Alchemy of Souls: Theories and Analyses for Ep 7-8
Ice Stone and Soul Ejectors
What is the Ice Stone? It is energy similar to the energy of the Sun or a star or energy of a person who has mastered Hwansu. The Ice Stone is a cumulation of energy released during each one of its phase change. For example, when there is a phase shift between the fire element to earth element or earth to water, energy is released. It should be noted that the Ice Stone not only shifts between elements (fire -> earth), but also transitions from one state of water to another (liquid water -> solid ice). Again, when water transitions to ice, heat is released. Itās mostly all a bunch of an exothermic reactions (exception is that ice -> fire is an endothermic reaction) and gathering the heat energy that is released!Ā Hint hint...to destroy the Ice Stone one must subject it to intense heat energy...say someone who has mastered Hwansu (Master Lee or Naksu) or is able to harness the power of the Sun or star (maybe Jang Uk?). Additionally, if you know that the phase changes are mostly all exothermic reactions then to undo everything, just subject it to the inverse which are endothermic reactions (add heat into the system (OG Ice Stone) so that the system (OG Ice stone) absorbs it). It's kinda like that saying in chemistry, "like dissolves like". Therefore, whoever holds the power that is equal or greater than the OG Ice Stone will be able to destroy it. Additionally, if you know that the phase changes are mostly all exothermic reactions then to undo everything, just subject it to the inverse which are endothermic reactions (add heat into the system (OG Ice Stone) so that the system (OG Ice stone) absorbs it).
Continuing on, some might ask why was black ash produced from the shifting of water to ice? Well this is where I think the writers may have been confused by some scientific concepts. Hint hintā¦if you havenāt caught on, the Hong Sister have been using scientific concepts as the foundation for how things work in AOS. After all, alchemy is the forerunner to modern day chemistry. Anyways going back to how black ash was produced. Without getting into specifics since I'm sure most of you aren't scientists like me, I will just say that the black ash is produced as a result of incomplete combustion. An example of incomplete combustion is when heat (fire element) is applied to coal (earth element) and carbon monoxide, carbon (soot/black ash), and water is produced.
Now the process in which the Ice Stone is able to shift elements and different states of water can also be applied to the shifting oneās soul. The energy needed to shift souls can be naturally obtained from the Ice Stone, oneās self (mastering Hwansu), the Sun, or stars. It also can be acquired artificially through using the Soul Ejectors. Energy from the Ice Stone=Hwansu=Sun are all the same thing: thermal/heat energy. I just want you all to understand that you need a crap ton of energy to carry out the Alchemy of Souls spell! Soul shifting is a very energy intensive process. The energy of the Ice Stone =Hwansu=Sun.
Now this is where I feel like I might lose some people, but if you get confused, I suggest you look up, āStates of Waterā and āThe Water Cycleā. The changing states of water occurs in nature in what is known as "The Water Cycle" where the Sun is the energy source (thermal/heat energy) that drives the process. An example of "The Water Cycle" can be found in the beginning scenes of Ep 7 where it is shown how the Ice Stone (hail) was formed. It should be noted that hail is a type of precipitation that is in between rain and snow. In AOS, hail symbolizes a transitional state.
First, the soul is water. The process of shifting souls is analogous to the shifting states of water. Ok process this for a minute. In order to shift from one body of water to another, one must first convert oneās soul which is in a liquid state (water) to a solid state (ice). When this process occurs, heat energy is released. That energy needs to be gathered and combined with the energy from within oneās body in order to shift oneās soul from the solid state to the gas state which is also known as sublimation (note: to change from solid to gas, a greater amount of energy is required than changing from liquid to gas). Now oneās soul is a gas vapor. The shifting of oneās soul from the gas state to liquid state is known as condensation where heat is released. Your soul is now once again in a liquid state except this time it is in a different body of a water. The reason why the soul must be in a liquid state is because it needs to be able to easily flow out from one body into another. It needs to be in a flexible yet stable enough state to take shape of whatever body it is in.Ā Basically the whole process of soul shifting is like tearing the bonds that hold your soul together and then putting your soul back together by forming new bonds.
Why Gil Jo Failed to Take Over Jang Uk's Body
Something worth noting is that if one has mastered Hwansu, one is able to create oneās own āice stoneā like Naksu did. It does not seem that the ice stone in her hands was a Soul Ejector. She was able to gather the heat energy released from shifting her soul from water to ice, energy from within herself, and the environment to fuel the different phase changes of her soul. Additionally, I wanted to add that when characters say ice stone there is not really a distinction between the OG Ice Stone and the ice stone that one is able to create when one has mastered Hwansu. For example, during the scene between Park Jin and Heo Yeom, Heo Yeom had told Park Jin that Master Lee was able to shift Gwigu's soul with the power of the ice stone. Master Lee doesn't have the OG Ice Stone, he had fueled the process with the power of his ice stone.
Now with Gil Joo, he did not have energy within himself nor was able to gather energy from the environment to carry out the process. Therefore, he needed to crush a Soul Ejector to release the energy contained with it to fuel his Alchemy of Soul spell (notice that Naksu did not need to crush anything). Another way to look it is that Soul Ejectors are like catalysts. They lower the activation energy needed to begin a reaction.Ā Now because a great amount of energy was transferred to Jang Uk the spell or reaction was not able to be carried out.
I know you all want me to think about this scene where we see liquid Mu Deok grabbing Jang Uk. If you want me to say what basically everyone has thought (that this was Mu Deokās soul saving Jang Uk), you can simply exit this post. Now if you are still here, good. What this scene reminded me of was the scene from Harry Potter where Harryās mom acted as a conduit between Voldemort killing curse and Harry. Due to her sacrifice, the spell backfired and turned Voldemort into a spirit. At the same time, Voldemort had accidentally placed a piece of his soul inside of Harry. This is what basically happened in AOS. Naksu acted as a conduit between Gil Jooās Alchemy of Souls spell and Jang Uk. Subsequently, the spell backfired and Gil Jooās soul went back into his body. So whoās soul is this that we are seeing? Iām pretty sure itās Naksu. She not only physically tried to protect, but she also wanted to protect him spiritually. Itās like she was trying to literally protect Jang Uk with both her body and soul. Maybe the energy that was transferred to Jang Uk wasnāt from the Soul Ejector, but it was from the sealed energy Naksu had within her.Ā Ā
Naksu, Mu Deok, Jin Bu Yeon, and the Ice Stone
Before I start discussing the new āevidenceā that everyone says proves Mu Deok is Jin Bu Yeon and that Mu Deok/Jin Bu Yeon is the personification of the Ice Stone or imbued with the power of the Ice Stone, I want you all to think about something. Given that writers are notorious for introducing plot twists to keep viewers interested, what would be a bigger plot twist- Mu Deok was Jin Bu Yeon or Naksu was Jin Bu Yeon? In the case of Mu Deok being Jin Bu Yeon, that isnāt so much a plot twist because everyone seems to think that. What would be more mind blowing was that Naksu was actually Jin Bu Yeon. You see, the Hong Sisters are the ones who really control the narrative in AOS. They only allow us to see what they want us to see. Theyāre trying to lead you think one thing so that when the opposite happens, it much more impactful at piquing your interest. Most people only take things at face value. They donāt tend to think deeper than whatās already been presented, and the Hong Sisters are very much aware of this fact. With that being said, I want to try to present a counter argument to what everyone says.Ā
When Naksu came close to the doors of Jinwoyon, the doors simply open for her. Naksu did not need to cast a spell nor touch the doors for them to open. They just automatically did it. In past episodes, we have seen that magical objects can recognize their ownersā soul regardless of what body it is in. For example, Naksuās sword reacted to her when she came close to it even though she was in Mu Deokās body. It would seem there is greater importance is place on oneās soul than oneās body. Given this, the doors probably opened themselves because they sensed a Jin family memberās soul. If Naksu was Jin Bu Yeon this would make sense.Ā
Now I know most people are saying that the scene with the pots was definitive proof that Mu Deok is Jin Bu Yeon and that sheās the personification of the OG Ice Stone. However, I beg to differ. If anything, this is more proof that is it Naksu who is Jin Bu Yeon with the power of her own ice stone.
Now Naksu only saw herself as someone who was just a soul shifter, maid, and disposable. This was the illusion she created for herself and this is how she thought others had perceived her as well. However, when Jang Uk told her that she was someone who was much more than that, the illusion she created for herself began to crack. The truth was literally and metaphorically power and blinding. It was only after she realize the truth that the pots begin to say how sheās the ice stone and blind girl. By realizing the truth, she temporarily gained her powers (power of her ice stone) back which subsequently allowed her to escape. Itās like that saying of how the truth will set you free. Truth is power. Additionally, when one metaphorically sees the light, it means one sees the truth. In this case, it was quite also literal.
I want you all to just think about some things....if Mu Deok was indeed the OG Ice Stone and Jin Bu Yeon, the pots would have said what they had said much earlier. Like they wouldāve said it right when Mu Deokās body had entered Jinwoyon, but they didnāt. They only said those things after Naksu, not Mu Deok, realized the truth about herself. Anyways I hope this clear things up for so many of you.
Queen Seo/Fake Queen Choi
Iād previously theorized that the Queen was the real puppet master and well in this weekās episodes, this theory was proven correct. I also theorized that she was not really the Queen, but was using some method to appear like the Queen. I was mostly correct. The Queen here is a soul shifter. She mentioned she wanted to get revenge on Songrim for destroying her family, the Choiās. If you remembered, the OG Queen was a Seo family member. Anyways because Fake Queen Choi possessed the OG Ice Stone (an unlimited source energy), she never needed to suck the life out of people.Ā
How did Fake Queen Choi come into possession of the Ice Stone? Well, itās like I mentioned previously, Seo Gyeong had probably kept the Ice Stone in his family for safe keeping. So Fake Queen Choi had shifted souls with Queen Seo in order to find the location of Ice Stone which was probably known by some members of the Seo family.Ā
The Choiās were probably one of the major mage families that lost during the Soul Ejector battle 200 years ago. Some questions come to my mind. Just how old exactly is Fake Queen Choiās soul? When did Fake Queen Choi shift into Queen Seoās body? Why set things into motion now? Letās entertain the theory that Fake Queen Choiās soul is 200 years old. She wouldāve needed to keep shifting bodies multiple times over the years. The only problem with this theory is that she wouldāve needed an endless supply of Soul Ejectors (I am assuming Soul Ejectors are a one-time use object since they have to be crushed to perform the Alchemy of Souls spell). Getting an endless supply of Soul Ejectors wouldāve been difficult to do if one did not have the main source aka the OG Ice Stone. It could be that Fake Queen Choi used one of the last Soul Ejectors to shift souls with a Seo family member to find out the location of the Ice Stone. This process would have probably taken a great deal of time.
After having it for decades or whatever, she decided now was the time to strike. Still the question remainsā¦why now? The kind of anger she has isnāt one that is passed down from one generation to the next. Rather it seems like one that has been 200 years in the making. However, it could very well be that the rage Fake Queen Choi has was passed from one generation to the next. Anyhow maybe Fake Queen Choiās big plan was to gain ultimate power which comes in two forms: power from the Ice Stone and power from being a royal family member. Such power would allow one to rule everyone in Daeho from regular humans to mages.Ā
To be able to rule everyone, she must first get rid of the mages and this was evident when Fake Queen Choi said she wanted to destroy Songrim aka the four families. Sheās probably trying to destroy them from the inside out. She had already begun to set things into motion 20 years ago. Recall that 20 years ago a bunch of things happened: Kingās Star prophecy, Jang Gang shifted souls with the King, Naksuās ādadā became a soul shifter, Naksu joining Jin Mu. Fake Queen Choi started first with the Jang family. Then she moved onto the Jin family. Whoās left? The Park and Seo family. I think she will save the Seo family for last. Why? Because they were the family who ended the battle 200 years ago. Got to save the best for last right?
Now letās look at how Fake Queen Choi destroyed the Jang family. We know Jin Mu was taken in by Jang Gang after he was exiled from the Jin family. I suspect that by the time Jin Mu was working with Jang Gang, he was also secretly working with Fake Queen Choi. Jin Mu was probably the one who planted the seed of soul shifting in Jang Gangās mind. Again, Fake Queen Choi probably instructed Jin Mu to do this. Not only did Fake Queen Choi do this, but she also planted the seed of distrust between the Jang and Jin family. Remember that Jang Gang was the one that Mama Jin had talked about when she said, āMy trust was once broken by a Songrim mageā. When thinking about Jang Gangās downfall, one should think about what started it in the first place. At what point did it begin? Well, it started with the prophecy of the Kingās Star. We have seen that constellation plates can easily be manipulated. Maybe the prophecy of the Kingās Star was fake. Meaning there was no real Kingās Star. Maybe one reason why Naksuās ādadā became a soul shifter was because Fake Queen Choi wanted him to implant the Kingās Star into the plates. Plus, you know when the King Starās prophecy happened? April 1stā¦.April Foolās Day. If it turns out that Jang Uk is not the Kingās Star then this has got to be best April Foolās Day joke ever! Following the events of the Kingās Star, Jang Gang left and in Fake Queen Choiās mind, the house of Jang had collapsed.Ā
Moving onto the Jin family. How did Fake Queen Choi destroy this family? Well itās much more complicated. Initially, she planted the seed of distrust between the Jang and Jin family by indirectly convincing Jang Gang to take a Soul Ejector from Jinwoyon. I suspect Fake Queen Choi played a big role in Jin Bu Yeonās disappearance (used the OG Ice Stone to swap Naksu /Jin Bu Yeon and Mu Deokā soul as children and thatās the reason why they didnāt run wild as children). I still think Naksu is Jin Bu Yeon (just read my previous posts about this matter). We still donāt know at what age Jin Bu Yeon disappeared, but I am guessing it happened 20 years ago or more, coinciding with events that lead to the destruction of the house of Jang.Ā
As for the Park and Seo family, I still donāt know how she will destroy them.Ā
For those who havenāt notice, the colors of red and blue have constantly been shown. Red and blue can signify a bunch of things such as fire/water, blood/water, fire/ice, hot/cold, etc. In particular, Naksuās outfit in the beginning was a red and blue. In a new picture that someone posted on IG, it can be seen that Naksu is now wearing a purple outfit. What happens when you mix red and blue? It forms purple. Therefore, Naksu wearing purple can symbolize that she has finally unified her body (red/heat) and soul (blue/water).Ā
One important theme in AOS is blindness. I know for most of you, you just interpret blindness as a literal one, but in AOS blindness is also used as a metaphor. Blindness physically and metaphorically can be a negative or positive thing. In literature, blind people are often portrayed as seers or oracles. Despite the physical loss of sight, they can āseeā what others canāt like someoneās past, present, and future. In this case, being literally blind allows one to hold some sort of cosmic knowledge.There are other times when people who can physically see, but are blind to the truth. The most famous example from literature is Oedipus Rex. After Oedipus Rex āseesā the truth that he had actually murdered his father and fucked his mother, he takes his motherās brooch and physically blinds himself by poking his eyes out with it. Therefore, Oedipus literally became the thing he had always metaphorically been: blind.Ā
Letās look at Naksu and Mu Deok. Naksu could physically see, but she was blinded to the truth that it was Jin Mu who was the cause of her familyās destruction. It is only after her soul enters the blind body of Mu Deok, that she literally and metaphorically begins to see. Blindness can also be used to describe someoneās soul. For example, even though Naksuās physical manifestation of her soul (liquid Naksu) could see, it was metaphorically blind. Now with Mu Deok, the opposite could be said. Despite her being physically blind, she could metaphorically āseeā. The theme of people being able to physically see but are metaphorically blind is repeated numerous times in AOS. For example, Jang Uk can literally see, but even he is blinded to the truth about his birth. Or Cho Yeon being āblindedā by her love for Jang Uk that she cannot āseeā that Park Gang Gu is in love with her. The list goes on!
Now, some have interpreted all the scenes of liquid Mu Deok as representative of Mu Deokās soul. However, I feel that liquid Mu Deok could actually be representative of Naksuās subconscious mind. I know some of you would say I am crazy for thinking this. However, am I crazy or are some of you āblindā? Anyways our conscious mind contains things like our thoughts, memories, feelings, etc and we physically express these things through our bodies. For example, I am hungry right now so I am going to get up and grab something to eat. Our subconscious mind holds things that like repressed feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories. So maybe when Naksu sees liquid Mu Deok, it is not actually Mu Deokās soul, but it is a manifestation of Naksuās subconscious mind. Take for example the whole sleeping walking incident. Sleepwalking occurs when our bodies and subconscious mind are active. Just before Naksu sleepwalked, Master Lee touched her forehead thereby activating her subconscious mind. If Naksuās subconscious mind is represented as being blind, what could this symbolize? I think could symbolize that Naksu has some suppressed memories. Maybe the key to Naksu regaining her powers back is that she must unlock the parts of her mind which she had chosen to blind herself from. A person is only whole if they can unite their mind, body, and soul.Ā
Other things I wanted to address is the whole theory that Mu Deok is the soul of the leader of the Jin family from 200 years ago. I don't think this is the case. What I think had happened is that originally Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu was physically blind, but not spiritually blind. Meaning her body was blind, but not her soul. Then when Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's soul was swapped into Naksu/Mu Deok body, it could physically see. However, Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's soul became blinded because as I mentioned above, she was blind to the truth of Jin Mu's involvement in her "father's" death. Now when Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's blind soul switch back to her OG body (what we know as Mu Deok's body), it had a healing effect. She wasn't the same soul she was when she was in her OG body and she wasn't the same soul that was in Mu Deok's body (what we know as Naksu's body), it was somewhere in between. So now Jin Bu Yeon/Naksu's body and soul can see (well her soul mostly sees...I had mentioned she needs to uncover parts of her subconscious mind).
Anyways, what I urge you all to do is to quit taking things at face value. If you keep looking at every clue as it being proof that Mu Deok's soul is still dormant in her body then you have become biased and blind. Take every clue and actually think about them in a number of ways. It is only then that the veil across your eyes can be removed and you can finally see the truth.
There was a butterfly on the box that held the Yin and Yang jade...symbolizes metamorphosis/change. Pretty sure that this is symbolizing the changes that are occurring in Naksu. For example, she no longer hates the four families because she found out the truth. She's no longer a cold blooded assassin.
Other cycles present in AOS is Wuxing ( 5 elements) and their associated seasons. There's actually 5 seasons in Wuxing: Summer, Late Summer (transitional period), Autumn, Winter, and Spring. Naksu is like Late Summer.
