He’s blind. He’s possessed. He’s a scholar with a thirst for vengeance that rivals any Shakespearean tragedy.
Honestly, when Lovers of the Red Sky first hit screens, people weren't sure what to make of the lead character. Ha Ram isn't your run-of-the-mill historical protagonist who spends his time looking pretty in a hanbok and reciting poetry. Well, he does those things too, but with a terrifying ancient deity living inside his body.
Ahn Hyo-seop took on a massive challenge here. Playing a blind character is hard enough, but playing a blind character who is also secretly a high-ranking government official, a master of astrology, and the literal vessel for Ma Wang (the Demon) is a lot to ask of one actor.
But it works.
The story centers on the fated connection between Ha Ram Lovers of the Red Sky fans have come to adore and Hong Cheon-gi, the only female painter in the Joseon dynasty. It’s a classic "star-crossed lovers" trope, but the stakes are supernatural. If they get too close, the demon wakes up. If they stay apart, their souls are essentially incomplete. Talk about a "it's complicated" relationship status.
The Tragic Backstory That Actually Makes Sense
Most dramas throw in a "dead parents" trope just to get the audience to cry. In this case, the tragedy is the literal engine of the plot.
Think back to the rain-making ritual. A young Ha Ram is sacrificed to the gods to end a drought. It’s a brutal scene. He survives, but at the cost of his sight and his family. The gods essentially played a shell game with his life. The goddess Samshin seals the Demon inside Ha Ram but takes his eyes to keep the Demon powerless.
He wakes up in a world of darkness.
This isn't just about physical blindness; it’s about a total loss of identity. He spent years building a double life. By day, he is a loyal official. By night, he is Ilwolseong, a mysterious figure gathering information to bring down the royal family that betrayed him.
The duality is fascinating. Usually, the "revenge" character is the villain or a gritty anti-hero. Ha Ram stays soft. He stays kind to Cheon-gi, even when his inner demon is literally trying to claw its way out of his chest. It’s that contrast—the scholar’s gentle voice versus the Demon’s guttural roar—that makes the character so compelling to watch.
Why the Demon Aspect Isn't Just Cheap CGI
We’ve all seen bad fantasy effects. Sometimes a "demon" is just a guy in cheap contacts and a lot of eyeliner.
In Lovers of the Red Sky, the presence of Ma Wang is a psychological weight. It’s a metaphor for the repressed anger Ha Ram feels. For nineteen years, he kept that rage tucked away behind a calm, scholarly exterior. But when he encounters Hong Cheon-gi again, the seal weakens.
Why? Because she has his eyes.
Literally.
The eyes he lost during the ritual were given to her so she could see. When they touch, the Demon recognizes its own eyes and tries to reclaim them. This creates a terrifying physical dynamic. Imagine the person you love most in the world is also the literal trigger for your greatest nightmare.
Most viewers focus on the romance, and understandably so. The chemistry between Ahn Hyo-seop and Kim Yoo-jung is electric. But the real meat of the story is Ha Ram’s internal battle. He has to decide if he wants his sight back if it means losing himself to the darkness.
The Politics of Astrology in the Joseon Era
People sometimes skip the "palace politics" parts of Sageuk dramas to get back to the kissing. Don't do that here.
Ha Ram’s role as an astrologer isn't just a quirky job title. In the Joseon era, the stars were seen as the literal will of heaven. By controlling the interpretation of the stars, Ha Ram holds power over the King. He’s essentially the most powerful man in the room, and nobody even knows he can’t see the documents he’s "reading."
The show does a great job of showing how he uses his other senses. The sound of the wind. The temperature of the air. The "vibe" of the room. He’s a human lie detector.
There’s a specific nuance in how he navigates the palace. He uses his disability to make people underestimate him. While the princes are bickering over the throne, Ha Ram is playing 4D chess in the background. He’s a strategist first and a lover second, which makes the moments where he loses his composure for Cheon-gi feel much more earned.
That Ending: Let's Get Real About the Resolution
Some fans were a bit divided on how things wrapped up. Without giving away every single beat for those who haven't finished their binge-watch yet, the finale hinges on a massive sacrifice.
The show asks a big question: Can you ever really go back to who you were before the trauma?
For Ha Ram, the answer is a messy "kinda." He gets a version of a happy ending, but the scars of the past two decades don't just vanish because a ritual was successful. The blindness was a part of him for so long that seeing the world again is almost overwhelming.
It’s a rare drama that handles the "disability cure" trope with some level of emotional weight rather than just waving a magic wand. He has to learn how to exist in a world of color after living in a world of sound and shadow.
What You Can Take Away From the Story
If you're watching or re-watching, pay attention to the color palette. The directors used "Red" not just as a title, but as a warning. Every time you see that specific shade of crimson on screen, something is about to go wrong for Ha Ram.
The show is a masterclass in visual storytelling. Even if you aren't a fan of fantasy, the technical aspects of the cinematography are worth the price of admission.
To truly appreciate the depth of this character, look at these specific elements during your next watch:
- The Sound Design: Notice how the background noise changes when the Demon is close. It becomes muffled and rhythmic, like a heartbeat.
- The Eye Contact: Pay attention to how Ahn Hyo-seop never quite meets the eyes of his costars, maintaining the realism of his character's blindness even in high-stress scenes.
- The Symbolism of the Ring: The jade ring isn't just jewelry; it’s a physical manifestation of the boundary between the human and the divine.
If you’ve finished the series and are looking for something similar, look into The Scholar Who Walks the Night or Alchemy of Souls. They share that same DNA of "man fighting an inner monster while trying to protect the woman he loves."
The legacy of Ha Ram Lovers of the Red Sky is that it proved fantasy Sageuks can be more than just pretty costumes. They can be deep explorations of fate, agency, and the cost of holding onto the past.
Next Steps for Fans:
Go back and watch the first meeting in the palanquin during episode two. Knowing the ending makes the dialogue in that scene hit ten times harder. After that, look up the behind-the-scenes footage of the painting sequences. The production team actually hired professional traditional artists to ensure the brushwork shown on screen was historically accurate to the era. This level of detail is exactly why the show remains a staple in the historical fantasy genre years later.