The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 17 Review: The Mystery Behind Maomao’s Disappearance Thickens

The 17th episode of The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 was really good as Jinshi start to search for Maomao. Let us see how this episode turned out.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 16 Recap

This episode dives deep into mystery as Luomen finally arrives to assist with the royal childbirth. Without wasting time, he tasks Maomao with putting up several notices around the palace. While the instructions seem straightforward, their significance runs much deeper. As Maomao reflects on the situation, she recalls that Luomen had taken similar precautions two decades ago, which sparks her curiosity about the repeated warnings.

Sensing that something isn’t quite right, Maomao begins investigating on her own. Her search for answers quickly escalates, leading her into one of the most dangerous situations she’s ever faced. The plot thickens when she uncovers Shenlu’s role in providing Lady Lihua with abortion medicine. More importantly, learns the motivation behind it.

Shenlu entered the inner court at the age of ten and, like many others, became one of the emperor’s concubines. Once used, she and the other girls were confined to the palace with no chance of returning to the outside world. Rejected and forgotten, they developed a bitter resentment toward the emperor and his bloodline.

This episode marks a turning point for the series, as Maomao ends up being kidnapped. Her fate remains uncertain, and how she’ll escape her captors is yet to be revealed.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 17 Review

This episode begins with Jinshi trying to find Maomao and asking Lady Gyokyuyo and her maids about her. They are absolutely lost about this matter because they do not know where she went. To find a proper answer to this, Jinshi finally goes to Luomen, Maomao’s adoptive father, who is also aware of Maomao’s disappearance. But rather than panicking, he quickly realises that there must be some hint about her somewhere.

After that, we see how meticulously Maomao managed to hide a very important aspect of her kidnapping. She used alcohol to write on paper and then stuffed it in a tree trunk along with some catnip. She was sure that the cat, Maomao, might get high on these catnip and lead Jinshi and her father to this place. The character she wrote on the note was too vague to understand what it was, and many thought of different ideas about what it could be.

Thankfully, one of Gyokyuyo’s maids uttered the name Shisui, and Jinshi quickly realised that this mysterious maid might have something to do with Maomao’s vanishing. Later, we see that Maomao and Shisui are being transported somewhere. Here, Maomao finds something extremely unexpected, which is the very suspicious behaviour between Shisui and Suiren. This is where the mystery becomes much more compelling as it becomes clear that Suiren is not as innocent as she seems.

She all along knew what was happening, and she was a part of this plan with Suiren. What they want and why they are kidnapping Maomao is something that is yet to be revealed. Do they want Lakan to be involved, or do they have another goal?

Verdict

This was another compelling episode, and I absolutely loved how they handled the mystery. It is also good to know that Maomao got her intelligence from her father, who is also as nonchalant as she is.

Must Read: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Reviews