She is now Jin Bu-yeon, the long-lost eldest daughter of the Jinyowon mage clan, but she has lost her memory. Mu-deok was, in fact, already Bu-yeon but the spirit of Naksu that possessed her did not know that.

Bu-yeon’s mother, Jin Ho-gyeong (Park Eun-hye), is forced to make a choice to save her daughter’s body – she must let it be consumed by the magic of Naksu’s spirit within.

This magical revival gives her the appearance of Naksu, who is played by new series lead Go Yoon-jung, the actress who previously played Naksu in the opening episode of the first season in June.

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Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow retains the slick staging, saturated colours and bright young cast members that made season one such an appealing hit, and the show dives right back into its effervescent mix of magic, palace intrigue and teen romance.

For the most part, this amounts to a pleasing return to Daeho, but there is no denying that the loss of Jung, who had been the cast’s strongest asset, stings a little.

That is not a knock on Go, who acquits herself well in the lead role but, so far, she has not quite been able to match Jung’s endearingly pouty feistiness. Jung managed to combine the vulnerability and strength of her characters’ combined personalities in a way that anchored the show.

In terms of story, last weekend’s first two episodes brought us up to speed on all the main characters, showing us what had become of them three years later. Truth is, they are mostly where we left them.

Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook) now spends his time fighting soul shifters and drinking at night to keep the nasty smoke wraiths that torture him at bay. He is tormented because he was actually killed and brought back to life with black magic at the end of the first season, but also because he lost Mu-deok, the love of his life – or so he thinks.

Fellow mage Seo Yul (Minhyuk) still draws attention with his good looks without contributing a great deal to the narrative, while Park Dang-gu (Yoo In-soo) is nursing his own romantic pain after breaking up with Cho-yeon (Arin), the second daughter in the Jinyowon clan, following the death of her father last season.

The character who has arguably experienced the greatest change is Dang-gu’s father, Park Jin (Yu Jun-sang), who has stepped down as the leader of the Seongrim mage society, passing the title to his son; he provides comic relief in his retirement as a very enthusiastic but very bad cook.

Bu-yeon, who currently possesses no powers, has secretly been imprisoned in the Jinyowon clan grounds by her mother for the past three years. Though she has no intention of ever letting her daughter leave, Ho-gyeong wants to marry Bu-yeon off and have her produce a child.

Crossing into the grounds to strike down a soul shifter, Uk meets Bu-yeon by chance and helps her to escape. She escapes a few times, only to quickly be tracked down by Jinyowon guards each time. During her outings, she grows closer to Uk.

They do not recognise each other but the love they shared as Uk and Mu-deok seems to be drawing them together.

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This is no drawn-out courtship – Bu-yeon escapes again one night and, after romantically drifting over to Uk in a boat, she abruptly proposes to him.

We still need to wait for Bu-yeon and Uk to understand what is drawing them together, but their quick reunion puts some pressure on the show to produce some other compelling narrative tangents, which so far have not materialised.

The antagonists, including the villainous white-haired mage Jin Mu (Jo Jae-yun), largely remain the same but they lack the bite they had before. Their goals are a little too murky this time around.

Perhaps the show is just taking its time setting up its pieces again and a major inciting incident will come in the next few episodes that will give the rest of the season a clear direction.

But even without some narrative meat to chew on, Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow remains a hearty stew with plenty of comforting ingredients and attractive garnishes. Then again, most good stews taste best if left in the fridge for a few days. Hopefully patience will reward us in this case as well.

Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow is streaming on Netflix.