The Apothecary Diaries wraps its first season by threading mystery, politics, and personal growth into a world that feels rich and layered. From the start, Maomao, the clever apothecary girl, has been solving illnesses and poisons within the emperor’s palace. With each investigation, she wove deeper into the maze of courtly secrets.
By the end of Season 1, she had uncovered truths that touched royal lineage, medical ethics, and her own role behind palace walls. The finale brought both resolution and open doors, showing how far she had come—and how much remained hidden.
A mystery healer becomes a threat to the powerful (Photo: The Apothecary Diaries Season 1/TOHO Animation Studio and OLM)In the closing episodes, Maomao faced her biggest challenge yet: the case of the crown prince’s mysterious illness. Symptoms appeared sudden and serious enough to threaten delicate succession politics. If she failed to find a safe cure, the balance of power in the palace would collapse.
At the same time, her own origins—once a street orphan—started to catch up with her. The person she had become in the palace began to stand out in ways that could prove dangerous.
The Crown Prince’s Illness Puts Everything on the Line
When the crown prince fell ill after drinking a ceremonial tea, panic pooled across court. No doctor dared to start with poison tests. Maomao volunteered, but only if she could act without court interference. That request showed her growing confidence.
Her reputation had become strong enough that ministers could not just ignore her. But it also exposed how tightly woven palace tension had become around her. Maomao’s investigation felt like a puzzle in miniature. She looked at cooling sewers, inspected raw tea leaves, questioned servants who had no idea they held clues.
Every small detail built toward one conclusion: the prince had been poisoned, but with something rare enough to suggest intent from someone with power and knowledge of court poisons. Once she could prove it, the danger increased. Anyone involved in administration could suffer if exposed. But Maomao did not back away.
She confronted senior officials privately, gave them the poison’s antidote, and gave them each a choice. Reveal the culprit or accept limited medical explanations. The ministers chose silence but were spared public scandal. Their decision showed how her knowledge forced those with power to face their own caution.
Maomao’s Strange Relationship with Jinshi Deepens
Through the season, Jinshi, the prince’s attendant, watched Maomao solve mysteries while staying in the background. They had grown close in quiet ways—shared late-night medicine mixing, hushed conversation after palace emergencies. In the finale, when he offered a safe place for her to recover from exposure, their relationship stepped into its next stage.
When Maomao awoke, she found herself in Jinshi’s chaste but tender care, far from masks and protocol. She saw him not only as an official but as someone who understood the weight of palace secrets. Their silence carried trust. She did not need to explain everything.
He had learned enough to know why silence before others might be necessary. That moment laid the foundation for temptations and secrets yet to come, showing that Maomao had finally found someone who could be her companion in isolation.
The Empress’s Favor and Hidden Threats
Maomao’s actions had not gone unnoticed by the empress, who watched from a distance as the young apothecary saved the prince. The empress summoned her to receive silver-threaded clothing meant to honour her skill. That gift was layered: it was both reward and warning.
Palace staff knew that being favoured could lead one into webs of jealousy, threats, and changing alliances. The gift came with a price: attention describes privileges as well as risk.
When Maomao stepped away with the gift, she passed a group of palace concubines and officials. Their eyes followed the clothing and the young apothecary who wore it. That moment carried unspoken questions: Were they impressed or afraid? Were they setting plans in motion? The show used that scene to highlight that honour and danger often live side by side in court life.
Maomao’s Origins and the Road Left Ahead
Near the end, Maomao quietly writes in her journal. She copies recipes, notes symptoms she saw in the prince, and sketches herbs that could counteract the poison. She closes the journal and reads the boarding tickets she had tucked inside—tickets meant for an escape if she chose to leave.
She could return to the outside world, free from court intrigue and restrictions. But she folded those tickets and placed them back inside her kimono.
That choice became the heart of the finale. Maomao neither accepted power in the palace nor ran from it. She chose a middle path: knowledge undercover. She would stay, but only under her terms, solving mysteries while keeping secrets about herself.
That decision hinted at the many cases she would face—medical, moral, and political—and at how her relationship with Jinshi would complicate her path.
Her knowledge saves lives but risks her own (Photo: The Apothecary Diaries Season 1/TOHO Animation Studio and OLM)Threads Tighten, but Mystery Remains
The final scenes offered echoes of future stories. A palace official smuggles a vial of slow poison into a private chamber. Another servant scrolls through Maomao’s sketches on the sly.
A lady-in-waiting whispers to a eunuch about finding out where the street girl came from. Maomao’s past and present were starting to draw people’s attention. And soon enough—season over—her cover could begin to crack.
But the finale did not close those doors. It showed that knowledge could be more dangerous than stone. Maomao had answered one major question—the prince’s ailment—but created hundreds more. She had to keep her calm, her medical tools, and her growing connection with Jinshi. Every step now required more care.
What the Ending Means for What Comes Next
While Season 1 closed the chapter on the crown prince, it opened others. Maomao had earned trust, but full trust could be a trap. She had power, but power drew eyes. And she had a companion in Jinshi, but that relationship might punish her in the search for neutrality she values. Through her choice to stay, she created a stage for more poison dramas: among royals, nobles, even in the medicine cabinet.
With new rivals growing wary, with Jinshi’s feelings deepening, and with Maomao’s identity still hidden, future episodes would ask whether she could save people without losing herself. Could she survive court without becoming a weapon? Could she solve mysteries without bringing harm? And could she balance honour with safety when rules change around her?
A Thoughtful Ending That Shines More Light Than Heat
The Apothecary Diaries did not end with fireworks. It ended with a quiet choice made in half-light. Maomao stood by a window, holding a teacup still steaming from the morning. A breeze moved curtains. She was alone, safe—but not safe.
The viewer felt that she was ready to continue, but not safe enough to relax. The courtiers around her were watching—waiting to see if the street girl with a golden gift could outlast their silent games.
That quiet moment held the season’s true tone—deliberate, cautious, clever. Maomao’s world is full of puzzles that can kill. But she solves them with observation, not violence. With herb knowledge, not spells.
With calm steps, not leaps. And when the screen fades to black, the viewer knows the season is over—but the story is not finished. The Apothecary Diaries Season 1 is available for streaming on Hulu and Crunchyroll.
