Alchemy of Souls season 2 (Alchemy of Souls Part 2: Light and Shadow/ 환혼: 파트2) is the sequel of the Korean historical drama series of the same name. Directed by Park Joon-hwa and starring Lee Jae-wook, Go Yoon-jung, Hwang Min-hyun, Shin Seung-ho, Yoo Jun-sang, Oh Na-ra and Jo Jae-yoon, alongside other cast members, the show premiered on tvN on December 10, 2022.
The show will have 10 episodes and takes over tvN’s Saturday-Sunday 9:10 PM KST timeslot previously held by Under the Queen’s Umbrella. Alchemy of Souls season 2 episode 9 has a run time of 77 minutes.
tvN’s synopsis of the sequel reads:
JANG UK RETURNS FROM DEATH, AND THREE YEARS LATER, THE STORY OF THE MAGES UNFOLDS ANEW. JANG UK BECOMES A HUNTER OF THE SOUL-SHIFTERS WHEN A YOUNG WOMAN, A PRISONER IN HER OWN HOME, SEEKS HIS HELP TO RECLAIM HER FREEDOM.
-Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 9 Recap contains spoilers-
Alchemy of Souls season 2 episode 9 begins with Jang Uk questioning Naksu about her identity but all she says is that she is a soul shifter who remembered her identity when the blue mark reappeared. Now she asks Jang Uk what he will do with this information but before he can reply the crown prince arrives and interrupts the two.
Jang Uk quickly covers her eyes and tells Go Won that she is trying to calm herself after which he tells Naksu not to let anyone come close to her except himself. She gives her word for the same and later takes the two to the skeleton which contains a blue object glowing inside of it.
She tells them that the wraith chasing her belonged to this body and the blue object is an ice stone without any energy but with a desire to absorb the energy of others. She then asks them what were they doing here and Go Won tells her that it was her who summoned them.
She then questions Go Won’s actions of trying to save her and he reveals that he has been working with Jang Uk to stop Jin Mu’s plans and execute the soul shifters who are part of his secret organisation. Go Won’s reason to join hands with Jang Uk is that Jin Mu tried to get rid of his turtle.
Later, Jang Uk was hidden in a secret location while Go Won transferred all the information he could get to Songrim who have been part of this whole plan. Go Won wanted to tell Naksu about their plans as well, however, she entered the prison before he could reveal it to her.
Thus, he put forth the option in front of Jang Uk to either save her or stop Jin Mu’s plans. While Jang Uk chose to save her, another door opened to the prison in front of them and they were able to enter the prison without Jin Mu finding out.
Naksu realises that this was Jin Bu-yeon’s plan and cannot help but lament over how this resulted in Jang Uk finding out her secret. Elsewhere, Jin Ho-kyung tells master Lee about Naksu regaining her memories and that she is aware that Naksu’s soul will soon disappear. Master Lee understands this and believes that Naksu has made plans of having her soul disappear while she is still in the prison and to only have Jin Bu-yeon return.
He then asks her if she ever realised that Jin Bu-yeon is none other than Jin Seol-ran who had a part of her soul left in the ice stone that was inside Jinyowon which was later used to revive Jin Bu-yeon. He tells her that the two share the same extraordinary divine powers and blindness, which means that it was Jin Seol-ran who chose Jang Uk to inherit the ice stone. It was also Jin Seol-ran who chose Naksu to use her energy for her plans.
Back inside the prison, Go Won and Naksu talk about the past as he tells her about the blue jade belonging to Mu-deok. He tells her about his love for her along with the pain and regret that he is left with after the decision he made three years back. Naksu listens to his words and tells him that while the person may have wished him to feel the pain, she wouldn’t have wished for him to stay in that phase for long.
Go Won listens to her words and feels better about the past as he slowly puts the effort to move forward. Meanwhile, Seo Yul and Park Jin find a soul potion among So Yi’s things and begin to investigate it; remembering that the queen may know something about this, they make their way to the palace.
However, the trauma of those days is something that the queen is not able to forget and denies recalling if she ever heard the sound of bells, instead, the two notice her reaction and get their answers.
Back inside the prison, Jang Uk makes the connection between the Bu-yeon in front of his eyes and Mu-deok and realises that master Lee has hidden the truth from him. He then faces Naksu with many questions, but even after recognising her, he doesn’t say anything.
Instead, the two come to an understanding where they feign ignorance because if he finally accepts the truth then he will have to kill her as she too is a soul shifter. Now aware of her plans to stay back in the prison till the time she disappears, he asks her to make a choice.
Either to have him stay back with her as the two spend their time together or have him go back outside and wipe out the soul shifters under Jin Mu. The two silently hide their wish for the former but say their goodbyes in the end.
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Songrim soon prepares to fight against Jin Mu and Cheonbugwan in an effort to stop them from succeeding in their plans, while Go Won is introduced to the secret organisation by Jin Mu. However, he soon reveals his plans to Jin Mu as Jang Uk and Songrim infiltrate Cheonbugwan.
Jang Uk soon kills the many soul shifters who are a part of the organisation while he sends Jin Mu to the prison where he comes face to face with Naksu. There she puts the empty ice stone inside his body and leaves him to die as the ice stone slowly absorbs his energy.
Elsewhere, Park Jin informs the king about the actions of Songrim while justifying their act which was taken against sorcery. However, the king sees this as a power struggle which has been won by Songrim who have gotten rid of their only opposition Jin Mu.
Meanwhile, Naksu waits away in the prison when the turtle leaves into the ocean while the plaque is brought back by the waves, seeing this as a sign, she decides to make her way back to Daeho. She meets Jin Ho-kyung and Cho-yeong outside and gives them the plaque while subtly hinting at the former that she is Naksu.
Later, she meets Seo Yul who tells her about the truth from three years back and the bells that were used to manipulate her into bringing forth the tragedy on them all. however, Naksu tells him that she is a soul shifter and cannot blame someone else for what happened to bring in a reason that can whitewash her.
Now, the only way to ensure peace is to not let anyone know about her identity; she also tells him that this is what she and Jang Uk have decided. Elsewhere, Jang Uk decides to go to the North Fortress and tells Kim Do-ju that he will be unable to attend her wedding with Park Jin.
Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 9 Ending
Alchemy of Souls season 2 episode 9 ends with Jang Uk wishing her well for the wedding and hoping that they will come to visit him sometime in the future. She promises him this and later tells this to Park Jin who agrees to the idea of moving to the North Fortress after the wedding.
Later, Seo Yul tells Jang Uk about the truth of the incident from three years back but listening to Jang Uk give the same reply as Naksu, he says nothing more.
At the Unanimous Assembly, the mages find out about what happened to Jin Mu and pressurise Naksu to remove the ice stone from inside Jang Uk. She accepts the order and reveals that Jang Uk has let go of a soul shifter.
She tells them to have Jang Uk look after the soul shifter and see them disappear and leaves for Danhyanggok. Jang Uk understands the meaning behind her words and follows behind; finally being able to call her his heartless master once again, they spend time together until she disappears.
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Elsewhere, the queen and Seo Yoon-oh find Jin Mu inside the prison as he is on the brink of death; Jin Mu takes this opportunity to take out the soul ejector from the queen’s body and uses it to shift into Seo Yoon-oh’s body.
He soon arrives in front of the King and reveals that he is Jin Mu which fills the King with relief as members of the Unanimous Assembly make their way from behind showing their support for Jin Mu who has promised them immense powers.
On the other hand, Jang Uk enters Songrim to find three coffins in front of him while Jin Cho-yeon, Park Dang-gu and Sang-ho cry in front of them. They are none other than Park Jin, Kim Do-ju and Jin Ho-kyung.
Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 9 Review
Our fears have come true as another wedding in Alchemy of Souls brings misfortune and tears for us all. As this episode brings an amazing start to the finale weekend of this amazing show, our tears cannot stop as we grieve for one of our favourite couples in the show.
On the other hand, we are also saddened by the ending that Jang Uk and Naksu are soon to face, however, there is also a sense of anger because Jin Mu could have been dead. Then again, Naksu wanted to torture him for good but this plan didn’t go the right way.
The Alchemy of Souls season 2 finale period has begun and this episode has cleared it up that this is going to be an unforgettable weekend for fans of the show.
What did you think about today’s episode? Let us know in the comments below!
Watch Alchemy of Souls season 2 on Netflix.
Hated it, so disappointed that a beautiful story from season 1 has been turned into a flat story with the only interesting things happening in the last 2 episodes. The second season was needless. The main leads have no chemistry which was the main attraction of this show in season 1
You have really bad taste then. There was no chemistry in season 1.
Gostei da segunda temporada, a primeira apoxonei pela atriz jung so min pela interpretação. ????????????????