Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 10 Recap and Review: Jin Bu-yeon Brings The Perfect Ending For All

Alchemy of Souls season 2 (Alchemy of Souls Part 2: Light and Shadow/ 환혼: 파트2) is the sequel of the Korean historical drama series of the same name. Directed by Park Joon-hwa and starring Lee Jae-wook, Go Yoon-jung, Hwang Min-hyun, Shin Seung-ho, Yoo Jun-sang, Oh Na-ra and Jo Jae-yoon, alongside other cast members, the show premiered on tvN on December 10, 2022.

The show will have 10 episodes and takes over tvN’s Saturday-Sunday 9:10 PM KST timeslot previously held by Under the Queen’s Umbrella. Alchemy of Souls season 2 episode 10 has a run time of 83 minutes.

tvN’s synopsis of the sequel reads:

JANG UK RETURNS FROM DEATH, AND THREE YEARS LATER, THE STORY OF THE MAGES UNFOLDS ANEW. JANG UK BECOMES A HUNTER OF THE SOUL-SHIFTERS WHEN A YOUNG WOMAN, A PRISONER IN HER OWN HOME, SEEKS HIS HELP TO RECLAIM HER FREEDOM.

-Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 10 Recap contains spoilers-

Alchemy of Souls season 2 episode 10 begins with Jang Uk and Naksu spending their time in Danhyanggok as a normal couple while living the day like it is just another day in their lives. And so with no worries about what might come tomorrow or about the soon-to-disappear Naksu, they spend their time alone until she tells him that it was master Lee who brought her here and is now waiting for them at the hut.

The two make their way there and master Lee tells them that this time he will interfere in their matter after not having done anything all this time. He tells them to get married and he will bear witness to their reunion.

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The two prepare themselves for the wedding with master Lee as their witness, and as he asks Naksu what name would she use for the ceremony from all her four names, she chooses the name Cho Yeong which was given to her by her parents. Smiling at the fate they share after pointing at the meaning behind their names; Uk meaning light and Yeong meaning shadow, the two are finally married and become husband and wife.

Jang Uk finally brings his master to the top of the tall tree in Danhyanggok, fulfilling his promise, and the two share a heartwarming moment together. The scene shifts to Jin Ho-kyung remembering her conversation with master Lee who told her that it was Jin Seol-ran who made the two meet by opening the door that led to the room where Naksu was kept.

The possibility that Jin Seol-ran stayed in the ice stone for 200 years is big and it must have to do with the ice stone being used again and another chaos coming their way. Ho-kyung is unable to believe his words as she thinks that the firebird’s egg is safe and Jin Mu is dead, unaware that the latter is not true.

Elsewhere, master Lee subtly makes Jang Uk aware of Jin Seol-ran’s involvement in whatever is happening while hoping that she would see their love and not let Naksu disappear. Jang Uk then sees his jade egg glow and makes his way to Naksu who has a barrier surrounding her.

Jang Uk enters the barrier and sees chaos surrounding him as the firebird flies through the skies while burning everything around. Shocked by the scene in front of him, he hears a voice and turns around to find a girl with a blindfold standing behind him.

Recognising her as Jin Bu-yeon, he finds out that this is a vision of the future that she has seen long back while making her unable to leave this world. The firebird is sure to rise and spread chaos, and the only way to stop this is with the help of the person born against the law of nature and under the King’s star.

Now, Jin Bu-yeon has to come out into the world to help him stop the chaos that is to come with the firebird, just like how Jin Seol-ran helped Seo Gyeong to stop the Great Chaos. With that, Jang Uk is brought out of the barrier and Naksu understands that he has met Jin Bu-yeon after which he tells her that he has seen something inevitable.

Meanwhile, the Unanimous Assembly and the King are discussing their next step which makes Jin Mu impatient as he absorbs the energy of a eunuch standing nearby and declares that they are going to take action the very same day. The crown prince hears the news and wonders why such a gathering is taking place at this hour when Jin Mu barges into his room with the king.

He is shocked to see them working together and tries to stop them only to fail and have his gold plaque confiscated while he is put under house arrest. At Jinyowon, Kim Do-ju finds out that Naksu and Jang Uk are together at the moment and tries to find out what is going on between them but is unable to get any information out of Jin Ho-kyung.

Suddenly, a priestess enters and informs them that the mages of the Unanimous Assembly are standing in front of Jinyowon which startles them as Jin Ho-kyung and Cho-yeon soon rush to the scene. The mages demand them to open Jinyowon, but faced with Jin Ho-kyung’s refusal, the impatient Jin Mu chokes her while revealing who he is.

Kim Do-ju sees what is happening and has a priestess inform Songrim while Jin Mu forces Cho-yeon to open Jinyowon in return for her mother’s life and strides in to bring out the firebird’s egg. However, this shakes the foundation of Jinyowon as it begins to collapse and has the mages run as they have achieved their task.

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Jin Ho-kyung tells Cho-yeon to leave and to ask Songrim for help after which Kim Do-ju arrives at her side and tries to help her up. However, witnessing the relics inside Jinyowon escape, Jin Ho-kyung asks Kim Do-ju to help her go inside Jinyowon so that she can stop the relics from leaving.

The two enter Jinyowon, meanwhile, Cho-yeon finds Park Jin and Park Dang-gu while leaving, she tells them about what happened after which Dang-gu gives Park Jin the sword of the leader of Songrim while leaving with Cho-yeon to go behind the mages. Park Jin arrives at Jinyowon and finds out that Jin Ho-kyung and Kim Do-ju are inside which greatly shocks him.

He tries to enter Jinyowon but is unable to because of the relics escaping when he hears Kim Do-ju telling him to seal the door with them inside. Frustrated by his helplessness of being unable to save his wife, he remembers their conversation and seals the door after which he breaks into tears.

Jin Mu arrives to witness his helpless state and tells him that he can bring him an opportunity to save Kim Do-ju. Park Jin follows him and comes face to face with the Unanimous Assembly and the King and understands that they are all vying for the power of the ice stone. They ask him to join them to fulfil his desire, but Park Jin tears the label of a hypocrite that they have given him and fights them to stand for his beliefs.

He single-handedly fights against the mages and tries to put up the barrier around the firebird’s egg, but Jin Mu stabs him in the back and stops Park Jin. As Park Jin falls to the ground, everyone leaves as the surroundings are going to burn because of the firebird.

Sometime later, Park Jin gains consciousness for a moment and takes out the ring left behind by Kim Do-ju outside Jinyowon and puts it on his finger, before closing his eyes.

The next day, all of Songrim is in mourning as Jang Uk enters and sees three empty coffins in front of him. Seo Yul then tells him about what happened and why the coffins are empty; unable to retrieve Kim Do-ju and Jin Ho-kyung’s bodies from Jinyowon after it collapsed and they were unable to find Park Jin after the place was burned to the ground.

The crown prince tells him that he too narrowly escaped after the fire broke out, Park Dang-gu tells him that they cannot make any rash decisions as they have the firebird while Cho-yeon tells him that it is because Jin Mu shifted his soul into Seo Yoon-o’s body.

Jang Uk then reveals to them that the firebird will awaken as this is inevitable, however, the three people have not died. The scene shifts to a secret location where master Lee is healing Park Jin while Kim Do-ju is beside him, he tells her that Park Jin will be alright before going to meet Jin Ho-kyung.

He tells her that she has done a good job of not letting the relics escape Jinyowon after which he reveals that it was Jin Bu-yeon who saved them. Jinyowon’s door was built by Jin Seol-ran because of which Jin Bu-yeon was able to create an opening from Danhyanggok and save them; he went to find the firebird on her instructions and found Park Jin lying there.

He tells her that it was because Naksu left that Jin Bu-yeon was able to fully regain her divine powers and help them out. Elsewhere, Seo Yul laments over the fact that Jang Uk and Naksu were unable to spend even a day together while Jang Uk looks at the two jade eggs in his hands and recalls his last moment with Naksu.

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In their final moments, Naksu handed him the jade eggs while telling him that they can no longer share the yin-and-yang jades. While holding his hand for the last time, she finally recalls her last memory of the time when she stabbed him and laments over how they were not fated to be together.

He tells her that it is not fate but their love for each other that brought them together, this fills her up with tears as she gives the only reply she can by telling him I love you. Before Jang Uk can say anything more she faints and her soul finally disappears while leaving Jang Uk in tears.

In the palace, Jin Mu tells the king that they should awaken the firebird the very same day and requests for guards to surround Cheonbugwan so that Songrim and Jang Uk cannot interfere in their task. The king agrees while elsewhere Jang Uk hands Go Won his gold plaque and requests him to stop Jin Mu from using the guards.

Go Won asks him if he ever wished to be at the top of the world to which Jang Uk replies that he has already been there with the person he wished to share the moment and now he wishes for nothing more. Later, Jang Uk reveals his plans to awaken the firebird himself to everyone present.

He has decided to get rid of the firebird once and for all and to do that he will need to bring it to the lake filled with energy which would be easier to do when the firebird has just awoken.

The ritual to wake the firebird is all set in Cheonbugwan and while Jin Mu awaits the ideal time to do so, Songrim begins their attacks. Go Won arrives at the palace with the gold plaque and tells the king that he has revoked his orders to protect Cheonbugwan while requesting him to give up the throne.

Meanwhile, Seo Yul and Jin Bu-yeon break into the constellation room in Cheonbugwan while Cho-yeon finds the fire earthenwares and begins to destroy them.

Elsewhere, Jin Mu gets impatient because of Songrim and begins the ritual earlier than intended. He and the mages begin to pour in their energy to awaken the firebird but when they see the process taking place too quickly they realise that Jang Uk has arrived.

Jang Uk tells them that he will awaken the firebird while they are all standing near it, surrounded by fire. He makes them realise that he is just following their words and taking control of all the power that they desire; Jin Mu witnesses his beliefs hitting him back as Jang Uk now stands in front of him and burns them all.

Dang-gu and Sang-ho soon arrive and see the burnt bodies lying around them with Jang Uk standing in the middle with the firebird’s egg. He hands them the egg and asks for it to be taken to Jin Bu-yeon while he leaves for Lake Gyeongcheondaeho.

Standing at the constellation basin, Seol Yul brings Jang Uk’s constellation plate as Jin Bu-yeon places it in the basin with the firebird’s egg floating in front of her. The process is ready to begin when Dang-gu points out that there have to be seven stars present to send their energies to the King’s star, but with just six of them present it might not be possible.

Seo Yul tells him to not worry as there is another star present among them who is none other than Naksu. Jin Bu-yeon begins to awaken the firebird and sends it to Jang Uk, and soon all of Daeho sees the astonishing firebird rise in the sky as it dashes to lake Gyeongcheondaeho while burning everything on the way.

Jang Uk begins his fight with the firebird and freezes it to one place before pulling on his arrow that is filled with the energies of the seven stars and himself before shooting it across the firebird and finally destroying the chaos that had been a looming fear for them all.

Jin Bu-yeon tells them all that Jang Uk has destroyed the firebird before fainting as she meets Naksu’s soul and has her return back to the one whom she loves.

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Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 10 Ending

Alchemy of Souls season 2 episode 10 ends with the scene then shifting to a year later where we see the lives of everyone in Daeho; Park Jin and Kim Do-ju have married and are busy taking care of Park Dang-gu and Jin Cho-yeon’s twin boys, but it looks like they too will have a little one coming along soon.

At Jinyowon, Jin Ho-kyung welcomes her daughter and son-in-law and asks them to give her twin daughters the next time as the boys would bear the Park name while the girls bear the Jin name. Jin Cho-yeon tells her to not worry as her elder sister has already planned to give her a daughter with Jang Uk.

As they discuss the return of the couple who are going around chasing relics that escaped Jinyowon, Dang-gu tells her to not worry as Nasku has promised Seo Yul to help him find new recruits for Jeonjinggak which has now opened to everyone and has been conducting interviews for all.

This was the decision made by Seo Yul who decided to lead Jeonjinggak and make it into what Seo Gyeong hoped for it to be. On the other hand, Heo Yeom finds out that Naksu will also be helping Go Won find his queen and thinks about his granddaughter only to find out that she already has someone whom she is meeting.

On the other hand, rumours of Go Won following celibacy have spread around Daeho as he does not have a queen and because of the frequent visits by master Lee. Master Lee sees Go Won sulking because of Jang Uk and understands that he misses him and assures him to help make Jang Uk the Gwanju of Cheonbugwan.

Master Lee then arrives to take the pottery to hold another relic that escaped Jinyowon and is happy to see the changed Jin Ho-kyung who no longer holds any resentment in her heart. As rumours of a couple standing on a tall tree in Danhyanggok every full moon day and helping people in trouble spreads everywhere, the newlyweds Jang Uk and Naksu bicker before noticing another relic.

The two arrive at the location where the relic resides and begin their task of capturing the relics of Jinyowon together while supporting each other.

Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Episode 10 Review

The Alchemy of Souls season 2 finale is finally here there is no better way to end this historical fantasy that had us occupied for many weekends. And while there may have been a few wasted tears here and there, it was all well worth it because we finally got the happy ending that we all deserved.

There are not enough words to describe this feeling because this feeling we’ve gotten from the Alchemy of Souls rollercoaster ride was filled with excitement, fear, tears and happiness and now all that we are left with is nostalgia. This is definitely the kind of beginning we wanted for this year and I can already see many Kdrama fans hoping for this satisfaction streak to carry on this year.

Altogether, with an amazing cast, wonderful story, talented behind-the-scenes cast and so on, this has become an unforgettable Kdrama for us all and we are only grateful for the experience we have acquired from it.

What did you think about today’s finale? Let us know in the comments below!

Watch Alchemy of Souls season 2 on Netflix.

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