[recap] Arang: the Magistrate’s Chronicle – Episode 6

This is the exact face I want to do after being so busy with real life.

[Episode 6]

Joo wal, still disturbed with what happened the night before, is pacing back and forth in the yard as he looks at the quarters behind the main wall of the house when Lord Choi comes (again) starts to rub some salt in his already wounded and worried heart. He’s laughing over the fact that the mysterious lady, whom he addresses as ‘madam’ must be mad over Joo wal’s failure to get her satiated.


Lord Choi wonders if he has to give him some tips, as he’s been in his place before. He tells his son calmly that those who kill the girls for the madam, or the hunters, will be replaced if they fail. Joo wal leaves him, feeling stressed over it, but suddenly, Lord Choi experiences a pain in his head.

Walking through a thin bamboo forest, Joo wal arrives at a small house. He stops to have a look at it and then kneels in front of the door. Behind the door, the mysterious lady (whom I will address as madam after this) sits as she slowly closes her eyes.

We’re brought back to where the last episode left us with: Eun oh finding his mother’s hairpin or binyeo in the spooky shack. Dol swe calls for him, saying that he has found a rather suspicious looking thing.


It turns out to be a secret door to the underground in the middle of a foggy forest. Creepy. The Heavens are in a peaceful mode today,with Jade Emperor playing his gayageum in a good mood. Hades notices this, but he still thinks it’ too early to conclude anything; plus he doesn’t trust the humans to be a big help for them in the matter. He tells the Emperor to take care of his body (for the exchange! hehe) as he’s also taking a rest during the leap month (i.e. no death business – referring to the failed attempt of killing Arang). Jade Emperor just smiles at him in return and continues to pluck the gayageum strings calmly.


As the Emperor continues to play the gayageum, Eun oh and Dol swe are busy trying to lift the door open, but it is weighed down by the talismans on it. With the ‘help’ from Jade Emperor, the curse of the talisman is lifted, and the door opens. The madam feels something has happened and the Emperor concludes his song, asking for Moo young while Hades looks at him sleepily.


Dol swe and Eun oh take a look from above at the underground storage space filled with dirt and white rocks. Dol swe thinks it’s the local shamans’ doing but suddenly, Eun oh sees something beneath those rocks. It’s human bones, to be exact someone’s finger bones. Eun oh jumps into the underground space and starts digging around to reveal more skulls, bones, and women’s accessories. He tries to assure himself that his mother isn’t there and soon, Dol swe is ordered to bring some men there.

The madam barges out of the house and orders Joo wal to go to their secret mountain at once. Joo wal obeys her and as he rides into the foggy mountain, Arang is still sleeping from the exhaustion of last night’s event.


Joo wal arrives at the spot and overhears people’s voices as he heads towards the underground storage. The men have already started to dig around and Joo wal recognizes Eun oh. He starts to wonder if Eun oh was the one who followed him last night and took away Arang’s corpse from the spooky shack. Joo wal quietly leaves as Arang starts to wake up.


She opens her eyes to the sight of Eun oh’s magistrate uniform and she is curious why someone tried to kill her. Arang the realizes that she was dead, but she’s now alive. She checks her wound and decides to verify something. She stabs her own arm with a small stick and the wound doesn’t leave behind anything except blood. She opens the window and stares at the sky before complaining out loud to the Jade Emperor about it.

It’s already dark, but they are still collecting all the bones at the mountain. Eun oh wants all the accessories and belongings found there to be collected so that he can verify something. He takes out his mother’s hairpin and gives a determined stare at it.


Back to the Heavens, where Moo young arrives at the Jade Emperor’s resting place. The Emperor tells him about the case of missing bodies and souls from the Earth since 400 years ago, plus the unplanned deaths happening since that time. He informs Moo young that the place of the hidden bodies will be found and soon, as a Grim Reaper, he will have some job to be finished.

Moo young proceeds to ask about Arang. He is curious whether the Jade Emperor was the one who untied the red rope of Arang and made her escape, but the Emperor responses with a smile.

Arang changes into the female inspector’s clothes and she goes back to her room. She opens the door and the horrifying experience of being stabbed comes at her. She can’t even stand the bloody blanket and slams the door close.


As soon as the bones and women’s belongings arrive at the magistrate’s office, Eun oh starts to go through each and every of the belongings to find anything that belonged to his mother. He can’t find any and assures himself that it’s impossible for his mother to be killed, because she didn’t even visit him as a ghost. He’s still curious about why the hairpin was found there.

Arang sees Eun oh and cheerily greets him. He doesn’t say anything and drags her outside. She demands to know where they are going in the middle of the night; if not she won’t follow him anywhere.

Meanwhile, the three officers are worried that with the recent discovery of the bones, their secret place in the mountain will be disclosed to the public and they won’t be saved from the wrath of Lord Choi. They’re uncomfortable because of Eun oh, and one of them suddenly suggests them to just bury him in the ground.


He tells her about the bones and proceeds to show her the hairpin to her. Eun oh thinks that Seo rim was killed in the spooky shack too, so that’s why she found the hairpin after she’s become a ghost. He urges her to go there and see if it will bring back some of her memories before she was killed, so that he will know something about his mother. He thinks it won’t be a problem since she can’t die. Eun oh, don’t you think you’re being a pushover right now?

And Arang says it all; the words that kick Eun oh in the gut.

Since you haven’t experience the death yet, you don’t know how  terrifying your dying moment is, do you? Although I’ve lost my memory, there’s one thing I remember. I clearly remember that terrible fear, that lady Lee Seo rim felt at her dying moment! Even if the truth about my death is there, I can’t go right now because I am scared. When I have the desire to know, then I’ll go. Not because you want to know, but I want to know.  I will go when I want to, but not now.

Joo wal is kneeling in front of the madam and he’s trembling as the madam sighs over everything that has happened because of Eun oh. Her next order is simple: Joo wal has to kill Eun oh in order to keep the matter a secret.


He walks out and meets his father outside. As usual, Lord Choi is grinning his evil grin and he’s glad to see Joo wal failing his task this time. He predicts that he will soon be able to get rid of his ‘fake’ son and Joo wal leaves the place. Lord Choi goes in and cheerfully greets the madam, but that laughter of him only lasts a moment; he’s suddenly choked by a mysterious force and pleads her to save him.


After the little argument, Arang runs to the vast meadow and starts to ponder about what Eun oh said to her earlier. At the same time, Eun oh is replaying all the inconsiderate requests he had made to her. Arang questions why she has to remember it instead of her killer’s face, but then it hits her: the reason why she still remember the pain from her death might be linked to this.She then runs off to the mountain, but she doesn’t forget to bring a lantern she stole from a house on her way there. Brilliant.


It’s creepy that she goes there by herself without anyone watching her back. Although Arang looks so scared, she musters up her courage and goes into the shack that might hold the truth about her death. The memory of herself lying down in the shack is still vivid, but she decides to lie down on the same spot to see if she can remember anything.

Some time later, she wakes up in frustration and complains to the old man Jade Emperor that she can’t remember anything. Almost instantly, he gives his reply to her: she trips on her way out and knocks her forehead on the wall before she recalls something. In her memory, Arang sees herself grabbing the hairpin from a woman’s hair bun, but the woman’s face is not visible to us.


We cut to Joo wal,who’s back in his quarters and busy pondering about something. He takes out his black knife and the next thing, he’s in his black ninja suit on his way out somewhere.

Eun oh goes to Arang’s room but she’s not back yet. It’s nerve wrecking to see Joo wal watching him while he doesn’t realize it. He’s busy worrying over Arang and walks out alone. He sees some ghosts scuttling away in a hurry to a house who hold a memorial service that night and wonders if he should ask the ghosts about Arang. He hears a sound behind him but sees no one. Joo wal, on the other hand, is very close to him; he’s hiding on a tree, ready to attack him.


Luckily, Arang comes right on time. Phew! Eun oh gets to calm his own heart and coolly asks why she’s only back now, while Arang is excited that she’s remembered something. Eun oh walks back to the city hall with Arang trailing behind him.

Of course, this comes out as a big surprise to Joo wal, seeing Arang whom he stabbed to death the day before, comes back alive. He can’t even believe his own eyes to see Arang walking around like nothing happened.


Eun oh tries to distract Arang from thinking too much about him waiting for him, while she’s actually excited about what she remembers from before. She tells him about how she grabbed the hairpin, but that’s the only thing she could remember. Haha! Poor Eun oh, he’s anticipating to hear something about his mother.

He wonders how Arang recalled it and he was surprised that she went to the mountain all by herself. He tells her that she should told him before so that they could go there together, but Arang didn’t think it’s a good idea, since she might not be able to remember anything. She thinks that she would be distracted by him telling her to remember his mother. She calls him Mummy Boy and walks away, leaving Eun oh in disbelief. Hehe.


When they are just about to leave, Joo wal approaches them, now with his ordinary hanbok. Arang approaches him, identifying him as the man who helped her before. Joo wal fakes his surprise to see that she’s actually a girl, and Arang explains that she was in disguise because of something and throws a judging look at Eun oh. Eun oh is not that happy as Arang is so excited to see Joo wal again, while Joo wal looks like he’s about to collapse. Owhhh~

Eun oh decides it’s time to go back and drags her away as Arang says his goodbye to Joo wal. Unknown to them, Joo wal follows them to the city hall, still angry that he failed to kill Arang. He worries about the madam’s reaction, plus te possibility of him being abandoned for his failure this time.


As soon they arrive at the doorstep to Eun oh’s room, Arang is just about to enter the room but stopped by him by grabbing her collar. She’s actually afraid of the blood stain on the blanket and Eun oh sheepishly tells her that he has cleaned it. Hehe. Arang is glad to hear it and leaves for her room. He thinks about Arang’s memory and wonders why did his mother went there. Meanwhile, Arang goes into her room and checks the blanket. It’s clean, prompting her to smile at Eun oh’s kindness.


Joo wal goes to the little house of the madam again and he’s surprised to see that Lord Choi is still there although it’s already late. He’s about to enter when the madam says that his father is sick and blows off the candle, making the house dark. Joo wal leaves with a horror-stricken expression on his face.

The madam sighs over Lord Choi’s lack of usefulness to her these current days and talks about replacing him with Joo wal, since the young man has grown up well. Lord Choi mumbles something, but no voice comes out from his bleeding mouth. However, the madam still has somethign that she needs Lord Choi to do for her. After that, he recovers his voice and promises to do everything she wants if she cure him from what he’s experiencing at that time (it looks like she gave him a kind of fatal disease). She smiles and proceeds to untie her jacket. Uhhh scary.

Later, Joo wal carries his father back home. When he’s about to leave Lord Choi’s room, the old man warns him not to let his guard down in front of the madam, as one day, he will experience the same thing. Joo wal goes out and tells on of his men not to disturb his father. He’s surprised to find out that his father’s right hand man has went somewhere, per his father’s order.


The next morning, Eun oh goes to Arang’s room, sighing that she’s actually done everything that she could and leaves. Inside the room, Arang is sleeping comfortably, dreaming about her lovely, lined up peaches. Haha.

The one with not quite the same situation: Dol swe. He’s lying down in his room but still bitter about Eun oh. He recalls his ‘confession’ to his master and accidentally poked his wound by saying that he’s also a slave’s son. The pissed off Eun oh left him, and we’re brought back to the sad Dol swe.

Eun oh comes to his room and asks why he’s suddenly lying down like that, while Dol swe is answering him question in his mind. Hehehe. He doesn’t even budge when Eun oh wants to go to the mountain, so Eun oh decides to go there alone. Dol swe thinks about reporting it to Eun oh’s father, but then cancels the plan.


The three officers are looking at the bones in the compound when Eun oh walks out, completely ignoring them. Upon seeing him, they again think of killing him in order to stop him from snooping around. However, they’re torn between doing it by themselves or to tell Lord Choi beforehand.

So off one of them go to Lord Choi’s house, only to be chased away as the old man is not feeling well. When he’s about to return to the office, he runs into Joo wal, who asks him about the new girl at the office. The officer tells him that her name is Arang or Arirang, something like that. Pwahaha! He even complains about Arang’s brashness, but Joo wal is more interested to know that Arang is Eun oh’s master’s daughter.


Speaking of the girl, Arang is wide awake, upset that the recent event took away one of three full months given to her. She complains to Jade Emperor about how unfair it is. She goes to Eun oh’s room, but he’s nowhere to be found.

At the same time, the officers are busy discussing about their plan to kill off Eun oh, when Arang comes to ask about Eun oh. They almost give away their plan. Heh. She sees Dol swe walking away and greets him cheerfully.


He’s not that fond of her calling his name informally, and he gets even angrier to hear her calling Eun oh “Magistrate” in formally. She laughs it off, asking whether she should call him and Eun oh backwards (“Swe dol! Ddo sa!”) and as expected, Dol swe can’t beat her. Hihihi. She’s angry to know that Eun oh went to the mountain alone, even when they promised to go together. She walks off as Dol swe is fuming with jealousy.

And the three officers, having heard everything, think this will be a good chance for them to get rid of Eun oh. Uhhh…please, no.

In front of the gate, Arang realizes that Dol swe is walking behind her and thinks he’s following her to the mountain, but he insists that he doesn’t even have the thought of going there and walks to the opposite direction. She whines about Eun oh’s peach promise but he doesn’t even keep his own promise, as Dol swe looks at her from afar, determined to get rid of her.


At the market, Bang wool finds a perfect spot for the day and she’s calling for people to get their fortune told by her. She keeps praying for a customer to come her way and also for her not to meet Dol swe again. Unluckily, he’s her first customer of the day, and she can’t forget his body that she saw before. Pffft. He asks for a talisman to make a woman go away from his life.

He’s about to leave and Bang wool stops him, saying that she can do it. She asks about how deep is his relationship with that woman as the price differs according to the type of relationship. He doesn’t get it at first, and then realizes the meaning. He’s pissed off that someone has misunderstood his Young Master Eun oh and shakes Bang wool in anger.

Bang wool’s hand automatically reaches for a big pot lid and BAM! She knocks Dol swe’s head with that lid. Ouch! He’s taken aback and Bang wool runs away as he recovers from the pain, shouting at her.


Eun oh arrives at the scene, the bone tomb. He doesn’t feel or see any spirits or ghosts there and takes a look around the place. He sees a talisman and searches for others. He thinks one of them is missing and finds it inside the underground storage. He thinks of something and proceeds to look at the scene from a distance and realizes that there’s no single ghost around. He suddenly sees another talisman tied around the tree and as he grabs it, the madam senses something. Heavens are busy looking at a crystal ball, probably watching what will happen as Eun oh runs away.

[END of Episode 6]

A bunch of questions/thoughts on my mind…

  • Did Arang already forgot about Joo wal being her ex-fiance? Or she simply forgot everything about him?
  • Even the Heavens can’t control everything.
  • Dol swe really looks and acts like a jealous girlfriend of Eun oh. Hahaha! Poor guy who gets ignored all the time!
  • The madam is one scary creature. What are you exactly??!
  • So…Lord Choi was a hunter himself like Joo wal?
  • Eun oh – Arang…can you two just live together forever?
  • Arang is one bright and wise girl. Maybe she brings it over from her days as a human.
  • And Joo wal….he should look so fragile all the time. Can someone make him smile like this?

4 thoughts on “[recap] Arang: the Magistrate’s Chronicle – Episode 6

  1. Thanks for unlocking this post! The madam is freaky! Yup, looks like Lord Choi was before Joo wal. I bet she’s been doing this the 400 years souls have been disappearing. And maybe she is the sister Moo Young has been wanting to see?

    1. Haha it’s actually an accident…I never intended to lock it, maybe I was just too sleepy last night LOL

      Yeah, I thin she’s the soul eater for the past 400 years and became a headache to the Heavens since then. Wah, if she’s really Moo young’s sister…that would be another complicated thing in this already complicated but still unknown mysteries!

  2. Wow, some question marks suddenly arise from my head, ireokhe

    Even heaven doesn’t know anything.

    So the Madam is still alive for 400 years because she sacrificed young women’s soul
    Errrr, it’s kinda horrible

Rant Out, Souls!


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