Post by ajk on Oct 26, 2012 23:41:28 GMT -5
No, Deokman, she's not a ghost. Deokman stares at Sohwa, they run to each other and cry in each other's arms, but all the while Deokman looks understandably baffled by the whole thing. "I thought you died in the desert," she says through her tears. But Sohwa is smiling, like she's proud of her having survived and making it back to be reunited. Which she should be; she endured an awful lot. Then in the distance, we see Dukchung and Bakui come running up to the edge of the grounds--close enough to see the happy reunion and think they're in big trouble for letting Sohwa get away from them. Then Chilsuk runs into the picture. And then Munno, who realizes that this really is the lost princess standing there.
Evening, back home: They've dried their tears and are all smiles now. Deokman wants to hear the whole story of Sohwa's survival, but Sohwa just wants to dote over her daughter. She does tell the story about Chilsuk pulling her out of the sandhole, which is something Deokman wouldn't have expected from him.
Next morning: Now Sohwa is with the king and queen, who know that she was held captive by Mishil. Deokman doesn't know this and Sohwa wants to keep it that way. Why? She's worried about how Deokman would react and what she'd do. And feels that Deokman has been through enough already, including the burden of having to care for her through her own illnesses. "Truth is, she looked after me." They seem okay with that; Maya mainly just wants to praise Sohwa for raising such an impressive young woman...and the king simply thanks her over and over again.
"The princess saw Sohwa?" Uh-oh, Mishil's not happy...Bojong has just started to hell her about Munno showing up out of nowhere. Then Chilsuk comes in and confirms it: "Munno's back." Mishil looks very concerned. But why should she be? What's it to her?
That evening: Deokman wants to her mom to sleep with her just like in the desert. Sohwa won't allow it, though, because she's a servant after all. She tells Deokman about Munno coming to her aid today, which should get much more of a reaction from Deokman that it does (the writing staff blew this one).
"Deokman altered the lost prophecy to become princess?" Munno is hearing the whole story from Bidam. He's clearly impressed...right up until the point about Deokman intending to take the throne someday. "Did she mean as princess she'd help her husband take the throne?" Nope, "she said she'd rule as a fair and just queen." Which Bidam doesn't give a second thought to, but the older (and less weird) Munno seems to react as though it's almost inconceivable.
Mishil and Seolwon conclude that Bidam is Munno's student. So Mishil concludes that Munno may well be watching Deokman. "This is serious," she says. "If Munno returns to the Hwarang, we'll have bigger problems than that observatory." Hojae's time as Hwarang Pungwolju (Grand Marshal) is nearly up, we learn, and someone else needs to be named. Bojong, we learn, is his direct subordinate, so of course they want to get him the job. And Seolwon suggests bringing Chilsuk into the Hwarang administration as well, to help turn the Hwarang to their side.
Chilsuk, well, we see him alone this evening, pondering the sight of Sohwa running from him in panic at the observatory site. Bojong arrives with word that Mishil wants to see him....
Mishil assures Chilsuk that Sohwa will be safe in the palace and that the king won't harm her (remember, that's the lie she foisted on him) with Deokman around. But then adds, "I doubt that the two of you are meant to be." Ouch. And adds that Deokman "likely won't think well of you, so I worry about your future." She offers to make him master of martial arts training for the Hwarang. "The princess couldn't touch you," she adds. Chilsuk mumbles that he'll think about it--this Sohwa thing seems to have taken most of the fight out of him--but Mishil presses, mentioning Munno's name and asking Chilsuk, "Does he have something you don't?" I want you to be his equal if he ever should come back. An obvious poke in the ribs to motivate him, but again he only mumbles that he'll consider it. He leaves and heads into the nighttime, whispering Sohwa's name.
Deokman and Sohwa did end up sleeping together, at first, but now Sohwa gets up to leave her sleeping daughter and spend the rest of the night in the servants' quarters. She goes outside and makes the turn...and there's Chilsuk standing there. She acknowledges him...but then runs away from him again. She reaches the next courtyard, but then looks back with a twinge of regret, remembering what we saw in Episode 15 about how he offered to try to find some quiet place where they could try to live peacefully together. And he did pull her out of that sandhole, of course. Having second thoughts, the end, she runs back to where she was...but too late, she just missed him and he's gone now.
He went back to Mishil. I'll do it, he tells her. Mishil is a lot happier about it than he is. He leaves her, and wonders to himself, "Is serving Mishil all I have left?" He turns to head home...but now here's Sohwa; she's caught up with him after all. The two of them stand there, trying to talk; it's awkward, as you can imagine. Sohwa says she was shocked and scared at seeing him, but gives him credit: "You saved me and brought me here so I could see my princess again." And thanks him for that, sincerely and humbly. But now? Sohwa, a servant of the royal house, and Chilsuk, as he puts it, "a servant of Mishil." Sohwa could blow this all wide open by telling him that Mishil took her captive; wouldn't it make sense to do it? For whatever reason, she doesn't. They just sort of stare into the reflecting pool together.
So they're going to have a big investiture ceremony for Chilsuk at the Hwarang ground. We see the preparations being made...including an empty chair of honor for Munno. It's always put there, as a gesture of respect. Even still now, after all this time, despite the fact that he never shows up. But what's that commotion outside the closed front gate? Jukbang and Godo and a few other Hwarang are trying to chase away some "old guy" who thinks he's going to attend. And hassling him, disrespectfully. Which may not be very wise, because the "old guy" is Munno! They're really giving it to him good, and he's being remarkably patient about it (Why doesn't he just tell them who he is?). Inside, Ho Jae is told of the commotion and Seokpum says he'll see to it. But no need; suddenly the door is blasted open by the force of Jukbang and Godo being simultaneously thrown against it! They crash to the ground, dazed, and everybody inside turns and looks in amazement.
"What Chilsuk and I did, we did for Shilla." Mishil is formally introducing a less-than-receptive Deokman to Chilsuk, who glares and snaps at him. But she accepts Mishil's decision to appoint Chilsuk to the Hwarang position, telling him, "Teach them the skill and persistence you used in finding me." Which is a very good choice of words; a valid instruction and a politically wise one, as the smile on Mishil's face proves. But then Bojong enters with news about some sort of trouble at the Hwarang ground....
Hwarang are going flying in all directions as they try to keep Munno out of the grounds. Without breaking a sweat he dispatches some and literally steps on the others to get past them. He calmly walks up to Ho Jae, who doesn't recognize him and tells all of the other Hwarang present to take him out. It's at least two dozen Hwarang, all wielding swords. But from the way they line up and charge him in organized pairs we just know it's gonna be another one of those absurdly silly fight sequences. And it is. He knocks down the first group, and now all of the rest of the Hwarang present join in, and now Munno's surrounded by at least three dozen, including the elites. Munno has no weapon but he's beating the crap out of all of them....
Outside the re-closed front gate, Yushin arrives, followed closely by Deokman, Mishil and Chilsuk. The gates are opened--to reveal the bizarre image of every Hwarang inside lying on the ground, thoroughly whupped, and Munno standing there staring into the distance like he's thinking about what to eat for lunch, ho-hum. Okay, so this must be why he didn't give his name. Makes for a striking image, no denying it. He turns, and stares at Mishil...(this is a great place for a punch line! But no such luck). Deokman sees him and remembers him as the healer from Yangji Village in Episode 21...Yushin recognizes him too, but neither of them knows his name. Bakui whispers to Mishil that this is "the guy who got in the way when we were after Sohwa." Apparently Mishil and Chilsuk are the only ones who recognize him. Mishil slowly approaches him. "How long has it been?" No answer. "Too long, I would say--Geoksun." Doink! The magic word, and now everybody else's eyes widen. "Yes," Munno says, with a very slight nod of acknowledgement; "far too long, Mishil." He continues: "I was just passing by when I heard there's to be a new Hwarang master." And he points to his empty seat, like he's about to occupy it.
Ceremony over (We never got to see it. We never see any of those things!), Mishil has invited Munno to her home. She's smiling at him but wants to know what he's up to. She talks briefly about their organizing the Hwarang together as ordered by King Jinheung, and his help in deposing King Jinji (His help? He simply declined to get involved, as far as we know. Is there more than that?), "and your marriage to my cousin that gave you noble status." Now there's a piece of news! And Munno's response drops another one on us: "Thanks to you a son of a Gaya princess entered the Shilla nobility." Gayan?! How about that. Mishil is upset with him for helping the king conceal the birth of twins. And now he shows up again, just as the lost princess has emerged. Understandably, she smells a rat, even if there isn't one.
The DFers are all realizing that the "old guy" was Munno. They talk about his reputation and accomplishments. And the news that he's meeting with Mishil, well, Jukbang is very interested in this. Strange...this isn't the first time he's reacted strongly to something to do with Mishil. What don't we know about this guy yet? Something's still hidden....
"The marriage you arranged for me with Lady Yun made the great Kochilbu my father-in-law. He was my mentor in many ways." As a younger Hwarang, Munno tells Mishil, "he cautioned me against crossing you." "He would have," Mishil answers; "we always did see eye-to-eye." Well how about this for a coincidence: "The day the twins were born, Kochilbu died." Mishil stares at him: "Is that an accusation?" "Not at all," Munno says, although his carefree expression and nonchalant tone make it sound like a statement of fact! "I'm just explaining how certain events left me concerned and weary," he says, which is why he decided to leave the palace. But he says he's had enough of the nomadic life, and now, well: "I plan to oversee the Pungwolju competition." Competition? Didn't Mishil intend to simply hand the job to Bojong?
Sohwa tells Deokman about her decision to ditch Munno in Hangzhou and raise Deokman on her own, mindful of the king's order to her. Then she asks Deokman about that guy who's Munno's student: "Is his name Bidam, maybe?" Yes, why? Sohwa's eyes widen. She must know. She tells Deokman it's nothing important...but she flashes back to the scene we saw in flashback in Episode 25, of little Bidam toddling up and looking at the infant Deokman. But now here's a little more of that sequence that we haven't seen: Munno telling Bidam, "Someday this princess will be your bride." He explains to a surprised Sohwa that "Fate has given me the child that will confront Mishil, and Mishil's own son. The girl will be a just queen; King Jinji's boy will be by her side." He adds that after Mishil abandoned the baby, Jinji placed it in his care. "It's their destiny," he says, looking down at them....So Sohwa does know. And this explains why she took off rather than get the young Deokman involved in any sort of dangerous confrontation with Mishil. She looks at Deokman again and asks about what kind of person Bidam is. Why is she asking? "He's just kind of strange. Odd." (Gee, ya think?)
A concerned Mishil tells Seolwon about the competition Munno wants to hold, but Seolwon sees merit in the idea. Seolwon is completely confident that Bojong will win anyway, and Munno's overseeing the competition will completely legitimize the result. So it will work out even better this way. (What would make him so confident? Surely he remembers Bojong getting taken apart by Yushin in 13 seconds up in Iseo Province (Episode 23). Does he think it was dumb luck?)
Later, Mishil tells Munno she's completely on board with his overseeing the competition. "You know I'll be completely impartial," he tells her, and of course she knows that. He leaves, and then Seolwon enters; he apparently was eavesdropping. "Why didn't you ask him about Hyungjong?" (Who?) "Jinji placed the boy in Munno's safekeeping," Seolwon reminds her, which she undoubtedly didn't need to be reminded of. (So that's who.) "I don't bother with regrets," she says rather offhandedly. Seolwon suggests having Bidam watched; clearly he has at least a suspicion that Bidam and Hyungjong may be one and the same. Mishil has probably suspected it too, but she tells him not to bother; just go ahead with the competition. But the far-away look in her eyes suggests she's not just brushing this off like she says she is.
A poster announcing the competition to select the 15th Pungwolju (Grand Marshal) is posted for the Hwarang to read. It will begin in three days; there will be three events. The events aren't named on the poster. Seokpum says it's all a formality--"Isn't it obvious? Has Bojong EVER lost?" (Dude, you were in Iseo, too; you saw it)--but Alcheon points out that Yushin is the one among them who has never formally fought Bojong. Bojong turns and glares at Yushin. "Make it to the final round, so I can see what you've got." (Has EVERYBODY forgotten!?) "Count on it," a steely-eyed Yushin answers.
Later, some of the Hwarang bicker about who's going to win...which leads to some pretty weak trash-talking...which leads to some pretty weak pushing and shoving.
Well now Deokman gets to talk to Munno at last. Tells him she crossed the desert and came out of China looking for him. "I thought you were maybe my father." Which he isn't, but she says she feels something paternal in meeting him now. Then Munno asks her point-blank about usurping Mishil's position by falsifying the lost prophecy, and planning "to give the heavens back to the people." Suddenly she's silent and reserved, like a kid expecting a teaching moment from an elder. "What is a ruler, do you think?", Munno asks her rhetorically; "What should a ruler do?" He says he understands her anger over Cheonmyeong's death. "Be that as it may, hate can get you the throne but it will not help you rule. Quite the opposite--it can poison your rule. It leads to vengeance." Meaning? "I cannot support your efforts to be queen." Wow. "I have many reasons, but that's the most important one." Well, we know from the earlier flashback that he envisioned her as queen, so this must be some sort of mind game or motivational trick or some such thing. "I won't help you," he tells her flatly. "But in the end you may prove yourself to me." Aaaand there it is. "Prove that you have what Mishil doesn't." He departs, leaving Deokman with a puzzled look on her face...and runs right into Sohwa. How about all these reunions. She turns away; she can't even face him, apparently out of discomfort for her ditching him in Hangzhou.
"Why did you run away?" They're speaking alone together now, and Munno isn't happy. "Do you realize how many plans you ruined?" Sohwa holds her ground. "You mean Deokman's marriage?" To a child of Mishil? "It won't do. How could you make Deokman marry HIM?" She adds, "I'm just a servant girl, but even so, it just won't do." That's not the normal life the king wanted for his child, she tells him. Which is true...but either way, this whole thing just got more complicated, because as they started talking, Bidam approached the door to go in but then stopped when he heard his name mentioned. He doesn't understand what he's hearing: "Marry? Me and the princess?"...Does Munno still want to see them married? He's not sure; he used to see it as destiny, "but you prevented my rearing the princess. And Bidam...isn't what I'd hoped he'd be." Ouch, that's gotta hurt. And it does. Bidam walks away from the door with a bitter look on his face that we've never seen before.
Now we see Bidam alone, walking through the dimly lit streets in the evening air. He mutters to himself, "Is he still holding that against me?" Holding what?...Flashback to a scene of a younger Munno frantically running through the countryside at night, shouting for Bidam. He runs into a cave, and encounters a bizarre sight: looks like at least three dozen people lying on the ground around a small fire, like they're all near death from something, if they're not dead already. Munno runs among the bodies, checking all of the children present to see if any of them is Bidam. And the last kid he checks, that's him. Looks to be maybe nine or ten years old at this point...."Are you hurt? Are you all right?" He's unconscious or worse, but wait, now he's snapping out of it. He's okay. For the life of us we can't figure out what was going on in that cave, but the young Bidam promptly solves that mystery, with a proud smile: "I killed 'em all!" Huh? How? One kid killed all those people? Good heavens. (What did they do, eat his chicken?)...Whatever happened back there, Bidam looks back on it as a foolish child's mistake, one that he's sorry about but way beyond the dumb kid who made it. Then he starts to think about the conversation he just heard. "Suppose I could marry Deokman. Does that mean I might be king?" No it doesn't, but as he thinks about it he flashes a hint of a smile that looks almost a little evil! Or is that just him being weird? Wow, better keep an eye on this.
Deokman is alone, her conversation with Munno still ringing in her head. Then Maya enters. Deokman asks her when Chunchu will be arriving--yeah, it's been a while since they sent for him. She's very interested in meeting him, but also a little scared. Scared because "I need to ask his forgiveness" for what she feels is her culpability in her sister's death. Maya is shocked. "How could you think that?" And Maya knows a thing or two about carrying unwarranted guilt.
It's the evening before the competition starts, and Yushin is nervous. His mother tries to talk him up. "Do your best and trust to luck," she tells him, citing an old saying. Trite, but it seems to help. A good word from mom always does.
Morning: The sun's shining, not a cloud in the sky--a beautiful day for a Hwarang-off or whatever they're calling it. The elite Hwarang arrive, to the silent encouragement of their subordinates. But now what's this--Jukbang and Godo are slapping some kind of goo on Yushin's uniform. What the heck? It looks like sticky dough of some sort. All of the DFers are stoked about it, like it conveys some sort of secret advantage. Okay, whatever, we'll see...Everyone's already waiting for them, so the elites hustle along into their meeting room. Deokman and Mishil are there to oversee it all. Inside, Ho Jae explains that Munno will choose the first competition and lay down the rules. There will be martial-arts duels, as is traditional; those will be last. What's Munno come up with to start things off? "You all passed through the gates on the way here?" Yeah, of course they did; so what? "Then I'm sure you all noticed." Noticed what? "On the way here, how many Hwarang were out of uniform?" Huh? They all think to themselves--or are they just blindsided by a question nobody expected. Then Bojong answers, "Six people, sir." He elaborates: two without a headband emblem; three without proper full uniforms, and one without the proper sword. Wow--where did that come from? Could it be that Bojong isn't the dimwit that we've seen him as? "Correct," Munno says, as the other Hwarang all sit silently. Okay, so what? "That was the first event in the competition." Seriously? That's the whole deal? Well, Mishil certainly looks happy about it.
Evening, back home: They've dried their tears and are all smiles now. Deokman wants to hear the whole story of Sohwa's survival, but Sohwa just wants to dote over her daughter. She does tell the story about Chilsuk pulling her out of the sandhole, which is something Deokman wouldn't have expected from him.
Next morning: Now Sohwa is with the king and queen, who know that she was held captive by Mishil. Deokman doesn't know this and Sohwa wants to keep it that way. Why? She's worried about how Deokman would react and what she'd do. And feels that Deokman has been through enough already, including the burden of having to care for her through her own illnesses. "Truth is, she looked after me." They seem okay with that; Maya mainly just wants to praise Sohwa for raising such an impressive young woman...and the king simply thanks her over and over again.
"The princess saw Sohwa?" Uh-oh, Mishil's not happy...Bojong has just started to hell her about Munno showing up out of nowhere. Then Chilsuk comes in and confirms it: "Munno's back." Mishil looks very concerned. But why should she be? What's it to her?
That evening: Deokman wants to her mom to sleep with her just like in the desert. Sohwa won't allow it, though, because she's a servant after all. She tells Deokman about Munno coming to her aid today, which should get much more of a reaction from Deokman that it does (the writing staff blew this one).
"Deokman altered the lost prophecy to become princess?" Munno is hearing the whole story from Bidam. He's clearly impressed...right up until the point about Deokman intending to take the throne someday. "Did she mean as princess she'd help her husband take the throne?" Nope, "she said she'd rule as a fair and just queen." Which Bidam doesn't give a second thought to, but the older (and less weird) Munno seems to react as though it's almost inconceivable.
Mishil and Seolwon conclude that Bidam is Munno's student. So Mishil concludes that Munno may well be watching Deokman. "This is serious," she says. "If Munno returns to the Hwarang, we'll have bigger problems than that observatory." Hojae's time as Hwarang Pungwolju (Grand Marshal) is nearly up, we learn, and someone else needs to be named. Bojong, we learn, is his direct subordinate, so of course they want to get him the job. And Seolwon suggests bringing Chilsuk into the Hwarang administration as well, to help turn the Hwarang to their side.
Chilsuk, well, we see him alone this evening, pondering the sight of Sohwa running from him in panic at the observatory site. Bojong arrives with word that Mishil wants to see him....
Mishil assures Chilsuk that Sohwa will be safe in the palace and that the king won't harm her (remember, that's the lie she foisted on him) with Deokman around. But then adds, "I doubt that the two of you are meant to be." Ouch. And adds that Deokman "likely won't think well of you, so I worry about your future." She offers to make him master of martial arts training for the Hwarang. "The princess couldn't touch you," she adds. Chilsuk mumbles that he'll think about it--this Sohwa thing seems to have taken most of the fight out of him--but Mishil presses, mentioning Munno's name and asking Chilsuk, "Does he have something you don't?" I want you to be his equal if he ever should come back. An obvious poke in the ribs to motivate him, but again he only mumbles that he'll consider it. He leaves and heads into the nighttime, whispering Sohwa's name.
Deokman and Sohwa did end up sleeping together, at first, but now Sohwa gets up to leave her sleeping daughter and spend the rest of the night in the servants' quarters. She goes outside and makes the turn...and there's Chilsuk standing there. She acknowledges him...but then runs away from him again. She reaches the next courtyard, but then looks back with a twinge of regret, remembering what we saw in Episode 15 about how he offered to try to find some quiet place where they could try to live peacefully together. And he did pull her out of that sandhole, of course. Having second thoughts, the end, she runs back to where she was...but too late, she just missed him and he's gone now.
He went back to Mishil. I'll do it, he tells her. Mishil is a lot happier about it than he is. He leaves her, and wonders to himself, "Is serving Mishil all I have left?" He turns to head home...but now here's Sohwa; she's caught up with him after all. The two of them stand there, trying to talk; it's awkward, as you can imagine. Sohwa says she was shocked and scared at seeing him, but gives him credit: "You saved me and brought me here so I could see my princess again." And thanks him for that, sincerely and humbly. But now? Sohwa, a servant of the royal house, and Chilsuk, as he puts it, "a servant of Mishil." Sohwa could blow this all wide open by telling him that Mishil took her captive; wouldn't it make sense to do it? For whatever reason, she doesn't. They just sort of stare into the reflecting pool together.
So they're going to have a big investiture ceremony for Chilsuk at the Hwarang ground. We see the preparations being made...including an empty chair of honor for Munno. It's always put there, as a gesture of respect. Even still now, after all this time, despite the fact that he never shows up. But what's that commotion outside the closed front gate? Jukbang and Godo and a few other Hwarang are trying to chase away some "old guy" who thinks he's going to attend. And hassling him, disrespectfully. Which may not be very wise, because the "old guy" is Munno! They're really giving it to him good, and he's being remarkably patient about it (Why doesn't he just tell them who he is?). Inside, Ho Jae is told of the commotion and Seokpum says he'll see to it. But no need; suddenly the door is blasted open by the force of Jukbang and Godo being simultaneously thrown against it! They crash to the ground, dazed, and everybody inside turns and looks in amazement.
"What Chilsuk and I did, we did for Shilla." Mishil is formally introducing a less-than-receptive Deokman to Chilsuk, who glares and snaps at him. But she accepts Mishil's decision to appoint Chilsuk to the Hwarang position, telling him, "Teach them the skill and persistence you used in finding me." Which is a very good choice of words; a valid instruction and a politically wise one, as the smile on Mishil's face proves. But then Bojong enters with news about some sort of trouble at the Hwarang ground....
Hwarang are going flying in all directions as they try to keep Munno out of the grounds. Without breaking a sweat he dispatches some and literally steps on the others to get past them. He calmly walks up to Ho Jae, who doesn't recognize him and tells all of the other Hwarang present to take him out. It's at least two dozen Hwarang, all wielding swords. But from the way they line up and charge him in organized pairs we just know it's gonna be another one of those absurdly silly fight sequences. And it is. He knocks down the first group, and now all of the rest of the Hwarang present join in, and now Munno's surrounded by at least three dozen, including the elites. Munno has no weapon but he's beating the crap out of all of them....
Outside the re-closed front gate, Yushin arrives, followed closely by Deokman, Mishil and Chilsuk. The gates are opened--to reveal the bizarre image of every Hwarang inside lying on the ground, thoroughly whupped, and Munno standing there staring into the distance like he's thinking about what to eat for lunch, ho-hum. Okay, so this must be why he didn't give his name. Makes for a striking image, no denying it. He turns, and stares at Mishil...(this is a great place for a punch line! But no such luck). Deokman sees him and remembers him as the healer from Yangji Village in Episode 21...Yushin recognizes him too, but neither of them knows his name. Bakui whispers to Mishil that this is "the guy who got in the way when we were after Sohwa." Apparently Mishil and Chilsuk are the only ones who recognize him. Mishil slowly approaches him. "How long has it been?" No answer. "Too long, I would say--Geoksun." Doink! The magic word, and now everybody else's eyes widen. "Yes," Munno says, with a very slight nod of acknowledgement; "far too long, Mishil." He continues: "I was just passing by when I heard there's to be a new Hwarang master." And he points to his empty seat, like he's about to occupy it.
Ceremony over (We never got to see it. We never see any of those things!), Mishil has invited Munno to her home. She's smiling at him but wants to know what he's up to. She talks briefly about their organizing the Hwarang together as ordered by King Jinheung, and his help in deposing King Jinji (His help? He simply declined to get involved, as far as we know. Is there more than that?), "and your marriage to my cousin that gave you noble status." Now there's a piece of news! And Munno's response drops another one on us: "Thanks to you a son of a Gaya princess entered the Shilla nobility." Gayan?! How about that. Mishil is upset with him for helping the king conceal the birth of twins. And now he shows up again, just as the lost princess has emerged. Understandably, she smells a rat, even if there isn't one.
The DFers are all realizing that the "old guy" was Munno. They talk about his reputation and accomplishments. And the news that he's meeting with Mishil, well, Jukbang is very interested in this. Strange...this isn't the first time he's reacted strongly to something to do with Mishil. What don't we know about this guy yet? Something's still hidden....
"The marriage you arranged for me with Lady Yun made the great Kochilbu my father-in-law. He was my mentor in many ways." As a younger Hwarang, Munno tells Mishil, "he cautioned me against crossing you." "He would have," Mishil answers; "we always did see eye-to-eye." Well how about this for a coincidence: "The day the twins were born, Kochilbu died." Mishil stares at him: "Is that an accusation?" "Not at all," Munno says, although his carefree expression and nonchalant tone make it sound like a statement of fact! "I'm just explaining how certain events left me concerned and weary," he says, which is why he decided to leave the palace. But he says he's had enough of the nomadic life, and now, well: "I plan to oversee the Pungwolju competition." Competition? Didn't Mishil intend to simply hand the job to Bojong?
Sohwa tells Deokman about her decision to ditch Munno in Hangzhou and raise Deokman on her own, mindful of the king's order to her. Then she asks Deokman about that guy who's Munno's student: "Is his name Bidam, maybe?" Yes, why? Sohwa's eyes widen. She must know. She tells Deokman it's nothing important...but she flashes back to the scene we saw in flashback in Episode 25, of little Bidam toddling up and looking at the infant Deokman. But now here's a little more of that sequence that we haven't seen: Munno telling Bidam, "Someday this princess will be your bride." He explains to a surprised Sohwa that "Fate has given me the child that will confront Mishil, and Mishil's own son. The girl will be a just queen; King Jinji's boy will be by her side." He adds that after Mishil abandoned the baby, Jinji placed it in his care. "It's their destiny," he says, looking down at them....So Sohwa does know. And this explains why she took off rather than get the young Deokman involved in any sort of dangerous confrontation with Mishil. She looks at Deokman again and asks about what kind of person Bidam is. Why is she asking? "He's just kind of strange. Odd." (Gee, ya think?)
A concerned Mishil tells Seolwon about the competition Munno wants to hold, but Seolwon sees merit in the idea. Seolwon is completely confident that Bojong will win anyway, and Munno's overseeing the competition will completely legitimize the result. So it will work out even better this way. (What would make him so confident? Surely he remembers Bojong getting taken apart by Yushin in 13 seconds up in Iseo Province (Episode 23). Does he think it was dumb luck?)
Later, Mishil tells Munno she's completely on board with his overseeing the competition. "You know I'll be completely impartial," he tells her, and of course she knows that. He leaves, and then Seolwon enters; he apparently was eavesdropping. "Why didn't you ask him about Hyungjong?" (Who?) "Jinji placed the boy in Munno's safekeeping," Seolwon reminds her, which she undoubtedly didn't need to be reminded of. (So that's who.) "I don't bother with regrets," she says rather offhandedly. Seolwon suggests having Bidam watched; clearly he has at least a suspicion that Bidam and Hyungjong may be one and the same. Mishil has probably suspected it too, but she tells him not to bother; just go ahead with the competition. But the far-away look in her eyes suggests she's not just brushing this off like she says she is.
A poster announcing the competition to select the 15th Pungwolju (Grand Marshal) is posted for the Hwarang to read. It will begin in three days; there will be three events. The events aren't named on the poster. Seokpum says it's all a formality--"Isn't it obvious? Has Bojong EVER lost?" (Dude, you were in Iseo, too; you saw it)--but Alcheon points out that Yushin is the one among them who has never formally fought Bojong. Bojong turns and glares at Yushin. "Make it to the final round, so I can see what you've got." (Has EVERYBODY forgotten!?) "Count on it," a steely-eyed Yushin answers.
Later, some of the Hwarang bicker about who's going to win...which leads to some pretty weak trash-talking...which leads to some pretty weak pushing and shoving.
Well now Deokman gets to talk to Munno at last. Tells him she crossed the desert and came out of China looking for him. "I thought you were maybe my father." Which he isn't, but she says she feels something paternal in meeting him now. Then Munno asks her point-blank about usurping Mishil's position by falsifying the lost prophecy, and planning "to give the heavens back to the people." Suddenly she's silent and reserved, like a kid expecting a teaching moment from an elder. "What is a ruler, do you think?", Munno asks her rhetorically; "What should a ruler do?" He says he understands her anger over Cheonmyeong's death. "Be that as it may, hate can get you the throne but it will not help you rule. Quite the opposite--it can poison your rule. It leads to vengeance." Meaning? "I cannot support your efforts to be queen." Wow. "I have many reasons, but that's the most important one." Well, we know from the earlier flashback that he envisioned her as queen, so this must be some sort of mind game or motivational trick or some such thing. "I won't help you," he tells her flatly. "But in the end you may prove yourself to me." Aaaand there it is. "Prove that you have what Mishil doesn't." He departs, leaving Deokman with a puzzled look on her face...and runs right into Sohwa. How about all these reunions. She turns away; she can't even face him, apparently out of discomfort for her ditching him in Hangzhou.
"Why did you run away?" They're speaking alone together now, and Munno isn't happy. "Do you realize how many plans you ruined?" Sohwa holds her ground. "You mean Deokman's marriage?" To a child of Mishil? "It won't do. How could you make Deokman marry HIM?" She adds, "I'm just a servant girl, but even so, it just won't do." That's not the normal life the king wanted for his child, she tells him. Which is true...but either way, this whole thing just got more complicated, because as they started talking, Bidam approached the door to go in but then stopped when he heard his name mentioned. He doesn't understand what he's hearing: "Marry? Me and the princess?"...Does Munno still want to see them married? He's not sure; he used to see it as destiny, "but you prevented my rearing the princess. And Bidam...isn't what I'd hoped he'd be." Ouch, that's gotta hurt. And it does. Bidam walks away from the door with a bitter look on his face that we've never seen before.
Now we see Bidam alone, walking through the dimly lit streets in the evening air. He mutters to himself, "Is he still holding that against me?" Holding what?...Flashback to a scene of a younger Munno frantically running through the countryside at night, shouting for Bidam. He runs into a cave, and encounters a bizarre sight: looks like at least three dozen people lying on the ground around a small fire, like they're all near death from something, if they're not dead already. Munno runs among the bodies, checking all of the children present to see if any of them is Bidam. And the last kid he checks, that's him. Looks to be maybe nine or ten years old at this point...."Are you hurt? Are you all right?" He's unconscious or worse, but wait, now he's snapping out of it. He's okay. For the life of us we can't figure out what was going on in that cave, but the young Bidam promptly solves that mystery, with a proud smile: "I killed 'em all!" Huh? How? One kid killed all those people? Good heavens. (What did they do, eat his chicken?)...Whatever happened back there, Bidam looks back on it as a foolish child's mistake, one that he's sorry about but way beyond the dumb kid who made it. Then he starts to think about the conversation he just heard. "Suppose I could marry Deokman. Does that mean I might be king?" No it doesn't, but as he thinks about it he flashes a hint of a smile that looks almost a little evil! Or is that just him being weird? Wow, better keep an eye on this.
Deokman is alone, her conversation with Munno still ringing in her head. Then Maya enters. Deokman asks her when Chunchu will be arriving--yeah, it's been a while since they sent for him. She's very interested in meeting him, but also a little scared. Scared because "I need to ask his forgiveness" for what she feels is her culpability in her sister's death. Maya is shocked. "How could you think that?" And Maya knows a thing or two about carrying unwarranted guilt.
It's the evening before the competition starts, and Yushin is nervous. His mother tries to talk him up. "Do your best and trust to luck," she tells him, citing an old saying. Trite, but it seems to help. A good word from mom always does.
Morning: The sun's shining, not a cloud in the sky--a beautiful day for a Hwarang-off or whatever they're calling it. The elite Hwarang arrive, to the silent encouragement of their subordinates. But now what's this--Jukbang and Godo are slapping some kind of goo on Yushin's uniform. What the heck? It looks like sticky dough of some sort. All of the DFers are stoked about it, like it conveys some sort of secret advantage. Okay, whatever, we'll see...Everyone's already waiting for them, so the elites hustle along into their meeting room. Deokman and Mishil are there to oversee it all. Inside, Ho Jae explains that Munno will choose the first competition and lay down the rules. There will be martial-arts duels, as is traditional; those will be last. What's Munno come up with to start things off? "You all passed through the gates on the way here?" Yeah, of course they did; so what? "Then I'm sure you all noticed." Noticed what? "On the way here, how many Hwarang were out of uniform?" Huh? They all think to themselves--or are they just blindsided by a question nobody expected. Then Bojong answers, "Six people, sir." He elaborates: two without a headband emblem; three without proper full uniforms, and one without the proper sword. Wow--where did that come from? Could it be that Bojong isn't the dimwit that we've seen him as? "Correct," Munno says, as the other Hwarang all sit silently. Okay, so what? "That was the first event in the competition." Seriously? That's the whole deal? Well, Mishil certainly looks happy about it.