Raven of the Inner Palace

Episode 11

Undead monsters who feed upon the fluids of the living, sometimes known as their life essence, are not unique to Western folklore. While many of us are familiar with the concept of the vampire as laid out by Bram Stoker and J. Sheridan LaFanu in the 19th-century, most mythologies do have some sort of vampiric creature, and interestingly enough many of those from Asia take the form of beautiful young women during the daylight hours. In Malaysia and Indonesia, vampire-like creatures detached parts of their body, typically their head, to feed upon the unsuspecting at night; Japan and the Philippines also have similar hungry ladies. But notably China's vampires do not fit this mold, nor do they necessarily resemble the more well-known western vampires. The fact that the owl bears little to no resemblance to the jiangshi of some Chinese folkloric traditions could indicate that his apparent penchant for tearing out throats with his teeth does not put him in the vampiric category of monster. But if you had any remaining doubts about his nefarious qualities or the way in which he proposed to bring the Magpie Consort's beloved back from the dead, this episode should do away with all of them.

Interestingly, this episode of Raven of the Inner Palace makes use of two symbolic elements that are rather more common in Western folklore than Eastern. The first is obviously the vampire; the second is the fact that it is the Magpie Consort who is at the heart of these incidents. As you may be aware, there is a nursery rhyme that attributes different meanings to the number of magpies that you might see; authors from Anthony Horowitz to Mary Downing Hahn have made use of this nursery rhyme in their mystery and horror fiction. While that does not seem to be at play here, it also feels too early to write it off just yet. This is largely because the dead person the Magpie Consort wishes to bring back is revealed this week to be her brother, and the first four lines of the magpie nursery rhyme are “One for sorrow/ Two for joy/ Three for a girl/ Four for a boy.” We don't know how many people the owl needs to kill in order to collect the life essence required to bring the consort's brother back to life, and although it is unlikely, the magpie rhyme could give us a bit of a hint if the number he needs to bring back a boy is in fact four people. Regardless, it seems obvious at this point that when he offered her a way to bring back her dead brother, the price he talked about was in other lives.

Death has never been far from the Raven Consort herself. Whether or not it was always true, her role as the Raven Consort seems to largely be wrapped up in helping the dead to move on; this may not have been true when she held the office of Winter King. But for both Shouxue and her predecessor, death appears to always be a close companion, and Shouxue is starting to realize that this is the reason why Li Nian warned her not to get close to anybody. When the emperor figures out this week that after the choosing of a new Raven Consort the previous one will die within eight years, he hits on the reason why Raven Consorts keep to themselves so carefully: they don't want to lose anybody, and they know that their time will be limited. Seeing first-hand the tragedy brought about by the loss of a loved one gives the Raven Consorts a clear perspective on what the feelings of those left behind will be. Perhaps they are also hoping to avoid becoming ghosts with lingering regrets when they pass; in either case, it is clearly a protective measure that keeps them isolated.

Given Gaojun's feelings for Shouxue, as well as the history of Winter Kings and Raven Consorts, we have to wonder if this was always the case. Seeing as how romantic love appeared to have been behind the downfall of the Winter King initially, and perhaps the corruption of the goddess to her present form, it isn't clear whether or not the way things currently are is the way that they have to be. Were a Summer King to make a Winter King his Empress, would the curse be broken? And is it a curse at all, or merely a case of something warping as people lose track of its original meaning and function? I don't know if we'll find out the answer, because the season is almost over, and I have the distinct impression that this show may have a “read the novels, kids” ending. (Fortunately, the light novels have been licensed by Seven Seas.) Hopefully we will at least get some closure when the Raven faces off against the Owl (and maybe saves her eunuch) next week.

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Raven of the Inner Palace is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.