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Rooftop Prince: Episode 20 (Final)

Well, wouldn’tcha know: Here’s a surprisingly satisfying ending for a series that was in danger of losing its way on multiple occasions. We finally get at the truth of the big Joseon mystery, and I was pleasantly surprised with how well it worked with the plot we’ve seen thus far, and the characterizations of our characters (in both time zones).

I’ve always wanted to go back to the Joseon times more, and missed the story that got left hanging after the first episode, so I was reminded of how I felt when beginning the show. It makes me think that it was a shame the show didn’t capitalize on the past storyline more, though I can see that the whole point was in making the future the key to the past.

In any case, if a flagging drama had to pull out one really strong episode amid a bunch of middling ones, the finale sure is the place to do it. It seems viewers agreed, since the finale pulled Rooftop Prince into first place after giving up that slot to Equator Man for weeks; it went out with a 14.8%, while Equator closed with a 14.1%. The King 2 Hearts ended on an 11.8% rating.

SONG OF THE DAY

Fanny Fink – “Hear Song” [ Download ]

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FINAL EPISODE RECAP

Yi Gak disappears from the modern world, leaving Park-ha crying on her lonely rooftop. As for the other side of the wormhole? We find Yi Gak reappearing in his own era, still dressed in his wedding suit, sitting in a barn.

It’s a strange sight for the locals, and he attracts stares as they pass by the marketplace. Then a team of policemen barrel through the crowd right for him, yelling, “Stop! Capture him!” Who, me? turns into OhcrapRUN!

As he flees, he literally runs right into Chi-san, who’s also running, still dressed in the same shorts and flip-flops he was in when he disappeared from the 21st century. Wait, have you been running for two whole days? Or does the wormhole dump all travelers into the same time, despite staggered departures?

Lucky for them, these are incompetent officers who lose him in plain sight. Though I suppose since they’re Prince Yi Gak’s line of defense, maybe not so lucky after all.

The boys briefly split up in the chase, and when Yi Gak finds Chi-san, he’s unconscious in the street with blood smeared on his face. He moans in pain… and then licks the blood away—ketchup, his favorite trick—and asks, “They’re gone, right?” HA, and now it makes sense why Chi-san was eating a hamburger in the car when he vanished, because now he clutches a small foil ketchup packet. Handy, that.

They’re safe from the authorities, but now the problem is how to get back to the palace without being immediately cast away as crazies. Thankfully, Yi Gak spies something in the distance: two ordinary-looking Joseon men, drinking from beer cans. Haha.

Looks like Man-bo and Yong-sool’s ever-present backpacks saved their hides after all. They didn’t leap with Joseon money, but they were able to trade a pack of gum for a full meal; a little modern marvel goes a long way.

Thirsty Yi Gak reaches for a drink, but the can is empty and Yong-sool reminds him (a little defensively, heh) that they were responsible for their own belongings. (As in, If you wanted one, you should’ve packed one.) Fortunately, Man-bo thought to pack the prince’s royal garb, which eliminates their biggest concern.

Elsewhere, Minister Hong—Bu-yong and Hwa-yong’s father—is informed of the prince’s shocking reappearance at the palace, which he does not take as good news. If Dad’s reaction weren’t enough to tip us off that he’s secretly aligned against the prince, how about the fact that his partner (dun dun dun!) has Tae-mu’s face? (Apparently his name is Muchang-gun, but no need to introduce new names at this point, is there? Joseon Tae-mu it is.)

Minister Hong angrily tells Joseon Tae-mu that the prince was reportedly taken care of last night when he was chased through the forest. Ahh, so the boys have returned just one day after their initial time-leap, and Joseon Tae-mu did try to assassinate him. Heh, so his incompetence as a murderer spans time and space; good to know some things are consistent.

Lord Tae-mu gets up, takes his sword out, and slices down the two henchmen stationed outside: “It appears that the assassins made a mistake last night.”

The ducklings return to the palace to meet the prince after having some time to go home, see their families, and dress in their old clothing. They’re puzzled at the inconsistency of the time lapse as well, which resulted in one sisterly, “Ew, gross, get away,” when Man-bo gave his sister a bear hug in relief, since she’d just seen him the day before.

They wonder if it could have been a dream, and at Man-bo’s modern reply of, “No way, that’s crazy,” Yi Gak reminds them all to remember their Joseon mannerisms. Ha, now they’re fish out of water in their own time zones. Talk about monster jet lag.

Now that everyone’s back in their rightful places, it’s time to turn their attention to that mystery. The prince orders his team to set up a special division at the Euigeumbu (the Joseon department investigating crimes under the king’s decree), and to summon the princess’s family there.

Bu-yong’s mother can’t understand the summons, and she’s still grieving for her daughter. But Minister Hong understands the greater politics at play and declares that it’ll all be over soon: “Either I will die, or the Crown Prince will.”

Thus they are rounded up and brought before Yi Gak, who asks if they understand why they’re here and where Bu-yong is. Minister Hong claims complete innocence regarding Hwa-yong’s death, and his wife explains that Bu-yong is shut in her room, suffering from a contagious disease.

But Yi Gak isn’t here to find out answers, but to reveal them. He begins with the death seven days ago:

In flashback, we see Bu-yong looking wistfully at the prince, hidden around a corner as he walks through the courtyard. She trips and falls, dropping a cosmetics container with powder, which spills to the ground.

Yi Gak comes up behind her as she’s crouched on the ground and has a little fun teasing her. He offers his hand, tsk-tsks about her tripping yet again, and asks about the dropped container. Bu-yong identifies it as face powder sent to the princess by their older brother.

Yi Gak is delighted to hear that she hasn’t been able to figure out his puzzle—what dies though it lives, and lives though it dies?—and says that if she doesn’t produce the answer by tomorrow, he wins.

Bu-yong visits unni Hwa-yong in the palace and makes her deliveries: the powder from their brother, and a letter from their father. Bu-yong notes that the powder smells a little different, wondering if it’s because it’s from China, and asks to take a look. But Hwa-yong—who opened the letter looking disturbed—snaps at her not to touch it, rattled by whatever Daddy wrote her. To kill the prince, perhaps?

There’s one last thing, and Bu-yong hands over a new handkerchief she has embroidered for the prince. But Hwa-yong is so upset by the letter that she barks at Bu-yong to leave.

Bu-yong arrives home while Joseon Tae-mu is sitting with her father, and the two men clam up at the sight of her. Curious at their unfamiliar guest, Bu-yong asks her mother about him, and learns that he is Muchang-gun, the prince’s half-brother. He’s such an obscure prince that Bu-yong has never heard of him, but that’s because he was kicked out of the palace when he was three, when his mother was dethroned.

Bu-yong starts to wonder at the curious circumstances, especially when her mother dismisses her questions and says vaguely that it’s Dad’s business. The clues are too odd to ignore, and she muses that the powder didn’t smell like cosmetics. She remembers her father’s letter, which she was instructed to bring back after the princess had read, which she forgot to convey back to Dad.

Bu-yong takes it out and reads the ominous contents: “Your Highness, today is the day. Listen to your father’s words carefully, you must not make a mistake.”

Bu-yong understands that a plot is under way, just as Minister Hong remembers that he was supposed to get the letter from her. He sends his underling (brother? son?) to retrieve it, which is found in Bu-yong’s room, open and clearly read.

She’s gone, though, having raced away to the palace, desperate to interrupt the deadly plot. Joseon Tae-mu can’t have that and orders his men to capture her, killing her if necessary. His coup is on the line.

As Bu-yong runs, we hear the rest of the letter’s contents: That Hwa-yong is to handle the dried persimmons at their nightly tea, distracting the prince long enough to sprinkle the powder on top.

So Hwa-yong presents the prince with his new handkerchief, and while he admires it, she poisons the persimmon and serves him tea. He comments that he met her sister today, and that he saw her tripping and spilling that face powder. The longer he talks, the more nervous Hwa-yong gets, shaking in guilt and fear.

Just as he reaches for the persimmon, Bu-yong is announced. She has to explain her presence somehow, and Hwa-yong rebukes her for ignoring the rules, telling her to come back tomorrow. Both sisters distractedly eye the persimmons—one needs the prince to eat it, the other is relieved they’re yet untouched.

Yi Gak is in a generous mood, though, so he allows her to stay and asks what she has to say. Bu-yong replies that she has solved the puzzle, making him chuckle. He’d told her she had until tomorrow, so this is her way of winning the bet (he assumes).

She says, “The answer is… Bu-yong (lotus).” Hwa-yong smirks at the audacity of naming herself, but the prince asks for the explanation. Bu-yong explains how the lotus is a flower that grows in a pond, whose roots go deep below into the ground, where all living things die. In order to flower, the lotus takes in that which has died; even though it lives, the flower must die for its seeds to again fall to the ground to bring new life. Furthermore, in Buddhism the samsara is a concept of the birth-life-death cycle, which is represented by the lotus.

Yi Gak laughs at that, impressed, and concedes that he lost again. By now Hwa-yong is edgy and impatient, and dismisses her sister. But Bu-yong can’t just go, and asks for her reward: the persimmon.

Aww, that’s so sad. And a helluva lot more poignant a sacrifice than running in front of a car, because while the situations are paralleled, the actual mechanism of the conflict works much better in this intrigue-laden Joseon era, with treason and coups and betrayals galore. (She can’t reveal the truth without condemning her entire family to ruination and execution, so she’ll just eat the poison and save the prince.)

Hwa-yong looks troubled while the prince finds the request paltry, but Bu-yong entreats him to comply, saying that this is what she needs right now. With trembling hands, she takes them and eats, every last one. And Hwa-yong doesn’t say a thing.

When she’s done, the prince calls it a night, and Bu-yong asks him to live in peace. Hwa-yong hangs her head, blinking back her own tears. When Bu-yong leaves, she’s already feeling the effects and stumbles weakly. She asks the court lady that if the princess should look for her later, to meet her at the Lotus Pavilion.

Then, with difficulty, she staggers out to wait by the pond, breathing painfully, remembering all her times with the prince.

After the prince goes to sleep, Hwa-yong slips away with two court ladies, heading to the pavilion. She leaves them outside the building, then faces her dying sister inside. I’m going to give Hwa-yong a wee bit of credit in thinking that she is rightfully horrified that her sister is dying, even if her first words are to blame Bu-yong for “ruining everything.” But it’s very wee.

Hwa-yong points out that Bu-yong’s big sacrifice isn’t going to fix much, since once she’s dead it’ll be easily discovered that she was poisoned, and their whole family will be killed if it is linked to an attempt on the prince’s life. But Bu-yong pleads with her sister for one last request, to protect the prince.

To that end, she has a plan: Dress Bu-yong in the princess’s clothes and pass off her corpse for Hwa-yong’s. If her body is believed to be the princess’s, it’ll deflect the suspicion away from an assassination attempt on the prince (whereas, nobody has cause to murder a nobody like Bu-yong, so if her body were discovered, the inquest would continue). This means Hwa-yong will have to give up her identity as the princess, but it would spare the family’s life. Furthermore, without his connection to the princess, their father loses his position of power and therefore he can no longer be a threat to the prince, and therefore the coup against Yi Gak will stall.

Time is running out, and Bu-yong gasps in pain that they must hurry. The women trade clothing.

Outside, however, Joseon Tae-mu is on the prowl, dressed in dark assassin’s clothing. He spies the court ladies and approaches the Lotus Pavilion, and cuts them down—finally, a successful murder! Yay?

Hwa-yong, dressed in Bu-yong’s clothes and face mask, emerges from the pavilion alone and runs to her father’s house. Bu-yong, meanwhile, starts to cough up blood. She clutches a letter in one hand and rises with difficulty to hide it behind a screen.

Outside, she looks into the water for long moments, shaking in pain and fear as she prepares herself. Murmuring, “Your Highness,” Bu-yong closes her eyes and falls into the water to her death.

End of flashback. In the “present” day Joseon timeline, Yi Gak finishes relating this story to the Hong family with angry condemnation.

Minister Hong insists that it was the princess who died, and it seems like the parents really are surprised. Yi Gak challenges them, asking if they can be absolutely sure that the sickly daughter at home is Bu-yong. He orders his ducklings to search the household for Bu-yong, and accompanies his team of special investigators to scour the property.

She is discovered hiding, and Yi Gak reaches to uncover her face, just as they hear the approach of attackers. It’s Joseon Tae-mu and his team of rebels, leading to a skirmish in the courtyard. He seizes his bow and arrow and shoots at Yi Gak… getting him square in the chest. Oh noes!

Yong-sool corners Joseon Tae-mu, though, stopping him in his tracks with a sword to the throat. And curiously, Yi Gak doesn’t seem to be in pain as he pulls the arrow from his chest. Aw, did his marriage pendant save his life?

Now he turns back to Hwa-yong, ordering her to raise her head to face him. He pulls the mask from her face, and sees his wife. That confirms everything, and he looks at her with furious contempt. Hwa-yong grabs his legs and begs for mercy, crying that she knows nothing, pleading for her life. Yi Gak thunders, “How is it that a wicked thing like you could be the princess?! It is not me to whom you should beg for your life—you should beg it from Bu-yong!”

He orders everyone rounded up and taken to the Euigeumbu to be charged as traitors. His men rush to his side, and he reveals the pendant Park-ha gave him, now dented from the arrow. He tells them, “Park-ha saved my life once more. Dummy.”

Hour of judgment. Yi Gak charges Minister Hong for the attempt on his life, and orders father and son executed by beheading. He charges his half-brother, whom he’d thought of favorably despite their long estrangement, with the same crime and punishment. In memory of Bu-yong’s sacrifice, he spares Hwa-yong and her mother, but strips the princess of her crown and sends them into exile.

Some time later, Yi Gak walks along that bridge alone now, thinking of Park-ha. He makes his way into the Lotus Pavilion, his gaze settling on the screen against the wall. The painted butterfly glows briefly, bringing him closer, and that leads him to a discovery: the letter Bu-yong had slipped between the panels.

He rips the letter out of hiding and reads the words she’d written in her dying moments.

“Your Highness, if you are reading this letter it means you are alive, and that makes me, Bu-yong, happy. There is one thing that is good about dying. I am glad that I can now say the words I have long held in my heart. I loved you, Your Highness. I cared for you my entire life. That which lives despite dying, and dies though living—even hundreds of years later, I will love you.”

Yi Gak sheds tears, and then has an idea, scrambling to write a letter of his own, which starts, “Park-ha-ya, I arrived safely. How are you?” He rolls up the paper and slips it into a tube, then tucks that into the palace hiding place he’d once shown her, where he retrieved her jade wedding pendant.

Back to the present, where Park-ha returns to the palace. She finds the hiding spot and feels around, hoping for something. She does, and opens the tube with anticipation, finding the old, yellowed parchment.

The letter continues:

“If you are able to read this letter, three hundred years will have passed. And if this letter finds its ways into your hands, I take back my words calling you Dummy. Is your fruit juice business going well? I can only imagine how you are doing, unable to touch you. I miss you like crazy. I want to hear your voice, and touch you. If I could die and meet you, I would die right now.”

And then, a familiar face arrives to order an apple juice. She’s in such a daze that he has to call to her twice, and then she doesn’t even spare him a glance. It’s Tae-yong, or is it Yi Gak?, and he smiles pleasantly at her.

The letter goes on to say, “I should have said I love you more. Park-ha-ya, I love you. I miss your smiling face like crazy. You must be well.”

The customer pays and keeps looking at Park-ha expectantly, like he wants her to look at him. But she barely notices, and he leaves.

Back to Joseon, where our ducklings… have set up a food stand of their own, selling—what else?—omurice. They even make their own fresh ketchup, bickering like old friends, and Chi-san even plugs in his iPod to ignore Man-bo’s nagging. Ha. What’re you gonna do when those batteries die, huh?

The boys make their delivery to the prince, and then poof, instead of their Joseon hanboks they’re wearing those comfy newfangled tracksuits, so they can eat their omurice in comfort. HAHA. Okay, that’s pretty cute.

They wolf down their food like old times, but as he finishes, Yi Gak finds himself on the verge of tears and sad thoughts. He makes an excuse, but the boys know what troubles him, and offer him a park-ha peppermint as dessert. And today, Yong-sool gets the evil eye for crunching into his, hee.

2012. Park-ha arrives at work to find a postcard of the Seoul Tower stuck into her front door, with a note asking her to meet there tonight.

On the flipside is a new sketch of her, depicting her at her juice blender, with Tae-yong’s familiar initials in the corner. And THAT gets her attention, finally.

She arrives at the meeting point and waits for a while, masses of tourists passing by in a blur. When the crowd disperses, one person is left standing by her side, looking at her with an expectant gaze.

It’s Tae-yong (or is it?), and he asks, “Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for a long time.” Park-ha asks where he’s been, because “I was here the whole time.”

He’s looking at her like he knows her, but it’s not entirely clear which incarnation this is. My brain says Tae-yong, but the heart hopes for Yi Gak…

Tae-yong holds out his hand to her, and she takes it. The moment she does, suddenly the man transforms right before her eyes, wearing prince’s robes.

They look at each other with tears running down their faces, both thinking to themselves, “Even after three hundred years pass, I will love you.”

 
COMMENTS

I was holding out hope till the very last moment that Yi Gak had found a way back to Park-ha somehow, even if that would have flouted all narrative logic. (Hey, it’s not like the show has a lot of that left to lose.) But no, it’s Tae-yong standing there at the end, as the couple’s last words remind tell us that we’re looking at the three-hundred-years-later version, not the original.

And even though I balk at the idea of swapping out one Yoochun for another, reincarnated soul be damned, the show does manage to soften the blow by giving us the image of Yi Gak at the end to assure us that yes, he is the same person. (Kind of.) As in, this isn’t a cheap copy that we’re left to settle for, but as close a thing to the real deal as you can wrap your head around.

I confess to not being entirely sold on the reincarnated soul making up for the loss, but I appreciate the last scene’s depiction of the reunion—it isn’t the same pairing that we’ve been watching all series long, but because Park-ha sees Tae-yong dressed as Yi Gak (in her mind, it seems to be saying), it’s like their souls recognize each other. The material world and their current bodily trappings change from lifetime to lifetime, but the essence of their love is still there, and that recognition sweeps through them both.

It’s not a perfect happily ever after, but I’m strangely okay with it. Possibly because this show isn’t one that sticks with me emotionally in the first place so its flaws don’t upset me terribly either. I suspect that if the show had gone out on Tae-yong and Park-ha together, I would have been unhappy, but the swap to show Yi Gak standing there, reinforcing that it’s supposed to be the same soul, does go a long way toward getting me to accept it.

I do feel like Yi Gak sure got stuck with the short end of the stick, in that he loses both Bu-yong and Park-ha and has to live the rest of his life single. He’s got his sidekicks there, which helps, but he doesn’t get a consolation romance like Park-ha. I guess she’s the one who has to live knowing that Yi Gak is already dead, but somehow I think it’s worse to be him, either pining or grieving or in an existential state of “Well, I guess it all works out in the end, even if it’s not MY end.”

On the other hand, his Joseon storyline was always about bringing justice for the murder, not recovering a lost love. He starts out the drama grieving for his wife, and he never harbored illusions of being able to jump back in time to bring her back to life. So in that regard, he succeeds in what he set out to do: uncover the murderer, realize the truth, and punish the wrongdoers. If he hadn’t time-warped in the first place, he would still have had to deal with the grief of losing a loved one; at least in this case he knows he loved the right one?

I was satisfied with the wrap-up of the Joseon mystery in the final episode, and found Bu-yong’s sacrifice pretty heartbreaking. I understood it and felt for it, even though the very same action in 2012 had me scoffing and rolling my eyes. Her act had more emotional impact, and I felt the bittersweetness of Yi Gak’s discovery of what she’d done.

The finale also made me think that the seeds were planted well enough in advance to convince me that the writer DID know what he was doing. He clearly had the important beats worked out from the start, and the neatness of the resolution proves that this there was a decent amount of forethought given to the plot. The problem this drama had is the opposite of a lot of other live-shoot dramas, where you can sense the story unraveling at the seams and writers throwing whatever they can at the show to keep it going. Here, it feels like the show knew how it was going to end, but didn’t do a good job budgeting its plot in the middle portion and ended up whipping up whatever stories it could to keep the show treading water till it could dovetail with the planned part.

I do wish the plot mechanisms were more explained, though, since I’m still left wondering at the reason for the time-jump in the first place. We get a vague understanding that there’s a Fate-like power deciding when to move them forward and backward, and I think we’re safe in assuming that this Fate allowed Tae-yong to wake up after Yi Gak left his world. But it never quite addresses the Why of it all. Do random other people throughout history also get to visit their future selves, when something goes awry in their own worlds?

All in all, Rooftop Prince was a fluffy drama that I could watch easily without thinking too hard, especially when the show brought on the cute characters, fish-out-of-water jokes, hilarious sight gags and puns, and the sweet chemistry between Yoochun and Han Ji-min. It definitely is a show where the charm of the cast makes up for a lot.

Ultimately there wasn’t a whole lotta plot, which means that half the show was spent stretching out the same beats and repeating them with slight (but insufficient) variations on the same theme. Here’s a case of a show that should’ve been ten episodes at most, having to scrounge up stuff to fill twenty.

At least we had amusing interactions, with beautiful crying by Han Ji-min and an impressive leap in performance by Yoochun, who stretched himself a lot with this role. I’ll look forward to more things in both their futures—as well as the Joseon ducklings—though the production team is on notice.

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Thank you !

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thanks for the recap.

This last episode left me a lot of questions. In the first episode, they already knew that the dried persimmon was poisoned, then in the last episode they flashback to the night where Bu Young almost finished all the persimmon. The prince should’ve figured that out even before they time travelled. And what’s in the history book that Park Ha read in the Library? And the ending, Yi Gak’s forever lonely missing Park Ha, and Park Ha has happy ending with Tae Yong. With all the time travelling and all the impossible in this drama, can’t they just bring Park Ha to Joseon? or like you said Yi Gak find his way to Park Ha.

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I have read an article regarding the history book read by Park Ha, and I guess the writer either forgot to explain that, or purposely left that out for the viewers to figure it out. I think it was like a "hidden gem" in the show. :)

http://dramahaven.com/actual-model-for-rooftop-princes-yuchun-is-joseon-gyeongjong-tragic-ending/

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So the site's saying Yi Gak is modeled after Jang hee-bin's only son??? *shock*

After reading the article, it makes sense...but I still don't get it why they couldn't just name Yi Gak as Yi Yoon, only taking out the Gisa & Gapsul Hwan'guk and all that drama leading to 1701... (please, Korean dramaland has a tendency to act out he wicked ladies too much)

So Prince Muchang and Yi Gak's lives were tweaked a bit, since if we're to take it, Prince Muchang's mother would have been someone like either Park myeong-bin (who was veeeeeeery absent from "Dong-yi" IDGW, but I knew she got into trouble during the drama of the two purges, I really really forgot what, why, and how) or Choi Dong-yi sook-bin, only that she's a pye-bin ("Deposed Concubine"), and yeah, Yi Gak takes his place as wonja and seja respectively...but y'know, the scenario's too TMTETS for me if you ask me...

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Wait!! I like this.

So if this were MY drama-land, Yi Gak didn't live out his life alone. Maybe he did die young after all (after eating some crab.) Then maybe he didn't have to wait long in his time to pop up again in Bak Ha's time.

Still sad, but a least he doesn't live a long life with out her.

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I like your version, too!

Or what about if Yi Gak's consciousness gets swapped with Tae Yong's? So YG wakes up in TY's body, and TY lives out life as the prince in Joseon... YG gets to be with his true love, and TY doesn't know what he's missing...

Like you, I kida refuse to accept that YG lives a long life without Parh Ha.

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I was thinking the same thing! I'm pretty sure Taeyong died after drowning in the water for quite some time (it must have taken at least a few hours to find his body) But when Yigak was thrown into the future, the soul in Taeyong became Yigak's, but was unable to "live" since Yigak was already in the future. But as I read online, some people say TY in the end, acted just like YG. So maybe TY died and when he woke up from comatose, it was YG's soul? ahh idk

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It's Yi Gak. Look at his arms, they are placed at the back, just like the prince. TY does not have that habit.

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Thank you! It was an interesting read.

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I WANTED THE DRAMA TO EXPLICITLY SHOW US WHAT PARK HA SAWW
T^T

POOR YIGAKKY...

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I read 2 versions in Rooftop Prince (OKPrince) DC Gall, first is that history book says Lee Gak was suppose to die early, shot with an arrow through his chest (that is why Pak ha gave him the necklace, to save him) and the other, Lee Gak simply lived his life alone and never married again.

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Thanks JB for recapping this drama!!! I really enjoyed it, especially the story part and characters.
I didn't like all logical gaps and questions we were supposed to ignore as viewers - like what PH read in that history book, or why did they travel in time. I missed a better execution of this drama's story. But all in all, it was really enjoyable to watch.

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I liked the idea that Yigak had to go through a certain amount of suffering to be reunited with Buyong again. After she had to suffer all her life, for TWO lifetimes...In Joseon, living as a ghost while her sister takes her place with the man she loves, and dying in his place. Then in Seoul, being abandoned, losing her memory, separated from her family and having to grow up alone overseas. At some point, she's going have a rough patch in her marriage with Taeyong and think, I went through all of that suffering for /this/?

Also, Yigak /did/ get to spend over a decade with Buyong as his best friend. She entered the palace as a child with her sister. Yigak even said that he spent more time talking with Buyong than with the crown princess. They may not have gotten to hold hands and kiss, but they did have their time together. Even though it was before he knew he loved her, I think that's sort of sweet and comforting.

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That's what I also think!! except for the marriage part with taeyong...

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If thts the case, Park Ha should have given Yi Gak an armour vest instead of just the necklace to protect him from the arrow...hahaha

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thanks!!! I never realized this until now. O.O. Eitherway...thank you!!!

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the first theory sounds convincing, i kind of think that what park -ha saw in the history book was the name of Bu-yong who have died and not the crown princess itself. and as far as i know yi-gak told her that her name is bu-yong in a hanja form which translates to lotus.

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Okay, seriously, am I the ONLY person who cried for the ending? I didn't even watch it yet but reading the recap, how it ends, just made me bawl... SO EMOTIONAL! I've grown so attached to Rooftop Prince. I will definitely rewatch this many times for years to come. It's amazing. There's so much stuff to wrap your head around and it gets me to wonder and question about things like reincarnation, soulmates, and true love. It's all so beautiful! If this doesn't win an award for best drama of 2012 I'm gonna go hide in a closet and cry... I'm gonna miss this so much! Thanks everyone for your comments and specualations ^_^ I reallly wish they tied up all the loose ends though, cause it's just leaving everyone hanging and guessing. :(

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I cried too...I'm sooooo sentimental, I knew this drama would hook me in. I tried to aviod it for so long, then I finally caved in. 20 episodes reading/watching/laughing/crying in 4 days during my workweek. Next time I do something like this I need to do it on my days off. O.O No sleep for me.
However...
There were some obvoius tie in's/duh!, and "why didn't you..." moments in the drama, for example when Yi Gak and the ducklings were in present day Seoul, why didn't they read up on what happened 300 hundred years ago after the "princess" died? ( Like what Park Ha did) And the whole illness thing with Se Na and Park Ha's real mother, the shares of the company going to one of them...etc...I agree with javabeans, more Josen time and less technology laden drama sometimes brings more intrigue.

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Being Christian I personally do not believe in reincarnation and only thought of this drama as a fictional entertaining show, but I do believe in fate and soul mates. But to get into a drama you need to get into the flow of the story telling and I think they were meant to be together in any era.

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The history book that Park Ha read in the library is The Crown Prince was killed by arrow

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"And the ending, Yi Gak’s forever lonely missing Park Ha, and Park Ha has happy ending with Tae Yong. With all the time travelling and all the impossible in this drama, can’t they just bring Park Ha to Joseon? or like you said Yi Gak find his way to Park Ha."

Totally agree with you. As a viewer, I've gotten to know Yi Gak and Park Ha for 20 episodes and it sucks to see that they aren't together when all is said and done. There have been so many implausible things that happened in the show, so why can't they just throw it one more thing for us to have our truly happy ending, with Yi Gak and Park Ha together at the end? People say the ending is bittersweet but the bitter, that Yi Gak is going to live the rest of his life alone and missing Park Ha, weighs on my heart. Poor Yi Gak. :(

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I think Park Ha read that Yi Gak died by an arrow shot to his heart. That is why she gave him the necklace to save him... Park Ha is really Bu Young; always saving the prince, always saving Tae Yong. :)

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Yeah,you're right!That's exactly what i want to happened. I want Yi Gak be back to 21st century. So, i will no longer cry. I feel what Park ha felt when Yi Gak left her. It seems that I'm the one who loses him.;D

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I too was curious about the ending but I knew She would meet Tae Yong again. My wish was that somehow Yi Gak would time jump and come back to his new wife. I do appreciate the 300 year old letter the prince have her yet, he didn't even get to consumate his marriage (I think). Maybe what Park Ha saw in the history book was proof that they all made it back and the small changes they made to the timeliness (omurice).

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Actually, Bu Yong left 3 dried persimmons uneaten. I didn't get why she did that.

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Me too.

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because she couldn't handle it and maybe they wrapped it up for her in a to go box because she really wanted them...*hee hee* it's a small detail I think it would waste our time watching it when it was heart wrenching for me as a viewer to see her eat the first one

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ahahahah..I couldn't help to laugh with tears in my eyes.. x'D (wrapped persimmon)

anyway,this drama teached us on how true love will find its way.. true love is always there waiting for them,in whatever form or whatever way,but destiny will still remind as destiny, unchanged.. =')

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lol! maybe she saved it for the 3 ducklings hehe ...

it would be nice if the ducklings were also reincarnated through the three cutie fishermen who rescued Tae yong out of the water and saved his life ... then mother duck still have her duckies in the present time kekekeke ..

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I doubt that those 3 persimmon would have any poison in them since they were at the bottom and the crown princess only threw it on the top of the pile... And even if they had poison in them maybe 3 persimmons would have been enough to kill?

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*wouldnt have been able to kill?

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I noticed that too, and it's kind of strange. But anyway, maybe that's because the three persimmons were at the bottom and didn't get sprinkled with arsenic. Or Buyong was full enough and she knew that the king wouldn't eat her leftovers anyway.

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no!it is because royal family never eats leftovers!!it was the rule and she knew that)))

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if she knew the royals doesn't eat leftovers, she could just have eaten only one persimmon and it would still be considered leftovers, she won't poisoned herself badly.

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thanks for the recaps!!!
I cried so much in this final episode, I was wishing until the last second that somehow BY was still alive, that maybe her brother pull her out of the water, replace the body for one of the maidens and was able to save her, I was hoping she was really sick. The scene were she ate the persimmons made me cried so hard, she really really loved her.
Although LG did not get a chance to love BY, I am glad he had a chance to love PH, I felt sad when he was eating the omurice and then the candy, his face said it all.
The ending was satisfying for me, I can live with it, In my heart LG and PH are together. I think TY really got some of LG's memories, well not really memories but feelings maybe? It's like when you have someone (friend, bf, etc.) and you feel you have known them from before. I do believe in soulmates, be it your bf, best friend, family member, etc. that's what PH and LG are, soulmates, no matter where or when, they will find each other.

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I also believe in soulmates in the sense that it could be a friend or family member.

I liked the ending and thought it did a good job wrapping up the storyline and gave us a convincing ending to the YG-TY-PH triangle of sorts.

I was surprised at much I cried, especially at the end. Reading this recap didn't make things any easier since it made me cry again. I was so focused on PH that I didn't give much thought to YG's sad fate of being alone. :(

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we're pretty much allowed to think what we want with this kindda open ending .. like you, i'd like to believe that somehow Tae yong and Lee gak were actually one in spirit somehow .. that during the time TY was in coma, he was actually living as Lee gak and that since Buyong was already gone in the old era, she was also indeed Park Ha .. this is the kind of ending that haunts people .. wondering what really happened or somehow filling the blanks .. am good with it .. in fact, it's an ending that can still have some sort of a continuation .. the possibilities are endless :)

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The ending to me was clear. Bu Young died in Joseon. Lee Gak, was crown prince he had to rule. He can’t come to the present, because that changes the past and the order of things. He wrote to Bak Ha that their love will stand the test of time.

Basically, Lee Gak has been reincarnating over the years waiting for Bak Ha. Hence, the butterfly in episode 1, that drew Tae Yong’s attention to Bak Ha in NY. They were finally fated to meet. However, Tae Mu interfered. Tae Yong’s accident in the ocean and Bu Young’s death in the pond connected them and opened the gateway for them to make the connection that would have been missed again. The last scene was Tae Yong, with the feelings of their timeless love, and Bak Ha making that connection again.

I truly loved this drama. The chemistry between Yoochun and Han Jimin was off the charts. It was smoldering. Yoochun improved by leaps and bounds and I can now comfortably call him an actor, not just an idol actor. Han Jimin continues to be a dear and one of my favorite actresses. The rest of the cast were also awesome. I will miss the Joseon 3, and it was nice to see them in comedic roles, I hope to see them again in other dramas.

Some have issues with the corporate plot and I agree; I wish we had more scenes in Joseon. But, Koreans love their corporate and inheritance fights, it’s in every drama, so I can understand the writer giving in and adding more of that, since it is a Korean drama after all. I will say that unlike other dramas that unravel in the end, and seems like the writer is just making things up, as they go along. It is clear the writers knew where they were going from the get go. From the first episode when we see Bu Young rush in at night, to the last episode when we finally know why, it is clear they had a map of what they were doing.

The live shoots did cause some editing problems that could have made things tighter, but SBS seems to have a smaller budget than other non cable channels, like KBS and MBC. I think the cast and crew did an amazing job and delivered a drama that will stand the test of time. They were somehow able to add a sense of realism to a drama about Time Travelling. I will miss watching this drama. I say great job Rooftop Prince. Great job, indeed.

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Ooo I really like your reasoning about their window of opportunity to meet again when Bu Young died and Tae Yong fell into the ocean. I didn't even think about that. I am quite satisfied with this ending now that I've read your comment. Thanks =)

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"Basically, Lee Gak has been reincarnating over the years waiting for Bak Ha. Hence, the butterfly in episode 1, that drew Tae Yong’s attention to Bak Ha in NY. They were finally fated to meet. However, Tae Mu interfered. Tae Yong’s accident in the ocean and Bu Young’s death in the pond connected them and opened the gateway for them to make the connection that would have been missed again. The last scene was Tae Yong, with the feelings of their timeless love, and Bak Ha making that connection again."

Ok, now that I've read your take on this I think it's easier for me to accept the ending now. Besides, I also think that shipping YG+PH together is somehow fanservice-y (although TY and YG are technically played by one actor)...

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I think what would have been even better would have been for park ha and Ty to get memories from both life times to atleast appease the audience of YK getting the short end of the stick.

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Wow! This is the best explanation I've read so far!! Thank you for enlightening me. But I have something to add here. The whole corporate / inheritance fights, although it's a cliche in many dramas (and annoying at that), I have to say it fits well with the throne conflict in the joseon era. Corporation equals royalty perhaps? And again, thank you very much for putting light into the darkness I thought there was in this last episode.

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I totally agree with you about the ending. When he first appeared from the crowd, Tae Yong was standing as the prince did, with this hands behind his back, before going to a more casual stance. That move alone made me believe that Tae Yong had residual memories of his past life and of their love. In my head, when he woke from the coma he did have those memories, like the knock on the head had somehow allowed that part of his mind and soul to connect and remember. You explained it much better, though. lol

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i haven't read your post when i commented above .. somehow, this is pretty much how i feel with the Lee Gak - Park ha - Bu yong - tae yong thing .. it has always been the two of them and their eternal love .. that during the time TY was in coma .. it was Lee Gak who was there .. for a quick 20 epi series, RTP was quite good .. for a while I have already been thinking that the person who died was Buyong and not the princess but i can't quite fit how it would happen since when LG came to the present, he was looking for sena .. it was a pleasant surprise that the story unfolded that way .. it was really good ..

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To add one more, TY's sketch book shown lotus flower in a pond...

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I agree with your interpretation.. I also think that somehow LG sent to 2012 to fix the fate that once again about to get interferred (this time by tae mu).
That's why once LG and PH got married, LG then suddenly sent back to Joseon. So that's one of his missions: to finally bound their love together.
So in the end, TY and PH can continue their "since-300-years-ago-love". Ah, such a beautiful ending..

I feel sad, though... About LG being alone in Joseon. But at least he finally found the truth about BY who's been in love with him, and he also got a chance to meet PH.

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Your comment is the best explanation as to the "WHY" they'd travel through time.

Before reading this article, I was too affected with the ending, I didn't realized the logic gaps and whatsoever that is in there. I just love the ending and how it all connect.

Then after reading this recap, I was like 'yes, i im really curious about that, how and why did they travel anyway? and what is that that Park ha read in the book'

Now, it all make sense to me. I totally love this drama. All the ups and down, the cuteness and everything. This drama is totally on my Top A list.

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Thank you!!!! Your comment made me happy!!

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I get that he had the "feelings of love" and all that, but they're still not the same person! It's not the same! I was just extremely saddened by the ending, and I held out so much hope that when they touched Tae Yong actually regained LG's memories and became Lee Gak, but it is clear from JB's recap that this was not so and they remain separate people. It's just not fair! Due to this being a romantic comedy I totally thought we were gonna get a fluffy, magical ending where they just ended up together. I really don't think it would've been that hard to believe if TY regained the memories of his past soul when touching PH, and would go well with the dynamic of the drama anyway even if it's slightly more unrealistic than everything else. BUT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A FLUFFY ENDINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. How unfair is it that LG lived his whole life pining/grieving as JB put it :'( And PH, even if she's happy with TG, will still be left pining for her first love. Like I get if it's like she got a new boyfriend after her first one died (even though she loved the first with everything she had) but he looks exactly like her former love! That's gotta be painful, even if they share the same soul and are almost the same person. They're still not the same!!! TY doesn't have the memories of all of PH and YG experiences. And if I were her I couldn't help making comparisons between the two for the rest of her life. And did I mention how unfair this is on LG?! I get that BY had to die, but shouldn't travelling to the future to fix the injustice of her death by living happily ever after with her reincarnation make up for it? This is depressing. This is why I only watch rom coms and not melodramas and show you conned me out of a happy ending!

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Dear Len

I like your comment...yes..unfair for Lee Gak. I hope to see Lee Gak and Pak Ha by the ending..not TY. I love this drama because of Lee Gak and rooftop family but I disappointed on the writer...he made Pak Ha did stupid. I think the last ep was too short. I do not understand why many comments said "the beautiful ending!!!!...." it sad for me. I am still missing RTP..I hope to hear the reason from the writer.

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Omigod. Thank you so much for your comment. This has placated my craving for a proper explanation that is logical and that goes with what this show stands for, True Love, Destiny. Reincarnation, Soulmates and all that jazz.

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Definitely what i thought too. I don't really understand what needs to be cleared up about the time traveling at all because this show was tied around the fates of these characters and all of the injustices that interfered with their fates. BY was fated to be the crown princess, so in a way Lee Gak time traveled not only to crack the mystery of the murder, but more so to correct the paths of these people and his and BY/PH's romance. In both eras PH/BY was deprived of the life she was meant to have because of a -it has to be said- horrrrible sister. And TY/LG was not only misguided by the 'princess', but had his place either at the company or the throne eyed by an, again, horrible family member. The connections in the show were planned marvelously, and i seriously admire the writers. As for the plot-holes, the show has enough elements of mystery and supernatural that you can kind of write them off.
But one thing that has bothered me...( ̄◇ ̄;)
i didn't like how the -actual kinship between parkha and sena- went at all. I liked that their relationship as half-sisters was unknown to most everyone in the show for a while.. but i'm kept wondering at all of the connections with the birth mother, the other mother, and the father...
how did it all exactly happen? Because se-na being park-ha's actual sister to the same mother seemed too.. 'perfect' and 'oh! what do you know!' to me.

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Oh!!!!! TY!!!! >.<

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http://forums.soompi.com/discussion/373933/drama-2012-rooftop-prince-%EC%98%A5%ED%83%91%EB%B0%A9-%EC%99%95%EC%84%B8%EC%9E%90/p446

I got this reason and it really explains a lot like yours.
At first I was confused, but thinking about it again I now understand. Here is what I think the writer was trying to achieve.

The writer wanted us to realize that Yi gak is in fact Tae yong and Tae yong is in fact Yi gak thus they always kept mentioning that Tae yong is Yi gak's reincarnation, but we just never had a better insight on Tae yong's character since he went into a coma which allowed Yi gak to come into the future.

You have to really think and connect all the loose ends before you make the conclusion that Yi gak is Tae yong. We would have to ask the "What if's" question.

First of all, Yi gak has never felt that way (LOVE) about Bu yong until it was her death that allowed him to go into the future and fall in love with Bakha who is a reincarnation of Bu yong, not having the memories. Yi gak may not know about the love that he could have had for Buyong if he didn’t travel into the future since it was always about the "crown princess". Also, Bakha could have met Tae yong which would have made it easier for them, but Taemu supposedly murder Tae yong changing their fate, thus allowed Yi gak to meet Bakha and let her experience that love in place.

Now, do you realize that it was their (Tae yong and Buyong’s) death that signifies the meaning of love that took place for Yi gak and Bakha. They may not even have the chance to know that they were meant for each other if their other counter lad did not experience "death" for them to transcend time to find love for one another. It’s confusing to understand, but you may have to reread my paragraphs again.

Yi gak’s riddle also ties closely with their relationship; you would have to die to live and live to die. Bu yong died, allowing Yi gak to love her 300 yrs later with Bakha who is very much alive. Tae yong got into a coma allowing Bakha to experience love with Yi gak who is pretty much just a historic person now. I believe that Tae yong is in fact Yi gak who has died and waited for over 300 years to finally be with Bakha again, but got into a coma because of taemu. That’s why he instantly took a liking to her in the first place.

Also, remember when Yi gak was talking to Sena at the hospital with Bakha needing a liver transplant about how the future was a "repeat" of the past. The cycle will be a repeat of the past unless Sena stop it because she also had the choice in the Joseon era too, but she chose not to do anything and just let her sister eat all of those dried persimmons. Sena was the one who would be able to stop this cruel ill fate. Now, Yi gak was sent into the future to solve the mystery, save Bakha's life in the future since he was not able to save her in the Joseon era, love the right person (Bakha) where he lost his chance with Bu yong, and die in the Joseon era retrieving his memories in the future as Tae yong.

At the end, it totally showered us with reasons that Tae yong had character traits of Yi gak which would mean that he is Yi gak all along. The smile at her shop where he gave her (smirking like he knows her) I mean, who does that. The fact that he knows where the shop was, and the posture of the way how he was standing with both his hands behind his back and him telling her that he had "waited a long time" like he had already knew her and was waiting to meet her.

The time transcend allowed Bakha to know and love Yi gak so that when she meets Tae yong, she will have already acquired their love since Taeyong (having all of the memories already) was not his time to meet her yet.

To clarify yi gak’s ending in joseon time, yes, he did died without having his lover Bu yong who was Bakha, but he was able to reincarnate into the future as Tae yong remembering Bakha and *ding ding ding that’s how they still get eachother at the end because Tae yong has been silently waiting in the future for Bakha to show up.

You just can’t get the name wrong because "they are of one person". You have to see that the time transcend was there to allow Bakha and Yi gak to love the right person since some circumstances would have never let them meet or fall in love with each other in the future just like in the past.

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I agree with your interpretation as well. And in addition to that, I feel that Yi Gak was brought to the future, not just to solve the case from Joseon Era. But unknowingly~ to fix his fate with Bo Young in the future as well.

Because Yi Gak and Bo Young are destined to be together, but due to the circumstances that had happened, it made it impossible for them to be together. And what had happened in Joseon seems to be reoccurring again in the future (2012) ~their love, (as Tae Yong and Park Ha) is being interfered again by people just because of greediness (politics issue).

Yi Gak was sent to the future, so he may fix everything. He may not seem to realize things in the beginning but if you guys remember. On Episode 11. When Yi Gak was confronting Tae Mu (bar scene)

He wonders if his hyung believes in fate. Tae-mu laughs that no such things don’t exist.

But Yi Gak’s tone gets more serious as he uses his beer glass and bottle to symbolize two people: Say a man and a woman were destined to meet. But instead, something happened and interfered. He knocks the bottle over:
“Thus that man couldn’t meet that woman. That angers me.” (Yi Gak referring to Tae Yong & Park Ha, when they are suppose to meet in New York, but Tae Yong wasn't able to meet Park Ha because of the accident in the yacht which was caused by Tae Mu)

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I also read somewhere about this being the interpretation - that the time travelling serves as a corrective mechanism so that two people who are meant to be together and would make the perfect couple (Lee Gak and Bu Young; Tae Yong and Park Ha) will get to meet and fall in love. As you have mentioned, there were interferences in both instances. Bu Young was supposed to be Lee Gaks bride but her sister took her place; Tae Young was supposed to meet Park Ha but Tae Mu injured him. So we get Lee Gak to time travel to meet Park Ha. That's why Lee Gak landed on Park Ha's roodtop and not anyone else's.

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Best Kdrama Ever

This is what people like me watch kdrama for.
Everything absolutely fantastic!!!

Yoochun over the top in performing.
So glad he is doing dramas.
Look forward to anything he is in.

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Thanks for the recap!

I think I gave up on the story (which happens a lot, so its nothing new) and just enjoyed the characters. I really love the protagonists and their relationships so much that it did manage to carry me throughout the series.

I agree that it wasn't worth the length that it was. Too much crap in the middle which could've been done in one episode. This finale was actually everything in one, right? Haha. But if that would sacrifice all the cute then I wouldn't mind it staying at 20 episodes. Haha.

Yoochun has done leaps and bounds in this show. He's super over and above from what he did last with Ms. Ripley. And not knowing much about Han Ji Min aside from Padam Padam, which I loved her in, is actually really refreshing cause those two characters are just total opposites aren't they? I love the two leads.

P.S. How extremely adorable are the ducklings? I am hoping for more fun from these guys in the future.

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hahaha!!! yeah, especially chi san!!!

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I just have to say, I love it when the screenwriter is smarter than me. In this case, I am really impressed by the story. It's been a long time since a story has impressed me. Who is the screenwriter? He/she is seriously, seriously amazing. Love it when a drama genuinely blows my mind.

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yup! i agree to that one! the screenwriter could even think about the tiny scene which give a big impact to the whole story!! like hiding a bead (or a jade i guess) in the secret hiding place, and use the same approach to convey a message from 300 years ago!!! what a brilliant idea! and the story, we couldn't predict the ending from the beginning! superb!!!

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Even if it was Tae-yong, he had the memories of Yi Gak. It's just that his manners are more 21st century-like. Also if you pay attention, you can notice that the initials Tae-yong use are made (? I don't know if it is the right word) in the same way of the initials of Bu-yong.

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Yeah this is like four years too late.. eh eh, time travel? Jk Jk I'm stupid but okay so Tae Wu? was it? Anyway, 300 years ago he gets sentenced to get beheaded so I mean.. the coma theory would be all fine and dandy if whats-his-face's great-great-great-great-yadayadayada grandson would have been born. But as far as we know, old man 300 that looks like Tae....Wu? didn't have any children. SO basically what I'm trying to say here is that Little Kiddo (Tae Yong) wouldn't have been pushed off that boat. Cause like, .....Tae.....Wu, wouldn't have existed in the first place. :D

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Happy ending :D

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Happy Ending but I cried like a baby for Bu-yong <333333.

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yeah!!! me too!!! what a twist!!!

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Confused w/ the ending but somewhat satisfy

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me too...!!

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Yay!

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Sorry for cutting in, but can anybody tell me which the background music around 31:33 in this chapter? I didn't find it on the OST. Thanks! Sorry again for the bad posting etiquette. Just want someone to reply. :D

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*the name of the background music in this episode
huge typo lol

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What! I just refreshed the page and there are already comments? LOL you guys are quick. Off to read.

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Tears just sprung forth at the ending. I'm gonna miss this drama.

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it finally ends. For me, RTP is like eating cotton candy.
Colorful and sweet. But a little lacking in nutrition.
As much as I enjoy it, it needs more substance.
RTP, your my drama dessert this first half of 2012.

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lol, like your comment so much! It is really YiGak-ish with all the sweet stuff in it :))

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it would have been better if the writer prepared an omurice drama for us.

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Speaking of omurice I made some today in honor of the OTP and the Joseon ducklings. Ketchup and all...yummmm. Watching K-drama always make me hungry.

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LOL agreed. Loving all these food metaphors, too!

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While I'm not sure what your cup of tea is... this is one of the best fusion drama's.

I think this drama is just as good as Secret Garden & My Girlfriend is Gumiho.

This drama had so many cliffhangers that you just wanted to watch the next episode right now.

It definitely kept me on my feet...

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Thank you for recapping!

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After I first saw the ending, after thinking about it, even though Tae Yong was the one who showed up to meet Park Ha, and then later switched to Yi Gak after they held hands, I wonder if it means that Boo-young's reincarnation (Park Ha) recognized Yi Gak's reincarnation (Tae Yong). It seems like it. I was actually hoping that because there were some slight changes in the past, that the "future", a.k.a. Park Ha's "present" would have changed, and she wouldn't have remembered Yi Gak and then she would somehow meet Tae Yong and they would fall in love from the beginning. I mean really, how could the Prince and his men be gone only a day in Joseon time, but spend months in 2012? That was my first clue to thinking that if they went to the past under those circumstances that the future would be different. As it is, since Park Ha met Tae Yong the way he is now, I can only hope that maybe, just maybe he might have some of Yi Gak's memories, or some shadow of them, at least, so she wouldn't have to go through explaining why she lives in a rooftop house owned by Tae Yong, for example. I will just imagine it all worked out for them somehow, since it's over. :-)

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YEAH! I totally hope so too. Although she might have moved out of the rooftop house (Although if she hadn't way to leave loose ends!)

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Thank yoooou I was refreshing the whole morning LOL ...

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I'm doing my happy dance over this ending! It had pretty much everything I had hoped they would include - it was a pesent to us wrapped up in a pretty bow. Loved it!
:)

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Thanks for the recap!
Ok, before I read, I have to say that this ending was NOT satisfying for me. I don’t care if it’s “logical” that they can’t be together – this show has taken enough vacations from logic that I was hoping they could at least come up with some way for both of them to be happy, if not together then AT LEAST separately.
I mean, I wanted Yi Gak to be happy too! We spent the entire darn series with him, is it too much to ask of a romantic comedy?! But nooo, he gets to be all alone – that is, until he has to marry someone so he can have an heir. The whole thing with Bu Yong bothered me. First of all, who gets a huge pile of food as a present and says “Gee thanks, let me stuff my face with these right now while you silently watch”? I mean, I understand that she ate the persimmons because that way her death would expose the whole plot. But you know what else would expose it? I dunno, maybe the LETTER that spelled it all out?! Then you take the persimmons away and test them on a GOAT. Voila, plot discovered and Bu Yong did not have to die. This scenario, I understand, would negate the reason for time travel, but jeez, did they have to make her stupid back then, too?

Then I was hoping that maybe ye olde Tae Mu would kill Princess thinking she was Bu Yong, and Bu Yong was just really sick. Again, maybe if she’d eaten one instead of shoving them all down her throat. Then the time travel could have still made sense b/c there was still a murder to solve.
AND then we have Park Ha. There seems to be some implication with the costume changing that she was “really” ending up with the same person. But sorry, reincarnations don’t have memories of previous lives – certainly no one else in the show did. Plus, even if you’re reincarnated there are going to be differences in life experience– it’s not like you can pick up where you left off. Plus what’s she going to tell him? I love you because while you were in a coma this guy came from past who looked just like you! Dude, if that was going to work I want some flash-forward happy proof. GAH.
/rant over

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Umm, if the plot was discoverd, her family would be implicated, and she'd have died anyway.

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Meh, I think if she'd been the one to uncover it the prince would have taken mercy on her. Her life may not have been perfect afterward, but probably still better than lots of other people.

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Yea, but Bu Yong's not her sister of father, she wass kind and selfless till the end, so the most logical thing in her mind was saving her family instead of herself, rather than the other way round...

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AGREED.

I'd much rather have a "sad" ending than this. It feels as though she's "settling" for Tae-yong -- loving him purely because he bears Yi Gak's appearance (and perhaps his soul). It makes me question their relationship, because Park Ha is essentially loving two different man.

(Which is fine -- people have moved on and remarried after their spouse passes away, but this is almost like re-marrying somebody who looks exactly like your former spouse.)

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I'm not convinced it is TY - it could be but honestly I don't think we really know. But if it were TY and she was seeing what she wanted to see (when we see LG at the end), imagine what that says about the power of her love and the sadness she'll endure - a stand in, a constant reminder of what you can't have. Dunno, to me, that's incredibly sad.

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I don't think that it's Tae Yong per se because how they met, it's true that the person left a postcard for Bak Ha the same way Tae Yong did, but when you look at the way the person was standing in a princely pose, hand behind back, the way he looked at her and held her hand and what he said I think it was Yi Gak but who now had some of Tae Yong's qualities (drawing). Tae Yong had never met Bak- Ha personally and seemed kind of shy in meeting her at the beginning of the drama so if it was the same Tae Yong he would've introduced himself instead of holding onto her hand and saying and speaking about waiting for her for so long 300 years. In fact just before the modern epi at the end Yi Gak said he could die, if he could meet her again and that's what I think happened. it was said in an earlier part of the drama about reincarnations, that the person never remembers their previous lives, but in this case I think there was a difference because TaeYong who was actually Yi Gak referred to it. As far as I saw it the person at heart was Yi Gak who retained some of TaeYong's qualities.

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Hi there. I'm not sure if you believe in Buddhist reincarnations, but I have heard about cases where people actually remember their past lives. I think TY came out of the coma with YG's memory, and that's how he was able to approach PH.

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Yeah. The best way not to meet a girl is to tell her you just came out of coma where you spent the whole time dreaming about her and a past life.

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I also wondered why Park Ha didn't just take the persimmons with her instead of eating all of them, but then I thought this was the fastest thing she could think of given she just found out ten minutes ago that there was a plot to kill the prince. She may not be the best thinker under pressure, but she has the biggest heart to do something like that, dying for the prince.

I also think that when Tae Young first met Park Ha in NY, he was drawn to her for some reason, and that was because he had Yi Gak's soul. Essentially, if Tae Mu didn't knock Tae Young into the water, I'm pretty sure Park Ha and Tae Young would have gotten together as a couple (they were going to meet up anyways). Then he went into a coma, Yi Gak was able to come to the future, and Tae Young was pretty much a vegetable until Yi Gak returned to his time and Tae Young was able to reclaim that soul. So I was satisfied with the ending, though Yi Gak got the short end of the stick.

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"I also think that when Tae Young first met Park Ha in NY, he was drawn to her for some reason, and that was because he had Yi Gak’s soul."

In addition, there's a hint given somewhere in the series that TY had indeed some residual memories of YG where in one of his sketches he drew some lotus blooms (I think that was in ep. 8 where Granny asked SN to return his sketchpad to him). Now that I thought more about it, it seems that the ending's quite satisfactory to me, though I would have wanted that writer-nim just somehow thrown us more stuff to speculate that the man PH met at the Namsan Tower is indeed YG.

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Bu Yong didn't want her family implicated by showing the letter. That's why even when she was dying, she still asked the crown princess to change dress with her so that everybody would think that the crown prince was the one who died. It was meant to divert attention away from her family involvement in murder attempt on the crown prince.

And yes, reincarnated people don't carry the memory with them. But Tae Yong went through an almost death experience. He could have picked up something from that. Some memories may have come back to him that's why when he saw her at her juice store he was smiling.

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Bu Yong being the 'angel' that she is would never use the letter to expose the plot - she's not being stupid, she was being sacrificial. It would definitely not be in her character to expose the father's scheme and put the whole family in jeopardy. The crown prince then did not 'know' Bu Yong/Park Ha as he did after crossing over to the future. It would be ridiculous to think he would 'spare' Bu Yong. I don't think the system was so forgiving then.

As for the ending - as you said this show has 'taken enough vacations' from logic. It would have been crazy to have Lee Gak cross over again even if the writer cites creative license but the notion of a love that transcends time and place is not an unfamiliar one. To me, I think the ending was quite beautiful. I would like to think that when Tae Yong woke up, he did so with 2 sets or memories - one as Tae Yong and the other as Lee Gak. He must have gone through some length of time to understand why before things then fall into place hence 'I have been waiting a long time...'

I enjoyed RTP - it touched my heart and entertained me. Kudos to the cast whom I saw as 'family' for all 16 episodes.

Onward to the next great Kdrama!!

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Ok, the only way to keep her family and the Prince safe was to save the prince(urgent) and cut the relationship (future). Therefore, the princess (her sister) had to die. Inorder to save her sister, BY had to die in her stead. I got that part. So how were they planning to prevent people from looking at a dead persons face and finding out who actually died? Any clues?

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Thank a bunch JB . Off to read your recaps

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How many times can you make me laugh AND cry show? *sigh* I will be sad to see it end.

I have...so...many...unresolved....questions....BUT! I will be happy with what I got.

Truly, Micky grew up here and boy is he hot.

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Thank you so much for the recaps!

Loved love the fact that we got to see more of the Joseon era and more screen time for the 3 ducklings!

They didn't answer the question regarding Park Ha looking at the history books! :( - Or did they do that deliberately to get us thinking and then take off at another tangent?

I cried when Bu Yong was the one who sacrificed for the sake of her family and the Prince and now knowing this, the Prince doesn't get his happy ending.

A had to cringe a little on how the show ended - however given the time constraint, I'm fairly happy that Park Ha meets Yi Gak/Tae Yong.

Which leads me to thinking - did it really only take that long for Tae Yong to come out of his comatose state (aka just after Yi Gak went back to Joseon) or is that the reason why the concept of time different between the two eras (aka months in 2012 = overnight in Joseon)??

Overall - I'm so glad I get my social life back... Thank you Rooftop Prince!

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I was thinking the answer to what Park-ha read in the history book was giving Yi Gak the wedding necklace. She probably read that the prince was shot by an arrow through the heart/neck?

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yap, they didn't make a connection on what Park Ha saw in the History books. sigh, loose ends eh!

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The ending kind of reminds me of the manga fushigi yuugi. Both girls end up with the reincarnation of their lovers from a past time. Though in fushigi yuugi he sort of has some of his past memories.

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Haha, we're on the same boat then! Maybe that's where also RTP was headed and that's why in the last scene TY morphed into YG.

I don't know what to feel with the ending though. Like JB in my mind it's logical for PH to end with TY but in my heart I'm all for PY+YG since the show's has been consistent with that pairing. So...

Plot/storyline aside, it's a good thing that the main leads (and sidekicks) are adorable and have a very good chemistry, or else I would have dropped this show in the middle.

In the end, even after 20 episodes (some are truly daebak while some are, well, meh) I still love you, Show. :D

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That's what I was thinking, it reminded me of Fushigi Yuugi. I mean when Tamahome came back he was himself but he essentially was sent back and Taka emerged. He had the memories but wasn't the original....

I wished then for the original to be with her, and the same in RTP I wanted Yi Gak to find his way back to her.. but in a way I like to think maybe when they touched his soul woke up and remembered everything... that is the hopeless romantic in me.

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Last chance to say thank you for the recaps JB! I quite liked the resolution to the Joseon murder, I never really thought Buyong was the one to die but I can accept this revelation easily.

But I'm TEARING MY HAIR OUT at how it ended for Parkha. Up until they literally superimposed Yigak on Taeyong I was so sure Taeyong was gonna open his mouth and speak in Yigak's Joseon tone. I mean Taeyong HAS been brain-dead for years so that "allows" for sort of messing around with his brain for Yigak to get reincarnated in some way in his body. It's like Taeyong should have died anyway (an unconscious person in water should very likely drown without some of Fate's magicky intervention, no?) and I thought it would be perfect if his part in this was to provide the (same) body needed for Yigak to appear in modern times again. Bwwaaaah. I would have preferred this ending. But anyway it's been a loooong ride and now all I wanna see Yoochun and Jimin together for real, please and thank you.

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Too bad Han Ji Min is married >.<;; They were adorable together ^^~

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Han Ji Min is married? Really?? O_O Where did you hear that?

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Wait...she's married?! To whom?

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Han Ji Min is not married, she was rumoured to be engaged with So Ji Sub, there were even marriage rumours floating around but neither one of them confirmed about it.

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FYI she's not yet married. Just googled it to confirm. ^^

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WTF Are you trying to give me a Heart Attack lol?

She's not married....

To think about it... majority of Actors and Actresses don't get married...

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Brb, murdering my sources.

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Ok this "The material world and their current bodily trappings change from lifetime to lifetime, but the essence of their love is still there, and that recognition sweeps through them both." kinda redeemed it for me.

Nicely said :) I guess we should have known with the whole "I will love you even after 300 years"...

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AGREE COMPLETELY! I wrote in reply to a comment way up but I am glad to see there are a lot of people who share my views. Also there does seem to be confusion as to whether or not he had Lee Gak's memories. When I watched it I was inclined/hopeful to believe the writer had deliberately left it ambiguous, and therefore I could hope for YG in TY body, but then reading this recap made it seem definite, as though it was clear without a doubt, that he was in fact just TY. However some people still disagree, and I do think there is enough vagueness in there to allow for some hope. But then again the assuredness of JB's statements along with the fact that TY was speaking all modern talk and the fact that the superimposed image of LG was crying, but TY was not and the lack of any clear indication makes me lean towards them being different people. I'm trying very hard to find other recaps or the writer's own statements or something as I totally would've preferred your ending!! And I will still retain some hope against the odds!

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thanks alot for the re-caps! I think i am going to miss rooftop-prince! Argg

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wahh!!! end of RTP! :(

waahh!! miss them! :)

thanks for the recaps :)

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It was a beautiful ending.It feels rushed a little bit and needs more explanations, but I'm satisfied ,over all. And Han JiMin was AMAZING in this episode !! Her eyes are sparkling when she cries ~~

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Awww, thanks for recapping guyss

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thank you for the recaps throughout this whole drama!!

love this cute drama!! anticipating more work from yoochun and jimin.

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Thanks for the recaps!

I'm impressed with how this show really kicked it up a notch in the last few episodes.

I'm not sure how I would have resolved this differently, but I just wanted Park Ha living happily ever after with Yi Gak and the ducklings. How do we get them to hang out with the reincarnations?

I think I would have liked to have see Tae Young maybe wearing a wedding necklace, not the one that saved his life, but maybe one that indicated his acknowledgement of the connection?

And someone on Viki pointed this out, he was standing there at the end with a very, very Yi Gak stance, the arms behind the back.... so maybe he picked up a bit more of his past self after snapping out of the two year coma. I would have liked to see a little afterword with him randomly slipping into Joseon talk and not even knowing why.

AND WHERE DID MIMI AND BECKY GO??? They were so cute.

(I think they should have ended either on the rooftop or their bench, also, and there needed to be a butterfly.)

100% awesome acting in this though, without a doubt, what carried me thru some of the weird/weak episodes.

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me too wondering where they go. I think Mimi deserves a little attention from Man bo. She likes him, and they are cute together. :D

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I got to admit - I was disappointed. I was hoping in some ways, the body would not be Bo-young, but there was a hunch after the whole accident thing. It broke my heart to think that Yi Gak had to return to nothing - who cares about solving dead wife's murder? It was like... Pffttt... I really wanted him to be in the present with Park Ha... That would have been a really nice ending.

On a side note, the letter sent from 300 years ago was a nice touch and sad. He was telling her how he loved her and will continue to love her for all eternity. 300 years be damned lol... It was just sad because by the time Park Ha got the letter, Yi Gak was already dead, I feel somewhat wronged there...

Still, I wished really hard that Bo-young was some alive. I mean, it would have been nice for Yi Gak to fall for her. But, it was nice to know 300 years later, he did it right... With a little help from from his past incarnation... Though, didn't Tae-Young already liked Park Ha? Oh fate, you need to do a better job there...

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I'm with you on wishing that BY was still alive. I hoped that the 4 guys would be able to go back to Josean times a day before the murder took place, so that the prince could prevent the plot, punish the princess, divorce her and marry BY. I was really really hoping that it would happen like I had envisioned it. BY already loved the prince so all he had to do was look under the veil to see that BY had Park Ha's face. If only wishes could come true......

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Thanks for the recap! I think I might go back and watch this show as I am quite happy with the ending. It's relatively realistic, sad but I am satisfy.

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it's...an interesting ending. i sorta agree with others on "what did park-ha read in the history book?" was it she read about her death in the past? that yi gak exiiled his wfie?

at the same time...(i think i'm not that nice to this show...sorry) i'm curious -- so, sure yi gak arrives in the past, is able to write letters to park ha...wouldn't the time continum fold back onto itself since tha way he woldn't put in the pendant? or would there be a weird parallel (that before it was solved, only the pendnat would show...after solving, there's a letter!) this implies he died without having any issue/children...

as for Tae yong -- seriously, he might remember some stuff, but it's not the same!

but, thank you for all the recaps (so fast and so thorough)

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I think the letter was hidden further in so Yigak didn't notice it the first time he was retrieving his pendant..

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Got a bit weepy when Bu Yong sacrificed her life to save the prince. Bawled like a baby when Yi Gak teared up after eating the omurice. Didn't quit until about half an hour after I finished watching.

Not sure how I feel about the ending, quite honestly. I feel the Prince got short-changed, ending up lonely and twice-bereaved. Not to mention that he would probably end up having to remarry whether he wanted to or not, just to carry on his lineage. Gah.

I think I'd have been happier with Park Ha's ending if Tae Yong had somehow woken from his coma with all of Yi Gak's memories and maybe even a bit of carry over of his personality. Still, I would've MUCH preferred for Yi Gak to return to be with Park Ha himself.

So while I don't HATE the ending, it's definitely not what I'd hoped for. Here's hoping that Queen In-hyun's Man does what this drama failed to do.

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I know! It really is Yi Gak at the end. He lived out his life in Joseon and after he died, he woke up in Tae Yong's comatose body. That's why he doesn't have the necklace and ring. That's also why he's standing with Yi Gak's stance. As for his voice - he's got to be Tae Yong from here on out so he has to talk like Tae Yong even though he's Yi Gak.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Denial? Who me?

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I also need to convince myself too that it was YG in TY's body, but I guess the writer's deliberately left it like this for us to whack our mental faculties more.

This sorta open-ended ending does no good to my heart, though.

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lol well I think they didn't make him talk at the end for it to a kinda open ending so we would have to guess what we want to happen.
so you are not in denial it's your own right honey.

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I like this.. I'm reformatting my brain to insert this ending i hope it eases my aching heart . :'(

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Yessss!Finally someone said what I wanted to hear.That's my story too,and I'm not going to change it either!:D
Thanks Stacy!

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This was very well said and I completely agree. Also I shall join you in denial and maintain that while JB may disagree, I think it is fair to say that the ending was ambiguous enough on purpose and that it is not completely unbelievable to think that TY gained LG's memories, if not upon waking up from his coma, when he touched PH.

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Also yeah, there are enough clues like the hand thing to give us some meagre hope!

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*TY holding his hands behind his back like LG to be clearer

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It's finally over =/
I was appeased by the end, but I thought it to be a little bittersweet.
I really hoped that Yi Gak would return to moments before her death so that he could prevent it and put everything back into it's natural order. I was disappointed when I saw that he returned when it was a little too late.

Unfortunately, I feel as though if I watched episode 1 then skipped right to episode 20, I really wouldn't be missing much, maybe the development of their feelings but not so much on the storyline.

I think I liked that she will end up with Tae Yong instead of Yi Gak (despite the two technically being the same person). In the present time, her fate would've led her to Tae Yong all along so it's not like something is amiss. However, it is also obvious that the relationship we saw blossom was between Yi Gak and Park Ha and not Tae Yong and Park Ha. The memories created by them will not carry over to Tae Yong, which is kind of a pity, since it'd probably mean that they'll love each other for different reasons this time around.
However, had Tae Mu not have attacked him in New York, then what we saw would've been between Tae Yong and Park Ha.

Overall, i think this drama reaffirmed my love for Yoochun and Han Ji Min and I can't wait to see what they will do next =D
Thanks so much Javabeans for recapping this drama!!

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I really like your comment.

Especially about Taeyong and Park Ha being together if the NY accident hadn't happen.

My thinking is that with the whole reincarnation this was to finally allow justice to be served (Joseon) and for the fated souls to finally meet again and be able to develop a relationship (Present).

Basically achieving two goals at the same time.

Again... in the end it was fate...

Lee Gak and Buyong was fated... the hot poker accident and subsequent death
Tae yong and Park Ha was fated... the NY accident and the coma

But against all odds, their souls still managed to find each other.

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HATED the ending. I think it was Yigak because his hands are tucked behind his back?..... I really hope

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Seriously, I'm laughing. Don't know what to say. I'll just read the comments because I'm sure everything I'm thinking will be posted here. *can't stop giggling*

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Thank you! I was waiting for the recap on here since morning. I didn't really get the ending; If he was Tae Yong or Lee Gak. In my heart, I was wishing for bak ha to be with Lee Gak again!! But, I guess its okay because Tae Yong is the recarnation of Lee Gak... I loveee this drama very much. I'm still thinking of the drama especially the ending! lol. Thank you!

Hopefully, there will be more dramas like this one that will get me drawn into it! :)

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Thank You for this! i'm love the ending. : ) i will try to find time to watch.

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Anyone watched the last episode and thought of Bu Bu Xing Xing?

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Yep, definitely- I bet the RP's screenwriter was inspired by BBJX. But on the whole, I prefer RP.

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To elaborate, RP is more satisfying, even though it's half as long as BBJX. BBJX's ending where everyone dies in the past- it's too sad, too bleak. There wasn't enough comedy to break up the tragedy. So, I prefer RP for many reasons (even though I'm Chinese) Dramas should leave viewers feeling good. BBJX did not make me feel good- just sad. You know what I mean? It was draining. But I love what RP's screenwriter did from beginning to end. The story is very well crafted, very satisfying and meaningful.

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I get what you meant about BBJX being sad. I literally could not watch the finale and I felt so bummed that through everything, there was no "change history and make a positive ending".

I don't think there was a single person that had at least a decent ending. All I felt was, "all that tension, drama, and my favs dying and NOTHING was resolved positively?"

So yes, RP had the better ending. Although I do wish, like BBJX, Park Ha could have dismissed Tae Yong and kept Yi Gak in her heart for he was as an individual. Park Ha instantly falling for Tae Yong because of the Yi-Gak reincarnation felt a bit cheap.

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No, i feel that Park Ha will love Tae Yong, not for himself, but for Yi Gak. Forever.
//so sad for Yi Gak.
I was hoping she'd get to know that she took the hit for him. Twice. And saved him three times.

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But what about whatever-it-was she read in a book that one time that had her so shocked? That was never revealed to us and it makes me so upset T^T

Also, anyone notice the creepy stone turtle next to the pond that turns it's head in the first episode? IT WAS SO WEIRD. And the camera zoomed into it and everything so I was sure it had a purpose....alas, I'm left hanging.

But other than the plot holes of doom it was great. And I'm working my way towards accepting the ending... T^T

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Perhaps it was written down in history that the princess was exiled and her sister was the one in the pond?

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Well, the pond is called Boo Young pond. It could just mean lotus pond though.

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well, actually i think maybe she read that LeeGak was killed after a coup happened. dont forget, Joseun TaeMu was plotted with BuYong's n HwaYong's to killed LeeGak. and maybe sometime in Joseon era, they succeded =)

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letter from lee gak to pak ha breaking my heart...until now i still crying....good job for the cast of rtp team...i miss a lot rtp..one of my best kdrama for me...thank u JB.....i must stop to watch kdrama untill recovering from my sadness......now i believe true love....

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I did not cry but my heart was real heavy in that Yi Gak's letter scene T.T, a feeling like "it's not fair, why why!!"

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i dont really like the ending, but i think this is the only way to finished this drama well and logic, dont think there is a way Park ha and Yi Gak can be together coz they have different era but i want Yi Gak to get his love too..

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yessa!! already guessed the ending would be like that...knew it was buyong who died but just not sure how she died....i think some ppl wud think the ending is illogical...but then given the situation, wanting to save someone u love...u just do watever comes to mind...
thank you for the recap, I really enjoy reading ur recaps as much as I enjoy watching the drama...you know what I'll miss the most abt the drama...the three ducklings...haha...

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omg, I haven't bawled for a drama in such a long time!! I was so confused with the ending at first, but after sitting down and thinking about it, here's how I like to explain the ending:

Yi Gak and Bu Yong were fated to be together, but since Tae-Mu messed that one up, Fate was like 'whatevs, I've got tricks up my sleeves!' and Bu Yong's reincarnation was the next best thing, so Fate sent Yi Gak to the future to meet her and fall in love accomplishing two things 1) getting Yi Gak and Bu Yong (as park ha) together and 2) to bring justice for what Joseon Tae Mu did because nobody messes with Fate and gets away with it. When Tae-Yong woke up from his coma, Fate allowed him to remember his memories as Yi Gak with Park Ha and we have the ending we have. The fact that Tae-Yong is standing the way he's standing makes me think it's Yi Gak (or at least Tae-Yong remembering his life as Yi Gak).

Well, this is how I'm going to believe it anyway because I want Park Ha and Yi Gak together (or at least Tae-Yong with Yi Gak's memories!)

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exquisitemelody, i love your version!

at least, it cast away my sadness , finally....

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Yeah I totally agree,not to mention the expecting look in his eyes or his smile when he was in her shop,and how the hell did he know her address if it wasn't in fact Yi Gak,or you know ,Tae Yong with Yi Gak's memories?
He was definitely Yi Gak.That's what I believe:D

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Thank you for the recap. You have done a great job.

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Thank you javabeans! I seriously did not know what happened to Rooftop Prince midway through where I had to bring myself to 'accept' the twisted plot and too much (incredibly crazy) makjang because I kept the faith in the writer and the cast. I was so relieved yesterday watching Ep19 because I knew that they would be able to wrap it up in a nice and neat manner. The first few episodes and the two last episodes were the best, as you say, it should have been 10 episodes instead of 20.

Talking about the ending, it was sensible, yet unsatisfying. The writer tried to make up for that by putting TY in YG's costume. I understand that it is the souls that recognized each other, but still, that would have been great if Yi Gak could end up with Park Ha. Since TY was not dead (ie. YG could not come to the future), why did they not transport Park Ha back to Joseon when Bu Yong had died. Is my wishful thinking too much...

This is not the best drama but I like it mostly because of the cast. I am a fan of Yoochun and started off to watch this drama because of him but it turned out at the end of it I became a fan of Ha Ji Min and F3. The chemistry of the OTP is overflowing (on and off screen, I need to add) and it is the pair that carried the plot all the way. Even in episodes where there was sheer stupidity, their romance did make up for it and save me from a big let-down.

Congratulations to the Rooftop Prince crew. They did a good job!

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Oh, how come I forgot to send <3 to Yoochun for his excellent performance in this drama. He truly pulls off the roles and from this drama on should be considered as actor rather than the label idol-turned-actor. *fangirl*

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a big thank you to javabeans! the ending is quite nice. will miss the ducklings!

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Of course it would be too much to expect that they will give us all the answers. But I am happy that the prince knowingly changed the Fate of BuYong and saved her. Although there were a lot of forced coincidences and sometimes hard to buy swerves of the plot, the writers obviously decided to stay true to what's logically acceptable in the end. I wish they would have been more creative and found a way to get the Prince to also have his love, but I guess that would be tough given that they had so many fluffy episodes in between while being unable to resolve everything until the very ending.
All in all I cried a lot yesterday, today though I was too sad to even be happy for Park Ha.

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damnnnnn im.gonna miss this drama. loved every minute :'(

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OH gosh.. its over.. No more episodes!!! the ending was a bit confusing but you cleared it up for me so it makes sense now.. THANK YOU.

Although I have to point out, when Bu-Yong fell carried that powdered box, more than HALF of the powder came spilling out.. I'm so surprised that even just a small sprinkle would do so much damage to poison Bu-Yong's body.. YIKES..

Yes it is said that Yi-gak lives his life alone but at least he has the 3 ducklings to support him.. I'm glad they were cheering him up when he was missing Park-ha.

But at least Park-Ha gets reunited with Tae-Young (with Yi-gak's soul) so its still a happy ending..

Now I have to rewatch the entire show from beginning to end.. Going to miss Yoochun's lovely face and the ducklings!!!

Thank you for the recaps from finish to end! :)

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I know this isn't the place to say it, but I just need to get it out there.

WTF FASHION KING! No, seriously, what the fuck....?

With Fashion King's ending, I'm pretty much satisfied with anything else lol. I expected this ending from Rooftop Prince since the start, but it's still bittersweet to watch. Call me a sap, but I quite like the whole their-souls-recognize-each-other deal. Since technically Yi Gak is Tae Yong, Park Ha is still with him...the reincarnated version of him at least.

It's a bittersweet sort of satisfaction. In the end, Rooftop Prince was still a fun drama to watch. I enjoyed Yoochun's improved performance a lot. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to the Joseon Power Rangers!

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@May, i have the same thoughts about YiGak is part of TaeYong and that ParkHa seemed to know that... after all something must have led the awakened TaeYong to her juice shop... and 2 years before TaeYong was already interested in ParkHa when they briefly met in New York... at least their love story will have a good ending at the present time...

and props to Yoochun for his greatly improved acting *clap*

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oh my sorry for that '@May'... i say 'K May 24th...' and i automatically wrote @May hehehe... my bad K...

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Hmm.. Could it be that the juice shop is really close to the office? Then it could just be coincidence.

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I agree, the way Fashion King turned out (and I don't mean just the final scene....the series just went to hell after, what, six episodes?) makes pretty much anything on public access cable look like gripping drama.

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I really enjoyed ep's 19-20. These last 2 episodes were better than the previous 5 or 6. Either way, I'm glad I stuck with reading & watching it and taking this journey with the Dramabeans community. As usual, it's been fun! :-)

Now I'm gonna marathon Queen In Hyun's Man and catch up to everyone who's been watching all along!

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I was so unsatisfied with the recent episodes that i had low expectations for the finale but gladly it was a good and emotional ending, i think in the last scene Lee Gak/Tae Yong had the same memory or like you said "their souls recognized each other" at first sight so i'm happy with their romance. I also wish that the writer had showed us more scenes in Joseon times 'cause that was waaay better than the corporate plot we had to endure.

anyway i'm glad i sticked with this drama, it was a cute/hilarious ride if we pretend that the bad stuff never happened lol.

Thank you so much Javabeans for your speedy recap!

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Wahhh some of u guys r definitely interpreting the end of this drama wrong... Although I think this ending is kinda ur take on things since they weren't very specific..

I think that at the end it was tae yong because he had his drawing abilities. However he was standing like Yi gak and even talked like him. When he said he was waiting it was because he had been waiting 300 years. So I'm saying that it was him but it also had Yi gaks memory. In other words they combined after lee gak died in joseon. If u remember the letter said I would die to be with you and this drama is based on a true story. The reason why bak ha was crying in the history books is because in real history the crown prince died 2 years after the "crown princess" died. When yong tae yong woke up from his coma, lee gak went into his soul after he had died in joseon two years later.

Haha yes it's confusing but the writer said that he made this drama based on real history :P but everyone has different takes on it! Since I believe this is what the ending meant I really enjoyed this drama! Rooftop prince hwaiting!!~~~ <3333

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that's a very good explanation bravo :))

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Then crown prince died ah.. Finally tat guy tae young ah?? But his soul is lee jak ah?? I was emotional after saw ths drama..I cried..

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I think what made me satisfied with the ending pairing of Tae-yong and Park-ha is Bu-yong's letter to the Yi-gak. She said she will love him for hundreds of years to come and that happened through Park-ha, So when Yi-gak promised Park-ha to love her for 300 years I know that this will be fulfilled through Tae-yong.

And then again Yi-gak's words before that Park-ha was fated to meet Tae-yong.

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Well DONE!!! Nice Ending! Bravo!!!

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Oh my god I'm crying~!!! D,X

Okay, my points:
-I just knew there was a Joseon Tae-mu, and I just knew it was TMTETS scenario all over again~!!! BTW, JB, Muchang-gun and Prince Muchang, either wy is the same.
-Aww, Bu-yong was to have the fall guy (girl) in all of this...but one thing does bother me, why no autopsy all of a sudden??? To ensure that the corpse was Hwa--yong and not Bu-yong's??? Or maybe the ducklings all sorted that out before the time-leap???
-And the final scene. Broke my heart, I really didn't know if that was Yong Tae-yong or Yi Gak...
-No closure to the other characters???
-...and also...I was really curious as to what Park-ha read in the Annals about Yi Gak. I mean, not even a clue???

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The lack of a body check/autopsy thing actually is one of the few things that I can accept - with her "drowning" in the pond and possibly being there for hours, means her body could have been completely swollen and her face unrecognizable - completely bloated and gone. So it makes sense they would just assume it's the princess, in that case. So no one questioned it.

But then Yi-Gak and ducklings pieced together the story and just knew, from the parallel events in the future...I...guess.

...everything else makes no sense whatsoever.

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Yeah, the fact that Bu-yong was submerged in the water for hours could be a factor...and now I know why Park-ha was staring wistfully at the water too at episode 2 or 3, I think??? The one where they're at Changdeokgung (or otherwise; since the throne hall at the real Changdeokgung has screen doors there yellow, whereas the palace used (also in "Hwang Jin-i", episode 2, where Baek-mu (our Daewangdaebi in TMTETS) says kisaeng have freedom that not even palace ladies, low and high, will never possess) and at the pond at the pavillion...

Yeah, it's more likely the whole story was pieced by ducklings, though I really can't find anything to associate everything of the 18th century in parallel with the 21st century...

I know what you mean, like there's no proper closure of the other characters...the 21st century people, I mean...

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a few hours in da water wont make a corpse swollen. u try it, kill a chicken or whatever and throw it in da pond, it'll take maybe a couple of days to swell.

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Precisely. On the other hand, cold water will preserve tissue better. She died of poisoning, so it isn't a drowning, and the burn scar on the face would be pretty difficult to hide, one would think. Prince saw the body. You think anyone would give up without seeing their loved one's face for the last time? I maintain that that is the biggest plot hole, unless I missed a good explanation.

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True. And consider this: It's the Joseon's era so the clothes really has a pivotal role in the identification (or more like misidentification) of the body since the customs are very strict at that time. You'll be beaten to death if you were found in a royalty's clothes so no one would really suspect that the person in the Crown Princess'es clothes is a person other than the Crown princess herself. Plus, the Crown Prince himself ordered to wrap the body without showing any holes in it. Anyone who would dare defy that order, with that state of grief and a fierce vow for vengeance, would be asking for his/her life.

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After rewatching the first episode, here's my explanation:

They just took it as fact that the body was the princess' because of the clothes - who would even consider it's not her? Yi Gak ordered for them to wrap her body in silk without leaving any holes, so it's possible that they covered her with the sheet in the water and when they turned her over, her face was already also covered with the sheet.

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