Ah) conveys so much with just looks—they're just more restrained than Lee Joon Ki's/Eun Oh's, since he's decided to leave his feelings in the open.

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Well said, my dear. Well said.

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i agree with this

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