Post by ajk on Mar 2, 2019 15:50:45 GMT -5
Grandpa falls off the horse...but then rather than get him right back up and keep moving, they all stand around and talk about it while the pursuit catches up to them. Dumb scene.
“Baekje will gain Liaoxi and Goguryeo will gain Liaodong.” Liaoxi is all the way over on the far side of the Liao River. How are they going to hold control of that area, with a Goguryeo-controlled Liaodong Peninsula making the sea route so long and difficult and with so much Goguryeo land separating it from Baekje by land? Apparently Baekje was a strong seafaring nation in those days, but enough to control a place so far away? And why would this be so important to them when we already know they were so intent on conquering the Mahan statelets in the completely opposite direction? You have to set up the premises for these things and this one is a tough sell.
Oh good grief, Annoying Girl pulls out a throwing star, throws it and two soldiers instantly drop dead on the spot. Was it two stars stuck together? How did it kill them instantly? And wait a minute, how did she get down off the roof in a matter of moments? Did she slide down a pole like Batman? Wow that was bad. Almost bladed-boomerang bad.
Of course, none of it excuses Prince Yeochan striking her and knocking her down. Especially in the abdomen; that was horrible to watch. Maybe the first time all series I’ve felt any empathy for her.
Really, the blood brother thing? Kings are going to do that? No they wouldn’t; they’d sign a treaty. Another dumb scene.
The narrated text:
Yan used Liaodong as a base to threaten Goguryeo. It weakened Zhao and became a powerful nation. Baekje fought Yan and gained control of Liaoxi. One of the reasons Baekje was able to do that isn’t stated in records, but it is presumed it was because of the temporary alliance with Goguryeo.
...and to reiterate, the Baekje stuff is all controversial and unproven.
“Don’t let Murong Chui kill you. I will be the one to kill you.” Yeah give this guy a series. Sayu is so interesting and entertaining.
Have to give credit: Ajikai did what he was told this time and didn’t cause trouble.
“Are you going to kill me? Go ahead if you can.” That was great! Yeohwa actually busted the door down and froze those poor soldiers in their tracks. Give HER a series.
Wait—KG made a second trip back to Yan after he secretly went to the Goguryeo border area to see Sayu? Where did he think Yan would assume he went? All the way back home and then there again? This isn’t making sense. And I still say there’s no way that Yan wouldn’t be aware of KG taking a trip to meet with the king of Goguryeo. No way. Word would get around, even without the spies and informants you would expect them to have.
Hmm, did that guy’s nostrils flare again when KG returned?
Whiny Yeochan, putting Annoying Girl in prison: “My mother was the queen, but they put her in shackles.” Yeah, after she started killing people! Minor detail.
The scene with the Goguryeo council, that was the best moment of the whole episode, wondering what Sayu would do. The Goguryeo court is way more interesting than the Baekje court right now, what with all of those sorry princes running around playing king of the hill.
Come on, does anybody buy that for a cliffhanger? We all know Hae Nyeong isn’t going to kill KG. And there’s something much more interesting going on anyway, because we went the whole rest of the episode without our going back to Yan to see somebody find the message cloth that Hae dropped in that yard. Of course all heck would have broken loose the moment it was found...so....
Overall some significant sloppiness in this episode, much more than we’ve seen in the past. Too many questions and problems flaring up in the storyline—like I said last time the quality is suffering because of so many things going on at once. The series has been so good about not leaving loose ends or unanswered questions but lately it's started to become a problem.