Dang-gu bursts in with tavern gossip
Dang-gu rushes to his uncle with rumors about Naksu, gets scolded for hanging around bars, and reveals Uk has been sent to train with a monk.
Park Dang-gu
Every Alchemy of Souls moment featuring Park Dang-gu, in story order. Played by Yoo In-soo.
80 moments · 2h 45m
The Four Seasons of Daeho arrive
Mu-deok learns of the four famed young heirs of the Jin, Park, Seo and Jang families, and quietly swears they will all die.
Dang-gu finds runaway Uk eating crab at the brothel
Dang-gu tracks down Uk, who wants his friend to crack crab shells with a spell, and shares a rumor that Naksu may still be alive.
Dang-gu explains Tansu with a crab leg
Uk asks about Naksu's sword technique; Dang-gu explains Tansu, and Uk realizes the girl went for his vital point in one move.
Uk recognizes the whistle he made
Uk shows Dang-gu the bird whistle found on an unexpected person and insists he remembers exactly who he gave it to.
Intruders raid Songrim to steal back Naksu's body
Masked intruders break into Songrim, the Training Center burns, Jeongjingak is emptied, and Mu-deok realizes her old master sent them.
Yul finds Uk and his 'maid' hiding in Jeongjingak
Yul's blade finds the pair; Uk passes Mu-deok off as his maid, she grips the blade to protect him, and Uk scolds her glare.
Uk asks whether Naksu had a round face like Mu-deok
Naksu's body is gone and a spy is suspected; Uk teases Mu-deok while the others discuss how soul shifters pick similar bodies.
Cho-yeon arrives with Gwigu to hunt a soul shifter
Everyone in Songrim is gathered and locked in while Jin Cho-yeon brings Gwigu, the Jin family's ghost dog that sniffs out sorcery.
Uk and Cho-yeon, awkward exes
The Four Seasons are together again for the first time since Uk and Cho-yeon called off their wedding, and it shows.
Why Uk's punishment could kill him
His friends explain to Mu-deok that Uk's gate of energy is opened just enough to keep him alive, and no one in Daeho may open it.
Six hours to live, and Mu-deok won't talk
Uk collapses; the only cure is to open his gate of energy. Mu-deok is tortured but keeps silent until Master Heo opens it.
Uk takes the blame for his own poisoning
Uk tells the Songrim leader he poisoned himself and his maid only obeyed, then refuses treatment unless Mu-deok is treated too.
Dang-gu drinks his uncle's wine and gets caught
Over stolen wine, Dang-gu and Yul find Mu-deok suspicious for faking blindness, then Yul abandons Dang-gu as his uncle arrives.
Mu-deok roasts Uk, and Dang-gu decides she likes Yul
Dang-gu catches them spying; Mu-deok lists every complaint about her fickle young master, and Uk pins a crush on Yul to cover it.
Mu-deok stalks Yul around Jeongjingak
Taking Dang-gu's dating tips, Mu-deok shadows Yul, nimbly catching books and claiming she learned to move at the brothel.
A petrified victim and the lore of Hwansu
A plea to let Uk return is shut down; over a soul shifter's petrified victim, the Songrim leader explains the alchemy of souls needs Hwansu mastery.
Three friends each have an excuse to visit Uk
On the way to see Uk, the friends tease each other over their reasons for coming, from fishing plans to medicine to nitpicking.
Uk's sword arm runs wild against the Crown Prince
Uk unsheathes his father's sword but cannot control his arm; a binding bracelet stops him, and the Prince dares the four heirs to fight him together.
Everyone fights to drink the chamber pot water
Mu-deok offers to drink chamber-pot water as an apology, Uk insists he should, and the friends join in until the Crown Prince gives up.
Uk flees before Cheonbugwan can take him
Royal guards come for Uk after the duel challenge; warned he could lose his arm or life, he slips away to Sari Village with Mu-deok.
Ju-wol guesses Danhyanggok
Dang-gu teases Yul that Mu-deok loves him; the innkeeper guesses Uk fled to Danhyanggok, stirring Yul's memory of a pet bird there.
Chasing the corpse wagon out of Cheonbugwan
A body is smuggled out through a tunnel; the wagon is stopped, a fight breaks out, and Songrim's Spirit Plaque turns up inside.
Yul and Dang-gu find drunk Mu-deok
Drunk Mu-deok drifts into a memory of an injured child and a bird call, then Yul and Dang-gu track her and Uk down in Danhyanggok.
Yul's bird memories and a round of chaste tea
Yul admits he snuck into Danhyanggok for the birds he loved, then the friends happily drink Master Lee's chaste tea.
Mu-deok's cooking class for genius Yul
Uk and Dang-gu watch Mu-deok scold Yul over green onions and soup; he takes it like a diligent pupil and the meal turns out tasty.
The special tree and 'just anyone'
Yul finds the tall tree from his past; offered a climb with Dang-gu, Mu-deok refuses to share such a special tree with just anyone.
Yul asks how Danhyanggok fares in winter
Yul quietly asks Mu-deok whether it was cold here in winter; her answer comforts him while Uk and Dang-gu argue over whom she likes.
Uk's friends tell him to stay hidden
Dang-gu and Yul report the assembly's talk of cutting Uk's energy and urge him to lie low; Uk says he will do the opposite.
Cho-yeon's love perfume and a borrowed hand
Cho-yeon nearly wastes Jinyowon's love perfume on her letter to Uk, and Dang-gu reluctantly lends his hand for ring sizing.
Blinded Mu-deok is swarmed by worried suitors
Uk ties a cloth over Mu-deok's dazzled eyes, then Dang-gu, Yul and the Crown Prince each arrive offering to take her for treatment.
Songrim mages find Uk's bracelet at the temple
Following Gwigu to the site of the soul shift, the mages find traces of the Soul Ejector and Uk's binding bracelet, and fear the worst.
Dang-gu fake-engages himself to Cho-yeon to save her face
When gossip says Cho-yeon is marrying, Dang-gu lets the girls believe it is him, offering to take the blame for a breakup later.
Uk defends sorcery and Master Heo explodes
Master Heo signs Uk up as a marriage candidate, then learns he wanted Naksu as a master and would use sorcery to save a life; he demands his energy back.
Mu-deok is barred from following Uk into Songrim
As drunk Uk is carried in, the gate guard rules a maid cannot enter and a trainee cannot leave; Mu-deok begs to be taken along.
Park Jin and Maid Kim's lover's quarrel, and slow-witted Dang-gu
Park Jin's logic sets off a spat with Maid Kim that everyone can read, and Dang-gu gets scolded for trying to follow Uk and Yun-ok.
The blank pages of Words of the Heart
Uk finds the new book empty; the others explain it only reveals itself to focused energy and mock him until Yul cuts them off.
A staged breakup gets postponed for a magic show
An engaged pair plan a public fight to end their engagement, but she wants to see a magic show first, so they delay the breakup.
Yul finds his old whistle in Mu-deok's bag
Dang-gu finds the whistle Yul left at Danhyanggok in Mu-deok's bag; Yul lets her keep it and dares her to make him believe her love.
Dang-gu convinces Uk that Mu-deok loves Yul
Dang-gu tells Uk that Mu-deok and Yul have been meeting and Yul solved her test; Uk replays his confession and dies of embarrassment.
Dang-gu admits his fake engagement was real
Cho-yeon thanks Dang-gu for playing her fiance; he says his feelings were sincere and he was ready to give up being Songrim's heir.
Dang-gu asks Park Jin if he has a secret child
Park Jin scolds his nephew for courting Jinyowon's heir; Dang-gu wishes for a sibling to inherit instead and gets chased out.
Uk refuses Dang-gu's forfeit, then blames Mu-deok
Dang-gu offers to throw his match and Uk refuses; afterward Uk and Mu-deok bicker over who gave whom the wrong signal.
Jang Uk vs Seo Yul: the tenth duel
Uk fights Yul using spells copied from his earlier duels, loses, and still stuns everyone by using Tansu, proof that he has reached Chisu.
Songrim mages gossip that Uk has given up his libido
Jealous mages decide Uk only reached Chisu by practicing chastity under Master Lee, and swear they would never do the same.
Uk is locked up, and Seo Yul inspects the bodies
Uk is taken to Songrim and confined; Dang-gu insists Mu-deok could not kill, while Yul examines the bodies and weighs what he knows.
Cho-yeon testifies for Mu-deok in front of Dang-gu
Cho-yeon tells Park Jin she saw Mu-deok at the inn, insisting it was her first visit, and suspicion shifts to the swindler So-i.
Dang-gu takes Cho-yeon's hand in front of both families
Ho-gyeong rejects a match and eyes the Crown Prince for Cho-yeon; Cho-yeon refuses, Dang-gu declares himself, and both get thrown out.
The runaway couple's awkward 'get a room' moment
Cast out with nowhere to go, Dang-gu suggests an inn and panics over how it sounds, until Maidservant Kim comes looking for Uk.
Dang-gu and Cho-yeon each secretly regret running away
Over tea, both runaways privately admit they were swept up in the moment and want to go home, each afraid of hurting the other.
Uk, Yul and Dang-gu remember the buried inkstone
Drinking together, the three friends retell how they hid a broken inkstone as boys, and discover Dang-gu romanticised how they got caught.
Yul's sleepless nights and a secret he keeps
The friends notice Yul is not sleeping; memories of Gwigu's body suggest he is quietly carrying something he will not say.
Dang-gu and Cho-yeon refuse to sign the separation pledge
Offered a way home if they swear never to meet again, the couple admit they had doubts but cannot give each other up.
Park Jin gives Dang-gu a secret task
Dang-gu pleads for his love; Park Jin sends him to Uk's house to watch for one man: Jang Gang, Uk's father.
Yul's umbrella exposes the fake Bu-yeon
The friends realise the returned daughter carries the umbrella Yul gave So-i; Mu-deok grills Yul like a jealous wife before Uk takes over.
The friends hold back their proof about the fake daughter
Dang-gu wants to tell his uncle, but the others fear a feud with Jinyowon and suspect Jin Mu has leverage over Lady Jin.
Dang-gu stalls, then tells Cho-yeon the truth
Sent to fetch the book, Dang-gu fakes hunger to buy time, then tells Cho-yeon her returned sister is So-i.
Dang-gu and Cho-yeon tease each other at the Gaema apothecary
Tracking the queen's eunuch to an apothecary, Dang-gu jokes their old love charm worked, then Cho-yeon spots her own father there.
Dang-gu tells Park Jin that Jang Gang started it all
Dang-gu reports the real Queen is found and urges discretion, then names Uk's father, Jang Gang, as the Songrim mage behind everything.
Dang-gu's last night as a bachelor
Dang-gu announces his wedding, the friends tease him about Cho-yeon, and Yul admits he was recently rejected.
Dang-gu and Cho-yeon, husband and wife
In their wedding clothes, Dang-gu and Cho-yeon tenderly call each other husband and wife before slipping off to see her father.
Mu-deok runs wild in Sejukwon on the wedding day
Under Jin Mu's control, Mu-deok attacks Cho-yeon's father at Sejukwon; Dang-gu fails to stop her and Cho-yeon weeps over her father.
Jin Cho-yeon turns away Songrim's leader at Jinyowon's gate
Asked to let Songrim hunt a soul shifter inside, Cho-yeon refuses and blames him for her father's death, denying him any apology.
Seo Yul admits he fled, and that he met Naksu first
Back in Daeho, Seo Yul apologizes for leaving his friends when they struggled most and admits he knew who Naksu was.
Park Jin's welcome-home feast for Seo Yul
Park Jin cooks for Seo Yul's return; the friends gang up on the next 'victim' and Yul politely gives up on the charbroiled deodeok.
Drunk Park Dang-gu mourns Jin Cho-yeon's wedding
Jinyowon lets Songrim think Cho-yeon is the bride, and a drunken Dang-gu wails his love for her as he is tucked in.
Seo Yul tells a weeping Dang-gu the bride is not Cho-yeon
Suspected of stealing the bride, a tearful Dang-gu learns from Seo Yul that the secret wedding was for Jin Bu-yeon, not Cho-yeon.
Lady Jin storms Songrim hunting the stolen bride
Jin Ho-gyeong accuses Park Dang-gu of kidnapping the bride, and Cho-yeon is forced to admit her sister Bu-yeon is alive.
Seo Yul urges Dang-gu not to live with regret
Dang-gu says a leader must hold back; his friend admits he should have held on when he had the chance, and begs Dang-gu not to repeat it.
Bu-yeon walks out with her 'husband' as friends gape
Bu-yeon tells her sister her groom has come for her; Dang-gu and Cho-yeon are stunned and the Assembly settles for Uk as son-in-law.
Bu-yeon reads the energy of Uk's friends
Meeting Master Heo and Dang-gu, Bu-yeon owns up to the fake pregnancy, sizes up their energy and sniffs out eavesdroppers.
Dang-gu recognizes his first love's dress
Dang-gu realizes Bu-yeon wore Madam Do-hwa's dress, earning a jealous jab from Cho-yeon before he insists his heart races for her.
Bu-yeon learns Uk destroyed the tracking thread
Walking her home, Dang-gu lets slip that Uk broke into Jinyowon to destroy the thread while telling her only to endure.
Uk and Yul reunite at Jeongjingak
Yul worries over Uk's cold, ice-stone-haunted life; Uk teases him with a hug until Dang-gu barges in with a breakfast summons.
Leave-it-to-luck rice cakes
Dang-gu's uncle serves a honey-or-fish-sauce rice cake game with a lesson on destiny, before news breaks of Naksu's rumored return.
Dang-gu entrusts the Dragon's Tears for Cho-yeon
Dang-gu asks Maid Kim to deliver costly diamonds to Cho-yeon, fearing rejection but choosing to bite into his rice cake of destiny.
Caught at night, Park Jin proposes
Park Jin and Maid Kim hide from late visitors, laugh about feeling young, and he proposes to Kim Yeon of Wol Fortress as the household cheers.
Master Heo: the blood parasite cannot be removed
Heo Yeom explains the parasite sits in Yul's core of energy and only leaves when he dies; his friends refuse to accept it.
Could Cho-yeon be pregnant? Bu-yeon steps in
A warning about pregnancy sends Dang-gu into a panic; Bu-yeon volunteers and flatly insists there is no chance for her and Uk.
Jang Uk's forgotten pile of 30,000 nyang
The plan needs a fortune in gold; Uk reveals he dumped his soul-shifter bounties at Jeongjingak and never spent them.