The Haunted Palace: Episodes 5-6 » Dramabeans

KDramaHQ AdminMay 4, 2025

The Haunted Palace: Episodes 5-6

by mistyisles

The Haunted Palace can’t seem to decide if it wants to be horror or comedy, much like it’s leads can’t decide what they feel for each other. But there are evil spirits to deal with, so for now our novice shaman and petty imoogi agree to work together. The problem? Defeating evil may ultimately come at a cost neither really wants to pay…

EPISODES 5-6

Last week ended with the Colossal Shadow claiming the (horrible) grand prince as its next host. This week opens with the revelation that, actually, the spirit didn’t bother possessing him at all and went straight for the kill. The blind shaman blames the change on the new shaman in the palace (Yeo-ri, though he doesn’t know her identity yet), conveniently refraining from telling the queen dowager that he offered the grand prince as a sacrifice to help replenish the Colossal Shadow’s energy. He also doesn’t tell her that he answers to a mysterious “Elder” or that he has to beg for another chance to get rid of the young prince once and for all.

Meanwhile, the king wrestles with his emotions. The grand prince may have been awful and a direct rival to his throne, but he was also family, and the king could never find it in himself to hate him. On top of that, the grand prince’s death quite literally reeks of the Colossal Spirit’s handiwork, and all the king can think of is Yeo-ri’s warning that the spirit would return.

As for Yeo-ri, a little thing like banishment can’t keep her down. But before jumping back into the fray, she and Kang-cheol perform the ritual binding them as disciple and guardian spirit. To seal the pact, Yeo-ri presents Kang-cheol with the longevity bracelet she once made for Gab, and Kang-cheol gifts her a jade ring. But much as this feels rather like a wedding of sorts, Kang-cheol’s voice takes on a dangerous edge as he warns Yeo-ri that, whether they successfully rescue Gab’s soul or not, she — and Gab’s body — belong to him until he can ascend.

To be fair, Kang-cheol knows something Yeo-ri doesn’t, and it’s not pleasant. The magical imoogi bead in his chest does have the power to defeat a spirit of the Colossal Shadow’s caliber… but only if he sacrifices his life force in the process. For now, he keeps the knowledge to himself, even as Yeo-ri prepares to march right back into Hanyang to face the Colossal Shadow again.

Luckily for them, many people are traveling to Hanyang for the grand prince’s funeral. So when the king’s guards spot them just outside city borders, Yeo-ri and Kang-cheol hide in a noblewoman’s palanquin. Even more luckily, this isn’t just any noblewoman. This is CHOI IN-SUN (Shin Seul-gi), the girl Yeo-ri expelled a vengeful spirit from back in episode 1. Her father, you might remember, is Lord Choi, the man Gab tried to recruit as a supporter for the king. All that to say, In-sun has harbored a massive crush on Gab since he walked her home post-exorcism, and she lies to the guards that she totally didn’t see any fugitives pass this way.

But a palanquin is verrry close quarters, and both Kang-cheol and Yeo-ri are so flustered by each other’s presence that they end up giving themselves away. They try to argue the technicality that they haven’t actually violated the terms of their banishment *yet*, but it doesn’t really matter. The guards are under orders to sneak them back into the palace.

Which brings us to my favorite reveal of the week: It wasn’t the king who sent for them, but the queen. She loves her son and husband too much to let an evil spirit take them, even if it means facing banishment or worse herself. Now the king is forced to choose between his wife and his principles, and he chooses the former (or course he does — look at the way he looks at her!). With his cooperation, Yeo-ri deduces not only what the Colossal Shadow is — the vengeful spirit of someone who burned to death — but also how to go about trapping it. Kang-cheol goes along with her plan despite knowing she’s relying on the power of his bead, which he can’t fully utilize without dying.

At first, the plan works. Yeo-ri springs her trap, and Kang-cheol stabs at the Colossal Shadow, using as much of his power as he safely can. But it’s not enough. Kang-cheol is thrown aside, exhausted, and only the king’s ward stone gives them enough power to temporarily shut the spirit down again.

The thing about The Haunted Palace is that it switches between two very different tones. So while on the one hand we have horrifying evil spirits that leave death in their wake, we also have moments of silliness like Kang-cheol sending Minister Kwak flying away in a whirlwind with no lasting consequences.

Our leads talk about it (Yeo-ri: “You can’t just do that!” Kang-Cheol: “But he’s the one who killed Gab.” Yeo-ri: “Oh. Good job, then.”), Minister Kwak hangs suspended from a tree limb for a few beats before hobbling back to the palace in a rage, and the king both laughs it off and warns Kang-cheol that he needs to at least try to keep a lower profile. (Kang-cheol’s response is, roughly Yeah, well, I outrank you. Deal with it.)

And then there’s BI-BI (Jo Han-gyul). He’s Kang-cheol’s little brother, an imoogi earning his dragon ascension by devouring the souls of 100 noblemen over the age of 60. Upon hearing that Kang-cheol is trapped in a human’s body, he suggests the obvious solution: just kill the body and be done with it. Kang-cheol’s explanation makes it sound like he’s just playing along with Yeo-ri for now so he can betray her, but really he knows he’s going to fail to keep his promise (because of the whole sacrifice thing), and he just wants to stay with her for as long as he can. Bi-bi doesn’t play much of a role in the plot yet, but at least he helps Kang-cheol recognize his feelings for Yeo-ri are something special.

Anyway. Back to the horrifying evil spirits. The queen is newly pregnant, and her unborn child is the blind shaman’s next target. Yeo-ri finds the skull hidden in the queen’s pillow easily enough, and from there it’s a matter of forcing the accompanying water spirit to show itself. Yeo-ri and Kang-cheol chase the spirit to the river, where they barely avoid being dragged under in turns, but finally the spirit overpowers Yeo-ri and pours black water from its mouth onto her face — just as it did to the queen in her nightmares.

Weird as this show can be, I’m really enjoying the emotional connections between the major characters. The king having to navigate his shattering worldview is especially compelling, but it’s nice to see that both he and the queen are genuinely caring people trying to do what’s best for their family and subjects. Then there’s the old connection between Yeo-ri and the king through their respective grandmothers, which I hope will be explored more in future episodes.

And, finally, there’s what is shaping up to be a war between two shamans who are more powerful than they look and their respective “evil” spirit counterparts. I say “evil,” of course, because the more we see of Kang-cheol, the more I suspect his wickedness is more rumor than reality. And based on the prince’s comment that the Colossal Shadow isn’t angry, but sad, it’s possible the true evil presence here is more human than spirit.