Post by ajk on Jul 13, 2012 22:53:38 GMT -5
"You okay?" Nope, Chilsuk can't see her. He's being polite to whoever he knocked over; not a clue who it is. Deokman has managed to stagger to her feet, and has unsheathed a dagger she has with her...but before she can use it (if she intends to), we hear someone shout "She's here!" and Chilsuk scrambles away towards the sound of that voice.
Two of Seori's subordinates have found Sohwa wandering in the capital. She still looks dazed and traumatized; obviously she wanted to run away but apparently had no further train of thought. Seori tells the subordinates to escort her back to the temple. Then Chilsuk shows up; Seori reassures him and they all head back. Deokman follows them from a distance and arrives at the shrine just after they go inside, but she's chased away by another female priest before she can see or hear anything. Not a place for a trainee, she's told.
Later, alone, Deokman again holds Jinheung's dagger and the rendering of her mom, and is so confused and frustrated by the whole thing that she starts to cry.
Next morning: Deokman goes to see Cheonmyeong. "I wonder if just once we could talk like we used to." Okay, the princess says; what's up? Deokman tells her that Chilsuk is alive--the princess doesn't know much about him, only that he has a memorial tablet in the chapel and had disappeared on a mission for Mishil--and then reveals that Mishil's mission was to track her down. Why? Deokman doesn't know but hopes the answer will tell her who she is. He was after a baby and a palace maid, Deokman knows that much...and she shows Cheonmyeong the rendering of her mother. "She died saving me from Chilsuk." And now she needs the explanation--"I want to hear it from Mishil herself." So, she asks the princess a favor: Go to the shrine and see if Chilsuk is staying there. Men aren't supposed to be allowed there, we learn, so is there some sort of secret area where they're keeping him? Good deduction by Deokman. Cheonmyeong says she'll do it. Then the princess notices Jinheung's dagger. "This is yours? It's lovely."
"A rite of heaven?" The king has been paid a visit by Seori, who babbles some astrological nonsense and says that it's an omen for Shilla of a coming plague. "We must perform a sacred rite to appease the heavens." And Mishil must preside over it; it's her job as Priestess of the Sacred Rites. Go ahead, Jinpyeong says.
Word of the rite has hit the streets, and people don't like it. Things have been going well, they say, but doing one of these rites always stirs up trouble of one sort or another.
Cheonmyeong doesn't like the news, either, and talks to her mother and her aunt about it. Jinheung used to have one every year, we learn, but "Mishil tends to do it whenever it suits her" and there hasn't been one for years. Is she planning something? "During the ceremony," Maya adds, "she can claim that the heavens spoke to her." Manmyeong adds, "The Rite of Heaven has become synonymous with terror." Well isn't that special. "What will she pull this time?"
Seolwon, Hajong and Bojong are speculating about the ceremony too. As usual, Hajong is prodding for the scoop and thinks Seolwon has to have it. "What's heaven going to tell her this time?" Seolwon accuses him of blasphemy for implying that her revelations aren't legitimate. Hajong laughs it off; says he wasn't being serious (but of course he was).
Kim Yongchun, Eulje and Seohyeon are also speculating, and we learn a couple of interesting tidbits: previous Rites of Heaven enabled Mishil to confiscate lands from Kim Mulyuk (the Gayan general, Seohyeon's father) for the government to take, and also to promote Sejong! "She'll use the rite to demand something ridiculous," Yongchun is certain. These things are done under threat of disaster...but Eulje points out that Mishil's predictions are always on the mark. "Drought, flood, fires...she's always been right." Whether or not she actually is communicating with the heavens--and they just don't know--the important thing is that the people believe she is.
Wolchun has finished. The Chinese almanac, recalibrated for Shilla across twelve years of lunar cycles. "On the 27th day of the current cycle," he says, "the points will intersect." Accurate to within 28 hours. Not sure what points these are--an eclipse, maybe--but a grateful Misaeng and Seori receive his documentation. And Misaeng has prepared some odd thing for the upcoming rite, which he demonstrates to Seori on a small scale. Pouring water into a cup of dry beans, and the beans expanding and making whatever is on top of the beans look like it's levitating. Seori is very impressed (but then again, she doesn't get out much).
Evening: Misaeng brings the documentation to Mishil. She studies it and sets the day for the Rite: four days from today. Now Deokman has arrived, for the first book-reading. Daenambo escorts her to a room to wait. Odd room: lots of paper hanging on the walls; drawing-tools and a half-finished drawing. Looks like Mishil has a drawing hobby and this is literally the drawing room (although it's awfully dark for that). Mishil enters, sits in front of the unfinished drawing, and plops Greek book in front of Deokman. "Read to me." Deokman reads while Mishil draws (and she draws very well; nice depiction of a tiger). A story about a king who gets called a tyrant. At one point it prompts Mishil to stop drawing and ask Deokman, "And what do the people call me?" Undoubtedly suppressing the urge to rattle off a few choice names, Deokman answers with admirable frankness, "They find you terrifying, my lady." But then cleverly mentions the memorial tablets of Sadaham and Chilsuk. "I think you must have a rare quality," she tells Mishil, "to inspire such sacrifice and loyalty." What a great line--on so many levels. But then she starts pushing, with questions about Chilsuk--what was he doing that was so important to you? Surprisingly, Mishil answers: "In a way, I was scared of the stars." Even mentions the eighth star in the Big Dipper. But as for her being a tyrant, well, Mishil asks rhetorically, Are the people suffering, or is the country in peril? They suffer every day, Deokman says. Yes, Mishil says, life is not easy, but it's been that way for a thousand years. And in another thousand years it will be that way too. "It's the lot of the people," Mishil says with detachment. So why shouldn't a king listen to his people and try to help them? Mishil dismisses the very idea: "Do this, do that, do every little thing, and there would be no end to it. He could never satiate people's relentless greed." Now there's an insight into her mind. "And the ignorant masses dare to call ME evil." Does that bother you?, Deokman asks. Mishil laughs out loud. "Do you know that on the streets people say that I eat babies?" Deokman's silence suggests she has. Well, guess who started all that, Mishil says: I did! "Which do you think is more useful--to have the people fear me, or not?" The question hangs in the air as they look at each other. A strange scene, that Mishil would be so talkative with this Hwarang trainee.
Ho Jae is giving instructions to the elite Hwarang. The Rite will last for a week. Until it starts, no alcohol and no women. And take baths. (With no women.) When it starts, fast during daylight. Mishil and Cheonmyeong are there too. The princess wants to participate in the Rite; tells Mishil it's to help ease the burden on her, which Mishil won't buy for a minute, of course. "It's time I learned the rituals and help you, don't you think?" But surprisingly, Mishil okays it. And okays Yushin's presence along with Bojong's as ceremonial guards at the Rite. The princess is getting into deep water here and doesn't seem to know, or at least doesn't care. The two women then leave...and no sooner they're out the door then the jealous barbs start flying at Yushin from the other elite Hwarang. But then they leave, all except Alcheon, who's surprisingly supportive and friendly to Yushin. Seems this guy is turning in Yushin's favor. He warns Yushin that it's a tough job, having to stay alert and not eat or even move for half a day. And there are ritual questions to be answered; get them wrong and "Hwarang history will record you as a disgrace." Wow. But he's confident that Yushin can handle it, and Yushin is calm about it as well. Then Bojong returns and tells Yushin that Mishil has summoned him.
A little small talk about the Rite, a mention of Gayans having been seen as threats to Shillan nobles' interests, and then: "Yushin, it's time to think about your future." Yikes--that coming from her...."I'm not too bright," Yushin says tactfully; "I don't follow you." Here's some friendly advice, Mishil says: "Don't make me your enemy." Then: "How would you like to serve me?" She searches his face for a reaction. "My lady, I'm ignorant and have so little to offer. You honor me." Good answer, Mishil likes it..."But there's only one way I could possibly serve you." And that is? "Kill me and enslave my corpse." Yow-wee! Complains about her treatment of his father and the princess. Mishil asks him, can't you see what's in your best interests? "Again, I'm not too bright, and I'm a little stubborn. So pardon me if I think what's best is doing what's right." She should be more insulted by the brushoff, but she looks almost impressed by his audacity. He stands to leave, and then ..adds "Don't threaten my father or the princess again." Yeah, dude, you certainly are not too bright. And then "A little friendly advice. Don't make me your enemy." SERIOUSLY? The guy has a death wish. Unfazed, she calmly tells him, "However strong a man may be, he's not stronger than the voice of the people." She looks at him with her evil smile, as she paints some characters on a piece of paper. "For that you need a little help from heaven." Yushin leaves and an angry Bojong enters--apparently he was listening to it all--and is furious at Yushin's disrespect. Let it go, Mishil tells him. "He wasn't scared; not even a little. And that's a first." She was indeed impressed. She's been very impressed by both Yushin and Deokman. "Maybe Cheonmyeong does have the mandate of heaven after all."
The DFers think they're going to get a respite from training while Yushin is stuck at that shrine all day. Giddiness all around.
Yushin tells Deokman about his appointment. He'll be able to look around inside the shrine; a great opportunity. Look for hidden rooms, Deokman reminds him.
It's four days later, and we're inside the chapel watching the rite take place. Lots of praying, candle-lighting, other stuff. Mishil and Cheonmyeong are leading it, dressed in white; Bojong and Yushin are also there, and so are other female priests.
Evening: Ritual over for the day, Deokman arrives to read some more Greek to Mishil. Mishil is burning incense; helps purify her body and mind, she says. And then out of nowhere: "Take off your clothes." YIKES! Is this it--is it all going down now? "Pardon me?" Mishil laughs. Nope. "I must be getting old," she says with a smile. "Time was when any man would give his life to have me." She sits down at her drawing, and Deokman begins to read....
Yushin reports back to Cheonmyeong; he didn't see anything unusual that day. It's only day one, though. But suddenly Yushin seems weirdly, completely distracted by some incense burning in the princess' room. What's with that?
Day two of the rite. Carrying a symbolic bowl down a corridor, Yushin spots something along a side wall that intrigues him. Looks almost like a fancy doorknob, but where there's no door.
Evening, and Deokman's back reading again. A story about a king lacking virtue and not having heaven's mandate. "That's not true," Mishil says with a laugh; "It's got nothing to do with virtue or a lack of it." All of your prophecies come true, Deokman says; if that's not heaven's mandate, then what is it? A bold question; how much of this does Deokman think she can get away with? Apparently plenty, because Mishil turns and looks at her with a smile. "I'm going to share a secret with you. Can you keep it?" If you tell anyone...I'll keep it, Deokman assures her. Mishil leans over, and Deokman leans in: "The truth is...there is no such thing as a mandate of heaven." Deokman looks disappointed, which disappoints Mishil. It's a big secret and it's true, she says; "Heaven cares nothing for humanity. No one knows the future. But if something happens tomorrow...it will be Mishil's will. Not heaven's."
Day three of the ritual, and Mishil has something to say: "The mandate of heaven will be revealed at the well in Dongsi Market." Really? At sunset. Seori, standing nearby, shows a glimmer of understanding (possibly thinking about Misaeng's demonstration from a few days ago).
Now we're at the well. A lot of townspeople are there, and Mishil and everyone else from the Rite arrives. Suddenly there are several small explosions in the ground around the well, which sends everyone to their knees in prayer. And out of the ground rises a statue--Yeah, this is exactly like what Misaeng was demonstrating on a smaller scale, except we're surprised to see the thing come out of the ground and not the well. On the statue is an inscription: "Expel Ag-Ay." Now, those characters we had seen Mishil write on paper when she was talking to Yushin, those characters were Ag-Ay. Yushin is standing there dumbfounded by this, and Mishil can barely keep from laughing at the thought of what this is doing to Yushin's head. But what's an Ag-Ay?
Mishil has gone back to the king and reported this "revelation." I don't know what an Ag-Ay is, she says; I'm just the messenger. "But I have an idea," she says.
Talking to his father, Yushin says he thinks he knows. "Ag-Ay" is us, Yushin tells his him. "It refers to Gaya's strength."
Basically, Mishil tells the king, Ag-Ay is an anagram, and we have to expel Gaya. Specifically, there's a village of Gayans near the capital and they have to be removed to exactly 35 miles away. Or else? "I only say what heaven reveals to me," Mishil says. But "within three days the moon will grow dark" and in 24 days there will be a terrible famine across all of the countryside within 35 miles of the capital. That's what heaven told me, she says.
Word has gotten out and the townspeople are understandably restless. They wonder if there will really be a lunar eclipse within three days.
Mishil's cabal wants to know if she's positive about the eclipse timing--if she's wrong it's going to be trouble. She ain't wrong, we know that much.
Evening: A couple of the Green Dragon Hwarang who we've seen before walk into the DFers' home with news of the upcoming eclipse. This is big news...but not to Deokman. "You guys aren't too bright, but eclipses happen at specific times. Anyone can predict them using the proper calculations. They don't happen on command."
Yushin is outside looking at the moon and worrying about the Gayans' welfare. Don't worry, Deokman tells him; she seems oddly confident that no eclipse is imminent. (Wonder if she still has that almanac; wonder if she's been reading it; wonder if she doesn't know you have to adjust for location.) An eclipse has nothing to do with heaven's mandate, she says. That irritates Yushin a little: You don't believe in heaven's mandate--"Or do you just refuse to accept it?" She backs off a little, but still insists no eclipse. Yushin sees doubt in her face, though...and yes, Deokman is worried. If there is an eclipse, well, "how can we fight someone who has that kind of power?" Even if it's a hoax somehow, if it happens, "I'll probably run away in terror."
Hey, look--it's an eclipse. Or at least we see a dark circle pass in front of the moon, moving so rapidly that we can see it move. (A lunar eclipse looks nothing like what we're seeing here--gotta love TV.) Everybody's looking up at it, lost in their thoughts, wondering if Mishil really does have some sort of divine power.
Evening reading time again. Deokman enters; Mishil is coloring her drawing. Deokman is too rattled by the eclipse to read. Mishil, almost disinterested, asks how the people are reacting. Angry? Frightened? "I can't speak for others," Deokman says, "but I'm terrified." Mishil turns around and looks at her with a smile. "Of what? An eclipse? The will of heaven?" No, Deokman says; "the will of a person who can cause a lunar eclipse." Mishil asks, So now do you know what Sadaham's Plum Blossom is? Not really...but she follows up with, "Have you reported to Cheonmyeong yet?" Deokman is speechless. "You thought I didn't know you're spying for the princess?" Deokman's eyes widen and like she can't believe she's busted. (Really? Why would Mishil think anything else? I don't know how Deokman can possibly be surprised by this. Ugh.)
An angry Cheonmyeong is at the royal shrine, kneeling and angry. "Does Mishil really have the mandate of heaven? Then what did it mean when the twin stars appeared in the Big Dipper?" She's shaking and scared and frustrated as well as angry.
"Sadaham's Plum Blossom is an almanac." Surprisingly, Mishil said it. To Deokman. Just like that. "The most accurate almanac in the world." That's what you wanted to know, right? "Run and tell your little princess. But now that you know, what good will it do you?" Deokman is shaking again and too scared to talk. "For years I've plotted, planned, sacrificed. Tonight I even created a lunar eclipse....Heaven bends to MY will. It holds no terror for me. I rule others. No one rules ME." And then, maybe unnecessarily, "What are you to me? What do you think you can do? I am Mishil. Go and tell the world!"
As Deokman's hands tremble in Mishil's drawing room, Cheonmyeong's hands tremble as she kneels in the shrine. But then a hand reaches out and grasps Cheonmyeong's hand. "What is it? Are you scared?" It's Sohwa!
"Afraid?" Mishil has grasped Deokman's trembling hands. "There are two ways to deal with fear." She's enjoying twisting Deokman's mind around her finger, we can see that. "Run away--or face it."
Two of Seori's subordinates have found Sohwa wandering in the capital. She still looks dazed and traumatized; obviously she wanted to run away but apparently had no further train of thought. Seori tells the subordinates to escort her back to the temple. Then Chilsuk shows up; Seori reassures him and they all head back. Deokman follows them from a distance and arrives at the shrine just after they go inside, but she's chased away by another female priest before she can see or hear anything. Not a place for a trainee, she's told.
Later, alone, Deokman again holds Jinheung's dagger and the rendering of her mom, and is so confused and frustrated by the whole thing that she starts to cry.
Next morning: Deokman goes to see Cheonmyeong. "I wonder if just once we could talk like we used to." Okay, the princess says; what's up? Deokman tells her that Chilsuk is alive--the princess doesn't know much about him, only that he has a memorial tablet in the chapel and had disappeared on a mission for Mishil--and then reveals that Mishil's mission was to track her down. Why? Deokman doesn't know but hopes the answer will tell her who she is. He was after a baby and a palace maid, Deokman knows that much...and she shows Cheonmyeong the rendering of her mother. "She died saving me from Chilsuk." And now she needs the explanation--"I want to hear it from Mishil herself." So, she asks the princess a favor: Go to the shrine and see if Chilsuk is staying there. Men aren't supposed to be allowed there, we learn, so is there some sort of secret area where they're keeping him? Good deduction by Deokman. Cheonmyeong says she'll do it. Then the princess notices Jinheung's dagger. "This is yours? It's lovely."
"A rite of heaven?" The king has been paid a visit by Seori, who babbles some astrological nonsense and says that it's an omen for Shilla of a coming plague. "We must perform a sacred rite to appease the heavens." And Mishil must preside over it; it's her job as Priestess of the Sacred Rites. Go ahead, Jinpyeong says.
Word of the rite has hit the streets, and people don't like it. Things have been going well, they say, but doing one of these rites always stirs up trouble of one sort or another.
Cheonmyeong doesn't like the news, either, and talks to her mother and her aunt about it. Jinheung used to have one every year, we learn, but "Mishil tends to do it whenever it suits her" and there hasn't been one for years. Is she planning something? "During the ceremony," Maya adds, "she can claim that the heavens spoke to her." Manmyeong adds, "The Rite of Heaven has become synonymous with terror." Well isn't that special. "What will she pull this time?"
Seolwon, Hajong and Bojong are speculating about the ceremony too. As usual, Hajong is prodding for the scoop and thinks Seolwon has to have it. "What's heaven going to tell her this time?" Seolwon accuses him of blasphemy for implying that her revelations aren't legitimate. Hajong laughs it off; says he wasn't being serious (but of course he was).
Kim Yongchun, Eulje and Seohyeon are also speculating, and we learn a couple of interesting tidbits: previous Rites of Heaven enabled Mishil to confiscate lands from Kim Mulyuk (the Gayan general, Seohyeon's father) for the government to take, and also to promote Sejong! "She'll use the rite to demand something ridiculous," Yongchun is certain. These things are done under threat of disaster...but Eulje points out that Mishil's predictions are always on the mark. "Drought, flood, fires...she's always been right." Whether or not she actually is communicating with the heavens--and they just don't know--the important thing is that the people believe she is.
Wolchun has finished. The Chinese almanac, recalibrated for Shilla across twelve years of lunar cycles. "On the 27th day of the current cycle," he says, "the points will intersect." Accurate to within 28 hours. Not sure what points these are--an eclipse, maybe--but a grateful Misaeng and Seori receive his documentation. And Misaeng has prepared some odd thing for the upcoming rite, which he demonstrates to Seori on a small scale. Pouring water into a cup of dry beans, and the beans expanding and making whatever is on top of the beans look like it's levitating. Seori is very impressed (but then again, she doesn't get out much).
Evening: Misaeng brings the documentation to Mishil. She studies it and sets the day for the Rite: four days from today. Now Deokman has arrived, for the first book-reading. Daenambo escorts her to a room to wait. Odd room: lots of paper hanging on the walls; drawing-tools and a half-finished drawing. Looks like Mishil has a drawing hobby and this is literally the drawing room (although it's awfully dark for that). Mishil enters, sits in front of the unfinished drawing, and plops Greek book in front of Deokman. "Read to me." Deokman reads while Mishil draws (and she draws very well; nice depiction of a tiger). A story about a king who gets called a tyrant. At one point it prompts Mishil to stop drawing and ask Deokman, "And what do the people call me?" Undoubtedly suppressing the urge to rattle off a few choice names, Deokman answers with admirable frankness, "They find you terrifying, my lady." But then cleverly mentions the memorial tablets of Sadaham and Chilsuk. "I think you must have a rare quality," she tells Mishil, "to inspire such sacrifice and loyalty." What a great line--on so many levels. But then she starts pushing, with questions about Chilsuk--what was he doing that was so important to you? Surprisingly, Mishil answers: "In a way, I was scared of the stars." Even mentions the eighth star in the Big Dipper. But as for her being a tyrant, well, Mishil asks rhetorically, Are the people suffering, or is the country in peril? They suffer every day, Deokman says. Yes, Mishil says, life is not easy, but it's been that way for a thousand years. And in another thousand years it will be that way too. "It's the lot of the people," Mishil says with detachment. So why shouldn't a king listen to his people and try to help them? Mishil dismisses the very idea: "Do this, do that, do every little thing, and there would be no end to it. He could never satiate people's relentless greed." Now there's an insight into her mind. "And the ignorant masses dare to call ME evil." Does that bother you?, Deokman asks. Mishil laughs out loud. "Do you know that on the streets people say that I eat babies?" Deokman's silence suggests she has. Well, guess who started all that, Mishil says: I did! "Which do you think is more useful--to have the people fear me, or not?" The question hangs in the air as they look at each other. A strange scene, that Mishil would be so talkative with this Hwarang trainee.
Ho Jae is giving instructions to the elite Hwarang. The Rite will last for a week. Until it starts, no alcohol and no women. And take baths. (With no women.) When it starts, fast during daylight. Mishil and Cheonmyeong are there too. The princess wants to participate in the Rite; tells Mishil it's to help ease the burden on her, which Mishil won't buy for a minute, of course. "It's time I learned the rituals and help you, don't you think?" But surprisingly, Mishil okays it. And okays Yushin's presence along with Bojong's as ceremonial guards at the Rite. The princess is getting into deep water here and doesn't seem to know, or at least doesn't care. The two women then leave...and no sooner they're out the door then the jealous barbs start flying at Yushin from the other elite Hwarang. But then they leave, all except Alcheon, who's surprisingly supportive and friendly to Yushin. Seems this guy is turning in Yushin's favor. He warns Yushin that it's a tough job, having to stay alert and not eat or even move for half a day. And there are ritual questions to be answered; get them wrong and "Hwarang history will record you as a disgrace." Wow. But he's confident that Yushin can handle it, and Yushin is calm about it as well. Then Bojong returns and tells Yushin that Mishil has summoned him.
A little small talk about the Rite, a mention of Gayans having been seen as threats to Shillan nobles' interests, and then: "Yushin, it's time to think about your future." Yikes--that coming from her...."I'm not too bright," Yushin says tactfully; "I don't follow you." Here's some friendly advice, Mishil says: "Don't make me your enemy." Then: "How would you like to serve me?" She searches his face for a reaction. "My lady, I'm ignorant and have so little to offer. You honor me." Good answer, Mishil likes it..."But there's only one way I could possibly serve you." And that is? "Kill me and enslave my corpse." Yow-wee! Complains about her treatment of his father and the princess. Mishil asks him, can't you see what's in your best interests? "Again, I'm not too bright, and I'm a little stubborn. So pardon me if I think what's best is doing what's right." She should be more insulted by the brushoff, but she looks almost impressed by his audacity. He stands to leave, and then ..adds "Don't threaten my father or the princess again." Yeah, dude, you certainly are not too bright. And then "A little friendly advice. Don't make me your enemy." SERIOUSLY? The guy has a death wish. Unfazed, she calmly tells him, "However strong a man may be, he's not stronger than the voice of the people." She looks at him with her evil smile, as she paints some characters on a piece of paper. "For that you need a little help from heaven." Yushin leaves and an angry Bojong enters--apparently he was listening to it all--and is furious at Yushin's disrespect. Let it go, Mishil tells him. "He wasn't scared; not even a little. And that's a first." She was indeed impressed. She's been very impressed by both Yushin and Deokman. "Maybe Cheonmyeong does have the mandate of heaven after all."
The DFers think they're going to get a respite from training while Yushin is stuck at that shrine all day. Giddiness all around.
Yushin tells Deokman about his appointment. He'll be able to look around inside the shrine; a great opportunity. Look for hidden rooms, Deokman reminds him.
It's four days later, and we're inside the chapel watching the rite take place. Lots of praying, candle-lighting, other stuff. Mishil and Cheonmyeong are leading it, dressed in white; Bojong and Yushin are also there, and so are other female priests.
Evening: Ritual over for the day, Deokman arrives to read some more Greek to Mishil. Mishil is burning incense; helps purify her body and mind, she says. And then out of nowhere: "Take off your clothes." YIKES! Is this it--is it all going down now? "Pardon me?" Mishil laughs. Nope. "I must be getting old," she says with a smile. "Time was when any man would give his life to have me." She sits down at her drawing, and Deokman begins to read....
Yushin reports back to Cheonmyeong; he didn't see anything unusual that day. It's only day one, though. But suddenly Yushin seems weirdly, completely distracted by some incense burning in the princess' room. What's with that?
Day two of the rite. Carrying a symbolic bowl down a corridor, Yushin spots something along a side wall that intrigues him. Looks almost like a fancy doorknob, but where there's no door.
Evening, and Deokman's back reading again. A story about a king lacking virtue and not having heaven's mandate. "That's not true," Mishil says with a laugh; "It's got nothing to do with virtue or a lack of it." All of your prophecies come true, Deokman says; if that's not heaven's mandate, then what is it? A bold question; how much of this does Deokman think she can get away with? Apparently plenty, because Mishil turns and looks at her with a smile. "I'm going to share a secret with you. Can you keep it?" If you tell anyone...I'll keep it, Deokman assures her. Mishil leans over, and Deokman leans in: "The truth is...there is no such thing as a mandate of heaven." Deokman looks disappointed, which disappoints Mishil. It's a big secret and it's true, she says; "Heaven cares nothing for humanity. No one knows the future. But if something happens tomorrow...it will be Mishil's will. Not heaven's."
Day three of the ritual, and Mishil has something to say: "The mandate of heaven will be revealed at the well in Dongsi Market." Really? At sunset. Seori, standing nearby, shows a glimmer of understanding (possibly thinking about Misaeng's demonstration from a few days ago).
Now we're at the well. A lot of townspeople are there, and Mishil and everyone else from the Rite arrives. Suddenly there are several small explosions in the ground around the well, which sends everyone to their knees in prayer. And out of the ground rises a statue--Yeah, this is exactly like what Misaeng was demonstrating on a smaller scale, except we're surprised to see the thing come out of the ground and not the well. On the statue is an inscription: "Expel Ag-Ay." Now, those characters we had seen Mishil write on paper when she was talking to Yushin, those characters were Ag-Ay. Yushin is standing there dumbfounded by this, and Mishil can barely keep from laughing at the thought of what this is doing to Yushin's head. But what's an Ag-Ay?
Mishil has gone back to the king and reported this "revelation." I don't know what an Ag-Ay is, she says; I'm just the messenger. "But I have an idea," she says.
Talking to his father, Yushin says he thinks he knows. "Ag-Ay" is us, Yushin tells his him. "It refers to Gaya's strength."
Basically, Mishil tells the king, Ag-Ay is an anagram, and we have to expel Gaya. Specifically, there's a village of Gayans near the capital and they have to be removed to exactly 35 miles away. Or else? "I only say what heaven reveals to me," Mishil says. But "within three days the moon will grow dark" and in 24 days there will be a terrible famine across all of the countryside within 35 miles of the capital. That's what heaven told me, she says.
Word has gotten out and the townspeople are understandably restless. They wonder if there will really be a lunar eclipse within three days.
Mishil's cabal wants to know if she's positive about the eclipse timing--if she's wrong it's going to be trouble. She ain't wrong, we know that much.
Evening: A couple of the Green Dragon Hwarang who we've seen before walk into the DFers' home with news of the upcoming eclipse. This is big news...but not to Deokman. "You guys aren't too bright, but eclipses happen at specific times. Anyone can predict them using the proper calculations. They don't happen on command."
Yushin is outside looking at the moon and worrying about the Gayans' welfare. Don't worry, Deokman tells him; she seems oddly confident that no eclipse is imminent. (Wonder if she still has that almanac; wonder if she's been reading it; wonder if she doesn't know you have to adjust for location.) An eclipse has nothing to do with heaven's mandate, she says. That irritates Yushin a little: You don't believe in heaven's mandate--"Or do you just refuse to accept it?" She backs off a little, but still insists no eclipse. Yushin sees doubt in her face, though...and yes, Deokman is worried. If there is an eclipse, well, "how can we fight someone who has that kind of power?" Even if it's a hoax somehow, if it happens, "I'll probably run away in terror."
Hey, look--it's an eclipse. Or at least we see a dark circle pass in front of the moon, moving so rapidly that we can see it move. (A lunar eclipse looks nothing like what we're seeing here--gotta love TV.) Everybody's looking up at it, lost in their thoughts, wondering if Mishil really does have some sort of divine power.
Evening reading time again. Deokman enters; Mishil is coloring her drawing. Deokman is too rattled by the eclipse to read. Mishil, almost disinterested, asks how the people are reacting. Angry? Frightened? "I can't speak for others," Deokman says, "but I'm terrified." Mishil turns around and looks at her with a smile. "Of what? An eclipse? The will of heaven?" No, Deokman says; "the will of a person who can cause a lunar eclipse." Mishil asks, So now do you know what Sadaham's Plum Blossom is? Not really...but she follows up with, "Have you reported to Cheonmyeong yet?" Deokman is speechless. "You thought I didn't know you're spying for the princess?" Deokman's eyes widen and like she can't believe she's busted. (Really? Why would Mishil think anything else? I don't know how Deokman can possibly be surprised by this. Ugh.)
An angry Cheonmyeong is at the royal shrine, kneeling and angry. "Does Mishil really have the mandate of heaven? Then what did it mean when the twin stars appeared in the Big Dipper?" She's shaking and scared and frustrated as well as angry.
"Sadaham's Plum Blossom is an almanac." Surprisingly, Mishil said it. To Deokman. Just like that. "The most accurate almanac in the world." That's what you wanted to know, right? "Run and tell your little princess. But now that you know, what good will it do you?" Deokman is shaking again and too scared to talk. "For years I've plotted, planned, sacrificed. Tonight I even created a lunar eclipse....Heaven bends to MY will. It holds no terror for me. I rule others. No one rules ME." And then, maybe unnecessarily, "What are you to me? What do you think you can do? I am Mishil. Go and tell the world!"
As Deokman's hands tremble in Mishil's drawing room, Cheonmyeong's hands tremble as she kneels in the shrine. But then a hand reaches out and grasps Cheonmyeong's hand. "What is it? Are you scared?" It's Sohwa!
"Afraid?" Mishil has grasped Deokman's trembling hands. "There are two ways to deal with fear." She's enjoying twisting Deokman's mind around her finger, we can see that. "Run away--or face it."