Raven of the Inner Palace

Episode 7

While there is an argument to be made that Bingyue was undercut as a character in the abruptness of his switch from villain to tragic hero (and let's all just ignore that whole “he was going to marry his aunt” thing, because honestly it doesn't feel particularly relevant), I think that his brief arc instead underlines the tragedy inherent in being a member of the royal family. When dynasties fall, every member of the involved family suffers, not just those who were truly to blame for the political unrest. Bingyue and Mingzhou were unfairly caught up in the struggle, creating a parallel between Gaojun's mother and Ding Lan. Neither of them deserved to die at the Empress Dowager's hand, but their proximity to Gaojun put them in her line of fire; the same can be said for Bingyue and Mingzhou. Did Bingyue make some questionable choices after his death? Yes, absolutely, and possessing and threatening Jiu-Jiu was almost his final mistake. But in the end he was simply sad and desperate, caught in an unending cycle of being unable to reach the woman he loved despite standing right in front of her.

It says something that Gaojun is the one who realizes this, stopping Shouxue before she can send Bingyue on to the afterlife. Unlike the Raven Consort, Gaojun wears his heart on his sleeve, and the idea of “making things right” is incredibly important to him. He'll suffer sleepless nights if he thinks it will help the ghosts at the door, and when he realizes that there's more going on with Bingyue than an enraged Shouxue believes, he doesn't hesitate to stop her. Despite facing tragedy over and over again, Gaojun is always willing to try to do the right thing, the best thing, in hopes that this time, tragedies can be averted. But he has learned not to trust that everyone else feels the same, hence why he panics when Shouxue aims an arrow between his mother and Ding Lan. He's hopeful, not stupid.

This contrasts well with Shouxue, who is trapped both by her own past and by what she's been told is her duty as the Raven Consort. I suspect that she was fed a lot of rage by her predecessor, who likely got the same again from hers, going back to that first Winter King stripped of her rightful title and put in a more “suitable” position. (One which, it occurs to me, is also one of enforced “purity,” since the Raven Consort is a consort in name only, and therefore can be interpreted as an even more repressive position, especially when we consider the imagery of the first Raven Consort watching the Summer King with his wife and child.) Shouxue, apart from being at this point a textbook tsundere, is fiercely loyal to those she cares about, but she also seems to feel as if she shouldn't actually have anyone she cares about. Even Xing-Xing the fat chicken, er, avatar of the goddess, clearly has less repressed emotions than she does, as evidenced by his concern when Jiu-Jiu collapses after her possession by Bingyue. Is Shouxue simply punishing herself based on a history created by a man? Or does the goddess really not want her to be close to anyone? If it is the latter, Shouxue is at least taking small steps towards defiance, best seen when she breaks into Gaojun's room to dispel the Empress Dowager's curse.

Gaojun, at least, isn't going to let anyone stand in his way when it comes to doing what's right. When he lowers himself before Shouxue, it's a powerful moment, one where he tries to right the wrongs of a blood-soaked history. Shouxue may not fully believe in him yet. But she's willing to try.

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Raven of the Inner Palace is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.