I don’t do recaps so let me get down to the brass tacks. My notes will come in two parts.

1. The epilogue in Episode 1

Don’t miss this. There were two scenes meshed in the epilogue of Episode 1.

First scene. During the Royal King’s birthday festivities (and sometime before the explosion in the palace), Yi Ahn (YA) was entasked with lighting the fireworks on the bridge. Our heroine Seong HuiJu was also on the bridge, mesmerized by the sight. For a moment, YA stood staring at her.

This tells us then that he wasn’t at all surprised to see her roaming in the palace ground and that he knew who she was even when he asked for her name and affiliation. Curiously enough, these were the first things that he had asked when they met for the first time in high school.

Back then—

YA: Who goes there?
HJ: (hiding her bow and running out of the field)
YA: (lecturing her sternly) If you’ve done wrong, you must accept a fair punishment. Don’t disgrace yourself by getting caught in flight. Name.
HJ: It’s Seong Huiju.
YA: Affiliation.
HJ: (sighing) Jujak House. Ninth grade.

Present time—

YA: Who goes there?
HJ: (mortified) Your Royal Highness. (bowing)

Notice the difference? Though she was flustered to be caught in a private area again, she learned not to “disgrace” herself by fleeing. Unlike the first time, she stood her ground.

YA: Name.
HJ: Please forgive me. I seem to have lost my way.
YA: Name.
HJ: It’s Seong Huiju.
YA: Affiliation.
HJ: I’m not a member of the palace staff.
YA: Why is an outsider to the court loitering in an area not open to the public?

Ha! Once again, he caught her in a restricted area. What was that Elvis Presley song again? “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread?” She sure loved to take risks….

YA: If you’re gone in the count of three, I’ll overlook it.
HJ: (surprised) Really?
YA: (leaning in) That much I can do for my junior alum.
HJ: That makes sense…excuse me?
YA: One. Two. (bomb exploding)

Interesting, don’t you think? Despite being somebody famous on social media and presenting a narcissistic image, she didn’t expect YA to recognize her, much less remember her from their high school days. She assumed that she had made little impression on him. But judging from YA’s teasing stance (e.g., he leaned his face forward), he didn’t forget her cheekiness at all.

Second scene. There was a flashback to the day after HJ protested the school’s unfair practice times for archers. YA took note of her objections and personally requested that the archery range be open 24/7 for all tournament participants so they could “devote themselves to their training.” For good measure, he added that the “sole condition for access shall be the observance of protocol and decorum.”

What I found interesting about this scene is HJ’s reaction. I would think that HJ would be over the moon about the new regulation, but she looked displeased, annoyed even. Was it because she thought the last sentence was a subtle dig at her to behave with propriety? Or was it because she was suspicious of his motives?

At any rate, the whole epilogue gave us some context to Huijui’s real feelings for him. On their drive home from the birthday banquet, her assistant asked her why she hated the Grand Prince so much. She replied, “Just because. He’s obnoxious.”

But after this two-part epilogue, I think I understand her better. You see, of all the boys in the academy, he, above all, would have had the “right” to bully her for her lineage (or lack thereof). He was the monarchy, after all. She didn’t expect him to act reasonably, fairly, and honorably toward her and her situation. His unexpected display of “noblesse oblige” challenged her preconceived notion that all people born with privilege, power, wealth, status, etc., were snobbish and despicable. He broke her and that’s why she resented him.

Methinks it’s sour grapes.

2. The shower scene and cheollik

My theory is there’s a link between the two.

Look: the veterans of this site know that I detest shower scenes in kdramas because I view them as:

a) coercing voyeurism on the viewers,
b) desensitizing the viewers to nudity and other sexualized images, and
c) normalizing the culture of sexual exploitation of actors and actresses.

In all my years of watching kdrama, there was never a shower scene so integral to the plot that it couldn’t be deleted from the script. In fact, I think shower scenes have the deleterious effect of distracting the audience from more important details. Take for instance Yi Ahn’s shower scene.

How many viewers remembered the camera:

a) panning over the blood stained cloth (was it his undershirt?) on the table and
b) focusing on the blood stained tile as he showered?

I’m sure other dramasites had posters gushing over the actor’s body but only this blog will daresay that there had been an assassination attempt on YA while he was out hunting. Either that or his firearm accidentally discharged due to a malfunction.

YA was inspecting his rifle when his bodyguard Choi Hyeon (CH) walked in. My guess is he was ruling out mechanical defect and seriously considering that someone had tampered with it.

Hence, to me, he didn’t wear the cheollik just on a whim. I think he did it to taunt his would-be assassins that he survived their shenanigans.

Queen Mother Yun: What matter of attire is this?
YA: His Majesty bestowed this silk upon me some time ago. Is it not to your liking?
Young King: It looks so good on you!
Queen Mother Yun: (interrupting) You must observe decorum. Hunting season has passed.
YA: Do you think hunting is limited to a season?

Touché! He means that there’s always a target on his back as he’s the Regent.

Queen Mother Yun: (compressing her lips in a sign of anger)
YA: You can lecture me later. I must take my sit for all of them to take theirs.

BTW, what’s a cheollik? Yes, we all know by now that it was worn by the Joseon military officers and it has pleats at the waistline. Blah blah blah.

But a picture paints a thousand words. This is a cheollik.

I like that both YA and HJ unconsciously donned outfits evocative of their archery days. He wore a cheollik, and she wore red, the color of her Jujak house, the Vermillion Bird of the South.

Anyway, let’s carry on my assassination conspiracy. Lol. Can you tell that I’m a Washingtonian? 

YA casually mentioned assassination with Prime Minister Min (PM).

PM: How many times have I told you not to run off alone?
YA: Why? Are you afraid I might be assassinated quietly?
PM: I’m more worried about your aide dying from stress. You disappeared, and he came running. You should just be more careful. You’re precious cargo.

To me, it’s possible that he was testing his Prime Minister.

After that, there was an explosion in the palace. YA stood gazing at the blaze and had a flashback of the fire that killed the previous king, his older brother. He was rooted to the spot until Prime Minister Min came running and asked him if he was okay.

PM: Are you unharmed?

Odd, right? I would have assumed that the PM’s first concern would be the welfare of the young king. He should have asked where the king was.

YA didn’t reply. Instead, he asked PM where his nephew was.

YA: What about His Majesty?

Before he could get a response, the Queen Mother Yun stormed up to him and slapped him.

QMY: Do you once more seek the life of another sovereign?

This was another atypical behavior for a mother. For one, she should have been in hysterics: screaming her son’s name and wondering where he was. Her lack of fear told me that she somehow knew her son was safe from harm.

For another, instead of showing terror that her son could have been trapped inside the burning building, her outburst indicated that she was more interested in blaming YA for her husband’s death. This is classic projection. Because we already know the role she played in the death of her husband/the previous king, she accused YA of regicide that she committed.

In short, her reaction to the fire is sus. Of all three people, the PM Min, the Grand Prince Yi Ahn, and the Queen Mother, the Grand Prince showed the most reasonable response.

Then, to keep on with this subject of assassination, the Grand Prince brought it up again, this time with Lord InPyeong who I assume is the father of the Queen Mother and grandfather of the King.

YA: I intend to spend a few days resting at my private residence.
IP: Your private residence? Then who will safeguard the palace, Your Royal Highness? What would we do if you were to leave the palace alone and misfortune befell you?

Interesting, right? This is the second time the Grand Prince’s solitary travel or independent activity was mentioned as a security risk, but I can’t tell how much of their concern was real or feigned.

YA: I thought you would welcome my absence.
IP: (silent)
YA: (laughing) Perhaps I was under the wrong impression. Please give my best to Queen Mother. I was so excited about my time off that I forgot to pay my respects.

Obviously, the person with the most to gain with YA’s assassination would be Lord InPyeong. As the current King was too young to rule, it was highly likely that Lord InPyeong would step in to control his grandson once YA was out of the picture.

Hmmmm… who was that Joseon king who was a puppet of his ministers?

Ah! King Sejong the Great’s grandson, King Danyong.

Sejong is that most-beloved king in Joseon history. (Remember, he invented Hanggul.) After he passed away, the crown went to his first son, Munjong. Obviously.

But Munjong died after two short years, leaving the crown to his 12-year-old first-born son, Danyong. Danyong became the “figurehead,” nominally leading the palace while the ministers and counselors took control over the governance of the state.

Thus, Sejong’s SECOND son, Grand Prince Suyang wrested the power from these politicians and forced the young Danyong to abdicate. Grand Prince Suyang became the king, and he was known as one of the most efficient rulers of the Joseon Dynasty.

His temple name? Sejo.

Interesting enough, Yi Ahn was called “the 21st century Prince Suyang” by the media. The similarity between the two grand princes wasn’t lost on the common folks, and they too had great expectations of Yi Ahn.

To be continued. Off to work now.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

3.  The name changes

4. The couple goals