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Post by ajk on Jan 6, 2024 18:25:54 GMT -5
...is up on Kocowa now, with English subtitles. Remember, it's free with ads for 24 hours and then it goes behind a paywall.
I'll get to this one later tonight.
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Post by sageuk on Jan 6, 2024 19:01:07 GMT -5
In regards to them rescuing the POWs, I have to say, even if the soldiers are capable archers, it seems kind of careless to fire at the the captors while the captives are with them in one place, especially since an arrow could go past the intended target and accidentally hit a civilian. Especially with that volley.
Also this ep is showing its budget restraints.
The burning of the palace doesn’t feel as impactful as it should, though then again, I woke up with a raging headache this morning and it may have affected my viewing experience.
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Post by 𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔫𝔪𝔞𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯 on Jan 6, 2024 23:02:23 GMT -5
No, it wasn't just you, I was waiting for a shot of the whole Palace burning, but that never came. And I agree about the scenes rescuing the prisoners. Some of those shots definitely came from a good distance, I don't believe they never accidentally killed the people they tried to free.
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Post by ajk on Jan 7, 2024 4:20:37 GMT -5
One of the best episodes. A huge relief after the comic-book silliness we got last time. Several terrific sequences and only one stinker. Khitan emperor: “Why is he there [south] when he is desperate to meet me?” Ummm, maybe because you’ve got thousands of your soldiers running around trying to kill him? Ya think? I’m surprised Ha Gongjin didn’t fire that right back at him. In fact, Ha didn’t seem to be properly prepared for this at all. We could use some more material about the Khitan army fraying apart and morale plummeting. We got one scene in a previous episode but this is so important, we need more about it. (click for full size) It’s great how they always make sure to keep the seal in our view. Terrific touch, whoever thought of that. Nice moment between emperor and empress when they part. Well done. And then right after that, everything tanks. They put on commoner clothes. Okay fine, makes sense, but where did they get them? Then they climb up that steep rocky hill. Why? Just to look around for a minute? And it looks like a dangerous climb to risk the emperor making, even if he’s fit. What was the point? And it was all set to a cheesy pop ballad. Sung by a singer who apparently specializes in just that sort of thing, and already put into an OST that KBS is peddling. BOOOOO! The music so far has been very much in the background--maybe more than in any other series we’ve watched here--and it’s worked well, purposefully used only to accent and emphasize. This was so jarringly different from everything we had seen and heard before it, even if you liked the song it felt completely out of place, like someone had spliced it in as a commercial for the OST. Blecch. (click for full size) How did he know that? There was no advance party and they’re in commoner’s clothes. Continuity error. “Your majesty, why are you in such clothes?” “There were some reasons.” HA! Loved that. And then we get to Kim Eunbu’s house...and the big question gets answered: yes there will be a bath! One of the most memorable scenes from Iron Empress. But here they expanded on it, and made the daughter a big part of it. And it worked. Nicely written. “When a woman says she will make a man an outfit, it means she will offer him her heart and body too.” “A subject’s duty? That is an excuse made up by men who wish to use their daughters to win the ruler’s favor.” Yes this was trying to get more female-friendly content into the story, but it was written so well that it didn’t feel forced or preachy. Round of applause. Major fist-clench action in this one, totally sick of it. In case anybody else was a little confused by No Jeon showing up and fleeing for his life back to Goryeo lines: In the previous episode there was a comment about “Someone in the Khitan army is helping us”..and then later we saw No talking to Xiao Paiya and providing him w--—how did he escape and get that far on foot, no explanation given--but anyway that’s the explanation. Yep, there’s the guy from earlier in the series, looking for his daughter. Hope he finds her before the final episode. (click for full size) Yi Soon Shin!! Yi Soon Shin!! lol What a story Yang Kyu is. Thank goodness the writers got back to telling us the terrific story they have for us and got away from forcing Choi Soo Jong into every little thing. More of this please!
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Post by truth on Jan 7, 2024 7:06:14 GMT -5
In case anybody else was a little confused by No Jeon showing up and fleeing for his life back to Goryeo lines: In the previous episode there was a comment about “Someone in the Khitan army is helping us”..and then later we saw No talking to Xiao Paiya and providing him w--—how did he escape and get that far on foot, no explanation given--but anyway that’s the explanation. No Jeon surrendered to the Khitans along with Lee Hyunwoon in history but was somehow awarded with higher merit than Yang Gyu after the war. Exact detail of how he has higher merit than Yang Gyu isn't recorded in any remaining historical texts. The last remaining detail of his life before he was awarded with high merit is that he was arrested when he visited Choi Jil & Kim Hun as a Khitan envoy, so it is assumed that he re-joined Goryeo afterward and did something great. What a story Yang Kyu is. Thank goodness the writers got back to telling us the terrific story they have for us and got away from forcing Choi Soo Jong into every little thing. More of this please! It is historically accurate that Yang Gyu attacked the fleeing Khitans to rescue Korean hostages.
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Post by ajk on Jan 7, 2024 15:20:09 GMT -5
I didn't have as much of a problem with the forest rescue...when the Khitans heard the whistling arrows they sort of left the prisoners and tried to make a break for it. Which would make sense, you can believe that it would happen that way. The prisoners dropped to the ground and covered up. But it's a good point, it probably was not a squeaky clean rescue at all and there probably were losses. I even wondered if some of the Khitans used prisoners as shields...maybe they did or maybe they were too panicked and simply ran. No Jeon surrendered to the Khitans along with Lee Hyunwoon in history but was somehow awarded with higher merit than Yang Gyu after the war. Exact detail of how he has higher merit than Yang Gyu isn't recorded in any remaining historical texts. The last remaining detail of his life before he was awarded with high merit is that he was arrested when he visited Choi Jil & Kim Hun as a Khitan envoy, so it is assumed that he re-joined Goryeo afterward and did something great. That is absolutely bananas. No Jeon must have had some friends in high places to grease the wheels for him. Obviously trying to paper over his switching sides the first time. Amazing. Like something a Chicago alderman would try to do. Somehow I lost a bit of text in the main post. It was supposed to say ”...and then later we saw No talking to Xiao Paiya and providing him with what turned out to be incorrect information about the Goryeo army. What we saw here didn't make much sense--—how how did he escape and get that far on foot..." Sorry for not catching that, it was sloppy without it.
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Post by truth on Jan 7, 2024 15:38:42 GMT -5
That is absolutely bananas. No Jeon must have had some friends in high places to grease the wheels for him. Obviously trying to paper over his switching sides the first time. Amazing. Like something a Chicago alderman would try to do. I don't blame him for surrendering. It was a life-or-death matter for him. At least he didn't praise the Khitan emperor like Lee Hyunwoon did when he surrendered. You also can't assume that he had someone in high place to grease the wheels for him just because there isn't any remaining record about the details. As I said before, the original Annals of Goryeo Dynasty were burnt during the Imjin War. The currently remaining historical book about Goryeo's history is a summary version written during King Sejong of Joseon. And I mean it when I say "summary" version. Original Annals of Goryeo Dynasty had total of 185 books. The shortened summary version consists of 75 books. The fact that he immediately rejoined Goryeo after coming as Khitan envoy shows that he didn't want to betray his country when he surrendered to the Khitans.
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Post by sageuk on Jan 14, 2024 16:20:20 GMT -5
I just took a look at IE’s version of the burning of Gaegyeong to compare with this drama’s.
It’s also meh.
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