English Dub Review: Raven in the Inner Palace: “Confidant”

Overview: On assignment from Gaojun (Christopher Wehkamp), Qing (Lee George) investigates Luan Bangyue’s adoptive father and his potential involvement in spiritual entities haunting the palace while facing his harrowing past. Shouxue (Alexis Tipton) also looks into the matter with her heritage coming back into play. 

Our Take: Gaojun asks Liu for help regarding a white haired spirit seen haunting the inner palace while dealing with his own phantoms in his dead mother and friend, Ding Lan. The silver hair is a point of interest with Liu requiring a look into the storeroom for more details. The plot thickens especially as the grandson of a previous emperor, the sorcerer, Luan Bangyue, who foretold of her potential good fortune, momentarily comes back into view, only to be crossed off as a suspect. It is a darkly engaging one in the spirit being that of a silver-haired woman with it undoubtedly beginning to unravel more about the twisted and terrible history of Shouxue’s people during Yandi’s regime. 

Wei Qing, himself, gets a surprising spotlight that puts his anger toward Shouxue for her so-called disrespectful treatment towards the Emperor, even threatening to reveal her true heritage. It also gives a look into the stark contrast between the status and decorum associated with the Raven Consort compared to a eunuch, like Wei, despite how simply she may view herself, in her enforcing the proper way she believes she ought to be addressed in their spat. 

The Emperor and the Raven Consort are not the only ones dealing with ghosts, however, as we delve even deeper in how Qing came to be in service of Gaojun. His sexual mistreatment in becoming a male prostitute at a young age is a disgusting, uncomfortable ordeal to watch in the moments leading up to the unsettling acts and his scared aftermath. It is an especially harsh blow in suffering through it after losing his mother. Gaojun offering him solace and friendship is a heartwarming light at the end of the dark tunnel, one that nicely characterizes Wei’s respect, admiration and friendship for him.  

Reporting to Gaojun of his failure to find Feng Yixing, the adopted father of Luan, Qing’s shortcoming reflects the kind companionship they have in how much Gaojun appreciates the sentiment of his help and the smallest aspects of it in the little things he provides him, like his special tea that he makes. Qing returns to Shouxue to apologize for his terrible behavior. However, she also contributes her own apology for her own contribution to their disagreement, making him understand how different she is from others of her flock in her humbling herself to someone of a lower status. When Wei begs for Liu’s help regarding Gaojun’s supernatural plight that plagues his sleep, it is a sweet moment in how much he puts his well-being first, even if he has to go behind his back to do so. With her acceptance, it will be engaging in how that brings her and Gaojun closer together in her help with such an intimate problem.