Sometimes, I wish I never brought up this time loop/time travel because it’s overwhelming the story. 🙂
As of now, there are only two *confirmed* incidents of time loop/time travel.
This one, in Episode 1.
BTW, although I like the idea that idea of two saviors, I will have to reject that and say there’s only one. Lee Gon.
This is his hand. It’s a male’s hand.
TaeEul wasn’t with him because he carried her ID with him, most likely as a keepsake.
The other confirmed time loop is this one, in Episode 10. I mentioned this in passing when I analyzed the kiss. I said something was added to Lee Gon that altered him and made TaeEul hesitate to approach him. And we got confirmation in Episode 11 at 16:48.
Just like in the poem, “Home,” the traveler arrived.
She waited for him at the gate.
And he arrived.
She stopped herself from going to him, and he was the one to bridge the gap. Remember: she’s the “yeogi,” and he’s the one who moves to close their distance.
Later on, in this Episode 11, she was sitting in her her car and remembering their kiss together.
In her words: “I could tell that he was from a different time, not a different world. Perhaps that was the day when I made up my mind about a lot of things.”
She confirmed that she knew it was a time loop in a “nebulous voiceover.” Remember, I explained about this sort of confusing voiceovers here:
Link: The King: Ep 8 TaeEul’s Voiceovers and Confession
Her “nebulous voiceover” is coming from somewhere way way way way in the future. Imagine her in a comfortable rocking chair, years from now (not just months), looking back on her life and saying, “Ahhhh! But I knew that he was a time traveller at that time.”
Note: that’s another reason why I think the ending is happy. She will live through this ordeal and will be able to look back in time and reminisce about the kiss.
But in her present time, while she was sitting in her car and remembering their kiss. After remembering it, she was annoyed, “Am I getting dumped like this? No way. I’ll teach you a lesson when you come back.”
She was annoyed with him for disappearing on her like that. lol.
Now, I mentioned to @Fern in passing that we viewers have to prepare for a serious event in the upcoming episode(s) that will force Lee Gon to time travel. I don’t know what that is. I can only guess that this “serious event” will have something to do with TaeEul. He’ll need to time-travel.
Look here:
Currently, in this linear time, none of the characters has discovered the method to time travel. Lee Gon himself had just discovered that the time between two worlds was “shrinking.”
While looking at his calculations, he realized, “The amount of frozen time is multiplying by the square root of the prime number. At this rate, time will stop for a whole day the 62nd time it happens. In other words, there will come a moment when the worlds, both TaeEul’s and mine will stop forever.”
See that? Time was still “linear” for him. There’s no time loop for him yet, because he had JUST discovered the IMPERATIVE for time trave when his Royal Asst Capt interrupted his thoughts and came in with the news that they found the Eosu bookstore.
VERY IMPORTANT: That’s why I said that, at this very particular moment, Lee Gon DOESN’T know that he went back to visit TaeEul to give her flowers. This “flower event” is something he will do in the future. Right now, he’d just realized the gravity of the situation: time would stop for both worlds.
Do you get it? This Lee Gon is the *future* Lee Gon.
He’s not yet this *present* Lee Gon.
This *present* Lee Gon has no idea that he traveled back in time already.
As far as he was concerned, he was raiding the bookshop because TaeEul was shown passing by that bookstore in the CCTV footage. He’d been warned by FATE/Yoyo Girl that TaeEul passed by that bookstore and he wanted to see what that footage was all about.
That’s why he was looking for her there at the bookstore. 🙂
I’m really intrigued to see whether TE will mention current LG about her encounter with future LG or not…
I have to second your highlight of at @JaneM’s comment in your previous post and simply thank you for your stellar analysis of this show. I’m enjoying the depth of TKEM so much and it was super disparaging week after week to only read the shallow criticism and gleeful commentary of the railings. Discovering this blog has been absolutely amazing, so had to come out of the lurking woodwork to say thanks!
Second, I agree with @Alxmar97 about wondering whether JTE will mention the flower kiss to LG. Could it be what helps him finalize the realization that he will need to time travel at some point soon? I don’t think he’ll realize that in the moment she possibly mentions it, but I have this imagining it will be another of the voiceovers that he’ll reflect on in the aftermath of whatever terrible event is coming our way.
@pkml3
Episode 8 Timestamp 25:55 (Voiceover continues from the beginning of the episode)
I was going to say that that nebulous voiceover of TE’s, which has to be looking back on all the events since she lost her ID Card, felt to me to have been fueled by the memory of Ep 11 events. But as I don’t know how many more momentous things are going to take place in the future, I should hold on to that.
What I like about the nebulous voiceover is that it points out to us that we too can look back and understand the flow of events and the hand of Fate. However we know what we are doing, right? We refuse to wait until the episodes show us, we are insisting on guessing way ahead of what Fate will be choosing for TE (and LG) to do! 🤔 😧 😱 😲 🤪
Yes the TE and the LG in this Episode are not the future ones. TE received the flowers, and she might tell LG that he would come to give her flowers in the future. This (and I believe it’s likely she’ll die… just because KES killed off both ML and FL at least once in Goblin LOL) and her death will cause him to hunt down the time travel mechanism in greater earnest.
He has known that time travel is possible, but so far his current self has been only going across in space. It has not been imperative that he goes backwards (or forwards) in time. If even saving his father did not make him try to go backwards, then it would have to be to save his precious Zero. 😉
I beg to differ here from what you’re saying that time loop/time travel aspect overwhelmed the story discussions here. That time travel is an aspect to TKEM’s story was clear from the beginning of the series given JTE’s post dated id. And also perhaps from JTE’s ‘back to the future’ phone case.
What’s overwhelming perhaps is the repeated focus on an ‘endless time loop’ that could not be gathered from the clues shown on screen. This IMO has not just divided opinions but confused the blog readers as it created a dissonance between what we’re watching on the screen and what was being discussed on numerous posts here (Ref. Red Kings Dream 3, slow burning romance, math for bitches and others)
Sigh. Read what I wrote. I said, “I wish I never brought it up.”
You’re free to leave this blog, too. 🙂 Tell me if you need help because I’ve been weeding out spam and nonessential posters on my blog since this morning. 🙂
Hope this 🍪🍪🍪☕️☕️☕️ helps in the weeding.
Fighting! 🙌🏻
I’m still going through my emails right now.
Did I tell you how much I dislike opening mails? That’s my assistant’s job at work. And for this blog (and it’s not even work-related), I had 154 unopened emails to sift through this morning. Like why? 🙂
I wish this quarantine is over then people can go back to their normal lives and do normal things, instead of being stuck in front of the laptop.
I deleted some dubious followers. I removed double, triple, quadruple posts from newbies. I’ll put new “blocked words” and new limits. But I’m still trying to figure out how to allow more pictures from posters. I set a maximum but I forgot how to increase the limit. lol.
But the good thing is — if you notice — nobody has use the word oppa in referring to LMH. I guess that word ban worked.
People forget that this is a blog, not a forum. And there’s a big difference between the two.
Poor @pkml3. I hate opening up mail too, but it’s not so bad when I don’t have to slice through envelopes. Email is generally OK, as long as they are not too long.
Thanks for bearing with all the extra work and giving us a space to let off our weird ideas!!
I didn’t want you to put in too much carbohydrates, so here are some fruits and wine. 🥑 🍇 🍓 🍑 🍷 🍷 🍷 😇
When I think about it 154 emails, even if I just spend a minute reading and answer them, it’s still over 2 hours.
And those two hours could be spent on nicer things like chatting with the blog members, like you, agdr03, nrllee, miracle23, and the rest. It’s supposed to be a “comfy” zone.
When I don’t feel comfortable or when I’m tired just visiting my blog, then it’s time to delete. That’s it. Life’s problem is solved when I delete. lol.
Hugs to you @pm3. I know it gets tiring too managing a blog especially weeding. I think you’ve mentioned before that you hate opening mails. If I can open the 154 mails for you, I would have. ☺️
I did noticed that no one used Oppa 😉 but that’s because you gave us plenty of warning too. I hope you won’t get to a point where you’ll just DELETE. If ever please give us a warning too ok. I don’t want the shock because I’m sure I’m not only speaking for myself but to everyone whose been here for years that your blog is a haven for us, we love it just as we love our kdramas. 🤗
Enjoy outing with your hubby! I’m going to binge watch HP and The King while seating on a little canoe in Shirtless Bay Island. 😎
Yes! And Thank you!
I just found out about you today, May 24.
I became curious about the child/fate days ago. And with who saved The Prince almost from the start.
I wanted to find out who was the one who saved Lyl Prince while his father the King lay down dead. I keep rewinding those parts lately as it came to mind, that part several times, my conclusions were: The body movements while on the run when he was firing the pistol, the way he stood up to trigger, use his hand, so firm, and in the end, his eyes under that mask, I thought; this either is his bodyguard or himself, I end it up thinking it was himself, the King who came back to save him as a boy. Who else would be? He also had the ID with him. only he could have it. He traveled from the future to the past.. The Eternal King is he, an Eternal King ’cause he has to do this over and over again, also cause he has to meet her??? Wow! it is possible? I think I’m getting more clear and in tune with the analysis now. Thank you so much again!!! Beautiful and well done.