Post by ajk on Nov 8, 2022 3:05:47 GMT -5
This was a terrific episode—one of my favorites. No big history-turning battles or major events, but just the depth and complexity of what was happening, it was all so interesting and thought-provoking. And wonderfully presented.
King Kyungsoon: “I resent my forefathers for calling on me to bring this regime to a close.” Fascinating character. What a difficult situation to be in, the king of a dying nation. What can you do.
Kim Yurum: “While our people compared King Kyun-hwon to a beast, they likened you to our own fathers.” That apparently is what sold them on him. We know him to be a compassionate and restrained king, and when KH went into Surabul so aggressively and with such malice, the contrast was enormous. WG to Kyungsoon: “I am just doing a job. I know what is duty and decency, and practice what I was taught.” And that really is about the size of it. We’re going to get into this a lot more when the series wraps up, just how and why WG ended up where he did.
For all of the excellent casting in this series, the guy playing the Shilla crown prince just doesn’t seem to be a great fit for that part. Or is it just me....
Park Sulhee: “Your childish jealousy makes me worry about the future of this kingdom.” Suddenly he’s the voice of reason. How weird have things gotten.
Choi Ung: “He must be charged.”
Yeah THAT weird, even Choi is buying into this. Although you have to think he has some larger, more strategic reason for what he’s saying, playing along with Yu Geumpil’s accusers for some reason. He certainly must know that this is all silliness.
King Kyungsoon: “This regime is on its last breath. I surrender it to you. It is a kingdom only in name. Please accept it.” This is such a powerful moment, the whimpering of a thousand-year-old kingdom. You just couldn’t watch this and not feel how bitter the situation is.
That is, until you realize that they’re all drinking out of empty cups again. Aigu!!!!!
Now suddenly they’re playing some sort of field hockey with what look like giant croquet mallets. What’s going on?
What a great thing to toss in! And they went to some trouble to do it, too. Paid for all of the equipment and uniforms, and the game went on for a bit so they put some serious effort into staging the scene. Maybe a little too much pro wrestling theatrics in there...
(click for full size)
...but it’s TV, gotta love TV. This was totally unnecessary but it sure made for an interesting segment.
Park Sulhee to Yu Geumpil: “The others fought just as hard, but your merits always outshine theirs. I can’t blame them for getting upset because it dampens my spirit as well. We all fight with our lives, but you get all the credit.” That’s quite an admission from Park. The thing is, Yu accomplished more than anybody else did, even if it was only because he whupped a bunch of guys in single combat. Saying “you get all the credit” is quite an exaggeration, but it’s an accurate insight into what the others are feeling too, unreasonable as it may be.
Yu: “If I came off as a power-hungry subject, I deserve their criticism.” But he never did! Wow Yu is sure getting a bad deal here.
Choi Ung to WG: “Somewhere along the line, you began to show favoritism towards General Yu...General Yu is clearly innocent. But you have provided the cause.” Huh? When has WG shown favoritism? Actually there were a couple of times when Yu was receiving praise from others and WG could have taken the opportunity to praise multiple subordinates besides Yu, but he didn’t. If you’re really, really sensitive you could call that favoritism in a sense, but that’s on WG, not on Yu.
Choi Ung: “What happens when you give them ten when they ask for one? The rest becomes their debt. They will owe you instead.” So that’s his angle in this whole thing. Get those other guys in WG’s debt. OK at least we understand that he did have something larger in mind. But is this really worth sacrificing your best warrior for? We do know that WG didn’t start off as king with a very wide base of support—was this a way of making it wider? But enough time has passed by now that I’m not sure it’s an issue any more.
But debate aside, it was all fascinating. Even the scene with WG’s wives—we always get a token appearance for them and it’s almost always pretty pointless. But in this one they played a valuable role, and you could actually believe that the real WG’s wives might actually have done this.
Pretty much the same thing happened to Yi Soon-shin, right? He was just too good at his job and some other people just couldn’t stand it. How about that.
King Kyungsoon: “I resent my forefathers for calling on me to bring this regime to a close.” Fascinating character. What a difficult situation to be in, the king of a dying nation. What can you do.
Kim Yurum: “While our people compared King Kyun-hwon to a beast, they likened you to our own fathers.” That apparently is what sold them on him. We know him to be a compassionate and restrained king, and when KH went into Surabul so aggressively and with such malice, the contrast was enormous. WG to Kyungsoon: “I am just doing a job. I know what is duty and decency, and practice what I was taught.” And that really is about the size of it. We’re going to get into this a lot more when the series wraps up, just how and why WG ended up where he did.
For all of the excellent casting in this series, the guy playing the Shilla crown prince just doesn’t seem to be a great fit for that part. Or is it just me....
Park Sulhee: “Your childish jealousy makes me worry about the future of this kingdom.” Suddenly he’s the voice of reason. How weird have things gotten.
Choi Ung: “He must be charged.”
Yeah THAT weird, even Choi is buying into this. Although you have to think he has some larger, more strategic reason for what he’s saying, playing along with Yu Geumpil’s accusers for some reason. He certainly must know that this is all silliness.
King Kyungsoon: “This regime is on its last breath. I surrender it to you. It is a kingdom only in name. Please accept it.” This is such a powerful moment, the whimpering of a thousand-year-old kingdom. You just couldn’t watch this and not feel how bitter the situation is.
That is, until you realize that they’re all drinking out of empty cups again. Aigu!!!!!
■ Prince Ma-eui was right. Shilla would lose its autonomy with Wang Guhn’s first visit to Surabul. But they had become allies long before, and Wang Guhn had helped Shilla with all his power, enduring the most crushing defeat in Mt. Gong to establish his interest in Shilla. And now, by invitation of exhausted King Kyungsoon, Wang Guhn has secured control of Shilla and inched closer to the ultimate goal of unifying the Three Kingdoms.
Now suddenly they’re playing some sort of field hockey with what look like giant croquet mallets. What’s going on?
■ Kyuk-gu: It is an ancient game and training exercise enjoyed by military officials. Derivative of polo, a game of Persian origin, it was introduced to Shilla by Tang China and gained popularity during the Koryo era. Often called Ta-gu or Po-gu, it is a game much like modern-day hockey. We find record of this game in The Book of 24 Martial Arts, which was written in Chosun Era, and songs about Kyuk-gu are also found in the 44th chapter of the Sonnets of the Flying Dragon. Shin-guhm was drowning out his sorrows by immersing in this physical game.
What a great thing to toss in! And they went to some trouble to do it, too. Paid for all of the equipment and uniforms, and the game went on for a bit so they put some serious effort into staging the scene. Maybe a little too much pro wrestling theatrics in there...
(click for full size)
...but it’s TV, gotta love TV. This was totally unnecessary but it sure made for an interesting segment.
Park Sulhee to Yu Geumpil: “The others fought just as hard, but your merits always outshine theirs. I can’t blame them for getting upset because it dampens my spirit as well. We all fight with our lives, but you get all the credit.” That’s quite an admission from Park. The thing is, Yu accomplished more than anybody else did, even if it was only because he whupped a bunch of guys in single combat. Saying “you get all the credit” is quite an exaggeration, but it’s an accurate insight into what the others are feeling too, unreasonable as it may be.
Yu: “If I came off as a power-hungry subject, I deserve their criticism.” But he never did! Wow Yu is sure getting a bad deal here.
Choi Ung to WG: “Somewhere along the line, you began to show favoritism towards General Yu...General Yu is clearly innocent. But you have provided the cause.” Huh? When has WG shown favoritism? Actually there were a couple of times when Yu was receiving praise from others and WG could have taken the opportunity to praise multiple subordinates besides Yu, but he didn’t. If you’re really, really sensitive you could call that favoritism in a sense, but that’s on WG, not on Yu.
Choi Ung: “What happens when you give them ten when they ask for one? The rest becomes their debt. They will owe you instead.” So that’s his angle in this whole thing. Get those other guys in WG’s debt. OK at least we understand that he did have something larger in mind. But is this really worth sacrificing your best warrior for? We do know that WG didn’t start off as king with a very wide base of support—was this a way of making it wider? But enough time has passed by now that I’m not sure it’s an issue any more.
But debate aside, it was all fascinating. Even the scene with WG’s wives—we always get a token appearance for them and it’s almost always pretty pointless. But in this one they played a valuable role, and you could actually believe that the real WG’s wives might actually have done this.
Pretty much the same thing happened to Yi Soon-shin, right? He was just too good at his job and some other people just couldn’t stand it. How about that.