Someone is dead, and the question is whether or not they realize it. Raven of the Inner Palace has never shied away from darker themes, and the idea of a spirit who needs help moving on has been central to it since almost episode one. But nearly all of those people were aware that they were no longer living, and that may not necessarily be the case in the overarching plot that is unfolding in this second half of the show. The possibility was raised several episodes ago, when a woman smelling of mourning incense arrived in the middle of the night at the Raven Consort’s palace. She pleaded with Shouxue for help in bringing someone back to life, and at the time I found myself questioning whether or not the woman herself was the one who desired to return to the land of the living. It was later implied that it was perhaps not her, but rather someone she loved who had died, but I don’t…
