The Haunted Palace: Episodes 13-14 » Dramabeans

KDramaHQ AdminJune 2, 2025

The Haunted Palace: Episodes 13-14

by mistyisles

The return of a familiar face upends the status quo, even as our leads hurtle toward a final, inevitable confrontation with the evil spirit that has plagued the kingdom for a hundred years. Will love and loyalty win out, or can their enemies fashion even the most faithful of supporters into a weapon of destruction?

EPISODES 13-14

We begin this week with the truth about what happened 100 years ago, and it’s truly awful. The king back then had fled the war-torn palace, intending to hide in a remote village. But before he arrived, he learned that the enemy army was waiting in ambush. So instead, he decided to use the village as a decoy: banners were raised as though he had entered, and he and his attendants fled elsewhere while the enemy massacred the villagers. The spirit we now know as the Colossal Shadow originated as the soul of the man who blamed himself for telling the king about the village in the first place (and was restrained to prevent him from evacuating his family). But it’s no longer just his soul — it’s the souls of all those slaughtered villagers rolled into one vengeful entity. That’s why it’s so powerful and so very sad.

In the present, Lord Choi assumes responsibility for both the book peddler’s murder and his ancestor’s involvement in sacrificing innocent lives. To address the former, Yeo-ri leads an appeasement ceremony that culminates in Lord Choi bowing in contrition before the book peddler’s spirit, vowing to compensate his family, and begging forgiveness (he later receives lashings and a fine as his formal punishment under law). The spirit accepts and passes on in peace. As for the village massacre, the king plans to atone for that himself.

In keeping with this week’s theme of closure, Yeo-ri confirms to a despondent queen dowager that her son, the grand prince, was consumed by the Colossal Shadow. Perhaps moved by pity, Yeo-ri lies that his soul can be released if the queen dowager prays earnestly before a certain cherished belonging of his. One could argue that neither the queen dowager nor the grand prince deserves even false closure, but maybe it doesn’t matter. Better to help her move on emotionally than to let even more guilt and resentment fester in the palace.

Besides, one soul has been released from the Colossal Shadow’s clutches. Gab’s spirit lurks in the background, growing increasingly bitter as he watches Kang-cheol walk around in his body, living his life, being all chummy with his loved ones. But of course, he’s been released for a purpose. The blind shaman lures Kang-cheol into a trap (this time without using Yeo-ri as bait, for a nice change of pace) and then plants something in his ear. Next thing anyone knows, Gab is waking up back in his own body and Kang-cheol’s essence has seemingly vanished.

While Gab’s mother rejoices that his “amnesia” has finally been “cured,” everyone else juggles complicated emotions. Gab is alive again and they’re glad, but Kang-cheol’s absence is palpable. Even the king can’t help thinking wistfully about the difference between Gab’s earnest loyalty and Kang-cheol’s brash honesty. Both have given much-needed support, but there’s just an extra level of reassurance gained when a godlike being tells you you’ve changed his opinion of humanity for the better.

Whatever the blind shaman put in Gab’s ear, it lets him listen in on Gab’s conversations, so it’s not long before he discovers that ward stones are preventing the Colossal Shadow from picking off what’s left of the royal family. Thus, he offers Gab a deal: destroy the stones and keep your body. Otherwise, the resurrection won’t last. Gab immediately refuses, because of course he does — he’s already died for his king once! But every reminder of what he lost, every confirmation that Yeo-ri loves Kang-cheol and not him, and every bout of debilitating pain the blind shaman forces on him push him just a bit farther toward becoming a vengeful spirit and betraying them all.

Things get slightly more complicated when Yeo-ri’s prayers stir Kang-cheol back to consciousness. He’s still in there, and he and Gab wrestle for control of the body they now share. It’s funny when they’re at home, and Yeo-ri is just sitting there watching them argue back and forth with the same mouth. It’s a relief when Kang-cheol wakes back up right as Gab is reaching out to destroy the king’s ward stone. But in the end, Gab stops himself even before Kang-cheol intervenes, and this is his breaking point. He can’t bear to risk harming the king, so he asks Yeo-ri to help him pass into the afterlife. He’s ready to let go.

Part of me wishes we could have had more time to sit with the implications of Gab being back, but his choice feels true to character and his sendoff is poignant. He says farewell to Yeo-ri and his mother (who has finally learned the truth and is understandably crushed to lose him all over again) and makes peace with Kang-cheol carrying on in his place. And at the palace, the king holds a long overdue vigil of his own. Yeo-ri and Kang-cheol move out to give Gab’s mother some space, but not even a full day passes before she tracks them down and insists they just come back home already.

Even as they process their grief, our characters have to face what’s next: the 100th anniversary of the village massacre, which is the day they’ve chosen for a particularly dangerous appeasement ritual. If they succeed, the Colossal Shadow’s grudge(s) will finally be laid to rest. If they fail, Yeo-ri could drop dead on the spot.

Kang-cheol doesn’t tell Yeo-ri about his secret weapon, a flower that will protect his magical bead long enough for him to deplete his life-force and subdue the Colossal Shadow (otherwise, he risks having his bead stolen like Bi-bi’s was). But he does — just once — ask if she’d consider running away to live out their lives together in peace. They’re interrupted, but Yeo-ri’s hesitation is answer enough, and he knows she’s right: they can’t abandon this fight.

The day arrives, and the ritual begins. Almost immediately, Yeo-ri stumbles and nearly catches on fire — the Colossal Shadow is here. It possesses a bodyguard (planted by the blind shaman) and attacks. Though Kang-cheol tries to fight back, his imoogi powers have weakened considerably since their last showdown. Even he can’t stop the bodyguard from lunging at the queen and bringing his sword down across her stomach.

Ack, I knew something terrible was about to happen when we had that little sequence of the royal family just being a happy little family set to dreamlike music (honestly, I thought it was a dream for a second or two) and then the king went and gave the queen his ward stone. But is it too much to hope they’ll still be able to save her somehow?

Like I said above, I was slightly disappointed that Gab’s return didn’t last as long as I thought it would. But I do think it was best to wrap up his story this week. That way, we can spend the final two episodes on resolving the 100-year-old grudge and (hopefully) sending everyone else off into the sunset.