‘Alchemy of Souls’ Season 2: A Breakdown of What Has Happened to Jang Uk After the First Season Finale
Netflix’s fantasy K-drama Alchemy of Souls Season 2 takes place three years after the tragic events of the first season. The Alchemy of Souls finale ended with Jang Uk having Nak-su kill him against her will. But Jang Uk was resurrected as a type of mage Daeho has never seen before. Between the guilt of not protecting his true love and his fate, Jang Uk faces pain and darkness in Alchemy of Souls Season 2.
Jang Uk was reborn thanks to the Ice Stone in ‘Alchemy of Souls’
To understand Jang Uk’s path in Alchemy of Souls Season 2, fans have to remember what caused him to change so much within three years. Actor Lee Jae-wook admits adjusting to the new version of the character was a challenge. Before the finale, Jang Uk used his magic to destroy the barrier created by the Ice Stone. In doing so, he became the Ice Stone’s owner in Alchemy of Souls.
Jang Uk and Nak-su planned to get married and leave for a simple life. But during Cho-yeon and Dang-gu’s wedding ceremony, Jin Mu does the unthinkable. After learning Nak-su is in Mu-deok’s body, he uses ritual bells to reawaken her soul. Once activating her gate of power, she is under his control as her body begins to petrify.
On the warpath to kill anyone who knows the truth about Jin Mu, Nak-su is cornered in the woods by Park Jin and other mages. Jang Uk appears, hoping to save her. As she has no control, she thrusts her sword into Jang Uk, killing her true love. Jang Uk’s death is how Master Lee foreshadowed it in Alchemy of Souls.
As Nak-su realizes what she has done, she plunges her body into the lake to stop Jin Mu. But the rest of the characters soon learn of Jang Uk’s tragic death. Jang Uk’s body is burned in his bloody clothes. But as the flames burn, they become blue and grow bigger. Jang Uk appears in an alternate dimension inside the Ice Stone, and he picks it up. The blue flames extinguish, and through the smoke emerges Jang Uk. But Jang Uk’s rebirth only leads to pain in Alchemy of Souls Season 2.
Jang Uk is plagued by wraiths who want the Ice Stone in ‘Alchemy of Souls’ Season 2
Three years have passed in Alchemy of Souls Season 2, and everyone has moved on except Jang Uk. The second season opens with Jang Uk helping save three workers from a rogue soul shifter. His power is immense, but so is his pain. One of the workers tells the others that Jang Uk was in love with Nak-su, the assassin, and was the one that killed him.
Fans see Jang Uk sit in the very spot where it happened and drinks his sorrows away. But Alchemy of Souls Season 2 reveals why Jang Uk is in further pain. While looking over the body of Jang Uk’s recent kill, Heo Yeom explains everyone agreed that Jang Uk and the Ice Stone would be used to kill any rogue shifters. But he also reveals that because Jang Uk used the Ice Stone’s power, he will have trouble sleeping.
Fans then learn why. In the darkness of his room, he sits alone, drinking. Swarming around him are wraiths, dark entities that feed on the power he is emitting and who want the stone. Because of his new reality, Jang Uk emits a dark and chilling aura wherever her goes, and everyone fears him.
Master Lee speaks with Go Won, who explains Jang Uk received 1,000 gold nyang for every kill. While Go Won has become bitter toward Jang UK, Master Lee explains he is seen as a monster who kills monsters. Later, Go Won does his duty to pay Jang Uk. Fans learn Jang Uk is the last mage who stayed in Jeongjingak. He has become reliant on strong alcohol because it wards off the chill caused by wraiths.
Jang Uk looks for a powerful priestess to rid him of his agony
The first episode of Alchemy of Souls Season 2 shows how deeply in despair Jang Uk has been over the past three years. Not only dealing with the guit of not protecting Nak-su, he asks Park Jin if there is a way to remove the Ice Stone. He theorizes a powerful priestess like Seol Ran could do it. Jang Uk sorrowfully admits the stone’s power is too much for him to bear.
Park Jin reveals Jang Uk will also die if he removes the stone, but Jang Uk says he will at least be free of the overbearing weight on his shoulders. Besides the gravity of what Jang Uk has faced, the Ice Stone and the King’s Star have given him unstoppable powers. He can travel at the speed of light and conjure powerful Tansu.
But with every kill with Nak-su’s sword, Jang Uk also sees the soul he has taken. To make matters worse, he has met a woman with no memories of her past, who is indeed his true love, Nak-su, but he cannot recognize her.
Alchemy of Souls Season 2 is available on Netflix.
