episode 59

[ajk]

This one was better than the last one. Not perfect, but better. There was only one groaner sequence, and we got back to some other things that were going on while the invasion was happening.

Siege weapons! Okay, that answers that question, WG is smarter than Kyun-hwon. Talk about getting stuff off of ships, those things couldn’t have been easy to transport and unload.

So a thumbs up on that...but the arrows were all flaming, sigh. Every one of them. Thumbs down. And then in the middle of the first assault, with chaos descending on the whole scene, Yu Geumpil turns to WG and says “Master, the battle has begun.” Gee Einstein, ya think? Ugh.

Okay and they’re using the early-episode battle music with too much tympani. Stop that!

Back to thumbs up, the battle sure looked good, flaming arrows notwithstanding. Boulders and spears and logs and hot oil, and all kinds of great stunt work done in dangerous conditions. Bravo to all those guys out there who filmed it, outstanding work. Probably the high point of the episode.

General Hong: “How could they resist with such force when they have less than half our manpower?” Ohhhh dear...Sun Tzu said you need five to one in siege warfare. Ooooops. Huge mistake by WG to let that happen if this quote is accurate.

But talk about a mistake—was Sudal really stupid enough to get suckered into leaving the fortress? Does anybody know? The series has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to historical details, but this one is really hard to believe. And then either way it got stupid because now Sudal is fighting one-against-two and nobody on his side steps up to help him. It made both sides look bad, Koryo for unethical fighting and Bekjae for not supporting their commander. And why didn’t WG face him if he was good enough to disarm him just days earlier? We didn’t need any of this. Real groaner.

“They’re outnumbered by ten to one, yet still they stand firm.” All right at this point I got irritated. Because ten to one is child’s play. Any idiot can seize a fortress with a ten-to-one advantage. Surround it and send everybody in at once, and there’s no way the defense can hold it. If this quote is accurate then why is WG even hesitating? Something doesn’t make sense here.

Goongyae: “Most intellectuals tend to be somewhat inflexible. Nonetheless, having many learned men at the court will strengthen our kingdom.” There’s the insightful leader we got to know. Less and less of that these days and more impulse. Interesting.

■ Choonchun-born Park Yu would later be bestowed the royal surname by Wang Guhn, and become Wang Yu, the progenitor of the Haeju Wang Clan. Erudite of his time, he served as the pedagogue of Goongyae’s two sons. After Ahjitae came into the scene, Jongkahn repeatedly solicited him, and finally succeeded in recruiting him.

I like this guy, he’s insightful. Speaks his mind, and had very good observations about Ahjitae. Hope we see a lot more of him.

“A mentor? But the princes are only one year old!” Yeah, you can understand Yunhwa’s reaction. But Goongyae lost his mom at a young age so it makes sense that he wouldn’t be too sensitive to separating young kids from their moms. He did say a while back that he’d try to become more sensitive to these kinds of things, but that side of him seems to be gone at this point.

Pyungdal: “Pardon me? That is unfathomable!” Yeah why is Lord Yu telling people he pimped out his daughter? He got what he wanted, now keep quiet about it until WG returns. Just seems to be in very poor taste, for his daughter’s sake and for WG’s as well.

Would somebody give Doyoung a helmet already? Or on second thought, just send her to the back and get her away from WG. It was her brilliant idea to tempt Sudal out of the castle, how’d that work out? Maybe she already got conked in the head with a boulder.

Hey WG, you’d have better luck with that night attack if you’d tell your army to put out all of the torches they’re holding! DUUUHHHHH...Seriously. Yes it looks good that way on TV but the producers would have done a brave thing by showing the army attacking out of the darkness. They’re easy pickings with those bright lights.

But some of this is me being nit-picky. Overall most of the episode was very good, and you have to appreciate the money and time and work that went into filming really good battle sequences.

[mugwump]

Didn't like Future Empress #2 the first time I watched this series, like her even less this time. She's giving WG military advice? She's bringing up marriage as they rise to battle? OK, she's got lots of local information that can help. So tell him what he needs to know and then go home. Don't have us believe she knows more about military strategy than the Koryo generals. And the way the other leaders nod their heads whenever she tells WG something. Seriously.

It has always bothered me that we see armies laying siege to a fortress at only one gate/location. I can understand that as a TV show they have filming limitations. But really, you've got so many men. Divide them and attack from different locations simultaneously. Battle done.

And did these battles really all take place at night? Or do the producers just want the flaming arrows to look more effective?

[ajk]

I did some digging into the whole flaming arrow thing a while back; had intended to post a thread about it at some point. Also sageuk found a YouTube video that talked about them briefly.

Basically the whole thing is almost a complete crock. The arrows don't fly far at all because of the added weight; they're prone to being extinguished from flying through the air so they blow themselves out; and the act of lighting and firing them makes you a sitting duck for any enemy archer on the wall or in a tower looking for a target in the darkness. And if they're using regular arrows then you'll be in easy range of the enemy. So yeah it's all about the imagery. (And admittedly it does make a big visual impression.)

There is one legitimate use for them. If you get close enough to the fortress wall, you shoot them into the fortress as far as you can, to try to start fires in the fortress. That does make sense, assuming whatever is within range of them is flammable. So they did exist back then and at least the attacking army would likely have some. And you can get some height and distance out of them if they're really good arrows--remember the Barcelona Olympics? Guy lit the flame way high up in the stadium with a flaming arrow, coolest thing you'll ever see.

But no, the verdict is anybody who orders their troops to use all flaming arrows is a blithering idiot. Of course if both sides are using them then it's a fair fight I guess.