Red Sleeve Cuff finale. Oh, so many thoughts! I had to write them down in the early morning. Hopefully, I didn’t forget anything. Please see reply.

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    Wow! What an emotional ending. If, for any small moment, audiences thought there was a chance that history would be ignored and that we would get a somewhat happy ending, episode 16 and our long epilogue that was episode 17 surely would have disabused them of any such hopes. Episodes 16 and 17 were the equivalent of what happens after “happily ever after.”
    As for the novel, I haven’t it, so perhaps other Beanies could chime in at this point.
    I cried for Deok-im. I felt her longing for her what she had lost, including her relative freedom. In the end, whether or not through compulsion in the form of Yi-san’s ultimatum, she gave in and lived the life of a concubine. She chose a man who could never be her husband in the truest sense. A man who for the most part acted and spoke in the office of King: a king who could demand and not ask; a king who was not expected to utter such words as “Thank you,” or “I’m sorry;” a king who was father to not just his own children, but to the people of his kingdom. (Side note: this makes Yi-san’s words, “I am sorry,” after Deok-im’s death significant).
    Deok-im not telling Yi-san that she loved him:
    Perhaps this was the one thing she could have under her control. The one advantage she could have over Yi-san as King Jeongjo. I could understand her not wanting to show that she would give herself fully and completely to him. I do not know that she ever completely trusted him, and not necessarily through any fault of his own (and as written above, he had duties and could not devote himself exclusively to her). How could she know that once she admitted those feelings and he had all that he ever wanted from her that his own feelings would not diminish in time? Even when she does confirm her feelings for Yi-san on her death bed, she does not say “Yes, I love you.” It is more like: why do you think I chose this life in the first place? Why do you think I have stayed by your side through all this time?
    Yi-san:
    For all his power and for all the benefits of his office, the one thing he could not truly have was the conjugal bliss he desired with Deok-im. He could not be hers completely and he could not live as a true family man. His was a life of many responsibilities and many roles to fill. The difference between him and Deok-im was that he had so many things to fill up his days, to take up his time, and to consume his thoughts. She, on the other hand, could only spend each day waiting for him, hoping that he would come to see her. This part truly made me mourn for Deok-im’s lost life.
    Yi-san’s dream/afterlife:
    I wonder if, when we see Yi-san wake up from his nightmare earlier in the drama, he had actually dreamed the events of the future (i.e., what we end up seeing unfold). He seemed genuinely perturbed and he had been asleep for a long time (enough to dream such a long dream). In the end, however, he would have forgotten his dream and moved on with life, never imagining all that he would lose in th

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      Continued….

      the near future.
      So I liked that our drama went back to that dream in what we can assume is either an afterlife scene or a pre-death dream sequence. This time, however, Yi-san chooses to not leave Deok-im behind. He chooses to not walk out that door. Instead, he walks back to his beloved. He chooses the life he was not free to choose before as King. Deok-im tells him that is expected at court, but he takes her hand and they walk through their favorite garden (what a beautiful place; it is like their paradise, which is fitting for this sequence).
      I know that the focus was on the romance, but I also wish we could have been shown another afterlife/dream sequence in which Deok-im is reunited with her friends and even Court Lady Seo. Living near a book shop and continuing to transcribe works while being with your closest companions does not sound like a bad afterlife after all.
      Even though Deok-im could not live the same life with her fellow court maid friends, I am glad that they still were there for her in some capacity when she became a concubine. It would have been too much to bear without them.
      I felt for so many of our female characters in this drama. And what a shock that our quiet, sweet, Young-hee made that bold decision to experience a bit of passion and love, even at the expense of her own life.

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        I thought going back to the dream was very clever. I really liked the ending and how they tied it back to that time ok his life when she finally let herself be with him and they both were happy, if just for that fleeting moment.

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    @sicarius tagging you to all the red sleeve discussion as requested.

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