The Haunted Palace: Episodes 9-10 » Dramabeans

KDramaHQ AdminMay 19, 2025

The Haunted Palace: Episodes 9-10

by mistyisles

The plot thickens as our imoogi-and-shaman team uncovers more of the truth behind the evil spirit plaguing the royal family — and about their feelings for each other. But can they get all the answers they need before their enemies put a permanent end to their investigations?

EPISODES 9-10

At last, we’re getting to the truth of what happened thirteen years ago. The blind shaman — then known for kidnapping, killing, and turning children into evil spirits — had secretly struck a bargain with the king’s grandfather Minister Kim: In exchange for a pardon, he would help the royal family escape the Colossal Shadow that had attached itself to them. Minister Kim, however, amended the deal — he wanted to control the spirit instead of merely escaping its grasp.

Thus, the Colossal Shadow continued to ravage the royal family, turning the once-wise and caring king (our current king’s father) into a murderous madman. Only Yeo-ri’s grandmother had managed to free the king from its grasp, and even then it was only a temporary fix. As the current king explains to Yeo-ri, every time he thought they were finally free of it, it would come right back, eventually taking hold of his own son.

And speaking of the king, he’s quickly becoming my favorite character in the show. After telling Yeo-ri everything he knows about her grandmother’s attempts to defeat the colossal Shadow, he gives a beautiful speech about how it’s his responsibility to right every wrong and eradicate every threat to his people, but this is something he can’t face on his own. He needs her help. But Yeo-ri is so overwhelmed by everything she’s just learned that she leaves without giving an answer.

Her emotions come spilling out when she runs into Kang-cheol, who admits he lied back then because he didn’t want her doing something rash (i.e., seeking revenge and getting herself killed too). Her anger turns to sobs, and Kang-cheol stands there awkwardly trying to figure out how in the world to comfort her. He later complains to the king about it, and the king is absolutely delighted to offer advice. As someone who knows the pain of watching the woman he loves cry, he recommends a warm hug and a listening ear.

Before Kang-cheol can act on that advice, In-sun shows up to distract him with treats and thank “Gab” for saving her life several episodes ago. In-sun snootily shoos Yeo-ri out the door, and before anyone knows it, both Yeo-ri and Gab’s mother have been kidnapped by Ministers Kim and Kwak, both of whom were involved with a previous rebellion and are determined to nip the king’s slave system reform in the bud.

Only after an arrow with a ransom note attached comes flying over the wall does Kang-cheol realize something’s amiss. He pauses just long enough to internally debate whether Gab’s mom is worth saving (the quality of her cooking tips the scale) and to put In-sun firmly in her place, then he’s off to rescue a hostage.

It’s a tougher fight than he expects, because Minister Kwak has a special talisman that repels him and weakens his power. Plus, Kang-cheol’s conscience prevents him from revealing his true nature in front of Gab’s mom. In the end, Bi-bi saves the day by first freeing Yeo-ri from her captors and then scaring Minister Kwak and his men away with a whirlwind. Yeo-ri doesn’t get far before her would-be kidnappers catch up, but this time she’s rescued by the king (who gets his hand sliced open in the process) and two of his guards.

Back safe at home, Kang-cheol retrieves Yeo-ri’s toolkit from where she dropped it earlier and offers to clean her scraped knee. Yeo-ri lets him at first, but then pushes him away in distress. Her grandmother’s soul can’t rest because of the Colossal Shadow, but to her shame all she can think about is how relieved she is that it wasn’t Kang-cheol who killed her after all. In response, Kang-cheol wipes her tears away and kisses her.

The next day, they’re equal parts giddy and bashful. As they walk to the palace, Kang-cheol makes a patch of flowers bloom just to make Yeo-ri smile — a far cry from the imoogi who used to kill crops in his wake. But the most surprising result of last night’s events? By saving Yeo-ri, the king has earned Kang-cheol’s respect, which manifests itself in proper, formal speech. The king is so amused (and slightly weirded out) that he teases Kang-cheol about it until he reverts back to banmal.

Kang-cheol doesn’t tell anyone who was behind the kidnappings, because he plans to take care of it himself. Late that night, he borrows Yeo-ri’s talisman-neutralizing mirror and pays Minister Kwak a visit. After making Minister Kwak beg for his life, Kang-cheol hands him over to Bi-bi to devour. Upon hearing the Minister Kwak is dead, the king briefly worries about whether Kang-cheol was responsible. But he’s far more upset that he’ll never get to personally punish Minister Kwak for the revolt against his father. As for Minister Kim, he’s covered his tracks just enough to create plausible deniability, and the king is loath to accuse his beloved grandfather of disloyalty.

Meanwhile, Kang-cheol’s first pay day arrives. Amazed by how much pumpkin taffy his three-months’ wages can buy, he splurges on shoes for Yeo-ri and a hairpin for Mom… which leaves just enough money for *five* pieces of taffy. (I repeat, he spent an entire three months’ wages!) Luckily for him, the women’s wrath is tempered by a surprise visit from the monks, who return Yeo-ri’s old ward stone — the one Kang-cheol threw away right after possessing Gab’s body — which they found inside a fish.

Despite being exasperated by his exorbitant spending, Yeo-ri is touched by the gift, and by the realization that he’s been watching over her far longer and with more care than she thought. She promises that, even if he’s forced out of Gab’s body once they defeat the Colossal Shadow, she’ll continue serving him out of both gratitude and affection. (They almost kiss again, but that pesky ward stone repels him and breaks the mood.)

The next day, Yeo-ri is once again captured, this time by the blind shaman and his assistant. She manages to leave a trail, which Kang-cheol follows to the blind shaman’s quarters. He doesn’t find her there, but he does find the secret shrine where the blind shaman communicates with the Colossal Shadow.

Suddenly, something — presumably the Shadow itself — possesses the blind shaman and restores his sight. He grabs Kang-cheol by the throat and reveals that he was the human baby who saw and thereby thwarted Kang-cheol’s attempt to ascend 100 years ago. Yet he doesn’t understand why Kang-cheol is attacking him, when the real enemies are the royal family.

Now we’re getting to the heart of the matter, which is: who was the Colossal Shadow, and why does he seek revenge? Kang-cheol and Yeo-ri have made it clear that evil spirits don’t’ turn evil for evil’s sake; they carry some kind of grudge that must (and most importantly can) be released. And we’ve got some solid clues. When the baby spotted Kang-cheol, the entire household was under attack. And, as the king discovered this week, the Colossal Shadow hasn’t targeted every royal relative, just most of them. But, of course, there’s one worrisome matter still hanging over Kang-cheol: will releasing the spirit’s grudge be enough, or will he still have to sacrifice his life force to end this century-long struggle?