Post by ajk on Apr 21, 2019 4:10:55 GMT -5
Wasn’t all that thrilled about this episode. It wasn’t bad, but the whole king-taking-power-away-from-the-nobles story, we’ve seen this kind of thing more than once in other historicals already and there isn’t anything new or interesting about this one. If there were evidence of it really happening during KG’s reign then it might feel more palatable but by now it’s clear that most of what we’re seeing is speculation or fiction. So it’s hard to work up any enthusiasm for it. And the specifics--the nobles have been getting 90% of the tax money and now KG wants to give them only 30%, and KG and his people are actually surprised that they’re complaining about it. That’s pretty uninspired writing.
All of those people coming to the wedding from the Philippines and Taiwan and Japan the other places, they all had very interesting costumes and I wondered whether or not they were historically authentic. The Philippine costumes especially, it was surprising that people from such a warm, humid climate would be wearing the kind of hats they had on. Actually there are a few images online that support the costumes so maybe they were for real.
“The king of Yamatai asks that you be his master and father.” So that little 85-pound Japanese girl shoves Mak Gohae nearly off his feet and runs all the way into the king’s council chamber? Seriously? That was ridiculous. Goguryeo wants to kill KG; probably the Yan want to kill him too; some of those Mahan people can’t be too happy with him either; and yet the security in the palace is so bad that somebody can run right up to him (and throw a dagger if they wanted to). Whoever is in charge of palace security should be executed!
The narrated text:
This series has been remarkably free from continuity errors—big, big credit for that--but oh boy this episode had a real whopper. Yeohwa thinks she spots Dandan in the street but Hae Geon tells her as a reminder, “Eul Mahul buried her with the baby at Gomadangsan” and she nods. Nooo! Her belief is that her baby died in that building fire. And we later saw her standing in front of the baby’s grave after she buried it (baby she wrongly assumed to be hers). Of course there still is a big cloud hanging over the whole thing—like why there was never any explanation for not finding Eul Mahul’s or Dandan’s body after the fire when they found a baby’s body, or like why nobody else ever came forward to say that their own baby died in the fire—but Yeohwa would certainly not have ever heard anything to the effect of Eul Mahul killing and burying Dandan. For that matter Hae Geon wouldn’t know any such thing either, since Eul fled the country and never reported back. (Geez that fire scene has turned into one long headache.)
KG: “He’s too good for her.” Maybe she is sort of bratty, but still how can you not feel bad for the princess having to marry someone she doesn’t love. And her new husband just laughs at her. You’d think a father who took one foolish risk after another chasing after Yeohwa would be a little more sympathetic to what the heart wants and doesn’t want. Did not like at all how this was trivialized by everyone.
“I don’t believe that time heals everything...Some grudges never go away.” Forgive me for saying this yet again but the best scene in this episode was KG and Yeohwa talking in the courtyard. She talks to him more bravely and insightfully than anyone else.
Yeohwa: “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just a cold.” Yeah, the Soviet Union used to say that a lot about their head honchos and a week later the guy is dead. Good grief let’s hope Yeohwa isn’t dying! The series needs her a lot. But why the cough then....
Jin Seung: “Do you have a grudge because Sosukdang lost her baby?” Well that’s a strange thing to bring up out of nowhere...hmm, somebody have a guilty conscience?
It bugs me that Seokkop has that ribbon. It was odd that Yeohwa would tuck it into her baby’s clothing when she sent it away in Ep45; there was no reason to do it, and of all the things she might give a child, that particular ribbon is a weird choice. And it made no sense that Seokkop would flat-out steal it from his own mother when he left home. The whole thing is just very shaky. Another pretty uninspired piece of writing.
Need to get past all of this character-driven stuff now; only eleven episodes left and there’s no confrontation with Goguryeo anywhere in sight. Let’s move on please.
All of those people coming to the wedding from the Philippines and Taiwan and Japan the other places, they all had very interesting costumes and I wondered whether or not they were historically authentic. The Philippine costumes especially, it was surprising that people from such a warm, humid climate would be wearing the kind of hats they had on. Actually there are a few images online that support the costumes so maybe they were for real.
“The king of Yamatai asks that you be his master and father.” So that little 85-pound Japanese girl shoves Mak Gohae nearly off his feet and runs all the way into the king’s council chamber? Seriously? That was ridiculous. Goguryeo wants to kill KG; probably the Yan want to kill him too; some of those Mahan people can’t be too happy with him either; and yet the security in the palace is so bad that somebody can run right up to him (and throw a dagger if they wanted to). Whoever is in charge of palace security should be executed!
The narrated text:
Yamatai was a small country in today’s Nara Prefecture. Later on, it conquers Japan and establishes the Yamato administration. Many historians say Baekje had a great influence on Yamatai’s growth. The source was powers called doraeins. It’s presumed doraeins were Baekje people. The close relationship of Baekje and Woe started during King Geunchogo’s reign.Unfortunately even a simple Wikipedia search reveals that Yamatai no longer existed by KG’s time and that historians aren’t even sure where exactly it was located--so much for the map we were shown with the precise location--or whether or not it had any connection at all to the later Yamato rule. The part about the doraeins seems to be more solid, according to online sources like this one:
Hae Geon: “At this rate there will be so many foreign people, we won’t know who the real citizens of Baekje are.” There ya go—Make Baekje Great Again!The Doraein were Koreans exiled from the defeated Baekje and Goguryeo kingdoms who immigrated to Japan in the 5th and 6th centuries to ply their trades. Typically skilled craftsmen, the Doraein were adept at making tools, weapons and pottery, and even advanced irrigation systems. Today, their contributions to Japan’s history are commemorated at the Sinshu Doraein festival.
issuu.com/daegucompass/docs/july2015
This series has been remarkably free from continuity errors—big, big credit for that--but oh boy this episode had a real whopper. Yeohwa thinks she spots Dandan in the street but Hae Geon tells her as a reminder, “Eul Mahul buried her with the baby at Gomadangsan” and she nods. Nooo! Her belief is that her baby died in that building fire. And we later saw her standing in front of the baby’s grave after she buried it (baby she wrongly assumed to be hers). Of course there still is a big cloud hanging over the whole thing—like why there was never any explanation for not finding Eul Mahul’s or Dandan’s body after the fire when they found a baby’s body, or like why nobody else ever came forward to say that their own baby died in the fire—but Yeohwa would certainly not have ever heard anything to the effect of Eul Mahul killing and burying Dandan. For that matter Hae Geon wouldn’t know any such thing either, since Eul fled the country and never reported back. (Geez that fire scene has turned into one long headache.)
KG: “He’s too good for her.” Maybe she is sort of bratty, but still how can you not feel bad for the princess having to marry someone she doesn’t love. And her new husband just laughs at her. You’d think a father who took one foolish risk after another chasing after Yeohwa would be a little more sympathetic to what the heart wants and doesn’t want. Did not like at all how this was trivialized by everyone.
“I don’t believe that time heals everything...Some grudges never go away.” Forgive me for saying this yet again but the best scene in this episode was KG and Yeohwa talking in the courtyard. She talks to him more bravely and insightfully than anyone else.
Yeohwa: “Nothing’s wrong. It’s just a cold.” Yeah, the Soviet Union used to say that a lot about their head honchos and a week later the guy is dead. Good grief let’s hope Yeohwa isn’t dying! The series needs her a lot. But why the cough then....
Jin Seung: “Do you have a grudge because Sosukdang lost her baby?” Well that’s a strange thing to bring up out of nowhere...hmm, somebody have a guilty conscience?
It bugs me that Seokkop has that ribbon. It was odd that Yeohwa would tuck it into her baby’s clothing when she sent it away in Ep45; there was no reason to do it, and of all the things she might give a child, that particular ribbon is a weird choice. And it made no sense that Seokkop would flat-out steal it from his own mother when he left home. The whole thing is just very shaky. Another pretty uninspired piece of writing.
Need to get past all of this character-driven stuff now; only eleven episodes left and there’s no confrontation with Goguryeo anywhere in sight. Let’s move on please.