Post by ajk on Dec 16, 2017 13:38:08 GMT -5
Well knock me over with a feather, who showed up in this one but Jung Ho Keun! His AsianWiki page says nothing about him being in this series but there he is, playing a civil official named Son Inryeol. Just a tiny bit part, unfortunately.
Anyway...this episode was certainly better than the last one--not great but better--and now we're finally moving along with the succession history so hooray for that. And before anything else, let's deal with that question from the first part of the series about whether or not there would ever be a payoff for that whole Wola story. Was there any larger purpose for it...Well it did turn out to matter after all, since it was what tipped the scales for Manjun over Manjong. It was sort of surprising that KJ didn't deny it when Choe said he (KJ) was bound to favor Manjun because of the Wola mess. I figured KJ would put his personal feelings aside and make his choice for the good of the country only, or at least say he did. But to be fair, the whole thing did draw a distinction between the two of them because it was such a horrible thing to do to anybody. So it would be good reason to favor Manjun objectively. So there we have it. I was skeptical but they had a purpose for it after all. Question answered, and in the writers' favor.
"Illness is part of life." Give Choe U credit, he took the physician's bad news without even flinching. We should all be so strong.
Once again, another scene with everybody crowded around a sick person and they're all moaning and crying and miserable. Does anybody think that's gonna help the sick person? Sheesh! But sure was sad seeing the princess literally die from grief. And in history she really did die at that age. I wonder if there's any record of how she died.
Yet another good scene from Kim Kyongson, calling out Chu Suk for being opportunistic. Always a highlight when he shows up.
Dae Jipsung: "I've lived my life as a tactician, but even I don't know what to do." Well yeah, when you're a lousy tactician that'll happen.
"Kim Jun's getting married. On the Overlord's orders." Geez, talk about a shotgun wedding...But wasn't that the sorriest wedding reception you ever saw? Where was the joy? This wasn't handled well at all. After all of the difficulties that those two had to overcome to end up together, it was very disappointing that we didn't get a more meaningful, substantial scene or two for their wedding. Okay yeah, more important things are going on right now, but still this deserved better.
Sorry to report that Im Yon and his two stooges were just as annoying in this one as they were last time.
"Helping Manjun will secure your own future...If the time comes when he doesn't do as you tell him...take over." What a huge scene. It wasn't very long but you could just feel the weight of it and how important that moment was. Everything that happens from now on will have this one conversation between two men hovering over it. And it was smart to include this because now we can see a path to KJ eventually reaching his final position. We know very well by now that he's not at all ambitious or power-seeking, but here Choe gives him a command and knows that KJ may well need to obey it eventually.
What a nice toast from Yangbaek. Once again a real class act, showing nothing but happiness for KJ's successes.
"Send Yi Kongju to Manjong. He is to take a bottle of wine with him." WOW did not see that coming. You can understand Choe's reasoning for doing it, but he sure could take a lot of heat for it after already having his daughter executed.
Oh and speaking of which...Manjong refuses to drink the wine and throws the pitcher on the floor; it smashes into pieces...and nothing spills out of it. Come on, guys, you think we won't notice that? Ugh!
Here's the narrated text:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B6regene_Khatun
The actor playing Manjun did a real nice job in this one. Looking forward to see how he does as the overlord. But there's still a lot to get through in the remaining episodes so let's hope the pace of events picks up.
Anyway...this episode was certainly better than the last one--not great but better--and now we're finally moving along with the succession history so hooray for that. And before anything else, let's deal with that question from the first part of the series about whether or not there would ever be a payoff for that whole Wola story. Was there any larger purpose for it...Well it did turn out to matter after all, since it was what tipped the scales for Manjun over Manjong. It was sort of surprising that KJ didn't deny it when Choe said he (KJ) was bound to favor Manjun because of the Wola mess. I figured KJ would put his personal feelings aside and make his choice for the good of the country only, or at least say he did. But to be fair, the whole thing did draw a distinction between the two of them because it was such a horrible thing to do to anybody. So it would be good reason to favor Manjun objectively. So there we have it. I was skeptical but they had a purpose for it after all. Question answered, and in the writers' favor.
"Illness is part of life." Give Choe U credit, he took the physician's bad news without even flinching. We should all be so strong.
Once again, another scene with everybody crowded around a sick person and they're all moaning and crying and miserable. Does anybody think that's gonna help the sick person? Sheesh! But sure was sad seeing the princess literally die from grief. And in history she really did die at that age. I wonder if there's any record of how she died.
Yet another good scene from Kim Kyongson, calling out Chu Suk for being opportunistic. Always a highlight when he shows up.
Dae Jipsung: "I've lived my life as a tactician, but even I don't know what to do." Well yeah, when you're a lousy tactician that'll happen.
"Kim Jun's getting married. On the Overlord's orders." Geez, talk about a shotgun wedding...But wasn't that the sorriest wedding reception you ever saw? Where was the joy? This wasn't handled well at all. After all of the difficulties that those two had to overcome to end up together, it was very disappointing that we didn't get a more meaningful, substantial scene or two for their wedding. Okay yeah, more important things are going on right now, but still this deserved better.
Sorry to report that Im Yon and his two stooges were just as annoying in this one as they were last time.
"Helping Manjun will secure your own future...If the time comes when he doesn't do as you tell him...take over." What a huge scene. It wasn't very long but you could just feel the weight of it and how important that moment was. Everything that happens from now on will have this one conversation between two men hovering over it. And it was smart to include this because now we can see a path to KJ eventually reaching his final position. We know very well by now that he's not at all ambitious or power-seeking, but here Choe gives him a command and knows that KJ may well need to obey it eventually.
What a nice toast from Yangbaek. Once again a real class act, showing nothing but happiness for KJ's successes.
"Send Yi Kongju to Manjong. He is to take a bottle of wine with him." WOW did not see that coming. You can understand Choe's reasoning for doing it, but he sure could take a lot of heat for it after already having his daughter executed.
Oh and speaking of which...Manjong refuses to drink the wine and throws the pitcher on the floor; it smashes into pieces...and nothing spills out of it. Come on, guys, you think we won't notice that? Ugh!
Here's the narrated text:
The Duke of Yongnyong. In 1241, the 28th year of Kojong's reign, Wang Jun posed as a prince and went to the Mongols as a hostage. But the Mongols found out. They were furious and mustered their troops. Fortunately, at that time Ogedei Khan died. His widow, Toregene, assumed the regency. But Wang Jun caught the eye of Toregene and married a Mongol princess. The war was temporarily postponed. But this subterfuge caused the fourth Mongol invasion. Later, in the Three Patrols Rebellion, Wang Jun's brother was briefly crowned emperor.Toregene is a real person in history, and has an interesting story:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B6regene_Khatun
The actor playing Manjun did a real nice job in this one. Looking forward to see how he does as the overlord. But there's still a lot to get through in the remaining episodes so let's hope the pace of events picks up.