Post by ajk on Mar 7, 2020 16:26:19 GMT -5
The queen asks her father if he’ll really give up on Gyeongsang province completely. It provides a lot of grain for the country, she reminds him. But they happen to be standing by the pond where all of the king’s victims’ bodies have been dumped, and Cho is much more concerned about putting a stop to the epidemic, as his dour stare over the pond emphasizes. But then he adds that he’ll kill the crown prince with his bare hands. How’s he going to do that with the prince trapped in Gyeongsang?
The elite palace guard is still trying to arrest the crown prince, and are now eleven of them are at Ahn Hyeon’s compound where the prince is. So apparently they’re supposed to bring him back to the capital so Cho can kill him. But Ahn accuses the head guard of selling out to Cho for power’s sake, calls him a traitor, and suddenly there are archers on the roof all around the courtyard, aimed and ready. And shockingly, they fire! All eleven fall to the ground.
Afterwards, Ahn shows the prince a letter that arrived by carrier pigeon from the chief of the guards, telling Ahn that the prince was headed his way. How did the guard know that? “One of your companions,” Ahn said, “is Cho Hak-ju’s mole.” Naaaaaah, that can’t be, can it? But at the moment there’s a bigger problem....
Hundreds and hundreds of people are outside the compound’s walls, begging to be let in to escape the epidemic. And more are arriving as we watch. What to do with them all? The Sangju magistrate is there and he won’t open the gate to let them in. The prince disagrees and fires him on the spot. He’s the prince, he can do that. But either way there are too many people to fit inside. Just not enough room for all of them. So we have to defend the entire area, he says. All of Sangju. The zombies fear water, he says, and there’s lots of water in the region. And they fear fire, and you can make all the fire you want to make, easy. So everyone—everyone—is put to work immediately. Even the nobles of the town are given weapons, and we watch as all kinds of defenses and traps and barriers are built and put in place.
The queen is walking with two of her attendants. “Will is be a boy?” She asks. The attendants aren’t sure. “Report to me only when a baby boy is born.” HUH? Why is she asking such questions—she should be answering them! What the heck....
We see a commoner women giving birth. This is the place we saw before, with all of the pregnant widows gathered. The baby is a girl, we’re told. Then from outside we hear it stop crying abruptly...and now inside there’s blood all over the floor. Way too much blood for a normal birth.
Next we see the queen being prepared for a bath by two attendants. As she’s undressed we discover the strangest twist yet: her baby belly...it’s a pillow. She isn’t pregnant. Good heavens. So apparently one of the gathered pregnant women is going to be supplying the queen with a baby. But only a boy baby.
Beom-pal has tried to go out and pick some medicinal plants for Seo-bi. But he has no clue what he’s doing so she has to go out and do it herself. As he follows her back outside to the surrounding woods, she learns that they’re near an alternate path up to the Frozen Valley area where we saw her take refuge once betore. She climbs the mountainside and in a cave mouth finds an odd-looking mossy plant with purple flowers. It’s the resurrection plant!
Yeong-sin is teaching men to use a musket. Ahn’s head man reveals that Yeong-sin used to be in the elite Chakho military unit (which Mu-yeong suspected). Then Ahn himself tells the prince he doesn’t know Yeong-sin...but he doesn’t sound like he’s being entirely truthful. Around them, final preparations for the night. All kinds of elaborate things going on, even rafts being made and floated, and booby traps being covered with hay. A ton of work in a short time...
...and now it’s nighttime. All they can do is wait and see what happens. Has the epidemic made it this far yet? Will there be zombies?
Most of the night has passed quietly. Then of all things, a horse shows up. Belonged to a servant who was supposed to survey the property. It’s returned home, riderless...but with a human forearm caught in its reins. That sets everyone on high alert, for good reason. Signal flares and illuminating fires are lit...
...but whew, nothing more comes of it and here’s the sun rising. A big exhale from everyone. The fires are put out and everyone stands down to go get some rest. But now wait...look at all of the birds in the sky, flocking and distressed. Why?
Seo-bi and Beom-pal stayed up in the Frozen Valley cave where they found the resurrection plant. It was a safe place up there before so they waited out the night. But suddenly things don’t seem safe at all, despite the daylight. The pair hears stirring and rumbling...and then a shocking realization from Seo-bi. “It wasn’t the sun. It was the temperature.” The zombies need cooler weather, she's reasoned, and there's a chilly fog blowing in this morning from the sea.
And now, through the morning fog, lots and lots of growling and rumbling, and now here they come through the fog, straight towards Sangju. Staggering numbers of zombies, at top speed. And it’s daylight.
The elite palace guard is still trying to arrest the crown prince, and are now eleven of them are at Ahn Hyeon’s compound where the prince is. So apparently they’re supposed to bring him back to the capital so Cho can kill him. But Ahn accuses the head guard of selling out to Cho for power’s sake, calls him a traitor, and suddenly there are archers on the roof all around the courtyard, aimed and ready. And shockingly, they fire! All eleven fall to the ground.
Afterwards, Ahn shows the prince a letter that arrived by carrier pigeon from the chief of the guards, telling Ahn that the prince was headed his way. How did the guard know that? “One of your companions,” Ahn said, “is Cho Hak-ju’s mole.” Naaaaaah, that can’t be, can it? But at the moment there’s a bigger problem....
Hundreds and hundreds of people are outside the compound’s walls, begging to be let in to escape the epidemic. And more are arriving as we watch. What to do with them all? The Sangju magistrate is there and he won’t open the gate to let them in. The prince disagrees and fires him on the spot. He’s the prince, he can do that. But either way there are too many people to fit inside. Just not enough room for all of them. So we have to defend the entire area, he says. All of Sangju. The zombies fear water, he says, and there’s lots of water in the region. And they fear fire, and you can make all the fire you want to make, easy. So everyone—everyone—is put to work immediately. Even the nobles of the town are given weapons, and we watch as all kinds of defenses and traps and barriers are built and put in place.
The queen is walking with two of her attendants. “Will is be a boy?” She asks. The attendants aren’t sure. “Report to me only when a baby boy is born.” HUH? Why is she asking such questions—she should be answering them! What the heck....
We see a commoner women giving birth. This is the place we saw before, with all of the pregnant widows gathered. The baby is a girl, we’re told. Then from outside we hear it stop crying abruptly...and now inside there’s blood all over the floor. Way too much blood for a normal birth.
Next we see the queen being prepared for a bath by two attendants. As she’s undressed we discover the strangest twist yet: her baby belly...it’s a pillow. She isn’t pregnant. Good heavens. So apparently one of the gathered pregnant women is going to be supplying the queen with a baby. But only a boy baby.
Beom-pal has tried to go out and pick some medicinal plants for Seo-bi. But he has no clue what he’s doing so she has to go out and do it herself. As he follows her back outside to the surrounding woods, she learns that they’re near an alternate path up to the Frozen Valley area where we saw her take refuge once betore. She climbs the mountainside and in a cave mouth finds an odd-looking mossy plant with purple flowers. It’s the resurrection plant!
Yeong-sin is teaching men to use a musket. Ahn’s head man reveals that Yeong-sin used to be in the elite Chakho military unit (which Mu-yeong suspected). Then Ahn himself tells the prince he doesn’t know Yeong-sin...but he doesn’t sound like he’s being entirely truthful. Around them, final preparations for the night. All kinds of elaborate things going on, even rafts being made and floated, and booby traps being covered with hay. A ton of work in a short time...
...and now it’s nighttime. All they can do is wait and see what happens. Has the epidemic made it this far yet? Will there be zombies?
Most of the night has passed quietly. Then of all things, a horse shows up. Belonged to a servant who was supposed to survey the property. It’s returned home, riderless...but with a human forearm caught in its reins. That sets everyone on high alert, for good reason. Signal flares and illuminating fires are lit...
...but whew, nothing more comes of it and here’s the sun rising. A big exhale from everyone. The fires are put out and everyone stands down to go get some rest. But now wait...look at all of the birds in the sky, flocking and distressed. Why?
Seo-bi and Beom-pal stayed up in the Frozen Valley cave where they found the resurrection plant. It was a safe place up there before so they waited out the night. But suddenly things don’t seem safe at all, despite the daylight. The pair hears stirring and rumbling...and then a shocking realization from Seo-bi. “It wasn’t the sun. It was the temperature.” The zombies need cooler weather, she's reasoned, and there's a chilly fog blowing in this morning from the sea.
And now, through the morning fog, lots and lots of growling and rumbling, and now here they come through the fog, straight towards Sangju. Staggering numbers of zombies, at top speed. And it’s daylight.
