The Haunted Palace – K-drama Episode 12 Recap & Review
Episode 12
Episode 12 of The Haunted Palace begins with Gangcheori mourning his brother. Yeo-ri comforts him and blames herself for Bibi's death.
Unfortunately, Kim Bong-in arrests them for trespassing. The King defends them and has them freed. Throughout the whole ordeal, Gangcheori is listless. It falls on Yeo-ri to tell the King about Kim being the mastermind. Shocked, the King gives Kim the benefit of the doubt and has Royal Guard Seo follow him.
Kim confronts Pung-san for letting Gangcheori and Yeo-ri leave. However, Pung-san doesn't care as the 8-foot ghost has become much stronger after devouring Bibi's pearl.
Yeo-ri brings Ga-seop to the palace to protect the Queen and Crown Prince while the gang travels to Yongdam Village to question Choi Won-u. However, everyone notices Gangcheori hurting and they worry for him. Even Head Eunuch Kim sends yugwa candy for him. As for Mrs. Yoon, she sneaks him snacks when Gangcheori has no appetite. He looks touched and promises to eat later.
Back to the familial betrayal, the Queen Mother visits the King. From her own investigation, she has learned that Kim threatened Yeong-in's nanny into introducing Pung-san to the Queen Mother. She regrets everything and apologises for indirectly hurting the King's unborn child. On top of that, Seo confirms that Kim met with Pung-san's assistant, Se-wan.
The King looks sad as he calls for Kim. After the previous king had died, a teary-eyed Kim had cleaned his bloody tonggae, his bow and arrow case, and offered it to the current king. The King believed it was a sign of Kim's protection. The King cries as he accuses Kim of treason.
However, Kim smirks and claims the King is to blame with his absurd anti-slavery and anti-corruption reforms. Kim only backed him as long as he didn't change the 'natural order' of the nation. He is further gleeful that the King has no proof and he will have to arrest Yeo-ri, an illegal shaman should she procure one.
However, the King has been hiding the court who all hear Kim's confession. Kim is exiled for treason but his assassins easily free him. He storms over to the shrine and threatens the ghost to kill the King. The ghost doesn't take kindly to threats and reveals he doesn't need the minister anymore. He possesses Pung-san and kills Kim.
Gangcheori is back in commission as he assures Yeo-ri that he doesn't hate her. He only blames the ghost and is ready to destroy him. The gang arrive at Yongdam and so as not to spook Choi Won-u, they claim it is a retreat.
Gangcheori wonders about In-seon's whereabouts and Yeo-ri is jealous. Head Eunuch Kim finds out that it has been 100 years since a king (King Yeon-jong) visited the village. While Choi hosts them, the gang share an inner joke as the King jests about Gangcheori's 'perfect manners.'
Gangcheori finally tries the yugwa candy and even shares it with Head Eunuch Kim. The eunuch talks about how he too lost a sibling, hinting that he knows Gangcheori is mourning someone important to him.
The King's plan is thwarted from the beginning when Choi Won-u shuts down on the mention of his 100-year-old ancestor, Choi Gil-sang. Then they are interrupted by In-seon who has again been possessed by the one-legged ghost. The King wants answers and Choi spins a tale that the ghost is Jang Eon-su, a book merchant who stole some important books 5 years ago. While punishing him, Choi accidentally killed Jang. Feeling guilty, he retired.
Yeo-ri and Gangcheori exorcise the ghost and their usual antics follow. But this time, the ghost agrees to be captured, but with a condition. He wants a scandalous book about the Chois exposed; that has been his revenge plan all along.
Yeo-ri tells Choi this, and also how Jang hid the book in the place where he died. Choi claims it is all lies.
A flashback shows Choi Won-u actually selling all the books to Jang. It includes the scandalous 100-year-old book, The Anthology of Light and Darkness. It has royal state secrets and can ruin the reputation of the Chois. It also tells the story of King Yeon-jong and a military officer.
Once Choi hears it, he offers to buy it back. Before the transaction, a greedy Jang hides it in Choi's granary and asks for more money. Enraged, Choi attacks Jang who falls on a rake, slicing up his leg. Choi hesitates before killing Jang.
At present, he finds the book and is about to burn it when Gangcheori saves it. He tells the King that the book has the origin story of the ghost.
At the end of The Haunted Palace Episode 12, the ghost seethes over the King's words. He expels Yoon Gap's soul and Pung-san laughs.
The Episode Review
With The Hauned Palace having such a strong run so far, it seems that Episode 12 has decided to mess things up a bit. It is primarily Kim Bong-in's character who is portrayed as this manipulative, scheming grandfather who has not an ounce of love or loyalty for his grandson. While we had grand ideas of why he may choose to betray his only family, the reality is quite disappointing.
Had it been any other K-drama, we would have chalked off Kim as a secondary, flat character whose only purpose is to be the villain. But The Haunted Palace is abundant with three-dimensional grey characters such as Gangcheori, Yoon Gap, Bibi, the Queen Mother, Choi Won-u and the 8-foot ghost himself. Yep, even the main antagonist has a tragic backstory that hints that circumstances out of his control turned him into a malevolent spirit.
Yet, here we have Kim Bong-in laughing while his grandson cries at his betrayal. It undermines Kim Ji-hoon's heartbreaking portrayal of the King in what is supposed to be a bitter reality check. It doesn't help that Kim decides to betray him and summon the ghost when the King is just a teenager and has yet to voice his 'unconventional' political ideals. The timeline doesn't back Kim's loathing for his own family.
And like his weak characterization, he simply gets an unsatisfying off-screen death. This storyline overshadows an integral character development for Gangcheori in this chapter, as he bonds with humans, other than Yeo-ri, while mourning his brother.
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