Post by ajk on Oct 14, 2008 14:48:49 GMT -5
The large group of dissident northerners fearlessly walks through the burning city. As they do, two men give subtle nods to individuals in the group. The men are well-dressed and appear to be prosperous; certainly they're not peasants. What do they have to do with all this?
The queen, with several ministers, is studying the leaflets thrown by the northerners. Huh Jo, never one to hold his tongue, says that "This is the price we pay for the king's aggressive naturalization policy." Then he tells Meng Sasung to get the inspector general's office going and get the arsonists arrested. But the ministers realize that the fires need to be put out first, and that there aren't enough men to deal with that, let alone go and search for the arsonists.
At the Agency of Punishment: The building was set on fire and is burning, but we see an odd sight: a group of small catapults, throwing what appear to be large water balloons onto the roof of the building. What a clever gadget! Jang Youngsil is there (Is this his invention?) along with Choi Haesan and Yi Chun; the three of them appear to be directing the firefighting effort. Dozens of the balloons are thrown onto the roof, and very soon the fire is doused.
We see more of the catapults being rushed around the city to fight the other fires. The two prosperous-looking men from before, now identified as Gim Doryeon and Jang Wonman, watch and realize that the fires might be put out more quickly than they expected, even with the king out of town. But no matter, Gim tells Jang, because "there's no way they can stop us."
At city hall: We see a group of the northerners reaching up and pouring liquid from the underside of the roof, into the building. They're using lengths of some kind of pipe, sliced in half lengthwise, which act like channels and guide the liquid into the building. (Why wouldn't they just have used the full pipes? Not sure what the reason is for cutting them in half; maybe to fit them into tight spaces better.) In front of the hall, other northerners holding torches menace the guards at the front door. Torches are thrown into the building and the place ignites--so the liquid was obviously an accelerant. One of the torch-throwers was the younger man who seems to be the #2 in the northerner group, behind the young woman. The woman sees what's going on and is furious that the man set fire to city hall. Why is she so angry--isn't this what they're there for? The man tells her that he didn't start it, he just got caught up in the frenzy. So then who started it? This is weird. Aren't these people all from the same group?
Watching, Jang Wonman tells Gim Doryeon, "The city hall is just the beginning."
Choi Manli runs up to the queen and reports to her that flames have been spotted in the north district. Then Jeong Inji runs up--flames are in the south district. Then Gim Jongsuh runs up and tells her that more than 1,000 homes in the central district are in flames.
A brief scene of the central district: Everything is burning and it's just awful. People are trying to flee but they're not sure where to go, and the firestorm is so intense that it's knocking them down in their tracks.
At the queen's request, all of the royal physicians have been rounded up. She goes to them and tells them to aid the citizens. We can give up buildings, she says, but "we cannot give up human lives. I'm counting on you." They bow as one.
Yi Chun and Yun Hwe hurriedly make plans to control the crisis.
The queen is in a conference hall; just then Sejong walks in. She's very surprised to see him; the messenger couldn't possibly have gotten to him so quickly. Sejong tells her that he had heard from military officers that northerner groups were "suspiciously wandering the city. But I never expected this." He looks tired and frustrated. "I was not wrong to welcome the Jurchens," he says. "We can't have peace in the border states unless we embrace the Jurchens. But these people came to the city and committed arson knowing that innocent bystanders will die...Are these selfish people my people as well?"
Meeting with the king, ministers review the damage reports. More than 20 fatalities, not counting infants and elderly (which doesn't seem so bad considering the extent of it all). Then Jo Malseng asks how many of the arsonists have been captured. None? The investigation isn't complete, he's told, but he wants to turn the whole thing over to the military: "The rebels must be suppressed immediately! I see no choice but to rally the troops...this is tantamount to a civil war. It's the military that must deal with this." Huh Jo agrees completely, over Yun Hwe's objections: "Will you assume responsibility if they strike again while we're arguing?" And so does Meng Sasung: "If we don't take strong action, the angry public will not be assuaged."
The next morning, on a main street in the city: "Kill them! Kill them all!" A mob is beating a large group with clubs, sticks, kicks, anything and everything. It's hard to tell who's who, but apparently the beat-ers are citizens of the city and the beat-ees are northerners. Yi Chun arrives and tries to stop it, telling the mob, "I will not let you commit a crime to punish a crime. Go back home or I'll have to arrest you as well." Which only makes them angrier, of course. Then Jo Malseng shows up, belittles Yi, and orders the northerners arrested, despite Yi's pleas that "We can't just arrest these people on the basis of their origin" without evidence from an investigation. Then a dozen or so more northerners arrive on the scene, led by the young woman and man. The mob spots them and chases them down the street. The group flees through a marketplace, but soon they're surrounded. The mob moves in on them and attacks, but although badly outnumbered, the northerners manage to fight their way to freedom. All of them, including the woman, clearly know how to fight.
Prince Kyoungnyeong and Jo Malseng are in a courtyard. Someone enters; we see it's Gim Doryeon. "Who is this man?", the prince asks. Then without even so much as a hello, Jo slaps Gim! "You went too far setting the city on fire!" "I thought the king needed a real wakeup call," Gim says. It turns out that Gim is a slave trader and that Sejong's welcoming policy towards the Jurchens is somehow cutting into his profits. (I assume he captures Jurchens for his trade.)
Later, after Gim leaves: "How deeply are you involved in this?", Kyoungnyeong asks. That man is not a northerner, he says; do you need to use political power to protect men like him to get kickbacks? But Jo basically says, You're one to talk; you're "trying to steal the throne" and you're worried about a little kickback? Besides, "politics requires money," Jo says.
Later, the prince and his mother are talking; Hyobin is concerned because she doesn't know how much Jo can be trusted. "How about carefully recruiting your own men?", she suggests, starting at the Ministry of Military. Kyoungnyeong asks her, You mean men who would stab Jo in the back? "It's the most important lesson your father the late king taught you," she replies.
Yun Hwe is showing the king a map of the fires. They were widespread and carefully coordinated, he concludes. Hwang Hee reasons, "It could mean there's a much greater and more dangerous force behind it."
"Prince Kyoungnyeong is behind this?" The very words surprise us; even more surprising is that the queen has just spoken them. Escort Han had just spoken them to her, and the queen can't believe that Han would even say such a thing. But Han explains: "The country is swept up and in a storm of confusion, and the king's competence is called into question. Who stands to benefit most?" I've been working in the palace for thirty years now, she says, and have gotten to know everybody; "Sometimes they bring me useful information." Jo Malseng, she tells the queen, has been having frequent meetings with the prince. "That is reason enough alone to keep an eye on Kyoungnyeong." This is quite a contribution from someone we wouldn't have expected such a thing from.
As the fleeing group of northerners rests, the head woman catches her brother (identified as Poongae) emerging from a fire-damaged house holding a box of jewelry. Pow! She decks him. "Did we come here to steal? Are we thieves?" Put it back right now, she demands.
The remaining northerners have gathered at what apparently is their camp. The woman is addressing them. "Did anyone else steal anything? If I find anything on you, you're dead." No, they say, Poongae just made a mistake. Then people start grumbling about the fires. Most just want to go back home and give it all up. This isn't what we expected, they tell her, and half of us have been arrested. But she tells them that not only won't they go home, they're going straight to the royal palace! "If we run now," she tells them, "they'll think we did this." (Huh? They DIDN'T start the fires? We saw at least one of them throw a torch into city hall. But they all seem to know that they weren't responsible for anything more than that. So if it wasn't them, who started the fires?) She appeals to individuals in the group who have suffered the most: "We don't have much, and we get treated like dirt, but we're still Joseonese. we came here to make the king see that." But they've had enough; they're going home.
At the Royal Inspectors building: In a courtyard, the captured northerners are being tortured, while citizens just outside the yard cheer and wave fists. Meng Sasung is watching, and tells Jo Malseng, "I have a hard time believing that these people are rebels who set fire to the city and aspired to capture the government." "I knew you'd get soft," Jo says (not wanting anybody to calm the storm he's apparently responsible for unleashing); if you can't handle this, go inside. Just then the king arrives and heads right for Jo: "What is the meaning of this?" "Is that a rhetorical question, your majesty?" The king orders the torture stopped at once, but Jo only mouths off to him sarcastically about how these people were protesting "your marvelous open immigration policy." Sejong points out that he has banned convictions that are based solely on torture-produced confessions. But Jo argues that there is circumstantial evidence against them, and Meng Sasung adds that "we must consider the angry citizens outside." Principles must be applied without exception, the king says angrily. "You leave me no choice," replies Jo. "I guess I will have to reveal the true culprit" behind the attacks.
The king and ministers are meeting: Jo brazenly tells the king that You, your majesty, "You are accountable." None of this would have happened if it weren't for your Jurchen policy. You must change it. Then Huh Jo tells the king that he must also take Jang Youngsil's robe back. What? This was dealt with three years ago. But Huh thinks it's relevant: "We treated one slave like a man, and now everyone think's they're entitled to something." Sejong asks Byun Gaeryang if he agrees with his colleagues; he does. Then Jo jumps back in: "You cannot waste time attending to unruly citizens right now. You must focus on rectifying the system by getting rid of policies that do more harm than good" or else confusion will multiply "and you'll be the man at the heart of the confusion."
Later, alone with Hwang, Sejong slams his hands on a table in frustration. Hwang reluctantly reminds him, "the people of the capital want justice and retribution. If you punish the northerners, the people will be assuaged, and those who want stronger revenge will hold back." Sejong doesn't like the idea: "You're showing me the easy way out again." "It does not please me either," Hwang tells him. "But you can lose everything trying to protect everything." You have to protect Jang Youngsil and your immigration policy, he counsels. In other words, execute the captured northerners for the sake of the bigger picture.
In the throne room, we see Sejong sit down on the steps to his throne. He sits and thinks for a long time...thinking...day turns into night as he sits, thinking...finally the queen shows up and sits down by him. "I'm afraid," he tells her. "I'm afraid if I sat on that throne right now, I would be forced to make a decision that will treat human lives lightly...to further a political cause under the pretext of a greater good. Everyone has only one life."
The next day: Hyobin is sitting before the queen. "Did you wish to see me?", she asks. Immediately we can sense big-time tension in the room. Soheon is smiling pleasantly. "There is something I wanted to confirm," she says. "Who do you think is behind the fires?" Silence. "Surely you're wise enough to know who is behind it." She's still smiling pleasantly; to the side, escort Han is watching. "It's you and I, and all of us. If the royal house's negligence and disregard for the people's woes drove them to this act of violence, we should be held responsible." Still nothing from Hyobin; she's glaring angrily off to the side, a real sour puss of an expression on her face, but she won't look the queen in the eye. Soheon pulls out one of her gold hair ornaments and puts it in front of her. "I'd like to see what I can do to help those who suffered loss in the fire. Will you help me?" What else can Hyobin say except "But of course." She says nothing more.
Back with her son, Hyobin tells him, "The king and queen are not to be taken lightly." Don't worry, he tells her; they can't tie me to the crime. "Be more careful anyway. You must not have another meeting with Jo and the others at home again."
Back in the queen's chambers: "Consort Hyobin's eyes." Escort Han saw what we saw. The queen did too, but she warns Han not to speak to anyone about any of this yet. "The country is in enough confusion as it is. I don't want to add division in the royal house to that." She tells Han to find me someone trustworthy to keep an eye on Kyoungnyeong.
Sejong and Hwang are talking; Sejong tells Hwang that he's going to order the prisoners released, since there isn't any tangible evidence...Just then Gim Mun comes running in: "There's a good chance that the northerners are not the arsonists."
At the Hall of Worthies: Several scholars are showing the king evidence that was gathered from fire sites. They've examined pieces of wood that were used to start fires: they have camellia oil on them. Camellia oil is very expensive, and more importantly, it isn't available in the northern states! They've also examined one of the torches thrown into city hall; it has ricinus oil on it, not camellia oil (although it's not clear why they would know at this point that the torches at the city hall fire would have come from different people than the rest of the fires. This may be a continuity error). Then they look at one of those half-pipes that was used to pour the accelerant. It has some sort of residue on it. Choi Haesan shows it to Sejong: potassium nitrate! It's a component of gunpowder, of course, and its commercial trade is banned for that reason. Yun Hwe then says what they all are realizing: The real culprit behind the attacks must be someone who not only has significant financial resources to afford all of this stuff, but also has military connections.
Outside, someone in a blue military robe is listening to all this, and scurries away.
Jo is with Kyoungnyeong. "That fool has left traceable evidence? I guess I have no choice but to resort to my last option."
Nighttime: A masked, black-clad assassin is seen stealthily climbing on roofs in the palace complex.
In the throne room, Sejong is weighing the latest evidence. He rhetorically asks Jachi, "Attendant, who in the Ministry of Military might be after my seat of power?" Jachi doesn't answer, and probably not just because he's not expected to answer, but also because he knows who it is and he knows that Sejong knows who it is.
The assassin, armed with a bow and a sword, moves effortlessly along building roofs, and then fires a rope/arrow setup to slide silently down to the ground in a courtyard, where Sejong is standing--alone! The assassin moves in, heads right for the king...and suddenly is surrounded by a dozen guards who apparently were waiting for something to happen. "Who are you?", Sejong demands. No answer. The mask is removed--and we see the young woman who was leading the northerners. "Were you after my life?", Sejong asks. "Who sent you?" She finally speaks. "Who sent me? I knew it. I knew you would've forgotten all about us, but it still hurts to confirm it for myself. Great prince." (Good heavens, there was that little girl up in the north...it couldn't be...could it?) Still without a clue, Sejong asks again, "Who are you?" "Dami. The stupid little crybaby who used to follow you around everywhere in Gyeongsung." (Yep, it's her (although her name was given as "Dahm" back then).)...Flashback to the scene in Ep33 of the ravaged northern village after the Jurchen attack. We're reminded of the little girl crying over her murdered mother, and then-exiled prince Kyoungnyeong hugging her and saying, "I'm sorry. This is my fault. This is all my fault."...Flashback ending, the king is stunned and speechless, his mouth agape as the memory returns.
The queen, with several ministers, is studying the leaflets thrown by the northerners. Huh Jo, never one to hold his tongue, says that "This is the price we pay for the king's aggressive naturalization policy." Then he tells Meng Sasung to get the inspector general's office going and get the arsonists arrested. But the ministers realize that the fires need to be put out first, and that there aren't enough men to deal with that, let alone go and search for the arsonists.
At the Agency of Punishment: The building was set on fire and is burning, but we see an odd sight: a group of small catapults, throwing what appear to be large water balloons onto the roof of the building. What a clever gadget! Jang Youngsil is there (Is this his invention?) along with Choi Haesan and Yi Chun; the three of them appear to be directing the firefighting effort. Dozens of the balloons are thrown onto the roof, and very soon the fire is doused.
We see more of the catapults being rushed around the city to fight the other fires. The two prosperous-looking men from before, now identified as Gim Doryeon and Jang Wonman, watch and realize that the fires might be put out more quickly than they expected, even with the king out of town. But no matter, Gim tells Jang, because "there's no way they can stop us."
At city hall: We see a group of the northerners reaching up and pouring liquid from the underside of the roof, into the building. They're using lengths of some kind of pipe, sliced in half lengthwise, which act like channels and guide the liquid into the building. (Why wouldn't they just have used the full pipes? Not sure what the reason is for cutting them in half; maybe to fit them into tight spaces better.) In front of the hall, other northerners holding torches menace the guards at the front door. Torches are thrown into the building and the place ignites--so the liquid was obviously an accelerant. One of the torch-throwers was the younger man who seems to be the #2 in the northerner group, behind the young woman. The woman sees what's going on and is furious that the man set fire to city hall. Why is she so angry--isn't this what they're there for? The man tells her that he didn't start it, he just got caught up in the frenzy. So then who started it? This is weird. Aren't these people all from the same group?
Watching, Jang Wonman tells Gim Doryeon, "The city hall is just the beginning."
Choi Manli runs up to the queen and reports to her that flames have been spotted in the north district. Then Jeong Inji runs up--flames are in the south district. Then Gim Jongsuh runs up and tells her that more than 1,000 homes in the central district are in flames.
A brief scene of the central district: Everything is burning and it's just awful. People are trying to flee but they're not sure where to go, and the firestorm is so intense that it's knocking them down in their tracks.
At the queen's request, all of the royal physicians have been rounded up. She goes to them and tells them to aid the citizens. We can give up buildings, she says, but "we cannot give up human lives. I'm counting on you." They bow as one.
Yi Chun and Yun Hwe hurriedly make plans to control the crisis.
The queen is in a conference hall; just then Sejong walks in. She's very surprised to see him; the messenger couldn't possibly have gotten to him so quickly. Sejong tells her that he had heard from military officers that northerner groups were "suspiciously wandering the city. But I never expected this." He looks tired and frustrated. "I was not wrong to welcome the Jurchens," he says. "We can't have peace in the border states unless we embrace the Jurchens. But these people came to the city and committed arson knowing that innocent bystanders will die...Are these selfish people my people as well?"
Meeting with the king, ministers review the damage reports. More than 20 fatalities, not counting infants and elderly (which doesn't seem so bad considering the extent of it all). Then Jo Malseng asks how many of the arsonists have been captured. None? The investigation isn't complete, he's told, but he wants to turn the whole thing over to the military: "The rebels must be suppressed immediately! I see no choice but to rally the troops...this is tantamount to a civil war. It's the military that must deal with this." Huh Jo agrees completely, over Yun Hwe's objections: "Will you assume responsibility if they strike again while we're arguing?" And so does Meng Sasung: "If we don't take strong action, the angry public will not be assuaged."
The next morning, on a main street in the city: "Kill them! Kill them all!" A mob is beating a large group with clubs, sticks, kicks, anything and everything. It's hard to tell who's who, but apparently the beat-ers are citizens of the city and the beat-ees are northerners. Yi Chun arrives and tries to stop it, telling the mob, "I will not let you commit a crime to punish a crime. Go back home or I'll have to arrest you as well." Which only makes them angrier, of course. Then Jo Malseng shows up, belittles Yi, and orders the northerners arrested, despite Yi's pleas that "We can't just arrest these people on the basis of their origin" without evidence from an investigation. Then a dozen or so more northerners arrive on the scene, led by the young woman and man. The mob spots them and chases them down the street. The group flees through a marketplace, but soon they're surrounded. The mob moves in on them and attacks, but although badly outnumbered, the northerners manage to fight their way to freedom. All of them, including the woman, clearly know how to fight.
Prince Kyoungnyeong and Jo Malseng are in a courtyard. Someone enters; we see it's Gim Doryeon. "Who is this man?", the prince asks. Then without even so much as a hello, Jo slaps Gim! "You went too far setting the city on fire!" "I thought the king needed a real wakeup call," Gim says. It turns out that Gim is a slave trader and that Sejong's welcoming policy towards the Jurchens is somehow cutting into his profits. (I assume he captures Jurchens for his trade.)
Later, after Gim leaves: "How deeply are you involved in this?", Kyoungnyeong asks. That man is not a northerner, he says; do you need to use political power to protect men like him to get kickbacks? But Jo basically says, You're one to talk; you're "trying to steal the throne" and you're worried about a little kickback? Besides, "politics requires money," Jo says.
Later, the prince and his mother are talking; Hyobin is concerned because she doesn't know how much Jo can be trusted. "How about carefully recruiting your own men?", she suggests, starting at the Ministry of Military. Kyoungnyeong asks her, You mean men who would stab Jo in the back? "It's the most important lesson your father the late king taught you," she replies.
Yun Hwe is showing the king a map of the fires. They were widespread and carefully coordinated, he concludes. Hwang Hee reasons, "It could mean there's a much greater and more dangerous force behind it."
"Prince Kyoungnyeong is behind this?" The very words surprise us; even more surprising is that the queen has just spoken them. Escort Han had just spoken them to her, and the queen can't believe that Han would even say such a thing. But Han explains: "The country is swept up and in a storm of confusion, and the king's competence is called into question. Who stands to benefit most?" I've been working in the palace for thirty years now, she says, and have gotten to know everybody; "Sometimes they bring me useful information." Jo Malseng, she tells the queen, has been having frequent meetings with the prince. "That is reason enough alone to keep an eye on Kyoungnyeong." This is quite a contribution from someone we wouldn't have expected such a thing from.
As the fleeing group of northerners rests, the head woman catches her brother (identified as Poongae) emerging from a fire-damaged house holding a box of jewelry. Pow! She decks him. "Did we come here to steal? Are we thieves?" Put it back right now, she demands.
The remaining northerners have gathered at what apparently is their camp. The woman is addressing them. "Did anyone else steal anything? If I find anything on you, you're dead." No, they say, Poongae just made a mistake. Then people start grumbling about the fires. Most just want to go back home and give it all up. This isn't what we expected, they tell her, and half of us have been arrested. But she tells them that not only won't they go home, they're going straight to the royal palace! "If we run now," she tells them, "they'll think we did this." (Huh? They DIDN'T start the fires? We saw at least one of them throw a torch into city hall. But they all seem to know that they weren't responsible for anything more than that. So if it wasn't them, who started the fires?) She appeals to individuals in the group who have suffered the most: "We don't have much, and we get treated like dirt, but we're still Joseonese. we came here to make the king see that." But they've had enough; they're going home.
At the Royal Inspectors building: In a courtyard, the captured northerners are being tortured, while citizens just outside the yard cheer and wave fists. Meng Sasung is watching, and tells Jo Malseng, "I have a hard time believing that these people are rebels who set fire to the city and aspired to capture the government." "I knew you'd get soft," Jo says (not wanting anybody to calm the storm he's apparently responsible for unleashing); if you can't handle this, go inside. Just then the king arrives and heads right for Jo: "What is the meaning of this?" "Is that a rhetorical question, your majesty?" The king orders the torture stopped at once, but Jo only mouths off to him sarcastically about how these people were protesting "your marvelous open immigration policy." Sejong points out that he has banned convictions that are based solely on torture-produced confessions. But Jo argues that there is circumstantial evidence against them, and Meng Sasung adds that "we must consider the angry citizens outside." Principles must be applied without exception, the king says angrily. "You leave me no choice," replies Jo. "I guess I will have to reveal the true culprit" behind the attacks.
The king and ministers are meeting: Jo brazenly tells the king that You, your majesty, "You are accountable." None of this would have happened if it weren't for your Jurchen policy. You must change it. Then Huh Jo tells the king that he must also take Jang Youngsil's robe back. What? This was dealt with three years ago. But Huh thinks it's relevant: "We treated one slave like a man, and now everyone think's they're entitled to something." Sejong asks Byun Gaeryang if he agrees with his colleagues; he does. Then Jo jumps back in: "You cannot waste time attending to unruly citizens right now. You must focus on rectifying the system by getting rid of policies that do more harm than good" or else confusion will multiply "and you'll be the man at the heart of the confusion."
Later, alone with Hwang, Sejong slams his hands on a table in frustration. Hwang reluctantly reminds him, "the people of the capital want justice and retribution. If you punish the northerners, the people will be assuaged, and those who want stronger revenge will hold back." Sejong doesn't like the idea: "You're showing me the easy way out again." "It does not please me either," Hwang tells him. "But you can lose everything trying to protect everything." You have to protect Jang Youngsil and your immigration policy, he counsels. In other words, execute the captured northerners for the sake of the bigger picture.
In the throne room, we see Sejong sit down on the steps to his throne. He sits and thinks for a long time...thinking...day turns into night as he sits, thinking...finally the queen shows up and sits down by him. "I'm afraid," he tells her. "I'm afraid if I sat on that throne right now, I would be forced to make a decision that will treat human lives lightly...to further a political cause under the pretext of a greater good. Everyone has only one life."
The next day: Hyobin is sitting before the queen. "Did you wish to see me?", she asks. Immediately we can sense big-time tension in the room. Soheon is smiling pleasantly. "There is something I wanted to confirm," she says. "Who do you think is behind the fires?" Silence. "Surely you're wise enough to know who is behind it." She's still smiling pleasantly; to the side, escort Han is watching. "It's you and I, and all of us. If the royal house's negligence and disregard for the people's woes drove them to this act of violence, we should be held responsible." Still nothing from Hyobin; she's glaring angrily off to the side, a real sour puss of an expression on her face, but she won't look the queen in the eye. Soheon pulls out one of her gold hair ornaments and puts it in front of her. "I'd like to see what I can do to help those who suffered loss in the fire. Will you help me?" What else can Hyobin say except "But of course." She says nothing more.
Back with her son, Hyobin tells him, "The king and queen are not to be taken lightly." Don't worry, he tells her; they can't tie me to the crime. "Be more careful anyway. You must not have another meeting with Jo and the others at home again."
Back in the queen's chambers: "Consort Hyobin's eyes." Escort Han saw what we saw. The queen did too, but she warns Han not to speak to anyone about any of this yet. "The country is in enough confusion as it is. I don't want to add division in the royal house to that." She tells Han to find me someone trustworthy to keep an eye on Kyoungnyeong.
Sejong and Hwang are talking; Sejong tells Hwang that he's going to order the prisoners released, since there isn't any tangible evidence...Just then Gim Mun comes running in: "There's a good chance that the northerners are not the arsonists."
At the Hall of Worthies: Several scholars are showing the king evidence that was gathered from fire sites. They've examined pieces of wood that were used to start fires: they have camellia oil on them. Camellia oil is very expensive, and more importantly, it isn't available in the northern states! They've also examined one of the torches thrown into city hall; it has ricinus oil on it, not camellia oil (although it's not clear why they would know at this point that the torches at the city hall fire would have come from different people than the rest of the fires. This may be a continuity error). Then they look at one of those half-pipes that was used to pour the accelerant. It has some sort of residue on it. Choi Haesan shows it to Sejong: potassium nitrate! It's a component of gunpowder, of course, and its commercial trade is banned for that reason. Yun Hwe then says what they all are realizing: The real culprit behind the attacks must be someone who not only has significant financial resources to afford all of this stuff, but also has military connections.
Outside, someone in a blue military robe is listening to all this, and scurries away.
Jo is with Kyoungnyeong. "That fool has left traceable evidence? I guess I have no choice but to resort to my last option."
Nighttime: A masked, black-clad assassin is seen stealthily climbing on roofs in the palace complex.
In the throne room, Sejong is weighing the latest evidence. He rhetorically asks Jachi, "Attendant, who in the Ministry of Military might be after my seat of power?" Jachi doesn't answer, and probably not just because he's not expected to answer, but also because he knows who it is and he knows that Sejong knows who it is.
The assassin, armed with a bow and a sword, moves effortlessly along building roofs, and then fires a rope/arrow setup to slide silently down to the ground in a courtyard, where Sejong is standing--alone! The assassin moves in, heads right for the king...and suddenly is surrounded by a dozen guards who apparently were waiting for something to happen. "Who are you?", Sejong demands. No answer. The mask is removed--and we see the young woman who was leading the northerners. "Were you after my life?", Sejong asks. "Who sent you?" She finally speaks. "Who sent me? I knew it. I knew you would've forgotten all about us, but it still hurts to confirm it for myself. Great prince." (Good heavens, there was that little girl up in the north...it couldn't be...could it?) Still without a clue, Sejong asks again, "Who are you?" "Dami. The stupid little crybaby who used to follow you around everywhere in Gyeongsung." (Yep, it's her (although her name was given as "Dahm" back then).)...Flashback to the scene in Ep33 of the ravaged northern village after the Jurchen attack. We're reminded of the little girl crying over her murdered mother, and then-exiled prince Kyoungnyeong hugging her and saying, "I'm sorry. This is my fault. This is all my fault."...Flashback ending, the king is stunned and speechless, his mouth agape as the memory returns.