Here are my points to ponder for this Episode. They’re in no particular order. I’ve to split it into two because I left half my brain in limoncello tonight. Cin cin!

1. Minister Kim

In my previous post on Episode 11, I mentioned HongShim’s shoes as a metaphor of materialism. I’ll copy my comment here as springboard to explain Lee Yul’s defense of Minister Kim.

The shoes as metaphor of materialism.

HongShim told WonDeuk that her brother wouldn’t approve of his materialism. By materialism, WonDeuk’s attachment to his luxurious possession (like his pillows) and his physical comfort (like his extra clothes for when he perspires during the trip). He was attached to his possessions, so he didn’t want to leave them behind.

But then he noticed that she was packing away the shoes he bought her instead of wearing them on the journey.

WD: Why are you packing the shoes when I gave them to you to wear?
HS: They will wear out.
WD: Every object has a purpose. Clothes should be worn and so should shoes. If you do not give them a purpose, you are being materialistic.
HS: Still…they will wear out during our long journey.
WD: If you wear straw shoes, your feet will get damaged. Wear the shoes.
HS: Sure.

WonDeuk pointed out that materialism is NOT the attachment to things but the ACQUISITION of things which serve no purpose. HongShim was also attached to her shoes and she wanted to bring them with her. But she wasn’t going to wear them. To WonDeuk, her physical comfort was more important than preserving the fine shoes. In other words, possessions are only valuable when they serve the owner.

I’ve come to realize that my metaphor was incomplete. Yes, shoes were metaphor for materialism, but they were also a metaphor for utility or usefulness. The pair of shoes that couldn’t be used for walking was pointless. (hahaha. The scriptwriter hasn’t seen my shoe collection. I have shoes for walking, shoes for driving, shoes for jogging, shoes for sailing, shoes for dancing, shoes for gardening, shoes for lounging, shoes for intimidating, shoes for snow, rain, and sand, and shoes just for happiness. I never felt that HongShim was pitiful until she packed away that one pair of shoes. It really touched my sole. Sigh.) 

Back in Episode 11, I wondered how this metaphor would be relevant to WonDeuk in the future, and now I see that I didn’t  look at “whole picture” as WonDeuk would say.

We have to see the biiiggggg  picture. 

To me, when we apply WonDeuk’s concept of utility as a measure of worth (that is, something has to serve a purpose to be valuable) to Episode 12, then it’s easy to understand why he defended Minister Kim against his father the King.

We’re so used to thinking of Minister Kim as evil because of the bloody coup and the attempted assassination of Lee Yul but WonDeuk couldn’t remember of these things. All he knew was Minister Kim was the sole person, the only one in that royal court who searched for him and brought him back to the palace.

MK: I apologize, Your Majesty. All the fault lies within me.
King: Then, as of today, you must resign from your title and live quietly at home.
LY: Please revoke your command. Father, the Vice Premier is not to blame.
King: Why are you defending him?
Minister Jung: He is the one who made you live outside the palace for 100 days.
LY: What did the rest of you do during those 100 days? Why were none of you able to find me? Was it that you did not bother to look?

Minister Jung: If I dare ask, what did you do all this while? Why did you not return when you were alive and healthy?
LY: I sustained a critical wound from assassins.
Minister Jung: You could have alerted someone.
LY: I lost my memory. I did not know who I was. The one who found me and brought me back is the Vice-Premier.
King: He also said you were dead.
LY: But he brought me back. I do not want my father-in-law to be sacrificed in political strife.

To WonDeuk/Lee Yul, the Minister Kim was similar to a useful pair of shoes. He did his job; he served his purpose, so he should be spared punishment.

But thank goodness Lee Yul isn’t naïve. He counseled JeYoon that one needed to listen not only to those in power but also the small people in order to see the big picture and lead others well. Right now, Lee Yul is trying to get a good perspective on the palace politics so he’s been listening to Minister Kim, Minister Jung, Prince SeoYoon, and the Queen.

2. Mayor JeYoon (This poor guy!! Lol. He can’t catch any break here in my blog. But I just call it the way I see it.)

If we apply the same measure of usefulness to Mayor JeYoon, then so far he’s been as useless as a third wheel to WonDeuk.

I’m reminded of their first meeting when the Lee Yul was impressed with JY’s wit in solving the puzzle and promised that he would find an important purpose for JY one day.

For now, his primary purpose seems to put roadblocks in the relationship of WonDeuk and Hongshim. It struck me when he sought out an audience with the CP that he had a vested interest in keeping the CP Lee Yul and HongShim apart. Here was their dialogue:

JY: I apologize Your Highness. I didn’t recognize you and mistreated you. (Curiously enough, LY didn’t ask him WHY he was unable to recognize him.) Once I recognized you, I tried to get you back here, but I was a bit late. (suuuure.)
LY: I will not blame you for that. (Yes, but you betcha he’d remember this failure.)
JY: Thank you.
LY: What happened to her? We parted in the marketplace. We didn’t get to say goodbye. We planned to leave together when her brother returned. Did she leave the village?
JY: Do not think about her. The only woman you should care about now is the Crown Princess. Forget what happened in Songjoo Village. Do not ask questions. If others find out what you got up to, everyone will be threatened. Yeon HongShim and her father, too. To those with power, they make ideal baits for a plot. No one in the village knows you are the Crown Prince. This is the safest and best for everyone, so let it go. I came to tell you that. I shall leave you.

lol. Many viewers might have missed this but to me, he and Minister Kim were alike in their desire for secrecy. Minister Kim warned him. “We must keep everything that happened to you in SongJoo Village from the others. If word gets out, the woman and her father whom you have been close with will not be safe. We must hide the fact that you have lost your memory, too. They might try to attack you for any reasons possible. The palace is like a dog fighting ring where they bite off one another’s throats with their weaknesses. You must forget everything that happened in the past 100 days for the Crown Princess and your child to be born.”

To my ears, both JeYoon and Minister Kim showed FAKE concern for WonDeuk. They both manipulating his emotions for HongShim to keep his stay in the village secret, and they both had ulterior motives for doing so. For Minister Kim, he probably was hiding the fact that he conducted a search in that village and even sent his assassins in search of him. For Jeyoon, he wanted HongShim for himself. Once WonDeuk was out of the picture, he could pursue HongShim himself.

To continue with Lee Yul’s and JY’s dialogue.

LY: You could still tell them. If they knew who I am, if they knew about me, they would have been shocked. (@Oli, can you check your sub here? I can’t understand what he was trying to say here. Thanks!!) I got it now. Will explain in part 2.) You said we were friends.
JY: No, we cannot be friends. You are the Crown Prince.

To me, this was rude. At their first encounter, JeYoon was happy enough to be of service to the Crown Prince. He was eager for that promotion so he was pleased to make the CP’s acquaintance. In contrast, now he was erecting a wall between them. HE was rejecting the CP’s offer of friendship. I interpreted this “snub” as a subtle declaration that he was now free to pursue HongShim.

This rejection of friendship, plus his assertion to the gisaeng AeWool that the CP wouldn’t be able to find HongShim (see my earlier post on He Says, She Says) alert me to expect more rivalry in the coming episodes between the CP and the Moonface Mayor as the latter steps up his effort as the SECOND lead.

3. Prince SeoYoon

This guy doesn’t have many lines in the script but whatever he says is written to be ambiguous. As @nrllee pointed out, he never expressed desire for the throne so what was he talking about when he told his big brother that LY had everything he ever wanted?

SY: Your Highness, I wished to greet you. Why did you refuse? Do you resent me for trying to take your place?
WD: An empty glass must be filled. And an empty seat should be filled, too. (He was talking about purpose again. What’s the point of having a glass and seat if they don’t get filled.) Why would I resent you when it is not your fault?

(lol. And an empty bed must be filled, too…)

SY: I resent you, Your Highness. Everything I want already belongs to you. (What “everything” did he mean? Did he mean wisdom?? Their father’s love? The Crown Princess? A new basketball?)

WD: I do not own it because I wanted to. And I also cannot have what I want. (Meaning HongShim)
SY: The look on your eyes have changed. (Meaning WD looks less fierce?) You wear the same robe but you look like someone else. (I hope he’s not insinuating that WD is an imposter now. lol. I swear. If it weren’t for our conspiracy/paternity theories, I rather like this kid.)
WD: That could be so. The 100 days I spent outside the palace was tediously long. (WD took it to mean that he looked tired, fatigued.)

4. Suffocation

Did you notice? HongShim and WonDeuk never complained before of feeling suffocated even when they were holed up in that teeny-tiny room of WonDeuk copying books all night.

But now that they were apart, HongShim felt “suffocated” in close quarters with her brother and wanted to take a walk outside in the middle of the night.

And Lee Yul felt suffocated in that cavernous room of his that he imagined HongShim telling him to get some fresh air.

So why are they suffocating now??

I couldn’t get the significance until a few minutes ago. Do you want me to tell you? 😀

They were suffocating because they needed air. lol. Get it? They were oxygen-deprived. As in “You are the air I breathe” kind of cheesiness. They were missing each other so badly they felt like they couldn’t breathe. lol.

5. On Names

I found it interesting that HongShim felt her old name YiSeo didn’t feel like hers anymore. It reminded how they name Lee Yul WonDeuk and Lee Yul complained that it didn’t sound like his. Now, HongShim found herself in the same boat. She’s being called a name that sounded strange.

But what’s even creepier about this whole naming/renaming this is Moonbat JeYoon’ actions. He selected of a new name for HongShim without her advice. Really?

To me, choosing a new name is a private matter. HongShim should have selected it herself so she could decide on the personal trait or quality she wanted to embrace with her new name. Naming another person suggests a close personal bond that doesn’t yet exist between HongShim and JeYoon. He just took it upon himself to define her identity without her consent and her personal input  I thought it was very presumptuous of him. He was just too eager to claim her as his.

I couldn’t help remembering HongShim dutifully jotting down the possible combination of names for WonDeuk as he dictated them to her.  It was a weird way to spend the evening together but WonDeuk got the intention right. He wanted a new name and they worked on it together. 

6. MooYoon

7. Poison

8. Books

9. Ming?

These will have to go on tomorrow’s post. ‘Night.