Why so little character development for Won Kyun?

[skinz]

We all know that he was a "childhood friend" with YSS
(i know that this is not a fact), entered military training school, and passed the test to become a officer. But what else do we know about him?

Shouldn't their be more to Won Kyun than jealousy?

We understand the military point of view from YSS and the royal court point of view from Yu Sung Ryong, but Won Kyun Point of view in the overall picture is nowhere to be found. There's no doubt that Won Kyun will become important later in the show, but will it be to late?

Will we even care about his tramatic downfall since the invasion of Japanese troops, the Ming reinforcements, and YSS return to battle overshadow it?

The only way I can see Won Kyun character being used
properly is if his point of view is about the defeated soldiers of Chosun and how they really felt about the war.

[Eowyn]

Perhaps Won Kyun's character is all about temper and impulsiveness - a contrast to YSS.

[T'ae-bi-mama]

I was thinking that maybe he represents the perspective of a regular but skilled warrior--not too creative, not a rocket scientist--perhaps what YSS might have been like if he wasn't so darned obsessed with Protecting the People. Won Kyun (of the show) is a better fit with the establishment than YSS.

[moreshige]

If won kyun turns out like anything like the won kyun of history then he's gonna represent cowardice but hidden within a huge ego.

[Aging Warrior]

So far Won Kyun has displayed great loyalty, the ability to inspire loyalty, a willingness to go against the crowd and the ability to teach courage. Of course most of this was when he was young but he still acted that way in the military academy. Now that he is actually in the military, we haven't had a chance to see many of those traits except for his loyalty to YSS when dealing with the regional commander. I thought YSS was out of line when he confronted Kyun recently. Even if Kyun was wrong to kill the Jurchens, he deserves better from YSS.

It would be a shame if the writers only put Kyun in a negative light from now on. I hope they make sure that we downfall is still tragic when we reach it.

[Hachiman Taro]

As expressed by others, particularly on one of the threads on the tangent board, I continue to be somewhat disappointed by character development in general in this show. As General Du (the screename, not the AOW character) so aptly put it, good drama is rendered by giving us well rounded characters with flaws in our heroes and admirable points with our villains. That's what we had with AOW.

It's easy for someone like me to second guess writers while sitting here in the bleachers, but it seems like the evolution of Kyun may have worked better (and been more believable) had the writers, instead of abruptly changing him from a principled man with a conscience into a hard/pig-headed military man (at EP24 here), done something like this: Kept Kyun a decent fellow at heart (that he had certainly been through the first part of the show), but had him driven to the bottle by his frustration in love and with the same corruption within the country and military that YSS fought against. His increasing drunkeness would progressively bury the more human traits in him and find him increasingly driven by cynicism, hate, jealousy and impetuousness. Why the bottle? Because one historical account I read said that Kyun was stone drunk when he led the fleet to its disastrous defeat---if you're ripped going into a key battle, you have a serious drinking problem unless you're Jackie Chan in the Drunken Master. In any case, such an evolution would give more depth to the Kyun character, make his transformation more believable in terms most viewers can understand, and make him a somewhat more sympathetic and tragic figure.

[florel]

Through Internet I glanced a situation that Won Kyun's character in the YSS show has aroused lots of debates among Korean spectators. Many of them manifest a huge anger because Won Kyun in the show does not correspond with his traditional stereotyped image : piggy drunken stupid corrupted ugly ass. Therefore, as YSS dramatists announced a re-interpretation of Won Kyun, they have had to face with Korean spectators' resistance and repugnance. YSS dramatists are undertaking a difficult job. I agree with the critical view that we observe a certain inconsistency of Won Kyun's character in the show. Dramatists somtimes lost their way between fictional (positive) and historical (negative) Won Kyun.

As a Korean who is accustomed to his traditional image, I was really shocked at new Won Kyun of the show. But I'm not annoyed (as some of my compatriots) at the fact that dramatists try to re-appreciate him. It's an interesting tentative from a dramaturgical point of view. But the show has a serious problem as a HISTORICAL DRAMA, because it does not hesitate to modify historical facts to create positive image of Won Kyun. For example, he takes a good role that belonged to other historical person in fact (Episode 33).

Up to Episode 40 or 41, Won Kyun has not brutally changed. He is a tough upright guy. But he is ruthless to enemies. (Dramatists gave an allusion in Episode 20.) He is a Muscle-Only-and-No-Brain type. (Sometimes I think of Yi Ko in AOW. )

The real transformation of his character will be carried between Episode 41 and 50. Episodes 41-42 are a real shock to me... I'm not willing to comment on them now. I wonder how dramatists develop the character of Won Kyun after Episode 51.

[TheBo]

florel said:

The real transformation of his character will be carried between Episode 41 and 50. Episodes 41-42 are a real shock to me... I'm not willing to comment on them now. I wonder how dramatists develop the character of Won Kyun after Episode 51.

Yes, please continue your considerate restraint on posting spoilers--we appreciate it greatly, florel. I also appreciate your point of view as a Korean in this matter. If the writers are trying to overcome a stereotyped character, perhaps that explains why he seems so stilted and undeveloped to us, because the road of correction can swing wildly. I like Hachiman Taro's scenario--we'd like anything (as opposed to nothing) that would help us to accept his change from staunch defender of the deserving underdog to mindless, cruel martinet.

Bo