The King: Character Information

Welmaris,

Since you’re the Royal Historian for this kdrama, would you mind if I give you a big project? Please?

拜托你 GIF - Shrek PussInBoots PuppyDogEyes - Discover & Share GIFs

Thanks. 🙂

We need to gather what we know about the characters, especially ShinJae and the minor ones. It might become more confusing as the drama continues. Please post them as comments here, and I’ll add the pictures when I transfer them directly onto the blog. There’s no rush. I know you’re obsessive about these things like I am.

I’ve already added the character write-up shared by mychoiyoung here. Mychoiyoung, if you have another info, please post them here as well. Thanks!

Anybody else who wants to contribute, please do so. Thanks! Many hands make light work.

*************

1. Lee Gon

Birthdate: October 28, 1987
Korean parallel: Lee Ji Hun/Hoon

2. Jeong TaeEul

Birthdate: May 27, 1990
TE’s mother died when she was 5, the same year when LG’s father was murdered.

From @kuroshio

1, TE’s mother died when she was 5, the same year when LG’s father was murdered.
2, she decided to be brave at 8
3, She graduated from National Police University
4, She handles gun well
5, She wears a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
6, She work at local police station(instead of police headquarters) of her own account.

3. Luna

From soompi

The actress is also billed to take on the role of Luna, a criminal in Lee Gon’s world who was abandoned in the poorest neighborhood. With no family, she has no identity recognized by the government, and she has had to fend for herself to stay alive. She has taken part in a variety of crimes such as theft, document forgery, and breaking and entering, and it was only when she entered prison that the world knew of her presence. She has been diagnosed with cancer with just three months left to live.

source: soompi

4. Capt Jo Yeong

5. Jo Eun Sub

From soompi

In Jung Tae Eul’s realm, Jo Eun Seob is working as a public service worker for the police. He had many dreams growing up but when his parents unexpectedly have twins in his fourth year of college, he’s forced to take a break from his studies and take care of his younger siblings. Then, when he returns to school, he gets in a car accident trying to save a young child, and just when he’s ready to leave the hospital, he gets his enlistment orders. He has just a few days left before he is discharged when he comes across Lee Gon.

source: soompi

6. Kang Sin Jae, played by Kim Kyung Nam

Kang Sin Jae, 34, is also an inspector in the Serious Crime Unit and labeled as an ace detective. He once had a happy and loving family but in ninth grade, his father was imprisoned for embezzlement, and his nightmares being strangled by his own mother began. Thus, his mother became hostile to him.

Other factoids:

a. He was born in 1987, three years before TaeEul. That means he and LG were born in the same year. They’re both 33 years old (by Western calculation)
b. His family used to be rich. He lived in an upscale neighborhood.
c. His family went bankrupt when he was 15. That was in 2001/2002. (Somebody will have to RECALCULATE this because I don’t know if they’re using Korean age and I don’t know anything about that.) We have to know why his family went bankrupt in 2001/2002.
d. His mom was from a rich family.
e. His mom had a gambling addiction which the gambling den lord tried to exploit.
f. He’s a good cop; he wouldn’t accept bribes from the gambling den lord who wanted to be given heads-up before a crackdown.
g. He liked ice cream
h. He kept meeting his psychiatrist. We have to keep an eye on the psychiatrist. Was she a friend or a spy?
i. He’s fallen in love with TaeEul
j. Favorite flower: mugswort

Family picture:

House:

More on Shin Jae from @Growing_Beautifully.

I find it noteworthy, that while we may be given dream references, the only person who is said to be dreaming is Shin Jae, who has nightmares.

Let’s think about what show gave us about SJ in Ep 7 … His memory (not so much a dream because his eyes were open) was that as a child, he had been in bed, in presumably bad shape. He woke up with an oxygen mask on, and stared at a nice pendant lamp in his room (his family was rich). His mother comes in, in tears, calling his name repeatedly. I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, based on what you’ve shared, but her tears seem to have started even before she reached the bed, and they looked more like tears of guilt/repentance than of concern for her child.

She calls out to her husband that Shin Jae is awake. So his father was still at home at that time. SJ’s eyes move to look at his mother, but they do not look happy or relieved. Do they look wary?

She cries “Shin Jae. Can you recognise me?”

On the wall above his bed is a drawing encompassing a red sun, a lady, a boy and a man with a house behind and a tree next to the man. We assume that he painted his parents and himself. So there is no sign of any sibling or twin. The painting is indistinct. I can’t tell if the figures had facial features or not.

Strangely, and by contrast, next to that drawing, is one of a girl drawn big in pink with big flowers beside her. She has all her facial features and a big smile. It looks more likely to be drawn by a girl. I wonder whom. But one who might have a good image of herself and is happy.

Shin Jae had on what looks like a school blazer. There was a trolley next to his bed with possibly medical paraphernalia, which makes it appear that he had been unconscious for some time. He was also in need of oxygen. Since his mother had asked, “Shin Jae. Can you recognise me?” He must have been pretty badly injured.

Later we know that in his teens, he seems to have been a target of bullies, to have joined a gang and to have become a black belt in Taekwondo. We know his mother has a big gambling problem. It hasn’t gone away even after 3 decades or so, and for some reason his salary is being seized. His rented place presumably is too expensive for him, and now that his mother is in prison, he has ended up sleeping in the night duty room. It’s interesting that TE says Shin Jae also buys the lottery, which is another kind of gambling. He started to see a psychiatrist about his nightmares, but stopped.

We haven’t seen photos of him except in TE’s place.

I’m not sure that we can come to any conclusions except that if that painting was done by him, then he was an only child and possibly his mother felt some responsibility over his bad physical state. Dreams of being strangled may not only be directly about something physical that the mother did, but might be a reference to her draining life out of him by her gambling habit which has sucked him dry enough to end up without even his rented place.

As for the mother. She has a parallel in KOC who works in the palace and is also a mole of LL.

Because SJ knows the flower emblem without recalling what it is, we can also toy with the idea that the mole of LL might be his real mother, who traded giving him a better life in ROK, with her loyalty to LL.

7. Myung Na Ri

a. barista
b. From soompi:

the owner of the building Jung Do In uses to teach Taekwondo and who went to the same school as Jung Tae Eul.

source: soompi

8. Myung Seung Ah

a. employee on duty at the Royal Press Office
b. hired by Lady Noh because of her fanfics
c. family owns building in Canada
d. her introduction is very important, because it made me suspicious of Lady Noh.

Noh: Your resume states that your family is living in Canada right now. Is your family wealthy.
SongAh: Pardon? Oh..well.. we don’t have any financial trouble.
Noh: Then you won’t do anything stupid over money.

Note: So far, the women connected with Lee Lim were NOT rich and could use his help for something (i.e., “redemption,” revenge for the soccer mom, escape from poverty for the pregnant lady, and now with Prime Minister Koo: ambition AND jealousy). Lee Lim targeted these women and used their negative emotions.

Noh: Do you have any friends?
SongAh: It hasn’t been long since I came from Canada. I only have one childhood friend that I meet often.
Noh: Then, you’re forced to be reticent.

Meaning, Lady Noh could rely on her to keep secrets.

Noh: The reason why I’m hiring you is —
SongAh: What? (she’s surprised that she’s hired. She thought it was too quick.)
Noh: You’ve applied for four years, and I’ve watched you for four years.

Interesting. Three years ago (right?), Lee Gon was checking on the autopsy of Lee Lim.

SongAh: You’ve been watching me? How?
Noh: Nickname Jogon Jogon.

MY interpretation (I’m not Korean): Songah had written a fanfic titled, “Nickname Jogon Jogon.” It’s a fanfic about Capt Jo. She used his name in the title, “JOgon JOgon.” It’s a play on the sound of a beating heart. In Korean, “thumpity-thump” is “du-geon dugeon.”

Noh: I’ve enjoyed your fanfics. I was happy living in the world you created. I appreciate your ability to create something from nothing. So I’ll give you an important job.

This is good. Lady Noh appreciates her imaginative spirit. But if ever there comes a time when something SUPERNATURAL or magical occurs, SongAh won’t have problems believing.

Noh: Are you familiar with After Effects and Photoshop?
SongAh: Wow. Daebak.
Noh: I got a spot for you at the Royal Public Affairs Office. I want you to just write like you used to. Please write beautiful stories and touching hashtags.

9. Prime Minister Koo Seo Ryung

– she keeps incriminating photos to be used against her political enemies

From soompi

Jung Eun Chae plays Gu Seo Ryung, the youngest and first woman prime minister. She has always been ambitious, and she overcame the hardships of her upbringing to attain power. She wasn’t afraid to use her divorce to win more votes, and she set her new target on Lee Gon. Whenever she was around him, support for her would rise but at a certain point, she started to develop feelings for him. When she finds out that he might have his eyes on someone else, her jealousy leads her down a dangerous path.

source: soompi

10. Secretary Kim
Assistant to Prime Minister Koo
Curious about her pic files.

@Welmaris said:

This character is used by the writer to help us get into PM Koo’s head. Her responses to him give viewers a direct presentation of her thoughts. He’s a bit of a Jester, in that he can speak truth to her without being punished. He’s also a bit of the Shoulder Devil, speaking to her fears, thus motivating her to act to protect her interests (which may not be in the best interests of others).

Here’s an example in ep. 2.

PMKoo: So, the King ran off again.
SecK: Maybe he has a woman. [Why does his mind go here? The King has run off many times before. Was it ever before because of a woman?] PMKoo: That woman is here. If the King has a woman, that woman has to be me. I’m trying to make the whole nation believe that, so it would be bad if he has another woman. Is she young? Is she pretty?
SecK: Chances are pretty high.
PMKoo: Get out. [She seems more annoyed than angry when she says this.] And here’s how his words goad PMKoo in ep. 6.
SecK: The royal helicopter was just approved to make an emergency landing on KU building.
PMKoo: His Majesty is coming to Seoul? At this hour?
SecK: Men usually do this when their girlfriends miss the last train or bus. When their girlfriends went to Seoul and missed the last train back to Busan. But there’s no way His Majesty has a girlfriend. What could it be?

What percentage of boyfriends in his circle have helicopters at their disposal for him to consider this usual behavior? Why did his mind go here? Of a myriad reasons why LG might come unexpectedly to Seoul, why is SecK so accurate with his hypothesis? We know he’s planted moles in the Palace. This could indicate he’s got one in the palace communications or security office. He either doubts his intel, or doesn’t want to reveal everything he knows to PMKoo, so he feigns ignorance with “But there’s no way His Majesty has a girlfriend. What could it be?”

But the notion of a boyfriend coming to the rescue of a girlfriend was planted in PMKoo’s head. She couldn’t resist donning her battle shoes and going to see for herself.

She was played. Secretary Kim is a sly one.

11. Her sidekick B (or her mentor?)

12. Her mom, who’s a fish vendor in a wet market:

The pic frame by her bed:

Her dopperganger exists

13. Song Jeong Hye, the mom of Lee Ji-Hyun, Lee Gon’s counterpart in Korea

From @juliette

Though I didn’t see this one coming:
Lee Ji Hyun’s mother tried killing herself but failed.
“I won’t die anyway.” she knows her whereabouts and discovery of Sin Jae is going to be reported to Lee Lim so she couldn’t care less.
“I can’t.” she takes off her bangles to reveal the marks of the slits on her wrist.
“You people will bring me back to life anyway.”
So Lee Lim must have the power of resurrecting as well.

14. Salt flat guy

– part of Lee Lim’s original entourage
– loyalist
– worked the salt flat
– now the Eosu bookstore owner, Corea
– recruiting men for Lee Lim

15. Lee Lim’s driver in Korea

– jealous of his counterpart in Corea, the salt flat guy

16. ShinJae’s mom, Min Hwa Yun

Came from a rich family, has a gambling addiction

17. In Corea, she’s the court lady working for Lady Noh.

And the one who brought the message to the bookstore.

18. Park Ji Young /Pregnant woman  Song Jung Hye (Ep 5 at 44: 56)

Birthdate: July 12, 1989

@imels said:

Song jung hye the new recruiment aka the pregnant lady counterpart is PM Koo ex- sister in law.

19. This is her counterpart in Corea. (Ep 5: 45:00)

Per @imels, this is PM Koo’s ex-sister-in-law.

20.  Jo Ha-In

-Psychiatrist of ShinJae

21. Her counterpart in Corea is a mom (Ep 8) 

22. The Stable Guy (Ep 7)

Per @heynandho

– The suspicious guy at the stable (early ep 7) is actually Lee Sang Do (The supposed dead body found in a car)

Per @Growing_Beautifully, however

… about the guy in the stables, … I believe that he is the one replacing the son of the HG Group father (Park Mun Haeng). He does however also look a bit like Lee Sang Do from the brief view of a photo of him.

@heynandho and @Growing_Beautifully?

Are you sure this guy is the stable guy?

His real father who already replaced the chairman.

The Corean father-and-son replaced the Korean father-and-son.

23. Lee Gon’s wardrobe guy/hairtie guy

He tried to touch LG’s neck while buttoning his shirt.

Per @heynandho

– Murder victim’s boyfriend (early ep 7) is Lee Gon fashion stylish doppelganger (the one that give TE’s hairtie to LG)

The boyfriend. Knocked himself unconscious when he bounced off Jangmi’s body (Ep 8)

24. The killer roommate, Jang YeonJi, and the security girl

The killer roommate wants to go to Corea so she blackmailed the Lee Lim’s driver with the 2G burner phone. (Ep 8) Killed her roommate who accidentally heard her phone conversation.

Per @heynandho

– the roommate/ the actual murderer (early ep 7) is security girl doppelganger

25. Lady Maximus’ personal vet

 

61 Comments On “The King: Character Information”

  1. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 I just wrote a bunch of stuff about Sin Jae in the other post: http://bitchesoverdramas.com/2020/05/08/the-king-eps-7-8-open-thread/

    Some of it is based on what is given to us, and some are thoughts derived from what is shown. Don’t know if that helps.

  2. This is such an informative post @packmule3! I had missed some of these doppelgangers. Now am clear. By the way, did anybody notice in ep.7 Prime Minister Koo’s doppelganger’s reflection fleetingly on a mirror in front of her while ahe was drinking coffee in her office? She got startled..that doppelganger wears specs.

  3. 😂 Thanks, GB! Will transfer them.

  4. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @Phoenix, Yup I noticed that reflection that scared PM Koo into dropping her munchies. I’m wondering where that doppelganger is now.

    I just posted a long thing on appearances and how seeing is not necessarily giving the whole truth, on the Ep 7 and 8 Open Thread post here. 🙂

  5. By the way if you family pictures, please note the episode and time, and I’ll take a screenshot.

    I think all of them have family pictures. I don’t know if they’re important but we might as well keep tabs.

    Thanks.

    Pictures are important because that’s how you can tell the passage of time.

  6. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    Hah! @pkml3 I should have done that on my re-watch. Well, a good excuse to speed through and recap!

  7. Thanks.

    I was going to do it but I’ve to answer some of the posts on my queue. I’m behind.

  8. @packmule3 This post is really help!Thank you!

    2. Jeong TaeEul
    Birthdate: May 27, 1990

    TE’mother died when she was 5, the same year when LG’s father got murdered.

  9. Just finished Ep8.

    @Growing Beautifully You really did an amazing job on SJ’s thread

  10. @packmule3 I didn’t get the chance the reviews you’ve posted on the facebook group. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/834199593389254/permalink/1728087450667126/) but I came across this blog. Gotta make time to read this here. Thanks 🙂

  11. I don’t have facebook. 🙂

    Does anybody have FB here? GB, agdr03, nrllee, and Welmaris who can access that site? What’s in that site anyway?

    Is this spam? What’s going on?
    So confused.
    pm3

  12. Thanks, kuroshio. Will add that now.

  13. Ep8 was a rollercoaster. Been reading everybody’s comments for a while and I can’t help but finally comment here. Btw, I love reading every one’s theories and analogy, taught me how to be more detailed in watching. I’ve never been so invested in the pace and script-writing of a kdrama like this before. So I’m keeping tabs and learning from everyone.

    The ff are confirmation of the previous theories and assumptions by others (shoutout to all eagle-eyes and brilliant minds in analyzing even the split-second scenes) :

    1. Sin Jae was exchanged when he was young. He’s a Corean.
    2. The boy with the red string yoyo appeared when Tae Eul was talking about fate. It did symbolize their fate. And she chooses to love her fate, Lee Gon.

    Though I didn’t see this one coming:
    Lee Ji Hyun’s mother tried killing herself but failed.
    “I won’t die anyway.” she knows her whereabouts and discovery of Sin Jae is going to be reported to Lee Lim so she couldn’t care less.
    “I can’t.” she takes off her bangles to reveal the marks of the slits on her wrist.
    “You people will bring me back to life anyway.”
    So Lee Lim must have the power of resurrecting as well.

  14. There are so many characters that I ended up forgetting many of them, or confusing them. I’m not only talking about doopleganger, just physical similarities between two different actors. A minor character is easily forgotten, especially for those who appeared in unclear scenes at the beginning and for a short time. Many characters are independent of each other, or in separate frames, in isolated scenes.

    Following the drama live doesn’t help me. I didn’t re-watch the episodes in order to clarify confusing situations. It’s not just because of my lack of enthusiasm for the drama. I just want to follow the drama as it should be, like a normal viewer. If something is missed, forgotten or enigmatic, it’s either part of the desired experience, or it’s poorly rendered by the production team.

    Maybe it was better to wait, to see the whole drama. Then if I liked it, see it again, and come on your blog to read the analysis about the script. I’m always afraid of being spoilt by reading your articles, because often your predictions turn out to be right.
    Of course, I might not care and since I don’t really like drama, I might as well take the opportunity to be spoiled. However, since I chose to watch it, I might as well try to enjoy it as much as possible and be surprised by the twists and turns.

    – Myung Seung Ah: She’s easy to spot.
    – PM Koo Sidekick: He’s easy to spot. We see him a lot, and the actor is well known, at least I know him well, he was in Pinocchio.
    – PM Koo Sidekick: He’s easy to spot, I don’t know why I easily remember that character. He reminds me of the cult leader in “Save Me”.
    – PM Koo mother: Completely forgotten!
    – Lee Ji-Hyun mom: A character I easily confuse. I can’t remember her or recognize her from one scene to the next. I sometimes confused her with Min Hwa Yun. So besides, recognizing her doopleganger… ^^
    – Salt Guy: partly forgotten, I don’t connect his counterpart because of physical differences. Too little time on these characters for that. Isolated scenes.
    – Jo Ha-In: I noticed that the character was dressed as TE. This surprising detail makes me remember the character. However, if I saw her again in the story, I would certainly have forgotten her face if it was in a different context and several episodes later.
    – ShinJae’s mom, Min Hwa Yun: I feel like I kicked that character out of the story without the producers’ permission. 😀
    – Song Jung Hye, the new recruit : I can easily see this character as if it was Lee Ji-Hyun mom or Min Hwa Yun ! A real mess! I didn’t recognize her doopleganger in the other world.

    This record isn’t brilliant. My experience as an ordinary spectator is disastrous! Maybe I don’t have a good memory, and without emotional involvement, it’s even harder.
    T T

  15. @packmule3 Oh no! Someone’s posting these reviews on that facebook group (link mentioned), and claiming them as hers. Yikes! Wish I could send a screenshot here.

  16. @packmule3 Like to add some more

    1, TE’s mother died when she was 5, the same year when LG’s father was murdered.
    2, she decided to be brave at 8
    3, She graduated from National Police University
    4, She handles gun well
    5, She wears a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do
    6, She work at local police station(instead of police headquarters) of her own account.

  17. @Packmule3, mission gladly accepted, but it looks like others are jumping on it. My living in the Pacific time zone means I’m often one of the last to watch/read among the Bitches.

    Here I go! As you noted, I am obsessive, so may not be quick, but I promise to be thorough.

  18. send a screenshot to my email
    b3tchesoverdramas at gmail .com

    Thanks. 🙂

  19. @Packmule, I’ll use Word to compile my notes. When I am done (and it may take me a while) do you want me to copy and paste into the comments, or would you rather I email you and send my Word doc as an attachment?

    Also, I’ve been thinking of sending you a gift, if you’re interested. Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of VE Day. I was contemplating sending you correspondence my mom wrote just prior to, and after, that day.

    My mom served as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army Nurse Corps in the European Theater during WWII. She was with the 2nd Evacuation Hospital, attached to the US First Army under General Omar Bradley. She and the 2nd Evac arrived in the UK in 1942 (their troop ship was the Queen Mary), fulfilling important missions prior to D-Day. My mom was one of a few nurses trained to be a nurse-anesthetist during this time, to free up as many doctors as possible for surgery. The 2nd Evac arrived in Normandy on D-Day +17. They would have landed earlier, but they were caught out on the English Channel by a gale, unseasonably fierce for that time of year, which damaged one and wrecked the other of the temporary ports the Allies had just constructed to allow ships to come in.

    The 2nd Evac was with the US 1st Army in France, Belgium, and on into Germany. Theirs was the only US medical team that did not retreat during the Battle of the Bulge, with German lines to the north, east, and south of them.

    The correspondence I am thinking of sending you is from my mom to her maternal aunt, one written on May 7, 1945 and the other on May 12, 1945. I have the correspondence my mom wrote her aunt from 1942, just after my mom joined the Army Nurse Corps, until 1945 when she was finally on her way home from Europe.

    My mom’s mother had died of pneumonia when my mom was seven, and when my mom was in high school her father abandoned his three children by faking his death in a boating accident. My mom and her older sister went to live with their maternal aunt. Their younger brother went to live with a paternal aunt.

    Let me know if you want me to email these two pieces of correspondence to you. If not, I apologize for going off topic in the comments.

  20. Need more update, especially the character who’s having doppelganger :
    – The suspicious guy at the stable (early ep 7) is actually Lee Sang Do (The supposed dead body found in a car)
    – Murder victim’s boyfriend (early ep 7) is Lee Gon fashion stylish doppelganger (the one that give TE’s hairtie to LG)
    – the roommate/ the actual murderer (early ep 7) is security girl doppelganger
    – PM Koo doppelganger on baseball newspaper
    – That restaurant owner who recognised LG and JY
    – HG Group (?) (Both son and father)

  21. Great post! Such a big help to better
    understand and appreciate the series👍💖

  22. @RoseJade
    Sorry to be bitter and tedious.
    But if the drama was properly shot and/or written, we wouldn’t need this.
    I want to enjoy a series for what I see in the first place, not because I read about it.

  23. “MY interpretation (I’m not Korean): Songah had written a fanfic titled, “Nickname Jogon Jogon.” It’s a fanfic about Capt Jo. She used his name in the title, “JOgon JOgon.” It’s a play on the sound of a beating heart. In Korean, “thumpity-thump” is “du-geon dugeon.””

    I thought Jogon is Jo+Gon. Jo (Yeong) + (Lee) Gon :))))
    A ship name :)))
    The show has been funny several times with them

  24. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @heynandho

    Need more update, especially the character who’s having doppelganger :
    – The suspicious guy at the stable (early ep 7) is actually Lee Sang Do (The supposed dead body found in a car)
    – Murder victim’s boyfriend (early ep 7) is Lee Gon fashion stylish doppelganger (the one that give TE’s hairtie to LG)
    – the roommate/ the actual murderer (early ep 7) is security girl doppelganger
    – PM Koo doppelganger on baseball newspaper
    – That restaurant owner who recognised LG and JY
    – HG Group (?) (Both son and father)

    … about the guy in the stables, … I believe that he is the one replacing the son of the HG Group father (Park Mun Haeng). He does however also look a bit like Lee Sang Do from the brief view of a photo of him.

  25. Song jung hye the new recruiment aka the pregnant lady counterpart is PM Koo ex- sister in law.

  26. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @Imels_ Thanks! I only just heard from the recording of the tabloids that PM is a divorcee. I didn’t know the link to the pregnant lady.

    I was noticing how Song Jung Hye was reflected multiple times in the mirrors and that she was rehearsing the facts of the news, while preparing to take over the real ex-sister in law’s place.

    Chilling to think what the unborn child might be imbibing from its mother’s attitude and ill intent! What a Mother’s Day.

  27. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @oli I believe you are right. They are mixing he names of Jo Yeong and Lee Gon. Since Myung Seung Ah herself is the fanfic writer of Jogon Jogon, all the more likely that she automatically looked for and found the photo of Yeong and LG together, and used it to distract the public, with fake news. In the process, she’s promoting her fanfic too!!!

  28. @WEnchanteur Your thinking was exactly what I thought before I came here.

    Usually, I binge-watch drama. But now I found it is also entertained by reading theories, thinking these threads during week days, and seeing how these analysis come out on Friday.

    I now watch it with my daughter by Netflix party every weekend. Even we live far apart(and I’ve not seen her since February because covid-19 things) but we now have more topics to share, so I am happy now.

  29. That restaurant owner who recognised LG and JY Is also the same face of the guy selling water at the rowing race in the first episode that Luna knocks over.

    Also the prime minister’s mum is watching the king’s wailing on tv in ep1

  30. @pm3

    Spotted a typo, thought to let you know (: LG’s parallel in Korea is called Lee Ji Hoon/Hun and not Lee Ji Hyun.

    Thanks for the post! Finding it difficult to keep track of the minor characters too.

  31. Secretary Kim
    Assistant to Prime Minister Koo

    This character is used by the writer to help us get into PM Koo’s head. Her responses to him give viewers a direct presentation of her thoughts. He’s a bit of a Jester, in that he can speak truth to her without being punished. He’s also a bit of the Shoulder Devil, speaking to her fears, thus motivating her to act to protect her interests (which may not be in the best interests of others).

    Here’s an example in ep. 2.

    PMKoo: So, the King ran off again.
    SecK: Maybe he has a woman. [Why does his mind go here? The King has run off many times before. Was it ever before because of a woman?]
    PMKoo: That woman is here. If the King has a woman, that woman has to be me. I’m trying to make the whole nation believe that, so it would be bad if he has another woman. Is she young? Is she pretty?
    SecK: Chances are pretty high.
    PMKoo: Get out. [She seems more annoyed than angry when she says this.]

    And here’s how his words goad PMKoo in ep. 6.

    SecK: The royal helicopter was just approved to make an emergency landing on KU building.
    PMKoo: His Majesty is coming to Seoul? At this hour?
    SecK: Men usually do this when their girlfriends miss the last train or bus. When their girlfriends went to Seoul and missed the last train back to Busan. But there’s no way His Majesty has a girlfriend. What could it be?

    What percentage of boyfriends in his circle have helicopters at their disposal for him to consider this usual behavior? Why did his mind go here? Of a myriad reasons why LG might come unexpectedly to Seoul, why is SecK so accurate with his hypothesis? We know he’s planted moles in the Palace. This could indicate he’s got one in the palace communications or security office. He either doubts his intel, or doesn’t want to reveal everything he knows to PMKoo, so he feigns ignorance with “But there’s no way His Majesty has a girlfriend. What could it be?”

    But the notion of a boyfriend coming to the rescue of a girlfriend was planted in PMKoo’s head. She couldn’t resist donning her battle shoes and going to see for herself.

    She was played. Secretary Kim is a sly one.

  32. Thanks! Already included this info. 🙂

  33. Edited it. Thanks!!!

  34. Oh, really? Wow! You’ve got good eye. Will take pics and post them.

  35. Got that. Will post it. Thanks.

  36. @kuroshio
    The only time I watched a drama while it was on the air was Memories of the Alhambra. That’s how I got to know this blog since Packmule3 was also writing on Soompi.
    But it was a lot easier, because MotA was written by my favorite screenwriter. I’m used to her style, and even with a complex story, I had no problem understanding and hooking it, especially since it was so exciting. With TKEM, it’s a more serious challenge, since I didn’t like the writer’s previous dramas.

    Almost all the dramas commented on this blog, I saw them afterwards. So it’s difficult to comment at the same time as everyone else, and a bit frustrating. I started seeing TKEM at a time when I was busy with other things, without wanting to watch a drama. It was convenient because I only had to watch two episodes a week. I didn’t want to get really involved in a drama, so watching a drama that might disappoint me was perfect. Now I’m trapped, because I’d like to understand something and enjoy it a little more.

    There are two other dramas that I would be willing to watch on air soon.
    – Start-Up: Because it’s written by Park Hye Ryun, one of my favorite screenwriters.
    – Penthouse: written by Kim Soon Ok, the queen of Makjang. Although I didn’t get a chance to see enough of her dramas, the little I saw made me excited.

  37. Thanks kuroshio!
    Will add to blog.

  38. Thanks! Posted it.

  39. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 RE: Timestamp of photos/images

    I’ve completed the search in Episode 2, for photos/images or references to them. If you don’t mind me doing my weird disorganised jumping around Episodes, I can let you have the Ep 2 lot first. How do you want it? Do you prefer that I send it to your email?

    Or do you want them gathered neatly from Episode 1 onwards?

  40. Okay. Email is fine. I think it’ll be easier for you, right? 🙂

    I don’t mind if you give me Ep 2 if that’s how you prepared it. I’m sure it will make sense either way, since it’s coming from you. 🙂

    Thanks!

  41. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    LOL @pkml3. It will not make sense unless of course one has already seen the episode. There were many more occurrences of photos than I expected and I noted more than just family photos. I thought, might as well take note of almost every photo, since little details might be enlightening, and it’s easier to record them once and for all than to hunt down the scenes again. 🙄 😉

  42. @Packmule3, since I have the time and inclination, I’ve gone back to the beginning and am rewatching all episodes to gather character information. Of course, as I’m slogging, others are sprinting past me.

    Something I’ve noticed that has me wondering: When Lee Gon and Tae Eul arrive in Seoul after going through the portal, we see them in Gwanghwamun Plaza. When Lee Lim passes through the portal, we see him near Seoul Arts Center. They are in different parts of the city, Gwanghwaun Plaza north of the Han River, which bisects the Seoul metropolitan area east to west, and Seoul Arts Center south of the river. Look at Gwanghwamun Plaza on a map, and you’ll see it bears some resemblance to the pathway in the unknown dimension: it is long and narrow. The feature of Seoul Arts Center that is highlighted in ep. 1 and ep. 4 is the clock tower. I’ll send you screen catches. We see Lee Lim meet his half-brother doppelganger at the news stand by this clock tower. In ep. 4 Lee Lim is riding in a car chauffeured by his salt flat henchman doppelganger and the clock tower is seen out the window as they pass. Lee Lim then pulls out a pocket watch (that’s gotta be symbolic) and resets the time on it. From their conversation it is made clear he’s just arrived back in ROK from KOC. So my question is, do they arrive in Seoul ROK in the bamboo grove and make their own way to these sites, or do they bypass the grove on arrival and land directly in these places? They are 11.8 km apart from each other, so even if the bamboo grove is in the middle, they’d have to travel almost 6 km (3.7 miles) by foot or horseback to get to one or the other of these locations. I don’t know where the grove is supposed to be, since I haven’t found evidence online that such a place actually exists in the city of Seoul.

    Is this a plot hole? When Lee Gon wants to locate the portal in Seoul, he goes to the bamboo grove, not back to Gwanghwamun Plaza. But when he arrives the first time, we get a hint about the timing of his portal passage by Luna’s apparition in Tae Eul’s rearview mirror. That happens moments before she sees Lee Gon and Maximus ride past her car as she’s stuck in traffic alongside Gwanghwamun Plaza.

    It appears to me that Manpasikjeok’s power and/or fate brought them directly to the place to meet the person most critical to their destiny. Lee Lim met the parallel of the half-brother he just murdered. He had many options at that moment, he could have redirected his path, but he chose to continue his murder spree for self-aggrandizing purposes. Lee Gon met Tae Eul in person after imagining her for 25 years, and he chose to embrace and cherish her.

  43. I agree Welmaris. The Manpasikjeok most likely “deposited” them where they had to be. I believe GB mentioned the number of coincidences early in the season and I said it had to do with “fate.” The brother, the son, the mom, were “fated” to show up where and when they showed so it wasn’t lazy writing. 🙂

  44. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @Welmaris and @pkml3
    Yes, I did mention that there were rather too many coincidences when LL and LG arrived in ROK, but as this is a show about fate and possibly looping in time, we left it at that for the time being, to watch and see how it plays out.

    In addition to this … and an idea that can work with it, my other theory is that where the Portal opens up and deposits a person, could be determined to which half of the flute one is using. I’ve suggested that travelling the portal, was akin to taking the route offered by the flute which links the universes. The route was split when the flute was. The entry portal would always be the bamboo forest, but the destination might be a different place.

    As @Welmaris has pointed out, LG and even TE when they ’emerge’ from the portal in ROK, are in Gwanghwamun Plaza. LL when he turns up in ROK is near the Seoul Arts Centre and the clock tower.

    So playing with this idea, it might be the case that LL and LG enter ROK in different parts of Seoul. So thanks @Welmaris, your observation offers evidence that suggests that the ‘different halves of flute and different route’ theory is plausible. 🙂

  45. Thanks, GB.
    Btw, I check my emails tonight and post the family photos together. I couldn’t find any for the young LG.

  46. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 The young LG? Only the posthumous one I think. The scenes in the house of Lee Ji Hun did not have the camera focused on photos, I believe. But I’ll have to slowly (or at 3x speed) re-watch to confirm this.

  47. In episode 4, after returning to ROK from KOC, LL stops in to visit the woman who was the wife of the King Lee Ho parallel and the mother of the Lee Gon parallel. Then he goes next door, a darkroom, and develops a photo of Prince Buyeong. We see other photos he’s already developed, some of which include the pregnant lady in ROK. At time mark 54:26 we see the photo of Prince Buyeong, and in it PB is wearing the clothing he was wearing when PM Koo visited him in the cafe uninvited, trapping him into appearing to back her when he’s supposed to be apolitical. That visit was suggested to PM Koo by her creepy white-haired, loud-chewing mentor. I suspect he’s the one who took the photo of Prince Buyeong that LL develops back in ROK, so I’m guessing PM Koo’s creepy mentor works for LL. I doubt PM Koo even knows about LL because it seems he talks openly to his followers about the parallel worlds and doppelgängers, but PM Koo is shocked to see her ROK parallel’s photo in the newspaper.

    Because LL has just gotten a current photo of Prince Buyeong, I interpret that to mean he hasn’t yet found PB’s ROK parallel. I think he will use the photo as a reference while looking for PB’s doppelgänger.

  48. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 Adding here my other comments/thoughts on Shin Jae with Episode 8. See if you want to add to the other lot.

    LL needed a pawn in the palace that he could be sure he could control completely. So he took away SJ either because his mother was in dire straits and LL promised her son a better life in another world, or he just kidnapped the kid and sedated him.

    We hear that he had been supposedly in a coma for some time. Poor Shin Jae woke up in another world to parents with the same faces but who were like strangers. And he had to live a life that was unfamiliar but which he was expected to find normal. He was already old enough to remember his past life and to know that his present life was far too different. It was inexplicable to the young SJ. No wonder he saw a psychiatrist.

    Ep 8 The ending scene: Shin Jae’s questions leveled at LG: “Who are you?”
    “That boy who was crying. That was really you? Are you really Lee Gon?”

    LG thinks: “He heard my wailing. A lot more people have come over to this world than I had thought.”

    Ep 8 1:10:40 LG to SJ: “One thing is for sure. You are the reason why I must return to my world. It seems like I am your king.”

    I like the idea proposed by another commenter that by saying this, LG was also assuring him that as his subject, he (LG) would take care of him; that Shin Jae was his responsibility.

    The questions of SJ makes it suddenly clear how he must have been thinking for so many years of his life. He had been wondering if he was crazy to remember a king that did not exist, in another place that was so real to him.

    He is said to have nightmares, but other than what was written to advertise the show, we don’t see him having anything more than memories. He lay awake in the dark with eyes open, thinking, when we had the flashback of him in KOC. He was not dreaming. Poor guy went to see a psychiatrist but he’s not delusional.

    Now he is shocked that what he thinks was a delusion is true, and that he’s not crazy and the biggest shock element is that there is another world where he truly belongs. All his familiar friends and family, are in fact the ones he should not have in his life.

    I also like this scene because it’s a mirror-reversal again (I have another post on this). We remember that when SJ first met LG, in Ep 2, they were instantly antagonistic towards each other and SJ took a ‘mugshot’ photo of LG, like a typical detective, saying that was for just in case, because LG was an UNIDENTIFIED person.

    Now, LG IDENTIFIES himself (again) and not only does he own up to his name, but he identifies himself in relationship to SJ. A King addressing his subject.

    They begin the Ep ending scene with antagonism, but it melts away to desperation in his vulnerability in SJ and to assurance of his role in LG.

  49. I really liked that role reversal in the ending scene too that you have brought out so well. I liked how LG reassured SJ and instantly saw him as his subject who is lost and vulnerable. That’s how a true leader and king behaves when his followers need support.

  50. I’m asking help from someone who can read Korean and knows something about streets in Seoul. This is about Shin Jae’s ROK neighborhood before his family went bankrupt. When TE is wandering around KOC Seoul, she goes to Shin Jae’s old neighborhood. She stops to watch a trolley car go past, and as she does a brown street sign on the wall of some stairs comes into focus. It reads: Pyeongchangmunhwa-ro. After the trolley passes TE, we see the scene where she crosses the street the same time as SJ is crossing that street in ROK. As he goes up those stairs, the sign comes back into focus, but this time it is blue and reads: Pyeongchang-gil. Is there significance in the difference in the names, or is it just to call attention to their being in two different worlds?

    The first sign, in KOC, comes into focus at time mark 1:00:00 of episode 5.

  51. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    Mirror Images / Reversed Images

    “I really liked that role reversal in the ending scene too that you have brought out so well. I liked how LG reassured SJ and instantly saw him as his subject who is lost and vulnerable. That’s how a true leader and king behaves when his followers need support.”

    – Thanks @Phoenix. Yes, all the more reason to like our King Lee Gon. He has borne the weight of the crown well for such a young fellow and for so many year. I like that he wears it with dignity, without complaint and takes his role seriously.

    I need more time to note the other mirror image reversals. I mentioned a few in the Ep 7 & 8 thread. They are so much fun to spot! 🙂

  52. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 Just hit me as I read a recap on Ep 8, a little mirror image thing with Shin Jae as opposed to TE. LG had asked TE if there were any other reasons for him to stay in ROK. He had later given himself the reason by making her his Queen.

    In Ep 8, Shin Jae practically shakes LG to get him to admit he was once the child Lee Gon. This gets LG to understand that he had a reason to return to KOC.

    SJ: “That boy who was crying. That was really you? Are you really Lee Gon?”

    LG thinks: “He heard my wailing. A lot more people have come over to this world than I had thought.”

    (EP 8 1:10:40) LG: “One thing is for sure. You are the reason why I must return to my world. It seems like I am your king.”

    Once again LG assigns the reason and states the relationship, where before he chose to stay, to remain with his Queen, now he goes back to fulfil his responsibility towards his subjects, several of whom are no longer his, having been replaced by LL.

  53. Right?

    “His” people have been abducted, murdered and replaced by Lee Lim’s minions. Of course, he had a duty to protect them.

    Similarly, TaeEul’s people are being brainwashed by this Lee Lim and killed so of course, she has a duty to protect her citizens.

    So, the story lines up well.

    Btw, I still want to think that ShinJae is related to Lee Gon. 😂 But I don’t have much “proof” to work with other than he’s been dreaming of the logo.

  54. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 I’m still going to re-watch for timing and photos, was just looking at Shin Jae as a child who was looking at photos of his doppelganger.

    I’ll keep an eye out for you for ‘proof’.

    One thing that struck me about this Child Shin Jae scene, I gather it is after he woke up from his coma.

    But what is chilling is that he looked at the photos and practised smiling in the mirror. This is the reverse mirror image of the pregnant woman who was rehearsing/memorising info on that 2G phone. She too had photos of her doppelganger to look at and she dressed up and looked at herself in the mirror, rehearsing for her role.

    One is a child who checked out photos of his double and finding that he has no alternative, decides to accept the new identity, and this messes him up enough to see a psychiatrist.

    The other is an adult who intentionally chooses to adopt the duplicate identity after killing the original. But the way they look at themselves in the mirror and accepted their new identities, was the same.

  55. Btw, I still want to think that ShinJae is related to Lee Gon. 😂 But I don’t have much “proof” to work with other than he’s been dreaming of the logo.

    I have had this theory, I don’t think I have shared it here but i wrote it in another forum. I also have no proof. My wild idea is that SJ is the son of the Prince. Don’t ask me why but you know what they say about mysteries: most of the time the answers are just staring at your face.

    Some things bugging me about SJ & the Prince.

    1. SJ’s dad has never been shown, right? We know of his moms in Corea & Korea. But never the dad, except for pictures when he was young.

    2. We have not been shown pictures of the Prince when he was younger?

    3. All of the Prince’s kids had to be sent away, right? Perhaps that’s why SJ was sent to ROK to serve dual purpose. That of the Prince and that of the wealthy couple.

    4. The most to benefit, with LG & the late King dead is the Prince. LG did ask him if he hated him because he had to sacrifice being with his family.

    5. Why did it take the Prince 25 years before telling LG the truth about the autopsy? As LG reacted, it is not a minor crime. And it enabled LR to develop his nefarious plan.

    6. LR needed a care center as part of his plan. The Prince is a doctor. The admin manager said the director is rarely in Korea.

    7. Is it possible that the Prince is working with LR? The Prince gets the throne and LR gets the flute and all its attendant powers. LR never said he wanted the throne, right? In fact he wanted to be God. Is this what they consider balance? But then again, LR can always betray the Prince in the end.

    Just brainstorming on my own, HAHA. Feel free to blast my theory.

  56. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    Hi @pkml3 This is just an alert that I sent you an email with another list of where photos turned up. I still have some episodes to do and holes to plug. But this last email is the bulk of it up to Episode 10.

    Did you manage to watch episode 9 and 10 yet?

  57. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 @mychoiyoung I juxtaposed the photo of Prince Buyeong’s family with the portrait photo of Shin Jae’s family but I cannot see any resemblance between SJ’s father and Buyeong’s son (or the man I think is his son). So still no ‘proof’ of blood relationship from this quarter. 😬

  58. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    A few thoughts on Lee Gon.

    A scriptwriter and PD remarked that we had little backstory of our ML. Perhaps we have seen enough of his interactions and been privy to his voiceover thoughts, to know what we need to know about him.

    Going backwards more or less, we find that unlike other kings, LG has no advisors. I’m used to seeing royal courts filled with ministers and advisors all out to brown nose or report and influence the reigning monarch. LG has not a single one of these. All he seems to have are his Uncle Buyeong and HCL Noh. To the former he asks only general questions, like “Will I do a good job?” and he hardly listens to HCL Noh, in the way we fail to listen to our parents.

    Of course, he’s got the PM to see to most of the affairs of state, but still, his not having any counsel is strange.

    So LG appears to be a loner, except for Yeong, and to do much of the decision making by himself.

    He’s a steady and possibly a little stuffy person. He keeps to the majority of the rules of the court and likes to be able to issue the King’s orders. However this might be to his detriment as he’s used to the high level decision making but not the ‘on the ground’ sort of decisions.

    I feel his error in confronting LL in a public place might be due to this trait where he thinks alone, and thinks only like a king.

    Aside from the smart, mathematical side of him, there’s also the warm, liberal arts side where he believes in fairy tales and is a ‘self-taught’ romancer with cheesy lines. LOL. He’s affectionate and romantic. I like that he bothers with gestures and words. Not only does he give TE flowers, he tells her, he loves her very much. Now, not many men are able to do both!

    He has good principles. He is horrified that innocent people are murdered or hurt and puts the health and welfare of his subjects above his self interests, like his desire to beat LL. I fear that this will also mean that he will do as he tells Prince Buyeong… he will chase LL personally rather than delegate the task, even when this is unwise.

    Since we are playing with the idea that he’ll discover the only way to solve the problem of an un-aging uncle is to go back in time, he’s going to end up trapped somehow in a time or space, on his own. His description of this being the Lunar Year of the Rat, the god of time and direction, is a hint that the moment is ripe for the going backwards and forwards in time. We are expecting that since Fate has put Luna and TE in LG’s path, they will somehow extricate him and that he will effectively stop LL.

  59. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    @pkml3 Random thoughts …
    When something happens more than once, I start to notice. We were all in an uproar that Maximus turns out to be a she (according to the script, but there was one shot of Max that made her look like a he/him hmmm), so this gender reversal stumped us.

    Next we are stumped by being duped by Fate. Looks like a boy, plays yo-yo like a boy, dresses like a boy or androgynously … but played by a girl. So, what we see and think we know, may not be at all.

    On that question of a photo of LG as a child,… so far none. However there is one of Lee Ji Hun, his doppelganger, with mum. He’s in a kiddie graduation robe and Motar Board.

    Other than that, there’s one of him as a baby in the history book.

  60. Thanks, GB.

  61. Growing Beautifully (GB)

    Character Prince Buyeong
    A character I like but puzzle over, so I wrote what flowed to explain things to myself.

    I was mulling over Prince Buyeong and his decisions. My overall feel where he is concerned, is that he wanted to keep the faith with LG, to bring him up to be King, but at the same time, being older and in the royal house, he knew the lure of power that the Lee family seems to have dallied with. However he may have protested against it, perhaps the attraction of Kingship still wielded some control over him. He was, afterall, next in line to the throne, until LG should have an heir.

    Not only may Buyeong have been in frequent contact with LL when they were younger, (they were the same generation, cousins), and likely heard LL’s aspirations to power (and here I grumble that more backstory is needed). Buyeong’s own son, Lee Seong Heon, had also imbibed that unhealthy attitude from uncle LL and had agreed to take part in the treason.

    Buyeong may never have known for sure that his own son was guilty of so much, but it’s telling that he sent his son away, exiled him in actual fact, so that he could have no influence at Court. He may have hazarded a guess, or he had a hint that Lee Seong Heon had been up to no good against the King.

    His decision to hide the fact that the body found in 1995 could not have been LL, is a big lie to try to justify. When he met LL that night that LL came to kill him, he still used the term ‘uri’ as in ‘us’ and ‘our’ with LL. In his mind he still believed in the ties of family and the rights of the royal family. (There is also a link here with that ring that he held on to.)

    I feel that he had not wanted to actually get LL punished, because LL was still family. LL laughed in his face and said he should not consider them ‘uri’ or of the same kind when Buyeong was about to be killed by LL.

    In addition, Buyeong and LL both knew the ring belonged to the King ie by rights, only the King should wear it, but it had been on LL’s hand when he had committed the treason. LL had appropriated everything that was rightfully the King’s, and the sign of this was his wearing the ring.

    Buyeong knew what the ring meant, but he held on to it instead of handing it over to the King. This could mean that he too had felt the same lure of the power to be King. He had understood how LL felt, and therefore had not wanted LL to be punished, because then, he too (Buyeong) should have deserved punishment for wanting, at the back of his mind, to have the Kingship.

    It was easier for Buyeong to pretend that the corpse was LL so that the ‘case could be closed’. The furor over hunting for LL would end and the Court and LG could move forward. But he never could shake off the guilt of knowing that he’d hidden the truth.

    What I found interesting is that HCL Noh as well, although she believed LL to be dead, was still so vigilant over LG’s safety. It could be that she feared other traitors or followers of LL might strike. @pkml3 suggested that it was her constant guard against LG being poisoned, etc that got the wind up for LG that something was not quite right over the death of LL.

    This part I could never understand. Just because HCL Noh was super careful, does not translate into understanding that Buyeong had lied about LL’s death. To me this is a plot hole. LG had made a great deductive leap and was right in thinking that Buyeong had hidden the truth.

    I like Buyeong, as a flawed, human sort of father figure. He did his best under the circumstances, but not always with the best decisions, that he had made all by himself. I don’t even think he was wise to ‘abandon’ his son to his own devices. He needed to have balanced his life as a member of the Court with his life as a father. If he had paid attention to his own son, maybe LL wouldn’t have influenced Lee Seong Heon quite so much.

    If I go further and consider that KES’ message to us was also that given the right upbringing and influences in life, one could have been a better person (as evidenced by how Luna turned out OK in the reset timeline), then it’s a pity that Buyeong’s son turned out the way he did. He was around 10 years older, but still was cousin to LG. He could have been someone to discuss state matters with and play chess with (the way LG played with Buyeong) and not someone who’d wrest the power from him. Of course, in many royal courts, we know the latter is often the case.

    I didn’t intend to write quite so much about Prince Buyeong or his son (LOL), but I guess these were thoughts percolating in my subconscious that I didn’t know I had.

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