episode 20 summary

[ajk]

"I was so thirsty for such news." Seonjo is almost in tears. He says he always knew Yi Sunsin would succeed--ugh--and orders him promoted immediately.

Ishida arrives in Busan and is briefed. He thinks it all comes down to those 50,000 Joseon soldiers heading north. Deal with them and they can catch the king.

Japanese army camp: Hey, it's Wakizaka! He's in charge of the naval forces but he brags about his competence as a general and volunteers to lead the effort to stop that big Joseon army. Even has a battle plan all thought out. Ukita gives him the job.

Joseon army camp (the big army): We meet Lee Gwang. And Gwon Yul. Lee and Kim Su want to attack the Japanese who are on or near their path. Gwon wants to avoid a fight so they can reach Pyongyang, join with the other forces that are headed there and plan a counterattack. And besides, they may have a large army but it's mostly raw recruits and they'd be fighting at a geographical disadvantage: up a mountain. But Gwon is disregarded and battle preparations are begun.

Well guess what: Gwon was right. Despite vastly superior numbers, the Joseon army was wiped out. The news reaches Seonjo and whatever hope he felt after news from YSS's victories is dashed. And he fears Pyongyang isn't safe any more and another refuge journey may be needed.

Now Yun Dusu is begging Seonjo not to do what he obviously is considering doing: asking Ming for reinforcements. Yun is certain that Ming won't just offer help; they'll add all kinds of demands and conditions in exchange. Lee Hangbok there too, arguing for it and against Yu, and it's getting too be too much for Seonjo, affecting his health again.

Now some of the high officials are discussing it. They all see it as an embarrassment to have to ask for outside help, and they fear what Ming will want in return. But then Ryu walks in and says they have to ask. "We can't do it on our own" and that's the reality. And tells them they can't argue over principles; not while their people are dying.

Seonjo summons Ryu and asks him about requesting reinforcements...an awkward conversation because as Seonjo puts it, "We became distanced."...but since they agree about asking for reinforcements, he gives Ryu a job to do: a Chinese high official named Lin Shilu is here to evaluate the situation. "Convince him to send reinforcements."

Next day: Ryu meets Lin, who is skeptical and repeating that nonsense about Joseon and Japan colluding. So that night, Ryu actually takes him on a journey to where the Japanese army is! The two of them and He and Ryu and Shin Yeongcheol and Cheonri go out into the dark of night and head for a point at the Taedong River that's shallow enough to cross on foot. The enemy doesn't know about this place. They quietly cross and get a first-hand look at a large Japanese army camp.

Next day: "Now do you believe me?" A stunned Lin is told by Ryu that what they saw is only a small part of a 150,000-man force. Lin realizes that this is real and a threat to Ming. He says he'll report back to the emperor and get what help he can.

Out in the countryside in or near Jeolla province (Sorry, the subtitle font was so incredibly small it was impossible to read the location): Japanese soldiers are carefully inspecting a marshland area and putting stakes in the ground to mark firm spots where it's safe for horses and heavy carts to tread. Well, news of this gets back to Gwak Jaeu and he knows what's going to happen: with their sea route cut off, Japan is going to try to get military rations by attacking Jeolla because Jeolla is a major grain-producing area. Gwak realizes the danger here...and of course he's no idiot...

...so in the dark of night he and a small group of his men go to the marshland and carefully move the stakes to mucky spots. And they scout the area for an ambush setup.

Japanese camp: "What? Who is Gwak Jaeu?" Some sort of effort was made to enter Jeolla--we didn't see it--but word arrives that it got squashed. Major confusion because apparently there are Joseon soldiers out there that the Japanese have no knowledge of.

"I want to leave Pyongyang tomorrow." A desperate Seonjo is glad to hear that reinforcements will likely arrive, but fears it won't be soon enough. Yun is horrified, and Ryu urges him to at least wait a few days until they hear back from Ming. But Jeong Cheol is there and says further refuge is a good idea. Yun mutters a veiled threat and now they're shouting at each other until Seonjo shuts them up. Now Lee Deokhyeong arrives with surprising news. "They want to have the talks we didn't have in Chunju."

Not sure where this is, but look at this: Lee Deokhyeong is sitting with Genso. The two of them used to be friendly so they're not strangers. Genso pitches that Let-us-pay-tribute-to-Ming story but Lee has already heard it and scoffs at it. "Tell me the truth." So Genso does: "Japan wants to attack Ming, not Joseon. Open up a path for us to get to Ming." But Lee doesn't believe that either! Says there are other ways to get to Ming; they' don't have to come through here to get there. But that is the truth, of course. This doesn't go well; the tone gets very agitated very quickly. "Joseon will never open up a path," Lee says angrily. "Joseon and Ming are very close. We have no reason to lend a path to their enemy." He suggests this is all a stalling tactic because of recent setbacks. And he walks out.

Lee reports back to Seonjo. "The enemy will attack soon," Seonjo says, so it's time to take refuge yet again.

Next day: The royals prepare to leave Pyongyang on a refuge journey. But they're not going anywhere just yet, because an angry mob armed with clubs and mallets confronts them and drives them back inside. Then the mob heads over to the ancestral tablets, which were dropped and left there in the street in all the confusion, intending to destroy them. But they find a lone figure carefully attending to the tablets. It's Ryu. "This country will rise again," he tells them calmly; you're citizens and shouldn't be acting like this. He's not the least bit intimidated by them and his strong presence causes the people to back off some. Ryu promises them that "Even if the king leaves this place, I will not leave." A woman recognizes him and says he's staying with them at the refugee camp. Amazingly, the mob calms down and disburses. Wow. Then the king shows up again and sees Ryu taking care of the still-intact tablets. "The people seem to follow you more than they follow me. "You'd think he'd be grateful, but noooo....

A few days pass so that public sentiment can calm down before the royals leave. We see them leaving now. Before Seonjo leaves he appoints Lee Deokhyeong to be a special envoy to go to Ming and press further for speedy reinforcements.

True to his word, Ryu stays behind. So does Yun Dusu; they're going to defend Pyongyang. Now all they can do is wait and see what happens, and hope that the reinforcements get here in time. Ryu gets Yun to accept the idea of Ming reinforcements, even though Yun doesn't like it, and says he's going to head north temporarily to meet them on their way here.

Left Jeolla naval headquarters: The officers are dispirited over Joseon's latest setbacks and are frustrated that they can't do more YSS proposes sending some of the men out as scouts to gather information. And when an old man shows up, looking to help however he can, Yi makes him a scout too. Then as Yi writes a letter to Ryu, in flashback we see him send off the first group of scouts to disperse throughout the country.

Konishi's camp: The army is still just sitting there just south of the Taedong River. We learn that they tried to get some soldiers across the river on rafts a couple of days ago and 200 died. So now what? Konishi is ordered (by an older, slimy-looking Japanese man who we haven't seen before; have no idea who he is) to stop stalling and attack now or he'll send "a negative report" back home. It infuriates Konishi...and on top of that, news arrives news that their camp is being raided! No one saw any boats crossing; what the heck is going on?

We see the raid; it's going really well. But when Konishi and troop support arrive to drive off the invaders, well, the enemy retreats...and crosses the Taedong River on foot back to safety. But the Japanese watch them cross! "This wasn't a raid," a suddenly-much-happier Konishi says. "The enemy helped us."

Reinforcements! Ryu was headed north and meets Liu, who's accompanied by 50 elite Ming soldiers and brings news that an army is headed here from the north. Great news...but then a messenger headed north from Pyongyang brings the worst possible news: Pyongyang has fallen.

[ajk]

Sorry this one is late...I haven't even wanted to go near a TV set the last few days.

Anyway, a lot of stuff going on in this one. I liked most of it, but it felt like things that we needed to see were cut out when the episode was shortened. That weasely-looking Japanese guy who was ordering Konishi around, who the heck was he? I'm terrible with faces but he wasn't identified by name and I don't remember ever seeing him before.

That whole storyline about the shallow place in the river and the events that unfolded from it...first of all, is there such a place? There must be; doubt they would have made it up. Taking a high-ranking Ming envoy on a four-man scouting mission wading through a river and right near the enemy camp--come on that was ridiculous. And then it surprised me that the Joseon army would risk exposing their secret crossing location just for a small-time camp raid. If that was accurately depicted then somebody in the Joseon command made a seriously bad decision there.

But talk about bad decisions, the Japanese planting those stakes in the marsh and then just leaving them there unwatched...duh. Of course the locals would mess with them! That would have been a good battle scene to show at least briefly, since it was different from anything else before it.

They're translating Gwak Jaeu's army as "righteous troops" and I haven't heard that term before...but what surprised me was the Japanese having no concept of a citizen army. (Oh, speaking of the translations, the last line of the episode, from the messenger, it wasn't subbed! You can guess what he said, but oops.)

I was a little surprised that Ryu headed north to meet the Ming troops, because he promised the angry mob that he wouldn't leave them. Yes it was just temporary but still, I was surprised he didn't send a subordinate after making his promise.

"If you don't have lips, your teeth will be cold." That has got to be the weirdest foreign policy metaphor I've ever heard! Interesting way to put it though.

One thing I really liked was seeing the ancestral tablets as part of the refuge procession and actually getting a look at them when they spilled out of their box. I had forgotten that they would be such an important part of the refuge. But wow, Ryu saves them from destruction and risks his life in doing it; you'd think Seonjo would at least be grateful for it rather than grumbling about they-like-you-more. That was so shallow; made him look awful.

No Hideyoshi this episode, which bummed me out...but still a pretty good episode.

[truth]

Don't worry, no battle scenes were cut out. There never was one in uncut version, either. That was also the 1st and the last time you will see that Japanese guy. I've identified him on the list of actors who played in both IYSS and Jingbirok in the other thread. He's just a spy sent by Hideyoshi to check on how Konishi is doing.

Taking the Ming envoy on a mission was false. The raid was half-true. Joseon soldiers originally rode boats to make their raid, which was successful just as in the drama. However, some of those soldiers got scared during the raid and ran away through the shallow place shown in the drama, which was spotted by the Japanese.

Japanese had no concept of citizen army because they lived in a feudal system where army was only organized by the feudal lords and nobody else.

Ryu never said he wouldn't leave them in history. He just told them he would make sure that the government would defend Pyongyang at all costs. He then proceeded to behead three of the peasants responsible for riling the others to make a fuss and drop the royal ancestral tablets on the ground. And of course, Seonjo grumbling is also false. I mean why would he grumble when Ryu kindly beheaded people that insulted his ancestors?

[ajk]

Thanks truth, as usual that's all a huge help. It did seem like that guy was one of Hideyoshi's spies, just from the way he looked! Good casting.

That makes sense about the citizen-army concept; I figured it might be the reason. It's surprising that it wouldn't have even occurred to the Japanese that citizens might organize to save their homeland. But they also had trouble grasping the idea that a king would flee...so it does make sense that cultural differences would blind them to certain things.

The true version of the ancestral-tablets encounter makes much more sense than what we saw. I mean, those tablets were so treasured, you expected to see some reaction to what happened. Why not show it like it happened? It could have been written perfectly well just like you described it. Okay, Ryu had three citizens beheaded...but they've already done so much to show Ryu favorably, it wouldn't have hurt his image as a lead character.

The river-crossing business, shame on me for not checking my Jingbirok text before I posted. (I was running so far behind that the next episode was just about to start this evening...but no excuses.) So let me post what Ryu wrote about it:

The wariness of the enemy seemed to have waned considerably because of their long delay in crossing the river. Looking down on the enemy camps, Kim Myeongwon and others observed this sign of weakness and made a plan for a surprise attack during the night. They formed a task force made up of elite soldiers...[to] cross the river by fast boats...Dashing forward to the first camp for attack, they caught the enemy by surprise and...killed a large number of enemy soldiers...A little later, however, the enemies who were sleeping in various other camps were awakened and, all at once, started attacking our forces with great vigor...Some of our soldiers ran to Wangsongtan, where the water level was low, and from there recklessly crossed the river. Watching our soldiers cross the river, the enemy at least discovered the location of the shoal and realized that they could also make it.

He also talks about some panic involving the fast boats not being on shore waiting, which forced the soldiers to go to the crossing area to save themselves. So that completely explains how the crossing was revealed. Still it was a dumb decision to risk exposing it just for a camp raid.

[truth]

May 25, 2015 0:00:22 GMT -5 ajk said:

That makes sense about the citizen-army concept; I figured it might be the reason. It's surprising that it wouldn't have even occurred to the Japanese that citizens might organize to save their homeland. But they also had trouble grasping the idea that a king would flee...so it does make sense that cultural differences would blind them to certain things.

It never occurred to the Japanese that citizens could organize to save their homeland because they have almost never been invaded by foreign forces. The only time that they ever got invaded by foreign forces was in the 1200s by the Mongolian-Korean alliance, but the kamikaze typhoon took care of them.

Because they don't get invaded by foreign forces 99% of the time, most of the wars in Japan were civil wars fought by feudal lords who had no reason to hurt civilians. Once you take over the land, the civilians would become your property, and you don't want to hurt your future property. There were no pillaging nor killings of civilians for that reason. There was no patriotism involved since they weren't being invaded by foreign forces. People just didn't have any reason to rise up and form a civilian army.

[MTR]

Truth sums it up, but just a little anecdote, Hideyoshi himself came from a peasant background and the last thing he wanted was another peasant rising through the ranks .
He passed a law forbidding all common people to own weapons and conducted a sword hunt which was a round up of all weapons from anyone below Samurai rank .The Tokugawa would enforce this law even more strictly when they took power.