Post by ajk on Oct 5, 2012 20:20:21 GMT -5
As the mask is removed, Bidam smiles. "He's disgusting," Mishil says. "Put it back on." And back on it goes. So now what? Wait a minute--here comes the king. I'm questioning this troublemaker, Mishil tells him. Go ahead, Jinpyeong answers; I'll stay and listen. (Remember, he knows the source of the stone tablet, so for once he's not at a disadvantage.) He takes a seat, and Seolwon starts in. You're causing civil unrest; "What's your purpose?" I'm simply speaking the will of heaven, Bidam answers, and sticks to that even as he's accused of being paid off and of insulting the royal house. "The mandate of heaven was revealed at the well," he says calmly...and Mishil remembers speaking those exact words in Episode 16, after her statue burst out of the ground at the very same place. So maybe she thinks she knows what's motivating this person...Now Seolwon's angry, but Mishil cuts him off and calmly asks him, if you claim to know Heaven's will, "then you know your own destiny?" No answer. "When are you going to die?" Uh-oh, now Bidam's looking a little concerned all of a sudden. Still says nothing. "Today? Say so and I'll kill you tomorrow. After tomorrow? Then we'll kill you now." In other words, she'll prove he doesn't know heaven's will by killing him any time she wants to instead of when he says he'll die. He'd better have a good answer; does he? A long silence...seems like forever..."No one knows when they are born. How can anyone know about dying?" Not an answer, merely a dodge, and Seolwon scolds him for it. So he gives another answer. "If you insist. It is my destiny to die three days before the king dies." The answer stuns everyone. It's brilliant. Mishil's gonna kill him after that? No way. Even Misaeng has to admire its shrewdness. "Mishil took a hit on that one," he mumbles, as Mishil sits there squirming a little and obviously trying very hard to keep her cool as she seethes.
"He's cunning, that one." Mishil and the cabal are trying to make sense of this weird newcomer. Sejong acknowledges his shrewdness. The men are unsettled and start to snipe at each other again...but Mishil is calm and has accepted it. "I lost this round," she says plainly; "He's smart, this one;" she admires the cleverness of claiming his fate is linked to the king's. (Actually this sounds like the kind of thing Deokman would have thought of.)
"There'll be no eclipse." Now Deokman has told Yushin and Alcheon just what she's told Bidam. But didn't Wolchun crunch the numbers? "I was lying." (Or are you setting up two more unwitting pawns?) This is all to mess with Mishil, she says; "Did Wolchun help Deokman or not? The more she wonders, the more confused she'll get." Even if it doesn't unsettle Mishil, she's sure it will unsettle her cabal and set them squabbling about whether or not an eclipse will happen. "And I have faith in Bidam."
Bidam is sitting alone in a jail cell, smiling. He remembers Deokman's instructions to him--"You have to convince Mishil there is going to be an eclipse"--and clearly is pleased with his performance today.
Bokya camp, by the waterwheel: Deokman tells Yushin that Mishil will proclaim an eclipse, there won't be one, and she'll lose her standing with the public. "Won't she know it's a trap?" Deokman concedes that it's possible and she's worried about that. Says she's even losing sleep over it. But going up against Mishil is bound to be a little scary, she says, and Yushin can't argue with that.
Bidam has been brought straight into the cabal's meeting room and is sitting at the table opposite Mishil. (Wouldn't the king insist on being present at any future interrogation? Especially after his answer...? I don't like this.) Mishil and Misaeng go through his possessions, and find the crystal he used to light the papers on fire. And instantly know that it's exactly what he used. "Aren't you just a piece of work," Mishil says patronizingly. "How'd you raise the stone?" Bidam smiles right back. "I think you already know the answer to that." With a smile he admits to inscribing the stone tablet himself, which sets Misaeng laughing. And that stuff about heaven's will? "What do I know about Heaven?", Bidam says with a laugh of his own. Yeah, it was all a scam, he says--but go ahead, tell that to the public. "Tell them I raised a stone by adding beans to water." They know he's got them--but he states the obvious anyway. "Won't they be curious about your statue, too?" Surprisingly, Mishil smiles at him, almost admiringly. "So you'd use heaven for your own plans?" (Just like she does.) "Use heaven? Never. Heaven terrifies me." For just a moment Mishil thought she'd found a kindred spirit...but not with that answer. Now she thinks back...this sounds sort of like something she told Deokman in Episode 16...Hmmm. Then Bidam adds, "Don't we all need a little help from Heaven?" Now wait a minute...she recalls saying the exact same thing to Yushin in Episode 16...Now it clicks: "Yushin? Deokman?" Bidam laughs. "Took you long enough." Now Mishil looks a little rattled. "Who are you."...Bidam thinks back to more of his last conversation with Deokman, which we didn't see. The fake skin disfigurement she helped him put on, the idea of it is to protect him from Mishil reading him too easily. "Mishil has an uncanny ability to look right through a person's facade."...But now, and it seems very unwise, Bidam starts to remove the skin stuff right there in front of her. "It didn't seem fair," he says, almost smug about his performance. Adding that he doesn't need to hide his true feelings, he pulls a piece of paper out from his coat. "Shall we get started?"
At the Najung Well: The stone tablet is still at the site, still in the ground, but it's been covered up. The citizens all know what it says, though, and they're busy decoding the prophecy. Alcor's return to heaven, that represents Cheonmyeong's death. But that stuff about an eclipse and a new era, well, whose new era? Not a clue, but wait, here's a new guy who walks in and reminds everybody about the posters that revealed the lost twin. That's whose new era, he says, and it makes perfect sense to everyone. Oh, and the new guy? It's Godo! Dressed in civilian clothes. But now here comes another new guy--Jukbang in civilian clothes--who plays the skeptic and doubts Godo loudly and clearly. Angrily takes Mishil's side and says that until Mishil speaks about this, none of it means anything. And makes a big show out of proclaiming Mishil's stature and insight and his devotion to her. Watching this spectacle from a distance, we see Alcheon, and Yushin, and good heavens Deokman is there too, wearing a hat. Not a good idea; what if someone spots her...but they want to see if the propaganda plays with the public, and it does seem to.
The King is meeting with Seolwon, Sejong, Seohyeon, and Yongchun. Seolwon reports that he's had the well area cordoned off and the stone tablet covered. Then, after a subtle nod from the king--looks like a cue--Seohyeon speaks up and surprises us. Mishil, he says, "needs to step forward and address this issue." Doink! Sejong's jaw drops a little and even Seolwon reacts a little. Yongchun pipes up in support--"It's time Heaven spoke to Mishil again." And Jinpyeong agrees, saying that only Mishil can calm the citizens right now. He turns to Sejong. "Don't you think?" Ummm...Sejong finds his tongue eventually and says he'll tell Mishil. Of course he's surprised; the king is actually ASKING for Mishil to step forward!
Mishil reads Bidam's paper, and looks very surprised. Bidam calmly asks her what she's going to do. "Will there be an eclipse, or not?" Mishil flashes that crafty smile at him. "You expect me to believe that Wolchun wrote this himself?" She studies what it says. "Expect a solar eclipse at noon on the day of the full moon." Bidam is being coy and nonchalant; his utter lack of fear of her undoubtedly is annoying the heck out of her, but she's keeping cool. "You want me to believe this?" Bidam laughs, and tells her she can make up her own mind. "Is it the real thing, or is it a bluff?" More seriously now, he stares at her. "You have to say something--people are waiting, after all."
Later, after Bidam is escorted back to his cell...Uh-oh, we haven't seen Mishil looking like this before. Surly, brooding, and actually on the defensive. Misaeng and the new priestess Sulmae are with her. That's Wolchun's handwriting, Misaeng confirms. But Sulmae reminds them that it can't be an accurate prediction without the Northern Wei almanac, and besides, "anybody can forge a letter." Mishil knows exactly what all of this boils down to: "A bluff...or the real thing?" It's all one big gamble. She's going to have to call one or the other. A bluffer, she observes, has to try extra-hard to look like he's not bluffing...Just then Sejong and Seolwon return from their meeting with the king. And shock her with the news that the king wants her to step forward and calm the citizens.
Later, alone with Seolwon, Mishil puzzles over the weird guy. "He lets me look into his eyes, but I can't read them." And Seolwon recognizes him as "that swordsman we fought" up in Iseo Province (in Episode 23). But they know Deokman sent him.
"What? No eclipse?" Yushin gives the news to his mother and the queen. Maya asks the obvious question: "Why did you write it on the stone?" To convince Mishil, he replies, and ultimately damage her credibility by misleading her.
"It's a bad bet." Seolwon points out that Deokman has nothing to lose. "But you," he tells Mishil, "have a lot to lose." No kidding. He advises her not to think in terms of bluff-or-not-a-bluff, which is what they're trying to get her to do. "Instead, make the enemy come to you." Sort of a military spin...and she likes it.
Yushin has left his mother and Maya. Now he's holding an envelope...Flashback to an earlier conversation with Deokman. "Give this to Mishil," she instructs him. In the envelope? Copies of the eclipse-relevant pages of the Northern Wei almanac! She tells Yushin, it's to make her believe that they really can predict the eclipse. Yushin wonders, "But doesn't that make it look like we're trying too hard?" Not for Mishil, she tells him, because "she's a master strategist" and will see through it.
Mishil's quiet cup of tea is interrupted by the news that Yushin wants to see her. Seolwon's advice still fresh in her mind, Mishil tells Bojong to send him away. He'll only try to confuse us further, she tells Misaeng. So Bojong goes outside and turns Yushin down. Yushin gives him the envelope and asks him to give it to her, which is all he really wants to do anyway. So Bojong takes it inside. Mishil tells him to take it away and burn it! But Misaeng stops him and advises otherwise...and it's just an envelope. So she decides to open it. Sees what's inside...and it genuinely rattles her, we can see that. "Call Sulmae," she says.
Sulmae arrives and verifies the pages. Mishil's starting to look a little tired of all this. "Something's not right," Sulmae thinks; "aren't they trying a little too hard?" Besides, having the pages doesn't mean that Wolchun helped them. Seolwon tries to reassure her: "I have faith in your ability to read people." Don't worry about this guessing game, he reiterates; "focus on reading your enemy." She listens, and then smiles at him. REALLY smiles, adoringly, like she's incredibly grateful for his wisdom. It's just for a moment, but it's one of the most significant moments of the series. "Send for Yushin," she says, beaming.
Bojong catches up with Yushin, who's on his way out, and tells him Mishil wants to see him...another flashback conversation with Deokman. "Be yourself," she tells him. "And don't avert your eyes."
So he goes in and sits down with her, and she starts right into him. Are you trying to become crown prince? Didn't get to marry Cheonmyeong so you're trying again with Deokman? And laughs at him mockingly for thinking she'll ever be acknowledged as a princess. Then looks deeply into him. Did Wolchun really predict an eclipse? Yes. Did you hear this from him directly? No; he told Deokman and she told me. Then a question about the "Danchun Grotto" and whether Yushin ever took him there. Yushin says no, I didn't; others must have...In flashback we see Priestess Sulmae advise Mishil that Wolchun wouldn't have needed to go there to obtain a point of reference (so it must be some sort of observatory or viewing place) because he's mastered the mathematics...His answer brightens Mishil's face: "You know what it is?" Suddenly a bit unnerved, Yushin answers, "It's a place to view the stars." By her face we can see she thinks she's read him; something about the hesitation in his answers (I didn't really follow this) has convinced her. "Yushin. There'll be no eclipse. If 'Princess' Deokman has told you otherwise, she's lying." This is to poke him and see how he responds, of course. Yushin wavers a little and then denies any knowledge either way. "I'm sure. Well this was fun. You can go." And gives him a message to take back. "There will be no eclipse. Her trick didn't work. You understand?" Yushin stares at her and wonders to himself, "Did I ruin everything?"
"Deokman's got a long way to go." Mishil, now with Misaeng and Sulmae, is pleased with herself for getting to the truth. "She doesn't use her people well. Doesn't she know Yushin is too honest for this?" Correctly guesses that Deokman probably advised him to stare straight at her and not avert his gaze (which could tip off a secret one way or another). "All the same, he was lying." And then, "She should have lied to him, too. I suppose she's too nice for that." (Anybody wanna bet those words will haunt her later?) Misaeng is a little uncomfortable with her making a final judgment simply "on someone looking shifty." To her credit, she agrees with that. And he and Sulmae wonder about actually flipping Wolchun to their side, and doing all of those complicated calculations even with the Northern Wei almanac, all so quickly. And yet that letter stated the eclipse and its time with absolute certainty. That rings a bell with Mishil. "Certainty"...flashback to Wolchun in Episode 16 explaining to her his prediction of the lunar eclipse. In particular, his specifying of a margin of error, as in plus or minus a certain number of hours...."The abbot always made allowance for error," she and Sulmae realize. Meaning? "The letter's a fake." And now another thing occurs to her, albeit later than it should have: "The royal house hates it when I announce the will of heaven. But suddenly the king WANTS me involved?" All pointing to a bluff. "There's one last thing to check."
A bored Bidam, still handcuffed, is sitting in his cell. Suddenly he hears people start to talk outside. "Mishil says no eclipse. What a relief, huh?" It's Bojong and some of the other Hwarang, staging a conversation. "What do you think--they'll burn him at the stake?" "I knew he was a faker." "Trying to put one over on Mishil?" "He'll be dead soon enough." A rare burst of anger from Bidam; he bangs his head on the cell bars--and then remembers what Deokman told him about how he's on his own and she won't be able to help him...Day turns to night and in his cell, he wonders, "Has it all gone bad?"
Next morning: Six Hwarang are escorting Bidam somewhere. Cuffs are still on, and hands are tied with rope to keep them close to his waist. Suddenly he makes a burst for freedom. Knocks two Hwarang down; uses a third's sword-thrust to cut his hand ropes; and kicks down another. And before the Hwarang can organize themselves, he jumps up onto a building porch and gets some separation. He runs, Hwarang in pursuit, and uh-oh now Shillan soldiers seem to be coming from all directions (How? Nobody called them. Ugh). And now there's a circle with fourteen spears and thirteen shields--27 soldiers and him in the middle. Bojong orders them to attack, and they do...and Bidam fights them off, in the process using a spear-thrust to break his handcuffs. Then they use ropes to try to seal him in, and it looks like Shillan double-dutch as he jumps over and under the ropes, and then gets leverage with the ropes enough to pull down the soldiers holding them. But finally they throw a chain-metal net over him and the silliness stops. Now Mishil steps outside to take a look, and Bidam laughs--"You got me." Mishil tells him that the conversation he had heard was fake; that she had made no decision but that his escape attempt has convinced her once and for all that there will be no eclipse. "Why try to escape if there were going to be an eclipse?" (I don't agree with that logic at all. He's done his job, and as a prisoner she could kill him any time she pleases; why wouldn't he try to escape at any opportunity?) "Take him away," she orders. And tells Bidam, "Tomorrow you'll burn at the stake."
Mishil has come to see the king and queen. No eclipse, she tells them. The weird guy, he was a fraud, "Whereas I am Priestess of the Sacred Rites. I'll issue an official announcement." She leaves, and Maya seethes as she realizes that Mishil has figured it all out.
The next morning: Posters go up everywhere. Great excitement among the citizens as they read that Mishil says the feared eclipse-omen will not occur. It was supposed to occur today, and it's already noontime, so they probably were very tense all morning. "Saved!", they shout excitedly--"Mishil saves the day again!" General rejoicing.
"So there really won't be an eclipse?" The king, with Seohyeon and Yongchun, looks directly up at the sun. (Hey king, didn't your mom ever tell you not to do that?)
Elsewhere, Maya and Manmyeong are looking up at the sun too. (And good grief, they're both moms!) They quietly plead for Mishil to be wrong.
And at the Bokya camp...Now it's getting to be near sunset, and still nothing. Jukbang and Godo despair.
The sun has set. Alcheon and Yushin go to see Deokman, who's alone and doing some writing. "This is my fault," Yushin believes. "Mishil must have seen right through me." Deokman tells them, "I owe you both an apology. And also Bidam. Especially Bidam."
Nighttime: Bidam is now cuffed hand and foot. He's very unhappy, and wonders if this is really it for him.
The next morning: A wooden platform with a wooden stake has been set up in the middle of the capital. Everyone of any consequence is present to watch this, and lots of citizens are there too. And even Chilsuk; haven't seen him in a while. Bidam is brought forward and he's mocked mercilessly by the citizens. Seolwon pronounces the sentence. Bidam is led up the platform and tied to the stake. Seokpum steps forward with a lit torch...and then something off to the side catches his eye. He looks...and drops the torch in shock. Seolwon turns, and now everyone is turning. And looking up. And now Bidam looks up--in amazement. "The eclipse."
A step backwards to the rest of the previous evening's conversation with Deokman and Yushin and Alcheon. "I'm apologizing because...there's going to be an eclipse."...And now a further flashback, the one we've all been waiting for: Wolchun giving his results to Deokman. "It may be off by as much as a day," he tells her, and explains the margin-of-error concept. Wolchun beams with pride at his accomplishment...and he's now very friendly to Deokman, even calling her "princess." But what turned him? We're still not told...so this is NOT the flashback we've all been waiting for....
Back in the capital: Maybe somebody ought to get Bidam down from there, huh? As we see everyone there watching the eclipse unfold, we hear Deokman's explanation. "In order to trick Mishil, I had to lie to Bidam. And to you, Yushin. I'm sorry." Deokman knew that Mishil would see through Bidam. And now as he stands there still tied to the stake, Bidam realizes Deokman lied to him. "To trick Mishil, she lied to ME?" Is he pissed? Quite the opposite--he laughs like crazy. And now back to Deokman, telling Yushin, "You're a terrible liar. I knew she'd trap you." So then Yushin finally asks the big question: "How did you persuade the abbot?" Again, a flashback-within-a-flashback: Deokman has just presented Wolchun with a piece of paper--some sort of proposal or idea she's showing him. His eyes widen as he studies it. "Is this...do you mean it?" The paper has some sort of a brick wall drawn on it, and Deokman says it's her guarantee that she'll never try to exploit science for her own political gain like Mishil does. Which is exactly what embittered Wolchun so deeply. Whatever it is, it does the trick. An amazed Wolchun calls it "ingenious" and is nearly giddy over it! "How did you come to think of this?" Aw, come on, what is it already? We're not told, not yet. (The situation, and the drawing of the bricks on the paper, makes me suspect she's proposed some sort of an organizational firewall (often informally called a "Chinese wall"). We'll have to wait and see.)
Again back at the capital, the eclipse continues. And it's not just a solar eclipse, it's an annular eclipse (see new link in the information thread) and very nearly total. Darkness descends over the scene...and a grinning Bidam decides to play it up. "The birth of twins ends the male line!", he shouts into the darkness. "A solar eclipse will herald the star of Alcor's return to heaven!" We can barely glimpse Mishil in the darkness, watching and listening passively. "The star of Mizar must shine. Then the skies of Shilla will be bright!!" Way to jump in there and take advantage, dude. The eclipse proceeds rapidly--absurdly rapidly (Gotta love TV!)--and as it ends, and full sunlight again bathes the scene--a lone figure steps forward on the high platform that surrounds the area. Deokman.
"He's cunning, that one." Mishil and the cabal are trying to make sense of this weird newcomer. Sejong acknowledges his shrewdness. The men are unsettled and start to snipe at each other again...but Mishil is calm and has accepted it. "I lost this round," she says plainly; "He's smart, this one;" she admires the cleverness of claiming his fate is linked to the king's. (Actually this sounds like the kind of thing Deokman would have thought of.)
"There'll be no eclipse." Now Deokman has told Yushin and Alcheon just what she's told Bidam. But didn't Wolchun crunch the numbers? "I was lying." (Or are you setting up two more unwitting pawns?) This is all to mess with Mishil, she says; "Did Wolchun help Deokman or not? The more she wonders, the more confused she'll get." Even if it doesn't unsettle Mishil, she's sure it will unsettle her cabal and set them squabbling about whether or not an eclipse will happen. "And I have faith in Bidam."
Bidam is sitting alone in a jail cell, smiling. He remembers Deokman's instructions to him--"You have to convince Mishil there is going to be an eclipse"--and clearly is pleased with his performance today.
Bokya camp, by the waterwheel: Deokman tells Yushin that Mishil will proclaim an eclipse, there won't be one, and she'll lose her standing with the public. "Won't she know it's a trap?" Deokman concedes that it's possible and she's worried about that. Says she's even losing sleep over it. But going up against Mishil is bound to be a little scary, she says, and Yushin can't argue with that.
Bidam has been brought straight into the cabal's meeting room and is sitting at the table opposite Mishil. (Wouldn't the king insist on being present at any future interrogation? Especially after his answer...? I don't like this.) Mishil and Misaeng go through his possessions, and find the crystal he used to light the papers on fire. And instantly know that it's exactly what he used. "Aren't you just a piece of work," Mishil says patronizingly. "How'd you raise the stone?" Bidam smiles right back. "I think you already know the answer to that." With a smile he admits to inscribing the stone tablet himself, which sets Misaeng laughing. And that stuff about heaven's will? "What do I know about Heaven?", Bidam says with a laugh of his own. Yeah, it was all a scam, he says--but go ahead, tell that to the public. "Tell them I raised a stone by adding beans to water." They know he's got them--but he states the obvious anyway. "Won't they be curious about your statue, too?" Surprisingly, Mishil smiles at him, almost admiringly. "So you'd use heaven for your own plans?" (Just like she does.) "Use heaven? Never. Heaven terrifies me." For just a moment Mishil thought she'd found a kindred spirit...but not with that answer. Now she thinks back...this sounds sort of like something she told Deokman in Episode 16...Hmmm. Then Bidam adds, "Don't we all need a little help from Heaven?" Now wait a minute...she recalls saying the exact same thing to Yushin in Episode 16...Now it clicks: "Yushin? Deokman?" Bidam laughs. "Took you long enough." Now Mishil looks a little rattled. "Who are you."...Bidam thinks back to more of his last conversation with Deokman, which we didn't see. The fake skin disfigurement she helped him put on, the idea of it is to protect him from Mishil reading him too easily. "Mishil has an uncanny ability to look right through a person's facade."...But now, and it seems very unwise, Bidam starts to remove the skin stuff right there in front of her. "It didn't seem fair," he says, almost smug about his performance. Adding that he doesn't need to hide his true feelings, he pulls a piece of paper out from his coat. "Shall we get started?"
At the Najung Well: The stone tablet is still at the site, still in the ground, but it's been covered up. The citizens all know what it says, though, and they're busy decoding the prophecy. Alcor's return to heaven, that represents Cheonmyeong's death. But that stuff about an eclipse and a new era, well, whose new era? Not a clue, but wait, here's a new guy who walks in and reminds everybody about the posters that revealed the lost twin. That's whose new era, he says, and it makes perfect sense to everyone. Oh, and the new guy? It's Godo! Dressed in civilian clothes. But now here comes another new guy--Jukbang in civilian clothes--who plays the skeptic and doubts Godo loudly and clearly. Angrily takes Mishil's side and says that until Mishil speaks about this, none of it means anything. And makes a big show out of proclaiming Mishil's stature and insight and his devotion to her. Watching this spectacle from a distance, we see Alcheon, and Yushin, and good heavens Deokman is there too, wearing a hat. Not a good idea; what if someone spots her...but they want to see if the propaganda plays with the public, and it does seem to.
The King is meeting with Seolwon, Sejong, Seohyeon, and Yongchun. Seolwon reports that he's had the well area cordoned off and the stone tablet covered. Then, after a subtle nod from the king--looks like a cue--Seohyeon speaks up and surprises us. Mishil, he says, "needs to step forward and address this issue." Doink! Sejong's jaw drops a little and even Seolwon reacts a little. Yongchun pipes up in support--"It's time Heaven spoke to Mishil again." And Jinpyeong agrees, saying that only Mishil can calm the citizens right now. He turns to Sejong. "Don't you think?" Ummm...Sejong finds his tongue eventually and says he'll tell Mishil. Of course he's surprised; the king is actually ASKING for Mishil to step forward!
Mishil reads Bidam's paper, and looks very surprised. Bidam calmly asks her what she's going to do. "Will there be an eclipse, or not?" Mishil flashes that crafty smile at him. "You expect me to believe that Wolchun wrote this himself?" She studies what it says. "Expect a solar eclipse at noon on the day of the full moon." Bidam is being coy and nonchalant; his utter lack of fear of her undoubtedly is annoying the heck out of her, but she's keeping cool. "You want me to believe this?" Bidam laughs, and tells her she can make up her own mind. "Is it the real thing, or is it a bluff?" More seriously now, he stares at her. "You have to say something--people are waiting, after all."
Later, after Bidam is escorted back to his cell...Uh-oh, we haven't seen Mishil looking like this before. Surly, brooding, and actually on the defensive. Misaeng and the new priestess Sulmae are with her. That's Wolchun's handwriting, Misaeng confirms. But Sulmae reminds them that it can't be an accurate prediction without the Northern Wei almanac, and besides, "anybody can forge a letter." Mishil knows exactly what all of this boils down to: "A bluff...or the real thing?" It's all one big gamble. She's going to have to call one or the other. A bluffer, she observes, has to try extra-hard to look like he's not bluffing...Just then Sejong and Seolwon return from their meeting with the king. And shock her with the news that the king wants her to step forward and calm the citizens.
Later, alone with Seolwon, Mishil puzzles over the weird guy. "He lets me look into his eyes, but I can't read them." And Seolwon recognizes him as "that swordsman we fought" up in Iseo Province (in Episode 23). But they know Deokman sent him.
"What? No eclipse?" Yushin gives the news to his mother and the queen. Maya asks the obvious question: "Why did you write it on the stone?" To convince Mishil, he replies, and ultimately damage her credibility by misleading her.
"It's a bad bet." Seolwon points out that Deokman has nothing to lose. "But you," he tells Mishil, "have a lot to lose." No kidding. He advises her not to think in terms of bluff-or-not-a-bluff, which is what they're trying to get her to do. "Instead, make the enemy come to you." Sort of a military spin...and she likes it.
Yushin has left his mother and Maya. Now he's holding an envelope...Flashback to an earlier conversation with Deokman. "Give this to Mishil," she instructs him. In the envelope? Copies of the eclipse-relevant pages of the Northern Wei almanac! She tells Yushin, it's to make her believe that they really can predict the eclipse. Yushin wonders, "But doesn't that make it look like we're trying too hard?" Not for Mishil, she tells him, because "she's a master strategist" and will see through it.
Mishil's quiet cup of tea is interrupted by the news that Yushin wants to see her. Seolwon's advice still fresh in her mind, Mishil tells Bojong to send him away. He'll only try to confuse us further, she tells Misaeng. So Bojong goes outside and turns Yushin down. Yushin gives him the envelope and asks him to give it to her, which is all he really wants to do anyway. So Bojong takes it inside. Mishil tells him to take it away and burn it! But Misaeng stops him and advises otherwise...and it's just an envelope. So she decides to open it. Sees what's inside...and it genuinely rattles her, we can see that. "Call Sulmae," she says.
Sulmae arrives and verifies the pages. Mishil's starting to look a little tired of all this. "Something's not right," Sulmae thinks; "aren't they trying a little too hard?" Besides, having the pages doesn't mean that Wolchun helped them. Seolwon tries to reassure her: "I have faith in your ability to read people." Don't worry about this guessing game, he reiterates; "focus on reading your enemy." She listens, and then smiles at him. REALLY smiles, adoringly, like she's incredibly grateful for his wisdom. It's just for a moment, but it's one of the most significant moments of the series. "Send for Yushin," she says, beaming.
Bojong catches up with Yushin, who's on his way out, and tells him Mishil wants to see him...another flashback conversation with Deokman. "Be yourself," she tells him. "And don't avert your eyes."
So he goes in and sits down with her, and she starts right into him. Are you trying to become crown prince? Didn't get to marry Cheonmyeong so you're trying again with Deokman? And laughs at him mockingly for thinking she'll ever be acknowledged as a princess. Then looks deeply into him. Did Wolchun really predict an eclipse? Yes. Did you hear this from him directly? No; he told Deokman and she told me. Then a question about the "Danchun Grotto" and whether Yushin ever took him there. Yushin says no, I didn't; others must have...In flashback we see Priestess Sulmae advise Mishil that Wolchun wouldn't have needed to go there to obtain a point of reference (so it must be some sort of observatory or viewing place) because he's mastered the mathematics...His answer brightens Mishil's face: "You know what it is?" Suddenly a bit unnerved, Yushin answers, "It's a place to view the stars." By her face we can see she thinks she's read him; something about the hesitation in his answers (I didn't really follow this) has convinced her. "Yushin. There'll be no eclipse. If 'Princess' Deokman has told you otherwise, she's lying." This is to poke him and see how he responds, of course. Yushin wavers a little and then denies any knowledge either way. "I'm sure. Well this was fun. You can go." And gives him a message to take back. "There will be no eclipse. Her trick didn't work. You understand?" Yushin stares at her and wonders to himself, "Did I ruin everything?"
"Deokman's got a long way to go." Mishil, now with Misaeng and Sulmae, is pleased with herself for getting to the truth. "She doesn't use her people well. Doesn't she know Yushin is too honest for this?" Correctly guesses that Deokman probably advised him to stare straight at her and not avert his gaze (which could tip off a secret one way or another). "All the same, he was lying." And then, "She should have lied to him, too. I suppose she's too nice for that." (Anybody wanna bet those words will haunt her later?) Misaeng is a little uncomfortable with her making a final judgment simply "on someone looking shifty." To her credit, she agrees with that. And he and Sulmae wonder about actually flipping Wolchun to their side, and doing all of those complicated calculations even with the Northern Wei almanac, all so quickly. And yet that letter stated the eclipse and its time with absolute certainty. That rings a bell with Mishil. "Certainty"...flashback to Wolchun in Episode 16 explaining to her his prediction of the lunar eclipse. In particular, his specifying of a margin of error, as in plus or minus a certain number of hours...."The abbot always made allowance for error," she and Sulmae realize. Meaning? "The letter's a fake." And now another thing occurs to her, albeit later than it should have: "The royal house hates it when I announce the will of heaven. But suddenly the king WANTS me involved?" All pointing to a bluff. "There's one last thing to check."
A bored Bidam, still handcuffed, is sitting in his cell. Suddenly he hears people start to talk outside. "Mishil says no eclipse. What a relief, huh?" It's Bojong and some of the other Hwarang, staging a conversation. "What do you think--they'll burn him at the stake?" "I knew he was a faker." "Trying to put one over on Mishil?" "He'll be dead soon enough." A rare burst of anger from Bidam; he bangs his head on the cell bars--and then remembers what Deokman told him about how he's on his own and she won't be able to help him...Day turns to night and in his cell, he wonders, "Has it all gone bad?"
Next morning: Six Hwarang are escorting Bidam somewhere. Cuffs are still on, and hands are tied with rope to keep them close to his waist. Suddenly he makes a burst for freedom. Knocks two Hwarang down; uses a third's sword-thrust to cut his hand ropes; and kicks down another. And before the Hwarang can organize themselves, he jumps up onto a building porch and gets some separation. He runs, Hwarang in pursuit, and uh-oh now Shillan soldiers seem to be coming from all directions (How? Nobody called them. Ugh). And now there's a circle with fourteen spears and thirteen shields--27 soldiers and him in the middle. Bojong orders them to attack, and they do...and Bidam fights them off, in the process using a spear-thrust to break his handcuffs. Then they use ropes to try to seal him in, and it looks like Shillan double-dutch as he jumps over and under the ropes, and then gets leverage with the ropes enough to pull down the soldiers holding them. But finally they throw a chain-metal net over him and the silliness stops. Now Mishil steps outside to take a look, and Bidam laughs--"You got me." Mishil tells him that the conversation he had heard was fake; that she had made no decision but that his escape attempt has convinced her once and for all that there will be no eclipse. "Why try to escape if there were going to be an eclipse?" (I don't agree with that logic at all. He's done his job, and as a prisoner she could kill him any time she pleases; why wouldn't he try to escape at any opportunity?) "Take him away," she orders. And tells Bidam, "Tomorrow you'll burn at the stake."
Mishil has come to see the king and queen. No eclipse, she tells them. The weird guy, he was a fraud, "Whereas I am Priestess of the Sacred Rites. I'll issue an official announcement." She leaves, and Maya seethes as she realizes that Mishil has figured it all out.
The next morning: Posters go up everywhere. Great excitement among the citizens as they read that Mishil says the feared eclipse-omen will not occur. It was supposed to occur today, and it's already noontime, so they probably were very tense all morning. "Saved!", they shout excitedly--"Mishil saves the day again!" General rejoicing.
"So there really won't be an eclipse?" The king, with Seohyeon and Yongchun, looks directly up at the sun. (Hey king, didn't your mom ever tell you not to do that?)
Elsewhere, Maya and Manmyeong are looking up at the sun too. (And good grief, they're both moms!) They quietly plead for Mishil to be wrong.
And at the Bokya camp...Now it's getting to be near sunset, and still nothing. Jukbang and Godo despair.
The sun has set. Alcheon and Yushin go to see Deokman, who's alone and doing some writing. "This is my fault," Yushin believes. "Mishil must have seen right through me." Deokman tells them, "I owe you both an apology. And also Bidam. Especially Bidam."
Nighttime: Bidam is now cuffed hand and foot. He's very unhappy, and wonders if this is really it for him.
The next morning: A wooden platform with a wooden stake has been set up in the middle of the capital. Everyone of any consequence is present to watch this, and lots of citizens are there too. And even Chilsuk; haven't seen him in a while. Bidam is brought forward and he's mocked mercilessly by the citizens. Seolwon pronounces the sentence. Bidam is led up the platform and tied to the stake. Seokpum steps forward with a lit torch...and then something off to the side catches his eye. He looks...and drops the torch in shock. Seolwon turns, and now everyone is turning. And looking up. And now Bidam looks up--in amazement. "The eclipse."
A step backwards to the rest of the previous evening's conversation with Deokman and Yushin and Alcheon. "I'm apologizing because...there's going to be an eclipse."...And now a further flashback, the one we've all been waiting for: Wolchun giving his results to Deokman. "It may be off by as much as a day," he tells her, and explains the margin-of-error concept. Wolchun beams with pride at his accomplishment...and he's now very friendly to Deokman, even calling her "princess." But what turned him? We're still not told...so this is NOT the flashback we've all been waiting for....
Back in the capital: Maybe somebody ought to get Bidam down from there, huh? As we see everyone there watching the eclipse unfold, we hear Deokman's explanation. "In order to trick Mishil, I had to lie to Bidam. And to you, Yushin. I'm sorry." Deokman knew that Mishil would see through Bidam. And now as he stands there still tied to the stake, Bidam realizes Deokman lied to him. "To trick Mishil, she lied to ME?" Is he pissed? Quite the opposite--he laughs like crazy. And now back to Deokman, telling Yushin, "You're a terrible liar. I knew she'd trap you." So then Yushin finally asks the big question: "How did you persuade the abbot?" Again, a flashback-within-a-flashback: Deokman has just presented Wolchun with a piece of paper--some sort of proposal or idea she's showing him. His eyes widen as he studies it. "Is this...do you mean it?" The paper has some sort of a brick wall drawn on it, and Deokman says it's her guarantee that she'll never try to exploit science for her own political gain like Mishil does. Which is exactly what embittered Wolchun so deeply. Whatever it is, it does the trick. An amazed Wolchun calls it "ingenious" and is nearly giddy over it! "How did you come to think of this?" Aw, come on, what is it already? We're not told, not yet. (The situation, and the drawing of the bricks on the paper, makes me suspect she's proposed some sort of an organizational firewall (often informally called a "Chinese wall"). We'll have to wait and see.)
Again back at the capital, the eclipse continues. And it's not just a solar eclipse, it's an annular eclipse (see new link in the information thread) and very nearly total. Darkness descends over the scene...and a grinning Bidam decides to play it up. "The birth of twins ends the male line!", he shouts into the darkness. "A solar eclipse will herald the star of Alcor's return to heaven!" We can barely glimpse Mishil in the darkness, watching and listening passively. "The star of Mizar must shine. Then the skies of Shilla will be bright!!" Way to jump in there and take advantage, dude. The eclipse proceeds rapidly--absurdly rapidly (Gotta love TV!)--and as it ends, and full sunlight again bathes the scene--a lone figure steps forward on the high platform that surrounds the area. Deokman.