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Post by ajk on Jun 20, 2015 0:39:01 GMT -5
Well guys, I sort of blew this one. Blame the Blackhawks, but I didn't get to this episode Monday night until it was about halfway through. And WOCH isn't rebroadcasting the even-numbered episodes. So for the time being I don't have a good summary of the first half of the episode. I watched an unsubbed version for the bare bones, and as soon as it shows up on Gooddrama with English subs I'll fill in the details. The second half I did get on tape with the subs so it's all set.
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9/6/2015 P.S.: Gooddrama never did post anything past episode 17, but I found a fansubbed episode 28 on YouTube and filled in the details from that. The summary is revised and final now. |
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Post by ajk on Jun 20, 2015 1:32:42 GMT -5
Ryu goes right to Gwanghae and tells him of the enemy plan to take Jinjuseong. Obviously it's a critical situation; the enemy wants the grain in Jeolla and wants to take out Yi Sunsin's headquarters too. "It must be defended," Gwanghae says.
Then Ryu, Yun Dusu and Jeong Cheol explain the situation to Seonjo. Seonjo is worried about the shortage of troops; and he has good reason to worry; less than 4,000 government soldiers are available there. Ryu tells him that militia units are being summoned from all over the country to go help defend. That will help, but will it be enough? No one seems terribly optimistic. Ryu at least says the terrain is in their favor and he's heard good things about Kim Simin, the fortress commander. But even he concedes that they'll need "Heaven's help" to win.
Narration explains that the Japanese were desperate after their previous setbacks and committed heavily to winning at Jinjuseong.
A much nicer Gwak Jaeu shows up at Jinjuseong fortress with his subordinates, ready to work together with the government forces to defeat the enemy. Other militia leaders show up too, as Ryu said they would. They plan strategy together. Then the militia leaders leave the fortress; obviously they'll be doing the guerilla work out in the countryside.
We see the fortress battle. Wow, even the civilian women are pitching in on top of the fortress walls; it's incredible. Enemy reinforcements charge the fortress but surprise, they're ambushed from behind by Gwak's troops, and then from the surrounding forest by other troops. We see a musket unit doing considerable damage (with implausible accuracy) to support the fortress assault. It's a vicious, nasty, bloody battle...but look at this, it's the locals celebrating on top of the walls! Joseon wins. Not without significant cost, though: Kim Simin dies. Narration tells us that this was a six-day battle that started on October 5, 1592; and that along with Yi Sunsin's victory at Hansando and Gwon Yul's victory at Haengu, is considered one of the three most significant battles of the entire war.
Gwanghae is beyond overjoyed to get the news. He's near tears...and then suddenly he passes out. Yikes! "Collapsed from relief," we're later told.
Seonjo gets the news and is very happy; it has a calming effect on him. Even says he'll have some medicine sent to his son to help him feel better. Yun and Jeong take the opportunity to encourage Seonjo to support an attack on Pyongyang. Especially with the enemy army struggling with illness; now is a great time, they argue. But Seonjo knows retaking Pyongyang will be extremely difficult and wants to wait for help from Ming. Jeong in particular is very pushy and says some impolite things about "setting a better example." Seonjo should scold him for it; he doesn't...but he's adamant about not attacking Pyongyang right now.
Japan: Hideyoshi is trimming his plants, trying to keep his calm. But it's not working; all he's doing is snipping the flowers off. Not nice! He's seething about Yi Sunsin, about the militia troops he doesn't understand, about the defeat at Jinjuseong. Wonders if his troops are scared! And isn't happy with Konishi and Ukita for seeking a truce. Maeda suggests that it would be a good idea for the troops to get some rest and reorganize before attacking Ming. But Hideyoshi will have none of it. Says Konishi and Ukita are acting "scared" and tells Maeda to order Konishi to start attacking again "and capture the king of Joseon. If not I will send you to cut off his head!" Wow, he's not even listening to Maeda. Maeda looks just a tiny bit exasperated, and we've never seen that from him before.
Ming: Shen Weijing returns to Shi Xing and relays Konishi's offer. They talk about it.
And hey, look who's visiting the idiot emperor: Li Rusong! Apparently they finally got that insurrection under control and he's free now. Li gets a nice chest full of silver as a reward. The emperor looks at him with a wry smile. "Divide it well among your mistresses or they'll fight." Hey, that's pretty good! Then he tells Li he'll have to go back to work again and help get the Japanese out of Joseon. Shi Xing is there and carefully tries to steer the emperor away from military action (remember the emperor doesn't know about Shen's trip). But the emperor did say he'd say he'd help Joseon...and when Li says he'll make short work of the Japanese, well, that seals the deal.
Seongcheon: Gwanghae looks better now; says the medicine Seonjo sent him helped him. He's finishing a letter of praise to Gwak Jaeu and the militia. Nice gesture. Then he receives word that enemy army movements may soon put him and his part of the dual government in a dangerous situation here. So later he tells Ryu and the other high officials here that he wants to move. His choice of location--Yonggang--doesn't exactly reassure them, though; it's closer to Pyongyang and not exactly a safe location. But the prince thinks the enemy probably knows he's here anyway so a move makes sense, and he says it will help support efforts to retake the capital. The officials support his decision.
Consort Kim's brother pays her and the king a visit and tells Seonjo that public sentiments seem to be turning towards the crown prince. Not good news for him.
Next day: The king calls a state council meeting. A Confucian scholar named Nam Isun has submitted an appeal asking Seonjo to resign! Not only does Seonjo not order Nam to be arrested and punished, he actually allows the appeal to be read out loud to the officials, and then says another scholar named Song Huirok submitted a similar appeal. "They want me to reflect on causing this war," he says. He acknowledges the successes that Gwanghae has had in the dual-government setup...and then says, "I'm thinking of passing the throne on to him." Doink! "It probably reflects public sentiment," he says, and asks the officials to discuss his offer.
Afterwards they discuss it amongst themselves. (Ryu isn't with them.) They know that the dual-government setup isn't working well because of Seonjo's stubbornness and interference. Passing on the throne would clearly give them the best chance to win the war and win it sooner. Unless, that is, Seonjo retains military power. That's happened before. Still, Jeong Cheol says that "We wanted to make the crown prince the king. He's only receiving his authority a little sooner." Jeong denies any having political ambitions in this. (Hmmm....)
Gwanghae gets the word. He doesn't want the throne; says it would make him disloyal to accept it. Jeong Tak is certain that this is simply a loyalty test and that Seonjo wants to see him beg not to leave the throne.
So Gwanghae takes his officials up to Uiju and they kneel outside the government building and beg just like Jeong advised. "Please don't pass on the throne!!"
Next day: Seonjo is thinking. "I should pass on the throne..."Flashback to the previous night: Seonjo tells consort Kim and her brother, "If I say I will pass on the throne, I can see which side the ministers take." Explains how King Taejong used a similar situation to purge a couple of high officials from his court. "I can settle it all at once," he explains, including costing the crown prince some of his accumulated influence. Kim replies, "then you need an excuse to do that. Have the Confucian scholars write appeals. Encourage scholars who are unhappy with you." Kim turns to her brother to arrange for that part of it. Well they have quite the little scheme cooked up, don't they.
The officials, they have no clue of it. "I'm prepared to die," Jeong tells the others, as they all stare at a big stack of written appeals on a conference table. The others tell him they're on board, too; prepared to push for the transfer of the throne. All except Yun Dusu, who says he can't abandon the king. "He is weak. I feel sorry for him. If I turn my back on him, who will wipe away his tears? I don't care if you say I'm being affected by personal emotions instead of caring about the nation. If his majesty passes on the throne, I will step down too." But he tells them to follow their own convictions...and with a bit more reluctance now, they leave him to go and do just that.
Now this is odd: Why is Ryu visiting Consort Kim? And why does he look and sound angry? Turns out, somehow Lee Sanhae got caught up in the fringes of that whole appeal-writing business, and now Ryu knows that Kim's brother was going around bribing scholars to write those appeals. "You're behind him," he says with a steely glare; and you'll be punished for it. Kim denies all knowledge, but Ryu presses. "How can you start a bloody battle in the court? What country are you a citizen of?" Now he's shouting at her. "If you're going to serve this country, do a proper job!" Kim stands up in anger and says she's going right to the king to report Ryu's rudeness...but wait, the door opens and there's the queen standing there, ready to deliver a serious scolding. "Did I ever interfere with matters that didn't have to do with the ladies of the court? How can you scheme at a time like this?" Never do anything like this again, she admonishes, or I'll have you kicked out of the court. And the queen clearly can do it, from Kim's submissive, nearly wordless reaction. Well so much for that. And now some sort of news arrives about Kim's son Prince Sinseong..the reason for all of her plotting...and from the attendant's behavior it sure doesn't seem like good news...
"Did you discuss it?" Council meeting with the king. Of course Hong Yeosun doesn't want the king to leave and immediately says so...but as before, he speaks alone and pretty soon clams up. The rest of them, they're just about to tell Seonjo they support his proposal...when the news about Prince Sinseong arrives. Sinseong is dead. Fell off his horse. Seonjo forgets everything else and rushes out of the room to check it out.
Later, outside, Ryu tells the officials that they were being set up. "It was to see who's loyal. Forget about it." Boy are they lucky.
Yeah, Sinseong is dead. We see his mother grieving over his body. Narration tells us that Seonjo offered 18 more times to pass on the throne, just to make sure nobody would suggest he should. And to prevent the crown prince from gathering too much power.
Wait a minute, now here's a monster game-changer: Li Rusong is leading his army of 40,000 towards the Joseon border!
A despondent, drinking Seonjo gets the word. Finally, the news he had been desperate for.
As the army arrives in Uiju, Li tells Zu Chengxun (Huh? Really?) that this was the home town of one of his ancestors. "We have to slaughter the Wae soldiers who are infringing on this land." So not only is Li Rusong here at last, look out because it's personal.
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Post by ajk on Jun 20, 2015 1:37:20 GMT -5
One thing I definitely am learning in this series that I don't particularly remember in IYSS is just how much of a problem Seonjo is causing with all of his insecurity and fear for his life. One or the other, the government could deal with it, but both...it's remarkable to see how much it's draining the effectiveness of people around him. I noticed in the Jinjuseong battle a quick moment where a dying woman grabbed the Japanese soldier who stabbed her and pulled him over the fortress wall with her as she fell to her death. Obviously a reference to the story about the woman who killed a Japanese general the same way while being forced to dance with him. Here's a Wikipedia page about her: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NongaeApparently the city of Jinju holds a festival in her honor every spring. (Hey truth aren't you impressed I caught that? Haha!) That Hong Yeosun thing, him being the only one talking...they keep going to the well with that and it isn't funny any more. By now he would know he's the only one who's going to speak his viewpoint, so either state your case or don't. The first time it was hilarious but now stop it already. We were told in this episode that Lee Sanhae's pen name was Agye. But in the early episodes it was Yeosu. What's the deal there? Do you get a new name when you leave government? (Or maybe when you buy a new pen?) Terribly sad to see consort Kim weeping over her dead son. A mother having to face the death of her child, even if she was being sort of a schemer, there's nothing sadder. I was shocked at the end of the episode to see Zu Chengxun riding next to Li Rusong like nothing had happened with him. Seriously? Need some explanation about that and I hope we get it soon. Remember he was just busted for sending the emperor a false battle report. You'd think he would be in a whole heap of trouble over that. |
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Post by truth on Jun 20, 2015 2:47:33 GMT -5
We see the fortress battle...even the civilian women are pitching in...enemy reinforcements are ambushed from behind by Gwak's troops...we see a musket unit doing considerable damage (with implausible accuracy) to support the fortress assault...
a nasty, bloody battle...but look at this, it's the locals celebrating on top of the walls! Joseon wins. Not without significant cost, though, and it looks like Gwak's #2 man was killed in action...more narration
That was not Gwak's #2 man. His name was Kim Shimin and he did not work for Gwak. He was the Commander of Jinju Fortress. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Si-minOne thing I did not like was how they didn't bring in Kim Seong Il(remember him from the early episodes?) to this battle, who was part of the government army at this battle.
Ming: Shen Weijing returns to Shi Xing and relays Konishi's offer. And hey, look who's visiting the idiot emperor: Li Rusong! Apparently they finally got that insurrection under control; Li gets a nice chest full of silver as a reward. A long discussion...about how to proceed now. Shi seems uncomfortable; seems to be trying to deflect the plans in another direction. Probably because of his scheming with Shen (remember the emperor doesn't know about Shen's trip).
Shi gets uncomfortable because Emperor tells Shi to kick back, relax, and enjoy playing with his Korean concubine's butt since that's the only reason that Shi wanted to help Joseon in this war in the first place(which is historically true) and Li Rusong will take care of the rest. As the army arrives in Uiju, Li tells Zu Chengxun (Huh? Really?) that this was the home town of one of his ancestors. "We have to slaughter the Wae soldiers who are infringing on this land." So not only is Li Rusong here at last, look out because it's personal. Li Rusong's ancestor was a Korean man named Lee Cheonyeon, who was the older brother of Lee Jonyeon. Lee In Yim was Lee Jonyeon's grandson, so I guess you can say Li Rusong is kind of related to Lee In Yim? Lee Cheonyeon's grandson Lee Young moved to China after Lee In Yim lost his power. Personal? After what Seonjo's ancestor Lee Seonggye did to Li's ancestor's distant cousin Lee In Yim? That Hong Yeosun thing, him being the only one talking...they keep going to the well with that and it isn't funny any more. By now he would know he's the only one who's going to speak his viewpoint, so either state your case or don't. The first time it was hilarious but now stop it already. Well, Hong Yeosun was kind of an ass-kisser in history, too, so... We were told in this episode that Lee Sanhae's pen name was Agye. But in the early episodes it was Yeosu. What's the deal there? Do you get a new name when you leave government? (Or maybe when you buy a new pen?) Yeosu was Lee Sanhae's Confucian nickname, like Sambong was for Jeong Dojeon and Poeun for Jeong Mongju. Here's the thing with old Korean names. Only your parents, grandparents, or any other old relatives in your family, could call you by your real name. Everyone else called you by your Confucian nickname, because it would be otherwise disrespectful. This is why Jeong Mongju always called JD Sambong, and JD always called JM Poeun rather than their real names. And then you have your pen name that you come up with once you become a Confucian scholar or a member of the royal court. Lee Sanhae's other pen name was Aong. Remember I posted a little story about how Jeong Cheol mocked him by calling him a cat because Aong sounds like Korean word for Meow(Yaong)? |
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Post by ajk on Jun 20, 2015 21:55:53 GMT -5
Yeah, thanks, I do remember that now that you mentioned it. Good explanation.
Li Rusong related to Lee In Im! Wow that is wild. Great stuff; thanks for sharing that one. That's a real gem. You think Li Rusong would hold a grudge about Lee In Im's fate? Fighter like him, he might just sneer at everything political and not care. But it's fun to speculate.
That scene in Ming sounds great; will look forward to the subbed scene. Maybe it's just me but I do like the Ming emperor character. If you're going to be a knucklehead, go big! And the guy playing Hideyoshi, he really is doing a good job.
P.S. I'll get the correct character names filled in when I see the subbed episode.
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