dianalg

Yul has back flashes of his past with Naksu. He is remorseful to have abandon Naksu. He wants to do right by her.
JU has none of this past. He is introduced to Naksu in Mudeok's body. He has a love-hate relationship with her and grows to love her while fighting with her. He is in love with Mudeok obviously, his slave girl and his master.
Currently (if the writers do not throw any more foreshadowing) JU loves Naksu.
But why the back story of Master Seo Gyeong and his blind lover, why must they have so many similarities? Red herrings perhaps. But too red herrings are just bad writing.
Yes JU is a man in love. But why must his love interest be blind like Seo Gyeong's interest? Good thing there is a obvious difference between Seo Gyeong and JU. JU is braver where affairs of the heart is concerned.

Btw I am more a a literature fan than a drama fan. I have no personal takes on the actors. But they are doing their jobs well.
But the news that Naksu actress will be the FL seems to point to the original arc (JU loves Naksu). Then they say, it is a different story. So I am confused.
That is why I needed to 'vent' and argue:
What is happening to the story arc?
Where are the writers heading?
Hong sisters, if you see this, please sort them out before episode 20.

Much appreciated if you can elaborate and justify why it is clear to you. Please treat it as an intellectual or literary exercise. No bad feelings here.

Ladies, I am not trying to be controversial here. I am just pointing out that why do the writers give extra information (foreshadowing) about the 2 earlier characters unless they are trying to lead us somewhere. Good writing uses foreshadowing (are JU and BY reincarnations of the 2 earlier characters? Why is it JU can read the hidden love poem?) to lead their audience to a reasonable conclusion.
Mellody makes good arguments such as "he knows only naksu" and so far the chemistry is between Naksu and JU's strong personalities. To say he is not aware of BY (per se) but obviously he must be aware that Naksu is in the body of the person Mudeok.
It is this Mudeok he is in love with. He confesses to Mudeok.
Compared to Yul who obviously loves Naksu.
I might not be doing a good job to get you all to see what is unfolding before our eyes (at least to me).
Let's debate rationally and not be offended by it. Etherealjae makes good arguments in one of the posts. Thank you for sharing your ideas. JU might not be the same person as the earlier character. But both are born under the King's star.
The writers uses a lot of grey ideas such as Is JU the king's son or a Jang? Or is he both?
Again, let us see how the story develops... it could be Naksu since they are having season 2 with her. But then again, they imply it might be a different story in Season 2. Cheers guys.

He actually said to Mudeok. He has always addressed her as Mudeok other than the first time they met where he suspected she was the Soul Shifter and assassin. At a superficial level, yes he has a love-hate relationship with his master, Naksu. The chemistry between the two (JU and Naksu's personality) is great . But now with more information (like the love poem, the love story between the 2 earlier main characters, the fact the guy is also born under King's star), I am now not sure. I wonder where the writers are leading us. Let's wait and see.

I think it is a grey area as the writers are building this idea that JU and BY are reincarnations of the 2 characters (the greatest mage who put a stop to the war and his lover the blind dancer). Clue: JU also born under King's star like him. BY is born blind like his lover. Chances are JU and BY will again put a stop to th enew war coming as a result of the greed for the ice stone.
If they didn't do this, I would also think he loves Naksu. At the moment JU loves Mudeok who is actually 2 persons.

Building on my earlier guess...there are definitely more than 1 ice stone. One with the fake Q and 1 inside Buyeon (since the stone can raise a person from the dead like the Eunuch and baby BY). It further strengthens my guess that it is that stone that prevents Naksu from turning to stone when she took over BY's body. Now the question is who does Jang Uk love? BY or Naksu? Both are dual entities inside MuDeok. Yul loves Naksu.

How? Because it is called ACTING? For 100s of years, in theatres and shows, you have men playing women....you have young men playing young women, old women, old men, etc....it helps to immerse oneself when watching play acting. We need to suspend some degree of belief. :)
The most important is acting skills and good make up. But as audience, we also have to do our part and suspend our belief and just enjoy the show.

Haha...I just watched 21 episodes over the last 4 days...it is funny yet tragic. The side characters (grandma, father, mother, siblings of the FL) are so lovable! The military family that has to sacrifice for the nations are so heroic and tragic. Glad to be watching this drama.

Yes, I'm invested in this drama. So far it is interesting and building momentum. Keeping my fingers that the Hong sisters do not drop their balls like Big and A Korean Odyssey.

What we know for now up to Ep 8. (1) There was a serious drought 200 years ago in Daeho and the mages (magicians) came together to counter the draught, bringing about rain and hailstones. Among the hailstones were some (or is it one?) Ice Stones which has immense power. These stones can change their forms. In doing so it emits out a black powder called Soul Ejector. The Soul Ejector can resurrect dead people, move people's soul into new bodies. Because of this, many fought and killed for it, casting Daeho into chaos and blood filled land. On top of that, it has its side effects. The soul shifter eventually becomes petrified (changed to stone).
Question 1: The ice stone is different from Soul Ejector (black powder)?
Question2: Is the ice stone more powerful that the Soul Injector? Is that why the Ice Stone can prevent a soul shifter from becoming petrified?

(2) The most powerful mage, Seo Gyeong ended the blood shed and "destroyed' the Ice Stone.
Question 3: Did he actually destroy it? OR the one in the palace is another stone?
Question 4: How is Mu Deok connected to Ice Stone?
I have more questions but this should suffice for now.

This is a really interesting drama (with all the magic & exciting events). Read the very informative writeup by Cho Na here in Mydramalist site. As the story progresses, there are more questions and theories.

Similarities between TSOML & ADOS : 1. Female centric story 2. Strong female characterization 3. A cunning and emotionally scarred male lead with family issues 4. FL has wonderful female support (but I still love ML's ganny best) 5. Good use of several inciting action, rising action, climax and resolution through out the episodes 6. It sucks to be female and/or of the lower caste system in ancient China 7. Beautiful details on way of life during the time and setting (this is what gets me for both of the dramas that other dramas fail to deliver in this particular genre)
Differences : 1. Stronger actors in TSOML for both leads and especially support characters 2. TSOML is slower burnt while ADOS is faster paced. 3. FL & ML liked each other faster in TDOS.
Conclusion: Watch both and take your time to savour them. Worth it.

Enjoying this wuxia after a slow 2 episode immersion . Storyline interesting but nothing out of the ordinary. 3 MLs are quite interesting. The side characters I find interesting. 'Bad Advisor' & Courtesan- They are quite witty and resourceful characters especially when handling 'difficult' or awkward situations. They make me chuckle.