Post by ajk on Oct 10, 2014 23:49:47 GMT -5
Gongmin wastes no time in summoning SD, late hour no matter.
Eunuch Choi gathers the junior guards. "Tonight you shall get the chance to display all you have trained for. For His Majesty's sake!" Huh?
Eunuch Lee arrives at SD's residence; finds him sitting next to the sleeping Monino. Tells him the king wants to see him.
News flash: Ban Ya isn't dead! Apparently Deokun found her in time after all and got her down before she suffocated. He took her to Jihyo--at SD's request--and Jihyo's looking after her now (and is making sure she doesn't try it again!). Deokun tells Choseon all this...and it seems he has something else to say, too...
Eunuch Lee was ordered by Gongmin to escort SD to the palace, but SD tells him to go on ahead and give Gongmin this message: "That this delusional charlatan shall briefly deal with his last few remaining ties to this world. It shall not take long, so he need not worry." And he assures Lee that he will show up, but wants to meet Gongmin at the council hall, not at the king's residence. Lee is a little uncomfortable but trusts SD enough to bow and leave.
Deokun now tells Choseon about what's going on right now with the king and SD. She's terribly concerned and distressed.
It's well into the night now, and SD is alone on the streets. He's taken off his fancy clothes and walks towards the palace, dressed in a simple robe, and carrying the still-sleeping Monino in his arms (boy that kid sleeps a lot!).
Lee delivers SD's message to a skeptical Gongmin.
Confused officials arrive at the palace complex, and are stunned to hear rumors of someone accusing SD of treason. Apparently Gongmin has called them in for a meeting...but not just yet; they're not in the meeting hall.
Royal temple: "Forgive me...I tried to kill myself and abandon you here...I have no excuses." A sobbing, overwhelmed Ban Ya is reunited with her child. SD brought him to her here at the royal temple. What a great gesture. Tells her that Master Bou will protect the boy. But cautions her, "Before Monino is summoned to the palace, you must cut the maternal ties binding you to him." Whenever that might be, who knows. SD leaves, and even Jihyo (who's never been crazy about him) bows in respect for what he's done here.
SD walks out of the temple...and finds Choseon waiting for him outside. "Is this not your last tie left in this world?!", she asks him. "Just once...Embrace me once before you leave." He's standing with his back to her, and doesn't react. "If only for this child's sake," she adds, touching her abdomen. But no, he walks away without a word, and she falls to the ground in tears. Wow, that was a little cold.
Now SD is in a more rural area. This is odd...and wait, that's Wolseon there, sitting on a rock! Don't go to the palace, he tells SD with a smile; "Let us head back to Gaetae Temple together." And jumps up on SD's back so he can be carried. "If you perish today, you will be buried deep down this soil once again, and it will take a thousand years for you to resurrect." SD says he's still going, though, and it wipes the smile off Wolseon's face. He jumps down and faces his pupil. "You cannot, you fool! Did you think the world would change just as you wished?! It is nothing but arrogance! Believing you alone can change this world!" And he defiantly blocks SD's path. SD falls to his knees and begs his master for permission. "If only to cleanse my deluded soul of all such desires which tie me here, I must go. Who else can awaken His Majesty from his delusions?" Then he talks about the positive things that have happened to the people: the lessened power of the clans; the freedom of so many commoners from slavery; the wider distribution of land to more citizens. Even if those things are swept away now, he says, they won't disappear. Because "They might bury my corpse deep down in this wintry soil, but they shall never bury our people's heart and soul." The words move Wolseon deeply and convince him to let SD go. SD stands up and heads away to the palace...and as he goes, Wolseon at last gives him some credit: "Thanks to you, our people had a dream, and how could it be less wonderful than what Buddha dreamed of?" And as Wolseon heads off, now we see SD standing alone in the night in front of one of the palace gates. Obviously this was some sort of dream or vision...right?
Ban Ya and Monino are sitting in front of an annoyed-looking Master Bou. "I implore you," Ban Ya says to him; "May you protect these two piteous souls." He takes the boy onto his lap...and the annoyance vanishes, replaced with a broad smile. And now he starts laughing. "Master Wolseon. You still could not enter the gates of Nirvana?" Wow, that is weird...what did he just sense? And was that just a vision SD saw? Maybe not!
Gongmin is meeting privately with Lee In Bok. "Imagine Pyeonjo's head gracing a pole at the market. Would our people approve of such a sight?" Tells Lee that he's made the decision that SD must die. It makes Lee uncomfortable, and surprisingly enough Lee starts to try to talk the king out of it. Maybe just exile him? No sale. "If Pyeonjo is out there alive, will the people just sit and stare?" Tells Lee, I've made the decision and am going to entrust all of SD's responsibilities to you now. "So...are we on the same boat?" Wow, big promotion for Lee...but he doesn't react right away.
Lee Chun Bu intercepts SD at the palace gate as he enters and begs him not to go to the palace; he knows what's going to happen. And adds, "His Majesty has ordered assassins to lie in ambush!" But SD simply tells him, "May you forgive all the problems I caused you," and calmly heads forward.
Choseon made it back home and is with Park Seobang and his wife. That previous talk about her leaving her estate, well, it sounds like she's ready to do it right now. "Why would I wait for someone who is not coming back?" She looks resigned but determined.
SD reaches the plaza in front of the council hall. Black-clad swordsmen (presumably those junior guards from earlier) run in single-file lines along the border walls, mostly shadowed from the moonlight. SD walks towards the front steps...and as he does, he can hear Gongmin's voice calling out to him. Gongmin isn't inside there, though; apparently this is another one of SD's visions. "I always treated you like a real brother. I trusted you more than a sibling sharing my very flesh and blood. It is not as ruler and subject I shall face you today, but as a friendly compeer. Doesn't that move you to tears? This indomitable friendship of ours." He laughs cynically. "So do not hesitate; I'm waiting for you. So come, my friend. Come!"
Gongmin emerges from his home to go and confront SD at the council hall. But then who should show up out of nowhere but Princess Deoknyeong! She's trying to put a stop to this. "Your Majesty. Think of Princess Noguk." Gongmin is irritated but she presses him. "Lose Pyeonjo, and Your Majesty shall become like a lonely orphan. Who will ever support you against the courtiers?! Will you devote the rest of your life to that shrine's construction?!" "I am not Pyeonjo's puppet," he answers, "Even without his support, I can rule on my own!" And he heads forth.
SD arrives at the empty council hall, the floor of which is now covered with hundreds of lit candles. He goes inside, kneels before the empty throne, and prays and reflects. Unbeknownst to him...no wait, of course he knows...Won Hyeon is in there too, hiding in the shadows. "If a righteous light does not kindle your path," SD announces to him, without looking around for him, "no darkness under creation can conceal your misdeeds." A trembling Won answers him. "All I wished for was to witness all your might staring at creation from that throne. It was not me who ruined this all, it was you, my Guardian!" He steps into the light now. "We had so many opportunities to slay the king over the years. But why did you hamper me?!" No answer. He screams in frustration: "Did you not swear to use Buddha's word and make commoners into nobles, and nobles into commoners? This is what you so fervently wished for!" He disparages the king as unworthy and says that the throne "was a much too cumbersome task for him to handle." But SD only sits there, eyes closed, praying, which angers Won all the more. "Will you just sit there and await your death?! Where will you use all that mighty witchcraft of yours now?! Rise this very minute, go out there and sweep away this damned palace!" He's his full screaming lunatic self now...and SD has had enough. He throws his arms into the air; suddenly the candlelight dims, a wind blows through the room, a large freestanding urn topples over and shatters...and Won is grabbing his throat and gasping for breath, being strangled by some unseen force. After a few moments, it passes. "Tell me," SD asks..."Why are you shedding tears?" Who is he talking to?...
...He's talking to Noguk, as we see in a flashback. And yes, she's crying. "Should this childbirth bring my demise," she tells SD as he stands there, "You must become His Majesty's arms and legs in my stead. Promise that no matter how much His Majesty abuses you, you will never abandon him." Oddly, she's smiling now, through her tears. "You must aid him and bring this country back on the right path. His Majesty might have been blessed by a benign disposition, but is of feeble resolve." Don't let him lean on the high officials, she urges; "You must encourage him with all your might." He firmly promises her, "Even if it will bring my demise, I shall lead His Majesty to the right path, whatever it takes." We don't remember this scene...
...but it profoundly impacted him because he's been kneeling there reliving it with his eyes closed...and in that time the king has arrived. Pyeonjo's eyes open to find Gongmin sitting on the throne, looking down at him with a sneer. "What is the reason that the man who benefited the most from Princess Noguk's benevolence has so staunchly opposed my construction of the shrine honoring her legacy to the very end?" SD once again tells him why, and not in a very tactful manner either. And once again it frustrates the king. "You still cannot understand me?! Every time anything hampered my path, you blessed me with words of solace, telling me it would never compare with the sorrow of being born into slavery. He continues, "We joined forces, and gave Goryeo its splendor back. I understand you more than anyone could, and you know me more than anyone ever did. So, of all people, you and I being divided over the issue of a shrine honoring the very woman who brought us together in the first place, does it make any sense?!" And then loudly insists that the shrine has to be built not just to honor Noguk, but to make a statement of Goryeo's prestige and power for the sake of "those northern barbarians!" SD has heard this before, and while he doesn't disagree, reminds Gongmin that there was another bad harvest this year. "Our people's lives could not be worse!" Maybe so, Gongmin fires back..."but doesn't all creation know that your cellars are filled to the brim?!" Doink! SD's eyebrows rise at that one. "If a lowly son of a slave was able to reach your heights, one should know when to stop. That is why not only our courtiers, but even nameless varlets on the street clamor for your life." Oh dear, so that's the deal: Gongmin is trumping up embezzlement charges against SD, and obviously Won is going to provide false testimony to support them. Ugh. SD strongly denies it, of course...so Gongmin calls out to Won Hyeon, who steps out of the shadows. "Did you rummage Shin Don's cellars?" And are they full of valuables? Won is sweating and trembling. "Your humble servant...merely confessed what he saw." Stunning. Then he asks Won about the assassination attempt and who was really behind it. Won starts rambling about Lee In and Gi Hyeon and SD guaranteeing their safety in case the plot failed, going off on such a tangent that Gongmin snaps at him. "What is all this long-winded palaver?! I only asked if Gi Hyeon and Shin Don were on the same boat!" Now SD jumps in. "Your Majesty! If you wish to behead this humble servant, what is stopping you? There is no need to involve yourself in such cumbersome trials; you can slay me right here and now." He continues, more calmly. Reminds the king of how "You were never concerned about my being born into slavery" and how that gave him such strong support from the Goryean people. And about how, despite decades of Mongol oppression, the people managed to carve those 80,000 blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana (see link in info thread)--an incredible accomplishment. "What protects Goryeo's independence is not the might we can flaunt, but the faith we can lean onto!" He has tears in his eyes now--and Gongmin no longer looks cynical or angry; he looks profoundly moved by SD's words. SD implores him: "Your Majesty! May you interrupt the shrine's construction, and move our capital to Seogyeong! Abandon the courtiers who are only interested in personal gain, gather only those who truly love and support this country, and let us all leave for Seogyeong together, Sire!" Gongmin is so overwhelmed by his words and his sincerity, he rushes down the steps, drops to his knees and hugs SD. "Pyeonjo...I almost risked slaying you. If I had slain you, what would Princess Noguk have said?! Forgive me, Pyeonjo!" Wow, what a shocking change of heart.
Inspector Kim is visiting the QD and Princess Deoknyeong (boy there is a lot going on for the middle of the night). The QD is furious that SD apparently hasn't been put to death yet and, according to Kim's report, is still in the council hall with the king. "That wicked devil of a man must have used witchcraft to change his mind!" Ugh.
And in one of their meeting rooms, the high officials are pacing back and forth, frustrated and impatient for news. Secretary Gyeong even fears that "If it's not Pyeonjo's head on a pole, it will be our turn! We must head to the palace immediately!" Lee In Bok tells him to cool it. "His Majesty will make his decision."
Choi Young and Lee Seong Gye are in the palace complex, too, walking around outside. Choi is telling Lee that it "Looks like His Majesty had a change of heart. Did you prepare everything?" LSG answers that "Our troops are already inside the capital." Let's wait a little while before acting, Choi says. Yikes!
It's almost dawn now. Gongmin is back on his throne; SD is still kneeling there; and Won is still groveling in a corner. Gongmin is trying to figure a way out of this whole tangled mess. Finally he speaks. "Let us do this. I shall summon the court tomorrow, and announce we will move the capital to Seogyeong, after which we will head to the shrine, and at least honor her with a ceremony." Well that sounds reasonable! Very much so, for the king. But SD groans in disapproval. "Can't you concede even that?! After a brief ceremony, we can proceed with the construction at a leisurely pace. You must at least think about my reputation. If we completely halt that construction now, not only the courtiers, but even our people would belittle my name." Which is definitely true; the king can't be seen as caving in to a civilian official, no matter who. But SD says instead, "First begin by slaying me, and then continue your construction." Gongmin's eyes widen...and we can see the anger slowly build again. "So you plan to treat me with contempt until the very end. Fine...If that is your wish, after I punish you for your treasonous misdeeds, I shall continue the construction." But SD answers, "You cannot accuse me of treason, Sire." Of course he can...but with that, SD stands up, bows respectfully, and tells Gongmin he'll return to Gaetae Temple now. "I am not your subject, but a disciple following Buddha's teachings. Hence, how could you ever punish me for treason?" Gongmin goes bonkers and demands SD kneel again. Surprisingly, SD does. But it's not enough. "In this very palace, I shall behead you and prove my might to all creation!" SD rises and kneels twice more, and now Gongmin gets angry at that! "Did I not tell you not to ever kneel before me?" Well yeah you did, but make up your mind! SD stands one final time, turns around, and slowly heads for the door. Gongmin jumps to his feet and shouts, "If you go past those gates, you shall never come back! Why are you forcing death upon yourself? I do not wish to slay you!" SD stops and turns back, temporarily bringing the king immense relief...but only temporarily. "Your Majesty. The rise and fall of a country is but a speck of dust in the desert of time. If all you are trying to protect are your crown and the royal family, this country has run out of all its providence. May you create a new country from its ashes." He says it with a calm smile on his face, and then laughs heartily, like he's happy and satisfied with how everything has unfolded and like he's completely comfortable with this being the end. He steps through the door of the council hall and leaves. Gongmin shouts to him, "I wanted to see you kneel before me, begging for survival. If you kneel before me just once, I shall spare your life!!" But no, SD descends the front steps and walks into the plaza. He's quickly surrounded by dozens of the junior guards, who emerge from the shadows and run towards him with swords drawn. From a distance we watch as a dozen or so of them lunge at him, appearing to puncture his midsection from every direction.
Eunuch Choi gathers the junior guards. "Tonight you shall get the chance to display all you have trained for. For His Majesty's sake!" Huh?
Eunuch Lee arrives at SD's residence; finds him sitting next to the sleeping Monino. Tells him the king wants to see him.
News flash: Ban Ya isn't dead! Apparently Deokun found her in time after all and got her down before she suffocated. He took her to Jihyo--at SD's request--and Jihyo's looking after her now (and is making sure she doesn't try it again!). Deokun tells Choseon all this...and it seems he has something else to say, too...
Eunuch Lee was ordered by Gongmin to escort SD to the palace, but SD tells him to go on ahead and give Gongmin this message: "That this delusional charlatan shall briefly deal with his last few remaining ties to this world. It shall not take long, so he need not worry." And he assures Lee that he will show up, but wants to meet Gongmin at the council hall, not at the king's residence. Lee is a little uncomfortable but trusts SD enough to bow and leave.
Deokun now tells Choseon about what's going on right now with the king and SD. She's terribly concerned and distressed.
It's well into the night now, and SD is alone on the streets. He's taken off his fancy clothes and walks towards the palace, dressed in a simple robe, and carrying the still-sleeping Monino in his arms (boy that kid sleeps a lot!).
Lee delivers SD's message to a skeptical Gongmin.
Confused officials arrive at the palace complex, and are stunned to hear rumors of someone accusing SD of treason. Apparently Gongmin has called them in for a meeting...but not just yet; they're not in the meeting hall.
Royal temple: "Forgive me...I tried to kill myself and abandon you here...I have no excuses." A sobbing, overwhelmed Ban Ya is reunited with her child. SD brought him to her here at the royal temple. What a great gesture. Tells her that Master Bou will protect the boy. But cautions her, "Before Monino is summoned to the palace, you must cut the maternal ties binding you to him." Whenever that might be, who knows. SD leaves, and even Jihyo (who's never been crazy about him) bows in respect for what he's done here.
SD walks out of the temple...and finds Choseon waiting for him outside. "Is this not your last tie left in this world?!", she asks him. "Just once...Embrace me once before you leave." He's standing with his back to her, and doesn't react. "If only for this child's sake," she adds, touching her abdomen. But no, he walks away without a word, and she falls to the ground in tears. Wow, that was a little cold.
Now SD is in a more rural area. This is odd...and wait, that's Wolseon there, sitting on a rock! Don't go to the palace, he tells SD with a smile; "Let us head back to Gaetae Temple together." And jumps up on SD's back so he can be carried. "If you perish today, you will be buried deep down this soil once again, and it will take a thousand years for you to resurrect." SD says he's still going, though, and it wipes the smile off Wolseon's face. He jumps down and faces his pupil. "You cannot, you fool! Did you think the world would change just as you wished?! It is nothing but arrogance! Believing you alone can change this world!" And he defiantly blocks SD's path. SD falls to his knees and begs his master for permission. "If only to cleanse my deluded soul of all such desires which tie me here, I must go. Who else can awaken His Majesty from his delusions?" Then he talks about the positive things that have happened to the people: the lessened power of the clans; the freedom of so many commoners from slavery; the wider distribution of land to more citizens. Even if those things are swept away now, he says, they won't disappear. Because "They might bury my corpse deep down in this wintry soil, but they shall never bury our people's heart and soul." The words move Wolseon deeply and convince him to let SD go. SD stands up and heads away to the palace...and as he goes, Wolseon at last gives him some credit: "Thanks to you, our people had a dream, and how could it be less wonderful than what Buddha dreamed of?" And as Wolseon heads off, now we see SD standing alone in the night in front of one of the palace gates. Obviously this was some sort of dream or vision...right?
Ban Ya and Monino are sitting in front of an annoyed-looking Master Bou. "I implore you," Ban Ya says to him; "May you protect these two piteous souls." He takes the boy onto his lap...and the annoyance vanishes, replaced with a broad smile. And now he starts laughing. "Master Wolseon. You still could not enter the gates of Nirvana?" Wow, that is weird...what did he just sense? And was that just a vision SD saw? Maybe not!
Gongmin is meeting privately with Lee In Bok. "Imagine Pyeonjo's head gracing a pole at the market. Would our people approve of such a sight?" Tells Lee that he's made the decision that SD must die. It makes Lee uncomfortable, and surprisingly enough Lee starts to try to talk the king out of it. Maybe just exile him? No sale. "If Pyeonjo is out there alive, will the people just sit and stare?" Tells Lee, I've made the decision and am going to entrust all of SD's responsibilities to you now. "So...are we on the same boat?" Wow, big promotion for Lee...but he doesn't react right away.
Lee Chun Bu intercepts SD at the palace gate as he enters and begs him not to go to the palace; he knows what's going to happen. And adds, "His Majesty has ordered assassins to lie in ambush!" But SD simply tells him, "May you forgive all the problems I caused you," and calmly heads forward.
Choseon made it back home and is with Park Seobang and his wife. That previous talk about her leaving her estate, well, it sounds like she's ready to do it right now. "Why would I wait for someone who is not coming back?" She looks resigned but determined.
SD reaches the plaza in front of the council hall. Black-clad swordsmen (presumably those junior guards from earlier) run in single-file lines along the border walls, mostly shadowed from the moonlight. SD walks towards the front steps...and as he does, he can hear Gongmin's voice calling out to him. Gongmin isn't inside there, though; apparently this is another one of SD's visions. "I always treated you like a real brother. I trusted you more than a sibling sharing my very flesh and blood. It is not as ruler and subject I shall face you today, but as a friendly compeer. Doesn't that move you to tears? This indomitable friendship of ours." He laughs cynically. "So do not hesitate; I'm waiting for you. So come, my friend. Come!"
Gongmin emerges from his home to go and confront SD at the council hall. But then who should show up out of nowhere but Princess Deoknyeong! She's trying to put a stop to this. "Your Majesty. Think of Princess Noguk." Gongmin is irritated but she presses him. "Lose Pyeonjo, and Your Majesty shall become like a lonely orphan. Who will ever support you against the courtiers?! Will you devote the rest of your life to that shrine's construction?!" "I am not Pyeonjo's puppet," he answers, "Even without his support, I can rule on my own!" And he heads forth.
SD arrives at the empty council hall, the floor of which is now covered with hundreds of lit candles. He goes inside, kneels before the empty throne, and prays and reflects. Unbeknownst to him...no wait, of course he knows...Won Hyeon is in there too, hiding in the shadows. "If a righteous light does not kindle your path," SD announces to him, without looking around for him, "no darkness under creation can conceal your misdeeds." A trembling Won answers him. "All I wished for was to witness all your might staring at creation from that throne. It was not me who ruined this all, it was you, my Guardian!" He steps into the light now. "We had so many opportunities to slay the king over the years. But why did you hamper me?!" No answer. He screams in frustration: "Did you not swear to use Buddha's word and make commoners into nobles, and nobles into commoners? This is what you so fervently wished for!" He disparages the king as unworthy and says that the throne "was a much too cumbersome task for him to handle." But SD only sits there, eyes closed, praying, which angers Won all the more. "Will you just sit there and await your death?! Where will you use all that mighty witchcraft of yours now?! Rise this very minute, go out there and sweep away this damned palace!" He's his full screaming lunatic self now...and SD has had enough. He throws his arms into the air; suddenly the candlelight dims, a wind blows through the room, a large freestanding urn topples over and shatters...and Won is grabbing his throat and gasping for breath, being strangled by some unseen force. After a few moments, it passes. "Tell me," SD asks..."Why are you shedding tears?" Who is he talking to?...
...He's talking to Noguk, as we see in a flashback. And yes, she's crying. "Should this childbirth bring my demise," she tells SD as he stands there, "You must become His Majesty's arms and legs in my stead. Promise that no matter how much His Majesty abuses you, you will never abandon him." Oddly, she's smiling now, through her tears. "You must aid him and bring this country back on the right path. His Majesty might have been blessed by a benign disposition, but is of feeble resolve." Don't let him lean on the high officials, she urges; "You must encourage him with all your might." He firmly promises her, "Even if it will bring my demise, I shall lead His Majesty to the right path, whatever it takes." We don't remember this scene...
...but it profoundly impacted him because he's been kneeling there reliving it with his eyes closed...and in that time the king has arrived. Pyeonjo's eyes open to find Gongmin sitting on the throne, looking down at him with a sneer. "What is the reason that the man who benefited the most from Princess Noguk's benevolence has so staunchly opposed my construction of the shrine honoring her legacy to the very end?" SD once again tells him why, and not in a very tactful manner either. And once again it frustrates the king. "You still cannot understand me?! Every time anything hampered my path, you blessed me with words of solace, telling me it would never compare with the sorrow of being born into slavery. He continues, "We joined forces, and gave Goryeo its splendor back. I understand you more than anyone could, and you know me more than anyone ever did. So, of all people, you and I being divided over the issue of a shrine honoring the very woman who brought us together in the first place, does it make any sense?!" And then loudly insists that the shrine has to be built not just to honor Noguk, but to make a statement of Goryeo's prestige and power for the sake of "those northern barbarians!" SD has heard this before, and while he doesn't disagree, reminds Gongmin that there was another bad harvest this year. "Our people's lives could not be worse!" Maybe so, Gongmin fires back..."but doesn't all creation know that your cellars are filled to the brim?!" Doink! SD's eyebrows rise at that one. "If a lowly son of a slave was able to reach your heights, one should know when to stop. That is why not only our courtiers, but even nameless varlets on the street clamor for your life." Oh dear, so that's the deal: Gongmin is trumping up embezzlement charges against SD, and obviously Won is going to provide false testimony to support them. Ugh. SD strongly denies it, of course...so Gongmin calls out to Won Hyeon, who steps out of the shadows. "Did you rummage Shin Don's cellars?" And are they full of valuables? Won is sweating and trembling. "Your humble servant...merely confessed what he saw." Stunning. Then he asks Won about the assassination attempt and who was really behind it. Won starts rambling about Lee In and Gi Hyeon and SD guaranteeing their safety in case the plot failed, going off on such a tangent that Gongmin snaps at him. "What is all this long-winded palaver?! I only asked if Gi Hyeon and Shin Don were on the same boat!" Now SD jumps in. "Your Majesty! If you wish to behead this humble servant, what is stopping you? There is no need to involve yourself in such cumbersome trials; you can slay me right here and now." He continues, more calmly. Reminds the king of how "You were never concerned about my being born into slavery" and how that gave him such strong support from the Goryean people. And about how, despite decades of Mongol oppression, the people managed to carve those 80,000 blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana (see link in info thread)--an incredible accomplishment. "What protects Goryeo's independence is not the might we can flaunt, but the faith we can lean onto!" He has tears in his eyes now--and Gongmin no longer looks cynical or angry; he looks profoundly moved by SD's words. SD implores him: "Your Majesty! May you interrupt the shrine's construction, and move our capital to Seogyeong! Abandon the courtiers who are only interested in personal gain, gather only those who truly love and support this country, and let us all leave for Seogyeong together, Sire!" Gongmin is so overwhelmed by his words and his sincerity, he rushes down the steps, drops to his knees and hugs SD. "Pyeonjo...I almost risked slaying you. If I had slain you, what would Princess Noguk have said?! Forgive me, Pyeonjo!" Wow, what a shocking change of heart.
Inspector Kim is visiting the QD and Princess Deoknyeong (boy there is a lot going on for the middle of the night). The QD is furious that SD apparently hasn't been put to death yet and, according to Kim's report, is still in the council hall with the king. "That wicked devil of a man must have used witchcraft to change his mind!" Ugh.
And in one of their meeting rooms, the high officials are pacing back and forth, frustrated and impatient for news. Secretary Gyeong even fears that "If it's not Pyeonjo's head on a pole, it will be our turn! We must head to the palace immediately!" Lee In Bok tells him to cool it. "His Majesty will make his decision."
Choi Young and Lee Seong Gye are in the palace complex, too, walking around outside. Choi is telling Lee that it "Looks like His Majesty had a change of heart. Did you prepare everything?" LSG answers that "Our troops are already inside the capital." Let's wait a little while before acting, Choi says. Yikes!
It's almost dawn now. Gongmin is back on his throne; SD is still kneeling there; and Won is still groveling in a corner. Gongmin is trying to figure a way out of this whole tangled mess. Finally he speaks. "Let us do this. I shall summon the court tomorrow, and announce we will move the capital to Seogyeong, after which we will head to the shrine, and at least honor her with a ceremony." Well that sounds reasonable! Very much so, for the king. But SD groans in disapproval. "Can't you concede even that?! After a brief ceremony, we can proceed with the construction at a leisurely pace. You must at least think about my reputation. If we completely halt that construction now, not only the courtiers, but even our people would belittle my name." Which is definitely true; the king can't be seen as caving in to a civilian official, no matter who. But SD says instead, "First begin by slaying me, and then continue your construction." Gongmin's eyes widen...and we can see the anger slowly build again. "So you plan to treat me with contempt until the very end. Fine...If that is your wish, after I punish you for your treasonous misdeeds, I shall continue the construction." But SD answers, "You cannot accuse me of treason, Sire." Of course he can...but with that, SD stands up, bows respectfully, and tells Gongmin he'll return to Gaetae Temple now. "I am not your subject, but a disciple following Buddha's teachings. Hence, how could you ever punish me for treason?" Gongmin goes bonkers and demands SD kneel again. Surprisingly, SD does. But it's not enough. "In this very palace, I shall behead you and prove my might to all creation!" SD rises and kneels twice more, and now Gongmin gets angry at that! "Did I not tell you not to ever kneel before me?" Well yeah you did, but make up your mind! SD stands one final time, turns around, and slowly heads for the door. Gongmin jumps to his feet and shouts, "If you go past those gates, you shall never come back! Why are you forcing death upon yourself? I do not wish to slay you!" SD stops and turns back, temporarily bringing the king immense relief...but only temporarily. "Your Majesty. The rise and fall of a country is but a speck of dust in the desert of time. If all you are trying to protect are your crown and the royal family, this country has run out of all its providence. May you create a new country from its ashes." He says it with a calm smile on his face, and then laughs heartily, like he's happy and satisfied with how everything has unfolded and like he's completely comfortable with this being the end. He steps through the door of the council hall and leaves. Gongmin shouts to him, "I wanted to see you kneel before me, begging for survival. If you kneel before me just once, I shall spare your life!!" But no, SD descends the front steps and walks into the plaza. He's quickly surrounded by dozens of the junior guards, who emerge from the shadows and run towards him with swords drawn. From a distance we watch as a dozen or so of them lunge at him, appearing to puncture his midsection from every direction.