I’ll get to the straight to the point because I have yet to watch Episode 12, and people are lurking to read my commentary.

It shouldn’t be difficult to see why the screenwriter chose soy meat gujeolpan, and eggplant pie to reveal the subject of this episode. In one word, it’s substitution. The theme of this episode is replacing the real deal with an imitation, counterfeit, sham…or perhaps even, a better option. 

When JiYeong learns that the Grand Dowager Queen Mother (GDQM) stopped eating meat, she comes up with the idea to cook “something that isn’t meat but is like meat.” Nowadays, we know that soybeans and eggplants can mimic the texture of meat and absorb the flavors of a recipe usually cooked with meat. (By the way, have you tried tofurkey for Thanksgiving? Don’t.) But back in the Joseon period, JiYeong must explain to her cooks that these are vegan or plant-based food.

When the GDQM tastes the gujeolpan, she instantly knows that it’s unlike anything she ate before. She’s surprised that it’s made from soybeans.

Like this fake soy meat gujeolpan, Prince Jesan is also a fake loyalist.

When he puts on the Cheoyong mask and costume, he intends to fool everyone that he’s King YiHeon. This is his backup plan because he failed to drive the King into a killing frenzy at the GDQM’s anniversary banquet.

When he enters the GDQM’s chamber, the GRQM assumes he’s YiHeon. It’s sad that she can’t tell that the man in the Cheoyong garb only looks like the King but isn’t the King himself. She wonders what he intends to do with her.

GDQM: Your Majesty?

Then she sees the blood dripping from the sword. It’s admirable that she doesn’t panic. Instead, she questions his sanity.

GDQM: In the end, have you chosen the sword? Are you truly resolved to slay his own grandmother?”

When Jesan begins speaking, she discovers the man behind the disguise.

Jesan: If you deposed the queen, you should not have put her son on the throne. That is precisely what brought forth this disaster.
GDQM: (unsure) Grand Prince Jesan?
Jesan: (laughing) Have you caught on at last? (unmasking)
GDQM: So in the end, you have stirred up trouble. I should have seen through your mask when you pretended to be an utter fool who knew nothing.

Yes. To me, that’s their fatal mistake. He has imitated a fool so well that they believe him to be incapable of deceit and schemes, when all along, he’s the master of deceit and he’s plotting a coup right under their noses.

GDQM: Why would you cause such madness?
Jesan: Do you ask because you truly do not know? I am restoring this nation to its rightful place. It deserves to be ruled by a sage king who will bring peace, and not by a tyrant.
GDQM: (enraged) A sage king? Who do you mean? You are the one wielding the sword! Are you not the tyrant now?

She has a point here. The ministers want to replace King YiHeon because they judge him to be a tyrant, but the sad reality is, YiHeon has avoided tyrannical acts, and they’ve been conned into substituting him for a real tyrant, Prince Jesan.

Jesan: It is time for you to take responsibility for your actions. (stabbing her) This is for putting the deposed queen’s son on the throne!
GDQM: (spitting blood) His Majesty will see to it that you pay for our actions.

After Jesan kills the GDQM and her court ladies, the rest are deceived by the fake King in the Cheoyong outfit.

But enough of Jesan.

For me, the most important replacement in this episode takes place —
❌not with the soy meat gujeolpan and eggplant pie,
❌not with Prince Jesan,
❌not even with the revisionist theory on the life of the historical Yeonsangun,
✅but with the heart and mind of King YiHeon.

Typically, I would find that whole confrontation scene between JiYeong and YiHeon overwrought.

However, in this instance, I need a guarantee that YiHeon isn’t driven by rage, revenge, and insanity like the historical Yeonsangun. I want him to be redeemable, i.e., his faults can be exchanged, swapped, or transformed into something good. Why?

Because if YiHeon is joining JiYeong in the 21st century and we’re going to have a happily-ever-after, we can’t have a mad king with:

a) an axe to grind,
b) poor impulse control, and
c) access to knives in YiHeon’s kitchen. Duh. He won’t be a good “companion” for JiYeong if he can’t rid himself of his emotional baggage.

So let me go over the scene after the Cheyeongmu dance.

YiHeon discovers that the GDQM was the one to request his father, the late king, to execute the deposed queen by poison. In rage, he grabs the sword from his guard and rushes toward the GDQM. JiYeong blocks his path.

JY: Your Majesty. Your Majesty. You can’t do this. Please.
YH: Step aside.
JY: (holding him by the shoulders) No. Don’t do this. You can’t do this. Please don’t. Please. Your Majesty.

The interesting thing here is that we’re dealing with a Joseon monarch. That she is able to physically restrain him while his Royal Guard stands aside means that she’s recognized by the court as the King’s woman.

YH: (shouting from where he stood) Grandmother. Did you truly command that my mother be executed? I asked you a question! Answer me.
JY: Your Majesty. You can’t do this. Please.
YH: Step aside.
JY: You can’t. Don’t do this, Your Majesty.

He calms down a bit.

But then, the GDQM defiantly admits her role in the death of deposed queen. (Oh goodness! Can’t she keep her mouth close?)

To make matters worse, the Prime Minister (aka the brother of the GDQM) accuses Yi JangGun, the bearer of the records, of treason as the late King ordered the details of the execution kept secret. As YiHeon already hated this father with a passion, this admission of conspiracy to keep him in the dark angers him.

But what breaks his spirit is the sight of his mother’s bloodied blouse produced by his insane maternal grandmother. The old woman waved the blood-stained garment and claimed that her daughter had died a wrongful death.

So YiHeon decides to settle scores.

YH: Today, I will set everything right.

Prince Jesan and the concubine Mokja can barely hide their smirks. YiHeon charges at his grandmother with his sword but is blocked again by JiYeong blocked him.

At the rate this is going, JiYeong is as capable as Gandalf at stopping a monster on his track. Gandalf ordered the Balrog, “You cannot pass!” She may not carry a sword and a magic cane, but she has two arms to hug HiYeon with and stop him from killing his grandmother.

JY: No, you must hold back. If you take revenge now, you’ll regret it forever.
YH: Do you wish to die yourself? (pushing her away)
JY: Your Majesty!

He swings his sword as if to smite her, but he doesn’t bring his arm down. From the sideline, her cooks plead for mercy.

YH: This does not concern you. Step aside.
JY: (firmly) No. It does concern me. Because I love you.

Let me stop here and explain what I THINK she meant. I agree with many viewers that:

a) her line sounds cheesy,
b) this is such an overused “Love is transformative” trope, and
c) she’s appealing to emotions instead of using a sound argument.

However, I’m cutting her slack as I interpret her statement a bit differently.

To me, JiYeong is telling him that she’s drawing a line in the sand. She loves him, true. But she won’t be able to live with a murderer, a tyrant. It’ll break her heart if he gives in to his dark side. Hence, his next move DOES involve her. She’s doing her darnest to stop him because their future together is at stake.

YH: Your Majesty. Please stop, Your Majesty. You promised me. You said you would make me bibimbap.

See it? She’s reminding him of their future. All these things they talked about doing in the future. Their “dream” won’t true if he goes on a rampage.

YH: You said you’d wait. You promised me to be a good king, not a tyrant.

I’m reminded of that 1990s song by Meat Love, “I’d do anything for love…but I won’t do that.” Haha. “That” means spending the rest of her life with a tyrant. To me, this is the reason she constantly reminds him, to the point of nagging, NOT to be a tyrant. She knows that he can be a better man, but should he give in to this “dark side,” as I said earlier, he’ll find it difficult to live with himself, and in effect, with her.

The rest of the ministers join in begging him to sheathe his sword. (He’s crying by now.)

JY: (gently) Your Majesty, please put away your sword.
YH: (softly) I’m sorry, Cook Yeon. This tragedy was caused by neither my mother nor myself. (voice hardening) It was my grandmother and the late king’s concubines.

My understanding here is that his hands are tied. He can’t ignore his filial duty to avenge his mother’s wrongful death. He probably thinks JiYeong should blame his grandmother and the concubines, not him, because he, too was a victim of their perfidy.

He then moves aside and orders the guards to close the gates.

Meanwhile, in a last ditch effort, JiYeong feeds a chocolate to the demented granny. Huh? I admit her action baffles me.

I consumed bars and bars of dark chocolate to alleviate my PMS. But never have I heard that dark chocolate worked on dementia, too. Maybe I should buy more shares of Hershey’s stock? Whatever. I’m excusing this incident because I know the main characters must survive this tense moment.

YH: Those responsible for my mother’s death will not leave this place alive.

Helloooo? Anybody home? Everybody just stands there waiting for the kill.

YH: That is only right, is it not, Grandmother?
GDQM: Your Majesty, is this really your choice?

Then the demented grandmother screams. This is deus ex machina. But I’m also giving it a pass because if it was good enough for Euripides (circa 406 BC), then it’s good enough for a kdrama screenwriter in 2025.

The granny is channeling her deceased daughter.

Demented granny: Her Majesty took the poison, and as she coughed up blood, she cried out toward the sky. “May my son right my injustice. May he become a sage king and right his mother’s injustice.” Those were the words she cried out before taking her last breath.

Now you tell us?!!

YiHeon’s mother didn’t want him to avenge her death by committing atrocities in her name. Rather she wanted him to avenge her unjust death by wisely governing the nation. It makes sense. His good deeds will reflect on his mother. Who knows? A day might come when people will change their misconceptions of the deposed queen because they see her son leading the country to peace and prosperity. I guess, that’s the greatest form of filial piety: to honor his mother’s memory with good deeds.

YH: A sage king? A sage king? It is too late for that!
JY: No, it’s not too late. Your Majesty, as your grandmother said, your mother wouldn’t want you to shed blood.

So there, a girl from the 21st century becomes the voice of reason and voice of conscience in the Joseon period. This parallels the “soy meat gujeolpan, and eggplant pie” substitution. He’s transformed from a violence-focused and revenge-filled king to an enlightened individual. Or metaphorically, from carnivore to vegan, lol.

YH: Father! How could you leave me with so much pain? (dropping the sword) Why did you kill my mother and put me on the throne? Why did you make me king? Why?

He walks out with JiYeong and his entourage trailing behind him.

The proof of his change comes afterwards. Sitting under his mother’s tree, he confesses to JiYeong.

YH: All I did to avenge my mother turned out to be directly against her wishes. Everything was in vain.
JY: Your mother didn’t want you to be remembered as a tyrant.
YH: Have you never wished for the death of a family member? There was a time when I wished for my father’s death. He had deposed my mother and executed her. All through my life since then, I was unable to forgive or understand him. Just like how they drove my mother to her death, I wanted to kill my father’s subjects and all those who were involved in deposing and banishing my mother.
JY: But what then? That won’t do you any good. That wouldn’t help your mother and anybody else.

I like this moment. It’s a welcome change from the emotionally-charged scenario earlier. To me, it bodes well for them if she can sit down, soothe him, and reason with him. She persuades him to become a better person by reminding him of what’s good and fair in life. In this sense, she’s his moral compass.

JY: (inching closer to him) Promise me that you’ll never think like that ever again.
YH: Are you that worried about me?
JY: Of course. Because your pain brings pain to me as well.

She’s repeating what he told her before. During the Ming cooks’ competition.

JY: It’s true. You don’t believe me, do you?
YH: I said I heard you.

And that, my dear folks, is good enough for me. As long as he hears her — and more importantly, HEEDS her — he can join her in the 21st century and thrive.

credit: liveasbutterflies’ tumblr