Post by ajk on Sept 6, 2015 23:37:46 GMT -5
"You won't allow them to leave?" No, Song Huirip, he won't. Yi Sunsin orders all of his men to stand by and be ready for battle.
Konishi is going to try to prevent that from happening. So Yoshitoshi takes a chest full of silver to Chen Lin, who's the ranking admiral of the Ming navy ships sent to Joseon. He asks Chen to stop Yi from doing anything that would prevent a safe return home for the Japanese fleet. Tells Chen he'll also provide a thousand heads to take home too. "Make it two thousand," he says calmly, and assures him he'll get it done. Deal. Yoshitoshi is ecstatic, understandably.
As his soldiers gather and transport supplies and armaments for the trip back home, Kato sits on a porch watching them and drinking a canteen full of...well presumably not horse blood. "How futile," he mutters to Koichi. "We didn't gain anything." Koichi says he's just glad to be going home to his family. But Kato, well, he just thinks differently, doesn't he.
Evening: Seonjo is sharing dinner with the queen, consort Kim, and princes Imjae, Gwanghae, and another, younger prince who's not identified (presumably one of Kim's sons). Tells them that they should rest and recover now that everything is over. The queen tells him the same thing. Prince Imhae brashly reminds his father that Gwanghae was only a temporary crown prince and has had to bear a big burden and shouldn't be asked to do more. As in, It's time for me to be crown prince now. "Is that so?", Seonjo says with a smile. "Let me ask you one question. How much rice is being paid by the people because of Jangmibeop?" Imhae sputters, and then blurts out an incorrect guess. "That's why you can't be the crown prince," Seonjo says, amused at Imhae's total cluelessness about one of the country's major reform policies. Then he turns to Gwanghae and his smile vanishes. Reminds Gwanghae that no one is really, truly the crown prince until Ming okays the choice. But then tells everyone that whoever ends up being crown prince, all that matters right now is that they all need to work to rebuild the country.
"I need power. Power to keep his majesty from getting rid of me even if he is the king." Gwanghae has come to Lee Sanhae for help with that. Lee tells him that "You have to be cold" if you want power, and that means doing something like purging Ryu to make room in the court for more of the prince's political allies. Gwanghae says he'll do it if he needs to.
"We need a new court?" Yun Dusu is visited by Lee Sanhae and is listening to his sales pitch. Yun sees right through his generalities and cuts to the chase: "You want to replace the court that's led by the chief state councilor." Yun, while hardly Ryu's political ally, recognizes and appreciates the work that Ryu and the Southerners have done to help end the war successfully. "What justification do you have?", he asks Lee, for wanting to dump Ryu. He won't go along with the lie that Ryu sought a truce with Japan. But Lee argues that Seonjo has already made up his mind to dump Ryu so it's going to happen no matter what. "The crown prince wants this, too," he adds, and then he asks Ryu to return to the court when Ryu is gone. Yun is very conflicted, we can see it in his face.
Next day: More protests to remove Ryu from office. Now it's getting almost silly; they're accusing him of taking bribes and doing political favors.
"I'm not abandoning him," Seonjo tells consort Kim. "He made too many enemies." As in, BUT he made too many enemies SO I intend to get rid of him. Kim credits Ryu's reforms for helping end the war and says "If you deny his merits, the court will be full of disloyal subjects. How about just accepting his resignation?" As opposed to driving him out of office. Seonjo says if the majority of the court agrees with that, he'll go along with it. Then he says he's going to watch the crown prince carefully as well..."So don't trust Gwanghae too much." It shocks her. "I knew you joined forces with him." She's scared by the revelation, but says he understands why she did it and he's not upset. But he does tell her that her son won't become crown prince.
Next day: Ryu has a visitor. It's Yun Dusu. Yun tells him very frankly what's happening and suggests to Ryu that it would be easiest for him to just resign and leave amicably. Ryu smiles and answers that Seonjo won't accept his resignation if he submits it. He's thought this whole thing through and explains basically that Seonjo will want a scapegoat. "He has to blame me and remove me from office." Yun says Seonjo wouldn't do such a thing and offers to talk to the king and smooth everything over if Ryu will simply resign. But Ryu knows better. "Nobody wants to be responsible for the war," he says, believing that his departure will give the country the fresh start it needs. "Settle everything well," he tells Yun, who's visibly moved that Ryu will accept such an unjust fate.
Southern naval headquarters: "Are you asking me to just let them go?" Chen Lin is here, offering Yi that chest of silver; he tells Yi that the Japanese soldiers who are headed home, they're not the ones who caused the war. Hideyoshi is dead so let them go home in peace. Yi takes a sword and puts a nasty gash in the chest. So there. "Go and tell them I won't let a single man leave alive." Chen winces.
Konishi gets the news and goes bonkers. Now they're going to have to fight their way home.
Yi addresses his troops. Exhorts them to punish the invaders who did so much harm to the nation. "We have to bury them all at sea, so they can't return to their homes. Is that understood? To battle!"
Now headed towards Busan, Yi gets a scouting report that 500 enemy ships are in the vicinity of Noryang Strait. The Joseon fleet immediately heads there. By now the navy is rebuilt somewhat; we're told they have about 200 ships total (which is too high; we're later told a lower number). As they approach the enemy, Chen Lin is watching it all unfold from his own fleet's flagship, staying at a safe distance and intending not to get involved despite the Joseon fleet being heavily outnumbered. "I'll decide whether or not to fight," he tells a subordinate, "after I see what happens." Ugh.
Yi orders an aggressive charge forward, to keep the enemy from getting out of the strait. And from there on we watch the Battle of Noryang unfold. Intense fighting that even leads to hand-to-hand combat as some Joseon ships are boarded. But when the Japanese ships get close enough to board the enemy, they're also close enough for the hand-thrown Joseon time bombs. Which are used and which cause major damage.
Back in Hanyang: Seonjo and Ryu are having a private dinner together. Ryu did submit a resignation after all; Seonjo tells him he won't accept it, which of course doesn't surprise Ryu in the least. They both know what's going to happen and don't even bother discussing it. Seonjo is sure he'll call Ryu back to the court someday, but Ryu says he won't come back even if he's asked to. It stuns Seonjo. "You want to cut off all ties with me?" "You're cutting them off," Ryu answers. Ryu then proceeds to tell Seonjo that "I'm not satisfied with you as a king"...and it leads to a brutally frank and honest discussion about many of the events of the war and the decisions that were made. Each man holds nothing back in criticizing the other. It's a remarkable dialogue (I won't even try to summarize it in detail). Then when they've both had their say, Ryu reaches into his sleeve and pulls out the piece of paper that Yi Sunsin gave him, the one that says simply "Rebuild the country." Asks him to please do just that. You'll be revered for generations if you do, he says. "Please achieve that great cause."
Ryu leaves, and sighs heavily. Looks up into the night sky, knowing his work is finished.
Back at Noryang: It's daytime now and the battle rages on. But the sunlight has exposed the incredible sight of huge numbers of Japanese ships wrecked and burning. Clearly their fleet needs to retreat to reorganize for another attack...but Yi doesn't intend to let them do that. "Pursue them at full speed!", he orders. Still at a distance, Shen Lin is watching, now almost breathless with amazement. "He is amazing," Shen says of Yi. And now that the enemy is damaged, well..."We have to achieve merit," he tells his men, and orders them into the action.
From behind the front line of battle, Konishi watches with fear and frustration. He looks up to the sky, from where he thinks Hideyoshi is watching it all, and screams. "Are you watching? It ended in vain and with tragedy!"
Yi urges his ships forward, close enough that they're now within musket range. Bullets take down several of the men on his ship...and then as we know, a fateful bullet takes down Yi himself. "Don't let your guard down," he tells his subordinates as they surround him. "We have to keep fighting. Don't let anyone know that I died." And with that, he does die. Narration tells us that Yi "annihilated 500 Japanese vessels with only 146 Joseon vessels" (which overstates the actual numbers) and that "With this battle, the seven-year war finally ended." And that afterwards, Tokugawa Ieyasu gained control of Japan, just as Hideyoshi had feared he might someday; Ming "entered a path of fall"; and Joseon failed to learn the lessons it should have learned about having inadequate defense to protect the country--which in part caused the Manchu invasions forty years later.
It's a sunny morning. Ryu gets the news he expected; a royal order was issued, removing him from office. He's heard nothing yet from or about his friend Yi. "Pack up," he tells Cheonri. He won't stay in the capital; he's leaving for good. Lee Deokhyeong and Lee Hangbok pay a final visit, and from a distance Lee Sanhae and Yun Dusu look on and bow their heads in respect. Ryu walks away.
"Your majesty. Ryu Seongryong left." Seonjo's eunuch tells him. Silence. "You don't feel good about that? Don't be too disappointed. He had to be sent away some day." "You don't understand," Seonjo says. "I didn't abandon Ryu Seongryong. He abandoned me." He looks forlorn and lonely, like he really does feel abandoned.
Andong: It's now the winter's night in 1599 where we first met Ryu in the very first episode. Narration tells us that Ryu stayed there in his home to work on writing his "Jingbirok" book. "Seonjo called him back several times, but he didn't return. He left 'Jingbirok' asking everyone to remember the past and be prepared. He was said to be the best councilor in the 500-year history of Joseon. He died at the age of 66."
As a much older-looking Ryu walks through the countryside, we see a montage of significant moments from throughout the series. Then we hear Ryu read an excerpt from what must have been his last letter to his friend Yi Sunsin:
Konishi is going to try to prevent that from happening. So Yoshitoshi takes a chest full of silver to Chen Lin, who's the ranking admiral of the Ming navy ships sent to Joseon. He asks Chen to stop Yi from doing anything that would prevent a safe return home for the Japanese fleet. Tells Chen he'll also provide a thousand heads to take home too. "Make it two thousand," he says calmly, and assures him he'll get it done. Deal. Yoshitoshi is ecstatic, understandably.
As his soldiers gather and transport supplies and armaments for the trip back home, Kato sits on a porch watching them and drinking a canteen full of...well presumably not horse blood. "How futile," he mutters to Koichi. "We didn't gain anything." Koichi says he's just glad to be going home to his family. But Kato, well, he just thinks differently, doesn't he.
Evening: Seonjo is sharing dinner with the queen, consort Kim, and princes Imjae, Gwanghae, and another, younger prince who's not identified (presumably one of Kim's sons). Tells them that they should rest and recover now that everything is over. The queen tells him the same thing. Prince Imhae brashly reminds his father that Gwanghae was only a temporary crown prince and has had to bear a big burden and shouldn't be asked to do more. As in, It's time for me to be crown prince now. "Is that so?", Seonjo says with a smile. "Let me ask you one question. How much rice is being paid by the people because of Jangmibeop?" Imhae sputters, and then blurts out an incorrect guess. "That's why you can't be the crown prince," Seonjo says, amused at Imhae's total cluelessness about one of the country's major reform policies. Then he turns to Gwanghae and his smile vanishes. Reminds Gwanghae that no one is really, truly the crown prince until Ming okays the choice. But then tells everyone that whoever ends up being crown prince, all that matters right now is that they all need to work to rebuild the country.
"I need power. Power to keep his majesty from getting rid of me even if he is the king." Gwanghae has come to Lee Sanhae for help with that. Lee tells him that "You have to be cold" if you want power, and that means doing something like purging Ryu to make room in the court for more of the prince's political allies. Gwanghae says he'll do it if he needs to.
"We need a new court?" Yun Dusu is visited by Lee Sanhae and is listening to his sales pitch. Yun sees right through his generalities and cuts to the chase: "You want to replace the court that's led by the chief state councilor." Yun, while hardly Ryu's political ally, recognizes and appreciates the work that Ryu and the Southerners have done to help end the war successfully. "What justification do you have?", he asks Lee, for wanting to dump Ryu. He won't go along with the lie that Ryu sought a truce with Japan. But Lee argues that Seonjo has already made up his mind to dump Ryu so it's going to happen no matter what. "The crown prince wants this, too," he adds, and then he asks Ryu to return to the court when Ryu is gone. Yun is very conflicted, we can see it in his face.
Next day: More protests to remove Ryu from office. Now it's getting almost silly; they're accusing him of taking bribes and doing political favors.
"I'm not abandoning him," Seonjo tells consort Kim. "He made too many enemies." As in, BUT he made too many enemies SO I intend to get rid of him. Kim credits Ryu's reforms for helping end the war and says "If you deny his merits, the court will be full of disloyal subjects. How about just accepting his resignation?" As opposed to driving him out of office. Seonjo says if the majority of the court agrees with that, he'll go along with it. Then he says he's going to watch the crown prince carefully as well..."So don't trust Gwanghae too much." It shocks her. "I knew you joined forces with him." She's scared by the revelation, but says he understands why she did it and he's not upset. But he does tell her that her son won't become crown prince.
Next day: Ryu has a visitor. It's Yun Dusu. Yun tells him very frankly what's happening and suggests to Ryu that it would be easiest for him to just resign and leave amicably. Ryu smiles and answers that Seonjo won't accept his resignation if he submits it. He's thought this whole thing through and explains basically that Seonjo will want a scapegoat. "He has to blame me and remove me from office." Yun says Seonjo wouldn't do such a thing and offers to talk to the king and smooth everything over if Ryu will simply resign. But Ryu knows better. "Nobody wants to be responsible for the war," he says, believing that his departure will give the country the fresh start it needs. "Settle everything well," he tells Yun, who's visibly moved that Ryu will accept such an unjust fate.
Southern naval headquarters: "Are you asking me to just let them go?" Chen Lin is here, offering Yi that chest of silver; he tells Yi that the Japanese soldiers who are headed home, they're not the ones who caused the war. Hideyoshi is dead so let them go home in peace. Yi takes a sword and puts a nasty gash in the chest. So there. "Go and tell them I won't let a single man leave alive." Chen winces.
Konishi gets the news and goes bonkers. Now they're going to have to fight their way home.
Yi addresses his troops. Exhorts them to punish the invaders who did so much harm to the nation. "We have to bury them all at sea, so they can't return to their homes. Is that understood? To battle!"
Now headed towards Busan, Yi gets a scouting report that 500 enemy ships are in the vicinity of Noryang Strait. The Joseon fleet immediately heads there. By now the navy is rebuilt somewhat; we're told they have about 200 ships total (which is too high; we're later told a lower number). As they approach the enemy, Chen Lin is watching it all unfold from his own fleet's flagship, staying at a safe distance and intending not to get involved despite the Joseon fleet being heavily outnumbered. "I'll decide whether or not to fight," he tells a subordinate, "after I see what happens." Ugh.
Yi orders an aggressive charge forward, to keep the enemy from getting out of the strait. And from there on we watch the Battle of Noryang unfold. Intense fighting that even leads to hand-to-hand combat as some Joseon ships are boarded. But when the Japanese ships get close enough to board the enemy, they're also close enough for the hand-thrown Joseon time bombs. Which are used and which cause major damage.
Back in Hanyang: Seonjo and Ryu are having a private dinner together. Ryu did submit a resignation after all; Seonjo tells him he won't accept it, which of course doesn't surprise Ryu in the least. They both know what's going to happen and don't even bother discussing it. Seonjo is sure he'll call Ryu back to the court someday, but Ryu says he won't come back even if he's asked to. It stuns Seonjo. "You want to cut off all ties with me?" "You're cutting them off," Ryu answers. Ryu then proceeds to tell Seonjo that "I'm not satisfied with you as a king"...and it leads to a brutally frank and honest discussion about many of the events of the war and the decisions that were made. Each man holds nothing back in criticizing the other. It's a remarkable dialogue (I won't even try to summarize it in detail). Then when they've both had their say, Ryu reaches into his sleeve and pulls out the piece of paper that Yi Sunsin gave him, the one that says simply "Rebuild the country." Asks him to please do just that. You'll be revered for generations if you do, he says. "Please achieve that great cause."
Ryu leaves, and sighs heavily. Looks up into the night sky, knowing his work is finished.
Back at Noryang: It's daytime now and the battle rages on. But the sunlight has exposed the incredible sight of huge numbers of Japanese ships wrecked and burning. Clearly their fleet needs to retreat to reorganize for another attack...but Yi doesn't intend to let them do that. "Pursue them at full speed!", he orders. Still at a distance, Shen Lin is watching, now almost breathless with amazement. "He is amazing," Shen says of Yi. And now that the enemy is damaged, well..."We have to achieve merit," he tells his men, and orders them into the action.
From behind the front line of battle, Konishi watches with fear and frustration. He looks up to the sky, from where he thinks Hideyoshi is watching it all, and screams. "Are you watching? It ended in vain and with tragedy!"
Yi urges his ships forward, close enough that they're now within musket range. Bullets take down several of the men on his ship...and then as we know, a fateful bullet takes down Yi himself. "Don't let your guard down," he tells his subordinates as they surround him. "We have to keep fighting. Don't let anyone know that I died." And with that, he does die. Narration tells us that Yi "annihilated 500 Japanese vessels with only 146 Joseon vessels" (which overstates the actual numbers) and that "With this battle, the seven-year war finally ended." And that afterwards, Tokugawa Ieyasu gained control of Japan, just as Hideyoshi had feared he might someday; Ming "entered a path of fall"; and Joseon failed to learn the lessons it should have learned about having inadequate defense to protect the country--which in part caused the Manchu invasions forty years later.
It's a sunny morning. Ryu gets the news he expected; a royal order was issued, removing him from office. He's heard nothing yet from or about his friend Yi. "Pack up," he tells Cheonri. He won't stay in the capital; he's leaving for good. Lee Deokhyeong and Lee Hangbok pay a final visit, and from a distance Lee Sanhae and Yun Dusu look on and bow their heads in respect. Ryu walks away.
"Your majesty. Ryu Seongryong left." Seonjo's eunuch tells him. Silence. "You don't feel good about that? Don't be too disappointed. He had to be sent away some day." "You don't understand," Seonjo says. "I didn't abandon Ryu Seongryong. He abandoned me." He looks forlorn and lonely, like he really does feel abandoned.
------------------------------
Andong: It's now the winter's night in 1599 where we first met Ryu in the very first episode. Narration tells us that Ryu stayed there in his home to work on writing his "Jingbirok" book. "Seonjo called him back several times, but he didn't return. He left 'Jingbirok' asking everyone to remember the past and be prepared. He was said to be the best councilor in the 500-year history of Joseon. He died at the age of 66."
As a much older-looking Ryu walks through the countryside, we see a montage of significant moments from throughout the series. Then we hear Ryu read an excerpt from what must have been his last letter to his friend Yi Sunsin:
It was a long and rough journey. Our people barely made it this far, with a lot of bloodshed. Our juniors have to care for their wounds and embrace the people now. I'm worried that they'll forget all this and only care about themselves. This path isn't just one of today, it is also the path of the people of tomorrow. There will be mountains and deep waters on the way. I'm worried that they'll forget what we experienced. If our people walk this rough path someday, what will they think? What will they think as they walk the path?
THE END
