Wow that one summer king really took "if I can't have you no-one else can" and started a whole war, it's really unfortunate because of that one individual every winter king up until Shouxue has experienced solitude and isolation because the Luan summer king created a false origin to not risk creating another war by making every new winter king public each time and the girls themselves can't even leave the palace as they'd die.

I wonder if Gaojun will be able to free her from the shackles of Niao Lan or not since it seems like he's putting in the effort to find a way. But I guess Bingyue is going to get in his way somehow, it feels like he's going to be demanding for something next episode.

Poor Emperor, he is really working hard to get some of those night duties.

Has he been friendzoned?!!

Wow that one summer king really took "if I can't have you no-one else can" and started a whole war
Isn't that how the Trojan War started?

Sort of. The Trojan War was more "we both want her but only one of us can so let's fight and see who gets her."

that is such a rudimentary analysis of the Trojan war... the war didn't start b/c Menelaus couldn't live without Helen... Helen was his wife, the fact that she ran away with another man made Menelaus look like a cuckold and a king can't look weak so no, the war didn't start cause of love and no, Helen's beauty didn't launch a thousand ships...

So why did the war started? This is a question out of curiosity and not a retort since I grow up knowing it was Helen which was in center of these wars.

Helen was married to Menelaus but Paris who judged a beauty contest between three goddesses (Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite) was promised the most beautiful woman in the world by Aphrodite if he chose her as the victor. Aphrodite made Helen fall in love with Paris, in some version Aphrodite sent cupid to make Helen fall in love with Paris other versions say he did actually abduct her. either way once Paris left to troy with Helen many of the Greek warriors went to war to "retrieve" Helen b/c of their loyalty to Menelaus and Agamemnon, with whom many of the heroes had previously gone to other wars with. Infact many of the heroes didn't want to go to war with Troy and were forced into it. At the end of the day the war was about Honor rather that Helen. There's many intertwining stories like how Hercule, Odyssues, etc. were forced to fight . It is definitely an interesting story but Myths are Myths there are numerous accounts and contradictions etc., its not easy to summarize. And Helen isn't really a main character she is part of the story but there were so many intertwining and interesting characters that also play prominently in the myths. If you are interested I would say read the Illiad or some of the English translations by Greek scholars rather than westernized and romanticized b.s. thats stuffed down our throat.

Thanks for the explanation. Ancient stories like myths really tend to be distorted or have many variations due to word of mouth which is a prominent way of telling stories that time and add the songs from the bards that sometimes exaggerates heroes but anyways I did have a fair share of these stories from books but thanks for sharing your time.

It was cause of Helen and gods, like Aphrodite, edging people on

It's less of an analysis and more of a joke honestly. It's based on my impression that Menelaus felt betrayed by Helen so he wanted to kill them both with the "no one can have her" mentality.
Excuse my ignorance on this subject. I probably would learn more if they made an anime about this lol.

Books my friend are more reliable than having an anime like what Truthslayer mentioned. I would imagine a lot of revisions and cuts when this becomes an anime or even a movie.

I wasn't serious about the anime, but thinking about it, if I at least get the gist of the actual story from the anime, I can still kill two birds with one stone since I'll also learn more Japanese vocabulary.
Sure, it'd be nice to read the actual book about the war, but there's little practical value to it. Maybe after retirement if I have nothing but time.

"Love is so terrifying that people would do anything for it." -A certain passerby

So, we got two emperors. The Raven Consort is the Winter Emperor and the acknowledged emperor the Summer Emperor. To keep the peace and potential conflict from happening, the Winter Emperor was renamed the Raven Consort. Without the Winter Emperor the Summer Emperor will lose his kingdom quickly. The Summer Emperor being murdered by the Winter Emperor was what caused centuries of war. It appears that the Summer Emperor was in love with the Winter Emperor, but she didn't reciprocate his love and had an affair with his brother instead. It seems, based on what was revealed in this episode, the Goddess Niao Lian wanted the two emperors to be lovers, but Sui never reciprocated Song's love and he got jealous and murdered her.

FYI: Sui and Song are both Chinese dynasties. The former was the predecessor to the Tang dynasty and latter was the successor. It seems the current dynasty in this series is heavily based on the Tang dynasty.

now that u mention it, the clothes and hairstyles largely resemble the tang dynasty's

Ppl sleep on this anime, damn its amazing

Agreed, basing on the title and the cover art, it looked boring but somehow it captured my attention

I like it

Koukyuu no karasu is becoming more and more interesting with every new episode.

The map full of water part

When I read the introduction of how the world and the kingdom is formed...
I was like: Damn, what a tiny world. There is only 1 kingdom and their world is basically a Giant Turtle.

Reminded me of World of Warcraft: Pandaria where a turtle grows huge enough to become a giant island that moves all the time and you can really live on it.

This show is keep getting better and better...I swear...

Sigh...The words "I pity you" is not always good and comforting to hear, especially for someone like Shoxue. I understand her point to the emperor. What choice does she have? If things are as easy as running away from the Raven Consort position, she could have done it a long time ago.
Still, I hope that the Emperor does not give up even though it is not really easy.

I believe he is not just fixated on the Raven Consort, he is fixated on the one who is holding the position.

I just remember how the OP song is so related to the Raven Consort... "Playing the best role of all..."

And now, the opening takes on its full meaning. This isn't just some strange monster attacking Shouxue; it is the deity known as Niao Lian, which forced her into a cycle of Fate she cannot escape from, and has her literally bound to the palace by the threat of death for a lifetime of servitude and worship.

From there, you can interpret that scene in several different ways, from re-enacting the moment Shouxue was "chosen", to her being reminded of her place, or even Niao Lian coming to claim her life for some reason, perhaps foreshadowing future events or stakes. It all feels so much sadder now :c

I pause just to read the map story xD

and damn, the plot thickens

Emperor: "I pity you."

Shouxue: "Boy, you better run." >:|

No wonder the Japanese keep saying the novels were written beautifully, i'm glad they are able to show us the beautiful of this story in anime

Iam kinda glad the plot deepens, as just going around solving murders and sending ghost to the afterlife... well one it probably get boring quickly and two she will be at it for the rest of her life, as historically speaking there are so many unsolved murders, unjust sentencing, accidents or otherwise within that palace..
On another point is i can understand the feeling of being trapped within the palace grounds... but having said that that is true to ALL Concubines (i prefer using the proper term then consort i feel that is a miss translation) to my understanding once you enter there is no leaving at least not under normal circumstances.
I do love the art in this, and i also like them using some of the old terms use to address someones station, even thou i find the sub title a bit off at times. like a few esp back the eunuch called the Emperor but the sub was written master..

Yes, but Concubines can try to sneak out, and live as commoners if they manage to sneak out... not have instant death through supernatural means like the Raven Consort.

Not saying thats not possible, but extremely unlikely. As to be a concubine u have to be of noble birth or at very least from a very wealthy and connected family or from a family that had done great services for the Emperor and he simply cannot ignore. Plus the chances they get caught are very high, not mentioning the shame qnd death penalty you would bring to your family, depending on the dynasty and era it could mean i don't know the English term but loosely translated death to 9 generation, that is from you 9 generation up and 9 generation down from you, meaning your whole family tree is wiped out including your pets. Iam not joking there is such a penalty. What iam trying to say is the likelihood of u dieing is still high but also you will also condemn your whole family, i would argue the result is the same if not worst.

Now that is an interesting storyline for the Raven Consort. But I have to rewatch it so I can understand it better

Interesting, so this is a nice additional chunk of info, now we learn the origin of the Raven Consort.....
I feel compelled to share a small bit of trivia here in regards to what was just revealed...
So metaphysically, The Summer and Winter King are alluding to masculine and feminine "rulerships" that can be expounded up by explaining the metaphysical attributes regarding their polarities.......That is The Summer King being Male in regards to the connection with Summer and The Fire Element and Fire Traditionally considered to be a Masculine, Hot, and "Yang" energy, a Projective force, further associated with activity and expansion, things known and seen, openly exposed, etc.... We can see this somewhat personified by the conquering, commanding, forceful, violent, dominating traits and ways... etc..general actions of the Emperors and their methods of control and rule.

Where as the Winter King would be it's opposite in regard to being associated with the water element and thus Feminine, Cooling, and "Yin" energy, a Receptive force further associated with contraction and restriction, secrecy, and hidden knowledge, internal rather than external like the projective force of the Fire element/Summer King.
Hence an allusion as to why the Raven Consort must always remain in one place, and yet continually guards hidden mysteries and secret knowledge etc that noone else may hold or know... She (the Winter king) stores and guards the power that the Summer King wields and is sustained by.
I could add a great deal more to this, but I'll stop here as any more would become cumbersome to read and wouldn't add any more to the experience/understanding of the storyline.

As a side note, I find it interesting that the Goddess is stuck/anchored to the temple, it makes me wonder if she is truly a Goddess or perhaps something more akin to a demon? Does she require a human presence or symbiosis of some kind to stay present in the human/earthly realm? Is she feeding off of the Raven Consort? Hmmm...makes one wonder... She's obviously a lesser deity at the very most, but I think there is value in what we were told regarding her story, something being hinted at just out of reach.

My brain hurts with so many names and plot dumped in one drop. Waiting for someone to make a summary of what actually happened.

I actually understood them all. Forgot the names already, though. But you'll have to wait if you need a proper explanation.

i only remember Nyan-Nyan.

I mean, I get the general gist of idea, but.... it was like @_@

Ah, I see.

Fact, that dub uses Japanese names and subtitles - Chinese by some reason, also don't help at all

had to retakes to tell apart names haha but it's deep - loving the mythweaving

Damn you cliffhanger! 😤😤
The story is getting more exciting 👏

It sure is!

wow, i'll say this again, this anime is really underrated, the story is getting in the best parts, now we are getting some answers, tho i wish we some progress in the romance part but that's just an additional spice

The lore of this series is crazy good... the more they reveal the more hooked I get on all the different pieces in play

Nooo don't hurt poor Jiujiu :(

love the lore of this anime
its my top 3 anime this season
together with gundam and bocchi

The OP still slaps i hope it is never changed

Dude it’s JUST GOTTEN JUICYYY TT____TT

WDYM? It's already BEEN juicy! Now it's starting to create wetland habitat! XD

that's tough buddy

NOOOOO Not the cliffhanger :(

Wow while the Luan Summer King might be a good king for saving the slave girl, he's still a douche for leaving her in the inner palace and just leave her to die alone there.
And then he just continues his daily life with other consorts ?! 👀 what a jackass 💀
The Raven consorts dont deserve this sht man