Platinum Fox

Yes and it is why the palace is so full of vengeful ghosts. It is also why Kang Cheol laughs at the king's proposal to free the state slaves in hopes that the nobles will free their slaves as well. He very much understands human nature.

Maybe that is intentional. We don't know why he is king. All we know is that something happened on Mount B. (can't remember the name). Because of this the blind guy and the queen dowager planned to take over the throne through summoning the 8ft. creature to possess the crown prince and the king. Now that this plan has failed and the queen dowager no longer wants to use the creature, the blind guy has summoned it to be in Yeong In to get back at the queen dowager. So everything seems to be tied to whatever happened on the mountain and with the previous king. Who really is the king?

Remember Yeo Ri's words. If you do bad things after you die, you are doomed to walk the earth for eternity as an vengeful spirit. Also, remember the lesson of the crown prince, a family who breeds ill content is bound to be in turmoil. The family who breeds virtuous deeds is bound to have a good life. The royal family must have done a lot of bad things to have all these ghosts in their palace.

People think there are only two options: she ends up with Yun Gap with his original body or Kang Cheol in Yun Gap's body. They are mortals living in the mortal world. What about a third option? The vision only shows Yun Gap, a child, and Yeo Ri eating a meal. It does not show where it is (earth or heaven), Could it not be that both Kang Cheol and Yeo Ri are immortals and experiencing their mortal trials?

From the beginning we only know the earthly back story of Kang Cheol. He has been in that pool for a 1000 years, but we don't know why. The fact that Kang Cheol can't just pop in and out of people's bodies says that something or someone is interfering with his ascension. Something else has to happen before he can ascend. Why is it so important that she be his vessel for ascension? What is their connection? Kang Cheol could have found any shaman to help him ascend. Why her? jmo

From my understanding he is the second male lead.

No he has a happy ending in The Long Ballad.

I see where you're coming from. We, and the people in court, wouldn't laugh at something like this because it is something that brings hope that life will be better. Remember the court people are young compared to a 1000-year-old dragon who has seen everything that humans have to offer at the time. For him with everything that he has seen on earth, the very idea of people treating each other with respect and dignity and everyone having what they need is laughable as there will always be people who want power and fortune. There will always be corrupt people. That's why to you Kang Cheol's laugh felt weird and that's okay.

You need his goofiness to combat that very uncomfortable feeling that you got and lighten the heaviness of what Kang Cheol is actually saying.

Thank you for the discussion and happy drama watching.

Kang Cheol protects her as she is his only way to ascend.

I agree with you on the female character. However, in episode three we see that they are starting to work with each other and now that the 8 ft. creature has gone into the king, they will need to work together even more. Baby steps on the trust issue!

As for the male lead, I have to disagree. In episode three when the king asks Yun Gap about the proposal, the king expected him to agree with him and say that it was wonderful. Everyone in the room was shocked when Yun Gap just laughed and pretty much said in your dreams. When the king asked him why, Kang Cheol, with the wisdom of someone who has observed humans for a 1000 years from his pool, states that humans never change. The powerful want to remain in power and will do everything to stay in power. This is a theme found in all dramas whether historical or modern. Power rules everything including kings.

Today, does this ideal world exist in any country? Every country has people who are in power and want to stay in power. And people who are "enslaved" because of these people who want to remain in power. It has been this way for 1000s of years. Enslavement doesn't necessarily mean just physical property and work for no pay. It goes beyond that. Kang Cheol understands that.

Yes, you're correct, but that is the immediate explanation, not the long term explanation. The fact that he can't just pop in and out of peoples' bodies says something. If he could pop in and out of a person's body he could have ascended a long time ago by taking over someone's body strong enough to take the stone from her when she is 13-26. The fact that he chooses to possess Yun Gap's body is significant and because he can't just pop in and out means that something else has to occur for him to be able to ascend. My explanation to songkang was the long term explanation for why he possesses Yun Gap's body. Someone or something has interfered with his ascension as he has not learned what he needs to learn yet.

Episode 3 explains this a great deal more, especially the stone.

Thank you for the clarification.

Song Kang, the explanation that HJ gives is correct, but it is the immediate explanation, not the long term explanation that I thought you were seeking. The fact that Kang Cheol can't just pop in and out of human bodies says something. It says that something else needs to happen in order for him to ascend. This is why I explained about redemption. Kang Cheol has made this girl's life miserable and she hates his very being. She is not going to willing help him ascend with or without the stone. Remember she has to willing help him.

Again, I hope this helps. The stone is just a physical manifestation of her anger against him. Episode 3 will help you understand more of what is going on.

Not sure what you mean by properly watching, but whatever your ideas are, are also correct. What I wrote before is just my interpretation, but am also just following the rules of the fantasy genre. I would love to read your interpretation.

Happy drama watching.

After giving it some thought. I understand your argument, but have to clarify. You're saying that the dragon had no human feelings until he possessed Yun Gap's body? I have to disagree. Feelings are not just for humans. Animals have feelings as well. They just can't express them as love, hate, sadness, or sorrow. For me, when Kang Cheol entered Yun Gap's body, he is now able to give a name to these feelings. Also, animals have five senses. So the difference is he is now experiencing these senses as a human.

Has Kang Cheol come right and said, "I possessed Yun Gap's body for these reasons." No, nothing like that has been told. However, you can infer by his actions that he is doing this to gain her attention and get her to like and trust him.

Presently, Kang Cheol's goal is to get Yeo Ri to help him ascend to the heavens since he missed it the first time. Yeo Ri is nice to other spirits, but not to him. Yeo Ri feels that Kang Cheol kills everyone that she loves and therefore hates him. The first words out of her mouth when she finds out that Yun Gap was killed is, "You killed him didn't you? You kill everyone I love." Kang Cheol tries to tell her that someone else did it. He even tried to get Yun Gap's spirit to confirm that he didn't kill him. But she doesn't believe him. She tells him, "Even though you look like him, you do not have the same insides (or in other words the same soul)."

Kang Cheol needs her, more than she needs him. Now, with that said. Yun Gap was bringing her to the palace to help fight the spirits and demons that haunt the palace. However, he is dead and in his place is a more powerful spirit than Yun Gap. The story will be about Kang Cheol making amends to Yeo Ri for all the loved ones that she thinks has been killed by him.

Now what is the first thing Kang Cheol can do to redeem himself? Preserve and possess the one person who still has a body, but no spirit in that body (Yun Gap) as Yun Gap is the one she loves. Kang Cheol can at least save him.

Hope this helps. Later on in the drama, Kang Cheol may explain to her and other people the reason why he did it in words, but his actions speak louder than words.

Kang Cheol (chul) possesses Yun Gap's body for two reasons. First was to preserve it. He stated that it had started to decompose, and he did it to stop it as he knows Yeo Ri loves Yun Gap. The second reason is Yeo Ri is nice to all spirits, except Kang Cheol because she feels he kills everyone she loves and he is selfish. He needs her help to ascend to the heavens. How do you get someone who hates you to like you? Do something nice for them. jmo

Even though he has been next to her for 13 years, it doesn't mean that he has been lusting after her for those 13 years. He sees her as his way to get home, but she must be willing to accept him. How do you get someone to accept you? Do them a big favor and get them to trust you. Kang Cheol possesses the body of Yun Gap because he hopes she will accept him if he looks like someone she loves. However, she has told him, "Even though you look like him, you are not him on the inside."

As I did not see any grooming scenes in this drama with him, could you please give me examples of how he groomed her for thirteen years. What scenes lead you to believe that he has been grooming her for 13 years?

At the end of the drama, Han Yan states that she has lied about something else and wants to come clean. FYX says it is all in the past and she doesn't need to explain as he trusts her.

Many people have speculated about what she wanted to tell him. Some people have said that she wanted to say she lied about her feelings and that is perfectly legit as she yells at him when he is the water prison that she never loved him and would never help him again or something to that effect.

In addition, a poster wrote that in the novel she reveals that she is a princess at the end. Since there isn't any reason to suspect that Han Lan is a princess in this drama, my speculation is that she was going to tell him that she was actually Anwen's daughter. And she is there to get revenge for her mother's family who were all slaughtered before ZSY and Han Lan's mother were married. This is just my opinion, not a fact. It's not mentioned in the drama or novel to my knowledge.

Throughout the drama, I felt that half the story was missing and for me it was her true identity.

I also watched this while it was airing. I don't follow any kind of social media, so I don't know about any Youtuber. I gleaned all this from talking with posters, reading the source material, knowing the kind of actress Zhao Lu Si is from her dramas, and reading The End of Eternity, the novel found at the beginning of the drama. Many viewers of this drama are not going to do all that and that is okay, The writers didn't expect anyone to. But at the end of the drama, I had many questions, just like the original poster.

Thank you for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

Chaerin, I understand where you are coming from. However, I have to disagree. This drama is driven by perception from the audience's to the characters'. From your perspective when he pretends to be her brother and goes to the school, you see him helping out his best friend's little sister. But, when I conversed with a poster about that very scene, the poster said they would have done the same thing. When I questioned why, the poster said because they didn't want her to get in trouble. When I questioned again why because she's not your sister and you're a stranger to her, the poster became uncomfortable and couldn't respond. In the end, we agreed that this must be a cultural thing as I had seen it done in another drama, In my country that wouldn't happen. Also, in the end both decide to keep it secret. We don't know if DJX told the parents, but we know he didn't tell Sang Yan. A behavior that DJX continues to do throughout the drama. Now is this grooming? Depends on your definition of grooming and what acts constitute grooming.

At the beginning of the drama, we don't know his intentions. We don't know anything about him, except that he is Sang Yan's university friend. In fact, we don't know why he goes to her school until episode 25. All of this was done intentionally by the writers as this drama is a modern interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood and a social commentary on the age of consent law (which is 14) in China.

Remember she says to the imugi, "I see Yun Gap on the outside, but not on the inside. I only see the spirit I hate." If Yeo Ri and imugi fall in love, then Yun Gap will not be able to return as only one spirit can possess a body at a time. If Yeo Ri finds Yun Gap's spirit and can reunite it with his body, then the imugi will have to leave. Yun Gap will be alive and the two can get married and have children.

However, if Yeo Ri can't find Yun Gap's spirit and reunite with his body, then yes once Yeo Ri has accepted the Gang Cheol, then the Gang Cheol will reunite with his own body and will leave Yun Gap's body to rot. So yes, she could end up alone. As the Gang Cheol will ascend to the heavens.

I am not sure what plm means.

Yun Gap is now two things (he is a body that is possessed by the Gang Cheol and he is a spirit -his own body). Yeo Ri says that in order for Yun Gap to live again, his spirit must be reunited with his body. The dragon has taken over Yun Gap's body for his own selfish reasons (maybe), but he is also preserving the body that was decaying until Yun Gap's spirit can be found .

The only reason I say maybe is because what is in it for him to take over Yun Gap's body?