This post is basically, A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF MOST OF THE MAJOR SUPERNATURAL EVENTS IN EPISODES 1-6 OF LOVERS OF THE RED SKY, with ANOTATIONS.

This got really long, and I’m not entirely sure why I did this, or if it will actually be helpful, but whatever.
Please, if there is anything I have missed, or you would like to offer an explanation for anything I have addressed in the comments, feel free to do so. There is a lot in here worthy of discussion.
Transcripts and quotes are taken from the fast-drama subtitles. If there are any discrepancies in said translations, also feel free to bring them up as alternative translations may shed more light on some issues.
(also please, this was such a bitch to format.)
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PROLOGUE TRANSCRIPT:
β€œLong, long ago, there was a time when humans lived in harmony with nature, alongside beings that were not visible to the human eye.
One such being was three deities dwelling in one body.
They were called Samsin;
The eldest presided over birth.
The second presided over death.
The third presided over the balance between the two.
One day, the deity of death, that craved more blood, ate up the deity that managed balance. The balance of life and death fell, and the world was overcome with fear and unrest
Around this time, Mawang, [the deity of death] broke off from Samsin’s body and lived off the evil greed of humans.
A woman who had lost her lover, because of Mawang’s reckless madness, completed a drawing.

Old Lady Samsin responded to her plea, and took possession of the painting, and Mawang who had brought havoc on the world, became sealed within that very painting.
And then that woman disappeared.”

NOTES ON THE MYTHOLOGY:
So, in Korean Mythology, Samsin (Sam being three in Korean) Halmoni is the triple goddess of childbirth and fate. She can appear collectively as three wise grandmothers, but can also be thought of as one goddess.
Here, they seem to have taken the prior version of the collective idea in this myth, and expanded upon it, into their own version for the show.

Mawang, I think is best translated as Demon King, and here he is being used as the Death counterpart to the elder Samsin’s life, or the god or deity of death.
(In Journey to the West, Mawang is the Bull Demon King and an antagonist to the Monk Sunzang.)

MAIN SUMMARY:

1. According to the prologue of the show, Life and Death must coexist, but they must coexist in or with Balance.

2. Balance, as its own entity, has been consumed/destroyed, ergo chaos, death and evil run amok. (but not life, just death… what – are the consequences of unbalanced LIFE. Ahem.)

– *It is undetermined how Mawang was able to devour their own sibling/other self, or what would happen if the Life Samsin devoured the death Samsin, or if that is even possible.
-> Let us suppose that Life, being life, cannot destroy, but Death, being Death, can. So, Death can eat Balance, but Life can’t destroy Death (see note 21), so there must come a way to deal with Death (or really in this case, also, chaos and evil) in the absence of Balance.
However, it seems to me this is a pretty in inconvenient set up, that gives Death too much power; if Death can eat Balance, then what good was Balance in the first place. If Death can’t be destroyed then you must perpetually trap him, but inevitably, there is always going to be some greedy human that will let him out again… but I’m getting ahead of myself.

3. Because of this Death split away from the form it shared with Life and Balance.

-*@bitchesoverdramas suggested that Death CAME FROM Life, ergo, Samsin created Mawang. I didn’t see anything in my translation to suggest this, rather that the remaining two deities of Samsin split from each other, to create a single Samsin, and Mawang, and that they co-existed in one body prior to this.

4. β€œDan Dynasty, First year of King Seongjo.
King Yeongjong ruled the world through Mawang in his body, but he was afraid of the bloodbath caused by the uncontrollable Mawang, that he passed down his throne to his son, Seongjo, and decides to do a ritual of sealing his own portrait, in order to get rid of Mawang.”

β€œis it truly possible to seal Mawang in a portrait of you”
β€œthat is the only way to banish Mawang from this world. Too much blood was shed in the long war against Mawang and I will end it today.”

To reiterate, The Old King had Mawang inside him, and used Mawang in some way to gain power and dominion over the land/s. This led to a lot of bloodshed. The Old King, afraid of the bloodshed caused by Mawang, decided to pass the throne to his son, and undergo a ritual to remove Mawang from himself, by banishing him into a Divine Painting.

– *It is undetermined how Mawang entered the Old King in the first place;
-> if this is a regular occurrence, if he has to be welcomed in, or if he just goes around possessing people at whim if not contained.

– *The text both says β€œwaged war AGAINST Mawang” and also β€œruled the world THROUGH Mawang”, which is confusing.

– *It is undetermined what it LOOKS like for a King to be inhabited by Mawang. The Old King did not have red eyes in the everyday, nor did he look like Winter Solstice Ha Ram/Mawang.
-> possible inconsistency here. We don’t know if the eyes in the Old King were an issue. I also believe his eyes glowed red when Mawang LEFT his body. See notes 19 and 21 for more.

5. During the ritual Mawang tries to tempt the new King but he turns away and Mawang is repelled by the gold symbols in the King’s hanbok.

– It is, extremely, undetermined what power being King specifically holds over Mawang and vice versa, or what this means. Is there hidden symbolism here? I don’t know.

6. It is established that one should not look into Mawang’s eyes.
See notes 16, 19, 21.

7. A Hwacha is a goblin that lives on the energy of Paintings.

– *It is currently undetermined what the significance of the Hwacha is. A divine royal painting of great power, such as that used to bind Mawang initially would have great energy.

– In episode 5 a man (goblin) comes to collect a painting from Cheon Gi, before she leaves to the painting gathering. During this gathering it is commented regarding Sim Sat Gat, Gyeongsang Province’s β€œmagic painter”, that β€œa Goblin named Hwacha, who likes to paint, visited him every night to duel with Painting, until he opened his eyes to the unconscious energy within him.” This is the same goblin that visited Cheon Gi, and apparently the same Goblin present at the binding ceremony of Mawang.

8. Samsin is needed for the ritual to be completed, aiding her power to that of the Shamans and all their paraphernalia (including, mirrors, swords engraved with star runes, incantations of some kind, and who knows, maybe even turtle talismans- see note 18)

9. The Goblin dissipates when Samsin appears, take the body of the man it entered with it.

10. Mawang lays a curse before being sealed in the painting:
β€œFrom now on, you shall all suffer, from droughts and famine. Your offspring shall endlessly wander in the darkness. Your Offspring shall never be able to paint again.β€œ
This takes immediate effect on Cheon Gi specifically, causing her to become blind, and the land is plagued with 9 years of famine.

– *The line in the curse β€œyour offspring shall endless wander in darkness” seems directed at everyone present, and not just Cheon Gi’s father. It has been theorised (@bitchesoverdramas again) therefore that Ha Ram becoming blind 9 years later is also connected to this part of the curse; as he does physically walk in darkness, although in every other sense he has learn to get around that, by learning to read the stars, fight, train his horse to come when called, having the ear of the king, and in formation services being able to influence princes and merchants alike.

11. β€œTo think that he made you blind. Then again, Mawang has always been mean. Child, I cannot lift your curse, but I will match you with someone who will protect you from the curse.β€œ
Samsin matches Cheon Gi with some who will, quote β€œprotect you from the curse”.

– *This line I think is the crux of the matter between Cheon Gi and Ha Ram. Ha Ram is chosen at this point by Samsin, to be Cheon Gi’s match, and someone who will protect her from the curse. He is the son of the Shaman that bound Mawang, he is born with the energy of water*(see point 12), and he is born on the same day as Cheon Gi. They are from this point on connected by Fate.
And it can be assumed that this is the point where it becomes Ha Ram’s destiny as such, to contain Mawang 9 years down the road, and be the instrument through which Cheon Gi receives eyes, thus allowing her to be able to paint, counteracting Mawang’s curse β€œyour offspring will never be able to paint again”; Ha Ram will protect Cheon Gi from the curse by suffering the curse FOR her and containing Mawang until such a time as Cheon Gi can paint a vessel for him, banishing him from this world once more, as is her destiny as the Divine Painter.
Ha Ram does not get much *direct* choice in this matter, as he is chosen by the goddess of fate to bear this, well, fate. (To be honest, Cheon Gi doesn’t get much choice in her destiny as Divine Painter either.)
However, I think if these two ever get to know exactly what is going on here, they would probably choose their fates also- Ha Ram would willingly protect Cheon Gi, as he is shown to do in episode 6 anyway, and Cheon Gi continue her fathers legacy.
Nonetheless, this set up provides much food for thought surrounding the themes of fate and choice.

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9 YEARS LATER
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12. Ha Ram has the β€œenergy of water”; β€œ born with the energy of water”; β€œenergy of the water deity”

– *It is undetermined if this will become more of a thing later, what exactly having the energy of the water deity means for Ha Ram, other than being able to find water in a drought, and how it links to the rest of his character and arc, if at all. As some people have noted, there is still one more main deity that has not been revealed, unless it is someone we have already seen, perhaps this is the Water Deity?

– Side Notes on Energy: Cheon Gi is said to possess, as a blind child, the energy of Samsin, and her father the energy of Mawang, according to Ha Ram’s father. When entering the Portrait chamber, the 2nd Prince declares it to have β€œa strange energy” (note 18). Conversely, Cheon Gi’s father senses Mawang’s energy in the 2nd Prince in episode 6, but not on Ha Ram, despite Ha Ram being where Mawang resides. (Compare also to note 19)

-> Eazal, I know you commented that perhaps it was his Power of Water that made him the suitable temporary vessel for Mawang, but to be truly compatible he had to give up his eyes, however I can’t find any evidence in the text to back this up. His water energy doesn’t only work WITHOUT eyes, because well, his power works just fine when he is a child WITH eyes. But really the role his water energy has to play so far has had limited play, and we can’t say for sure what it effects. More on the eyes thing down below.

13. SIDE NOTE ON TRANSLATION. The Priestess says in my subtitles β€œwe need him at the next dragon rainmaking ritual”
She does NOT say either the ancient or modern Korean word for dragon (룑and 용, respectively), she says the word for salamander (도둱뇽을), and the Hangul text on the screen at this point reads:
도둱뇽을 놓고 μ§€λ‚΄λŠ” 기우제- which Google Translate translates to β€œrain festival where salamanders are left behind.” This tracks with the song they sing at the ritual, where the lyrics are:
“Salamander, Salamander, Raise the clouds Spurt out Frogs If you let sweet rain fall I will let you go.”
There are also salamanders, or lizards, in the ritual bowl. This isn’t specifically related to anything (yet?), and I don’t really know it’s relevance (if any), and I don’t know the difference between salamanders and dragons here; I just thought it was interesting, and liked the song.
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Okay, back to the story.
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14. Ha Ram and Cheon Gi meet, and talk about painting. This establishes the reverse connection they will have in 19 years time. They then go on a road trip to pick some peaches and are stopped by Samsin in the disguise of an old woman on the way. She gives Ha Ram a BUTTERFLY PENDANT, which disappears into his hand, and reappears on the nape of his neck, as a BUTTERFLY mark, seal, talisman or magical tattoo of some kind. Samsin tells him;
β€œtomorrow you will need this”

*compare with note 11 and 19. This implies that Samsin KNOWS everything that will happen…

15. Ha Ram is taken by the now Head Priestess to be used at the Rain Ritual. She believes that only human sacrifice will guarantee the ritual’s success. The King disagrees but the Priestess plans to go through with it anyway.
β€œhe’s going to the palace? He must not”

Cheon Gi’s father seems to recognise the risk of this here as well, although he never expands on this point for us from his POV.

16. At some point Cheon Gi’s father says to some people watching him paint, that the key to painting is in the eyes, and β€œthe eyes are about the soul. The soul must be clean”.
See note 6, 19, 21.

17. The Rain Ritual begins, but more importantly the 1st and 2nd Prince have unspoken enmity, and the 2nd and 3rd Prince decide to wag on the Rain Ritual, and go check out some old paintings of their long dead ancestors instead.

*WHY they do this. I have no idea. Yul wants to cheer Hu up, and just CONVENIENTLY decides to take him to the Portrait House where the Demon King is locked up. In some ways this doesn’t NEED any more explanation; Hu has already been established as disliking his position as 2nd prince and resenting the Crown Prince. Yul just wants to cheer him up. In the future we learn that Yul is an excellent calligrapher and a word of authority in the painting world, he likes paintings and knows a lot about them. Maybe because HE wanted to see the portraits, he thought Hu would too, and as he states, β€œwe won’t get another chance.” However, it’s also very plot convenient that they decide to go to that house on that day at that time, and it’s implied (see notes 11 and 14) that this is either Fate, or Samsin Knows this will happen. However instead of trying to just… stop them from going to the painting house, she acts differently, and the hand of fate plays out in another way.

Yul and Hu enter the Portrait House; Hu’s sacred turtle talisman falls off, before he puts it back in his robes somewhere- text on screen reads: β€œSacred turtle said to live 10000 years and chase away evil”– after commenting that the place holds a strange energy, Hu is drawn to the Painting of his grandfather by the voice of Mawang:
β€œHe who is to be king, he who is to be king of this land”
β€œCome to me”
β€œI shall be with you”

– *SIDE NOTE. Originally I had this idea that the Demon King would tempt directly only the true heir to the throne, and thought that would make a cool arc for the 2nd prince, β€œthat was my position, that was truly my seat”– about the rightful heir and resisting temptation. But they went a different route. So ☹

– *Presumably Mawang only calls to him, and him NOW, because they entered the house now, and because he has unrest and discord in his heart, but I still think it’s a minor hole that Mawang hasn’t bothered to try and corrupt anyone else before now, that we know of. Why can he even call Hu in the painting, what powers does the painting allow out and why if it’s supposed to banish and bind him? See note 21 for more questions about this.

18. The Painting is set on fire, releasing Mawang, Mawang says β€œis it you who woke me up” to Hu, who nods, and then Mawang tries to enter him. He is unsuccessful because of the Sacred Turtle Talisman, which leaves Hu with a scar.
Mawang then says β€œis it that way?” and appears to be trying to find something else

– *It is undetermined what it is exactly he is looking for. The one who let him out, hidden by the talisman? But he just saw him. Samsin because she helped bind him in the painting? Cheon Gi (for some reason, chosen one stuff)?

Either way he is drawn suddenly to the Butterfly Mark on Ha Ram, and advances.

19. Meanwhile, the Priestess is gearing up to kill Ha Ram, (and his father attempts to stop her), when Mawang enters Ha Ram, the sky splits open, and both Ha Ram AND Cheon Gi fall in the water.
Ha Ram appears to stop breathing, and either blacks out or dies*, as does Cheon Gi, and then Mawang wakes up in his body, and the following conversation happens:

β€œHa Ram. Ha Ram. You have sacrificed your life for the lives of thousands, tens of thousands of people. β€œ
β€œDid you use the kid as bait to lure me in?”
β€œMawang. Reside in this child’s body. I will take away the source of your energy, your eyes. You won’t be able to use your power, until the day you retrieve your eyes. β€œ
β€œCheon Gi. Cheon Gi. The promised child who will save this world. I will leave these eyes to you for a moment. Make the β€œpottery of fate”
β€œIn the distant future, when the two of you are reunited, everything will fall into its place.”

– *It is unclear to me if Ha Ram did β€œdie” or not. It’s possible the rain ritual worked because Ha Ram did briefly die or at least stop breathing, when he fell in the water, but due to the Grace of Samsin was brought back. (And if he didn’t die, why did the rain ritual work? Was sacrifice NOT needed? Sacrifice does make sense from a storytelling perspective.) Samsin also says that he has sacrificed himself for many.

– *Personally I don’t see how being forced to do a rain ritual, by the religious order of the day and also the King, because you have been blessed by a water deity, in which a Priestess is going to kill you illegally, and then falling into the water and being possessed by a Demon King that entered you because of a Mark the Goddess of Fate put on you to free a girl from a curse from 9 years ago so she can eventually save the world, because some idiot hard done by prince wants to be king, is exactly personal, wilful sacrifice… but … sure. Perhaps fated sacrifice is a more accurate term.

– Anyway, this is in some ways a fulfilment of the fate Samsin laid upon Ha Ram at his birth. For him to protect Cheon Gi from her curse, by essentially bearing it for her.

– Mawang’s Energy, we now also learn, resides in his EYES. Ergo Mawang cannot use his power unless he retrieves his eyes.
The power of eyes has been mentioned multiple times already.
However, it is undetermined what this actually looks like, or how consistent it is across the text. Because as I said in Note 4 the Old King did not have red eyes, nor was obviously possessed by Mawang. In the following episodes, Ha Ram is mostly unaffected by Mawang’s power, as it should be if Mawang has no eyes, unless it is on the Winter Solstice* or he has direct (or indirect) skin ship with Cheon Gi*
More in Note 21.

20. At the beginning of episode 2, in a Flashback, the Old King tells his song β€œMawang will never die. Only sealing him…”- see note 21
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Skipping forward a bit
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21. Ha Ram leaves the palace on the night of the Winter Solstice.
β€œyou have made a mistake, Ha Ram. You have left the palace on such an ominous night.”
alternative translation:
β€œYou shouldn’t have left the palace on such an ominous night Ha Ram. You left on the night of the winter solstice, when the energy of yin is at its fullest.”

He Meets Cheon Gi, after 19 years, at the gate and they travel up the mountain together. After bumping into each other several times, including direct skin on skin skinship, the butterfly seal on Ha Ram’s neck goes smoky, and eventually its gold nature disappears and it dissolves completely. After fighting internally for some time, Mawang takes over and possesses Ha Ram’s body FULLY, before trying to find his eyes, then killing, or rather perhaps sucking the souls out of several guards (but not the astronomer), trying to find his eyes again…

– (he can? See? Just fine. But not… β€œSee”?- he can however SMELL them apparently. The way this was portrayed visually was quite confusing as it implied Mawang could sort of β€œSee” in a certain way in the spiritual realm as it were, like him looking directly at Ho Ryong; the visual techniques could’ve been more distinct at least, if he wass supposed to not see anything at all.)

Samsin saves Cheon Gi from being found once by Mawang, by hiding her behind a protective fire.*
This doesn’t last however, and Cheon Gi goes off again, and Mawang makes a move.
But this time, he is stopped by the Mountain Spirit, god and Guardian, Ho Ryong, who appears in the form of both a girl and a tiger. (Tiger spirits, yay!)
They fight, and then Samsin again this time intervenes before Ho Ryong can β€œkill” Mawang.

The conversation goes as follows:
β€œIt is not time yet.”
β€œAre you asking me to let Mawang go?”- (here Mawang fights with Ram for control of the body.)
β€œMawang will not die*. He is only trapped in that body. Once that man dies, Mawang will be released and free. We must expel Mawang from that man’s body and seal him in an eternal bowl”
β€œAn eternal bowl?”
β€œThat child [Cheon Gi] will make it”
β€œDo you truly believe that a defenceless girl can make the bowl that will seal Mawang?”
β€œWhen the time comes, she will make it. She is a child of destiny. We must protect those two until then” – (seems unfortunate… having to rely on humans to bind Mawang…but anyway)
β€œHowever, my powers only reach this mountain and the palace, I cannot guarantee it.”
β€œTo protect humans is to protect the mountain.
When Mawang awakens, blood will be shed again.”

Before the deities both depart again, Samsin RE-imprints Ha Ram with the butterfly seal, that dissolved prior.

– *Both Samsin and the Old King have now confirmed that Mawang cannot die, only be sealed in something. (See note 2, and 21)
Thus, by drawing connections from all that we’ve seen and the creation myth we can make the Mythological Conclusion that:
—> Death (or Evil) cannot be destroyed or killed, only contained. (a boring take imo, but we have to work with it.)
—> Life cannot destroy Death, only aide in his containment. In fact, it seems she is required to be involved in his entrapment of some kind. Be that in helping the Shamans trap him in the painting, or keeping him trapped in a human body via butterfly talisman, or β€œtaking pity on the woman” in the OG myth.
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– *It is undetermined whether or not Mawang can be destroyed by ANOTHER deity, see, the Mountain Spirit, that was clearly about to kick his ass, but the text simply says that would’ve killed Ha Ram, and released Mawang again. What good Ho Ryong thought she was doing then, I don’t know. Why fight him if he’ll never go away.

Eternal containment is hardly eternal if human greed can simply release him again, as has already happened once. Unless Cheon Gi’s painting is somehow MORE than her father’s, and can never be broken or destroyed, thus never releasing Mawang again, but this is undetermined at this time. (And would also imply that the world post her painting would have no death or evil in it ever again…)

There’s a paradoxical nature to all of this, which I haven’t really gone into yet. To control death, or evil, and stop him from running rampant across the world, you can only CONTAIN him. But this containment is not permanent, and can be broken by human greed or foolishness (sin if you want an alternative worldview term). Someone is then, supposedly, permanently fated to bind him, over and over and over again. But he will curse you if you bind him (and there’s nothing to suggest that he wouldn’t do this EVERY TIME, although… let’s wait and see.), and there’s also nothing to suggest that this cycle has any END.
So then OUR leads, first due to the nature of Mawang, and then due to the fallen nature of humans (or, just the 2nd prince if you don’t have much time), must suffer and share a curse, (for the sake of humanity I suppose), and are fated to suffer and share this, BECAUSE they are fated to stop him… yeah.
There’s some alternative parallels I could draw from this but…
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– *The Mountain Spirit guards the palace and the mountain, and initially I am assuming that both Cheon Gi and Ha Ram went outside of that jurisdiction, which is why Mawang could kill the guards, and attempt to get his eyes back, but then was stopped as he re-enters her domain.
It is undetermined however, why the mountains spirit didn’t get involved when Mawang was released at the palace 19 years ago, if that is, as this claims, under her jurisdiction.
The conversation here does imply that she cares more about nature than humans, so perhaps she was just lazy 19 years ago, or perhaps that is a minor plot hole.

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– *And now. For the Frakking Eyes.
(@wishfultoki: β€œ[yin] was associated with the earth, and death…The important thing to remember from [this] is that as the god of death, Ma Wang, is at his fullest power on the night of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. Traditionally, this is a date which Koreans celebrate with exorcism rites to drive away evil spirits”)

Here we learn that The Winter Solstice increases Mawang’s power, (and maybe the full moon too, who knows. So, @wishfultoki’s sister, he’s not a vampire; he’s a water bending werewolf 😉) and he can completely possess Ha Ram under it, EVEN WITHOUT HIS EYES.

Although this makes sense in theory, it is inconsistent with the rules we already know.
Mawang, according to Samsin, can only use his power, if he RETRIEVES HIS EYES.

Or according to this, he can use some of his power, when it’s the winter solstice.

And thrice it is seen that Mawang awakens or is stirred by being in CLOSE PROXIMITY to his eyes, and he has some kind of effect and/or β€œpower” over Ha Ram.

These three determiners are not equal. But the show is nonetheless pushing the boundaries with what power exactly Mawang has access to when he in a Blind Man’s body.
This is farther exacerbated when we look more closely at the three Butterfly seal incidents:

The first is after multiple kdrama-tumbles end in direct skinship between Ha Ram and Cheon Gi. This combined with the Winter Solstice allows Mawang to gain complete control of Ha Ram’s body, and wreak some havoc in his wake. The butterfly has to be reapplied after this incident.
The second is when Ha Ram saves Cheon Gi (from the pirates, lol no, jk), and he stops her from falling over by catching her. This does not have direct skinship, and Mawang is not awakened fully, merely activates the Butterfly seal as it were. Except right afterwards, she takes his elbow to guide him to a seat, and the butterfly is not activated again.
The third is in episode 6, after Ha Ram kisses Cheon Gi, which is also direct skinship (obviously). However, prior to this, neither their proximity on the horse, nor the hand holding, nor him touching her face activated the butterfly either.
Post kiss, Ha Ram is seen to struggle again with Mawang, and he blacks out, wherein Mawang taunts him in some kind of Nightmare. To me it also looked like the butterfly seal dissolved completely AGAIN, here, but Samsin didn’t reapply it and so far, Ha Ram hasn’t been affected by the apparent lack of it. (-I might be wrong that it completely dissolved.)

It is my understanding from all this that the butterfly acts as an extra protection from Mawang for Ha Ram, it keeps Mawang dormant inside Ha Ram, like a seal.
Potentially it stops Mawang from corrupting Ha Ram, whispering in his ear as it were, and it stops Mawang from finding his eyes, unless he is close to them.
When Mawang is in proximity to his eyes, he gains some power over his host, and actively battles against the butterfly seal. This is limited unless it is on the Winter Solstice, which gives him an extra HP boost.

This personally, seems like a pretty contrived, and also stupid set up;
If he only can use his power when he RETRIEVES his eyes, why can he now use it under different circumstance to different levels and effects, and why would you make it so easy for him to a) battle this seal and b) retrieve his eyes.
If his eyes are his power, he should in theory be completely powerless without them, whether they’re close by or no.
(It’s not like you kiss with your eyes or anything, and there’s some intimate spiritual EYE connection THERE. In fact, they, eyes, are very much not required at all for kissing.)

Nonetheless, that seems to be the rules, flimsy as they are, that the show has established. And quite possibly only so we can have some angst around skinship and our OTP being together, despite the fact that as previously ALSO established, these two are fated soulmates.
You would think Samsin’s safety measures were a little more… useful. But you know, they’re under curse, and curses are pesky little things.

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Two more notes I ran out of time and energy to double check or corroborate.

22. I can’t remember in what capacity Ha Ram’s nightmares occur prior to him meeting Cheon Gi in the present time line. Is Mawang present in them or not?

23. And I had this weird idea that Ha Ram’s ability to KNOW things, through the stars, and through his role as Il Wol Seong, giving advice, and manipulating players on the board was somehow connected to power that Mawang had given him- that he only knows things because Mawang tells him. But this seems inconsistent with Mawang’s awakenings post-Cheon Gi, and undermines any other abilities he is shown to have.
It could be that this is actually related to his Water Deity powers, or his ability as an astronomer (the readings of the stars in this, ofc, having real world effects.) Or it could be that I just completely misinterpreted the Il Wol Seong scenes. Let me know if anyone has anymore insights into this.

In conclusion, and to answer your direct questions @eazal:

Samsin cannot remove Cheon Gi’s curse (because that’s how fΓ¦irie tales work), so she chooses to counteract it through the powers of Fate (which is what she is Goddess of); fating them to be together, fating Ha Ram to be Cheon Gi’s protector by holding Mawang until such a time as Cheon Gi, with now fated and cursed eyes, can paint the eternal vessel to bind Mawang, as is her destiny, both as the Child of a Divine Painter, and as the child Mawang cursed to β€œnever paint.”

In the essence and poetic faith of the Great Art of Storytelling, I don’t (currently) mind the prophetic fate these two have upon them, and see them less as puppets and more as chosen ones, victims of Mawang, and who will in turn be his demise. (Karma’s a bitch.)
However, I do think the mythology and rules surrounding the butterflies and eyes and seals is somewhat contrived, and doesn’t make perfect sense, and the rules are not consistent.
I also think that there a lot of undetermined-s in this show, and that the show may not answer all of them.
But I have done my best to point them out, and provide analyses of the questions roused by such facts the show has given us.
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(P.S. I made two A:TLA references in this write up and I can only hope that at least one person gets them).
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Word Count: 5700 ish

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    So…. we can end our drought and get rain in California if we can somehow extract the evil demon from the former king / Orange Narcissist trap and it in some painting?

    —-

    For “consequences of unbalanced LIFE” check out Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man.

    ——

    But the magic we all really care about — how did you enchant Dramabeans into accepting such a long post?

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      Well, no, you can get rain in California if you sacrifice a child to a Salamander… πŸ˜›
      —
      Man I can’t believe I forgot about that… but Reaper Man is my favourite Discworld Novel, m’Lord, and I think you already knew that, although I’ll forgive you if you forgot. I should reread it though; it’s been a while, so thank you for the reminder.
      .
      I… I don’t know. I went “I hope this works” and then thanked God when it didn’t Break anything upon posting!!!!! hahaha

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    This is brilliant. I feel like I got answers and explanations to questions I didn’t even know I had. Will definitely be referring back to this later on during the show if I get confused. Because I legitimately think you’ve given the world-building more thought than the actual writer.

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    one thing though..
    when mawang took over haram’s body during ritual.. he said “Samshin you tricked me” .. and he wasn’t looking for any body.. he was following the butterfly

    So, could also mean that death wants to devour samshin or be in someone who holds samshin’s power ? .. or maybe samshin’s mark means divine painter.. and death is after that body specifically (HCG in this case.. and it is interesting that she has the energy of samshin but eyes of mawang.. so She IS THE NEW BALANCE?)

    *************
    and ofcourse the curious case of woman who trapped mawang the first time when her lover died. History is repeating itself

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      – I thought I touched on that, but I might have done so indirectly and not specifically.
      I was merely pointing out how who or what he is looking for could be read another way.

      And on this note, one of the things I DID forget to touch on in this (help), is the butterfly’s initial role in trapping Mawang; calling him to Ha Ram’s body, and essentially binding him there- and how that effects the readings of the seal in Note 21. (More inconsistencies? Possibly.)

      – Death devouring Samsin is entirely a possibility but is not yet corroborated by the show. It wasn’t mentioned in the initial prologue myth, and Mawang seems primarily annoyed at Samsin for helping them bind him.

      – Cheon Gi as the new balance is certainly an interesting theory, especially if she too disappears…
      There hasn’t been anything yet to suggest that Mawang is drawn to Cheon Gi for anything other than the eyes. Although I have seen other people suggest so, it is not in the text.

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        you know what..

        “The woman who lost her lover..” .. we don’t know who is the lover. atleast i assumed it is someone who died as a result of chaos.. BUT what if the lover was the “Balance” itself

        which would make out ML – a deity (water = balance possible ; water can thrive life and kill life)

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          I have also had the thought that the Water Deity would make a nice Balance parallel but… We’ll have to wait and see heh.

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          I got the feeling from the very beginning that the woman is Cheon Gi and his lover is Ha Ram (they actors, even if it’s only silhouette are clearly to me AHS and KYJ), so from the very start I had this feeling of: this has happened before and will happen again.

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            i agree.. its them yes..
            but were they normal people.. or “balance” and his lover is the question

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    In TYPICAL FASHION, after re-reading this now that it is posted, I have found things I either forgot to mention, or didn’t but could’ve and maybe SHOULD’VE gone into.
    Oh well.

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    @wishfultoki

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      Thank you Muggy Precious!

      Thank you Sic for doing all the thinking for us. 😅 I’m glad I didn’t commit to writing full recaps because there are so many things we just need to roll with that I’d go crazy. I still haven’t watched Episodes 5-6. (You know, if you want to guest recap that is totally an option…or start your own blog – it would be entertaining and scholarly at the same time).

      Not to make matters more complicated, but I’m trying to figure out if there’s a connection to the 5 elements going on too: water-metal-fire-wood-wind… I couldn’t come up with anything concrete so didn’t mention it in my review, but I have a vague idea that Ha Ram is connected to water, Cheon Gi to fire (?). Gah, I miss @pakalanapikake!

      “Water-bending werewolf” sounds much better than “vampire”, thank you Sic. I will inform my sister. 🤣 Besides the winter solstice and full moon, there’s also the fact that Ha Ram had left the palace (and therefore the domain protected by the mountain god/gods), leaving him more susceptible to Ma Wang’s “possession”. I will watch Ep. 5-6 and read your post more closely.

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        Not a problem!
        (Speaking of… I had a thought of maybe posting this on either your blog, or @leetennant has offered as well- although it’s not a recap, I think it’s a useful resource that people would find interesting. What do you think? Do you think it would work on the sageuk-club? Or should I post on BOTH for different audiences! hahaha

        I have also, thought of starting my own blog, or restarting it actually, but I don’t think I’ll have time to get that off the ground any time soon.)

        Ooooh an elemental connection! I haven’t personally noticed anything so far that would fit more than two at a pinch to be honest… I mean Cheon Gi’s motif really seems to be the butterfly more than anything else, which could be wind even. But it’s much more likely to simply be the mark of divinity as it were, and Samsin. Ack, idk, still lots to unpack haha. And the drama has been rather limited in information in some ways.

        Yes I mention the Mountain Spirit’s domain! Looking forward to your post 5+6 comments.

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          If you’re bored and have nothing to do next week you’d be very welcome to polish it and post it on the sageuk-club. It’s a very useful resource!

          You know what’d I like to do? Get my hands on the novel. I read a synopsis that said Ha Ram is not totally blind. He can see red. Maybe the novel has some clues on these things that puzzle us (though a good drama writer would make sure we can understand it on its own without having to refer to the source text, but you know, intertextuality makes things interesting).

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            OKay so even though I was all like “hey maybe we can DO THIS” I am also going away on Wednesday and might not have time to get it tidied up before we leave.
            Still, if you’re (both @leetennant) ok with it being posted a bit later- I might take you both up on that. (I will try work on it before leaving anyway)

            Oh I didn’t even know it was a novel! Lol! If you do get your hands on it, let me know!
            Oh he can see red… hhmmm infared? Deer can see infared. Not really relevant but anyway I have been thinking this show has had a suspicious lack of the tititular red skies…

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    @sicarius Thank you for this post. I still have a lot of questions but hopefully the show will answer them. I feel like so much is lost in translation and it makes me want to read up on Korean folklore and myths.

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      Hey, you’re welcome. Hopefully it helped SOME of the questions, although it may also have simply given you more haha.
      Yeah I was concerned about how much I could be misunderstanding from translations too! *cries*
      I have a book on Korean folktales actually. I wonder if anything related to this is mentioned in there, like the story of Samsin.

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    I actually had some thoughts while reading this (but not finishing it) this morning. But alas, I’m at work now and have forgotten my brilliant additions. You’ve outdone yourself yet again and I will be referring to this again through the rest of the show.

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    Wow, you went through the hard work of trying to make sense of this universe!
    Watched ep 6 yesterday and although this drama is so pretty that I would enjoy it even if it became a total car crash, the kiss scene – where I totally expected Haram to become red-eyed- crazy-haired-demon, and instead he fainted and had what looked like an inner battle against Mawang – got me out of the drama because in fairytales you kind of expect the same actions to get similar consequences and when it’s not the case it feels like cheating… Anyways, physical contact with Cheung Gi wakes Mawang up, but maybe Mawang only got to possess Haram because there were special circumstances (winter solstice outside the palace), so thanks for pointing that out!
    The skinship inconsistencies also caught my eye, but on second tthought, maybe the demon is only awakened by direct skin contact and not touch through fabric – which kind of excludes situations like Cheung Gi grabbing Haram’s arm to guide him

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      Honestly, I originally did this all because of for @eazal‘s confusion, and me, being me just couldn’t answer her simply lol.
      It actually helped me too, breaking down what information the show DOES provide, and what conclusions we CAN draw from that, without supposing too much, but also what questions that information uncovers, what discrepancies, what holes etc. I think it’s a good way of looking at the show and I hope I did a reasonable job of that anyway.

      You know… I thought the kiss was on paper very well set up, being such a direct inverse parallel to their one as kids, but Ha Ram/AHS’s face held the same vaguely distressed and or pensive yet guarded expression the entire time leading up to it, I couldn’t work out what he was feeling, or what direction it would go either, until he leaned in and I went “oh we ARE going there ok!!!” lmao. (sorry AHS pfft)

      I did break down the whole in direct skinship vs direct skinship in the summary of the three “butterfly incidents” as I call them:
      Direct skinship seems to wake him up properly, (either in a nightmare, or with the Winter Solstice boost, a lot more), but there was an indirect skinship that still triggered the butterfly- when he caught her- and many times it didn’t: the show is constantly pushing the boundaries with what power exactly Mawang has access to, and how, and when, and it is never consistent about this alas.

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    This is 👏 👏 👏 brilliant. So much to think about. Some random thoughts/fundamental principles/questions and speculations that I am hanging onto (and letting the rest play out):
    1. Mawang can not die because he lurks in the dark desires of the human heart. He can only be contained in balance with Samsim. He is not going anywhere fast, but he should not be rampant.

    2. The destructive vs creative impulses are elemental. This gives the painting, as an expression of creativity, real zing.

    3. But it raises the question of the balance. What is or was this balance, and will there be a new balance?

    4. Eyes are a core theme. Not seeing must also include being able to see. So painting, that is being able to “see”, is significant. Cheongi demonstrated what she could “see”/her superior sight in her paintings in the competition. That the butterflies landed on her painting shows two things: they “anointed” her painting and showed that she can actually deceive sight. (Should not be taken pejoratively)

    5. I’m not assuming the vessel will be a painting.

    6. Samsim is a creative force and that includes making babies. I’m wondering if we will somehow end up with a child king who can contain both forces, creative and destructive, in balance.

    Thanks @sicarus for a stunning exposition. It would be great to have it handy as a ready reference and discussion thread.

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      These are some interesting thoughts and theories! So I thank you for their addition.

      1, and 3. I have more… complex opinions on the metaphysical worldbuilding decisions in this drama so far, and what that means for the story over all, and I’ve only really briefly touched on them in this write up… but they’re the most likely place for several main issues to occur for me, depending on how they’re handled.

      2. What makes you think the creative and destructive impulses are elemental? I am just curious by that connection.
      I love the use of painting and creativity and art in this drama especially actually, it’s one of my favourite things, and I like that they’ve tied it to the mythical as it were, because sub creation IS magic in so many ways.

      5. Multiple times the vessel has been referred to as things like a jar or a pottery of fate- although I don’t suspect the drama will suddenly also delve into the Art of Korean Celadons with a fantasy bent, when it’s so focused on painting (as much as I’d LIKE it too), it will be interesting to see how this part of the lore plays out.

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    wow I applaud your dedication to the mythology. I think one of the reasons our ml and fl’s dad got cursed was because they looked Mawang in the eye rather than the fact that they did the ritual.

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      Thanks!
      Ah thank you for touching on something else I didn’t quite go into.
      The FL’s dad got “Cursed” because he looked Mawang in the eye, definitely; he now retains the spirit and energy of Mawang in some way, causing him to go mad essentially.
      The ML’s dad was not, I didn’t think, particularly cursed in any way more than anyone else- he lost his arm and life due to shaman and palace politics it would seem.

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    Just occurs to me too that imprisoning or at least containing Mawang in a work of art (I.e. the destructive force contained in the creative) is such an important idea. So how does containing the destructive force in the sightless Ha Ram represent a more effective measure?

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      Response to self, well, Ha Ram is a work of art in his own right.

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        But yeah if you want to follow through on that thought… He is also, a creation, a created being, and are we not fearfully and wonderfully made?
        What finer creation than that of mankind.

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          Exactly. And who knows if it’s at all possible that they may be v creative as a couple, although that’s not looking likely at the moment because her touch brings out the you-know-what.

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        Bahahah. Ha Ram/ AHS is a def a work of art. HCG did say she wanted to paint his face, and apparently does more to it than just painting πŸ˜‰
        @sicarius this reminds me, the Godess mentioned that Mawang shouldn’t be sealed in a human because when the human died or something happen to him/her then Mawang will be released. Sealing him in a painting doesn’t seem like it would be a better way since it can easily be burned/destroyed like it has done in the past ? So basically they are trying to replicate what has hapenned at the beginnjng again without any additional improvement ? I think it said that at the start, someone lost her lover and created the painting to seal Mawang…right?
        Also, your post is brilliant. I waited until today to read because I needed something to get me through the long wait til the next episodes.

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          Yeahp I mentioned this the second point of Note 21- First, that eternal containment isn’t eternal unless Cheon Gi’s vessel is somehow MORE than all the rest- which also brings up its own questions of the world post-“eternal containment” (if possible), and second that there’s a cyclic nature to this premise, that is somewhat paradoxical also…
          There are parallels within this paradox I can role with (divine duty, sacrifice, fallen human nature causing evil etc.), but I’m not a fan of its currently never ending cyclic nature, and without more metaphysical nuance to the concept as a whole, it has potential to be the thing that will annoy me most down the track.

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    I told myself that I’d relax and not overthink, but you had to stair things up. 😂

    Awesome job @Sic, and thank you for sharing!
    I’m more of a true blue sageuk fan, so history first, then I try to figure out how the mythology and lore work from there. I haven’t been successful the other way around, so I appreciate your post.

    Fortunately for me, this is the all too familiar Yi Bang-won and his descendants’ story in fantasy form, and I’m willing to roll with it.

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      Now there’s a thought.

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      I’m sorry!!!! I really, truly wasn’t going to overthink it myself, and was just going to see what happens and then I got… well… carried away. hahaha
      See this is why we need all members of the Sageuk Club- different fortes πŸ˜‰

      Ah see I love history, but I think fantasy is always going to be my preferred genre and storytelling method. It’s such a versatile medium.
      Still, when it’s combined with historic elements, we can, if done well, get the best of both worlds.
      Feel free to share anymore links to real history that you see in this! I would always be interested.

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    First of all, Sic, thanks for this.

    I always knew you could never go with the simplest explanation, but this exceeds all my expectations. You even gave answers to questions I didn’t know I had.

    So let’s start at the beginning. I was reading point two and suddenly Greek mythology came to mind. Most mythologies have lots of elements in common, it always surprises me. And then when I read about Mawang eating balance and how Balance can come back to the world, it reminded me of Cronus eating his children until he was cheated by Rhea and Zeus survived and then he defeated his father and made his siblings return. So the first thing I thought, it is possible to bring balance back. If we can bring balance back, we can make all three return to the same body and to make this happen, the vessel Cheon Gi is supposed to make is needed, but only to bring the three together, because once it’s done it will be Samsin the one keeping them together.

    It was a two seconds idea that may not make much sense when writing it down. It was crystal clear in my mind when it popped out, but now it sounds… confusing?

    Continuing. Ha Ram as Mawang container. This was the plan from the very beginning, I guess. As a “divine painter” is needed to make Mawang vessel and Cheon Ki’s dad is insane because he looked into Mawang’s eyes, we need Cheon Ki to paint, but she is blind. Simsan already anticipated that Ha Ram would need the butterfly to attract Mawang so she gave it to the child. So she knows this all from the beginning (as you said in #14). She’s not making choices in the present, she knows what is going to happen (so she knows, both of them will be sacrificed, not only their eyes, but their lives). This is one of the main reasons I never liked deities (with the exception of Mars in Xena, the warrior princess). Also, this may be the reason why the boy was born with the energy of water, because Samsin gave it to him. I read what you said about this on #12 and it makes me feel even more that the water energy is there to balance Mawang power (I will explain a bit more later).

    #19 made me think Ha Ram actually dies as a human sacrifice was needed for the ritual, and now this idea comes to mind: Ha Ram is only alive now because Mawang lives inside him, and the moment Mawang leaves his body (and doesn’t use it a vessel anymore) he will die, because he shouldn’t be alive. And it makes sense to me with the prologue: he is the man lost to Mawang madness. As I said before the prologue is about HaRam and CheonGi.

    I also have the feeling HaRam knows Mawang is inside of him, and that’s why on both occasions he could fought him back. Do I have any base to say this? Not at all, other than the fact that he struggles and the first time he asks CheonGi to get out of the palanquin and the second one he takes the decision to push her away from him. He knows there is something different about him, and being someone who’s fond of studying and who’s learned about (cont…)

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      … (cont) who’s learned about the esoteric and magical ways, he must know something (he’s the son of a shaman, taoist, but a shaman, he knows he lost his eyes during a ritual that brought back rain to the country, and he is intelligent, we are told this almost every minute in the drama).

      Furthermore, I believe he is using Mawang to his revenge (or maybe it is the other way round: is Mawang whispering revenge on his ear? After all, revenge is closer to chaos than to creation).

      Regarding the skinship, this is my theory: the kiss happened far from the castle, not near the mountain so the butterfly per se was not enough to contain Mawang. Mountain spirit wasn’t near so it was easier for Mawang to try and escape. Does this make sense?

      And yes, the eyes and the butterflies still don’t make total sense. As Colours said, you want your fairytales rules to always apply the same way, not now I do this, but now I change it into this other thing.

      I won’t back read what I have written, because I’m pretty sure it doesn’t make much sense and I will probably delete it all.

      *very big sigh*

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      @eazal and @sicarius, you both had great analysis, thanks for keeping the discussion going while we wait for new episodes. Eazel, To your point about HR needs to die , I wonder if that’s why he kept saying I’m alrwady a dead man? I thought it’s because he’s basically planning treason against the royal family. But maybe bc he knows that he’s also possessed by Mawang? Just guessing …

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        Hi girls! Sorry for the late reply it’s been a mad hectic week.
        Your Greek mythology idea DOES make sense Eazal haha, but I think this show has the potential for many options regarding its world building resolution at this stage and I don’t think it’s going to live up to all of them… Alas.

        Often the meddling gods of Korean fantasy shows do annoy me, especially with regards to their ideologies of Fate, bUT I think it depends on how they’re utilised and woven into the story, and as my most recent wall post alludes to, if the fabric of the story breaks its own rules or not.
        For example, in 9Tails, the pushed for a “no fate change” angle except it didn’t fit with the themes of the show, I didn’t think, and it was undermined when the show itself showed you COULD change a fate. The Hong Sisters IMO are grievous offenders of the bad example also, as they tend to be unable to balance the power levels of their characters and end up stripping the MCs of any agency whenever they insert Samsin character equivalents.

        Here, as I have touched on, I don’t CURRENTLY mind it. That doesn’t mean it can’t go horrible wrong in the future but for now I’m ok with it. I think prophecies and fate, and their thematic equivalents, can be done well but it’s all dependent on execution and the worldview behind the story. I don’t feel that here Samsin has stripped Ha Ram or Cheon Gi of all personal agency or choice, at least not yet, despite their intertwined fatalistic fates. I am not sure I can explain why I feel that way currently though. Maybe it’s just not as heavy handed as it could be yet, and that allows the idea to brew. Idk. I’ll keep thinking of it. You never know I might analyse it and decide actually I hate it after all. Pfft.

        The text hasn’t confirmed how Ha Ram has the energy of water- the priestesses said “water deity”, implying it is not Samsin who bestowed the gift upon him.
        Logically, his gift making him able to hold Mawang without the same consequences everyone else would make sense, but we just haven’t got confirmation of that yet; the key point being without the same consequences, as others have held or been inhabited by Mawang before now. And how it works with Mawang’s ever changing eye power, again we don’t know.

        Your point re. 19 is an interesting one. You wouldn’t be the only one who has made the direct connection between our Lovers and the prologue and the implications of that… not sure how I’ll feel about them dying but I think it will greatly depend on how it’s done if it happens.

        I also thought Ha Ram knew about Mawang! But as I mentioned in my last point, 23, I don’t know if it makes sense if he does, and I couldn’t be bothered checking hahaha.
        Perhaps I should before I add to this post… but the capacity in which Mawang can exercise his power over Ha Ram is already inconsistent, so.

        Re. The Kiss- sure but how are we to know they’re outside mountain! It doesn’t tell us anything!!! 🤣🤣🤣

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