Good things come to those who wait.
3. Another conspiracy theory: is the current king on medication? Was the late king on drugs?
Just hear me out.
YA made such a big fuss about his nephew/the King eating ramen at night.
HJ: A bowl of ramyeon wouldn’t have taken that long to finish.
YA: And if he suffers indigestion? You would be wholly to blame. And if the Queen Mother is angered?
HJ: Pfft. All that over a measly bowl of ramyeon?
But the following day, Lord InPyeong just nonchalantly walks in the palace bringing a corndog for his grandchild/the King.
IP: Are you quite pleased?
King: Yes. I must prefer this over yakgwa.
IP: (chuckling) Did you sleep well last night?
King: (putting down the corndog, bowing his head, and shaking it)
IP: Did you dream about the late king again?
King: (looking at him)
Seeing that face, Lord InPyeong recalls the day when he prepared the Crown Prince for his wedding day. The Crown Prince’s head was also bowed down and his eyes were downcast.
Crown Prince: I am afraid.
IP: Do not worry, Your Highness the Crown Prince. You will have me by your side—
Then from outside the room, Yi Ahn shouted, “You cannot, Your Royal Highness.” He burst into the room. Lord InPyeong raised arm to bar his path.
IP: Your Royal Highness. The wedding rites are about to commence.
YA: So?
IP: You should take your place out there.
YA: (scoffing)
The interesting thing here is the Crown Prince just stood there, face looking downwards.
IP: (threatening) Should His Majesty learn of this, you will be punished for dishonoring the Crown Prince. Are you prepared for that?
YA: (ignoring him and grabbing his brother by the collar)
IP: (shouting) Your Royal Highness!
To me, the Crown Prince looked oddly out of it. He didn’t resist YA’s forceful grab and his eyes studiously avoided eye contact. He uttered not a word to stop YA from approaching him.
YA: I clearly gave you a chance. Whatever happens from here on, you will have to deal with it yourself.
With his eyes still averted, the Crown Prince blinked and gave an imperceptible nod.
Lord InPyeong resurfaces from his reverie.
King: I’m scared.
IP: Ah. Do not worry, Your Majesty. You will always have your grandfather by your side.
After he smilingly encourages the child to finish the corndog, his face darkens.
Three things:
a. It seems to me that the Crown Prince/Late King – like the current child King – had an anxiety disorder. He was nothing like YA who’s unflappable even in high-profile events and high-stress situations. (Remember YA’s grand entrance at the banquet when he was already late and all eyes were on him? And remember his steely composure at the archery competition?)
If excellence was just the “natural order” for the monarchy, then the Late King’s social anxiety would be viewed with repugnance and contempt because he was going against the “natural order.” (It’s no wonder then that the Queen Mother expressed disgust that her son had the “very likeness of the lake king” at the Entrepreneurs’ Award Ceremony. She blamed her son’s stage fright to her husband’s “feeble bloodline.”)
I wouldn’t put it past the royal physicians to try to find a cure for the Late King’s issue. They could have prescribed or administered anxiety-reducing medications to the Late King in order for him to deal with his anxiety and perform his royal duties.
To me, medications could explain the Late King’s lethargic, sparkless eyes and his sluggish, low-energy vibes. I posit that he was on drugs to cope with stress.
b. The Crown Prince’s wedding day was a stressful day as it was a public event. If there was any day he would be in most need of his anxiety-reducing pills, then this was it.
If he was indeed medicated or under the influence of drugs on the day of his wedding, then I would question his ability to make a rational judgment. I don’t know what ultimatum YA gave to the Crown Prince, but it’s possible that the Crown Prince was not of sound mind at that time.
c. I hope the Queen Mother and/or Lord InPyeong will consider behavioral treatment (or even a lifestyle change) to treat the King’s anxiety, instead of medication.
That’s partly why I’m suspicious of the corndog Lord InPyeong brought. A crushed pill can be inserted into those corndogs.
4. Revisiting Yi Ahn’s reasons for marrying her
In Episode 2, Yi Ahn asked for a list of her qualifications.
YA: So state your terms. I shall personally assess them.
HJ: I have a lot of money.
YA: (guffawing) I was expecting something a little more creative.
HJ: No point in wasting creativity. Arranged marriages are all the same. After all, familiarity makes everything feel better. From the food you eat, to the path you take. Even the clothes you wear. That’s why you reach for them.
She’s blabbering here.
YA: So?
HJ: An assessment of the familiarity. My pedigree is impressive, and my acumen sharper still. I have an older brother, but you don’t need to worry. He’s too dumb to cause any trouble. I know you don’t like it when in-laws overstep.
I think she was trying to play it both ways. She sought to reassure him that she was like any other eligible girl being set up for him, except she was richer and smarter. Moreover, she didn’t have family members who would ask for favors or use family connections to gain advantage (HA! Such a bald face lie.)
YA: What else?
HJ: (flipping her hair) I’ve got a thick skin. A successful woman and the bastard heir to a conglomerate empire. Do you know have any idea how much criticism I face everyday? Your Royal Highness would never know in a million years. It’s better that way. And I will make sure you never find out. So just use me as your human shield.
She pretends to shoot an arrow at him, and he pretends to flick it away.
HJ: We’re getting divorced once the contract is over anyway. And even then, I’ll take the hit.
YA: Anything else?
HJ: (flicking her hair again) Beauty?
YA: (scoffing) And? What else?
HJ: You need more?!
YA: Mmm. What else?
Two points:
a. I think this is all just bravado speaking, and she’s actually flustered by his line of questioning. Remember what I said about her flicking her hair? She isn’t used to pitching a difficult-to-sell product like herself (given her illegitimacy) to a very discriminating buyer (i.e., the Grand Prince).
b. I also think he’s caught-off guard the most by her comment that she was thick-skinned because she received a gazillion criticisms each day. He knew then that he and HJ had a lot in common because he too grew up being criticized by his father all the time. The difference between the two of them is that his painful childhood wasn’t public knowledge.
In this Episode 3, she asks him for his reasons for agreeing to marry her.
YA: What do you want to know?
HJ: Why are you marrying me?
YA: (amused) Isn’t a bit late to be asking that?
HJ: We only made the decision yesterday. Why can’t I be a little curious today?
In other words, she wants him to humor her.
YA: You have a lot of money. The richest in the country, no less.
HJ: Is that your reason?
Personally, I think he’s just mirroring her first reason. It’s cute how they remember words they said in a previous conversation because it demonstrates that they were actively listening.
YA: The most important reason. It would help the royal family, always under fire for squandering taxpayers’ money.
HJ: And what a noble reason it is.
YA: Second. Beauty.
HJ: Beauty? Ahhhh. I guess that finally broke through. (fixing her hair)
YA: Third.
HJ: What? What now? Because my family doesn’t overstep?
YA: If I say I wish to ascend the throne, all would condemn me and hurl insults. But I believe you would understand me.
Four points:
a. Back in the olden days, this kind of admission would be considered treasonous.
b. Remember what I wrote about him in the previous episode? I said that there was symmetry in their marriage goals (e.g., HJ wanted to INHERIT the Castle Group while YA wanted to VACATE the regency) BUUUUTTTTT that YA’s goal might shift his viewpoint should HJ inspire or sway him to stop playing second fiddle.
Well, there you go!
By osmosis, he absorbs HJ’s ambition to break the social “glass ceiling” and adapts it for his own needs. Listening to her grievances opened his eyes to his social “glass ceiling” which is created by an outdated primogeniture law. He’s been stymied and passed over all his life because he was the unwanted son.
c. Originally, he rejected the thought of marriage because that would mean leaving the palace. Now, after discovering how driven, relentless, and indefatigable HJ is, he realizes he has a fighter beside him. If he wishes to ascend the throne, then she’s the best partner to be by his side. They make a good team.
d. That said, I like how HJ insists that she’s good for other things besides money, beauty, and… treason (lol).
She demonstrates that she’s good for other “wifely things.” Like,
Managing his PR
Helping him with his cufflinks
Taking care of his young nephew
Fighting over blanket
Adding aegyeo to his existence
Managing his household staff
Thinking one step ahead of his nemesis, the Queen Mother
Preparing him expensive tea
Bringing him sleeping aids
And supporting him, no matter what.
5. More backstory of HJ’s childhood
I don’t know if it’s the drama’s intention to show a causal correlation between the death of Mrs. Seong (Taeju’s mom) and HJ’s appearance at the Seong residence, but whatever. It’s still traumatic for both children that HJ’s introduction to the household is indelibly linked to Mrs. Seong’s health failure and the demise of the happy family unit. It’s like at every death memorial of Mrs. Seong, HJ is also remembered as the culprit, villain, and killer.
It’s also sad that father and daughter have different interpretations of events in their lives.
In the father’s eyes, HJ was being greedy when she asked for a bike the same as Taeju’s, demanded a building taller than Taeju’s, and ordered his will amended in her favor.
But there could have been plausible good reasons for her requests, like:
For the bike, the child HJ could have wanted a similar bike so she could play with Taeju, race with him, or explore places with him.
For the building, the teenaged HJ could have simply wanted attention from her dad with her outrageous demand because he didn’t even look up from his paperwork.
Lastly for the will, the adult HJ could have wanted the will changed to protect her dad’s empire from being squandered by TaeJu’s mismanagement.
With HJ, not everything is as it seems.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Episode 4 should come out tomorrow.
Hi @pkml3, thanks for doing so much transcription of the dialogues!
I’ve been rewatching Ep 3 with your thoughts in mind. I believe you do make a reasonable case for the dulling of the late King’s senses by drugs of some kind. His fears when faced with a wedding is rather unexpected. I’d think a groom would say he’s nervous, rather than that he’s scared.
So anxiety relief through drugs is definitely a possibility. I was looking up the side effects of medication. Some can cause insomnia (even the little Yi Yoon has trouble sleeping), feeling emotionally flat or less reactive ie it could make a person slow and unresponsive, as the late King had been.
In any case, he did not seem like a man with energy.
YA also has insomnia and bad dreams, and HJ must have suffered insomnia before since she knows the good effects of the tea she brought YA and of magnesium.
Come to think of it, we hear that YA and HJ are sometimes hungry and avoid eating for various reasons.
These people in high places or full of success do not seem to have even their basic needs properly met!!
@pkml3
As you know, I like to watch for the character development, and I’m totally enthralled by the certainty that Show will give us that in both our leads, through their frequent interactions and influence over each other.
I do agree that at one time, YA was not interested in flogging a dead horse and wanted out from the palace, probably biding his time until Yi Yoon came of age. However he has now inserted into his reasons for marrying HJ the little something about how she alone would understand if he chose to ascend the throne.
That would be true, because from Ep 1 she has made it clear that her incompetent brother should not be considered as successor to the Castle Group when she was 10 times more capable. She would completely agree that YA would make a much better and more competent king in the present compared to his little nephew, and would understand his feeling that it would be far better for the nation as well as for his nephew if he did ascend the throne.
He probably knew of course that he’d have made a better king compared to his brother. WRT to that pre-wedding scene in the past, we wait to find out whether YA was protesting against the Crown Prince’s wedding only or something else as well, and what ultimatum he had given his brother.
On his own, YA might never have harboured the thought of being king, but now with a fighter by his side, who is not afraid of being accused of treason, he has considered the ‘unthinkable’ option.
@pkml3, one thing that this Show (and a lot of others) keeps doing is to give us partial revelations to tease us into thinking a situation is ‘A’ and then to reveal more later in the Epilogue or some flashback so that we realise we have been hoodwinked and actually the situation is ‘B’.
That is what I feel about your take on HJ’s ‘demands’ from her father to give her the same or more than what Tae Ju received. HJ has the unfortunate habit of making blunt demands without some lead up and explanation, hence what she asks for sounds like she’s just being greedy or that she’s competing with her brother.
It could be as you say, that she had more noble reasons for her requests but the editor cut off the parts that might have shown them to us. 🤨🧐😒
Thanks, @GB.
You know how time consuming it is to transcribe dialogues because you also do it for your discussions. 🙂 Thank goodness for talk-to-text (the dictation feature) on iphone! (I still have to figure out a way to add the dialogue tags (e.g., Huijui: Omona!) faster.)
But we don’t have any choice but to transcribe when we want to pin down exactly what the characters said and when.
For example, I’m annoyed with viewers who speculate that the young King is born out of wedlock. Weren’t they paying attention to the words?
Back in Episode 2:
QM: How truly contemptible.
Court Lady: Pardon?
QM: I speak of that feeble bloodline. He was the very likeness of the late king at that moment. It sends a chill down my spine.
Also….[spoilers from Episode 4] I wonder if these viewers know math.
Queen UiHyeon: died in a vehicular accident 20 years ago: 2006
King Huijong: died of a heart attack 7 years later (or 13 years ago): 2013
Crown Prince: married during his father’s reign: before 2013
Crown Prince became King Seonjong: 2013
the current King: is currently 8 years old; was conceived nearly 9 years ago: around 2017
–> therefore child isn’t born out of wedlock
King Seonjong: died in a fire: 2023
current king takes the crown: 2023
The current king is definitely King Seongjong’s son unless the QM had a extra-marital affair (which, given her pride/dignity, is as unlikely as a dalmatian losing its spot).
It’s dramas like these when I can discern serious viewers from the empty-headed ones. There are so many funny/titillating/romantic scenes that it’s easy to be enraptured by them to the exclusion of anything else. Serious viewers actively watch the kdramas instead of just focusing on the “feels”.
As for the drugs, sadly, I have seen (and heard of) people who get by their high-pressured jobs with prescribed medication, substance abuse, and alcohol consumption. Thus, it was more in line with MY real-world experience to suspect the late King of taking anxiety-reducing pills. As you said, a wedding should be a happy occasion. At the very least, he could say that he was feeling nervous. But scared??? What a weird thing to say. Did somebody hold a gun to his head or something?
@pkml3 I’m still doing transcriptions in my own notes, hence I take more than double the time for some scenes and episodes. But yes, they are essential to get the correct context and to recall what was really being said.
I like all those scenes where HJ makes YA laugh. He looks like he’s enjoying himself, despite the stresses of the act that they are putting on.
I’m rewatching Ep 4 now. 🙂
Right, @GB?
Both HJ and YA know that, if it was based on meritocracy alone, then they’re the “Perfect Crowns”. But their primary obstacles were their fathers and family circumstances, i.e., HJ was born illegitimate; YA was born the second son.
HJ was upfront with YA that she would rather play dirty and win than play clean and lose. Remember that encounter on the archery training grounds. YA reminded her that she was breaking the rules and showed her his own approval letter.
HJ: But seeing how easily you obtained this approval notice, I guess it was only out of reach for me. So do not lecture me about demerit points or whatever. I intend to enjoy every opportunity my enemies enjoy.
Meaning, she knew she was being selectively discriminated against as the rules only applied to her, not to those the school deemed privileged.
YA: You wish to stoop to their level?
He wasn’t getting the point, of course. He believed that he had a noble dignity to uphold/maintain/preserve so he should remain above the fray always. Never mind if he got beaten each time…
HJ: I’d rather play dirty and win than to play clean and lose.
She walked away then stopped in midstride and returned to stand in front of him.
HJ: (bowing but glaring at him at the same time)
****
As an American, I appreciate HJ’s rebellion. To me, she captured the sentiments of the colonists here in the US towards the British Crown. Lol. My forefathers too felt mistreated and alienated, like second-class citizens to their British cousins.
I agree, @GB.
I find HJ’s aegyeo particularly winsome, not only when she makes YA laugh but also when she interacts with his staff. (Ha! She’s kinder to them that she is with her work staff, isn’t she?)
Maybe I should create a separate thread for screenshots of her aegyo…but I’m still working on Episode 4. First things first.
Dear @PM3 and @GB, late King’s terror on marriage is only natural knowing he was marrying into a cesspool of snakes.
Regrettably it is 2:30 AM and should rest properly.
@FB, Hmmm…
. Perhaps that’s true, however he was expressing his fears to the head snake LOL.
He was sort of relying on his future father-in-law for comfort, but if he knew about the snakes then he should know that FIL was likely the ‘father of all snakes’ in this little drama.
I’m here to say, @pm3, your analysis and breakdown is helping me understand and enjoy this drama more.
I’m seeing the trajectory, they are on route to be the next monarchy or the abolishment of it.
I’m also loving IU’s aegyeo. All her different “faces”. They say the micro expressions, I enjoy them all!
There is an impeccable strength in her that we love for a character. Even when she is hurt, she exude strength. You see her hurt, her tears, her anger but she doesn’t back down. In episode 5, she verbally expresses it and we understand her rationale behind her drive.
YA: “I clearly gave you a chance. Whatever happens from here on, you’ll have do deal with it yourself”
What was he referring to? What chance did he give him? Did I miss something
Do we know how much older the queen mother is than YA?