Post by ajk on Apr 6, 2012 21:04:59 GMT -5
A strange opening: It's nighttime and Prince Baekjeong is trying to scale a wall with his attendant's help. He tells her of his apparent fear that Mishil is behind Maya's disappearance, suspecting she wants a clear path to force her marriage to him.
Elsewhere, we see a small gama being carried by four men. Inside, Maya and a soldier holding a knife to her throat....
"I shall now become His Highness Prince Baekjeong's queen." How about that, the kid was right. Mishil is sitting with her husband, the minister Sejong. Looks him right in the eye and tells him that! Remarkably, Sejong seems almost resigned to it, and not the least bit surprised. Turns out, King Jinheung had warned him that "no man could ever have someone like Lady Mishil all for himself." He only regrets that he is not of sacred-bone royal rank. Then Seolwon enters (Subtitling identifies him as "Mishil's lover"--another one? The woman must spend more time on her back than Michelangelo) and tells Mishil that Prince Baekjeong has vanished. We'd better find him, she replies; he's crucial to their getting support from the Council of Nobles and the Hwarang. And Maya? "We already took care of her."
Baekjeong is on horseback, galloping through the night looking for Maya. He's alone--not a very bright move.
Maya's gama is now headed into a forest. Suddenly, Munno is there. Right in their path. The four bearers and two others charge him, but he works the sword in one hand and a whip in the other, and somehow manages to subdue them all, apparently killing only two. He looks at the survivors with contempt. "You pointed your blades at me fully knowing I was your gukseon (grand master)?!" So these are Hwarang who are doing the kidnapping. But then from behind: "Drop your sword!" The soldier and Maya have emerged from the gama, knife still to her throat. A long staredown, and then Munno angrily drives his sword into the ground.
Baekjeong is riding towards Maya's family home when suddenly Seolwon is in his path. And now several of Seolwon's men are behind him.
A rocky coastline: A thirty-foot cliff overlooks the sea. Maya and Munno are tied together by the wrists and ankles, a large rock is tied to them, and they're pitched off the ledge and sink into the depths...we see them struggling underwater....
Baekjeong is forcibly escorted back to the capital.
The four surviving Hwarang and the soldier who just finished the dirty work are rewarded for their efforts--Seolwon executes them. From off to the side, a hooded figure steps forth. It's Mishil.
--------------------
Seorabeol: Six months have passed. Baekjeong is now King Jinpyeong, and he's presiding over an official state council meeting. Affairs of business are being presented, but the king wants no part of any of it. He's still visibly angry, and as we learn, Maya's disappearance has still not been solved. He waves off one piece of business after another...until the subject of royal nuptials is raised. The kingdom needs a queen, the ministers remind him. That does it; he tells them to proceed as they see fit--which presumably means Mishil gets her way--gets up and storms out of the room. Outside, he thinks about his last day with Maya and starts to cry. But then Eulje Daedeung shows up. Recall that in Ep1 the younger Baekjeong begged him for protection as Eulje left on an extended mission; now he has returned from that mission. Misaeng, now apparently a minister, spots Eulje and doesn't seem very happy to see him.
Seolwon is with Mishil, as are Misaeng, Sejong and a yet-unnamed military officer; they're troubled about Eulje and ask her, "Why on earth did you appoint him to the Council once again?" (So she had the authority to do so? Obviously a big backstory here that we haven't gotten.) But Seolwon isn't bothered; he feels that Eulje's presence and involvement are necessary to justify the pending royal nuptials. So the plan they discuss is to have an open meeting of the royal council and marry Mishil to the king during the open meeting. Letting everybody see the ceremony will further legitimize it, they believe.
We see the site of the open council meeting. People are arriving. Mishil is in her appointed seat. From an elevation, the king looks down on the scene with visible discomfort. Weasely Misaeng is with him, babbling away; he finally advises, "Just close your eyes and think of it as another way to gain a crown prince." Jinpyeong rolls his eyes...he heads to the meeting and it begins. Eulje is there, one of ten members of the council. And the subject of the meeting is Mishil's fitness to become queen. Eulje speaks right up, pointing out that Shilla's "codes and traditions" dictate that since she served Jinheung, "should not Lady Mishil have devoted herself to Buddhist practice after His Deceased Majesty's demise?! Her installation as queen would be nothing but an affront against our traditional mores." And then other ministers rebut him, arguing that she "significantly stabilized our internal and diplomatic situation, and brought an end to the social bedlam afflicting our nation." (Did she? More missing backstory.) "Should she not continue the great achievements of our former ruler?!" They argue that she's more than virtuous enough to be queen; plus, the king has already agreed to it (which apparently he has, however reluctantly). So that ends the discussion. Now it's time to vote on it. Needs a unanimous vote, we learn. Any opposed? Eulje wavers...and says nothing. So it's unanimous, and as Noribu is about to drop the gavel on it..."Stop!" A shout from the distance. What's going on? "Stop at once!" A man in white comes running towards the meeting and approaches the king. It's Munno! The king is stunned to see him. Mishil, Seolwon and Misaeng are just as surprised, but not in a good way. Noribu admonishes him for disrupting a council meeting, but Munno completely ignores him (very funny). He turns to the crowd. "May you all rise." General confusion and looking around. "Her Majesty the Queen will deign you with her presence!" Now BIG-TIME confusion and looking around. A small gama is brought forward. The front opens...and there's Maya! She steps out and forward. Jinpyeong is overcome with emotion; so is she. He hugs her. Ministers ask her what happened to her. She explains that she was grabbed and kidnapped. By whom? "Lord Munno and I attempted to find out," she answers, and then turns and stares daggers into Mishil--"but there was no trace of them." She explains how she and Munno were tied together and thrown into the sea. And then tells the king that "You were the one who saved us, Sire." And she produces Jinheung's little dagger that he placed around her neck that day six months ago. "With this, I was able to cut the ropes binding us." It saved her and Munno...and the baby she was carrying. Baby is still doing fine: "Your Majesty's child, and the sacred bone lineage!" They're both in tears, and even Mishil's silently but visibly seething at her plan utterly tanking at the last minute can't distract from everyone else's amazement at the story and the emotional scene in front of them. Shouts of praise all around for the king and the now-queen.
Returning from the meeting site, Mishil in her gama stares at the megagama (my word) in front of her; obviously the king and queen are in it. We can see the disappointment in her face--and then we see the disappointment give way to a new round of scheming that's kicking in; you can almost see the wheels start to turn in her head. (Fantastic piece of musical scoring conveys it beautifully, have to acknowledge that). Inside the megagama, Munno and Eulje have joined the king and queen; we hear a bit of a different story--that Maya lost consciousness at some point underwater and that Munno cut the ropes (so maybe they each cut some of them). Maya credits her baby's vitality with saving her: "It is a strong child. He endured this adversity and emerged in all safety!" Newly invigorated, the king speaks of Jinheung's concern for Shilla's safety and how the nation itself "was stolen by Mishil. It is now time I take it back." There's a look of purpose and determination in his eye that we haven't seen before and it's quite surprising. "Aid my cause," he says to Munno and Eulje, and of course they nod.
Evening, back at the capital: Eulje and Munno encounter Mishil in a courtyard. Awkward vibe among them, no surprise. Mishil has heard that Munno had some sort of revelation back on Jung-Ak and asks him what it was. Was it that "Mishil shall never become Queen"? No, Munno, answers, it was not. And he tells her in exact detail, "The revelation I experienced, suggested that unless the seven stars of the Big Dipper become eight, no one under the heavens shall ever contend [with] Milady's might." She presses him: "But I hear there were two revelations. What would the next one be?" His answer: "That you would be ruling over all creation." Lie. But you can understand why. He and Eulje walk on past her, and she visibly exhales--obviously she bought it, and likes what she heard. Later Munno alludes to the dream he had, that it indicated a heavenly mandated ruler. He isn't sure if it was anything more than his own mind creating a dream...but Eulje doesn't press him on it and doesn't even ask who the prospective ruler was. Time and experience will enlighten you, he unselfishly advises.
Shilla Royal Shrine: Mishil is there, alone and looking terribly sad and forlorn. Seori the priestess enters and sees her pain. "Why are you obsessing over that title?" You already have so much power, she points out, what does it matter whether or not you're called "queen"? "Because, even if all creation kneels before me, I cannot accept that the crown does not bedeck my pate." Seori smiles: "You sure are a woman." (? I don't get it.) An attendant enters and tells Seori that the king has summoned her.
A midwife is examining Maya; Seori is present. The midwife keeps glancing at Seori as though seeking her instructions--odd. She tells the king and queen that everything seems healthy and the birth is imminent. The two of them leave to prepare for the birth. On the way out, the midwife starts to whisper something into Seori's ear...but Munno walks in and she stops. Munno looks first at one, then the other; did he pick up on something? He proceeds into the royal chambers to tell the king and queen that the Hwarang would like to stage a ceremony in honor of the birth. The couple receives the news enthusiastically. Munno smiles too, but then he looks back over his shoulder. Yep, he picked up on something and he didn't like it.
Outside, the midwife finally finishes that whisper. Seori's eyes widen.
Mishil's little cabal is together and they're moaning about the turn of events. They'd like to do away with Munno but it's way too risky, and besides, "Half the Hwarang pledged their lives to [him]." And they have a bigger problem: "the unrest the nobles of the council are showing." Then Seori's arrival is announced. Seori enters, and promptly asks Mishil to shoo everyone else away.
The next day: Maya looks to be in labor and is being taken by gama into the royal shrine, which apparently is where the royal births take place. The king is walking beside her. In the courtyard, the midwife stops the profession and gently (but boldly, gotta give her that) informs the king that he cannot enter--"Such are our codes." Jinpyeong doesn't like it, but understands and complies. Fortunately his attendant Sohwa is with them, and she tells the king that she'll go in and keep close tabs on things. The king is skeptical--she's kind of a scatterbrain--but she says she's been through this many times before and she can handle it well. Which seems to reassure him.
What's the big secret? Seori has just told Mishil. Twins! Maya's having twins. Why would that be such a big deal? We learn of an ancient prophecy that dates back to Shilla's founding: "Should the king give birth to twins, the lineage of sacred-bone males shall forever vanish." Mishil obviously finds it to be huge news. As in, an opportunity. The wheels in her head are cranking up....
In the maternity room: Maya's in labor, big-time. Sohwa is next to her, says she'll do her best to help. Great--"Will you give birth instead of me?" (Wow, she's a keeper! Sense of humor at a time like this.) And now she's giving birth....
Mishil, alone, is mulling over the ancient prophecy... As she does, she's got a bunch of partly-filled drinking glasses in front of her and is striking xylophone-style them with rods. Misaeng enters, agitated over the imminent birth and the Hwarang ceremony to follow, and wonders why Mishil seems to be so unconcerned about it all. But the glasses-playing has apparently crystallized her plan (ba-dum bum), and she instructs her brother to gather the cabal, "And also...discreetly summon the troops." What troops? Misaeng leaves and Mishil starts to play a rhythmic motif on the glasses (Sorry, but her faking is absolutely awful).
Crying! Baby crying. It's a girl.
Now the king arrives and holds his new daughter, beaming away. Maya is visibly disappointed that she didn't bear him a son, but Jinpyeong won't hear of it. He orders everybody out of the shrine, including the midwives, and spends a little quality time with his wife and new daughter. But not everybody left; suddenly Sohwa stands up. She had passed out in the excitement--fat lot of good she did. But she lightens the mood and points out a birthmark on the baby that matches a birthmark on the king (She's been with him since childhood, remember). Maya admires it, too, and she's visibly happier now...but then in the next instant, she's in pain again. Sohwa checks her and sees the other baby starting to come out...which is news to all three of them.
The midwife has gone far enough back inside the building to hear what sounds to her like more labor. She runs back outside and informs Seori that she had been right about having detected two pulses. And for some reason she's sure that #2 is a girl also. "In that case, it would be a double yin!" (As in, an imbalance, not a-yin-and-a-yang.) Or as she puts it, "a nefarious omen." Seori orders her back inside to keep watch.
Back inside, Sohwa says she'll run and summon the physician. But the king immediately and forcefully orders her to lock the doors from the inside. Why?
Mishil's cabal is together and ecstatic about the birth of twins and the ancient prophecy. And how this should somehow guarantee Maya's removal from the royal household. "From this moment onwards," Mishil states, "we must discreetly and rapidly proceed with our plans." Of course she has something cooking....
"You must deliver the child." The king gives the order to a stunned, frightened Sohwa. He turns to Maya: "You do realize what would happen if royalty gave birth to twins, don't you?!" Sohwa is on her knees, shaking with fear, but she's on the spot and there's no way out. "Do you wish to see my children perish, and my queen dethroned?! Stop wailing and help her immediately!" Time to stand and deliver, so to speak.
"Everyone should be alerted that Her Majesty gave birth to twins." Mishil has it all figured out--frighteningly well. "His Majesty might conceal one of the twins to escape from this prophecy. Deploy troops to surround the premises, and control all escape venues." And watch his entire retinue, especially Munno, in case someone tries to smuggle the child away.
Munno is outside the shrine, overlooking the courtyard. He looks up at the Big Dipper. Mizar (the same star from Episode 1, the middle star in the handle) is twinkling oddly and brightly--so much so that Munno realizes that this birth may be the birth of his revelation.
Sohwa is still shaking and frantic but she seems to be stepping up to the task. Maya is trying hard not to scream too loudly. Jinpyeong watches anxiously...
Mizar appears to explode its outer shell. And sheds a new, bright, companion star. (Hopefully this is simply Munno having another vision.)
Crying! Sohwa is holding a healthy baby. Job well done.
Munno sees Seolwon leading troops into the courtyard. He steps back, out of sight. And it turns out, the troops are there to search for him, so good move.
Sohwa presents Jinpyeong with his second daughter. He hands the child to her mother, takes out Jinheung's dagger, and places it in the folds of the child's blanket. "This dagger shall protect you. Forgive me. It is not your parents who are abandoning you, just think of this as you granting your parents their survival." Maya looks at him...well, a mother having her newborn taken away, you can imagine... "You surely are not...You are not...No way. There is no way!" But Jinpyeong knows that he'll lose Maya if the baby stays. He turns to a wide-eyed Sohwa: "Take the child, and escape far away from this palace."
Seolwon orders his troops to go looking for Munno. They depart, running back and forth in a straight line. (Not exactly rocket scientists.)
Sohwa is panic-stricken. "I am foolish, easily daunted, clumsy, I always fall down and hurt myself. How could you entrust such a crucial task to someone like me?! I am a fool! You know that!" But the king grabs her by the shoulders. "There is nobody but you. I do not wish to send you away. You have spent more time by my side...than my own mother." Tears well up in his eyes. "I am asking you! Protect that child for me. I implore you."
Munno is on horseback, galloping and being pursued. He charges into the palace complex and heads straight for the shrine. Seolwon and his troops aren't far behind.
Now the midwife is outside the door, knocking and asking the king to be let in. Jinpyeong frantically looks around, and tears down a hunk of curtain. It's almost as hard for him as it is for Maya, but he takes the child from her arms and wraps it in the curtain. Hands her to Sohwa. "Leave at once." She hesitates. "Get out of here now!" She turns...but now there's loud pounding at the door. That's not the midwife any more. They're trapped.
Elsewhere, we see a small gama being carried by four men. Inside, Maya and a soldier holding a knife to her throat....
"I shall now become His Highness Prince Baekjeong's queen." How about that, the kid was right. Mishil is sitting with her husband, the minister Sejong. Looks him right in the eye and tells him that! Remarkably, Sejong seems almost resigned to it, and not the least bit surprised. Turns out, King Jinheung had warned him that "no man could ever have someone like Lady Mishil all for himself." He only regrets that he is not of sacred-bone royal rank. Then Seolwon enters (Subtitling identifies him as "Mishil's lover"--another one? The woman must spend more time on her back than Michelangelo) and tells Mishil that Prince Baekjeong has vanished. We'd better find him, she replies; he's crucial to their getting support from the Council of Nobles and the Hwarang. And Maya? "We already took care of her."
Baekjeong is on horseback, galloping through the night looking for Maya. He's alone--not a very bright move.
Maya's gama is now headed into a forest. Suddenly, Munno is there. Right in their path. The four bearers and two others charge him, but he works the sword in one hand and a whip in the other, and somehow manages to subdue them all, apparently killing only two. He looks at the survivors with contempt. "You pointed your blades at me fully knowing I was your gukseon (grand master)?!" So these are Hwarang who are doing the kidnapping. But then from behind: "Drop your sword!" The soldier and Maya have emerged from the gama, knife still to her throat. A long staredown, and then Munno angrily drives his sword into the ground.
Baekjeong is riding towards Maya's family home when suddenly Seolwon is in his path. And now several of Seolwon's men are behind him.
A rocky coastline: A thirty-foot cliff overlooks the sea. Maya and Munno are tied together by the wrists and ankles, a large rock is tied to them, and they're pitched off the ledge and sink into the depths...we see them struggling underwater....
Baekjeong is forcibly escorted back to the capital.
The four surviving Hwarang and the soldier who just finished the dirty work are rewarded for their efforts--Seolwon executes them. From off to the side, a hooded figure steps forth. It's Mishil.
--------------------
Seorabeol: Six months have passed. Baekjeong is now King Jinpyeong, and he's presiding over an official state council meeting. Affairs of business are being presented, but the king wants no part of any of it. He's still visibly angry, and as we learn, Maya's disappearance has still not been solved. He waves off one piece of business after another...until the subject of royal nuptials is raised. The kingdom needs a queen, the ministers remind him. That does it; he tells them to proceed as they see fit--which presumably means Mishil gets her way--gets up and storms out of the room. Outside, he thinks about his last day with Maya and starts to cry. But then Eulje Daedeung shows up. Recall that in Ep1 the younger Baekjeong begged him for protection as Eulje left on an extended mission; now he has returned from that mission. Misaeng, now apparently a minister, spots Eulje and doesn't seem very happy to see him.
Seolwon is with Mishil, as are Misaeng, Sejong and a yet-unnamed military officer; they're troubled about Eulje and ask her, "Why on earth did you appoint him to the Council once again?" (So she had the authority to do so? Obviously a big backstory here that we haven't gotten.) But Seolwon isn't bothered; he feels that Eulje's presence and involvement are necessary to justify the pending royal nuptials. So the plan they discuss is to have an open meeting of the royal council and marry Mishil to the king during the open meeting. Letting everybody see the ceremony will further legitimize it, they believe.
We see the site of the open council meeting. People are arriving. Mishil is in her appointed seat. From an elevation, the king looks down on the scene with visible discomfort. Weasely Misaeng is with him, babbling away; he finally advises, "Just close your eyes and think of it as another way to gain a crown prince." Jinpyeong rolls his eyes...he heads to the meeting and it begins. Eulje is there, one of ten members of the council. And the subject of the meeting is Mishil's fitness to become queen. Eulje speaks right up, pointing out that Shilla's "codes and traditions" dictate that since she served Jinheung, "should not Lady Mishil have devoted herself to Buddhist practice after His Deceased Majesty's demise?! Her installation as queen would be nothing but an affront against our traditional mores." And then other ministers rebut him, arguing that she "significantly stabilized our internal and diplomatic situation, and brought an end to the social bedlam afflicting our nation." (Did she? More missing backstory.) "Should she not continue the great achievements of our former ruler?!" They argue that she's more than virtuous enough to be queen; plus, the king has already agreed to it (which apparently he has, however reluctantly). So that ends the discussion. Now it's time to vote on it. Needs a unanimous vote, we learn. Any opposed? Eulje wavers...and says nothing. So it's unanimous, and as Noribu is about to drop the gavel on it..."Stop!" A shout from the distance. What's going on? "Stop at once!" A man in white comes running towards the meeting and approaches the king. It's Munno! The king is stunned to see him. Mishil, Seolwon and Misaeng are just as surprised, but not in a good way. Noribu admonishes him for disrupting a council meeting, but Munno completely ignores him (very funny). He turns to the crowd. "May you all rise." General confusion and looking around. "Her Majesty the Queen will deign you with her presence!" Now BIG-TIME confusion and looking around. A small gama is brought forward. The front opens...and there's Maya! She steps out and forward. Jinpyeong is overcome with emotion; so is she. He hugs her. Ministers ask her what happened to her. She explains that she was grabbed and kidnapped. By whom? "Lord Munno and I attempted to find out," she answers, and then turns and stares daggers into Mishil--"but there was no trace of them." She explains how she and Munno were tied together and thrown into the sea. And then tells the king that "You were the one who saved us, Sire." And she produces Jinheung's little dagger that he placed around her neck that day six months ago. "With this, I was able to cut the ropes binding us." It saved her and Munno...and the baby she was carrying. Baby is still doing fine: "Your Majesty's child, and the sacred bone lineage!" They're both in tears, and even Mishil's silently but visibly seething at her plan utterly tanking at the last minute can't distract from everyone else's amazement at the story and the emotional scene in front of them. Shouts of praise all around for the king and the now-queen.
Returning from the meeting site, Mishil in her gama stares at the megagama (my word) in front of her; obviously the king and queen are in it. We can see the disappointment in her face--and then we see the disappointment give way to a new round of scheming that's kicking in; you can almost see the wheels start to turn in her head. (Fantastic piece of musical scoring conveys it beautifully, have to acknowledge that). Inside the megagama, Munno and Eulje have joined the king and queen; we hear a bit of a different story--that Maya lost consciousness at some point underwater and that Munno cut the ropes (so maybe they each cut some of them). Maya credits her baby's vitality with saving her: "It is a strong child. He endured this adversity and emerged in all safety!" Newly invigorated, the king speaks of Jinheung's concern for Shilla's safety and how the nation itself "was stolen by Mishil. It is now time I take it back." There's a look of purpose and determination in his eye that we haven't seen before and it's quite surprising. "Aid my cause," he says to Munno and Eulje, and of course they nod.
Evening, back at the capital: Eulje and Munno encounter Mishil in a courtyard. Awkward vibe among them, no surprise. Mishil has heard that Munno had some sort of revelation back on Jung-Ak and asks him what it was. Was it that "Mishil shall never become Queen"? No, Munno, answers, it was not. And he tells her in exact detail, "The revelation I experienced, suggested that unless the seven stars of the Big Dipper become eight, no one under the heavens shall ever contend [with] Milady's might." She presses him: "But I hear there were two revelations. What would the next one be?" His answer: "That you would be ruling over all creation." Lie. But you can understand why. He and Eulje walk on past her, and she visibly exhales--obviously she bought it, and likes what she heard. Later Munno alludes to the dream he had, that it indicated a heavenly mandated ruler. He isn't sure if it was anything more than his own mind creating a dream...but Eulje doesn't press him on it and doesn't even ask who the prospective ruler was. Time and experience will enlighten you, he unselfishly advises.
Shilla Royal Shrine: Mishil is there, alone and looking terribly sad and forlorn. Seori the priestess enters and sees her pain. "Why are you obsessing over that title?" You already have so much power, she points out, what does it matter whether or not you're called "queen"? "Because, even if all creation kneels before me, I cannot accept that the crown does not bedeck my pate." Seori smiles: "You sure are a woman." (? I don't get it.) An attendant enters and tells Seori that the king has summoned her.
A midwife is examining Maya; Seori is present. The midwife keeps glancing at Seori as though seeking her instructions--odd. She tells the king and queen that everything seems healthy and the birth is imminent. The two of them leave to prepare for the birth. On the way out, the midwife starts to whisper something into Seori's ear...but Munno walks in and she stops. Munno looks first at one, then the other; did he pick up on something? He proceeds into the royal chambers to tell the king and queen that the Hwarang would like to stage a ceremony in honor of the birth. The couple receives the news enthusiastically. Munno smiles too, but then he looks back over his shoulder. Yep, he picked up on something and he didn't like it.
Outside, the midwife finally finishes that whisper. Seori's eyes widen.
Mishil's little cabal is together and they're moaning about the turn of events. They'd like to do away with Munno but it's way too risky, and besides, "Half the Hwarang pledged their lives to [him]." And they have a bigger problem: "the unrest the nobles of the council are showing." Then Seori's arrival is announced. Seori enters, and promptly asks Mishil to shoo everyone else away.
The next day: Maya looks to be in labor and is being taken by gama into the royal shrine, which apparently is where the royal births take place. The king is walking beside her. In the courtyard, the midwife stops the profession and gently (but boldly, gotta give her that) informs the king that he cannot enter--"Such are our codes." Jinpyeong doesn't like it, but understands and complies. Fortunately his attendant Sohwa is with them, and she tells the king that she'll go in and keep close tabs on things. The king is skeptical--she's kind of a scatterbrain--but she says she's been through this many times before and she can handle it well. Which seems to reassure him.
What's the big secret? Seori has just told Mishil. Twins! Maya's having twins. Why would that be such a big deal? We learn of an ancient prophecy that dates back to Shilla's founding: "Should the king give birth to twins, the lineage of sacred-bone males shall forever vanish." Mishil obviously finds it to be huge news. As in, an opportunity. The wheels in her head are cranking up....
In the maternity room: Maya's in labor, big-time. Sohwa is next to her, says she'll do her best to help. Great--"Will you give birth instead of me?" (Wow, she's a keeper! Sense of humor at a time like this.) And now she's giving birth....
Mishil, alone, is mulling over the ancient prophecy... As she does, she's got a bunch of partly-filled drinking glasses in front of her and is striking xylophone-style them with rods. Misaeng enters, agitated over the imminent birth and the Hwarang ceremony to follow, and wonders why Mishil seems to be so unconcerned about it all. But the glasses-playing has apparently crystallized her plan (ba-dum bum), and she instructs her brother to gather the cabal, "And also...discreetly summon the troops." What troops? Misaeng leaves and Mishil starts to play a rhythmic motif on the glasses (Sorry, but her faking is absolutely awful).
Crying! Baby crying. It's a girl.
Now the king arrives and holds his new daughter, beaming away. Maya is visibly disappointed that she didn't bear him a son, but Jinpyeong won't hear of it. He orders everybody out of the shrine, including the midwives, and spends a little quality time with his wife and new daughter. But not everybody left; suddenly Sohwa stands up. She had passed out in the excitement--fat lot of good she did. But she lightens the mood and points out a birthmark on the baby that matches a birthmark on the king (She's been with him since childhood, remember). Maya admires it, too, and she's visibly happier now...but then in the next instant, she's in pain again. Sohwa checks her and sees the other baby starting to come out...which is news to all three of them.
The midwife has gone far enough back inside the building to hear what sounds to her like more labor. She runs back outside and informs Seori that she had been right about having detected two pulses. And for some reason she's sure that #2 is a girl also. "In that case, it would be a double yin!" (As in, an imbalance, not a-yin-and-a-yang.) Or as she puts it, "a nefarious omen." Seori orders her back inside to keep watch.
Back inside, Sohwa says she'll run and summon the physician. But the king immediately and forcefully orders her to lock the doors from the inside. Why?
Mishil's cabal is together and ecstatic about the birth of twins and the ancient prophecy. And how this should somehow guarantee Maya's removal from the royal household. "From this moment onwards," Mishil states, "we must discreetly and rapidly proceed with our plans." Of course she has something cooking....
"You must deliver the child." The king gives the order to a stunned, frightened Sohwa. He turns to Maya: "You do realize what would happen if royalty gave birth to twins, don't you?!" Sohwa is on her knees, shaking with fear, but she's on the spot and there's no way out. "Do you wish to see my children perish, and my queen dethroned?! Stop wailing and help her immediately!" Time to stand and deliver, so to speak.
"Everyone should be alerted that Her Majesty gave birth to twins." Mishil has it all figured out--frighteningly well. "His Majesty might conceal one of the twins to escape from this prophecy. Deploy troops to surround the premises, and control all escape venues." And watch his entire retinue, especially Munno, in case someone tries to smuggle the child away.
Munno is outside the shrine, overlooking the courtyard. He looks up at the Big Dipper. Mizar (the same star from Episode 1, the middle star in the handle) is twinkling oddly and brightly--so much so that Munno realizes that this birth may be the birth of his revelation.
Sohwa is still shaking and frantic but she seems to be stepping up to the task. Maya is trying hard not to scream too loudly. Jinpyeong watches anxiously...
Mizar appears to explode its outer shell. And sheds a new, bright, companion star. (Hopefully this is simply Munno having another vision.)
Crying! Sohwa is holding a healthy baby. Job well done.
Munno sees Seolwon leading troops into the courtyard. He steps back, out of sight. And it turns out, the troops are there to search for him, so good move.
Sohwa presents Jinpyeong with his second daughter. He hands the child to her mother, takes out Jinheung's dagger, and places it in the folds of the child's blanket. "This dagger shall protect you. Forgive me. It is not your parents who are abandoning you, just think of this as you granting your parents their survival." Maya looks at him...well, a mother having her newborn taken away, you can imagine... "You surely are not...You are not...No way. There is no way!" But Jinpyeong knows that he'll lose Maya if the baby stays. He turns to a wide-eyed Sohwa: "Take the child, and escape far away from this palace."
Seolwon orders his troops to go looking for Munno. They depart, running back and forth in a straight line. (Not exactly rocket scientists.)
Sohwa is panic-stricken. "I am foolish, easily daunted, clumsy, I always fall down and hurt myself. How could you entrust such a crucial task to someone like me?! I am a fool! You know that!" But the king grabs her by the shoulders. "There is nobody but you. I do not wish to send you away. You have spent more time by my side...than my own mother." Tears well up in his eyes. "I am asking you! Protect that child for me. I implore you."
Munno is on horseback, galloping and being pursued. He charges into the palace complex and heads straight for the shrine. Seolwon and his troops aren't far behind.
Now the midwife is outside the door, knocking and asking the king to be let in. Jinpyeong frantically looks around, and tears down a hunk of curtain. It's almost as hard for him as it is for Maya, but he takes the child from her arms and wraps it in the curtain. Hands her to Sohwa. "Leave at once." She hesitates. "Get out of here now!" She turns...but now there's loud pounding at the door. That's not the midwife any more. They're trapped.