The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 19 Review: Maomao Again Lands In Trouble

The 19th episode of The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 showcased days of Maomao’s captivity. Let us see how this episode turned out.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 18 Recap

The episode opens with Lady Gyokuyou finally going into labour. Surprisingly, Luomen, Maomao’s father, is assisting with the delivery, indicating the seriousness of her condition. Jinshi arrives to check on her, clearly concerned, as her pregnancy has reached a complicated stage. Meanwhile, it’s revealed that Maomao has been missing for ten days, and Jinshi is visibly frustrated by his inability to track her down.

During his search, Jinshi uncovers that the missing eunuch, Tian, had been making visits to the graves of the former emperor’s concubines. Investigating further, he encounters Shenlu. She is visibly shaken when Jinshi speaks to her respectfully, as his demeanour and voice remind her strongly of the previous emperor. Alarmed, she questions why he pretends to be a eunuch when he clearly isn’t.

Caught off guard, Jinshi lets his guard down briefly, allowing Shenlu the chance to ingest poison. The event deeply unsettles him, as it challenges his long-held belief that he was merely the empress’s illegitimate child. Now confronted with the likelihood that he resembles the former emperor, Jinshi begins to reconsider his passive role in court politics.

Determined to uncover the truth, he starts piecing together clues and suspects that Shishou’s family may be orchestrating a much larger scheme. With renewed resolve, Jinshi heads to Luolan’s palace, where he finally begins to uncover the answers he’s been seeking.

The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 19 Review

In this episode, the festival of the mysterious village finally begins, and everyone wears a mask. Maomao wears a fox mask, whereas Shisui selects one that looks more like a tanuki. There is also a lore about this festival which tells about the history of this place. Apparently, a long time back, a group of foreign people came to settle in this part and were kicked out by the natives. However, some managed to stay behind and established a new bloodline that was mixed in with the native people.

Due to various circumstances, their descendants decided to live in a secluded manner, and most of the men and some women were affected by the inability to tell colours apart. This aspect signals a greater conspiracy because the first Regent Empress also suffered from the same disease.

The villagers also burn their last year’s masks in this festival as a ritual. The festivities are over without any hassle, and we enter the main plot of the series. Maomao relentlessly asks Suirei to give her the recipe for the revival fluid that she used on herself. Suirei informs her how dangerous that fluid can be, but Maomao is so interested in it that she even asks to experiment. But in this episode, we also realise an interesting thing: Shisui did not have a very happy childhood, as her own mother physically abused her.

Later, Maomao and Kyo-u find themselves in a different kind of predicament. They venture too deep into a place where they should not have been, and now they will have to bear the consequences.

Verdict

Though this episode was mostly uneventful, the last part was finished on a high note. We do not know what might happen to Maomao now that she has learned about a huge scheme. This entire thing will be explored in more detail in the next episode.

Must Read: The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Review