Episodes 5+6 Reviews

As the mastermind gets revealed, Gwanghae and his right arm Gae Shi-who thinks and acts on his behalf- realise that they've been puppets for some mysterious person all along. But they went too far to stop.

Conniving Gae Shi apprehends the fact that Gwanghae is too soft to harm his own family so she stops consulting him and starts acting on her own. After she decodes all the data she collected and concludes that the true bloodline mentioned in the prophecy is not Yeong Chang but Cheongmyung, Gae Shi decides to kill both. Gwanghae gets aggrieved at the supposed death of both and at the epiphany of being used by someone ridiculing him and his power. While in Japan, Cheong Myung is only saved from death to become a slave.

And since you watched the two episodes let's get to what's between the lines and what happened to my poor heart.

Gwanghae is still struggling between being a human and being a king. When Gae Shi asked him to choose between the two, I myself was struck dumb -no need to try to guess how he felt. It was written all over his face.- So finally it hit Gwanghae, the opposite of a king is a human. You simply cannot be both.

Gwanghae's love for his sister is sincere and real. Gae Shi knows that that's why she ''killed'' Cheong Myung behind Gwanghae's back. Outraged as he is, he cannot kill Gae Shi, because deep down in his heart of hearts he knows that Gae Shi alone can hear that distant voice of his heart; the petrified voice. Gae Shi alone can hear, interpret and act upon that voice. Gwanghae can keep pretending it has nothing to do with him and let guilt ease his pain a bit. After all, blaming ourselves for what seemingly is others' fault always makes us feel better. As deep as Gwanghae's affection for Cheong Myung is, it cannot compete with the king inside of him. I'm sorry to say this, but I believe the king will beat the human eventually.

Still, evil as his retainers might be and dark as his thoughts might prove, Gwanghae IS misunderstood. No body, absolutely no body, ever tries to understand or justify his actions. They don't even care to confirm them. Even his own retainers, they all believed it was by his order that the princes were killed. Being a king is a curse yes. But it isn't simply because he's the king. It's because he's Gwanghae, the ever misunderstood Gwanghae.

And why do I suddenly remember Ralph Waldo Emerson's words; 'to be great is to be misunderstood.'?

Agitated Gwanghae is a work of art. The fire in his eyes, his trembling upper lip and nostrils when he's berserk but trying to hold his anger in and his tears which rip my heart to shreds; all portray a lonely, misjudged and used man.

P.S He's the hottest horse rider ever!

Cheong Myung...

I can see a strong and fearless heroine coming our way. For a girl of 13 to witness all these events; to hear that she's ominous and would bring death to the world, to hear and see her older brother -whom she has always loved, respected and trusted- turn into another person and to be abandoned then face death and slavery will definitely mould her character in a tough way; especially if we add having to live as a boy.

Cheong Myung's fate is only ominous because she's a girl. Because she's a girl she shouldn't have such power to rule. Because she's a girl having the fate of a king, Cheong Myung is ominous. Because she's a girl, she shouldn't be strong.

I mean, dammit. Damn this worthless world. Damn it!

Queen Dowager is so pitiful here. She's not stupid. On the contrary she has considerable political acumen. But she's a mother, and a mother can't make reasonable decisions when her children are in danger. Now that she's deprived of both, I'm really eager to see how she'll act.

Young Joo Won (Yoon Chang Young) is doing a great job paving the way to the adult Seo Kang Joon (I love SKJ but I wished it was Han Joo Wan instead). Anyhow, Joo Won is apparently that true noble with a sensible heart and a sound mind. My only complaint is that I cannot take anymore of Yoon Chang Young's crying and anger fits. Those who watched Mama; Nothing to Fear would understand why.

In the two episodes, the power of prophecies is again emphasized. No matter how good a person's actions are, if a prophecy is against them, they lose. Bah! Humans are really absurd. Why do they always fall for what's not there?!

At the same time, the concept of human will being stronger than Heaven's will is also brought up. And I wonder -Mishil reminiscence- who will win in the end?!

'Tomorrow is a better day and therefore I won't be defeated', how long can this thought motivate us to move forward?! How long can that far tomorrow enchant us to chase it?! How long can these abstract words drug us to survive?!



Now that the mastermind is finally revealed which is a bit shocking to me and would be heartbreaking (he's In Woo's father), I'll anticipate how will Kang Soo Jun (Jo Sung Ha) manipulate Gwanghae and for how long?!

Who dares to stand in Gwanghae's way?! Especially when he's acted by Cha Seung Won?!!!

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