Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 12 – Quick Summary
In Raven of the Inner Palace episode 12, “Siblings,” the Emperor Xia Gaojun and Shouxue Lie/Raven Consort went to the Magpie Consort Qin Huiyao to confront her over the missing Ying Wen. Once there, the scent of incense overpowered them. But there was another scent as well. They were surprised to find not only the Magpie Consort, but Feng Xiao Yue (the Owl) himself. What was he doing there? What had he done with the Magpie Consort? And what did he intend to do to the Raven Consort?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 12
I’m with Dan Hai on this one. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Dan Hai has been a bit of a joke. It’s pretty clear he’s a capable spy, but his making wild animal sounds to scare Jiu-Jiu, along with his general antics, marked him as someone unreliable. His antics called his bonafides into question.
In this episode, he proved that he can fight. Effectively, too. His blows pushed back the golem version of the Magpie Consort’s brother. He actually knocked it down before it stood and tottered towards him. Dan Hai fell into his fighting stance, ready to act.
The Magpie Consort rushed past him to put herself between Dan Hai and the golem. She tried to comfort the bleeding monster.
“What?” Dan Hai wondered, completely confused (07:26). “She’s worried about that?”
Pretty much summed up what I was thinking!
Favorite Moment from Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 12
If I had doubts about how the Emperor feels, they’re gone now! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Foreshadowing is Cool
You know how a last-minute save can feel cheap? Usually, that’s because a show didn’t put the leg work into setting it up. This episode completely avoided that problem by giving several moments of seemingly innocent foreshadowing that resulted in emotionally and dramatically satisfying saves.
Need to save the Raven Consort from a sword thrust? Easy. Show the Emperor suddenly turning around to the surprise of his entourage. Need a weapon for the Raven Consort’s climatic fight? Also easy! Show Xing-Xing escaping despite Jiu Jiu and Yi Shiba’s best efforts.
I had almost forgotten this scene – until Xing-Xing flew to the rescue! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Those saves served as a frame of sorts for my favorite moment. The Emperor has acted very reserved throughout the whole series. That makes perfect sense. As Emperor, he had to project calm certainty.
At the same time, he showed a growing affect and concern for Shouxue. He demonstrated that by giving her sweets and spending time with her. While I felt certain that he has deep feelings for her, there was some doubt. After all, he treated Wei Qing with affection and respect, too.
I think we got an answer in this episode. Or at least more supporting evidence!
Delivery: Xia Gaojun Put Himself in Harm’s Way
Not only did the emperor parry the Owl’s sword thrust to protect Shouxue. He actively engaged the enemy! As in, he fought, and fought pretty well.
That in and of itself isn’t really evidence. But my favorite moment is. The Owl had just told them that nah, he really didn’t want to kill Shouxue, but since his sister the Raven had been trapped in Shouxue’s body, what could he do? Shouxue had to die.
Shouxue takes no pleasure in seeing the people she loves in danger. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The Owl attacked again, and again, the Emperor blocked him. With more emotion than I’ve ever seen on his face or heard in his voice, he said (17:52), “If you intend to harm the Raven Consort, then I cannot stand idly by.”
As a character, Xia Gaojun has really grown on me, and that feeling has a lot to do with how well he treats the Shouxue. In this episode, I have to say: he done good.
What did you think of the reveal about the Magpie Consort’s brother? What were your favorite moments in this episode? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 12: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Kokyu no Karasu | Raven of the Inner Palace – Episode 12 discussion
- J Reacts: Duel | Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 12 Reaction (後宮の烏) (YouTube)
- Lost in Anime: Patron Pick Fall 2022: Koukyuu no Karasu – 12
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 1: The Jade Earring, Part 1
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 2: The Jade Earring, Part 2
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 3: The Whistle
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 4: The Skylark Princess
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 5: Confidant
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 6: The Summer King and the Winter King
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 7: Glass Prayer
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 8: Blue Swallow
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 9: Water’s Voice
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 10: The Masked Man
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 11: Groundwork
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 12: Siblings
- Raven of the Inner Palace Episode 13: Xiangfu Incense
Quite a turn of events! Now the story takes a different path.
I really hope we get a second season, though I don’t know if the rating will support it. Because like you said, what just happened cast a whole new light on everything! Or at least, it connected the dots in a way I didn’t expect.
The Owl shed quite a bit of light on this entire situation, and showed us that things are not what we thought they were. In particular:
The raven goddess is in exile, is contained within the consort, and the reason the consort has always been forbidden things like close relationships hasn’t been because it would displease the goddess, but because it could inadvertently attract the attention of the executioner.
The goddess’ containment might not be entirely voluntary, she being bound and drugged insensate for centuries until her mind is practically gone, while the vessel she’s in gets to command her power.
However, both of those points are told to us by the Owl, who is not trustworthy. That much is amply proven by what he did to the Magpie consort, taking advantage of her, lying to her that the dirt golem was her brother, having her feed her own blood to the thing, so much that she’s been withering away, and that smile he wore was a thing of vicious pleasure. So when he says he doesn’t really want to kill Shouxue, or take pleasure in it, there are already inconsistencies between what he says and what he does on that score. Thus, out of the entire tale he told, how much of it can be taken at face value? Especially when he has clearly already done cruel things and taken pleasure in them.
My favorite moment is simply when the emperor turned around. He knows Shouxue pretty well at this point, and, realizing what she would be doing, immediately about-faced. Good man! And the eunuchs proved themselves as well, working together to keep that thing at bay until Shouxue was able to deal with it.
Yeah, that fight at the end was really good! I like how each character got to contribute and they really worked together. Of course, what they defeated was just a golem avatar of the real executioner, so he’s still out there plotting to kill the Raven Consort.
Two two points stuck out to me — their teamwork, and the fact the real Owl is still out there, somewhere!
I’m glad Shouxue has protection now, because I’m afraid she’s going to need it!
Good point about Owl being an unreliable narrator. I have a feeling a lot of what he said isn’t strictly true — only true from his perspective. Or maybe I’m just being hopeful!
I like your favorite moment! Gaojun has really turned my opinion of him around. Yeah, he knew her, and he figured out exactly what she was trying to do. Very glad he did!