Post by ajk on May 6, 2009 14:46:05 GMT -5
(Note: The first few minutes of this episode were not shown during the first airing. So, joined in progress....)
The prisoner Jo Sun has been brought by Gang Jo to the palace training ground and is given a chance to stick-fight him (I don’t know why). It’s a fair fight and Gang Jo wins without too much trouble. He knocks Sun down and menaces him. "Now talk. Are you the one who raided Guibup Temple?" But Jo Sun won't talk. He does, though, tell Gang that he remembers him from twelve years ago:. "I should have killed you then." Huh?
Gang Jo reports back to Hunae that Jo Sun won't talk. And tells Hunae, You may remember him from the past...A flashback to the archery contest in Ep2; Gang Jo getting knocked out from behind, and the man who did it holding a sword to the young Hwangbo Su's neck. That was Jo Sun!...Flashback ending, Hunae goes to see him. He reminds Hunae that he saved her life (which is true; he was ordered to kill her but he let her go) and tells her he's an innocent man and she shouldn't be trying to kill him. You're a slave trader, Gang Jo fires back, so "stop fishing for sympathy." He again adamantly denies involvement with the attack on Prince Gaeryeong. Kim Chiyang is there too, and concludes that the man will never talk unless something different is tried.
Nighttime: A man tries to dismount a horse in front of a house, but falls off and collapses. It's Jo Du; we last saw him get knocked unconscious by Sa Illa at the caravan attack. And this is Kim Wonsoong's house. Inside, he tells Wonsoong about the attack and says that everyone else died. "There goes my money!" Wonsoong moans (what a sweetie). He angrily blames the Jurchens.
Chiyang is mixing up a powder. In front of him is Jo Sun, tied to a chair. It's a truth drug, he says; it creates a kind of euphoria. He blows the powder into Jo Sun's face, and then induces some sort of hypnotic trance using an amulet. Then he starts to question him. Who tied to kill Hunae and her son at the temple--was it you? A head-shake no. Then who was it? "My...subordinate." Where is he? "He's dead. A Jurchen woman killed him." (He incorrectly believes that.) Who was behind it--did you give the order? Head-shake no. It was Kim Wonsoong, wasn't it? Still in the trance, Jo Sun suddenly begins to seize up and fight with himself, violently trying to resist the truth-urge. Still tied to the chair, he stands himself up and rams his head into a post, knocking himself out!
Prince Gyeongjuwon gets the news; he's gonna be a daddy. Escort Yun can't believe they hadn't figured it out. "You are both so dense," she tells them (which cracked me up).
Choe Ryang tells Choe Sum that he ran into Gyeongjuwon in the town. Interesting news. And he also tells him about Seo Hui's putting his life on the line to urge the king for punitive action against the Jurchens. Choe Sum isn't the least bit bothered: "That's good news. Tell him to do it." You must consider it, Ryang advises; Seo is speaking out of loyalty, not self-interest; and the northerners are a part of Goryeo. "We can't have a region that harbors resentment for the king. That makes it very difficult to govern the country." Sum still doesn't want it because if the north strengthens, the southern lords weaken. But Ryang suggests, Support this and I can make headway on the royal consort proposal. Ryang is trying to broker a deal here.
Seo Hui reiterates to Gamchan and Yi Jibaek his commitment to protecting the north. Then Gamchan suggests sitting down with Choe Sum and the Shillans to try to work this all out. They're not wicked, he says (which is a bit of wishful thinking); "we just have different ideals." And politics is about compromise. Then a woman interrupts them; she's looking for Gamchan. She hands him a note--from Prince Gaeryeong.
We see the young prince studying Chinese with Lady Yunheung (who presumably has been elevated to queen by now). It's an easy verse he's reading, but he's having some trouble with it. He says he has a headache, and Yunheung feels a bit of temperature on him. Get some rest, she says, and I'll call a physician. No, the boy says, I need some air and I'd like a horse ride. But she disapproves and is unhappy that Hunae was teaching him such a thing; she says that the future king shouldn't be messing around with horse rides and shooting arrows, and that he must focus on his studies. Trust me, she says; I'm your mother and I care about you. And you're supposed to call me "mother", she feels it necessary to remind him. Which he hasn't been doing. But he reluctantly does.
The Shillans are meeting; Choe Sum tells them about the Gyeongjuwon sighting. Sum is happy about this because Gyeongjuwon has blood ties to Shilla's final king, which makes him the best option for the Shillans by far. He had no interest in the throne, the others remind him. But that was a while ago; maybe he's changed. It's at least worth pursuing, Sum says, and tells them that he's arranged for the pharmacist where Gyeongjuwon was last seen to keep watch for him. Then he tells them about Choe Ryang's proposal.
The king and queen are lying in bed together. Seo Hui's words are ringing in the king's head and he can't sleep. The queen wants him to stop worrying about state affairs and get his rest. She tries to comfort him, but now he's feeling frisky....
Nighttime: Gyeongjuwon wakes up laughing, positively giddy over having a child. Stop it, Seol tells him, just a bit annoyed; you're being silly. Then he asks her if she had a "conception dream" (whatever that is). She says Yes, but it's embarrassing. I’m your husband, he says; you can tell me anything....
(Note: Commercials were inserted here and content was almost certainly lost.)
Gamchan and Sa Gamun check on the prisoner Jo Sun. It was last night that he bonked himself in the head and he still hasn't woken up from it. "I've never met anyone more strong-willed," Sa Gamun says.
"Let him go?" Gamchan has suggested to Hunae that Jo Sun is never going to talk and will just end up dead if we keep pushing him. Chiyang and Gang Jo want to keep trying; after all, he's confessed to some of the story already. And if we send him back, Wonsoong will know what we did and act against us. But Gamchan says it will do just the opposite--We'll show him we know he did it and that he better not try anything else again. (For the first time in the whole series, I think he's wrong. This is a bad idea.) Hunae thinks about it and decides to let him go, mainly because he did save her life once.
Gyeongjuwon has returned to the pharmacist for some herbs for his pregnant wife. Just give me a few minutes and I'll prepare them for you, the pharmacist tells him, but then he sends out a messenger....
Chiyang, Sa Gamun and Sa Illa are unhappy about Jo Sun’s pending release, but there isn't much they can do about it any more. They're disappointed because breaking the case would have been a perfect way to gain Hunae's trust (for their unknown great cause). Chiyang says, We'll have to find some other way. One way to lay down roots, he points out, is by establishing family ties through marriage.
Myeongbok Palace training ground: Yi Sulhwa, Suri, and Hyangbi. Girl talk. Turns out, Hyangbi has a crush on somebody. But she won't tell them who. (Lucky bastard, whoever it is.)
Evening: Chiyang is outside and notices a silhouetted Hunae as she prepares for bed. He watches, for just long enough that something must be in his head (guess what), but then walks away.
The king is coming to see the queen. But outside, he notices that Escort Jo has been crying. Why?
Inside, the queen tells him about the attack on her father's caravan. Fifty men were killed, she says, including Escort Jo's brother. (So her brother is Jo Sun; news to us). That's why she was crying. This was another violent Jurchen attack right after the Myeongbok Palace attack, she points out to him. "I know women have no place in state affairs," she says, but "I think a stronger government response is required." He says nothing but we can see he doesn't disagree with her. (Now wait a minute. Wasn't the king firmly convinced that the Myeongbok episode was entirely Hunae's charade? Now he doesn't think so?)
Seo Hui and Choe Sum are talking! They're at opposite sides of a table; Choe Ryang is between them and is moderating the discussion. Sum opposes any sort of "territory expansion," he says, because that always brings war. But it's not expansion, Seo argues; Goguryeo territory is part of Goryeo and we have a duty to protect them just like all other parts of Goryeo. Sum wants him to accept the consort proposal in exchange for his support for action against the Jurchens. Seo agrees, and assures Sum that the goal isn't to exterminate the Jurchens or provoke a broader conflict, just to drive them out of the former Goguryeo territory. Deal. They drink to the agreement.
The king and ministers are meeting. The ministers all support action against the Jurchens. Even Choe Sum, to the king's surprise (and to Wonsoong's surprise as well). Okay, the king says; we'll take punitive action. He orders Minister of Defense Yi Gyeoumi to drive the Jurchens north past Mt. Baekdu. Seo Hui is silent but we can see how relieved and gratified he is.
Seo Hui, Yi Jibaek and Gang Gamchan are visiting Hunae and report the good news. Weren't there objections from the (Shillan) Confucianists?, she asks. No, it was unanimous. Seo doesn't mention the part about agreeing to the consort (Would it matter to her? I kind of think it might). She's very happy that action will finally be taken on behalf of the northerners.
Sa Gamun and Yi Sulhwa are stick-fighting. She's giving him a good fight (and it's not implausible; she's a fairly good-sized woman), but at one point she falls down from a hard blow to her forearm. It hurts like crazy. Sa Gamun unlaces her arm guard and starts feeling up her arm, concerned about a possible broken bone (so he says!). This is making her very uncomfortable; obviously this is R-rated stuff for the time. As he checks her arm, he looks at her and tells her she has pretty eyes. Just then a man shows up looking for Chiyang, which puts an end to all of this wanton debauchery.
Inside, the man tells Chiyang that someone showed up at Hangae Temple asking about him. Who would be investigating him? Sa Illa thinks it might be Gang Jo; He still doesn't trust us, she says, and I saw him having a "serious conversation" with one of his Balhaean men the other day. The man also says that the monk told him about Choe Sum's involvement. This throws Chiyang into a near panic: "This is not good. If he goes to Choe Sum, he can trace me!" Wonder what that's all about.
A man goes to Choe Sum's residence. He asks the doorman to see Choe Sum on an important matter that he can't divulge. The doorman says He's not here; come back another day. Where is he?
He's on horseback, approaching Gyeongjuwon's house! Another man is with him on horseback (he wasn’t identified; is it Kim Shimun?) and an attendant accompanies them on foot. Inside, Gyeongjuwon hears the attendant announce Choe Sum's arrival; he's horrified and tells Seol to be absolutely silent. (Remember, no one can know about their marriage or there's going to be trouble.) He goes outside and meets Sum out front. Sum wants to go inside and talk; Gyeongjuwon says No, let's go elsewhere; my house is unfit for guests. But then the other man notices a pair of women's shoes on the porch. Uh-oh.
Returning home from the state meeting, Wonsoong is puzzling over why Choe Sum supported the action in the north. He returns home, and Jo Du, obviously feeling much stronger, runs out to meet him. He tells him that Jo Sun is not only alive but has come back here! But, he says, you better go to the main house before you go see him.
So he does. And who's in there waiting for him but HUNAE! Gang Jo is with her. "It's been a while, Minister Kim." Utterly at a loss, he tries to put on a polite facade and offers her a seat. But she glares at him and answers, "I couldn't sit down in the house of the man who tried to kill me and my son." She pulls out a knife and slams it into the table. "I will give you another chance, so try it again. If you want to kill me, take this dagger and plunge it into my heart. Now!"
The prisoner Jo Sun has been brought by Gang Jo to the palace training ground and is given a chance to stick-fight him (I don’t know why). It’s a fair fight and Gang Jo wins without too much trouble. He knocks Sun down and menaces him. "Now talk. Are you the one who raided Guibup Temple?" But Jo Sun won't talk. He does, though, tell Gang that he remembers him from twelve years ago:. "I should have killed you then." Huh?
Gang Jo reports back to Hunae that Jo Sun won't talk. And tells Hunae, You may remember him from the past...A flashback to the archery contest in Ep2; Gang Jo getting knocked out from behind, and the man who did it holding a sword to the young Hwangbo Su's neck. That was Jo Sun!...Flashback ending, Hunae goes to see him. He reminds Hunae that he saved her life (which is true; he was ordered to kill her but he let her go) and tells her he's an innocent man and she shouldn't be trying to kill him. You're a slave trader, Gang Jo fires back, so "stop fishing for sympathy." He again adamantly denies involvement with the attack on Prince Gaeryeong. Kim Chiyang is there too, and concludes that the man will never talk unless something different is tried.
Nighttime: A man tries to dismount a horse in front of a house, but falls off and collapses. It's Jo Du; we last saw him get knocked unconscious by Sa Illa at the caravan attack. And this is Kim Wonsoong's house. Inside, he tells Wonsoong about the attack and says that everyone else died. "There goes my money!" Wonsoong moans (what a sweetie). He angrily blames the Jurchens.
Chiyang is mixing up a powder. In front of him is Jo Sun, tied to a chair. It's a truth drug, he says; it creates a kind of euphoria. He blows the powder into Jo Sun's face, and then induces some sort of hypnotic trance using an amulet. Then he starts to question him. Who tied to kill Hunae and her son at the temple--was it you? A head-shake no. Then who was it? "My...subordinate." Where is he? "He's dead. A Jurchen woman killed him." (He incorrectly believes that.) Who was behind it--did you give the order? Head-shake no. It was Kim Wonsoong, wasn't it? Still in the trance, Jo Sun suddenly begins to seize up and fight with himself, violently trying to resist the truth-urge. Still tied to the chair, he stands himself up and rams his head into a post, knocking himself out!
Prince Gyeongjuwon gets the news; he's gonna be a daddy. Escort Yun can't believe they hadn't figured it out. "You are both so dense," she tells them (which cracked me up).
Choe Ryang tells Choe Sum that he ran into Gyeongjuwon in the town. Interesting news. And he also tells him about Seo Hui's putting his life on the line to urge the king for punitive action against the Jurchens. Choe Sum isn't the least bit bothered: "That's good news. Tell him to do it." You must consider it, Ryang advises; Seo is speaking out of loyalty, not self-interest; and the northerners are a part of Goryeo. "We can't have a region that harbors resentment for the king. That makes it very difficult to govern the country." Sum still doesn't want it because if the north strengthens, the southern lords weaken. But Ryang suggests, Support this and I can make headway on the royal consort proposal. Ryang is trying to broker a deal here.
Seo Hui reiterates to Gamchan and Yi Jibaek his commitment to protecting the north. Then Gamchan suggests sitting down with Choe Sum and the Shillans to try to work this all out. They're not wicked, he says (which is a bit of wishful thinking); "we just have different ideals." And politics is about compromise. Then a woman interrupts them; she's looking for Gamchan. She hands him a note--from Prince Gaeryeong.
We see the young prince studying Chinese with Lady Yunheung (who presumably has been elevated to queen by now). It's an easy verse he's reading, but he's having some trouble with it. He says he has a headache, and Yunheung feels a bit of temperature on him. Get some rest, she says, and I'll call a physician. No, the boy says, I need some air and I'd like a horse ride. But she disapproves and is unhappy that Hunae was teaching him such a thing; she says that the future king shouldn't be messing around with horse rides and shooting arrows, and that he must focus on his studies. Trust me, she says; I'm your mother and I care about you. And you're supposed to call me "mother", she feels it necessary to remind him. Which he hasn't been doing. But he reluctantly does.
The Shillans are meeting; Choe Sum tells them about the Gyeongjuwon sighting. Sum is happy about this because Gyeongjuwon has blood ties to Shilla's final king, which makes him the best option for the Shillans by far. He had no interest in the throne, the others remind him. But that was a while ago; maybe he's changed. It's at least worth pursuing, Sum says, and tells them that he's arranged for the pharmacist where Gyeongjuwon was last seen to keep watch for him. Then he tells them about Choe Ryang's proposal.
The king and queen are lying in bed together. Seo Hui's words are ringing in the king's head and he can't sleep. The queen wants him to stop worrying about state affairs and get his rest. She tries to comfort him, but now he's feeling frisky....
Nighttime: Gyeongjuwon wakes up laughing, positively giddy over having a child. Stop it, Seol tells him, just a bit annoyed; you're being silly. Then he asks her if she had a "conception dream" (whatever that is). She says Yes, but it's embarrassing. I’m your husband, he says; you can tell me anything....
(Note: Commercials were inserted here and content was almost certainly lost.)
Gamchan and Sa Gamun check on the prisoner Jo Sun. It was last night that he bonked himself in the head and he still hasn't woken up from it. "I've never met anyone more strong-willed," Sa Gamun says.
"Let him go?" Gamchan has suggested to Hunae that Jo Sun is never going to talk and will just end up dead if we keep pushing him. Chiyang and Gang Jo want to keep trying; after all, he's confessed to some of the story already. And if we send him back, Wonsoong will know what we did and act against us. But Gamchan says it will do just the opposite--We'll show him we know he did it and that he better not try anything else again. (For the first time in the whole series, I think he's wrong. This is a bad idea.) Hunae thinks about it and decides to let him go, mainly because he did save her life once.
Gyeongjuwon has returned to the pharmacist for some herbs for his pregnant wife. Just give me a few minutes and I'll prepare them for you, the pharmacist tells him, but then he sends out a messenger....
Chiyang, Sa Gamun and Sa Illa are unhappy about Jo Sun’s pending release, but there isn't much they can do about it any more. They're disappointed because breaking the case would have been a perfect way to gain Hunae's trust (for their unknown great cause). Chiyang says, We'll have to find some other way. One way to lay down roots, he points out, is by establishing family ties through marriage.
Myeongbok Palace training ground: Yi Sulhwa, Suri, and Hyangbi. Girl talk. Turns out, Hyangbi has a crush on somebody. But she won't tell them who. (Lucky bastard, whoever it is.)
Evening: Chiyang is outside and notices a silhouetted Hunae as she prepares for bed. He watches, for just long enough that something must be in his head (guess what), but then walks away.
The king is coming to see the queen. But outside, he notices that Escort Jo has been crying. Why?
Inside, the queen tells him about the attack on her father's caravan. Fifty men were killed, she says, including Escort Jo's brother. (So her brother is Jo Sun; news to us). That's why she was crying. This was another violent Jurchen attack right after the Myeongbok Palace attack, she points out to him. "I know women have no place in state affairs," she says, but "I think a stronger government response is required." He says nothing but we can see he doesn't disagree with her. (Now wait a minute. Wasn't the king firmly convinced that the Myeongbok episode was entirely Hunae's charade? Now he doesn't think so?)
Seo Hui and Choe Sum are talking! They're at opposite sides of a table; Choe Ryang is between them and is moderating the discussion. Sum opposes any sort of "territory expansion," he says, because that always brings war. But it's not expansion, Seo argues; Goguryeo territory is part of Goryeo and we have a duty to protect them just like all other parts of Goryeo. Sum wants him to accept the consort proposal in exchange for his support for action against the Jurchens. Seo agrees, and assures Sum that the goal isn't to exterminate the Jurchens or provoke a broader conflict, just to drive them out of the former Goguryeo territory. Deal. They drink to the agreement.
The king and ministers are meeting. The ministers all support action against the Jurchens. Even Choe Sum, to the king's surprise (and to Wonsoong's surprise as well). Okay, the king says; we'll take punitive action. He orders Minister of Defense Yi Gyeoumi to drive the Jurchens north past Mt. Baekdu. Seo Hui is silent but we can see how relieved and gratified he is.
Seo Hui, Yi Jibaek and Gang Gamchan are visiting Hunae and report the good news. Weren't there objections from the (Shillan) Confucianists?, she asks. No, it was unanimous. Seo doesn't mention the part about agreeing to the consort (Would it matter to her? I kind of think it might). She's very happy that action will finally be taken on behalf of the northerners.
Sa Gamun and Yi Sulhwa are stick-fighting. She's giving him a good fight (and it's not implausible; she's a fairly good-sized woman), but at one point she falls down from a hard blow to her forearm. It hurts like crazy. Sa Gamun unlaces her arm guard and starts feeling up her arm, concerned about a possible broken bone (so he says!). This is making her very uncomfortable; obviously this is R-rated stuff for the time. As he checks her arm, he looks at her and tells her she has pretty eyes. Just then a man shows up looking for Chiyang, which puts an end to all of this wanton debauchery.
Inside, the man tells Chiyang that someone showed up at Hangae Temple asking about him. Who would be investigating him? Sa Illa thinks it might be Gang Jo; He still doesn't trust us, she says, and I saw him having a "serious conversation" with one of his Balhaean men the other day. The man also says that the monk told him about Choe Sum's involvement. This throws Chiyang into a near panic: "This is not good. If he goes to Choe Sum, he can trace me!" Wonder what that's all about.
A man goes to Choe Sum's residence. He asks the doorman to see Choe Sum on an important matter that he can't divulge. The doorman says He's not here; come back another day. Where is he?
He's on horseback, approaching Gyeongjuwon's house! Another man is with him on horseback (he wasn’t identified; is it Kim Shimun?) and an attendant accompanies them on foot. Inside, Gyeongjuwon hears the attendant announce Choe Sum's arrival; he's horrified and tells Seol to be absolutely silent. (Remember, no one can know about their marriage or there's going to be trouble.) He goes outside and meets Sum out front. Sum wants to go inside and talk; Gyeongjuwon says No, let's go elsewhere; my house is unfit for guests. But then the other man notices a pair of women's shoes on the porch. Uh-oh.
Returning home from the state meeting, Wonsoong is puzzling over why Choe Sum supported the action in the north. He returns home, and Jo Du, obviously feeling much stronger, runs out to meet him. He tells him that Jo Sun is not only alive but has come back here! But, he says, you better go to the main house before you go see him.
So he does. And who's in there waiting for him but HUNAE! Gang Jo is with her. "It's been a while, Minister Kim." Utterly at a loss, he tries to put on a polite facade and offers her a seat. But she glares at him and answers, "I couldn't sit down in the house of the man who tried to kill me and my son." She pulls out a knife and slams it into the table. "I will give you another chance, so try it again. If you want to kill me, take this dagger and plunge it into my heart. Now!"