This is Welmaris’ comment. I’m reposting on the blog so we can easily access it later when the sword comes into play later.

Thanks, Welmaris!!

pm3

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There’s something we haven’t talked about, and that’s the King’s Ring, which is now in the possession of Lee Gon. Here’s a picture of the ring from ep. 8, time mark 45:30, when Prince Buyeong was looking at it.

See a recurring theme? The root-like markings even extend from the bezel onto the shoulders of the ring.

Per the Wikipedia article on regalia, a ring symbolizes the monarch’s “marriage” to the state. As a signet-ring, it is a seal of authenticity and legal authority. We haven’t been given the history of this ring, other than Prince Buyeong telling LL, “It’s the king’s ring that doesn’t belong to us.” It was supposed to be passed from King Haejong to King Lee Ho, but somehow Prince Imperial Geum intercepted it. Lee Lim wore it while killing King Lee Ho and trying to kill Crown Prince Lee Gon. It was still on his hand when he fled to ROK, bloodied from the murder. It was on the hand of LL’s ROK doppelganger, Lee Seong Jae, when his body washed up in KOC and Prince Buyeong performed the autopsy. Prince Buyeong kept the ring hidden from King Lee Gon for 24 years, for a reason we haven’t been shown. All that time, the King’s Ring was not with its rightful owner.

In Episode 10, when Lee Lim came to kill Prince Buyeong, he said this:

LL: I came to collect what’s rightfully mine, Jong-in.
PB: Put that down. It’s the king’s ring that doesn’t belong to us.

But the question here is if that ring didn’t belong to them, why did he keep it all this time? Lady Noh returned the flute and the ID as soon as she thought Lee Gon was ready to have them back in his possession. But Prince Buyeong held onto the ring a lot longer that he should have.

LL: I was next in line to the throne even if I was born to a concubine. I am the rightful heir so it belongs to me.

This has always been Lee Lim’s main issue, that he was the son of a concubine. I’m assuming that if it had been an absolute monarchy, he would have known his “station in life” and he wouldn’t have questioned his disinheritance and the obvious discrimination against him because of his illegitimacy.

But since the monarchy was modernized and turned into a constitutional monarchy, he probably assumed that the succession rights would become “more” fair and disregard that his mother was only a concubine and not the consort. Based on primogeniture, he was child #1 after all, and he would have been next in line to the throne had it not been for his mother.

PB: Nonsense! We dare not covet that ring.
LL: “We”? You and I can never be “we.”

If I heard it correctly, he addressed Prince Buyeong as “hyungnim” or by honorific.

LL: How can you identify with someone who can kill you this instant?

I think Lee Lim meant, “How dare you consider yourself my equal when I can easily kill you. I’m your superior, darn it!”

PB: Such insolence!
LL: I will choke our dear nephew just like this and take the Manpasikjeok from him, then I’ll be the only one in possession of the Manpasikjeok. I don’t know the extent of what I’ll be able to do when I’m in full possession of it. To make that happen our dear nephew needs to suffer despair and crumble away. And for that reason, I want him to lose another person in his life. You, to be specific.
PB: (dies)
LL: Don’t think this is unfair. You’re smart, so I’m sure you saw this coming.

You know, Welmaris, if Lee Lim is so hell-bent on getting Lee Gon’s half of the flute, then maybe Lee Gon’s solution to his problem is the same as King Arthur’s solution.

King Arthur threw Excalibur back into the Lake where the Lady of the Lake reclaimed it and its magic. If Lee Gon threw his half of the flute, as well as Lee Lim’s, back to the Dragon of the East Sea, the magical power of the flute would never be at risk again from wicked men. End of. 🙂

No matter how much Lee Lim wished, the ring could never confer legitimacy on him, political or personal. On his hand, the ring was a symbol of treachery. When the doctor who performed the autopsy on Prince Buyeong gave Lee Gon the King’s Ring, LG knew LL was using it as provocation. (I’m glad the autopsy doctor told LG the ring had been placed on Prince Buyeong’s finger after he was killed. It would be another blow to LG to learn PB had hidden the ring from him for 25 years, especially since LG had asked PB to not hide things from him.) LG hated the ring because it represented enormous loss to him as a person and to Corea as a kingdom. He flung it away, rejecting the ring as well as the negative symbolism LL attached to it. He threw the baby out with the bathwater, but Fate gave Lee Gon a second chance to claim the ring, and he took it. He could have walked away, knowing it would continue its trajectory once the time stop was over. [That time stop was when PM Koo went to ROK.] But on Lee Gon’s hand, where it belongs, the King’s Ring would be a symbol of covenant between king and kingdom, and of lawful rule.

I find it intriguing that the ring carries the mark of the tree roots, while everywhere in the Kingdom the insignia of the Royalty is the blossom.

ShinJae’s former house is covered with vines.  I wasn’t sure if they were roots. I’ve seen old houses where the roots of the trees (mostly pine trees) have caused damage to the foundation walls. Cracks happened. But I’ll go with @Fern’s suggestion that these are vines. 🙂

The Four Tiger Sword is the king’s duty in tangible form. Crown Prince Lee Gon was taught by his father, King Lee Ho, “Only the king can become owner of the Four Tiger Sword.” Its stated purpose, inscribed on the blade, is for a sage [characterized by wisdom, prudence, and good judgment], with deep thought, to wield it to defeat evil and make things right. Lee Lim perverted the purpose of Four Tiger Sword. After he used it to kill the legitimate king, it lay abandoned for 25 years in the ruins of Cheonjongo. Lee Gon chose to become the active, rather than passive, owner of Four Tiger Sword when he retrieved it from Cheonjongo and returned it to the case in his chambers.

If I were Lee Gon and I had to choose one piece of instrument out of the three, I’d go with the sword.

Flute was too hocus-pocus-y for me, and I don’t believe in that kind of magic. The ring would be nice, but I’m an American, and my forefathers fought against the British for their right to be independent. So I’ll take the sword. The sword means that my survival is dependent on me. I rely on my bravery and my own skills. Not magic. And not my lineage.

And I think that was another point of King Arthur’s Camelot and his creation of the Round Table, right?

The flute Manpasikjeok with its supernatural powers was a gift to a king and thereafter appeared to a succession of kings in a 20-year cycle. Its intended purpose was for the king to play it to bring relief to his people in times of trouble. Lee Lim covets Manpasikjeok because he wants to control and exploit two worlds for his own benefit. Only those people who serve his purposes have value to him, all others are expendable. He does not care about people’s needs, and is heedless of the harm he causes. Lee Gon is at first motivated by curiosity to use Manpasikjeok, but soon his motivation becomes love. He rushes to ROK when he is able because he loves Tae Eul and wants to be with her. He goes back to Corea because he loves his kingdom and acknowledges his duty to his people. Out of love, Lee Gon is motivated to stop the use of Manpasikjeok to move between worlds, because he recognizes the enormous cost.

Lee Gon’s parents didn’t seem to require the magical powers of the flute to bring change to the society. I like that they relied more on math and sciences (his mom was a scientist) to transform their kingdom into a world power. Rather than obsess on the magical flute, they did it on their own talents…and of course, natural resources.

“Fourth highest GDP in the world” it said. Everything about Lee Gon’s world is fantastical. lol.

We don’t yet know if there is supernatural power in Four Tiger Sword and the King’s Ring, but with mythology so powerfully woven throughout this drama, I would be surprised if there weren’t. Think of all the myths where the hero gains items that help him succeed in his quest. Lee Gon is the rightful owner and now has possession of the ring, the sword, and half of the flute. Properly used, Manpasikjeok restores balance. Wielded wisely, Four Tiger Sword defeats evil and sets things right. The King’s Ring validates Lee Gon’s just use of power. I think King Lee Gon is on the path to reclaim the King’s Ring, Four Tiger Sword, and Manpasikjeok for their true purposes in their full power.

All three items are rightfully Lee Gon’s, including Lee Lim’s half of the flute. Lee Lim coveted and stole what wasn’t his.

Anyway, when I think of all these things, the most important “possession” that Lee Gon has in his “arsenal” isn’t even mentioned in this list, Welmaris.

And that’s TaeEul.  TaeEul is his best “supernatural” power.

TE: But it might not have been me. What would you have done if it was the other me?
LG: I’m dating someone in another world. And she always ties her hair at important moments. But she leaves out some strands. And she doesn’t know it because she can’t see it herself.
TE: (smiling) And?
LG: She prefers beer to tea when having a conversation. And she likes to mix drinks. She mixes her drinks seriously. She shakes the glass excitedly and drinks it quickly. But when courage is needed, she becomes a warrior. She’s like that.
TE: Let’s go see Eunsup when I’m done eating.
LG: (sigh) But one big flaw is that she only says what she wants to say whether I make her food or express my love to her.

In other words, she doesn’t fall for his obvious charms. I like that about TaeEul. She’s no Cinderella but she isn’t an over-the-top, Hun-fighting, killing machine like Mulan either. (Can you see that I don’t approve of that Disney movie?) She’s a strong female who can hold her own against a dreamboat of a guy. She doesn’t have a ring, a sword or a magic flute in this fight; all she has is bravery and her taekwondo skills. She’s no one’s victim, and she’s an equal partner in the pursuit of their happily-ever-after.

 

 

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Okay, I should write on the intersection and finish up the review of the romantic dialogues.