🚨🚨 If you’re on Team Meghan Markle, please exit this thread now. You won’t like what I’ve to say about her, and you’ll be booted out of this blog if you whine about what a meanie bitch I am.

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There are two princesses in my mind these days. One is by choice; I watch her on TV every week. The other one, however, was foisted upon me by American media; I didn’t watch her interview on TV.

One is a princess by birth; the other one is a princess by association. One fights to unify the country under a strong ruler; the other one fights for…well… to make herself relevant in Hollywood.

Needless to say, one is fictional while the other one is delusional.

1. Living in a hut

Princess Pyeonggang fell asleep on OnDal’s shoulders.

The optics sent a clear message. The new actor Na In Woo appears to have broad shoulders, and the director capitalized on this physical attribute by showing Princess Pyeonggang comfortably snuggling against him. As a result, the viewers perceived this new Ondal as strong and dependable as well as warm and fuzzy. That the Princess was also hugging a pillow and sleeping in peace added to the general impression that she was protected like never before.

Ondal: Did you sleep well?
Pyeonggang: Yeah. You?
Ondal: Me, too.
Pyeonggang: (smiling)
Ondal: Time to get working!

Princess Pyeonggang was all smiles that morning, despite having exchanged her well-appointed bedroom in the palace for this one-room hut. If she had been Princess Meghan, she would have been texting her aides at 5 am with orders to spruce up the place. In fact, she would have demanded that renovations be done to her exact standards.

Remember Frogmore Cottage and the $3 million dollar refurbishment? 🙂

Fortunately, Princess Pyeonggang had money of her own to do the changes, and she needed not to repaint her new abode in vegan and organic colors since the thatched hut was as vegan and organic as they come.

2. The father-in-law

Pyeonggang: Don’t be angry, Mother. Although I lack a lot, I’ll do my best.
Mom: (ignoring her)
Ondal: Mom, Gajin’s father, actually, Father-in-law gave us his permission.
Mom: What a bizarre thing to hear! You have a father-in-law?
Ondal: (cajoling her) Mom!

Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang did the right thing. Not only did he speak to Princess Pyeonggang’s adoptive father to gain his approval, he also met her real father, the King. He was properly introduced to the King by the Princess.

But has Harry met Princess Meghan’s father yet? No.

Ever vindictive, she cut her father out of her life because of a staged paparazzi encounter and a letter. To me, she’s at fault there. These missteps could have been avoided if she had only introduced her prince to her father from the very beginning, instead of being embarrassed by her own flesh-and-blood.

Compared to her, Princess Pyeonggang is a saint for forgiving her father. The King was duped by the evil Go WonPyo in ordering her mother, the Queen, killed, and the Sonobu tribe massacred. But she still took pity on him and chose reconciliation.

Do you see the difference between the two princesses?

Both of them had fathers who were easily manipulated by people around them. But one Princess realized that her father was an unwitting victim, and she forgave him. Princess Pyeonggang vowed to protect him and her brother from Go WonPyo’s machinations.

The other princess however chose to see her father as the evil one who was out to enrich himself and to profit from his connection with her. (Hmmm. Don’t people say that “it takes one to know one”? In Princess Meghan’s point-of-view, she was victimized by her own father, and she was justified in discarding him like yesterday’s rubbish.

3. Offering help 

Pyeonggang: I’ll fire up the furnace! I’m good at lighting a fire.
Mom: (following her) Don’t do this, Your Highness. You are the most precious person in the world. You shouldn’t be doing these kinds of chores.
Pyeonggang: I’m your daughter-in-law.

I like how she stood her ground. She might not be accepted right away by his mom, but she believed that his mom would come to accept her in time. More importantly, I like how she personalized this. She didn’t say she was Ondal’s wife but “your daughter-in-law.” She was telling the mom that a link existed between them now, and not just between her and Ondal. It was a family thing. The mom might refuse to acknowledge this relationship, but it was there nonetheless.

Mom: (pushing her back) Don’t tease an old woman. Just rest for as long as you’re here then go.
Ondal: (looking at Gajin sadly)

Princess Pyeonggang wanted to be useful so Ondal’s mom (in truth, his nanny and surrogate mom) would accept her as Ondal’s wife. His mom didn’t believe for a second that the Princess was serious about their marriage. To her, it was ludicrous that a royalty would marry someone so beneath her station as an herb picker like On Dal.

Let’s compare this with Princess Meghan.

Unlike Princess Pyeonggang, she was lucky to be accepted by the kingpin of the British Royal Family, the Queen herself.

I recall reading in the newspaper, USA Today, about her trip with the Queen after her wedding. The report said, “the new Duchess Meghan of Sussex is getting a master’s-class lesson in her new royal job — from Queen Elizabeth II, no less — with an unprecedented invitation to board The Royal Train for a day of solo engagements with Her Majesty.”

The Queen gave Princess Meghan a sneak-peak of what royal engagements would be like. Together, they inaugurated a bridge, visited a theater to show their patronage of the arts, met with local dignitaries, and commemorated the deaths of  victims of a fire.

The USA Today hyped her solo trip with the queen as if it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

It’s a distinct privilege: Not even beloved Harry, 33, has been invited to use the train.

That’s because the Royal Train (this one dates from 1977) is exclusively reserved for use by the top four royals: The queen, her husband, Prince Philip, her heir, Prince Charles (Meghan’s new father-in-law), and his wife, Duchess Camilla of Cornwall. Prince William and his wife, Duchess Kate of Cambridge, haven’t been invited to use the train, either.

lol.

In retrospect, the British Royal Family shouldn’t have been so eager to receive her in their midst. It might have worked better if they treated her like they did Fergie, Countess Sophie, Duchess Camilla, and Princess Kate. She should have worked her way up (with emphasis on the word “work”) and started with minor engagements so she’d MERIT the Queen’s favor, and the people’s approval.

OnDal’s mom started Princess Pyeonggang with hard labor, didn’t she?

Bluntly speaking, I had the impression that Princess Meghan was fast-tracked to the pomp and circumstance because the optics would have looked awfully racist if she wasn’t accorded the Royal version of “affirmative action.” Unlike the other spouses, she was given preferential treatment because she was biracial.

4. The blankets

Ondal took more blankets from his mom’s room.

Mom: Why are you getting blankets? There are some in your room.
Ondal: There’s only one set.
Mom: You said you got married. You’re sleeping separately?
Ondal: Gajin said she felt uncomfortable. This is for Gajin’s sake. (leaving in a hurry)
Mom: How do you teach that… I wonder if there are books…

There are two ways to interpret this. One, she was referring to Princess Pyeonggang. She wondered how she could teach her to become a wife that Ondal needed.

Two, she could have been thinking of Ondal, himself. She wanted Ondal to make the first move but since Ondal was innocent, and she could hardly teach him about marital acts, he could learn from the books.

Either way, the fact that Ondal required more blankets for Gajin because she felt uncomfortable, indicated to his mom that there was a bit of a problem in the bedroom department because the two were inexperienced.

What if her daughter-in-law had been Princess Meghan?

Well…if her daughter-in-law were Princess Meghan, then she had nothing to worry about.

Princess Meghan was a divorcee. There were even rumors that she had two previous marriages, not just one. What’s more, she was living in with her boyfriend when Harry arrived in the picture. She dumped her boyfriend for Harry.

It’s safe to say that she was no virgin.

Which brings me to discuss her bridal outfit.

Like most anything in a traditional wedding, the white bridal gown and veil have a meaning attached to them. The color white symbolized purity. The white gown meant that the bride was untouched. The white veil was meant to show that she was unsullied. So for Meghan to wear white on her wedding day was a farce. Who was she kidding? I could only shake my head in distaste when I saw pictures of her her walking down the aisle pretending to be somebody she wasn’t.

At least, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, spared us the sight of a white wedding gown on her special day. I was prepared to despise her wedding to Charles because she was the “Other Woman.” But I changed my mind after. She acquitted herself well.

In fact, if I were Camilla, I would have been sour grapes at Princess Meghan’s wedding. Not only was I denied a church wedding because I was divorced (like Charles and Princess Meghan), but the Queen also skipped the civil wedding. As head of the Church of England, she couldn’t appear to condone the union. The Queen only showed up for the religious blessings after the wedding service.

Again, the Queen bent her rule to accommodate her grandson and Princess Meghan.

5. Motherly love

Back in their room, Ondal was grumbling about his mom.

Note: From now on, I’m going to refer to Princess Pyeonggang as “Gajin” because Ondal treated her as his equal, not a stuck-up princess.

Ondal: Sheesh I almost got caught.
Gajin: Why?
Ondal: Nothing.
Gajin: I thought she’d kick me out, but I’m glad she didn’t.
Ondal: Why are you glad? She’s treating you like you’re invisible.
Gajin: She’s just worried about you. Even if she was your nanny, she took care of you like you’re her own child. That’s motherly love.

This is where Gajin rose in my estimation. She was de-escalating the conflict instead of adding fuel to the fire.

I get why Ondal’s grumbling. Although the marriage was only make-believe, he wanted his mom to validate his choice of a wife because he cared for Gajin. It hurt him to see Gajin being mistreated.

But Gajin was being the bigger person. She didn’t want to pit Ondal against his mom. So, she voiced out the positive thing (i.e., she wasn’t kicked out) and reminded Ondal that his mom meant well.

Hmmm…I wonder what would Princess Meghan do?

If Gajin were Princess Meghan, she would have sown discord between the two. She would twist and label a mom’s natural concern her son as jealousy, hatred, prejudice, discrimination, and subjugation. She would pick a fight with the mom, and cry victimization.

That’s the impression I got from her interview. To me, it revealed how Princess Meghan gaslighted Harry. She manipulated him to question everything he had lived for, and loved before he met her. She told him that he was “trapped.”

From the insider.com,

Prince Harry opened up about how meeting and marrying Meghan Markle made him realize how “trapped” he felt as a working member of the royal family.
“I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” Harry told Oprah Winfrey in a sit-down interview, which aired Sunday night on CBS.
When asked if he ever would have stepped back from his royal role were it not for Markle, Harry said no, he wouldn’t have.
“I wouldn’t have been able to because I myself was trapped as well,” he said. “I didn’t see a way out.”
When Winfrey seemed surprised that Harry “raised in a palace and a life of privilege, and literally a prince” felt this way, the royal went on to clarify that he felt “trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are.”
“My father and my brother, they are trapped,” Harry said. “They don’t get to leave. And I have huge compassion for that.”

To say that he was trapped is to debase all the charitable services he did, and to demean the people he met in the line of work. Essentially, he was claiming that he FAKED his advocacy for those issues and enthusiasm for those events because he was only FORCED to them. He was trapped and he had no choice but to attend those ribbon-cuttings, those glad-handings, and those meetings with the “little” people. If he hadn’t been TRAPPED, he would have done none of them.

Sidenote: If he felt trapped in his gilded cage, then they should renounce all their titles, and make sure he doesn’t trap his own children by claiming the prince/princess titles in the future. Let the royal trap and royal trappings end with him.

6. Studying the military books

Gajin: These are the military books from the Imperial Palace.
Ondal: Military books? (excitedly, he sat closer to her)
Gajin: Six Secret Teachings, Three Strategies of Huang Shigong, The Art of War, Wuzi…
Ondal: Let me see… Wait. You’re not asking me to read all of these, are you?
Gajin: You can’t just read them once! Ten, twenty times. You have to be able to recite them all with your eyes closed. I’ll be studying with you.
Ondal: That’s not fair. You said you’d teach me only martial arts.
Gajin: What’s the point of wielding a sword only? (flicking his head) You need to know how to use your brain.

I like how Gajin didn’t doubt that Ondal had the smarts to learn all this if he only applied himself. She wanted him to learn so he could make decisions on his own when he became a general. She wanted to empower him with knowledge so he could think independently.

If this were Princess Meghan, she would indoctrinate Ondal in woke-ism. She would teach him that he was oppressed by society, and that he was a victim of the institution he once loved.

It’s sickening that these two could regard themselves as victims when there are real people out there who are victims of crime, domestic abuse, sexual violence, unfair labor practices, corrupt governments, social injustice, and natural catastrophes. To quote Rick Blaine from “Casablanca,” did they honestly believe that their problems would “amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world”?

Ondal: Shall we take a look? Yah. I feel like my head will get more messed up by reading this.
Gajin: You’re whining before even starting.
Ondal: I’m tired, so let’s just sleep tonight. Yes? Please? (coaxing her with a smile)
Gajin: (giving in) Gosh.

This scene is cute, too. Gajin couldn’t resist his puppy-face.

Ondal: Do you feel uncomfortable? I could sleep in the master room.

Oooh. Is the “master room” a politically correct term? According to the woke people, this term has racist undertones (rolling my eyes here). Note: The Viki subbed used “master room.” The kissasian subs used the neutral “bigger” room.

Gajin: Why sleep in separate rooms when we just got married? Even men can get mistreated.

Oooh. Isn’t this sexist? In a “woke” world, only women can be mistreated. Remember that political slogan, “Believe all women”? There’s a presumption of guilt if you’re male.

Ondal: (smiling) Even if it’s fake, it feels like we’re a married couple lying down next to each other like this. It feels weird.
Gajin: Same here.
Ondal: Gajin?
Gajin: Hmmm?
Ondal: Let’s not tell my mom that I’m studying martial arts. If she learns that I’m holding a sword, she may get bedridden that day.

This is important. It wasn’t Gajin’s idea to keep their training secret. I don’t know which will hurt his mom more: that he was training or that he hid it from her.

This reminds me Princess Meghan’s decision to move to Frogmore Cottage…err….Canada…err…California. Harry tried to keep it a secret but everybody knew that Hollywood was her final destination. I don’t know which hurt the Royal more: that they were leaving or that they pretended they weren’t leaving.

Gajin: Okay. And you. Don’t get in between me and your mom. You’re not much help when you butt in.
Ondal: Hey! If the husband doesn’t care for his wife, who would?
Gajin: (smiling) That’s reassuring! But still… leave it to me.
Ondal: (snoring)

It must have thrilled her to know that she could rely on Ondal for support. But she didn’t want Ondal’s fighting for her if it mean a rift between mother and son. She believed she should earn his mom’s favor and respect, by dint of hard work. Ondal was making the situation worse by fighting her battles for her.

But what would Princess Meghan do?

Now if Gajin were Princess Meghan, she would have wanted her hubby to defend her against anything and everybody.

I’m sure many of us here heard of the story of the tiara incident. Harry allegedly told the royal staff, “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.” She supposedly had an eye on a tiara that was already reserved for Princess Eugenie’s wedding. When the royal dresser denied her request, Harry stepped in and demanded that she be given what she wanted. Upon hearing all this, the Queen told him that she decided what Meghan could or could not have.

I get that a royal groom like Harry would want to show off the Crown Jewels to his future bride, and that brides could be turn into Bridezilla before the wedding. But Princess Meghan wouldn’t endear herself to the palace staff if she had Harry coming to bat for her whenever there was problem.

Gajiin was right to insist on handling the situation on her own.

7. Gajin’s plans

Ondal: I’m going to go chop up some firewoods! I should get some before the sun sets.
Mom: (looking around to see if Gajin was there) Come here.
Ondal: Oh, Gajin? She already left. She went to get some water.
Mom: (bidding him to come near) What is she up to?
Ondal: What do you mean?
Mom: Why would a princess come back to live in the mountain? It makes no sense that she would marry an herb gatherer. Come here. Tell your mom everything. She has other plans, right?
Ondal: I charmed her (mom smacks his lips) I’m serious! I told her to not be stuck in the palace, and come out with me. And run around with me.
Mom: You can fool a ghost but not your mom.

The sub from Kissasian said, “I seduced her.” I think that would explain why his mom smacked him. “Instead of being cooped up, she should be with me and fly and be free. That’s what I said.”

His mom suspected that the Princess had an ulterior motive, and she wasn’t wrong. Gajin had multiple agendas. To start with, she wanted:

a. the Sunno tribe to be reinstated in the Five Tribe council,
b. justice for the death of her mother the Queen and the massacre of Sunno tribe,
c. Go Won Pyo, the man behind the these deaths, be removed from power and punished, and
d. the King to rule with authority.

But her final goal was a stronger Goyurgeo.

She told the chief of the Sunno tribe that she realized while she was in the palace how things really were. “Go Won Pyo and his allies damaged the King’s authority and control everything political. If we do not stop those few men, Goyurgeo will crumble from the inside out. Please offer the king your support.”

No doubt Gajin was ambition. But her ambitions weren’t entirely self-centered.

On the other hand, Princess Meghan’s agenda could be summed up in one word: narcissistic. She would want to be known as a trailblazer and victim, humanitarian, Oscar winner for Best Actress, Vogue editor, Princess Diana 2.0, Nobel Peace Prize winner, American President, Queen mother, and…Little Mermaid (who got her voice back).

8. Sword Training

He was eager to start his training.

Gajin: That is not how you hold a sword. Did you not learn as a kid? It’s the basic of basics.
Ondal: I asked my father to teach me, but he never listened.
Gajin: General On? Why not?
Ondal: I do not know.

She started to instruct him but he was distracted by her.

Ondal: Why is this so complicated?
Gajin: Learning the basics is the hardest part. Lift your chin. Keep your sight at the tip of the sword. And pretend your enemy is over there.

Ha! I don’t know who was REALLY distracted by whom. Ondal was distracted by Gajin’s face. But in turn, the viewers were distracted by Ondal’s face. Jisoo never had this much of an appeal as Na In Woo.

One thing I like about Kim SoHyun’s dramas is that the male lead is always head over heels in love with her. Except in “Moon Embracing the Sun,” Kim SoHyun’s characters don’t suffer from unrequited love.

Gajin: Stay like this until I come back.
Ondal: What? Where are you going? Hey! This is a penalty, not training.
Gajin: Stay like that.
Ondal: Gajin!

When she returned from her meeting with the tribal chief, she saw that Ondal hadn’t move from his spot. Foolishly, Ondal took Gajin’s command literally that he shouldn’t budge an inch.

But you know who else is more foolish than Ondal? Harry.

Gajin: Hey! Gosh. Have you not moved since I left you?
Ondal: You told me to stay like this. You said that mastering the basics was important.
Gajin: That’s enough. You can stop that.
Ondal: (wincing in pain) Why are you laughing? How can you laugh when you made me do it? (rubbing his sore arm)
Gajin: (massaging his shoulder) Do not move.
Ondal: (happy) That feels nice. Well, my wife can wash away the fatigue just with her hands. (holding her hand)
Gajin: (embarrassed) You little… Do not get cheeky with me. (then massages his shoulders again)

I like their playful interaction. Although Gajin didn’t apologize verbally, massaging his shoulder was her way of saying sorry. Not one to hide his delight, he paid her a fulsome compliment. It might sound cheeky to her, but he meant it.

Now, this playful couple banter is something missing in Princess Meghan’s interview. I saw a clip when Harry was about to chime in, she silenced him by holding on to his hand.

Gajin’s hand = to massage the fatigue away because husband was stiff
Princess Meghan’s hand = to take charge of the message because husband was stiff, lol

Ondal: I know this is just a wooden sword, but it feels awful to train behind my mother’s back.
Gajin: (facing him) We have no choice.
Ondal: I know that. I even made you promise to never wield your sword before. Now, I’m learning it from you.
Gajin: If you do not want to, you can stop. I do not want you to be in agony.
Ondal: (smiling) I was just saying. What’s the next pose?

I believe she was being truthful here. She didn’t want him to go on training if he felt guilty about going against his mom. She didn’t understand that Ondal wasn’t getting cold feet. He was only reflecting on their changed situation.

I don’t think Princess Meghan would feel guilty. She wanted him to go up against his family and ditch them if they got in their way. This wasn’t surprising as she’d done this to her own family.

9. Like a member of the family

Mom: My gosh. It’s cold outside. Where have you been? Oh my. You’re a princess. Why are you carrying a jug of water? Give me that.
Gajin: It’s okay. I can do it.

They wrestled over the pot and the pot fell to the ground.

Gajin: Darn it.
Mom: What? Darn it?
Gajin: I’m sorry. I should have been careful.
Mom: Don’t say that. This kind of menial job is for people of low birth like me. I cannot let a princess like you do such a thing. If I do, I’ll be gravely punished for it.
Gajin: Mother. I’m here to live as Dal’s wife. I’m not here to fool around as a princess. Please treat me how you would treat your family.
Mom: Are you sure you won’t regret what you just told me? (she was going to test her resolve)
Gajin: Pardon?
Mom: Will you not criticize me even if I give you a lot of hard jobs?
Gajin: (smiling) Please just tell me what you want me to do.
Mom: In that case, you need to get the water again. And chop the firewood too.

“I’m here to live as Dal’s wife.” Gajin didn’t want to be treated civilly like a stranger. She wanted to be accepted as family member. And since his family was poor, that meant she was expected to do menial jobs. She knew this, and she was willing to do her part.

But this wasn’t the case for Princess Meghan.

Her excuse that she didn’t know how hard it was to be a Royal is spurious.

Surely, she must have outgrown fairy tales at her age. The life of a princess isn’t easy, even if she didn’t have to wield swords and wage battles like Gajin. She should have known that she couldn’t pick and choose her humanitarian causes and pet projects based on their high visibility. She should have known before she married into the British royal family that their life is dedicated to public service. Noblesse oblige or “to whom much is given, much is expected.” To many Americans like her, this must be a quaint concept. But to the royal family, it’s deeply ingrained in their moral fiber.

When Ondal arrived home, he immediately looked for Gajin.

Ondal: Where’s Gajin?
Mom: I told her to tend the vegetable garden in the valley. The vegetable garden is a mess because you decided to go traipsing around the city.

lol. It was Gajin’s fault that Ondal was gallivanting around the city so in her mind, it was just right that Gajin fixed the mess.

Ondal: She cannot tend the garden all by herself.
Mom: Stay out of this. She said she would be my daughter-in-law.
Ondal: Mom.
Mom: She said I did not have to treat her like a princess. She will get her wish.

And the funny thing was Gajin didn’t complain. She chopped the firewood and ate with the peasants without grumbling or putting on airs.

That night, Ondal noticed the blisters on her hands. She said that she was alright and told him to keep studying his book. But he continued fussing over hand.

His mom interrupted them to make Gajin sit beside her and sew.

Mom: You told me yourself that you’re neither a princess nor an assassin. From now on, learn how to maintain a home properly. If you want to support Dal, you must work twice or thrice harder than a blind woman did.
Gajin: You raised him until now when you cannot see. I cannot even imagine how hard it must have been for you.
Mom: Just sew. Stop chitchatting.
Gajin: Okay.

Although she was snubbed by Ondal’s mom, I’m glad she was expressed her appreciation of Ondal’s mom. No matter how strained the relationship between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law could be, she had her mother-in-law to thank for, for raising her husband. Gajin didn’t lose sight of the fact that despite the nanny’s gruffness and distrust, she was a woman fully devoted to Ondal’s wellbeing.

I wish Princess Meghan could have appreciated the same thing about her husband’s family.

10. Her nightmare

Gajin was so traumatized by her water-bearing chore that she had a nightmare about it.

Gajin: Darn it. My water jug.

She flung an arm at Ondal’s throat and awakened him. He sat up and called her a fool. She was a fool because she tried too hard to please his mom. He began to massage her leg, like she massaged his shoulders earlier.

Gajin: My water jug!

This time, she kicked him. And he laughed, and continuing massaging her.

Gajin wasn’t the type to whine about the mom’s ill-treatment. She didn’t want to complain the need to work hard in order to prove herself worthy of being “Dal’s wife.” If this had been Princess Meghan, she would have called his mom racist already for making her toil in the fields like a slave.

11. More slave work

Call the abuse hotline! She’s doing hard labor!

Gajin: Mother, I’ll go and get some water.
Mom: Okay. Well, fill all the empty water jugs. Once you’re done with those, weed out the vegetable garden over there on the hill. After that, wash the laundry and hang it up. Oh right. Before the sun comes down, get some bush stems, so you can make a broom.
Gajin: Water, vegetable garden, laundry, and bush stems. I got it.

Had this been Princess Meghan, she would have been complaining to the media for oppression. Never mind that she asked for it when she married into the family.

Gajin: And today, I’m wearing that clothes you made me before. So my clothes won’t get in the way. I will be back.

No, couturier clothes for Princess Pyeonggang! She knew that her clothes had to be serviceable. She had to dress up for work. Not for self-promotion or for promotion of a friend of a friend of a friend’s fashion boutique.

Ondal: (quietly signalling) What about your hands?
Gajin: (ignores him and leaves)
Ondal: My gosh. How much more do you want to torture her?
Mom: Are you sure she’s a princess?

She was questioning him because a (lesser) princess would’ve protested already with all the hard work.

Ondal: She’s not a princess.
Mom: What?
Ondal: (bragging) She’s my wife.

Mom raised a stick to hit him, but he deftly parried it with his stick. He snickered, and got his forehead smacked by his mom. For her a blind woman, she surprisingly had a good aim. She hadn’t missed her mark yet.

12. Protecting the Princess

Ondal saw Gajin rallying the people to come out of hiding. They talked about it in their secret training ground.

Gajin: I was going to tell you. But for your, training was the priority.
Ondal: I’m not angry with you. It was something you were planning when you were in the palace, right?

Ondal might be a fool in a lot of ways, but in this matter, I’m glad that Ondal was clear-eyed. He had no illusions that Gajin had a political objective.

Gajin: (not replying)
Ondal: Me becoming a general is also in that plan, is it not?
Gajin: Dal, this is for you and me, and for the benefit of the whole Sunno tribe.
Ondal: I am all right. I need to carry on my father’s wishes. And…that is what you want. But those people are different. Those people have escaped to this place because they have grown tired and exhausted from the world. They have barely survived until now. How can we endanger that?
Gajin: We need to change the world so that the people can live life to the fullest, without fear. This is the country we must build the new Goyurgeo. Although our lives seem peaceful, apart from the world like this, even Ghost Valley will turn into a bloodbath, with a single word from Go Won Pyo.
Ondal: When you first came to Ghost Valley, you loved it because you said it was like a dream.
Gajin: (avoids looking at him and answering him)

The differences between the two were manifested in this conversation. While Gajin was ambitious, OnDal was fundamentally a peace-loving man. He avoided aggression and conflict, and he only fought when he had no choice. That was his father’s last order: to live like a fool, quietly, peacefully.

However, his father also told him “not to let go of the rope.” This was during the massacre when Won Go Pyo attacked their village. His father had appointed him protector of the young Princess Pyeonggang. This task assigned to him was the reason he intended to go through with his training and to fight for the Princess. He had to endure the battles because to let go of the symbolic rope — that is, protecting the Princess — would mean death to her.

Ondal’s father didn’t want him to follow in his footsteps and see blood. But he’d left him no choice when he ordered him to guard the Princess.

***********

So what’s my point in writing this comparison of the two princess?

Simple. You become what you watch.

The story of Princess Pyeonggang is about how one woman’s courage and bravery to do the right thing would alter history. The story of Princess Meghan is a cautionary tale on how not to be a drama queen, a princess-from-hell, and a royal-pain-in-the-ass.

I’ve no interest in watching the Princess Meghan makjang.