Post by ajk on Dec 29, 2008 0:01:43 GMT -5
Apologies for the delay on this one. Just too much to do this week, plus I had three episodes to summarize instead of two. Hope no one was inconvenienced.
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"Do right by the dead man Choi Haesan." Jo Malseng is talking sternly to Choi Manli. "You know the official who has been spying for Ming. So you should know how to clean this up without causing a row as well." Just then Jeong Changson runs in: "This country may be doomed to ruin!"
Nighttime: The dissection in underway. Youngsil is watching the physician and preparing a drawing of the head, throat and trachial area as the physician proceeds. Sejong watches with fascination.
"Dissecting a human body?" Jo doesn't believe what Jeong has just told him and Manli: "Don't you think this is far-fetched speculation?" Manli answers, "I hope so. But if this is true, I swear to you I will do whatever it takes to bring the king down!" Even Jo seems a bit flustered by this development.
Word has gotten out to all of the scholars about the rumored dissection taking place, and they're on their way to Jingwan Temple. Carrying torches.
The dissection continues, and so does the drawing. Then a nervous Jachi comes in, presumably to inform Sejong about the scholars....
Choi Manli has been visited by prince Jinyang. He asks the prince, "You want to make a deal? Where is the human dissection taking place?" Jinyang asks, What would you give me if I give you that information? "The throne, of course. Our desire is to bring you forward as our new king." Jinyang stands up. "There is no deal." Choi is surprised: "It's not a losing proposition for you, your majesty." But Jinyang tells him, you had wanted to be my tactician, well, show me your talent by getting the proof yourself. (Very shrewd answer.)
Jachi is getting nervous..."Shouldn't we stop the dissection?"
Princes Jinyang and Anpyeong are before their mother the queen, who puts it bluntly to Jinyang: Are you working against your father? Jingyang tells her that he's simply "trying to figure out what Heaven has intended," but Anpyeong doesn't seem to think so: "Are you sure this isn't an excuse to seize power for yourself?" But Jinyang sticks to his story: "Heaven will determine the outcome. If father is right, Choi Manli and his men will not get the proof they need."
Jo asks Hwang Hee, "Does the king have a plan that will prevail?" "Do one's best and leave the rest to divine will," Hwang says. (That's a plan?)
The scholars are converging on the temple....
The queen tells Jinyang to go to the temple and stop the scholars. He refuses, and she angrily says, "Then go out and bring back a casket for me to lie in! How could you do this? You were the first prince to come forward and support the king's brave dream of creating a writing system for this country! How could you of all people do this to him?" "I'd still be supporting him," he says, "if he hadn't gone as far as ordering a human dissection." "You must not turn against your father," Soheon says, but Jinyang says he can't do anything now. "All is beyond my control."
Choi and all of the scholars are in front of the temple, demanding to be let in. Gang Hui and his guards are at the front; they refuse to let the scholars in and then draw their swords when the scholars threaten to push forward. Then crown prince Hyang shows up and firmly orders the swords sheathed. "The king's sword cannot be drawn against his people," he tells Gang.
Inside, the dissection is finished. "Attend to the deceased with due respect," Sejong tells the physician, who bows.
Back outside: Hyang asks his (former?) teacher, "What brings you, master?" "I'm sure you know exactly what brings us, your highness." "What I know is that king's men (these scholars) are attempting to attack a temple where the king is resting." Choi insists that they're here to save the country from "imminent doom." Fine, Hyang says; "Enter as you wish--but only the unarmed." Choi is wary because armed guards are everywhere inside, but Hyang tells him, you know the king better than to think he'd order unarmed scholars cut down just for opposing him. Hyang steps aside and the scholars enter.
Choi and his men barge into the dissection room--and it's full of astronomical stuff! There's no sign of anything medical whatsoever. Yi Sunji and Jeong Inji are in there working calmly, on the dissection table, assembling some materials for the calendar project. They stop and stare at a furious Choi. "This can't be!" He runs to the table and rudely scatters the books and records: "The king just performed a human dissection right here!" "Human dissection? You're delusional," Jeong says. The other scholars behind Choi start to search the room for evidence...and, uh-oh, we spot a few drops of blood on the floor under the table. Jeong and Sunji spot them too, but stay cool...then Ha Wiji, looking at some stacks of records on the floor, spots them. But to our complete surprise, he not only doesn't point them out to Choi, he shuffles the records around and covers them up! He and Jeong exchange a knowing look. What is this about? Isn't Ha strongly on Manli's side in all this? Then, as if this isn't dicey enough, the physician is found and brought forward. "A Hui Hui physician," Choi says--"What was this man doing in here?" But Jeong is ready for that: "He was comparing the Hui Hui calendar to our Almanac of the Seven Planets." Sunji adds that the physician is an expert astronomer as well. The physician confirms this, complimenting the quality of the almanac and saying he's like to take a copy back to Arabia to study it further. Not buying it, but having been stonewalled, Choi claps mockingly: "Bravo! You've thought of everything! I commend you for that." But I know, he tells Jeong, that a dead man was brought here, and was dissected by that physician. So Jeong tells him to go to the main hall.
He does...and Sejong and a bunch of ministers and officials are standing in the front yard. In front of them is a funeral pyre about to be lit, with a body covered by a sheet on top of a tall stack of firewood. Choi shows up, and Sejong tells him that this is the body of a pauper. "This funeral is rather grand for such a man," Choi observes suspiciously. "My people are my children," Sejong replies; I failed to take care of him in this life, so I will wish him well in his next life." (Great answer--exactly the kind of thing that Sejong would ordinarily say anyway.) Choi asks, with as much respect as he can muster in his frustrated state, to take a look at the body under the sheet. Sejong tells him, "It's not a good idea." "For me or for you, your majesty?" Ignoring Choi's impudence, the king tells him, "Do as you wish." So he goes over, uncovers the sheet...and it's the body of the plague victim that we saw in the previous episode! He quickly covers it back up for fear of exposure. "How could this be?" Behind him, the crown prince and Ha Wiji exchange knowing looks...Flashback to Ha Wiji and Park Pengnyeong being told by Hyang that Choi Haesan's last wish was to offer himself for the needed dissection. "It's time for you to decide now," Hyang tells them. "What do you want Choi Haesan's last act of loyalty to become?" Ha, looking almost stunned by Haesan's willingness to offer his body for the cause, tells the prince, "I don't support the writing system development, and I don't understand Haesan's decision. But I think we need time." The kind of loyalty we've seen from Jang Youngsil and now from Haesan, he says, "we do need time to understand the cause and nature of such loyalty." (An odd way of looking at it, but whatever.)...Flashback ending, the rest of the scholars enter the yard; Sejong had asked them in. "We are to live our lives together by sharing our wealth and knowledge with others," Sejong tells the group (as that freaking awful pop ballad starts up). "Let us never allow our negligence to cause another tragedy such as this." Choi looks around suspiciously as everyone bows; then he bows too. Sejong gives the order, and the pyre is lit.
In the woods leading away from the temple, we see Jang Youngsil walking with a large, long box on his back, Gim Jongsuh and Yi Chun behind him. With Sejong having called all of the scholars into the temple yard along with the rest of the group, the three are able to leave the temple unnoticed, carrying what obviously is Choi Haesan's body. (Now wait a minute--Youngsil isn't exactly bulging with muscles, and his legs are injured to the point where he still has to use a cane just to walk. And yet we're supposed to believe he's carrying Haesan's body and a wooden casket all by himself? I don't think so. Somebody really blew it here. It would have been just as easy to show all three of them carrying the casket.)
Later, we see that Youngsil is turning his drawing into a woodcarving--a cross-section of the human head, throat and trachea, with the speech-producing areas inlaid.
Wang Zhen throws a wrist-knife into a wall in anger. Choi Manli tells him, "Your man Haishou was incompetent and you have no manners." Choi is furious at Wang Zhen (pretend-furious; this is going to be his strategy). "He tried to steal our new weapons technology and turn it over to your enemy state Mongolia--perhaps because he didn't get any respect from you. As a result, Joseon has lost a very important weapons expert!" Choi shouts the last few words for emphasis. "Choi Haesan had uncovered his secret plot." (Seems a bit flimsy of a story, but it looks like Wang is buying it.)
The completed anatomical model is placed before Sejong. Using the magnifier, Sejong studies the various speech-producing locations. Then, the next day, we see him with the little monk boys, using the magnifier to study their mouths while they pronounce various sounds and syllables. Later, he does the same thing with Sung Sammun and Park Pengnyeong, as Jeong Inji assists. He's able to organize the sounds into five groups: velars, alveloars, bilabials, dentals, glottals. "These five basic sounds make up the consonants of our speech," he tells Jeong. But Ha and Park, their jaws are getting tired--they've been pronouncing for him for ten hours! "That long? Then we will do it just one more time and call it a day."
Shin Sukju has been summoned by prince Hyang and Hwang Hee. They want to send him to Japan. "As long as we continue to ignore Ming's warning and attempt to continue with the writing system development," Hwang tells him, "Ming will explore various ways to intimidate us." So they're sending Sukju to Japan for another fact-gathering trip.
Back to Wang Zhen and Choi Manli: Choi tells Wang that the writing system work is continuing. "Then our relationship must continue as well," Wang answers. Choi audaciously tells Wang, Maybe you can send a more competent agent this time. (Yep, Wang has bought the story, we can see.)
Leaving, Wang Zhen turns to Poongae and asks, "Why did you have to kill Haishou in Joseon?" Poongae answers cleverly, "Am I to give a traitor a choice on where he gets to die?" Wang glares at him, and then breaks into a smile (probably a phony smile; we've seen him do that before): "Indeed you are a pride of Dongchang. Perhaps I should assign you to kill the Joseonese king." Poongae bows, and Wang walks away. Then, the agent standing next to Poongae asks him, "Does this mean you're Wang Zhen's right hand man know?" Poongae discreetly hands the agent a small bundle, apparently a bribe of some kind: "Keep your lips sealed and you will be my right-hand man." (WOW! Something is sure brewing here.)
"New leader of Dongchang?" The young Ming emperor has received Wang Zhen and a group of Dongchang agents. Wang is introducing him to a man named Shuqing. "He is the best weapon Dongchang has ever created." To the other Dongchang agents, Wang tells them, "Serve your new leader well. This is your new duty." Then he tells the emperor, "The new and more powerful Dongchang will suppress Joseon and the insolent king and pave the way to bring a new and obedient king to its throne." "A new king?" The emperor is quite surprised; there's a look of uncertainty on his face.
At the Hall of Worthies: Jinyang tells Ha Wiji that the nobles are the writing system, so much so that it may never be put to use even if it is completed. Ha doesn't trust Jinyang's motives: "You're just looking for an excuse to seize power for yourself. I don't intend to stand idly by and let that happen."
"So you know about Jinyang?" The queen is with the crown prince and his brother Anpyeong. Hyang does know; Anpyeong told him. She asks him, "Are you angry?" No answer. Then, "His majesty will be in the palace for a few days at the urging of the physician. Discuss this with the king and find a way to stop Jinyang. These kinds of things must be nipped in the bud to prevent future trouble. I don't want there to be another fight for the throne in the royal house ever again. Because I know all too well the blood sacrifice such fights demand." And she does know; not even so much because of her father but because she remembers how her mother-in-law suffered through two generations' worth of that very kind of conflict. In fact, for just a moment as she speaks, we can almost hear Wongyeong speaking through her voice.
Nighttime: Sejong is in a courtyard; we see his vision blurring. He can barely read the Hall of Worthies sign that he painted himself. Jachi reminds him that the physician has recommended a retreat, but of course Sejong pays him no mind: "What's the worst that can happen but an old man dying?" Then he notices a light on in the hall. "Is someone still working?" He goes inside by himself. Just then prince Hyang turns a corner and shows up. He heads straight for Jachi: "What did I just hear you talk about?"
Inside, Shin Sukju is asleep at his desk. Sejong speaks to him, but he's sleeping so deeply that he doesn't wake up...Flashback to Ep78, Yun Hwe putting his coat over Sejong as he sleeps at his own desk...Flashback ending, Sejong takes off his royal robe and puts it over Ha's shoulders. Jachi enters and protests a bit, but Sejong says, "Don't wake him. He dozed off working. Let him sleep for a while." (I'd love to be there when the guy wakes up and finds that robe on himself.) Then he reflects a bit, and tells Jachi of his disappointment that he couldn't share the writing system project with the Hall of Worthies. He leaves, and Hyang watches him go. Hyang asks his brother Anpyeong, who's there with him, "Will I be able to live up to my father's name? I do not know the path to greatness. But I can't add another burden on the shoulders that are already burdened with the writing system development. About Jinyang, we will ignore it for now. I'll deal with it on my own." So he must have intended to involve his father in it somehow.
In the writing system office, Soheon and Jachi are sitting at a table with Sejong. It's daytime and the office is well-lit, but Sejong complains about the darkness. He's fumbling for things with his hands and showing such severe loss of sight that the Queen and Jachi can barely watch. So Soheon tells her husband, "Close your eyes and relax for a while. See with your heart's eyes, and things might look different." He closes them. "You're like an obedient child," she says with a smile. He smiles too: "I'm afraid you might whip me." Eyes closed, he puts his hands on the human head model, and as he feels around, it seems to open up his mind. "It's rather simple. Touching it without looking makes the shapes of the sound-producing parts feel quite simple. If we take the shape of the sound-making organs and turn them into simple symbols, we'll be able to create an alphabet that's easy enough to learn with your eyes closed." Then, as he puts pen to paper, we hear him explain the different sound groups and how they work, and how each is represented in she shape of the simple character he's drawing. Then he opens his eyes--and he can see much better now. It confuses him: "You just told me it was nighttime..." And he realizes that his wife knows about his blindness. "How long have you known?" But she doesn't want to talk about that. Instead, "It's time to celebrate the birth of the beautiful Joseonese letters you've created." And we see the five basic consonant characters.
From all around, scholars converge to see the results of Sejong's labors. Sung Sammun asks him, "Will we be able to express all of our language with these five letters?" "These are the basic characters," Sejong explains. Then he draws in extra strokes and dots on some, and explains that "we will add strokes to distinguish stronger or harsher sounds." There will be seventeen characters in all. These are the consonant characters that represent the initial and final sounds of each syllable. As for the medial sounds, he explains, those are the vowels, and he already has thought of characters for those. From his inside pocket he pulls out a piece of paper. It's the piece of paper that Dami used for her first attempt at learning to write, back in Ep70. It was an inspiration for him, he tells the scholars, as were the contributions of "those who built this dream of creating a writing system...but left us before the dream could be realized." He shows the scholars three basic strokes, representing heaven, earth and man, augmented by single and double dots, which honor the contributions of the deceased. He draws a total of eleven characters--"the medial sounds: the vowels of our alphabet."
Sejong and all of the scholars walk from the temple out into the surrounding countryside, over near Youngsil's cave. Youngsil and Yi Sunji are outside, apparently waiting for them. We hear Sejong's thoughts: "These 28 letters will work together to express every sound of the Joseonese language. The simplest of minds will be able to learn, thus I will call this Hunminjeongeum: Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People." The group stares into the sky, and as they do, we see a celestial light show, as the stars light up in groups to form Sejong's newly created characters. Everyone watches the sky and smiles with satisfaction (ignoring the obvious reaction: GAAA!!! IT'S THE END OF THE UNIVERSE!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!).
Meeting with the king, the ministers are given scrolls that present the new writing system. We see a wide range of reactions on their faces, from puzzlement to skepticism to satisfaction to elation. "I hereby bestow these letters on the people of the country," he tells them, "so begin immediate distribution throughout the country through local governments and schools."
At the Hall of Worthies, Choi studies one of the scrolls and seethes, and the other scholars watch him.
Shin Sukju and Sung Sammun have come to visit Huang Yan, who's wearing prisoner's white and who apparently is under house arrest. They're showing him Sejong's creation. The scholars ask him for his help in compiling a rhyming dictionary that will express the most confusing Chinese pronunciations in the new writing system. So Huang picks up a pen and tries writing several Chinese characters next to several equivalent symbols using Sejong's characters. He does so easily, and marvels at how even the most difficult pronunciations can be easily rewritten using the new system. Huang is utterly blown away: "How is this possible? How could one man invent such a brilliant writing system in such a short time? Unbelievable!"
The Hall of Worthies has been asked to compile a rhyming dictionary using the new writing system. Choi Manli is going bonkers, of course, and flat-out refuses to do it: "The Hall of Worthies will have nothing to do with this barbarian alphabet!" But Jeong Inji reminds him that this is the king's order, and that since this is now our writing system, "you're calling all of us barbarians...Don't you realize that?" But Choi thinks that the inspector general and the censorate are going to squash the whole thing anyway. "Don't underestimate the king," Jeong tells him.
Choi sends Gim Mun to the inspector general's office. Gim finds finds Hwang Hee already there and the officials hard at work reviewing the writing system, apparently favorably so.
Choi sends Jeong Changson to the censorate office, and finds Jo Malseng already there and the censorate supporting the system. "It's a shock to me as well," Jo says. "Who knew the censors would be so quick to appreciate the king's intent. It seems all of Joseon is singing praise of this peaceful reign." Jeong leaves in frustration and Jo smiles at having frustrated him. (Interesting that Jo seems to be very much on Sejong's side on this.)
Gim and Jeong report back to Choi, who realizes that now it's going to be up to his informal organization of regional lords and scholars to stop the writing system's distribution.
Ming: Wang Zhen has informed the Ming emperor about the writing system's release. Why are they doing this?, Yingzong asks. Wang's agenda-driven answer: "Perhaps they aspire to dominate the world like the Mongols of Yuan once sought to do." "Dominate the world?" Once again we see that puzzled, confused look on the emperor's face.
Sejong is meeting with a group of what appear to be military ministers: "Obstructing the distribution of Joseonese writing is an act undermining the autonomy of Joseon. I will take an unyielding stance and show no tolerance!"
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"Do right by the dead man Choi Haesan." Jo Malseng is talking sternly to Choi Manli. "You know the official who has been spying for Ming. So you should know how to clean this up without causing a row as well." Just then Jeong Changson runs in: "This country may be doomed to ruin!"
Nighttime: The dissection in underway. Youngsil is watching the physician and preparing a drawing of the head, throat and trachial area as the physician proceeds. Sejong watches with fascination.
"Dissecting a human body?" Jo doesn't believe what Jeong has just told him and Manli: "Don't you think this is far-fetched speculation?" Manli answers, "I hope so. But if this is true, I swear to you I will do whatever it takes to bring the king down!" Even Jo seems a bit flustered by this development.
Word has gotten out to all of the scholars about the rumored dissection taking place, and they're on their way to Jingwan Temple. Carrying torches.
The dissection continues, and so does the drawing. Then a nervous Jachi comes in, presumably to inform Sejong about the scholars....
Choi Manli has been visited by prince Jinyang. He asks the prince, "You want to make a deal? Where is the human dissection taking place?" Jinyang asks, What would you give me if I give you that information? "The throne, of course. Our desire is to bring you forward as our new king." Jinyang stands up. "There is no deal." Choi is surprised: "It's not a losing proposition for you, your majesty." But Jinyang tells him, you had wanted to be my tactician, well, show me your talent by getting the proof yourself. (Very shrewd answer.)
Jachi is getting nervous..."Shouldn't we stop the dissection?"
Princes Jinyang and Anpyeong are before their mother the queen, who puts it bluntly to Jinyang: Are you working against your father? Jingyang tells her that he's simply "trying to figure out what Heaven has intended," but Anpyeong doesn't seem to think so: "Are you sure this isn't an excuse to seize power for yourself?" But Jinyang sticks to his story: "Heaven will determine the outcome. If father is right, Choi Manli and his men will not get the proof they need."
Jo asks Hwang Hee, "Does the king have a plan that will prevail?" "Do one's best and leave the rest to divine will," Hwang says. (That's a plan?)
The scholars are converging on the temple....
The queen tells Jinyang to go to the temple and stop the scholars. He refuses, and she angrily says, "Then go out and bring back a casket for me to lie in! How could you do this? You were the first prince to come forward and support the king's brave dream of creating a writing system for this country! How could you of all people do this to him?" "I'd still be supporting him," he says, "if he hadn't gone as far as ordering a human dissection." "You must not turn against your father," Soheon says, but Jinyang says he can't do anything now. "All is beyond my control."
Choi and all of the scholars are in front of the temple, demanding to be let in. Gang Hui and his guards are at the front; they refuse to let the scholars in and then draw their swords when the scholars threaten to push forward. Then crown prince Hyang shows up and firmly orders the swords sheathed. "The king's sword cannot be drawn against his people," he tells Gang.
Inside, the dissection is finished. "Attend to the deceased with due respect," Sejong tells the physician, who bows.
Back outside: Hyang asks his (former?) teacher, "What brings you, master?" "I'm sure you know exactly what brings us, your highness." "What I know is that king's men (these scholars) are attempting to attack a temple where the king is resting." Choi insists that they're here to save the country from "imminent doom." Fine, Hyang says; "Enter as you wish--but only the unarmed." Choi is wary because armed guards are everywhere inside, but Hyang tells him, you know the king better than to think he'd order unarmed scholars cut down just for opposing him. Hyang steps aside and the scholars enter.
Choi and his men barge into the dissection room--and it's full of astronomical stuff! There's no sign of anything medical whatsoever. Yi Sunji and Jeong Inji are in there working calmly, on the dissection table, assembling some materials for the calendar project. They stop and stare at a furious Choi. "This can't be!" He runs to the table and rudely scatters the books and records: "The king just performed a human dissection right here!" "Human dissection? You're delusional," Jeong says. The other scholars behind Choi start to search the room for evidence...and, uh-oh, we spot a few drops of blood on the floor under the table. Jeong and Sunji spot them too, but stay cool...then Ha Wiji, looking at some stacks of records on the floor, spots them. But to our complete surprise, he not only doesn't point them out to Choi, he shuffles the records around and covers them up! He and Jeong exchange a knowing look. What is this about? Isn't Ha strongly on Manli's side in all this? Then, as if this isn't dicey enough, the physician is found and brought forward. "A Hui Hui physician," Choi says--"What was this man doing in here?" But Jeong is ready for that: "He was comparing the Hui Hui calendar to our Almanac of the Seven Planets." Sunji adds that the physician is an expert astronomer as well. The physician confirms this, complimenting the quality of the almanac and saying he's like to take a copy back to Arabia to study it further. Not buying it, but having been stonewalled, Choi claps mockingly: "Bravo! You've thought of everything! I commend you for that." But I know, he tells Jeong, that a dead man was brought here, and was dissected by that physician. So Jeong tells him to go to the main hall.
He does...and Sejong and a bunch of ministers and officials are standing in the front yard. In front of them is a funeral pyre about to be lit, with a body covered by a sheet on top of a tall stack of firewood. Choi shows up, and Sejong tells him that this is the body of a pauper. "This funeral is rather grand for such a man," Choi observes suspiciously. "My people are my children," Sejong replies; I failed to take care of him in this life, so I will wish him well in his next life." (Great answer--exactly the kind of thing that Sejong would ordinarily say anyway.) Choi asks, with as much respect as he can muster in his frustrated state, to take a look at the body under the sheet. Sejong tells him, "It's not a good idea." "For me or for you, your majesty?" Ignoring Choi's impudence, the king tells him, "Do as you wish." So he goes over, uncovers the sheet...and it's the body of the plague victim that we saw in the previous episode! He quickly covers it back up for fear of exposure. "How could this be?" Behind him, the crown prince and Ha Wiji exchange knowing looks...Flashback to Ha Wiji and Park Pengnyeong being told by Hyang that Choi Haesan's last wish was to offer himself for the needed dissection. "It's time for you to decide now," Hyang tells them. "What do you want Choi Haesan's last act of loyalty to become?" Ha, looking almost stunned by Haesan's willingness to offer his body for the cause, tells the prince, "I don't support the writing system development, and I don't understand Haesan's decision. But I think we need time." The kind of loyalty we've seen from Jang Youngsil and now from Haesan, he says, "we do need time to understand the cause and nature of such loyalty." (An odd way of looking at it, but whatever.)...Flashback ending, the rest of the scholars enter the yard; Sejong had asked them in. "We are to live our lives together by sharing our wealth and knowledge with others," Sejong tells the group (as that freaking awful pop ballad starts up). "Let us never allow our negligence to cause another tragedy such as this." Choi looks around suspiciously as everyone bows; then he bows too. Sejong gives the order, and the pyre is lit.
In the woods leading away from the temple, we see Jang Youngsil walking with a large, long box on his back, Gim Jongsuh and Yi Chun behind him. With Sejong having called all of the scholars into the temple yard along with the rest of the group, the three are able to leave the temple unnoticed, carrying what obviously is Choi Haesan's body. (Now wait a minute--Youngsil isn't exactly bulging with muscles, and his legs are injured to the point where he still has to use a cane just to walk. And yet we're supposed to believe he's carrying Haesan's body and a wooden casket all by himself? I don't think so. Somebody really blew it here. It would have been just as easy to show all three of them carrying the casket.)
Later, we see that Youngsil is turning his drawing into a woodcarving--a cross-section of the human head, throat and trachea, with the speech-producing areas inlaid.
Wang Zhen throws a wrist-knife into a wall in anger. Choi Manli tells him, "Your man Haishou was incompetent and you have no manners." Choi is furious at Wang Zhen (pretend-furious; this is going to be his strategy). "He tried to steal our new weapons technology and turn it over to your enemy state Mongolia--perhaps because he didn't get any respect from you. As a result, Joseon has lost a very important weapons expert!" Choi shouts the last few words for emphasis. "Choi Haesan had uncovered his secret plot." (Seems a bit flimsy of a story, but it looks like Wang is buying it.)
The completed anatomical model is placed before Sejong. Using the magnifier, Sejong studies the various speech-producing locations. Then, the next day, we see him with the little monk boys, using the magnifier to study their mouths while they pronounce various sounds and syllables. Later, he does the same thing with Sung Sammun and Park Pengnyeong, as Jeong Inji assists. He's able to organize the sounds into five groups: velars, alveloars, bilabials, dentals, glottals. "These five basic sounds make up the consonants of our speech," he tells Jeong. But Ha and Park, their jaws are getting tired--they've been pronouncing for him for ten hours! "That long? Then we will do it just one more time and call it a day."
Shin Sukju has been summoned by prince Hyang and Hwang Hee. They want to send him to Japan. "As long as we continue to ignore Ming's warning and attempt to continue with the writing system development," Hwang tells him, "Ming will explore various ways to intimidate us." So they're sending Sukju to Japan for another fact-gathering trip.
Back to Wang Zhen and Choi Manli: Choi tells Wang that the writing system work is continuing. "Then our relationship must continue as well," Wang answers. Choi audaciously tells Wang, Maybe you can send a more competent agent this time. (Yep, Wang has bought the story, we can see.)
Leaving, Wang Zhen turns to Poongae and asks, "Why did you have to kill Haishou in Joseon?" Poongae answers cleverly, "Am I to give a traitor a choice on where he gets to die?" Wang glares at him, and then breaks into a smile (probably a phony smile; we've seen him do that before): "Indeed you are a pride of Dongchang. Perhaps I should assign you to kill the Joseonese king." Poongae bows, and Wang walks away. Then, the agent standing next to Poongae asks him, "Does this mean you're Wang Zhen's right hand man know?" Poongae discreetly hands the agent a small bundle, apparently a bribe of some kind: "Keep your lips sealed and you will be my right-hand man." (WOW! Something is sure brewing here.)
"New leader of Dongchang?" The young Ming emperor has received Wang Zhen and a group of Dongchang agents. Wang is introducing him to a man named Shuqing. "He is the best weapon Dongchang has ever created." To the other Dongchang agents, Wang tells them, "Serve your new leader well. This is your new duty." Then he tells the emperor, "The new and more powerful Dongchang will suppress Joseon and the insolent king and pave the way to bring a new and obedient king to its throne." "A new king?" The emperor is quite surprised; there's a look of uncertainty on his face.
At the Hall of Worthies: Jinyang tells Ha Wiji that the nobles are the writing system, so much so that it may never be put to use even if it is completed. Ha doesn't trust Jinyang's motives: "You're just looking for an excuse to seize power for yourself. I don't intend to stand idly by and let that happen."
"So you know about Jinyang?" The queen is with the crown prince and his brother Anpyeong. Hyang does know; Anpyeong told him. She asks him, "Are you angry?" No answer. Then, "His majesty will be in the palace for a few days at the urging of the physician. Discuss this with the king and find a way to stop Jinyang. These kinds of things must be nipped in the bud to prevent future trouble. I don't want there to be another fight for the throne in the royal house ever again. Because I know all too well the blood sacrifice such fights demand." And she does know; not even so much because of her father but because she remembers how her mother-in-law suffered through two generations' worth of that very kind of conflict. In fact, for just a moment as she speaks, we can almost hear Wongyeong speaking through her voice.
Nighttime: Sejong is in a courtyard; we see his vision blurring. He can barely read the Hall of Worthies sign that he painted himself. Jachi reminds him that the physician has recommended a retreat, but of course Sejong pays him no mind: "What's the worst that can happen but an old man dying?" Then he notices a light on in the hall. "Is someone still working?" He goes inside by himself. Just then prince Hyang turns a corner and shows up. He heads straight for Jachi: "What did I just hear you talk about?"
Inside, Shin Sukju is asleep at his desk. Sejong speaks to him, but he's sleeping so deeply that he doesn't wake up...Flashback to Ep78, Yun Hwe putting his coat over Sejong as he sleeps at his own desk...Flashback ending, Sejong takes off his royal robe and puts it over Ha's shoulders. Jachi enters and protests a bit, but Sejong says, "Don't wake him. He dozed off working. Let him sleep for a while." (I'd love to be there when the guy wakes up and finds that robe on himself.) Then he reflects a bit, and tells Jachi of his disappointment that he couldn't share the writing system project with the Hall of Worthies. He leaves, and Hyang watches him go. Hyang asks his brother Anpyeong, who's there with him, "Will I be able to live up to my father's name? I do not know the path to greatness. But I can't add another burden on the shoulders that are already burdened with the writing system development. About Jinyang, we will ignore it for now. I'll deal with it on my own." So he must have intended to involve his father in it somehow.
In the writing system office, Soheon and Jachi are sitting at a table with Sejong. It's daytime and the office is well-lit, but Sejong complains about the darkness. He's fumbling for things with his hands and showing such severe loss of sight that the Queen and Jachi can barely watch. So Soheon tells her husband, "Close your eyes and relax for a while. See with your heart's eyes, and things might look different." He closes them. "You're like an obedient child," she says with a smile. He smiles too: "I'm afraid you might whip me." Eyes closed, he puts his hands on the human head model, and as he feels around, it seems to open up his mind. "It's rather simple. Touching it without looking makes the shapes of the sound-producing parts feel quite simple. If we take the shape of the sound-making organs and turn them into simple symbols, we'll be able to create an alphabet that's easy enough to learn with your eyes closed." Then, as he puts pen to paper, we hear him explain the different sound groups and how they work, and how each is represented in she shape of the simple character he's drawing. Then he opens his eyes--and he can see much better now. It confuses him: "You just told me it was nighttime..." And he realizes that his wife knows about his blindness. "How long have you known?" But she doesn't want to talk about that. Instead, "It's time to celebrate the birth of the beautiful Joseonese letters you've created." And we see the five basic consonant characters.
From all around, scholars converge to see the results of Sejong's labors. Sung Sammun asks him, "Will we be able to express all of our language with these five letters?" "These are the basic characters," Sejong explains. Then he draws in extra strokes and dots on some, and explains that "we will add strokes to distinguish stronger or harsher sounds." There will be seventeen characters in all. These are the consonant characters that represent the initial and final sounds of each syllable. As for the medial sounds, he explains, those are the vowels, and he already has thought of characters for those. From his inside pocket he pulls out a piece of paper. It's the piece of paper that Dami used for her first attempt at learning to write, back in Ep70. It was an inspiration for him, he tells the scholars, as were the contributions of "those who built this dream of creating a writing system...but left us before the dream could be realized." He shows the scholars three basic strokes, representing heaven, earth and man, augmented by single and double dots, which honor the contributions of the deceased. He draws a total of eleven characters--"the medial sounds: the vowels of our alphabet."
Sejong and all of the scholars walk from the temple out into the surrounding countryside, over near Youngsil's cave. Youngsil and Yi Sunji are outside, apparently waiting for them. We hear Sejong's thoughts: "These 28 letters will work together to express every sound of the Joseonese language. The simplest of minds will be able to learn, thus I will call this Hunminjeongeum: Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People." The group stares into the sky, and as they do, we see a celestial light show, as the stars light up in groups to form Sejong's newly created characters. Everyone watches the sky and smiles with satisfaction (ignoring the obvious reaction: GAAA!!! IT'S THE END OF THE UNIVERSE!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!).
Meeting with the king, the ministers are given scrolls that present the new writing system. We see a wide range of reactions on their faces, from puzzlement to skepticism to satisfaction to elation. "I hereby bestow these letters on the people of the country," he tells them, "so begin immediate distribution throughout the country through local governments and schools."
At the Hall of Worthies, Choi studies one of the scrolls and seethes, and the other scholars watch him.
Shin Sukju and Sung Sammun have come to visit Huang Yan, who's wearing prisoner's white and who apparently is under house arrest. They're showing him Sejong's creation. The scholars ask him for his help in compiling a rhyming dictionary that will express the most confusing Chinese pronunciations in the new writing system. So Huang picks up a pen and tries writing several Chinese characters next to several equivalent symbols using Sejong's characters. He does so easily, and marvels at how even the most difficult pronunciations can be easily rewritten using the new system. Huang is utterly blown away: "How is this possible? How could one man invent such a brilliant writing system in such a short time? Unbelievable!"
The Hall of Worthies has been asked to compile a rhyming dictionary using the new writing system. Choi Manli is going bonkers, of course, and flat-out refuses to do it: "The Hall of Worthies will have nothing to do with this barbarian alphabet!" But Jeong Inji reminds him that this is the king's order, and that since this is now our writing system, "you're calling all of us barbarians...Don't you realize that?" But Choi thinks that the inspector general and the censorate are going to squash the whole thing anyway. "Don't underestimate the king," Jeong tells him.
Choi sends Gim Mun to the inspector general's office. Gim finds finds Hwang Hee already there and the officials hard at work reviewing the writing system, apparently favorably so.
Choi sends Jeong Changson to the censorate office, and finds Jo Malseng already there and the censorate supporting the system. "It's a shock to me as well," Jo says. "Who knew the censors would be so quick to appreciate the king's intent. It seems all of Joseon is singing praise of this peaceful reign." Jeong leaves in frustration and Jo smiles at having frustrated him. (Interesting that Jo seems to be very much on Sejong's side on this.)
Gim and Jeong report back to Choi, who realizes that now it's going to be up to his informal organization of regional lords and scholars to stop the writing system's distribution.
Ming: Wang Zhen has informed the Ming emperor about the writing system's release. Why are they doing this?, Yingzong asks. Wang's agenda-driven answer: "Perhaps they aspire to dominate the world like the Mongols of Yuan once sought to do." "Dominate the world?" Once again we see that puzzled, confused look on the emperor's face.
Sejong is meeting with a group of what appear to be military ministers: "Obstructing the distribution of Joseonese writing is an act undermining the autonomy of Joseon. I will take an unyielding stance and show no tolerance!"
