Post by ajk on Apr 14, 2009 13:04:20 GMT -5
Yu Jujeong tells Hunae that the invaders took Hyangbi, Suri (Who's that?) and dozens of lady attendants. What about Queen Hunjeong? He doesn't know; he forgot to check. (Idiot.) Gang Jo tells Hunae he'll go back and tend to this so that Hunae can be at her son's installation.
We see the boy Wang Song's installation ceremony. Formal duds all around; the king reads a proclamation; the whole nine yards. (Just wondering: Why wasn't Hunjeong invited to this? She's a former queen and the kid's aunt, after all. If she'd been invited she wouldn't have been there when the attack happened.)
Gang Jo is riding north--and suddenly Hunae catches up to him. She skipped the ceremony after all.
On a boat, in the open water: We see Hyangbi and another woman, presumably Suri, seated and blindfolded.
The king is informed by Gamchan (who obviously took that government job after all) of the attack and kidnapping. Gamchan concludes that it must have been Jurchens. Seo Hui urges sending troops to rescue the hostages, and other ministers back him up, saying that Jurchen attacks have become an increasing problem and must be dealt with. But then Choe Sum says that Hunae brought this on herself! Because she instigated scuffles with Jurchens in the north. He even suspects that she might use this as an excuse to reassemble a private army again. Silly as it sounds, some of the other ministers (it looked like former Shillans, go figure) back him up. But the king says he can't make any decision until he knows about his sister's whereabouts.
Myeongbok Palace: Yi Sulhwa gives Hunae their casualty numbers: twenty dead, forty injured. They killed a bunch of the invaders too, for whatever little that matters. We're glad to see Queen Hunjeong there; she's unharmed. Then Gamchan arrives. He fills Hunae in on the accusations in the court; turns out that the king ordered an investigation of the situation and sent Gamchan to conduct it. Hunae is aghast: "People who raised him are dead and he thinks it was staged?" He tries to counsel her to let him close the investigation so that military action can be taken. But Hunae thinks the court will stall and delay and nothing will happen and in the meantime the hostages could be killed. She wants to act now, and says to Gamchan, Tell the king this is his fault for disbanding my private army and for not being firm enough with the Jurchens in the first place. And "stay out of Hwangju's business like always." But Gamchan says he's staying; he agrees with her about the need for action now, and he knows the territory well. She's pleased.
The king is told by his eunuch Go Hyun that his sister is okay and that Gamchan is staying to aid Hunae in the north. And then he's told of the many casualties. "They must be so resentful of me," he realizes. "How is the popular sentiment in Hwangju?" Go fidgets and ducks the question, and won't answer it even when ordered to. Which tells king what he needs to know: they're probably disgusted with him up there.
Evening: The new prince Gaeryong is sulking because Hunae wasn't at his ceremony. The girl Sun finds him alone; he puts on a brave face and tells her it's no matter, Hunae isn't his real mother anyway. But we can see that he's hurt.
Hunae has led two boats northward. They disembark, and acting on a tip, journey some distance into the woods...where they're suddenly surrounded by a much larger force. It's led by the Jurchen Sa Gamun, who asks them why they're there. Gamchan tells him why. Are you responsible?, he asks. Gamchan says No, we're not (which is a total lie, as we learned at the end of the previous episode). Gamchan asks him, Then who is?
The Goryeans are led into a Jurchen village and meet with leaders: Kim Chiyang and his father (the father is apparently the tribal chief). They demand to know who was responsible for the kidnappings if it wasn't this tribe. Chiyang ventures, "Would you grant a request if we help?" His father scolds him for asking, but he presses. The Goryeans ask what he wants. First we'll help, Chiyang says; then we'll talk. He says the tribe responsible for the kidnappings lives quite a ways from here; they had been pushed around by the Khitans, and we have hostile relations with them. (He clearly is making this up.) Later, Gamchan Jo and Hunae wonder if this is a trap, but realize they have to trust these people for now.
A strange sequence, as the girl Sa Illa rides into a settlement on horseback. She talks to two men and tells them, "they're here." One is old and says his life is not worth "a speck of dust" in the bigger picture; the other, her uncle, tells her that "they must never discover the source of the attack." He also tells her, "I'd like you to be the one." Guess we have to wait to see what this all means.
Hunjeong is playing her stringed instrument, still pining away for Prince Gyeongjuwon. Then she hears a flute...she runs outside and guess who's standing there. We don't know why he's suddenly there after years have passed, but there he is. She's almost overcome at seeing him but manages to control herself.
Nighttime: The Goryeans and Chiyang's Jurchens are traveling through the woods. Suddenly, an ambush! Traps are sprung, and flaming arrows streak through the air. Men are getting cut down, and Chiyang himself steps in front of Hunae and takes an arrow to the chest, saving her life. A wave of attackers appears, and a sword battle ensues. Then, from the side, Sa Illa on horseback and a bunch of reinforcements arrive to help. We see her uncle from the earlier scene emerge from within the attackers, seemingly acting as one of their leaders, ordering an attack on the reinforcements (against his own niece?). Then he nods to the girl. We see her crying; then, through her tears, she charges her horse at him and cuts him down! He dies on the spot. "Their leader has fallen!", she yells, and the attackers retreat into the woods. The attackers are pursued into a settlement, where more battling occurs. Then, in the middle of it all, out run Hyangbi and the other hostages! "How did you get out?", Hunae wants to know. Hyangbi gestures to Sa Illa. Then, as if this couldn't get any weirder, an old man emerges carrying a white flag and demands the fighting be stopped. It's the "speck of dust" old man who was with Sa Illa and her uncle earlier. Hunae confronts him about the hostages. Yes, we kidnapped them, he says. We did it for survival; we hoped to get ransom money. I'm the one responsible, he says; "Let my people suffer no consequences for my foolishness." And he takes out a knife and commits suicide right there on the spot! (So apparently this whole episode was staged for the Goryeans for some reason, and was so important to the tribe that those two men were willing to give their lives for it.) Then on top of it all, Chiyang suddenly collapses from his injury.
Back in the capital: Lady Yunheung asks the king to visit the queen. I feel guilty being here in her palace, she says, and now she's ill. I feel bad for her and you should visit her.
The king has come to visit Queen Mundeok. It turns out she wanted to see him because she's dying and is wants to leave her daughter Sun (who's now fifteen years old) in Hunae's care when she's gone. The king doesn't like this and demands an explanation; she won't give him one so he says No, I can't do that; Lady Yunheung will attend to her future. This upsets Mundeok terribly: You detest me, she says, and that's why I surrendered my rights as queen to Yunheung and am living out here by myself. But now I'm supposed to surrender my daughter to her too? Have I ever defied you since the day we married? "Have I ever asked you for anything as your wife?" I know you don't love me, she says, but this is your wife's dying wish--can't you grant it? Bring Hunae to me before I die so that I can leave my daughter with her.
Chiyang is recovering and Hunae goes with Gamchan and Jo into his tent to see him. He tells her he's a tribal vice-chief but is not the chief's real son; he's adopted, and he's Goryean! So what's he doing here? He tells a story of his father becoming involved in a "treasonous plot." The family lived in Dongju and the father, Kim Gon, worked in the government for several officials who were executed. He and the family fled to the north. She thanks him for his help in rescuing the hostages and asks him what it is that he wants from her. "Take me and my two friends under your wing," he says, referring to Sa Gamun and Sa Illa. That's all? A very strange request. Besides, you're an important person here; why leave? For survival, he says. It's getting rough here because northern Jurchen tribes are being pushed south by the Khitans, and tribe are clashing with each other more and more. "You'd abandon your tribe to save yourself?", Jo asks suspiciously. No, Chiyang says, I've done everything I can for my tribe without success, so I want to go to Goryeo and "find another way" to help them.
Outside, Gang Jo tells Hunae he's suspicious of his story and the whole episode. Even if the tribe is poor, he says, to have traveled all the way to Myeongbok Palace for some hostages? And then the leader kills himself just like that? He smells a rat (and he smells right, we know). But Hunae says that they have to be grateful for his help and she has to be grateful for taking the arrow for her. So she's going to grant the request. Gamchan says he'll thoroughly check out Chiyang's story.
Hunae tells Chiyang they'll grant his request. They'll spend the night in Chiyang's village to rest and recover before returning home.
Evening at Chiyang's village. A feast is held; food and dancing, the villagers and guests having fun. In the middle of it all, Hunae meets a little boy who makes her think back to her son...
...and we see the prince in his quarters. He had been studying the Analects of Confucius but now is just sitting there looking sad. The king comes in; he apparently is feeling guilty and needs to tell his son, "I'm sorry. For not allowing you to see your mother." The kid puts a brave face on; I know it isn't personal, he says, and "is for the good of Goryeo" because mother was "reckless and disobedient." Looking like he’s telling the king what he thinks he should say, they boy says he thinks of Yunheung as his mother and that Hunae didn’t even show up to his installation. The king starts to explain why Hunae wasn’t there, but then decides not to and leaves.
Narration tells us that Jurchen tribes had lived scattered throughout the Liaodong and Yalu River territories, and that Khitan expeditions in 984 and 985 drove tribes out of Liaodong and pushed many into Goryeo territory. Some became tribute payers to Goryeo but others became troublemakers, raiding Goryean villages.
The next day: Sa Illa tells Chiyang that "they" (presumably her uncle and the old man) were given a proper burial. Bury your grief, he advises her, like a dagger deep in your heart. For now, we must show the Goryeans honor and respect. "And the time will come when we can unsheathe that dagger and fulfill the cherished dreams of those who were sacrificed!"
We see the boy Wang Song's installation ceremony. Formal duds all around; the king reads a proclamation; the whole nine yards. (Just wondering: Why wasn't Hunjeong invited to this? She's a former queen and the kid's aunt, after all. If she'd been invited she wouldn't have been there when the attack happened.)
Gang Jo is riding north--and suddenly Hunae catches up to him. She skipped the ceremony after all.
On a boat, in the open water: We see Hyangbi and another woman, presumably Suri, seated and blindfolded.
The king is informed by Gamchan (who obviously took that government job after all) of the attack and kidnapping. Gamchan concludes that it must have been Jurchens. Seo Hui urges sending troops to rescue the hostages, and other ministers back him up, saying that Jurchen attacks have become an increasing problem and must be dealt with. But then Choe Sum says that Hunae brought this on herself! Because she instigated scuffles with Jurchens in the north. He even suspects that she might use this as an excuse to reassemble a private army again. Silly as it sounds, some of the other ministers (it looked like former Shillans, go figure) back him up. But the king says he can't make any decision until he knows about his sister's whereabouts.
Myeongbok Palace: Yi Sulhwa gives Hunae their casualty numbers: twenty dead, forty injured. They killed a bunch of the invaders too, for whatever little that matters. We're glad to see Queen Hunjeong there; she's unharmed. Then Gamchan arrives. He fills Hunae in on the accusations in the court; turns out that the king ordered an investigation of the situation and sent Gamchan to conduct it. Hunae is aghast: "People who raised him are dead and he thinks it was staged?" He tries to counsel her to let him close the investigation so that military action can be taken. But Hunae thinks the court will stall and delay and nothing will happen and in the meantime the hostages could be killed. She wants to act now, and says to Gamchan, Tell the king this is his fault for disbanding my private army and for not being firm enough with the Jurchens in the first place. And "stay out of Hwangju's business like always." But Gamchan says he's staying; he agrees with her about the need for action now, and he knows the territory well. She's pleased.
The king is told by his eunuch Go Hyun that his sister is okay and that Gamchan is staying to aid Hunae in the north. And then he's told of the many casualties. "They must be so resentful of me," he realizes. "How is the popular sentiment in Hwangju?" Go fidgets and ducks the question, and won't answer it even when ordered to. Which tells king what he needs to know: they're probably disgusted with him up there.
Evening: The new prince Gaeryong is sulking because Hunae wasn't at his ceremony. The girl Sun finds him alone; he puts on a brave face and tells her it's no matter, Hunae isn't his real mother anyway. But we can see that he's hurt.
Hunae has led two boats northward. They disembark, and acting on a tip, journey some distance into the woods...where they're suddenly surrounded by a much larger force. It's led by the Jurchen Sa Gamun, who asks them why they're there. Gamchan tells him why. Are you responsible?, he asks. Gamchan says No, we're not (which is a total lie, as we learned at the end of the previous episode). Gamchan asks him, Then who is?
The Goryeans are led into a Jurchen village and meet with leaders: Kim Chiyang and his father (the father is apparently the tribal chief). They demand to know who was responsible for the kidnappings if it wasn't this tribe. Chiyang ventures, "Would you grant a request if we help?" His father scolds him for asking, but he presses. The Goryeans ask what he wants. First we'll help, Chiyang says; then we'll talk. He says the tribe responsible for the kidnappings lives quite a ways from here; they had been pushed around by the Khitans, and we have hostile relations with them. (He clearly is making this up.) Later, Gamchan Jo and Hunae wonder if this is a trap, but realize they have to trust these people for now.
A strange sequence, as the girl Sa Illa rides into a settlement on horseback. She talks to two men and tells them, "they're here." One is old and says his life is not worth "a speck of dust" in the bigger picture; the other, her uncle, tells her that "they must never discover the source of the attack." He also tells her, "I'd like you to be the one." Guess we have to wait to see what this all means.
Hunjeong is playing her stringed instrument, still pining away for Prince Gyeongjuwon. Then she hears a flute...she runs outside and guess who's standing there. We don't know why he's suddenly there after years have passed, but there he is. She's almost overcome at seeing him but manages to control herself.
Nighttime: The Goryeans and Chiyang's Jurchens are traveling through the woods. Suddenly, an ambush! Traps are sprung, and flaming arrows streak through the air. Men are getting cut down, and Chiyang himself steps in front of Hunae and takes an arrow to the chest, saving her life. A wave of attackers appears, and a sword battle ensues. Then, from the side, Sa Illa on horseback and a bunch of reinforcements arrive to help. We see her uncle from the earlier scene emerge from within the attackers, seemingly acting as one of their leaders, ordering an attack on the reinforcements (against his own niece?). Then he nods to the girl. We see her crying; then, through her tears, she charges her horse at him and cuts him down! He dies on the spot. "Their leader has fallen!", she yells, and the attackers retreat into the woods. The attackers are pursued into a settlement, where more battling occurs. Then, in the middle of it all, out run Hyangbi and the other hostages! "How did you get out?", Hunae wants to know. Hyangbi gestures to Sa Illa. Then, as if this couldn't get any weirder, an old man emerges carrying a white flag and demands the fighting be stopped. It's the "speck of dust" old man who was with Sa Illa and her uncle earlier. Hunae confronts him about the hostages. Yes, we kidnapped them, he says. We did it for survival; we hoped to get ransom money. I'm the one responsible, he says; "Let my people suffer no consequences for my foolishness." And he takes out a knife and commits suicide right there on the spot! (So apparently this whole episode was staged for the Goryeans for some reason, and was so important to the tribe that those two men were willing to give their lives for it.) Then on top of it all, Chiyang suddenly collapses from his injury.
Back in the capital: Lady Yunheung asks the king to visit the queen. I feel guilty being here in her palace, she says, and now she's ill. I feel bad for her and you should visit her.
The king has come to visit Queen Mundeok. It turns out she wanted to see him because she's dying and is wants to leave her daughter Sun (who's now fifteen years old) in Hunae's care when she's gone. The king doesn't like this and demands an explanation; she won't give him one so he says No, I can't do that; Lady Yunheung will attend to her future. This upsets Mundeok terribly: You detest me, she says, and that's why I surrendered my rights as queen to Yunheung and am living out here by myself. But now I'm supposed to surrender my daughter to her too? Have I ever defied you since the day we married? "Have I ever asked you for anything as your wife?" I know you don't love me, she says, but this is your wife's dying wish--can't you grant it? Bring Hunae to me before I die so that I can leave my daughter with her.
Chiyang is recovering and Hunae goes with Gamchan and Jo into his tent to see him. He tells her he's a tribal vice-chief but is not the chief's real son; he's adopted, and he's Goryean! So what's he doing here? He tells a story of his father becoming involved in a "treasonous plot." The family lived in Dongju and the father, Kim Gon, worked in the government for several officials who were executed. He and the family fled to the north. She thanks him for his help in rescuing the hostages and asks him what it is that he wants from her. "Take me and my two friends under your wing," he says, referring to Sa Gamun and Sa Illa. That's all? A very strange request. Besides, you're an important person here; why leave? For survival, he says. It's getting rough here because northern Jurchen tribes are being pushed south by the Khitans, and tribe are clashing with each other more and more. "You'd abandon your tribe to save yourself?", Jo asks suspiciously. No, Chiyang says, I've done everything I can for my tribe without success, so I want to go to Goryeo and "find another way" to help them.
Outside, Gang Jo tells Hunae he's suspicious of his story and the whole episode. Even if the tribe is poor, he says, to have traveled all the way to Myeongbok Palace for some hostages? And then the leader kills himself just like that? He smells a rat (and he smells right, we know). But Hunae says that they have to be grateful for his help and she has to be grateful for taking the arrow for her. So she's going to grant the request. Gamchan says he'll thoroughly check out Chiyang's story.
Hunae tells Chiyang they'll grant his request. They'll spend the night in Chiyang's village to rest and recover before returning home.
Evening at Chiyang's village. A feast is held; food and dancing, the villagers and guests having fun. In the middle of it all, Hunae meets a little boy who makes her think back to her son...
...and we see the prince in his quarters. He had been studying the Analects of Confucius but now is just sitting there looking sad. The king comes in; he apparently is feeling guilty and needs to tell his son, "I'm sorry. For not allowing you to see your mother." The kid puts a brave face on; I know it isn't personal, he says, and "is for the good of Goryeo" because mother was "reckless and disobedient." Looking like he’s telling the king what he thinks he should say, they boy says he thinks of Yunheung as his mother and that Hunae didn’t even show up to his installation. The king starts to explain why Hunae wasn’t there, but then decides not to and leaves.
Narration tells us that Jurchen tribes had lived scattered throughout the Liaodong and Yalu River territories, and that Khitan expeditions in 984 and 985 drove tribes out of Liaodong and pushed many into Goryeo territory. Some became tribute payers to Goryeo but others became troublemakers, raiding Goryean villages.
The next day: Sa Illa tells Chiyang that "they" (presumably her uncle and the old man) were given a proper burial. Bury your grief, he advises her, like a dagger deep in your heart. For now, we must show the Goryeans honor and respect. "And the time will come when we can unsheathe that dagger and fulfill the cherished dreams of those who were sacrificed!"