The East Palace Cast & Characters Explained: Netflix K-drama The East Palace (동궁) has won viewers’ hearts with its intense storytelling and deep lore, and royal politics that perfectly blend supernatural horror with mystery and fantasy elements. Set in a fictional kingdom plagued by an ancient curse that takes the lives of the Crown Princes, the series highlights the consequences of greed and what happens when people refuse to take responsibility for their actions.
The eight-episode series follows a ghost slayer who, along with a court lady, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery and figure out who is behind these mysterious and deadly situations before the entire royal bloodline is wiped out. While the chilling story keeps viewers hooked, what separates the series from others is its impressive cast, which includes Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo and Cho Seung-woo.
The East Palace Cast & Characters Explained
Nam Joo-hyuk as Gu-cheon
The protagonist of the series is unwilling ghost-slayer Gu-cheon, whose laziness must take a back seat when he is picked up by the king to take care of the evil entities that are haunting the palace and causing the Crown Princes to die unexpectedly. He has the ability to cross into the Realm of Gwi, where restless spirits dwell, and interact with the spirits directly.
He acquired this ability through tragic means, after his mother drowned in a pond with him. The incident claimed his mother’s life, but it gave him this shocking ability that is a bane and a boon in his life. To Gu-cheon, ghosts are an inconvenience, and the act of going into the Realm of Gwi has a toll on his yang energy, as a result of which he doesn’t want to do this activity any longer.
However, his arrival at the palace changes everything as he’s given the ultimatum to either get rid of the spirit or risk losing his life. The journey is perilous and comes with great cost for him, and Nam Joo-hyuk plays the role of the sarcastic but dedicated spirit hunter well. He balances his character’s dry humour with emotional depth, determined to save innocent lives no matter the cost. This is the actor’s first role after his return from his military service, and it proves that he’s still one of the most talented actors in the industry.
Roh Yoon-seo as Saeng-gang
Roh Yoon-seo’s Saeng-gang is a unique character who can hear spirits since she was young. She’s a court lady of the palace and is one of the King’s children. She has had this unique ability from when she was young, which has made her somewhat of an outcast. While Ju-sang had initially asked her to keep quiet about her ability, it gave her a perspective about the happenings inside the palace walls unlike anyone else. She has faced many dismissive glances from those around her because of this, but it makes her pairing with Gu-cheon a unique one.
She, thus, makes headway into the secrets that have been kept hidden for generations and hears the dead as they tell her the atrocities that they have faced at the hands of the royals. Saeng-gang turns out to be an invaluable ally to the ghost slayer, and Roh Yoon-seo captures Saeng-gang’s compassion with her courageousness extremely well. She doesn’t let her abilities define her and, instead, uses her ability to be the voice of the voiceless. Her empathy for those around her makes her a very emotionally important character, and she proves to be the turning point for the show.
Cho Seung-woo as King Ju-sang
King Ju-sang’s life is both tragic and villainous. While he watched his brothers die violently at the hands of spirits when he was young thanks to his mother’s unjust and criminal ways, he became the very thing later on in life. During his younger years, he watched his mother murder his brothers and kept his mouth shut in lieu of the throne, and when the same thing starts happening to his own sons, he is left distraught and overwhelmed, unable to accept the consequences of the actions that he has been perpetrating for years.
Thus, when he realises that his own son is the one behind these deaths, having learned about his father’s accession to the throne and incorporating those inhumane tactics to secure his own path to become king, the most shocking revelation turns out to be that Ju-sang had killed his child himself to stop him from becoming like himself. There’s emotional complexity to his character as it showcases the cycle of violence repeating over and over again. Thus, he is desperate to keep past secrets buried as it will paint him in the worst possible light.
Jang Young-nam as the Queen Dowager
Jang Young-nam as the Queen Dowager highlights a desperate mother’s attempts to see her bloodline on the throne, no matter the cost. While he’s a tough character to deal with, we see the truth when it turns out that she wasn’t the one behind any of the deaths. She’s strict but, ultimately, misunderstood, as it was Consort Suk-bin (Hwang Young-hee) who was behind the murders from the start. She had framed the Queen Dowager to take the blame and, ultimately, she loses her sanity in the process of seeing her own bloodline on the throne. What happens to her is also tragic, but it goes well with royal politics and its consequences.
Kwak Dong-yeon as the Crown Prince
One of the most surprising revelations of the series is Kwak Dong-yeon as the Crown Prince, as, in a shocking turn of events, we finally learn who has been behind the palace murders in the present. While, in the past, it was Suk-bin who took matters into her own hands, the present deaths were caused by none other than the slain Crown Prince, who found himself unfairly killed.
As it turns out, the Crown Prince, like Saeng-gang, could hear the dead, as a result of which he learned how his father and grandmother killed the previous princes 30 years ago. Thus, to make his path to the accession easier, he started similarly killing his own brothers, blaming the palace spirits for the situation. However, Ju-sang eventually figures out the truth and ends up poisoning his own son, resulting in him turning into a malevolent spirit and continuing to murder the other Crown Princes. It’s a tragedy that follows from the father to the son, highlighting how greed doesn’t take people very far.
Ggeomeoksali: The Scene-Stealing Supernatural Creature
The most surprising entity of the series, however, is the Ggeomeoksali, entities that attach to people, not places, and eat away at their yang energy. While viewers might think that they are malevolent, the Ggeomeoksali turn out to be Gu-cheon’s ally and save him over and over again on his journey. He does feast on Gu-cheon’s yang energy but is fiercely protective of him as well and proves to be a rather cute attendant, despite its scary background!
Supporting Cast
The supporting cast includes a whole host of other talented actors who complete the world of The East Palace, including Park Soo-yeon as the Queen consort, Hong Seo-jun as Chief Eunuch Kim, Lee Hong Nae as Shaman Park Su, Tae In-ho as Prince Ik Sang and others.
The East Palace is streaming on Netflix right now. What was your favourite part about The East Palace? Let us know in the comments below!
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