Updated 6/4/2020. Complete until Episode 13.

The following analysis was mostly written by Court Historian, Welmaris, with assistance from our Court Ladies GB and agdr03.  Thank you!!!!! – pm3

part 2 is here: Character Summaries by Welmaris and the Royal Court, part 2

Before you read this, I want you to walk around the room first, do 5 jumping jacks and 6 sit-ups. Prepare your minds to be blown away.

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Lee Gon

• Born in 1987. ROK parallel’s birthday was 28 Oct 1987.
• His ROK doppelgänger was Lee Ji Hun, who was killed by Lee Lim in 1994.
• The sound of Manpasikjeok drew him to the site of the assassination of his father, King Lee Ho, while the perpetrators were still there. He tried to avenge his father’s death using Four Tiger Sword and ended up cutting Manpasikjeok in half.
• Survived strangulation and severe injury to neck inflicted by his uncle, Lee Lim, during the assassination. Scar remains on right side of neck.
• The King of the Kingdom of Corea. Crowned at age 8 after the death of his father, King Lee Ho. 3rd king of constitutional monarchy.
• First duty as King was to lead 26 days of mourning rites for his father, King Lee Ho.
• Had loving relationship with his father; misses him.
• Possesses half of Manpasikjeok.
• As King, owner of Four Tiger Sword.
• Precocious in his mathematical ability: doing advanced calculations as an 8-year-old.

• Friendship with Jo Young, whom he named the Unbreakable Sword, began at the end of the mourning rites. Opportunities for this friendship to develop were engineered by Head Court Lady Noh.
• Color of his gonryongpo (royal robe) is red.
• Does not like others touching his body, particularly his neck. “No one is allowed to touch my body.”
• Rides Maximus, his white horse.
• Has a history of disappearing from the palace. Goes out without permission. One time went to see the ice cap. “Just until this summer (2019), he was shameless about running away.” His absence is kept secret with excuses made by HCL Noh and Prince Buyeong. They often say he’s holed up in his study working on a math problem.
• Looks relaxed interacting with children.
• His favorite book is Alice in Wonderland.
• When asked at children’s book reading if he has a girlfriend, his response: “I do not have a girlfriend yet.”
• Competes on rowing team of Navy Academy 88th Class; sits in stroke position (seat 8: usually the best racer in the boat and able to set a rhythm that is easy for the rest of the boat to follow). Winning team at competition; had won at previous competition.
• Does not have an ID “Because I am who I am.”

• He says he’s loved by his whole nation.
• Cannot be called by his name. The name is not meant to be used. (Except when he was a child, his father, King Lee Ho, called him Gon.)
• His physical training included rowing, horse riding, taekwondo, fencing, boxing.
• Claimed to have never sat on the floor before his ROK stint in a jail cell.
• Jo Eun Seob’s nickname for him is King Arthur, from cartoon.
• Wears watch custom made by Longines to celebrate Maximus’s first victory. Accurate: neither faster or slower by even one-tenth of a second.
• Fingerprints not registered in ROK; no DNA results.
• TE describes him as “…a well-built man in his early thirties, around six-foot-one with a likable face…”

• Doesn’t eat or drink anything served to him unless it has been tasted first by someone else. He could be poisoned anytime.
• He never forgot the events of the day his father was murdered. He remembered the two items he held onto—half of Manpasikjeok, and the ID card—and asked HCL Noh for them while he was still a child.
• Failed at managing his resources while in ROK. Sold all his diamond buttons and spent all the money. Didn’t have enough left to buy himself food and drink, or settle his hotel bill: had to rely on others to pay. Borrowed money from Myung Na Ri to pay the balance of his hotel bill.
• LG decides to give TE the position where she has to know who he is: he takes her to be his wife, the Queen. She became the reason why he should stay in her world.
• Voluntarily decided to pay taxes; started in 2018.
• In 2016 ordered JY to investigate Lieutenant Jeong Tae Eul. Nothing found in KOC database.
• Tells TE he can only share with her his suspicions of who else may be using the portal if she becomes part of his family.
• If he makes up something, then that becomes the law.
• During rainstorm in ROK, at the sound of thunder feels pain and gets fiery root-like markings on his right shoulder. Storming at same time in bamboo forest.
• Visited Tae Eul’s father at taekwondo center throughout his time in ROK, but Tae Eul didn’t know until he told her on the last day.

• Knows at least the basics of car maintenance.
• Sees time stop, assumes it is when Lee Lim uses the portal.
• Comes to the aid of Shin Jae and Tae Eul when they’re in a street fight with a gang whose boss used to be a school mate of Shin Jae, whom Shin Jae had sent to jail three years ago. Uses riding crop effectively to drop combatants like flies.
• Doesn’t have a driver’s license, because as King he’s the one who issues driver’s licenses in KOC.
• He knew how to go back to his world, but didn’t want to go. He did choose to return because he’d been away from the palace too long.
• When asked by Tae Eul what kind of king he is, his answer is, “A rower, a mathematician, a well-grown orphan, and the owner of the Four Tiger Sword. A king who has never been asked such a question and is trying his best not to panic.”
• Gwangyeonjeon is the King’s private residence in the Palace. His study is in Gwangyeonjeon.
• “Every moment of my life is the history of the Kingdom of Corea. And I want that history to last forever because I am the King. But that will require more than just my benevolence. Therefore, I can never be indebted to you. Let’s wait and see how my absence will be recorded in the pages of history books. Do you understand?” (This to PM Koo after her quip that he’s indebted to her.)
• Hugs HCL Noh and apologizes sincerely to her for causing worry. Tries to reassure her.
• Per his former commanding officer, LG is not talented in combats. Came in last place.
• Discharged from the military as a Navy Lieutenant.
• Commander-in-Chief of the Kingdom of Corea.

• Wearing a tie causes LG anxiety because of memories of being strangled by LL.
• LG’s favorite photo is one of him in elementary school on a spring trip, holding Prince Buyeong’s and HCL Noh’s hands, with cherry blossoms everywhere.
• LG speaks to Prince Buyeong about how PB has to live his entire life away from his family. LG: “Don’t you hate me for that?…And because of me, all your family has to live abroad. All their lives. So I’m curious. Is my father’s cousin on my side or not?…I wasn’t swayed by any rumors. That wasn’t my question. Are you hiding something from me? I trust you, and I admire you. Please don’t hide anything from me.” Then gives Prince Buyeong the report on the autopsy of LL’s body, which PB conducted, that contained falsehoods.
• As a child, teased by his father for not liking to eat beans or spinach.
• After 25 years, retrieved Four Tiger Sword from the ruins of Cheonjongo and replaced it in the case standing in the King’s bedroom.
• Has got some good basketball dribbling moves and can sink a free throw.
• Looks comfortable with public speaking.

• Advice to mathematicians: walk (Leave your lab for at least 30 minutes a day.); get plenty of rest (Your bodies are not infinite decimals.); atmosphere (Share beautiful moments with your family and loved ones.)
• When accepting the people’s decision and appointing Koo as PM, says, “I hope you become a Prime Minister who values the citizens.” She asks, “What kind of Prime Minister should I be to you?” His response, “Please be a Prime Minister who mostly gives written reports.” (She doesn’t: she comes to the Palace every Friday to meet with him in person.)
• Ordered JY on the day TE was let loose in KOC: “He said you must be kept alive until your beheading.” TE didn’t know JY was following her.
• When LG learned TE had tried to call him 17 times because she didn’t have enough money to take the train back to Busan, he ordered his helicopter to fly to Seoul to pick her up.
• Tells PM Koo she comes to investigate why he’s come to Seoul unexpectedly, “And you’ve put me in an awkward situation. This is a very personal occasion.”
• Learned to cook from HCL Noh. The only food he doesn’t need tasted is the food he cooks himself.
• “The Royal Family puts on military uniforms at the most honorable time.”
• LG talked a lot with TE’s father in front of the horse during his first visit to ROK.
• LG told TE’s father he likes it in ROK.
• LG didn’t say goodbye to TE’s father before he left, which upset him.

• During Corea-Japan naval confrontation, while on Destroyer Yi Sun Sin, gave following orders: raise King’s flag; entire fleet full speed ahead; only he will protect himself, everyone else to protect Corea’s sea; action stations; speed boat fleet to block Japanese in front; press the Aegis coming from the back; activate the close-in weapon system; (at this point LG, in walkie-talkie communication with Captain Choe, asks if he wants to stop action directed by LG; Captain Choe agrees with LG’s orders; LG says he knows he would); ready to shoot Aegis from 30 yards ahead; fire the warning shot; wait a bit, but not too long (after Japanese fleet stops sailing).
• After conversation about false autopsy report for LL body double, asked a couple times if Prince Buyeong had called him, which he hadn’t.
• On night he brought TE to KOC, snuck into TE’s bedroom dressed in a bathrobe. Kissed her. Declared he was dating “right now.” Otherwise respected (with humor and regret) TE’s boundaries.
• About the mark left on his wrist after he wore TE’s hair tie: “This mark shows that there’s someone who comes in and out of my heart. It’s kind of tight, though. As if my heart is going to burst.”

• Prince Buyeong didn’t call or visit him after LG returned from his participation in the Corea-Japan naval confrontation. LG asked because he hoped to hear from him following their conversation about the autopsy report.
• LG tells him, “Please stay healthy. You know you are the only one I have.” PB responds, “That’s why it’s a very precious and sad life. For me and you.”
• LG is given the true autopsy report on LL’s body double by Prince Buyeong. Learns body double had died of a broken neck and was thrown in the ocean.
• PB says that he hid the true autopsy report because it confused him. LG points out that PB hid the true autopsy report for a long time, and that it is not a minor crime to lie about the death of a traitor of the nation and a high-profile criminal.
• On receiving the true autopsy report on LL’s body double, realizes for the first time: he is in danger from LL because LL, the traitor, is still alive; because LL was after Manpasikjeok when he committed treason, but LG has its other half, then LL will definitely come to LG to retrieve it; he, LG, is a danger to Tae Eul.
• Being awarded Best Taxpayer Award by the National Tax Service. LG asks Secretary Mo to receive it on his behalf.
• Does not know who Luna is when JY asks LG if he’s going to meet her. LG realizes what JY is telling him is that there’s a woman in KOC with TE’s face.
• Met with TE’s father before TE got home from work.
• TE calls LG “Mr. Lee.” He says he’s missed how they treated him in ROK. TE used to call him just “Hey” and “Mister.”
• Owns a mountain full of rare-earth elements in the northern region of Corea.
• Is happy TE bought him a cell phone in ROK because it shows she waited for him.
• TE Saved on LG’s phone the numbers of the five people who will help him “regardless of anything in this world.” One of the numbers she saved is for Sin Jae, because he “is one of the most trustworthy people.”
• LG says he always wanted to try just a normal daily life with ES: “Call you…Chat on the phone…Ask you what you did today…And tell you that I missed you a lot.”
• TE’s 17 requests of LG while he’s in ROK: “Stay quiet, don’t draw people’s attention, don’t tell anyone you’re a king, keep Jo Yeong out of trouble, don’t use any guns, contact me whenever you go somewhere, and I’ll tell you the rest when I think of any.”
• LG to JY: “I can’t leave the palace permanently or give up coming here altogether. So you have to help me.” Tells him that he’s going back Thursday evening, but leaving JY in ROK. Tells him that it is possible the traitor Lee Lim is still alive and in ROK.
• Time stops while LG is talking with JY in their hotel room. LG realizes it is the third time he’s experienced the time stop, so it may be a rule rather than a side effect. “What rule is it? What do I know so far? The Manpasikjeok…Lee Lim…The bamboo forest…I have to block that forest. Yeong. Lee Lim is going back and forth just like me. And I think time stops whenever he does. You stopped moving just a moment ago. I’m sure he already knows…that I’ve left the palace. But I don’t know if Lee Lim left here or came here. I have to go back and find that out…He and I each have half of a certain object. If I lose my half to him, he’ll be the only one who can open the door between our worlds. Then, we’d lose our lives in our world as well.”
• Thinks he’s going with JY to the budaejjigae restaurant, but after being threatened by gangsters, learns it is ES under the hat and face mask. LG calmly sends away ES, confident JY will show up. When seven gangsters attack him, he successfully defends himself with his horse whip, one hand behind his back. Then JY shows up. After a moment of unspoken communication and a nod between them, JY takes over the fight.
• Does not follow the rules TE laid out for him. Didn’t contact her before going out to the budaejjigae restaurant (where he and JY got into a fight with gangsters, which was broken up by Chief Park and Detective Shim), didn’t contact her until after he’d moved into the hotel.
• [Speaking to himself about TE]: So my theory was right. I have to irritate her to see her.
• TE: “The very first time you came here…Would you still have fallen for me even if I had never helped you?” LG: “I would’ve understood. And that understanding would’ve led me to fall for you.” TE: “What if I was super rude to you? Still the same?” LG: “You were. Yes, still.” TE: “Why?” LG: “Because you must’ve had your reason.”
• LG lies to TE when she asks, “Nothing happened, right?” LG: No, not at all. It’s been a quiet, peaceful day. This is the most eventful moment of the day. You came to see me despite the traffic jam.”
• TE: “I love you.” LG looks stunned, is speechless. TE switches the subject to Yeong’s location. LG tries to talk, but is flustered. As she gets into her car, LG says, “Jeong Tae Eul. I also.”
• TE starts to drive away, stops, rolls down her window, and says, “So you heard what I said.” That could be in reference to her declaration of love, or instruction for him to get JY back to the hotel.
• LG learns the ROK restaurant owner from KOC he and JY captured was one of the traitors who participated in the assassination of his father, King Lee Ho. LG: “And you came here as a compensation for that bloodbath?” KGH: “That is called balance. It is reasonable and fair. You were lucky enough to be born with everything, so don’t whine about losing your father.” LG: “Only God can restore that ‘balance’. What you scoundrels are doing is murder. Remember that.”
• Admits to TE that he briefly sent JY to tail her when she was working. But since JY is now busy, “…make sure that buddy of yours tags along. This was a big decision.”
• TE is miffed because LG didn’t tail her himself, but sent someone else. LG: “That would be nice, but I’m not good at hiding. I stand out wherever I go. I light up a room just by walking into it.”
• With concern for his feelings, TE informs LG of the deaths of the ROK parallels of LL, himself as a child, and his father. She also tells him the ROK parallel of his mother is still alive.
• LG enters his hotel room to find JY and SJ at a standoff in a fight. After some words, SJ calls LG an unregistered stateless dirtbag. … SJ [almost in tears]: “Who the heck are you guys?” LG: “If I tell you, will you believe me this time? I’ve already told you who I am, multiple times.” … SJ: “Who are you? Who the heck are you? Are you…Lee Gon?” LG: “Lieutenant Jeong Tae Eul even told you things like that?” SJ: “Tae Eul knows about this too?” LG: “She’s not the one who told you?” SJ: “That boy who was crying…That was really you? Are you really Lee Gon?” LG voiceover: “He heard my wailing. A lot more people have come over to this world than I had thought.” … LG: “One thing is for sure. You are the reason why I must return to my world. It seems like I am your king.”

(update by @GB)
• Ep 12 Lee Gon goes to the NSA to search for TE using the big data and CCTVs there. Finds out through Det Kang who called Eun Seob that he was tracking Luna.
• CCTV footage of TE whom Kang thought was Luna, enables LG to locate her.
• At the church with TE he tells her it’s the only place the same in both worlds. The church is where LG’s parents got married.
• For the first time, he tells the story of him parents. His mother was a Catholic and a scientist, but of frail health and died when he was 3. He takes after his mother.
• LG’s father studied the Catholic faith for 6 months presumably to be baptised so that she would marry him. His father went every week to that church.
• He hears from TE about her parents running the Taekwondo Centre and that her mother died when she was 5.
• He wants the priest to take a photo of him and TE together but time freezes. LG weeps. But returns to TE’s side in time for the shot.
• That night, lightning strikes and TE sees the fiery scar.
• LG hears that Lee Sang Do suffers burning pain when it rains.
• Koo goes to the palace. LG says to her: “You eventually pulled the gag. What’s your reason? For tying me down, I mean.”
Koo: “If I hadn’t tied you down, where would you have gone? To make a marriage proposal?”
LG: “Everything in the news is true. She’s the woman I love. I support her every step and every moment.”
Koo: “You’re always so honest, Your Majesty.”
Lightning strikes and LG sees the fiery scars on Koo’s neck.
• Ep 13 Discovers that only those who have their counterparts killed will have fiery scars. Confirms this from autopsy reports of those who have died, had scars and who had committed parricide.
• Hears from HCL Noh that Park Sook Jin (who is actually Min Seon Yeong) is a spy in the palace who had used poison on herself, instead of on LG as was the plan, and who had asked to see LG.
• Visits Park Sook Jin and receives her plea for her son, Kang Sin Jae, to be protected by LG.
• Tells TE that waiting outside LL’s bamboo forest to catch him won’t work because time freezes for over an hour and TE understands that in that time, LG’s people at the forest would be in danger from LL.
• LG makes a guess: “I think time is stopping because the Manpasikjeok is broken in half. Only half its power is being used, so the dimensions are falling apart. Maybe if it’s whole again, things might get better.”
• Tells TE he might try to stop LL before he takes half of the Manpasikjeok, which means, he has to go back in time.
• Says of time travel: “If there’s a time axis in there as well as a space axis, then it’ll be possible. It’ll explain how I got your ID card 25 years ago.”
• Says of traversing the No Man’s Land and the possibility of time travel: “I’m not sure yet. I’ve ridden across that place, but no matter how long I rode, I couldn’t reach the edge. I’m sure about one thing, though. I tossed a coin in the air, and it floated. Your seeds sank in there. I think living things sink.”
• Goes with TE to see the dawn together and to bring her back to ROK.
• Meets Jo Yeong and confirms that he had seen PM Koo in ROK. Informs JY that she had the same fiery scar and that he had tied her down/clipped her wings.
• Tells JY that security had been compromised in the palace.
• Asks JY if Eun Sup’s siblings had found him out and JY lies to him that they had not.
• Forced Chairman Choe Min Heon, PM Koo’s ex-husband to change sides in favour of his company and LG.
• Meets Chairman Choe’s representative, the Advisor (Unnamed), whom he had seen before, 6 years previously.
• Receives from the Advisor, evidence of Seo Ryeong’s treason in a thumbdrive. Advisor offers to be used by LG to do his dirty work.
• Takes action against PM Koo by releasing her talk with ex-husband on her treasonous activities, and causes her to be ousted from office.
• Goes to TE’s place for breakfast with her father and ends up introducing himself as her boyfriend.
• Had planned to leave ROK early in the day but agrees to wait until after seeing TE in the evening before leaving ROK.
• Receives a plain black jacket which he knows he has seen before.
• Tries to telephone Kang Sin Jae because of latter’s mother’s plea, but cannot reach him. (Sin Jae was searching the Yangsun Care Center at that time.)
• Puts on the plain jacket and cap when in hotel, after Jo Yeong leaves to buy soju and remarks that everything is black.
• Gets fooled by Luna who impersonates TE. She gives him a poisoned/drugged can of beer/soju.
• He looks at his reflection in the mirror as he holds the ID Card, that is the original one he once had, and has an epiphany that he had been the one to save himself.
• Voiceover of LG – “So that’s what happened. He was skilled with a gun, knew the structure of the Cheonjongo well. He was fighting with all his might for me.”
• 1:09:31 Voiceover of LG – “The one who saved me. It was me. So that’s how everything comes together.”
• 1:10:02 The drug takes effect on LG and he is in pain. (flashback to himself as a child in pain, falling to the ground) He collapses with ID card in hand. Camera angle is set at 90 degrees so that LG appears to be upright vertical while lying on the floor. Scene of child LG is superimposed so that both child and adult LG lie in the same spot, clutching the same ID card, as snow falls from the left to the right of the screen.

Lee Ji Hun

• 1987.10.28 – 1994.12.28; age at death: 7 years.
• Crown Prince Lee Gon’s ROK doppelgänger.
• Met Lee Lim in his family home after LL had killed his uncle, Lee Seong Jae. Saw uncle limp in wheelchair, grabbed makeshift weapon (looked like two pieces of rebar) to try and defend himself. LL still in the bloody clothing he wore during the assassination.
• When Ji Hun’s mother came home and was confronted by Lee Lim, he told her that her son “tripped at a reservoir and drowned.”

King Lee Ho
• His ROK doppelgänger was Song Jeong Hye’s husband, who was killed by Lee Lim in 1994.
• 2nd king of constitutional monarchy.
• Color of his gonryongpo (royal robe) is light silver.
• Did not show fear in the face of death. Tried to reason with his treasonous older half-brother, Lee Lim.
• Assassinated in winter 1994 by Lee Lim.
• Loved and missed by his son, Lee Gon.
• When Gon was a child, taught him about Four Tiger Sword inscription.
• When Gon was a child, teased him about disliking beans and spinach.

Song Jeong Hye’s husband/Lee Ji Hun’s father
• King Lee Ho’s ROK doppelgänger.
• Bumped Lee Lim 08 Dec 1994 at Seoul news stand outside Seoul Arts Center while buying a cigarette. Wearing a set of keys. Recognized LL but thought he was older half-brother, Lee Seong Jae. Lee Lim still wearing the bloody clothing he wore during the assassination.
• Aggressive personality. Based on clothing and home, seems poor.
• Lee Lim used his keys to let himself into family home.
• Killed in hit-and-run accident while drunk.
• Body cremated by ROK government at request of wife, Song Jeong Hye.

King Lee Ho’s queen/Lee Gon’s mother
Deceased before assassination of King Lee Ho in 1994.

Song Jeong Hye
• Assumed to be the ROK doppelgänger of Lee Gon’s mother.
• Victim of physical abuse. Face showed evidence of a beating.
• Working class
• Laughed at the thought that her husband was dead; grateful she didn’t end up killing him herself or being killed by him.
• Mother of Ji Hun. Was happy to think she could leave with Ji Hun now that her husband was dead.
• Confronted by Lee Lim in her home. Lee Lim was sitting in her brother-in-law’s wheelchair the whole time she was home. LL’s still in the bloody clothing he wore during the assassination.
• Lee Lim told her that her son “tripped at a reservoir and drowned.”
• Lee Lim said her husband was killed in a hit-and-run. She had not spoken out loud the cause of death when she’d been talking to herself earlier about her husband’s death.
• Lee Lim offered her a choice: face accusation because of the suspicious deaths of her husband and son, or redemption.
• Twenty-five years later, she’s well dressed, beautifully groomed, and has a driver when she goes to buy flowers for her dead son on his birthday. Leaves the flowers by his crypt in an outdoor mausoleum.
• Scrubbing floor by hand when LL comes into her home after his return from KOC. Her left wrist is bandaged. He knows she’s been going very often to the charnel house, but she says it’s for herself. “Who knows when I’ll be dead?” He talks to her casually about eating dinner by herself. She tosses the dirty floor rag at his back and yells about him never aging. His reaction is to only look at her over his shoulder. She breaks down in sobs.
• When visiting Ji Hun’s crypt, sees Shin Jae. She and her driver follow Shin Jae back to the police station.
• In car with her driver, she is not able to open a window when she wants to light a cigarette. She cannot open the door either.
• She has a fancy manicure. Is wearing numerous bracelets, rings.
• [Looking at her driver, who is looking at her in the rearview mirror]: “You can report it. I don’t care. I won’t die anyway. I can’t die. You people will bring me back to life again. [We see multiple scars across her wrist.]

Update by @GB
• She is under house imprisonment, with guards outside her door and a driver who locks her in the car.
• Ep 12 Attempts to kill herself again. Sends a message to LL through the CCTV “You really are incredible. You kill the living, but you keep me alive every time I try to die. I guess you’ll really become God.”
• LL has meals with her when he comes to ROK.
• Hit LL with a pitcher of flowers and tried to grab his umbrella but he caught her. Is told by LL that she is kept alive because she is perfect bait. He wonders whether her son would be like LG if he were alive.
• Ep 13 is out in the car with controller/driver near Min Hwa Yeon’s (SJ’s mum’s) old home and meets Min Hwa Yeon. Asks to have a meal with her and goes to a restaurant for lunch.
• Is grateful to Min Hwa Yeon for always being nice to her when she worked in her home. Finds out that Sin Jae miraculously recovered.
• Leaves hurriedly when Hwa Yeon asked about Ji Hun, after giving her a lot of cash from her red wallet.
• Is followed by Jo Yeong who has been stalking her since he saw her talk to Hwa Yeon.

Lee Lim, Prince Imperial Geum

• b. 27 Feb 1951, KOC
• His ROK doppelgänger is Lee Seong Jae.
• Older half-brother of King Lee Ho.
• Assassinated King Lee Ho in winter 1994
• Spent a lifetime plotting to gain control of Manpasikjeok. Plays the long game.
• Will kill in pursuit of his goals.
• Has possession of half of Manpasikjeok.
• Right hand cut between thumb and index finger by Four Tiger Sword during assassination; scar remains.
• Arrived in Seoul, ROK, 08 Dec 1994 through portal. Met doppelgänger of King Lee Ho at news stand outside Seoul Arts Center.
• Body thought to be his found 27 June 1995, KOC. Found the year after he committed treason.
• Moves back and forth between ROK and KOC.
• Is an artist specializing in traditional Korean painting. Cooks and mixes his paints in his own studio.
• Likes restoring dancheong (traditional Korean decorative coloring on wooden buildings, artifacts) because when he paints over it he feels he is covering it with another history, a history of his own.
• Gets people to align with him by appearing to their base desires. Offers, facilitates for mother of wheelchair-bound boy revenge on his three schoolmates who humiliated him.
• Sees time stop, figures out that it is when LG goes through the portal.
• Carries a pocket watch.
• Went to KOC to get a book about rare earth elements that wasn’t available in ROK, brought it back to ROK.
• Tells his minions about the parallel worlds.
• Visits Song Jeong Hye in her home after he returns from KOC. Knows she goes to the charnel house very often. Speaks casually with her about dinner, that she’ll need to eat alone. She throws a dirty floor rag at his back in anger because he doesn’t age, but he just looks at her over his shoulder. She breaks down in sobs. He leaves the flat, tells his two assistants “at ease,” goes next door, and lets himself into a photo developing lab.
• In ROK develops photo of Prince Buyeong in clothing he wore on the day he was approached by PM Koo.
• “I’ve never chosen the wrong person.” Spoken about doppelgängers.
• Asks one parallel to kill the other. “Nobody has refused until now.”
• Per Prince Buyeong, LL was a man with the body of a big warrior.
• His fingerprints and blood type were matched by his doppelganger, Lee Seong Jae.
• LG calls him a traitor of the nation and a high-profile criminal.
• Visits Na Ri’s café in ROK. When she asks if he lives in the neighborhood, says, “It’s my first time here, but I think I will visit more often. I love this neighborhood.”
• Has been taking and developing photos of Sin Jae.
• Fiery root pattern appears on the left side of his face at lightening and thunder; doesn’t react with pain.
• Was still in yard when Eun Sub talked with his younger twin siblings. ES’s brother had seen the fiery markings on LL’s face and was frightened.
• Takes and develops photo of TE with SJ.
• Recognizes that when time stops, LG has left the palace again. He doesn’t know why LG keeps leaving.
• Has a man cave in ROK with many safes in it. Has bags of money he sends to the director of the Care Center to pay for monthly electricity fees.
• Was reading a newspaper in his man cave with a front page photo of US President Trump visiting North Korea. [The 2019 Koreas-United States DMZ Summit was held June 30.] • Looking at TE’s ID card: “Things got entangled strangely. I did not make this move.”

Updated by Welmaris and GB
• Ep 10 Meets LG in Haeundae. Flashback of their telephone conversation: LG: “You are actually alive.”
LL: “Yes. And I have been waiting for this day, my dear nephew. Since missing the opportunity I had been waiting for all my life, I’ve waited while living a different life.”
LG: “Wait just a little longer. I will find you at all costs.”
LL: “This is the first time I’m hearing you talking like a king, my dear nephew. Please do find me. You told the world that I died. So now, bring this dead man back to life. I am very much looking forward to the chaos it will cause.”
LL meets LG at Haeundae and has his minions ready to take the members of the public hostage, in order to get away from LG and the guards.
• Enters a tunnel and meets Kyung-moo, the Bookshop minion. He hears that Prince Buyeong had visited the shop. He does not think it is coincidence but destiny/fate.
• Seems to like to be covered in blood. Killed all the extra security around Prince Buyeong.
• Kills Prince Buyeong so that LG will lose another person and feel despair.
• Says he will choke LG and take the Manpasikjeok from him and be the sole possession of the flute. “I don’t know the extent of what I’ll be able to do when I’m in full possession of it.”
• Takes the King’s ring from Buyeong, wears it briefly and then places it on the dead Prince Buyeong’s little finger.
• In rain with lightning, the fiery roots appear on his face and he sees Fate. Is curious why Fate is not surprised at seeing his face. Fate says she is a curious person and does not like blood. He asks Fate what she is reading.
• Fate says “King Arthur. It’s a story about a man with noble blood drawing a sword and becoming king.”
LL: “Only those with noble blood can become king? That’s a terrible story. Forget the noble blood. The sword must be drawn by those who know how to use it. Fate: “What if a villain draws the sword? Someone who is not just?”
LL: “Justice doesn’t make the sword. The sword decides what justice is.” (LL identifies himself as the sword who redefines justice.) Fate says it looks like things in LL’s world keep changing. Fate dismisses LL in order to read her book.
• Ep 12 SJ bumps into LL on a rainy night in ROK. His fiery scar shows up in the lightning but SJ does not see it.
• He sees a cigarette butt on his floor and checks the CCTV to see that Luna had broken into his place and blatantly stolen some money.
• Ep 12 Has meals with Song Jeong Hye and keeps her alive because she’s the perfect bait for LG. She hits him over the head with a pitcher of flowers but he catches her before she can reach his umbella. “If your son was alive, would he have grown up like him? You have the face of my nephew’s mother.”
• Ep 13 LL is in KOC and walking by the river. He looks at the Art Center where the big poster of LG hangs and has an epiphany of who LG’s saviour was.
• Voiceover of LL addressing LG in his mind. Thinking back to the time LG’s saviour had stopped him from killing off Child LG: “He was tall. He clearly knew who the enemy was. … The one who saved you was yourself.”

Lee Seong Jae
• Lee Lim’s ROK doppelgänger.
• Older half brother of Song Jeong Hye’s husband (King Lee Ho’s doppelgänger).
• Wheelchair bound; unable to stand; unable to speak.
• Killed by Lee Lim, who broke his neck.
• His body found washed up 27 Jun 1995 in KOC, dressed like Lee Lim and wearing LL’s signet ring. There’s a cut on his right hand matching the one on LL’s hand from Four Tiger Sword.
• Cause of death: fracture of the cervical spine. Body thrown into the ocean after neck broken.
• Born with poliomyelitis. Class two physical disability.
• Fingerprints and blood type matched LL’s.
• Body cremated in KOC, ashes spread by Prince Buyeong and Head Court Lady Noh at a lake.
• On record in ROK as dying at Yangsun Care Center from natural causes.

Prince Buyeong, Professor Lee Jong In

• Father was Prince Inpyeong
• Cousin to King Lee Ho and Lee Lim
• Next in line for throne of KOC.
• Performed autopsy on Lee Lim’s (Lee Seong Jae’s) body at Head Court Lady Noh’s request to maintain secrecy. Even before examining the body, believed it was necessary to lie about the cause of LL’s death to protect the court and the young king. Made false statement that LL had been shot by Royal Guard.
• His security level is elevated when King Lee Gon is away, lowered when LG is back. He is fully aware of the meaning behind the change in security levels.
• Likes to hear about the fun King Lee Gon has had during his unauthorized outings.
• Helps Head Court Lady Noh create excuses and hide unauthorized absences of King Lee Gon.
• Because he’s born into the monarchy, four generations of his family can’t be in politics or hold important posts.
• Can only be a scholar
• His children and grandchildren must live abroad
• When PM Koo asks if he thinks such a life is unfair, he claims, “Not once have I thought that way.”
• PB: I suppose class disparity can never disappear nor will it ever disappear in the future. PM: That’s quite a dangerous statement. PB: I guess our conversation isn’t so light. So what’s your point?
• Realizes he’s been entrapped by PM Koo with her visit to him at the café, and doesn’t look happy about it. Just by her showing up and sitting at his table, it will look like he supports her when he’s supposed to be apolitical.
• Likes the traditional donuts like the one up North that HCL Noh makes.
• Tells LG, “If you’re going to keep traveling, at least get married and have a son. You have a duty to carry on the royal bloodline.”
• LG finally confronts him about the falsified autopsy report on the alleged body of LL. LG asks PB to not hide anything from him.
• When naval confrontation between Japan and KOC began, Prince Buyeong was in China attending “2019 World Medical Association 4th Revolution and Medical Technology.”
• Prince Buyeong had someone to translate the Mandarin news broadcast for him.
• Did not phone or visit LG right after the Corea-Japan naval confrontation.
• Tells LG he couldn’t concentrate on the conference he was attending because of his concern about LG being on the battlefield.
• LG tells him, “Please stay healthy. You know you are the only one I have.” PB responds, “That’s why it’s a very precious and sad life. For me and you.”
• Wishes LG hadn’t asked him about the false autopsy report of the LL body double, but knew he would, someday. Gives the true autopsy report to LG.
• Tells LG that he hid the true autopsy report from LG because it confused him. LG points out to PB that he hid the true autopsy report for a long time, and that it is not a minor crime to lie about the death of a traitor of the nation and a high-profile criminal.
• Asks LG to tell him the truth behind the body if LG ever solves the mystery.
• With HCL Noh one year after the treason, spread ashes of LL body double at lake, knowing it wasn’t LL but keeping that information to himself. He believed LL was still alive.
• Has had in his possession since the autopsy the ring that was on the finger of the LL body double. It is the ring LL had on his finger when he assassinated King Lee Ho and tried to kill Crown Prince Lee Gon.

Updated by GB

• Ep 10 He was packed to go to the palace, and came to his library to get a book, but found LL waiting for him. LL claimed that he came to get what’s rightfully his. He picked up the King’s ring and wore it briefly before strangling Prince Buyeong with 1 hand, and putting the ring on the dead prince’s little finger.
• LL claims that the reason for the prince’s death is so that LG will lose another person in his life, so that he will experience “despair and crumble away.”
• Ep 11 PB’s son is Lee Seong Hoon who is also a doctor and wanted to take over his father’s position. LG refused to let him stay on beyond the 49 days of mourning. The next in line to the throne would be Se Jin, daughter of Seong Hoon.
• PB was sincerely fond of LG. LG recalls times when they played games and laughed together. PB was loyal and always maintained the formality of treating LG as King.

Head Court Lady Noh Ok Nam

• High ranking palace official.
• Grandmotherly figure to Lee Gon
• Her life’s work is to protect, take care of Lee Gon.
• Engineered opportunities for friendship to develop between Lee Gon and Jo Young.
• Called Prince Buyeong to perform autopsy on Lee Lim’s (Lee Seong Jae’s) body to maintain secrecy. Agreed that it was necessary to lie about the cause of LL’s death to protect the court.
• Wants LG to get married, have an heir, continue the royal line. Resorts to using talismans to speed LG along in the process.
• In front of LG, calls Prime Minister Koo a bitch; says she cannot become the Queen.
• Is comfortable enough with King Lee Gon to nag him, scold him, smack him on the back, guilt trip him.
• LG jokes fondly with HCL Noh.
• Creates excuses to hide unauthorized absences of King Lee Gon.
• In charge of purchasing at the Palace.
• Believed Manpasikjeok could not make a sound.
• Saved the half of Manpasikjeok and Tae Eul’s ID card LG held onto the day of his father’s murder and kept them in secret. Returned them to LG when he asked for them, despite her fear. Hid the half of Manpasikjeok as the handle of a riding crop. Wished LG had forgotten everything from that day.
• Has a good working relationship with Jo Young. She trusts him.
• Found that LG kept TE’s ID in Alice in Wonderland book. Asked JY to investigate her. To HCL’s surprise, JY recognized this as info from the ID card because LG had asked him to investigate three years prior. He found nothing in KOC database; told HCL that the future issue date means the ID could be fake.
• Fiercely defends LG, verbally sparring with PM Koo when she barges into the Palace, but is physically shoved aside by PM Koo.
• Mentions that it seems PM Koo has a mole in the Palace.
• Makes traditional donuts like the one up North.
• Stored TE’s belongings in her room, from which TE’s ID card was stolen. It was not locked up, but in a drawer.
• The food she orders prepared for LG’s dinner after his participation in the Corea-Japan naval confrontation includes beans and two spinach dishes. As a child LG couldn’t be talked into eating beans and spinach. LG understands HCL Noh’s message of her displeasure that he went and put himself in danger.
• HCL not able to find the thief of TE’s new ID badge. LG asks her to find the thief.
• Per LG: “You taste all my food, examine every cloth, every piece of furniture, and every item that comes into the palace. And you suspect every person that enters the palace to protect me. You also hid the Manpasikjeok in the whip and protected it.” Her reason: “It’s just what I had to do Your Majesty. What the traitor, Lee Lim, tried to steal that night was the Manpasikjeok. So I had to protect it. I had to hide it from him. When Lee Lim’s dead body was found, the first thing I did was to look for the other half of the Manpasikjeok, but I failed to find it. I heard the corpse was drifting in the sea for quite some time. I told myself that it must have gone back to the Dragon King of the East Sea, just like the myth. And it relieved me.” [Note that she stayed vigilant even after feeling relieved.] • With Prince Buyeong one year after the treason, spread ashes of LL body double in lake. She knew PB had questions about the body, but he didn’t tell her he knew it wasn’t LL.
• With PB at lake 24 years after they spread ashes, PB discloses to her that he’d hidden his conclusion back then that the body wasn’t LL and that LL was still alive.
• Covers for JY’s absence by saying he’s getting some rest while LG is staying in his study.
• Gives job to Park In Young, trusted female member of Royal Guards: bring her a list of court workers on duty and the people who visited the palace from November 11 to midnight the day after. Check anyone who has ever so much as touched the palace. It is in search of the thief (of TE’s ID card).
• Ep 10 HCL is worried about LG after the shootout. LG says he cannot even convince her that LL is alive and looking the same as 25 years previously.
• Ep 11 HCL goes to visit Prince Buyeong on the last day of the year, when PM Koo spends the night going over reports with LG, because she is uneasy with this. She dislikes Koo and finds that she’s not pretty seen close up. She and PB get on well.
• She mourns PB’s death. She is given a sedative so that she can rest.

Updated by GB
• Ep 12 Palace Guard Park In Young informs HCL Noh that the spy is Min Seong Yeong, who was masquerading as Park Sook Jin, the granddaughter of a National Contributor, Park Dong Gu.
• HCL Noh speaks to TE over tea when it is raining and while LG is in the study with PM Koo. HCL gives information on her family. Her father’s name is Noh Gi Seop, her mother’s name is Shin Jeong Ae, and her younger sister is Noh Yeong Nam. Left her home at age 17 and hasn’t heard any news of her home for 67 years.
• Shocks TE when she asks her about the 1950 Korean War in ROK.
• Ep 13 Was brought to KOC by LG’s grandfather, King Haejong.
• Brought with her a book of Kim So Wol’s Poems (The book title was mentioned by another blog’s comment.)