Moon Lovers Retrospective Ep. 9-10

 Riddled with spoilers… subtle and not so subtle.

One of the riveting aspects of storytelling in this drama can be seen in the way it deploys events or large gatherings of people as a focal point for multiple themes and happenings to coalesce. The gorgeously filmed second rain ritual is one prime example and the other is the family feast during the Chrysanthemum Festival. It’s not a bad way to get it all told when you’ve got such a limited amount of time but a reasonably large cast.

Despite the ethereal beauty of the rain ritual and the epic downpour that follows, the event itself is perhaps the least significant aspect about the sequence. Crowd reaction is absolutely the key to understanding underlying unease. The drought is broken… hooray… everyone’s ecstatic… but soon it’s merely background noise. Attention shifts to more pressing political matters... So has become the man of the hour. Is So the chosen vessel for this miracle or is it a miracle at all? It could well be a coincidence after all. Or dumb luck. That is the question that plagues Yo and the Queen who’s gunning to put him on the throne. They seek a naturalistic answer because their worldview… her influence mostly… is that no one with a blemish could ever be Heaven’s Will. It would be too much of a paradigm shift for their comfort zone. In their thinking, Heaven in its infinite wisdom, would never be so foolish as to choose an outcast with imperfections. However, it isn’t that either mother or son is especially religious but since success at the ritual altar is imbued with profound implications of supernatural sanction, it has political currency. For So it isn’t about being Fate’s Choice or achieving political clout but about gaining familial and social acceptance. Parental approval and love is the prize he seeks. It is the healing agency that he craves. The success of the ritual potentially affects Su and Uk. It was the opportunity of a lifetime that Uk had gambled on to give them both what they were seeking – Su, her freedom and him, his heart’s desire. This public event although has consequences for national security, the individuals at the centre see it as a means of fulfilling private concerns which may in turn impact other corresponding events.

The family gathering during the Chrysanthemum Festival is yet another example of the narrative dexterity of the director/writer. Superficially, the royals act like a family but lying beneath the levity and apparent goodwill are competing agendas brewing. There’s a plot to poison the Crown Prince that involves Queen Yu (Mummy Dearest) and Princess Yeon Hwa who has thrown her lot in with the enemy. Part of the plan is to make Su the scapegoat. Then there’s So, who’s been told that something’s hatching but he doesn’t have all the details. Aside from all of that is Uk, who’s trying to find a good time to tell the King he wants to marry again but is pre-empted by his status-conscious sister who thinks her brother can do far better for himself.

As the camera pans around the room, the audience sees that the stage is set for another piece of political theatre. Those who need to don their masks. The younger siblings, ignorant of what lies beneath the smiles and laughter, provide the perfect cover as the family indulges in a rare show of harmony with drinking games and poetry recitation.

In a bid to demonstrate his loyalty to the Crown Prince and save Su from the hangman’s noose, So engages in his own sideshow. He offers the Crown Prince three cups of tea as a tribute to prevent him from being poisoned. He fears speaking up because it will implicate Su, who’s serving the tea, as co-conspirator. It’s a nerve wrecking sequence and the camera compounds the tension by moving intermittently amongst the conspirators, the man imbibing the poison, the Crown Prince who responds accordingly and the palace maid who has no idea that she’s being targeted.

Here’s another scene where LJG gives a powerhouse performance. I’m constantly flabbergasted by what I my eyes are telling me at this given moment. The way he staggers inhumanly from the pavilion, stricken with poison trying to maintain mastery over his entire circulatory and nervous system is show-stopping stuff. I don’t imagine any of it was airbrushed by the special effects department… I’m fairly certain it’s all him being the consummate professional that he is.

There is something intrinsically likeable about So that even despite the bloodlust, brashness, and presumption, it’s impossible for me to dislike him. It should raise red flags when he tells Su that she’s his person, or he isn’t the least apologetic about kissing her or dragging her out on a whim or threatening the man she likes but it doesn’t. I feel that I should be more put out by his peremptory attitude but mostly I’m charmed and secretly rooting for him to get the girl. Of course it helps that he’s played by LJG who does a stellar job providing a nuanced portrait of the character but there’s more to it and it’s tied to his personal narrative of literally having nothing to lose.

What he has, I think, is authenticity which is rare enough in our world but must be even rarer still in Goryeo. He’s an existential hero in that he lives passionately as he wrestles with the absurdities of his world that hinder him at every turn. He lives large, eschews labels, feels intensely and loves extremely. More important still, he knows what he wants which isn’t much in the scheme of things… and he wants it fiercely. 

His confession to Su is hardly the stuff of Shakespeare or a Tang dynasty poet but what it has going for it is down-to-earth blunt honesty, which we’ve come to expect from his interactions with her. He won’t back down or be fobbed off if he knows he has a sliver of a chance. That aside, it’s not just about her, it’s about him giving himself unconditionally regardless of her attitude. He pulls out the hairpin as a token of his affections and intentions, telling her to chuck it if she finds it distasteful. The beautiful peony hairpin, of course, becomes an important motif in their love narrative signaling the push-pull element of their relationship right to the bitter end.

On this point, I’m of the opinion that he knows her heart better than she knows her own. He senses a deep bond between them… a unique empathy, which could easily turn into something more if it hasn’t already. She’s not just someone who gives him comfort but someone who listens and empathizes. It’s not something he would let go of without a fight (hence the threat to kill the man she likes) because he’s found his treasure…  a rare thing that’s the right fit for him. A man who has nothing has found his something.

Nevertheless, even though he uses terminology that smacks of exerting ownership, it can also mean belonging. Hence, when he says “you are my person”, he is also saying that they belong together… a match… a wandering soul that’s the missing part of him that’s been found. I guess in modern terms, we would call it “soul mate”.

That’s why he cannot (or refuses to) make that distinction between friendship and love. If they indeed belong to each other than it doesn’t matter much what the labels are if the bond exists. Also, it’s clear that So is very much black and white on these sorts of things… and frankly, who can blame him when he hasn’t been given the right kind of direction growing up.

Despite all his shortcomings as a potential lover as well as the lack of elegance in his speech, he makes good on his grand declarations and proves in no uncertain terms what he means when he says Su is “my person”. He is willing to go to the extent of laying his life down for her. It helps me to understand too why So never caught on to the fact that Uk was Su’s secret love. I don’t think it is even within his nature to even conceive that a man who loves a woman could ever turn his back on her and abandon her when she needs him most. Where relationships are concerned, he is an all or nothing guy.

It’s not hard to see why Su is reluctant to throw the hairpin away even when she’s finally offered a proposal of marriage from the other guy. She’s not one to cast people aside easily anyway, especially someone who’s had as much emotional baggage as he has. I imagine she’s also wavering because her relationship with So is not as simple as the label “friendship” might suggest. Despite his uncouth ways, his sincerity is undeniable. She knows him well enough to know that much. On top of that, he seems to know what she needed when she had the mother of all panic attacks. Sure, he dragged her out on a whim but the sea air was precisely the pit stop they had to have to take stock and recover a little of their earlier camaraderie.

What do we make of the visions of future So as seen by Su? At the time of airing, there was much speculation about what they meant. I suggested in my previous post that it was divine intervention to keep Su at a reasonable distance from So as he’s “destined” for “bigger” things. It isn’t just because she saw a vision of So killing Eun but she saw him as Gwangjong the brother-killing King of history. Dumping those images right in front of her in quick succession scared the living daylights out of her. She had barely gotten over the first and then came the second. She’s knows from history that Gwangjong was a bloody monarch from his political purges so the second image played into that knowledge and refuelled the fear. In light of that, the thought that she might be the one to set him on his present trajectory must have terrified and stricken her. That he would change from being the “good guy” to some mindless killing machine would certainly be a huge… happily-ever-after romance killer.

All throughout the drama establishes and reiterates several characteristics about Su:

• ·      Su hates people changing on her so she remains steadfast to prevent that.
• ·      She can’t help but meddle in things if she thinks she can make a difference.
• ·      She believes in individual freedom and the expression of it
• ·      Su values relationships to the point where she cannot jettison people around her even if it would be pragmatic to do so.
• ·      She sees herself as some kind of self-appointed mediator
• ·      She doesn’t want the brothers fighting amongst themselves especially over her.
• ·      She ‘s caught between So and his brothers for her entire stopover in Goryeo.

It would, therefore, be a huge understatement that Su doesn’t really fit into the palace dynamics. Yes, she might shake things up but at the end of the day, it’s a huge burden on her rather fragile shoulders.

Not only does a single event in this drama have multiple meanings for different characters, there are multiple consequences that create a domino effect. For instance, So is seen by Jeong taking Su out of the palace and that adds to the ongoing tension between those full brothers. Furthermore, it lights the fire under Uk who finally broaches the subject of marriage now for definite fear of losing Su. But before he can get a definitive answer out of Su, Court Lady O barges into their tryst. Uk, who’s my residence Prince Almost, doesn’t get the answer he’s looking for but it doesn’t stop him making plans, which aren’t greeted with enthusiasm by Yeon Hwa who promptly makes her own move to bolster her own position.

Yeah, no one can say this show doesn’t move at breakneck speed.

Of course the wicked don’t rest and since they’re always trying to gain more power, there’s always some new scheme in the wings. Whether it’s trying to cause a schism between the Crown Prince and the 4^th Prince or poison the Crown Prince outright, it’s relentless. Innocents like So, Su and even Uk are caught in the crossfire even when they’re not especially interested in the power games. Whatever good that’s done gets undone in the next instance.

Sadly, all of Su’s well-intentioned good-doing have flow on effects that are used against her. We have been fairly warned: There is no escaping the toxic nature of the palace and the fight for supremacy over the throne.

This retrospective is based on the SBS broadcast version. Subtitles for this episode can be found at Darksmurf Subs.

Moon Lovers Retrospective Ep. 8

Spoilers, spoilers, everywhere...

Moon Lovers has an unpleasant habit of showing hard-earned progression in the relationship between Su and So and undermining it in the next instance. As a self-confessed fan of the pairing it’s an exercise in frustration but narratively I can see its design. On hindsight it seems like these are hints and markers indicating that the entity often referred to as Heaven’s Will in these dramas has no interest in accommodating the couple in question and seeing them romance in a hurry. The road they travel on is a path of much resistance, accompanied by seemingly insurmountable odds, possibly providing omens of the grief that is to come. Just when either one is able to savour a moment of personal triumph, another obstacle presents itself. Like an unwelcomed interloper, Heaven's Will/Fate rears its cold, ugly head interfering like a pot plant falling from the top of ten-storey building and landing on top of the old noggin.

I wanted to include the discussion of the birthday unmasking here because of its contrastive juxtaposition with the next unmasking event in this episode. The earlier unmasking is concerned with shame and pride while the one that comes before the rain offering speaks to liberty and triumph.

Yo is a right royal scumbag and that’s hardly news at this point. He nudges, needles and pokes at peoples weaknesses until he gets the reaction that he sadistically finds pleasure in. Manipulating Eun to manipulate Su may seem like a petty sort of manoeuver for a man who aspires for the throne but it has the effect of a wrecking ball running right through a newly built but shaky structure of fraternal goodwill among other things. It's also his way of creating a roadblock to So's attempts to belong. The scar is not the main thing here but So’s pride: A defence mechanism against being mercilessly insulted over the years. Yo knows what the mask and the scar means… it’s an open sore festering away… Making that his target, it’s a declaration of war and So is not someone who can back down from a fight even if it kills him.

Nevertheless psychological warfare is not something So is quite adept at yet. There’s far too much emotional baggage that needs unpacking first. Before the swords are drawn, the game of thrones is firstly a battle of minds. So has proven that he is indeed mighty with the sword but for a man who would be King, he would have to overcome his personal pain and be free of them. Moreover perception of the entire situation is complicated by the realization that he’s in love with Su and his pride born out of the need to hide his wounds cannot stand the thought that she of all people would look on him with pity. It turns out later that So is more hard hit by what he thinks of as Su’s reaction than he is with the humiliation of having his scar exposed. Or maybe it’s a reaction to the humiliation of being humiliated in front of the girl he likes.

For about half the episode So throws an extended temper tantrum and gives Su the silent treatment. It’s rather endearing not just because I don’t have to deal with an angry man-child living in my house but because he’s a someone who doesn’t quite have the tools to process all his newfound emotions. I can only imagine that he last thing he wants most probably is for the girl he likes to treat him like a pathetic lost puppy. For a guy who really wanted to impressed I’m sure he was looking for pity like a hole in the head.

Equally endearing is Su doing her best to mollify an angry 4^th Prince. To get back into his good books, she’s cooked up an elaborate scheme with Baek-A. The idea that she’s trying very hard to the point of frustration appeals to me because it tells me that she cares more than a little about her relationship with So and by extension the man himself. Of course it could purely be egotism on her part but I have a much better view of Su than that. In fact, I am someone who thinks that Su already has growing feelings for So and that she revels in this friendly-adversarial relationship with him although she hasn’t worked out the entire mechanics of it yet. Her infatuation of Uk doesn’t, in my opinion, preclude that possibility, as her relationships with these two men aren’t that neat and tidy whatever she herself might think. At the end of the day, she is navigating around some manifestly extraordinary circumstances.

All of Goryeo is in grip of a drought so Damiwon is closed for business. After all, having nice baths and drinking nice tea is a luxury when most of the country are hard pressed trying to get clean water to cook and drink with. This means that Su isn’t as readily accessible for chats and touchy-feelies. They end up meeting, with some help from Chae Ryeong, in the bath cave that leads directly to Damiwon. As far as they’re concerned it’s a nifty idea but for me it’s a perfect metaphor for the kind of relationship that they’re conducting. Su fancies herself in love with Uk and he with her but their conversation in the cave shows a nebulous awareness that she’s treading on thin ice. It isn’t just about precariousness of what they’re engaged in (meeting in secret) but that the notion of waiting is a sensitive one. Note how she tries to comfort him, to make him feel better when she’s the one who’s taken a hit and been demoted to being a palace maid. Obviously she knows he feels a certain measure of guilt over her present condition and so feels guilty about him feeling guilty.

But why should she feel obliged to try so hard? Apart from tying a pretty little bracelet and asking her to never take it off, what has he offered her in return for taking such a large risk? He hasn’t mentioned marriage, only the prospect of things returning to what they were. Which is what? Going back to his residence? To do what? Make soap? To what end? Back to being his late wife’s cousin that he was secretly romancing on the side?

Uk is hedging his bets on the eventual success of the rain offering. When the rain comes pouring down, the King will take the opportunity to perform special acts and one of them involves releasing a maid from service into civilian life. He promises to speak to the King about the matter and obtain special dispensation on her behalf.

All of this, of course, depends entirely on what transpires at the rain offering and the King’s will, variables that Uk has absolutely no control over. But he gives the impression that it’s a done deal because he then promises that he’ll have all the necessary ingredients prepared for her to start making soap again. He’s talking up their little utopia fantasy in part to give her hope but without much substance, it may turn out to be a false hope.

This, I think, is the problem with Su being a 21^st century girl. She’s exercising her liberty to have a romance like she would in 21^st century Korea except that the guy she’s with isn’t just any kind of guy. He isn’t even just any kind of rich guy or even a chaebol level rich guy. It could be that she’d been watching too many dramas. For a palace maid to be having cave assignations with a prince is highly, highly illegal. The kind of “illegal” that leads to death. It’s not as if she’s merely faced with parental objections along a status divide, the fact is she’s really not in any position to be romancing anyone in particular. She’s not just a nobody at the lower end of the food chain, she’s a nobody that belongs to the King. This entire scenario fits under the category of "palace indiscretion."

Still I can understand how it’s so easy to get suck into their little romance especially when looking at it from 21^st century lenses. What’s the harm in a little romance? They both glow from being with one another.

I know I’ve done my fair share of Uk bashing in these retrospectives but honestly, what to do, he’s a soft target. While he’s ridiculously handsome, supposedly the cleverest prince of them all, yet he keeps saying and doing things that give me pause. I don’t necessarily question his intelligence but his judgment. He’s ripe for mockery. There’s Eun of course, but he’s very low hanging fruit and more often than not, a plot device in these early days.

However, it isn’t just Uk bashing for its own pleasure but to show the progression of his “greed”… that it began quite early on with his propensity to make empty promises due in part to his own awareness of his powerlessness and in part due to his desperation to cling on to a romance that is fraught with difficulties.

Ji Mong continues to intrigue as he shows a little of his hand in the chess game that is the sovereignty of fate and the free will/machinations of man. It’s clear that he’s pushing for So to be the man of the hour at the rain offering so what does he know that no one else does? He calls himself the set up guy. He has all the pieces in place but for some reason he either respects the freedom of the individual to act or he knows that they will act according to predictable lines. Hence, does he (and by default, the show) subscribe to the belief that character is destiny?

The rain offering is central to this discussion of how free is man in making his own choices and how much of it is fate or some divine hand at work. Are people truly free in their choices? Or do they choose merely according to who they are? The audience knows already that Wang So is to become the fourth ruler of Goryeo. However, how much of that is a fixed point in history and can that be altered? In his present state encumbered by his personal impediments, Wang So seems far removed from the prospect of becoming King.  His deep emotional wounds, his facial scar, an outsider in the family dynamics clinging to for dear life to belong, all these are serious challenges that obviously need to be overcome before the throne can be his.

Ji Mong obviously knows this and we have an inkling that it’s the reason why, in science fiction terms, he’s teleported Go Ha Jin, a 21^st century woman with her own emotional baggage back a thousand years. The mechanics of how he brings her back with him is never disclosed in detail except it’s somehow related to a solar eclipse. Her personality, her background and even her occupation evidently makes her eminently suited for what Ji Mong is trying to achieve in the long run but the devil, as they say, is in the details.  It becomes clearer from this incident that his endgame is to see Wang So fulfill his destiny… ie. to eventually become King. On his own and in the state he is in, he is far from being able to do so. Therefore it seems he needs a nudge in the right direction. Go Ha Jin aka Hae Su is that nudge. She will be that instrument/vehicle to get him there. As to how, that’s the part that’s much more complex, fraught with human foibles. It isn’t just her skills that are required but her the core of who she is. Her empathy, her kindness, her falling in love with him are all means to that end. On a certain level it is irrelevant to Ji Mong whether they live happily ever after although if that looks to come between So and the throne, he will intervene.

“But I am only somebody who sets it up, I cannot force anyone.”

Looking at this from a time travelling-science fiction perspective, this is how I understand the main storyline. In this universe, Wang So has got an impediment and other psychological baggage that prevents him from fulfilling his destiny of becoming King but it cannot be rectified by anything in 1^st century Goryeo. Enter Ji Mong, either working for a higher authority or a cosmic busybody who fancies himself a fixit time traveller, goes to the 21^st century to find the right element to get the ball rolling:  A woman, more specifically a good-hearted makeup artist with simple notions of human equality and personal freedom that will help get Wang So back on the path that he was meant to tread. It could be love, it could be friendship or just a relationship of mutual self-interest. Love, of course would be best because it’s what the shrink ordered for So. That aside, it would create a deep, lifelong bond that would have influence that extend beyond the grave. Nonetheless, Ji Mong’s priority is not to create a fairytale ending but to ensure that history gets back on track.

Ji Mong is undoubtedly embroiling Go Ha Jin in a Machiavellian game in which there’s no guarantee that things will end well for her in Goryeo. How she achieves it, he’s not too concerned but he is confident that she will be able to do it in her own indomitable style. Love will come with its complications – people will get hurt, people will die, some will leave, anomalies will emerge -- but in his calculations, it will effectively take a gifted prince with zero self-esteem to the throne and he will become a great king… certainly one of the greatest in the Goryeo dynasty because he fell in love with a woman with anachronistic notions of freedom and equality.

It may be that I’m simplifying the situation somewhat but I believe this is the best way to think about the journey and the destination. Prince Wang So who hides behind the scar needs a boost to his morale but he won’t get it from anyone in Goryeo where he’s shunned, despised and mocked. Only an outsider who still believes in his humanity and him deserving a second chance can hold his hand through this hurdle... and give him a reason to be King.

Whatever kind of hand the divine component has in all of this, the human instrumentality is never far away. Ji Mong is not the only person plotting and instigating, Queen Yu and Prince Yo are also working behind the scenes to make the rain ritual work in their interest. It is the Queen and So who realize that far from being an act that invokes the supernatural for aid, the rain ritual is a political stunt to appease the superstitious commoners that their aristocratic leaders are doing something to deal with the drought. On a certain level the one who leads the ritual is something of a show pony but if rain does come as a result of his exertions, it will empower him and boost his chances of ascending the throne. It’s political theatre at its most egregious. A wonderfully constructed three-ring spectacle: The scheming, the seeming and the doing.

The madness of course does have method that runs deep as seen in the conversation between Ji Mong and So in the observatory. A little pep talk as it were but it also gives insight into So’s open wound lurking beneath the mask. He’s been living with the pain of being abandoned, living worse than a butcher’s son. Born as a prince whose birthright has been cast aside and disdained, a prince who is grappling with his own existence while being marginalized by his own family. Ji Mong knows So is destined for greater things but this is a major hurdle that he needs to overcome to become the man he is capable of being. The beauty of it is that he won’t have to do it alone.

The four times we see So unmasked, Su is present. In the first, he’s preparing for a ritual soak in Damiwon when she emerges from out of the water. The second, at Eun’s birthday celebration and the third, she proactively comes to him with the promise that she will unmask him. The pattern is that she is integral to his healing. I won’t say that she changes him because at his core he doesn’t change but she’s definitely the primary agent of healing in his life.

This third unmasking is a crucial moment not just in So’s journey to the throne but also in their relationship. So, who had been craving for some kind of affection most of his life is now receiving genuine care. It may not be romantic love but for a man dying of thirst, it’s pouring rain to a parched soul. Su might think she’s doing a good deed to restore dignity and boost the confidence of someone she cares about but So feels loved and with characteristic intensity he knows he’s found something to be passionate about, something to give his life to.

To some degree he is right. It signals a change in the dynamic of their relationship. It has gone beyond trust. The moment she laid her hands on his face, there was intimacy too. She encroached his personal space and touched his wound, not to rub into mercilessly but to cover it up and bring healing. When he leans over into her space for a kiss, it is a response to their newfound intimacy but he knows from the way her body stiffens that she’s not ready yet.

However, she is not untouched by this gesture. Aside from being overwhelmed, she is deeply affected to the point she wavers as evidenced by her clutching of her wrist and then moving to the bracelet... as if to remind herself that she's spoken for. From a type of bickering empathy their relationship has advanced into something quite intimate.

This is why their conversations always come across as being substantive and meaningful. There's an empathetic bond that runs deep. When she visits him in his boat, they talk about the meaning of life as is often their habit. She is his willing confidante even when he snaps behind a gruff façade. In return he offers her a healthy dose of reality. So understands that life is hard in a way none of the other princes do or have. Uk may have experienced a major setback but nothing to the point where he is denigrated as something less than human. So, on the other hand, has had to wrestle with life on an ontological level as exemplified by the bestial tags that’s dogged him his entire life. To her credit Su understands and brings empathy to the table. She realizes the masked scar is the symbol of his lack of confidence in his own existence that has kept him in darkness and in the periphery of the world he wants to be a part of.

When So says that she’s his person. It’s an all-encompassing term. We moderns may balk at it because it smacks of obsession and/or possession but for him, as we’ll come to see, it means trust, steadfastness, responsibility, care and even self-sacrifice.

However, Heaven/Fate acts in other mysterious ways to intervene in this blossoming relationship. Perhaps it’s not time yet. Perhaps they are not meant to be. Perhaps there is a long journey ahead that needs to be undertaken before consummation can occur. In that moment of triumph when their eyes meet across the courtyard, Su sees a vision of So as the bloody monarch, Gwangjong and it shakes her to the core.

This retrospective is based on the SBS broadcast version. Subtitles for this episode can be found at Darksmurf Subs.

Moon Lovers Retrospective Ep. 7

As usual this post contains a myriad of spoilers for past, present and future episodes.

From this episode it’s much clearer that Su and So embark on parallel trajectories after something of a detour. Both now reside in the palace partly as refugees in a broad sense but mostly as outsiders, trying to fit in but generally made to feel their place in this status-conscious dog eat dog environment. Here we are privy to their respective journeys to negotiate their way in the palace and how they fit into the bigger political landscape.

This is one of my favourite episodes in the entire drama. Not only is it pivotal to the overall storyline and poses a minor game changer, it provides a preamble to the dynamics of the sibling relationships and pave the way for the major threads to intersect. The episode also signals a shift in a number of recurring themes such as scars, masks, sibling rivalry and spotlights an uncomfortable reminder that the game of thrones is never very far away.

Eun’s birthday celebrations might be his to enjoy but not much of it is actually about him. It’s a vehicle that sets the stage for sibling tensions already brewing beneath the surface. It’s a dysfunctional family unit trying to play together but not everyone cares to play nice. Clearly Wang Yo under the tutelage of Mummy Dearest has never heard the saying, ”the family that plays together stays together.” Play together they do but even then the battle lines are already clearly drawn with brothers aligning themselves in very specific ways.

Uk continues to cocoon Su in their private fairytale. He's not unaware of the insurmountable problems in maintaining this relationship but he can’t give up this rare sliver of happiness that he’s basking in. Like a giddy schoolgirl, starry-eyed Su wallows in the glow of the thought of being in love but it’s a dangerous game that they’re both playing considering her current status and his of course. Again there’s nothing especially substantially specific about Uk’s so-called promises. In fact, he doesn’t promise anything concrete but demands a lifetime commitment. Scratch the cute and the swoon factor, and all that’s underneath is a hollow iceberg. Still the swoon factor is strong with this one and very hard to resist. A hapless Su navigating the lost art of literacy is star struck by the elegance and the charisma and falls prey to the pretty words hook, line and sinker. He is undoubtedly a character right out of one of her childhood fairytales.

The cheesy side of this romance primarily serves to highlight the unreality of it. It’s a smart strategy on his part to try and ensure that she is tethered to him for as long as possible with the gifting of the bracelet and the baggage that goes along with that. However, as far as hastening the consummation of the relationship, it’s all quiet on the home front. Which I imagine is quite deliberate. After living such a stodgy existence, entertaining a secret, proscribed relationship must have more than a little appeal. But it’s pre-empting the external objections that is most tricky. Within this kind of context, it’s easier to make promises than to fulfill them. It’s easier to romance a palace maid in secret than to tell mum and dad that you want to marry her. It’s much easier to bind a bracelet to a scarred palace maid than to deal with the social and political fallout from being with her.

Lip service allows him to have his romance in his cocoon without reality getting in the way. In this fashion, his powerlessness as a prince doesn’t rankle quite as much. He is not reminded of what he lacks when he doesn’t have to deliver immediately. He can play to his heart's content without dealing with pressing realities. But it’s a nice little game only if there’s no competition… no alternative on offer.

There’s an instructive contrast early on in the episode, following on from the previous one. Apparently So hangs around waiting for Su to emerge as she reports in on her first day at Damiwon. A bubbly, overly optimistic Su chuffed about how Damiwon is such a good fit is rebuked in no uncertain terms by an angry, highly concerned So. His “You could have died.” is a much-needed cold, wet blast of reality to her seemingly endless, effervescent chatter.

“If the wound had been any deeper, you would have died!” 

No one can accuse So of not getting down to brass tacks.

In an instant, the mood changes. Su is now forcibly directed to deal with the 300kg elephant in the room.

Her voice dips and softens. “But I’m not dead, am I?” Attempting feebly to provide an optimistic spin while acknowledging the charge.

So ever the voice of reason retorts in response, “How is it to live with a scar on your body… did it even cross you mind?”

In this entire exchange, So brings his brand of raw honesty to the table. In this palace, there is no place for any kind of irrational optimism. His words to her are stripped bare of sentimentality and yet dripping with grave concern. He’s the right man for the job because of his own experience as a scarred outcast forcing Su to deal with the potentially horrifying ramifications of her fateful decision. A decision she made in desperation to protect what measure of choice she had left. Incidentally So made a similar gesture for his own liberty in the first episode when he entered Songak for the first time slashing the horse that had carried him from Shinju.

The beauty of this discussion is two-fold. First, it’s about her and her powerlessness. In her powerlessness, she was able to make one final choice to survive her way, without relying on anyone. As none of the princes could save her, she had to save herself in the only way she could. Secondly, it shows in a backhanded way how deeply So cares about Su. (“You foolish girl!”) His words may sound harsh and accusatory but his heart is definitely in the right place. He is shocked at the extent she would go to safeguard her liberty… even to the point of putting her own life at risk. It’s clear that he’s made her personal safety his concern. (“Don’t do this again. I won’t forgive you.”) It is to her credit that she’s able to see beyond that mask. (“I’m not a lone, so it doesn’t matter… With Your Highness around, why would I be alone?”

So knows only too well what it means to be an outsider in a palace obsessed with rank and appearance. The newly-formed scar, the demotion to palace maid… they are nothing to laugh or sing about in Goryeo. No matter how much optimism she casts on her present condition, the reality is that she is more powerless than she ever was and she will now be an object of scorn as well.

As a 21^st century woman, a scar is the least of her concerns especially if it’s largely hidden but for a prince, who desperately wants to be loved, a scarred face is a curse for life, the bane of his existence. The mask is no mere gimmickry. For the 4^th Prince it symbolizes a life in darkness, the pain of familial rejection and his lifelong struggle with his inner demons. And yet, it will be the mechanism by which he surrenders to the influence of love in his life.

So is eager to adapt to the palace and its civilizing influence. In part it fulfills his need to belong and in part to shed his bestial reputation while undergoing the process of regaining his humanity, as it were. Although being part of family is the key reason for wanting to remain in Songak, there is a sense where he continues to be positioned in the periphery (the birthday feast and the lake pavilion concert) even in largely family events. Ironically Su is far better able to “fit in” than So is but maybe it helps that she’s prettier...

Since the show completed its first run, I’ve come to see the birthday concert by the lake pavillion in a different light. Once upon a time it seemed to me to be a light-hearted diversion shoe-horned just for the sake of a bit of light cheese but now taken as part of a longer trajectory, it’s becomes a significant moment not just because it’s when So realizes that he is in love with Su. In this gathering it’s a moment we see a collective love for Su of which So is a part of. It’s telling as the camera pans around and focuses on the smiling expressions of each prince as they respond to her simple, unfettered optimism and positive contribution to the family dynamic. The singing, of course, is the catalyst not an end. She’s a woman in love and greatly beloved… She’s friends with 5 out of 7 princes… all must be well with the world. What more could a girl want?

Tragically this overflow of deep affection (whatever form they end up taking) will become a millstone round her neck. While they all move on to play the game of thrones, she will be trapped in this time capsule until her death. She will vociferously refuse to pick sides or get caught up in the turning of brother against brother… probably to her own emotional detriment. Her attachment to each of them will be her lifelong burden and yet she will be the hand of restraint on the almighty King Gwangjong. The price will be her freedom and her love. She will gain everything and throw it all away… to keep the peace. In Bradleyian terms, it is her fatal flaw. Admirable in her steadfastness but monumentally frustrating for never wanting to take sides much to the confusion of the one who ends up being the great love of her life.

Yeon Hwa continues to be Su’s consistent character opposite and maybe potential rival in love although Yeon Hwa doesn’t really do love in the way that we understand it. Girl wants to get married but has a tough time meeting the right guy. She’s still smarting and losing sleep about being thrown out of the palace that one time so getting married is about making sure that never happens again. She’s looking for her sugar daddy but even when he brings the sugar, she feels sick in her gut and hankers for meat.

Marrying for survival is not especially objectionable if that’s the context one lives in but YH, despite all her yapping, she isn’t just aiming to marry for survival. She’s eyeing the top job in no uncertain terms. She comes across as being complicated and even gives the impression of being intelligent but her best qualities are really audacity and manipulation.

While I have some sympathy for her plight as a woman in Goryeo not having too many options, at the end of the day she’s a bit of a one-note diva princess. And quite frankly a first class spoilt brat. The reality is, let’s face it, nobody in Goryeo has endless choice options, not even the King. But she’s still a princess and while she can be demoted or exiled or killed, a person that has servants at her beck and call is still better off than the average peasant. There are times when the temptation to say, “Suck it up princess.” is quite overwhelming.

This episode also sees the introduction of the Great General Pak Su Gyeong and his bear-hunting daughter. The Great General as it turns out is something of a mentor to our dark prince in his exile. He offers our dark prince a timely word of advice about the ultimate home truth regarding Songak… the game of thrones has only one winner. The winner takes all and there’s no room for consolation prizes.


This retrospective is based on the SBS broadcast version. Subtitles for this episode can be found at Darksmurf Subs.