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Sword and Flower: Episode 4

This episode sunk its teeth into me and never let go, not even for a second, not even by the end of the hour. It’s everything I forgot I was missing in a sageuk—adventure, suspense, and the kind of heart that completely took me by surprise. Life and death stakes can have that effect on a love story, especially when they’re especially life-y and especially death-y. If that doesn’t make sense, blame the show. My nerves are still shot.

Oh and Uhmforce, dramaland missed you and the power of your smolder so, so, so much. Welcome back.

 
EPISODE 4 RECAP

After the king declares that his son will be executed, General Yeon shambles silently to his empty home while Choong spends the night in prison.

Mu-young struggles to reconcile the two sides of Choong she now knows—the side she fell in love with, and the side that lied to her and betrayed her. Eventually, she decides to go visit him in prison. Her freedom is still kind of blowing my mind.

Their eyes meet, and for a long while they’re silent as emotions threaten to come bubbling to the surface. Steeling herself, she says, “Do not expect forgiveness or kindness. I will not forgive you. I will not show any kindness to you. Do not expect that your head may be spared or that you may not be killed. Your head will be cut off, and you will die.”

Choong actually surprises me by being completely honest with her by explaining how he’d only ever lived to see his father after he and his mother were ignored as slaves, so he took the only opportunity he had in killing her attacker. “I didn’t have the reason or composure to consider whether it was right or wrong.”

There was nothing left for him after his father rejected him, so becoming a palace guard was Choong’s way to take his fate into his own hands and make something of himself. This is the first time we see how much that position meant to him, and it pulls at the heartstrings. Hers too, by the looks of it.

When she asks if he has any last words, Choong wonders, “Is fate really something you can’t escape from?” He tried to escape his fate as General Yeon’s illegitimate son, yet in the end, that’s the reason why he’s being executed.

“Aren’t you afraid of death?” she asks.

“I’ll be dying as my father’s son, so I have no regrets,” he answers. “Just that I ended up hurting your feelings after all your trust and support, even though it was not my intention, is unforgivable.” He means it and she knows it, which is why their eyes well up with tears. He never wanted to hurt her, but now it’s too late.

We finally see all the members of the secret group serving the king (the one responsible for saving Mu-young during the caravan attack), with the one member we know, Shi-woo, among them.

They’ve all just found out about Choong’s loathsome family ties, and Shi-woo shakes his head now that he realizes that the princess must have been caught by surprise, especially when she liked him. But the more pressing matter is Choong’s upcoming execution and how they must prepare for anything General Yeon might pull.

Leader SO SA-BUN (Kim Sang-ho) knows that the king is only punishing Choong and not his father because killing General Yeon would start a civil war—but killing Yeon’s son just sends a point. Don’t mess with the royal family.

The councilman responsible for the failed assassination apologizes to General Yeon, which means that Yeon wasn’t behind the plan. Yeon refrains from executing him this time, but warns that another reckless mistake will be the end of him.

Jang pays General Yeon a visit, and the two speak frankly about the situation with Choong. Yeon again comes to his son’s defense, not out of any sense of love I think, but only because it’s the truth: “If he were a spy, he wouldn’t have tried to save the lives of the princess and the prince.”

He knows that Choong thinks he instigated the plot and is keeping silent about it so as to protect him, even though he admits to a level-headed Jang that he wasn’t responsible. Moreover, since Jang is responsible for the royal family’s safety, his life will be in danger if he admits that there was an assassination attempt on his watch.

General Yeon then brings up Jang’s late father, the king’s brother, and how he could have become king if only he tried. He wonders why Jang is wasting his life as a palace guard: “You have mercy, but are not weak. You know pleasure, but are not given to it. You are the only member of the royal family in Goguryeo that has both literary and military skills. Only those who are qualified deserve to sit on the throne.”

Ah, so he’s trying to get Jang to turn against his uncle and take his place as king, a plot Jang refuses to hear more of. “Destiny is something you choose,” General Yeon calls after him. “I, at least, would never mock you.”

And as we see, General Yeon’s seed of usurpation is beginning to take root in Jang.

He tells Choong that he heard he saved the prince and princess from an assassination attempt and that if it’s true, he swears to save Choong’s life. In an effort to protect his father, Choong lies that there was no such attempt.

“He rejected you as a father,” Jang says. “Why are you still trying to protect him? Is it just the law of nature?” My question exactly.

Despite what Mu-young told Choong, she does forgive him and wants to save him, so she talks out some of her options with Jang. Except none of them will work.

Then she reveals that she feels responsible for his current plight—he came to the palace after cutting his family ties, but he wouldn’t have stayed if she hadn’t made him. “If only I hadn’t done that, this wouldn’t have happened. Everything is my fault, and there’s nothing I can do for him.”

Jang tells her the truth—that Choong saved her and her brother from assassination. (There’s so much honesty in this show. Am I in The Twilight Zone?) Mu-young is hopeful that this information will cause her father to spare him, but Jang reveals that the truth has repercussions, and that Choong hid it for his father. Though I think the bit he adds about Choong hiding it for national stability and her sake is a stretch.

Mu-young goes straight to her father with what she learned and asks that Choong be spared for saving their lives, but the king won’t open an investigation into the attempt so as not to provoke General Yeon further. His hope is to send him off to the Cheolli Jangseong, the fortifying wall to ward off the Tang, as quietly as possible to isolate him away from politics.

But it’s not like her father doesn’t have sound logic to defend his decision to execute Choong—no matter what he did afterward, he’s still a criminal for assassinating the man who attacked them.

Even though the king admits to knowing how fond she was of Choong, he can’t change his decision. Mu-young can’t help but cry, and when she pays a somber visit to Choong later, she almost leaves without saying a word. But a charged stare brings her back to his side.

“I don’t think I can just let you go like this,” she admits. A tear escapes Choong’s eye as he replies, “Knowing how you feel is enough for me.”

Her voice breaks, “It’s not enough for me.” Gah. Why is this breaking my heart? I know it’s designed that way, so I don’t know why I’m surprised that it’s working. Maybe because I wasn’t expecting the emotional hook to actually get me.

He holds her hands through the bars as both of them cry. They love each other, but he’s going to die, and… *sniff*

She runs away and flashes back to a a conversation we didn’t see, which only cements my love for the crown prince—he told his older sister about a secret passageway in the prison leading to the outside. Best. Dongsaeng. EVER.

We see a mysterious man swap out Choong’s cell key for a fake before he releases a butterfly into the prison, since it’ll naturally find the secret passageway on its search for fresh air.

Mu-young is on the outside waiting to spot the butterfly, and when she does she finds the exit to the passageway. Ah ha. She never fails to impress.

That night, Mu-young uses the passageway to sneak into the prison while her brother takes the initiative to try and get the king to rescind the execution order.

The king calls the crown prince idealistic for thinking that there’s another solution to his problem with General Yeon. “Indeed, the goal of politics is always idealistic. However, the road to that ideal is ugly, dirty, and sometimes even vulgar. Are you afraid of that road?” the king asks.

The crown prince believes that there’s another road, though his father doesn’t agree. “You must have grown quite fond of him,” the king notes, as we see Mu-young find her way into the prison proper only feet away from Choong’s cell.

“I don’t know General Yeon very well, but I felt I could communicate with his son,” the crown prince admits. I love how his dad’s all happy that he found a friend only to be like, You can find a new one. Harsh.

The king stops suddenly as a thought hits him: “Did your sister send you to me?” The crown prince falters—a dead giveaway that she did. Ohhh, the king knows she’s up to something!

Mu-young has to avoid the prison guard, so she waits for the right moment to throw her eunjangdo, a silver dagger women carried for self-defense, into Choong’s cell. The guard is suspicious of the strange sound, but finds nothing amiss. Phew, close shave.

At least the king doesn’t instantly jump to the conclusion that Mu-young is in the midst of a prison break, but he does scold her brother for being swayed by his emotions just like his sister. He wants to find Mu-young for a chat… uh oh.

Choong discreetly takes the knife, but when he spots Mu-young hiding in the ice cellar his eyes go wide in shock. I think he’s more worried for her than for himself, because if she’s caught…

The crown prince tries to dissuade his father from waking Mu-young up, and I’m not too sure dad buys it even though he agrees to let the matter rest.

Mu-young sneaks up to the cell to try the key, only the lock won’t give. Oh no. Her desperation grows as the guard can be heard coming their way, so Choong grabs her silver dagger as though he’s prepared to kill the guard to protect her. Ack! Hurry, Mu-young!

You can see him silently willing her to just give up, and she lets out tears of frustration as she keeps trying. Then we see that it’s not just the prison guard but also Jang who’s approaching, which is bad news bears.

She tries and tries, but she can’t unlock the door. The look on her face when she realizes she can’t save him is heartbreaking, and she’s forced to run and hide before Jang sees her. The dagger is left behind.

Jang orders Choong moved to a different cell. (Was he sent by the king?) Choong turns back to Mu-young’s hiding place, not once but twice. The longing in their gazes is just… wow. Their chemistry is on fire this episode.

And then Jang looks back as if he knows she’s there. Eek, does he?

The king discovers Mu-young when she returns to the palace, and she instantly drops to her knees to beg for Choong’s life. “He is a poor soul who was forsaken by his father. For someone who was never loved by his father to have to die because of who his father is… it’s just too unfair.”

The king reminds her that his father happens to be General Yeon, his enemy, though she counters that they may as well have no blood relation at all. It’s still a no-go.

“I admire your passion,” her father admits. “However, I can’t let the dignity of the royal family be damaged by it. He will be executed at noon tomorrow.” He leaves Mu-young crying.

It seems like Choong’s impending death is at least weighing on his father’s mind that night, enough for him to try to gain an audience with the king. Jang is the one to tell him that the king refuses to see him.

After a very long pause, General Yeon asks that Jang at least extend the courtesy of returning Choong’s body in one piece so he can be given a proper funeral. Then he asks to see his son. (At least he’s acknowledging Choong now. Silver lining?)

He gets only the one chance to talk to his son before he dies, and this is what he says: “Many people will be watching you die. If you are a Yeon, you will meet your death with dignity.” Oh, wow. Really? I know someone who isn’t getting a #1 Dad hanbok this year.

Choong bears the moment in silence. Dude. You’re dying to protect that guy?

Dawn breaks on Execution Day. Both the prince and princess are uneasy as they think of Choong’s execution, and it’s cute that they’ve both formed a bond with him. You can see Mu-young trying to think of something, anything, to do. But she’s exhausted her resources.

Choong is escorted in a line of prisoners to the public stage where a small crowd has gathered, including his friend Jin-gu. I love that his friend was just there to see a normal round of executions, only to be totally floored when he sees Choong among the condemned. Good times in Goguryeo.

All the prisoners’ faces are covered with white hoods, and Choong’s last glimpse of the mortal world disappears behind one too. The executioner starts waving his sword in preparation to do some beheading, and brings it this close to Choong’s neck. Okay, now I’m starting to really worry. How are they going to save him?!

Mu-young races through town driving her own carriage, sending people ducking for cover. Please tell me she has a plan.

Choong’s face is uncovered—not because he gets to be spared, but because the king ordered him to be hung, not beheaded. His poor friend Jin-gu starts crying out from the audience as they lower the noose around Choong’s neck…

Mu-young runs to make it to the stage, only to stop in the crowd. Wait. She doesn’t have a plan? She was my last hope!

This look passes over Choong’s face when he spots Mu-young in the crowd, which I can only describe as utter desolation. (I’m not crying… it’s just been raining on my face.)

General Yeon stares at the same ancestral portraits we saw him at before, only—…oh. OH! The portrait he stared so hard at before is now backlit, and there’s a hidden within—Da Vinci Code style—of Choong’s mother. Whoa.

The king sits pensively still as General Yeon is seen leaving the ancestral room. Is he going to save his son?

Mu-young looks on helplessly as Jang gives the order, and Choong’s body is hoisted up by the noose around his neck. No no no. No no no no no.

Choong claws at the rope hanging him and gasps for breath. Jin-gu has to be held back by the guards from saving his friend as Mu-young sobs.

 
COMMENTS

I’m the kind of spoilerphobe who won’t even watch previews for upcoming episodes, not just because previews can be misleading, but because going into an episode relatively blind is the closest guarantee I can get to experience the show as the writer intended—twists, reveals, and all. That has nothing to do with a highbrow notion of how art should be consumed or anything of the sort, it just makes watching a show more fun for me.

Because I can’t always control what spoilers I see, I try to at least control one aspect of what I don’t see, and that’s the next episode previews. Usually, it’s because I see the events highlighted in the preview and spend an entire week (or a day, depending on the episode) trying to figure out how the story will navigate us there. And when I do that, I’m usually wrong. So avoiding them lets me accomplish two good things: (1) experiencing the show as intended, and (2) being less wrong. I’m bringing this up because Sword made me break my No Preview Rule—I was compelled to watch the preview after this cliffhanger. I needed to get some reassurance that everything would be okay. And that didn’t happen. Instead, my nerves had frayed nerve babies and I could really go for a drink.

It usually just feels like schmuck bait when a drama tries to hinge a cliffhanger on whether one of the main characters lives or dies (this excludes the final episodes where everyone ever is prone to dying), so with us being only four episodes into this drama, it makes NO SENSE that Choong would die, right? Right. Drama logic mandates that he must live. But that knowledge isn’t as comforting as I’d like it to be, and part of the ‘why’ lies in the seamless narrative construction of this episode—by spending an hour with Choong’s death looming overhead while other characters we know to be smart and resourceful scrambled to save him only to then fail, this show set up a freakin’ tough dramatic problem.

What’s great about the show having Mu-young, the crown prince, and General Yeon (to a lesser degree) exhaust all possible solutions to the very real problem of Choong’s fate is that I felt as hopeless as Mu-young was by the end of the episode. I can’t think of a way out of this that someone hasn’t already thought of in this show, which is about as ideal a place as I could hope to be as a viewer. Ideal, but also terrifying.

It broke my heart to pieces when Mu-young’s prison break failed because we’ve all been there, to that point where all our hard work, all our heart, and all our effort can only get us so far. To see her execute so much of her daring plan flawlessly only to come up against that ONE obstacle was just plain torture—because after all that, I really did expect her to succeed. Scratch that, I wanted her to succeed. Mu-young is a gem of a heroine that manages that rare balancing act of being, well, balanced. And she manages to be in love without losing herself, so her actions have clear motivations that are rooted in reason and heart. She’s just the best.

While I wasn’t completely sold on the romance at first, or even still by last episode, sometimes it just takes that one moment, that one spark, to suck you in. That happened for me when Mu-young let her vulnerability, her fear of losing Choong, show in front of him. And then he took her hands, accepted her heart, and I was a goner.

 
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Little by little this is growing on me-- I mean the music is gonna need fixing for sure, but as the weeks go by this is shaping up to be the one to watch amongst the current batch of new dramas.

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reading your intro makes me want to watch this. I think I will go check it out. thanks!

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Except for episodes 2 and 3, I am so pissed off with the deliberate slow speed of the directing and acting. The plot is great, but the artificial over repeating of sceneries, and over long time movie sceneries, are absolutely annoying, unneeded, unnerving, and boring. An hour's programming can be cut much shorter. You can't fool the audience that you have a full hour's program, when it's nothing but 45 minutes dragged out.

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yup this ep was heartbreaking during the prison scenes...and the cliffhanger just gets us wanting for more!

uhm force.....love him!

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At first I had a bad feeling that Sword and Flower would be like the anime Samurai Champloo: awesome-as-hell style, but no substance whatsoever. However, episodes three and four have really delivered and I can look forward to the story and characters instead of just the cinematography.

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Oh, my god. I wasn't that interested by the previous recaps, although I was mighty impressed by how everything looked so beautiful, even in the pictures. But the show's been getting better and better, and then THIS. Tears welled up just from reading and imagining the scenes in my head. Just glad Uhmforce is finally getting into his groove now ^^

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My love for this show growing bigger each episodes. Totally in love with the heroine. It's rare to find an almost perfect one as Mu Young. I suspect Jeon Woochi also as awesome as this. Hm... I should watch it too, then.

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UHHHHMMMFFFFORRRRRCCCCEEEEEE GGGGGOOOOOO!!!!! Loving his long gaze compared to the dorky 1N2D UTW. AAaaahhhh got to wait another 4 days :(

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I haven't been watching this drama, but only reading the recaps. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this drama slightly similar to the movie Duelist? From what I've read, both seem to have artsy camera shots and intense chemistry between the leads.

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Usually i just hate the meeting between lovers in prison. Mostly the scenes and the dialogs either so cheesy it gives me nausea feeling, or too melodramatic i want to yell and calling the bodyguards so the lovers can finish their business asap. When i saw the prison preview i said to myself that i was so going to skip this part, but now i have to bite my own tongue for being so careless and underestimate this drama.

Gosh the acting, the directing, the tone of the scenes, perfecto!! No lengthy frilly dialogs coz Moo Young and Choong know time is ticking, they speak only about the most important things and let their face, their eyes and their voice to show the rest. I have to salute the PD and the writer on this brilliantness, it's lucky that they succeed in choosing the perfect casts to play the two lovers. It really the actors and their acting which breath the scene to live. They emote so well together so their connection finally reach us, suck us into their world.

Kim Ok Bin is so gorgeous and embodied her character so well. It's my first time seeing her act and she makes me fall in love with her. What a great princess, the princess i always imagine in my chilhood story book now she comes alive on screen. She's beautiful, brave and full of love the fact that she wields sword, rides horse, a great politician, and has good taste on hot dude, man, that's how a princess should be.

However the scene that i love most in this eps was the one when Moo Young fails to unlock Choong's prison. Her frustation makes me cry, and Choong's loving eyes to her kills me too. He doesn't say a word coz he appreciates her effort so much he doesn't want to act as if he isn't thankful for what she does. He keeps silent coz he knows what a strong willed she is he doesn't want to provoke her further. But he does want her to stop and just run coz if she gets caught . . oh gosh Choong. And when Moo Young quit in frustation, Choong's eyes just full of love. It's like something cracks in his lonely heart, breaks only for her to slip in and spare no pieces to anyone else. Uhm Tae Woong is insanely awesome there, i wanna fly to heaven and sing love songs to myself.

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I am with you and Heads on that lock won't open scene.
I expected she would succeed, and I died right there with her when she couldn't.get.the.effing.lock.open.aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggg!
Choong was wishing she would leave and not get caught...

Nicely done.

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this drama is more interesting now,even without many words this drama could touch my emotion, i even delay watching i hear your voice to watch new episode of this drama

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Ooppss. I did the same thing. Postponed Su Ha times for seeing Choong first.

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Ooo GAWD GAWD.. Episode 3 and 4 made me totally fall in it. So much more and more better than I expected. I even couldn't wink my eyes for a second. Awesome for editing, the plot is faster than I expected, their romance succeed choke off my heart, and Uhmforce.. THAT'S WHY I LOVE YOU SO.

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SWEET BABY JESUS THIS EPISODE WAS TENSE. Maybe Mu Young's dagger that was left behind in the cell somehow remained in Choong's hands so he can cut himself free and live happily with Mu Young?!?!? My heart cannot handle all these palpitations

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O_O

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I watched a loooooooooooot of sageuks, but it is the first one where we see a woman with so much freedom, wandering whenever she wishes into town without even one bodyguard (well, at least until choong became her personal bodyguard). So, the question is, have customs dramatically changed between Goguryeo and Joseon?
oh, and I agree with you! WTF with this damned music!!!!

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yeah, that's also my question. In other sageuks we see princesses, not only women of lowly status, but even the princesses, in their estates, behind the walls, in confinement. They don't have any room to breath or express their thoughts, gain recognition, let alone discussing state matters with their respective fathers, the kings, or brothers or husbands. They are like puppets. But here, she is one kind of a dreamland princess. Was it really like this in that era? If so, what did change that the difference between the two eras in regards of the position of women in society is so vast?

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As our re-cappers have noted, the Joseon era saw strict Confucianism lock a tight grip on female freedom of thought and action in the peninsula.

It reminded me of what happened in Europe and the Middle East in the Classical period. The Hebrew culture recorded in the Old Testament had strong female judges and leaders. Celtic and Germanic pagan society also had more room for female individualism, which filters down into pop culture in stories like those in 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Brave.' Greek and Roman culture, however, were strictly mysognystic, with women legally little more than property. Consequently, in the stories of 'Troy,' 'Rome', '300' and similar, female characters are all either wives or mothers, their only freedom that of seduction and conspiracy. The long story of female liberation in Western society is marked by the conflict between those traditions after Christianity melded them.

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Well, Princess Sonhwa in "Ballad of Seo Dong" (also set during the 3 kingdom era) was another wandering princess.
There is too many Joseon sageuks out there that most people who are unfamiliar with Korean history thinks that all of ancient Korea was like that. Watch more 3 kingdom era sageuks and you'll notice the difference.

I think just because we didn't see a bodyguard in plain sight doesn't mean Mu-young didn't have anyone watching over her when she was out of the palace. The secret group serving the king saved her before and they seems to be all over the town.

Women in this era were not confined at home just to be a wife and slave to her in laws. In fact, when a woman marries in Goguryeo her husband lives with her and her parents. When her father dies, the family property is divided equally between her and her brothers.
There were restrcitions in the 3 kingdom era when it comes to women but it wasn't harsh like Joseon.

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Not kinda drama person but this recap makes me so wanting to watch this drama.

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This episode was great! XD Thanks for the recap! ♥

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I said I would give this show a few more episodes as I was not hooked by the political stuff happening during the first two. I am glad that I did because the last two were worth it thought I agree the music is a negative in a pool of positive. The other aspects are over-the-top in a positive way that works, but the music...the volume is a fail. I hope they do fix that as it is as mentioned the makjang aspect, at least for the moment.

Uhm-force indeed. Smolder, that too. I like the little nuances of emotion that play on his face. Subtle but definitely there which suit his character well. This actor is doing a good job.

The other actors, as well, are pulling their weight and I am hooked in to the next episode huge violin and all.

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How the heck did I forget to mention...

the lock scene...nearly...killed...me.

Kim Ok Bin is awesome and the two together are amazing. Those scene could easily be cheesy but they are as far away from that as one can get.

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Thanks! I'm really looking forward to starting this drama in a couple of weeks :)

Also, I love the "#1 Dad hanbok" bit! Haha! I'd love to see what one would look like... and picture Choi Min-soo, bad@$$ that he is, wearing one!

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thanks for the recap....I will not be watching it but will make sure to read about it :)

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So in love with this show since the first 5 mins of episode 1 but this week really amazed me. How can a show have its star sitting and not doing anything for an entire hour but still be so damn suspenseful and grab your heart so much. I'm seriously in love with everything about this show.

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LOL Heads I couldn't stand it, I had to check out the preview. I know that there is no way in hell he is going to die this early. This is the era of Shamanism, there has got to be a magic potion or a ritual that can revive our hero.

I love how conflicts, misunderstandings, birth secret etc is handled in this show. It doesn't take the whole damn drama for the truth to come out.

Thank you so much Heads for sticking with this show. As always, appreciate the wonderful recaps <3.

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You are sooooo right about the honesty in this show.

I'm still freaking out about all the honesty dripping all over this place. I haven't seen this episode yet but so far, the admission as to who is father was was such a surprise to me. I was expecting hero to be all silent about his dad for episodes to come. Heck, i was still flummoxed by how easily the lovebirds feel into each other's arms..no gameplaying whatsoever.

Everything that happens in this drama is so direct, so free from the heart Emotions are up front. People say what's on their minds -- even scheming nephew kinda sorts hinted at his desire to be king.

In a genre which is all about gamesmanship, point-counterpoint, scheming, and palace rules, the rules here seem to be totally about being human. All interactions are from the heart and human--with the exception of General Yeon and the king who are totally confusing the heck outta me...but obviously not confusing each other.

Thanks for the recap.

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Confusing perhaps because they are enemies but neither one is good or bad. They both want to protect their country but they go about it differently. Yeon thinks offense is the best way. Yeongnyu thinks rebuilding and maintaining friendly relations with the enemy countries is the best way. Eventually their differences will end in bloodshed because neither one is willing to give in to the other.

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I guess I don't understand why the king just doesn't kill General Yeon. That's what you do to someone who might possibly be trying to kill you. I'll just assume that this general's skills are sooo good -- and the general's faction so great-- that the king has to be super-careful not to offend anyone. Not sure how/why King thinks killing his enemy's son will not make your enemy turn on you.

Yeon Jr seems is oppressed by his life and his tragedy. Just a very powerfully sad character. But Yeon Sr... wow! Very practiced at coldness and not showing/not feeling passion.

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You are actually correct. General Yeon was a skilled military leader, his father, grandfather, great grandfather etc etc served Goguryeo as Generals/Commanders/Governors/ Prime Ministers. That is one very powerful family.
Historically King Yeongnyu planned to have General Yeon killed. The result would be a major spoiler so I'll leave it at that.

I like Yeon's straight forwardness and honesty. Who wants to follow a future king that is feeble and have no interest in leading the country? In this era kings fought and died in battles with his soldiers. I also like that the king always have a comeback to shut him up. I am enjoying the conflict between the two. Its a nice change from Joseon's court and its' fake back stabbing ministers.

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Why mustIcry show???l

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Aw Heads, your SnF's recaps are making me like this drama so much now. I love your sense of humor.

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I've not read much of this page, but I do think that the fellow does not die. Given that the king gave the order for the beheading, and it was "changed" at the last minute "by the kings order" Nahh. Seems like the father of the man after requesting his sons body to be hung and to be returned to him afterwards for a funeral...something is up. When he was given his last meal, being told that it was "special," I would venture to say that it was drugged to feign death.

I would be very disappointed if that was otherwise an execution. :) Good show in every respect, except the music. Sounds like a spaghetti western, and doesn't match the film and era it represents.

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Yes, I thought maybe they cut him down early (on someone's orders), so he was unconscious but not dead-dead (kinda like Romeo & Juliet, where Juliet drinks the potion to pretend she's dead).

Agree with all the comments, though - love the spunky heroine. So Much. She doesn't mope around waiting for fate or destiny or whatever. She just goes for it and gets sh*t done!!

Must admit, the over-use of the modern drum beat gets to me a little, but can tune it out. For now.

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I'm surprised nobody is telling Choong and Mu-young their feelings for each other are inappropriate because of their status. He's was a slave (then palace guard) and she's a princess.

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It is public knowledge now that Choong is the son of General Yeon. The Yeon family are of high rank and one of the most powerful families since the beginning of Goguryeo. His family linage can be trace back to one of the 5 clans that formed Goguryeo.
His mother may have been a slave but I believe one's status travels through the paternal lines unlike Joseon.

At this point I don't think their relationship is out there in the open, even her father does not know that she is in love with the son of his greatest enemy.

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Well, if dramaland is exactly the same as real life, what's the point? ;)

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I know that Confucius is the one responsible for much of east asia's culture... but sometimes I just hate him because he's the one who thought of 'women below men' and then spread it. And I hate the person who started neo-Confucianism more for making it worse. >:(

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Watching...thxs 4 the recap.

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Uhmforce!!!

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Thanks for the recap.

Uhmforce is winning me over one silent look at a time.
He won't die, but I don't see what kind of future he and the conju could have if they have to sneak him outta there.

I want him to guard her body, SHE wants him to guard her body, too.

PS Why did that one general complain about the "girly" prince - was he known to be weak, or gay, or both? Because he paints? Remember he wanted nothing to do with the gisaeng, too.

By the way, LMH 92 is looking very grown up, isn't he?

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Love this episode. Maybe its from the clothes they're wearing or the fact that the king is not powerless, this drama kind of reminds me of chinese dramas, and if it was, the next part would be the heroine saying to her father, "Don't kill him. I'm pregnant, and he's the father."

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I haven't seen enough Korean dramas to know. Does that type of stuff ever happen?

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Ummn no, you've seen her begging her father to save him because he killed that dude to save her and her brother. That's a legitimate reason for the king to revoke his order but he's trying to show Yeon who's boss.
Saying she is pregnant is not going to save him either, it'll give the king more reason to kill him lol.

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And her, too, lol...

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This episode was... priceless. Its artistry was incredible, the colors and dialogue were marvelous. It's a total work of art, from plot to photography. The characters are alive, not played by someone else, but there, they're actually humans.

The only problem right now is the music. I think an orchestra-based or traditional music would suit the drama's motives better.

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Awesome drama :) i wasn't so sure at the beginning that this would be a good drama. But now... Its totally rocking!!! The perfect princess and the perfect hero :) and such a sweet, lovely love story:) gah... Please keep it this way till the end writernim and directornim:)

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Only rarely something this great comes along and it is just startling to see so many gifts displayed at once - writing, directing, cinematography, acting, sets, costumes - just flat everything comes together into something so fine it has to be treasured.

I know the masses probably won't appreciate it, but any lover of excellence has to be electrified by it.

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Love? Ha! That is what I hate about women, easily swayed by emotions. Where was the filial piety? Yeon Choon obviously killed the assassin to protect his father, no matter what he said and Moo-Young should have seen through this.

Though his motive may be doubtful, what could not be denied was that he committed 2 offences by killing the assassin: murder and obstruction of justice. That alone made him deserving of the death penalty.

Then there was the Crown Prince trying to intercede for Yeon Choon, for Moo-Young. He did not become king and rightly so. He was a pussy and pussies do not deserve to be king.

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