Akatsuki no Yona - Vol. 33 Ch. 192 - A Castle Where the Voice of the Gods Reverberates
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Nooo 
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@zwei00 Yes.
I couldn't care less for romance, but I'd been looking forward to this arc. I can see now how Yu-hon's starting to warp, and am really looking forward to seeing King Joo-nam.
I wonder whether the memoir will reveal information about who killed Lady Kashi, whether it was really Il who had Yu-hon murdered, and why Joo-nam chose the younger brother as successor.
So far, while I find Il's piety a little irksome, it at least makes sense in this world because in it gods do actually exist and meddle in the affairs of humans. Yu-hon's the irrational one: he's just witnessed a priest learn something about Yon-hi he had no way of knowing, and still doesn't believe there might be something to gods' oracles? That's not scepticism, that's sheer obduracy and denial. It won't end well. (Of course, we already know that.)
My guess is that Yu-hon's warmongering (which Soo-won seems so keen to imitate) brought Kouka very close to a devastating war, and Joo-nam appointed Il his successor to prevent that. Il's "peace no matter what concessions I have to make" might have been a consequence of his being severely constrained by Yu-hon's policies. It might even have been that Il had no choice other than throwing his brother under the bus to avert war.
Let's wait and see.
I couldn't care less for romance, but I'd been looking forward to this arc. I can see now how Yu-hon's starting to warp, and am really looking forward to seeing King Joo-nam.
I wonder whether the memoir will reveal information about who killed Lady Kashi, whether it was really Il who had Yu-hon murdered, and why Joo-nam chose the younger brother as successor.
So far, while I find Il's piety a little irksome, it at least makes sense in this world because in it gods do actually exist and meddle in the affairs of humans. Yu-hon's the irrational one: he's just witnessed a priest learn something about Yon-hi he had no way of knowing, and still doesn't believe there might be something to gods' oracles? That's not scepticism, that's sheer obduracy and denial. It won't end well. (Of course, we already know that.)
My guess is that Yu-hon's warmongering (which Soo-won seems so keen to imitate) brought Kouka very close to a devastating war, and Joo-nam appointed Il his successor to prevent that. Il's "peace no matter what concessions I have to make" might have been a consequence of his being severely constrained by Yu-hon's policies. It might even have been that Il had no choice other than throwing his brother under the bus to avert war.
Let's wait and see.
@kendama i don’t think his hatred towards the temple is just about how he thinks it’s fake I think it’s more like the temple is putting themselves above the the royal family literally and figuratively. Besides you can tell that the temple is still reaching for more power and the royals are turning into puppets i think the temple with try and use their influence to manipulate little IL and get him to kill his brother and seeing as there is no temple in present time i think they will have a hand in Kashi’s death too
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@A13x1345 Yona says around chapter ten that Yu-hon destroyed the temple and expelled the priests during Joo-nam's reign. It wasn't Il. I have to see more to decide that the priests were up to no good. So far, everything that happened wrong seems to have been Yu-hon's fault.
A suspicion I've long had is that Yu-hon had Kashi killed, Il found out and had him killed in revenge. Unfortunately, that's not the kind of thing Yon-hi would know about, so it won't be in the memoir.
And I'm really curious as to whether Soo-won has read that memoir. I'm not sure the books in that room are his, or the palace's, and whether he's read everything. Not that it changes the fact I want him six feet under.
A suspicion I've long had is that Yu-hon had Kashi killed, Il found out and had him killed in revenge. Unfortunately, that's not the kind of thing Yon-hi would know about, so it won't be in the memoir.
And I'm really curious as to whether Soo-won has read that memoir. I'm not sure the books in that room are his, or the palace's, and whether he's read everything. Not that it changes the fact I want him six feet under.
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So, is this a flashback or yona living as yon hi?
@theblackswordsman Last time we saw Yona she started reading Yon-hi's diary, so now we are getting Yon-hi's (and therefore Soo-won's) backstory.
I've always been of two minds about this story on the point of religion. Obviously I'm on Yona's side, but in term of my own belief I agree with Soo-Won (and Yu-hon) that religion shouldn't be a part of the ruling system, it becomes scarily easy for the balance of power to shift out of the governing body when you throw faith into the mix. All it takes is one ruler with a little too much faith, and one priest with a little too much ambition.
I do think Yu-Hon casting all the priests out was going too far though, the head priest is clearly a freak, but there needs to be a balance in all of this.
Also I just realised that Il probably didn't want Yona to marry Soo-Won because he new about the crimson disease. I always thought it was weird that he told her "no" without offering a reason. I thought maybe he was suspicious of him, but then why would he let Yona near him at all? If he was keeping the sickness and the bloodline a secret though, that makes some sense. Maybe I'm slow to only think of that now.
@Kendama I'm not sure I agree.
For one thing until the re-emergence of the dragons there wasn't really much proof of divine presence beyond the country's creation myth. In our world many polytheist religions have creation myths for countries and towns much like this one (Athens comes to mind), and we have people who claim or have claimed to hear the voice of God too (Joan of arc?) but that's not necessarily enough as proof, nor does it justify the religious institution interfering with state decisions (although I admit it's a fairly natural progression for any society, but when the balance of power is lost, there comes a breaking point as has happened in many of our worlds countries and as I think we'll be witnessing in the next few chapters).
Although it's true this episode shows that a number of priests seem to have extrasensory powers, I'd thought Ik-soo to be more of a rarity, and that in the time before Il's coronation things might have been different and oracles more common. Even so, all the bloodlines that could have given strength and credibility to the faith had been in hiding for centuries, Zeno even stopped protecting the borders from invasion ages ago. At most there were rumors that they still existed, but very few people had actual proof.
We have witnessed an oracle before, but it was made for Yona the reincarnation of the crimson King, who knows how often that happens anymore. So I don't find it surprising that after noticing how cultish the religion has become (if Il in this chapter is anything to go by), Yu-hon might become skeptical and reject the whole idea.
I'll add that the creation myth actually has the Gods (the white, blue, green and yellow dragons) worshipping the King, not the other way around and they had little interest in humans, and even disliked them because they turned on the King (and yes the King was a dragon god too, but he admired humans so wanted to be one of them). The humans enshrined and worship the crimson dragon king, but it is never his voice that the priests hear, because he gave up his godhood long ago. So really, bloodlines not withstanding, the royal family members should be considered heirs to the crimson dragon and be the ones who are worshipped. But that just depends on how the "bible" is interpreted I suppose.
But the real problem here is the religious institution, not the religion itself, and what happens when it gains too much political power. The power of the high priest should have been limited to the spiritual guidance side of things, the fact that he apparently has power over the royal family is a problem, because a governing body should be focused on the people it is governing, not a higher power.
And I don't think Yu-hon denies the presence of Gods so much as doesn't think they are needed in his time, much like Soo-won who doesn't want the power of the dragons. In that sense they are actually very much in line with the original Crimson King who wanted to guide humans by being human.
Wow I got way too into this, I'm not sure I'm even making sense anymore XD. I guess that's what happens when modern thoughts and opinions overlap with fiction... It just makes me love this story even more!
I've always been of two minds about this story on the point of religion. Obviously I'm on Yona's side, but in term of my own belief I agree with Soo-Won (and Yu-hon) that religion shouldn't be a part of the ruling system, it becomes scarily easy for the balance of power to shift out of the governing body when you throw faith into the mix. All it takes is one ruler with a little too much faith, and one priest with a little too much ambition.
I do think Yu-Hon casting all the priests out was going too far though, the head priest is clearly a freak, but there needs to be a balance in all of this.
Also I just realised that Il probably didn't want Yona to marry Soo-Won because he new about the crimson disease. I always thought it was weird that he told her "no" without offering a reason. I thought maybe he was suspicious of him, but then why would he let Yona near him at all? If he was keeping the sickness and the bloodline a secret though, that makes some sense. Maybe I'm slow to only think of that now.
@Kendama I'm not sure I agree.
For one thing until the re-emergence of the dragons there wasn't really much proof of divine presence beyond the country's creation myth. In our world many polytheist religions have creation myths for countries and towns much like this one (Athens comes to mind), and we have people who claim or have claimed to hear the voice of God too (Joan of arc?) but that's not necessarily enough as proof, nor does it justify the religious institution interfering with state decisions (although I admit it's a fairly natural progression for any society, but when the balance of power is lost, there comes a breaking point as has happened in many of our worlds countries and as I think we'll be witnessing in the next few chapters).
Although it's true this episode shows that a number of priests seem to have extrasensory powers, I'd thought Ik-soo to be more of a rarity, and that in the time before Il's coronation things might have been different and oracles more common. Even so, all the bloodlines that could have given strength and credibility to the faith had been in hiding for centuries, Zeno even stopped protecting the borders from invasion ages ago. At most there were rumors that they still existed, but very few people had actual proof.
We have witnessed an oracle before, but it was made for Yona the reincarnation of the crimson King, who knows how often that happens anymore. So I don't find it surprising that after noticing how cultish the religion has become (if Il in this chapter is anything to go by), Yu-hon might become skeptical and reject the whole idea.
I'll add that the creation myth actually has the Gods (the white, blue, green and yellow dragons) worshipping the King, not the other way around and they had little interest in humans, and even disliked them because they turned on the King (and yes the King was a dragon god too, but he admired humans so wanted to be one of them). The humans enshrined and worship the crimson dragon king, but it is never his voice that the priests hear, because he gave up his godhood long ago. So really, bloodlines not withstanding, the royal family members should be considered heirs to the crimson dragon and be the ones who are worshipped. But that just depends on how the "bible" is interpreted I suppose.
But the real problem here is the religious institution, not the religion itself, and what happens when it gains too much political power. The power of the high priest should have been limited to the spiritual guidance side of things, the fact that he apparently has power over the royal family is a problem, because a governing body should be focused on the people it is governing, not a higher power.
And I don't think Yu-hon denies the presence of Gods so much as doesn't think they are needed in his time, much like Soo-won who doesn't want the power of the dragons. In that sense they are actually very much in line with the original Crimson King who wanted to guide humans by being human.
Wow I got way too into this, I'm not sure I'm even making sense anymore XD. I guess that's what happens when modern thoughts and opinions overlap with fiction... It just makes me love this story even more!
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Thanks for the update 🥺 I want to see Yona and the others soon.
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