Please post your spoilers, rants, raves, analyses here. Thanks!
I caught 15 minutes of Ep 3 on Viki and I burst out laughing when I saw Jang Dong Yoon’s face smeared with lipstick. Really. If I was incontinent, I’d hate watching this show.
I’m posting gifs from previous episodes. Gif credit: belsmultifandommess’ tumblr.
I like this moment.
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Edited 10/9/2019 to add this:
Re. the identity of these men in this scene from Ep 3 (or 6 in Viki)
my guess is Yoolmo and his bodyguard. lol.
Yoolmo’s shoes in Episode 4 (or 7 in Viki):
The King and Queen, talking about the “dead child” -the Queen asks (Viki version)
What’s the reason I can’t long for him?
Why do you loathe it so much? (The Korean doesn’t have a pronoun – “it” should be removed)
Seems there’s a birth(?) secret behind the birth secret?
Yes, there’s a secret birth/death of a baby. Probably a stillborn?
The Queen said that she didn’t know she was pregnant when she followed the king to wherever it was. If the baby died while she was traveling with the king, she must be feeling guilty then all these years.
The baby was going to be buried but the baby turned out to be alive. The minister opted not to kill the baby but told Nokdu’s dad to hide as if he was already dead.
Maybe the King didn’t want to kill his baby in the first place?? But his baby died.
Now he suspects his Minister of taking away his baby, and installing one of the royal princes, because he didn’t produce another heir after the first baby “died.”
Ahhh… it’s the Minister who wants Nokdu killed. The King has ZERO idea that Nokdu is his. Only the Minister knows that the real baby lives somewhere and is being protected by Jung Yoon Jeo (Nokdu’s dad).
“ Maybe the King didn’t want to kill his baby in the first place?? But his baby died.”
In episode one, there was a short sequence of the king dreaming about himself – his clawed hands going for the infant. How does that fit in with the story? Except for that scene, the plot you’ve drawn seems to fit.
Question. The lady in the pavilion is Not the Queen? Earlier, there is a night scene where the King addresses a royal female with a young child as Your Majesty. This woman is not the woman in the Pavilion, or is she?
The “facts” – may include red herrings
The Lady in the Pavilion made it clear To the King it was their baby (Viki missed this part, Dramacool has it correct.)
The Lady grieves for her baby, thought to be dead.
The King loathes this mourning by the Lady.
The king has bad dreams about trying to kill an infant.
The king sought assurances from the Minister that the infant was indeed dead.
The king is secretly looking for Nokdu’s father.
Nokdu’s family are living under false names.
The minister is trying to kill NokDu (and his family, too?) secretly.
The king was threatening in his interaction with the Queen and child. Especially to the child.
The king was pleasant in his interaction with the Lady in the pavilion.
The Ministers’ Cabal claimed the King was killing off the princes.
Questions
Why does the King loathe the Lady’s mourning for her infant?
How the heck did NokDu’s father end up with him?
Is the King’s dream a memory or the ghost of guilt?
Is the King a Regent, perhaps?
I’m missing something…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwanghaegun_of_Joseon
The writer seems to be using a historical framework, not a fantasy one. Sigh.
The little boy is the King’s half brother, and contender for the throne. The boy’s mother then would be the dowager Queen.
The lady in the pavilion then could be his wife, the current queen.
I think. And I still don’t grok the story…
I haven’t started the show yet but do like to know the history it is based on before starting. Thanks for the link!
So that must be Lady Ryu in the pavillion, who had a child presumed dead. But that child would be of major importance to any one of the factions who held him because the king had no other children.
The young boy must be Injo, who will succeed this king, meaning Nokdu never gains the throne (and that’s a good thing for him!).
Does that sound about right?
The pavilion lady is his queen because they were talking about their baby.
The other lady walking late at night is the mother of the young prince. The young prince is his half-brother, son of the late King just like him. That’s why the young prince is his successor to the throne.
The mother of the young prince is then the previous queen of the late King. Or the current King’s stepmom.
The Minister and his white-robed plotters were talking about designating the young prince as Crown Prince soon. Supporters of the young prince were being killed off one by one, and the plotters could be next. According to the Minister (what a fake friend!), the King is becoming more insecure of being dethroned as the young prince grows older.
Mother and son are right to be scared of the King but they’re being used by the plotters too.
Re. The dream sequence. In my first post, I said we couldn’t be sure whether dream sequence was his repressed memories or a figment of an active imagination or a repressed desire.
It’s possible that he wants to kill a baby (not his, but his brother) because it’s a threat to his position.