Shine or Go Crazy - Episode 10 (A SqueeCap)
We're dealing with the aftermath of Wang So's win and Shin-yool's discovery of his true identity in this episode. And finally, Wang So is able to see the truth as well. Where we're going from here, we can only guess. Because he has not one, but two women after him now. Also: DAMN, I realized only now that all this time, with Soompi subs, I've watched a badly mangled version of the drama. Switching to viki right away. I tell you, it's a different WORLD.
becca: Is it as mind-boggling as discovering your chrush's true identity/gender?
Episode 10 verdict: I'm giddy with joy. No, actually, I'm sad. We're caught up! No more crazy recapping! What will I do? What will I do with my life??!
S@ki6: That's good advice re Viki. I'll try them next.
Never fear, Kakashi. We have Blood (WHAT A MEAN THING TO SAY!!!). We also have the potential Unkind Women... and there's always that other one I mentioned to you yesterday that I don't want to say out loud.
I will not switch to Viki! Their ads are annoying (and repetitive and repetitive)! And I usually understand enough to catch the important things that Soompi leaves out. (PSsst, becca: Adblocker!)
Okay, that does it. On DramaFever it said something about the Dragon dipping into the Blue Sea and I was like - how the fuck does she get he wants to kill her from THAT? Between that and consistently calling the King the Crown Prince so I spend hours wondering why he isn't yet the King... Viki, here I come. If she doesn't answer his questions, she'll die on the spot. He continues by challenging her to show him her surmised skills in reasoning (and fortune telling = Soompi) (Yeah DF also said fortune telling, which to me is completely out of left field) (so we were debating in the comments section of 9 what he really said there, anyone who knows Korean?). Who will be the next Goryeo King?
The best part is Wang So not recognizing her through her see-through veil. I mean, really, come on!
He's busy not dying. Can we give the poor little tiny awesome man a break?
Yeah, I give him a pass on this. He's too out of it to recognize anyone.
Oh Puhlease. Even if he wasn't out of it, he STILL wouldn't see her in a see-through veil.
We already know she gets out of this by saying that the next king will be a Wang with a name bearing the heaven's will (= every single one of them). Her smartassiness just makes the king angrier though. Next, he demands she tell him the fate of his brother Wang So. She has him write a word ... he writes light (光). but before she can say anything, the King changes his mind and now wants Wang Wook's fortune told.
Wang (ha, I wrote Wank firsts) Wook's fortune is to be strangled by his Barbie wig.
I might have snickered a bit. Poor Limnium. He doesn't deserve this.
Wang Wook writes 光 as well (copy cat). Is he fated to be the King? is King Jeongjong's question. From the way he wrote it, she reads this: He has a bright appearance and many envy him, but with an empty mind, on nothing but a windy expansive plain, he stands alone (WOW, Shin-yool. Way to hurt a poor boy in love :D).
I laughed so HARD at that. I mean I have no idea what she actually meant but damn, it did not sound complimentary.
Dayum, girl. It's the smart thing to do, though - siding with him would be very very bad.
Wang So is "just get me out of here, palli, palli" at this point, but they're not done! Next is prince Won (swayed easily towards things that are impossible and he should become a Buddhist monk).
These were some awesome burns.
It's going to kill me if I can't remember where this guy is from. Now that I know he's Wang Won, I will go check. Searching for 'the assy prince dressed in pink in Shine or Go Crazy' didn't produce much. Okay: Ji Eun Sung, born in '93. No info available anywhere. Those with better access to Korean-language sites, perhaps you will chime in via comments?
He hasn't been in much, but I bet you're remembering him from Three Musketeers, where he played the younger version of Crown Prince So-hyeon. According to Daum, he's also been in Cruel Palace: War of Flowers and a 2 episode special called Mother's Choice. Do I get a cookie?
I don't recall him from Cruel Palace: he must've been a minor prince there as well.
And now the King himself. He can barely write, the poor sod ... Shin-yool says that the characters he has chosen signify he is the King, of course. It's a person who has light above his head - the King's crown (Soompi subs say casket. WTF?) (Ok well at least DF got that right.) Weeeeeell, isn't she smart, our Shin-yool? But the King is still angry. All of them wrote the same character; how can their fates be different? Easy: everybody's fate is different, even if you're born the exact same second.
Good answers. Pretty obvious, but still, good answers. Basically came down to handwriting analysis.
While thinking on your feet under the threat of imminent death and you have NO idea what you did to piss the guy off. Our Bori-Bori has impressed me a tiny bit.
And now, the king asks why she provided the embellishments for free. Her "I'm a merchant, I will sell the ornaments for profit" doesn't satisfy him - he is convinced she just wants to become Queen to the next King. But when his blade is on her throat, Wang So speaks up (and gets up, even though he's barely able to stand): "Just tell him the truth", he says. In reality, she plans to return the profits from the sales to the people - by sponsoring medical care for the poor. Doesn't this call for a happy end?
He still doesn't know she's Gaebong or the woman he fake-married in China.
Yeah, but he still wants a happy end :)
And if he knew that she was either of those people, he'd want a happy ending, too.
…. I am very suspicious of that phrase now. From now on, I'm just going to let my fried brain assume that everything is dirty.
Always err on the side of caution.
With combined efforts, they manage to pacify the king ... but Uncle Wang seizes the opportunity to pour poison into the mad king's ears right then and there, when everyone heaves a sigh of relief. He whispers to him that he was correct all along about the dangerous "Blue Sea" (Chunghae), but that he got the wrong prince - not the Dragon, but the Tiger is what that woman wants. It's Wang So that's betraying him. Nooooo, my brooomance! TT______TT
Uncle Hairline, you fuckwit. (that was for Quirkstine, if she's out there.)
*indignant* I'll be right back. *goes off to stab the Wang* *comes back* Don't mess with my bromance.
"Stab the Wang" sent me places. Not good places. But funny, yes, so thank you for it!
Well, Wang So can barely move after the exertion he went through ... but his wife hands him a golden pellet to bring him back to his feet (Goryeo's Red Bull, so to speak) (I want that gold medicine) (It always looks like little balls of chocolate wrapped in gold foil to me. I want chocolate). Doesn't she regret? he asks. No ... she never ever does, she answers.
Can't do anything about the past, no point in regret. All you can do is what you're planning next.
And we see in a flashback that she nurtured him back to life with a special brew. As soon as he was able to sit and speak again, he asked her why she was helping him. Easy: cause they're husband and wife. He scoffs at that. They only ever had the marriage ceremony - and that was that. Well, be it as it may - but she hasn't yet decided to discard him yet.
Dude, if she wanted you dead, she could've arranged that ages ago! And not so long ago, you thought you'd be divorced! Be a little grateful. You could've had her on your side if you'd just been a little nicer.
Or, she could have had him on her side if she hadn't been so obsessed with making her brother the King.
Neither of them really tried.
Why would any woman try with a man who couldn't even stay the wedding night with her? They don't live in a vacuum: servants talk.
I think it's dangerous to apply current expectations to past centuries in a distant land. Although she is human, and you'd think he would have at least had DINNER with her and saved some face.
And in the here and now, she says she'll receive his thanks at home, tonight. Uh-oh. Well, THAT was pretty direct, I'd say!
Someone expects to be saying Thank you very Kamsa tonight, huh?
I KNOW that was dirty!
Want a cookie?
Outside, she runs into Wang Wook, who says he doesn't blame her - but he'll also no longer depend on anyone. And that was the whole point, it seems - she's pleased with little bro.
I still don't know what he got mad about. And if he thinks he can be independent in Goryeo where everything depends on a prince's maternal family (remember the poor prince?), he's got another think coming.
He got mad because based on past experience he's had every reason to expect that she would do what she could to put HIM forward, not her husband. I don't like him at all, but I don't think that was unreasonable.
For these two, it's always been bros before So's. Two against the world. I'd be upset, too.
I haven't had any indication she wouldn't put him forward. I just got the impression that he was being all defensive of the trading company chick but in why, I don't understand. She wants him married to the woman he likes.
They can be difficult to understand. Although that could just be the subs!
Shin-yool is home, safe ... but troubled. (What's new?) So So is Prince Wang So? Why didn't he say so? (giggling) She spills the beans to her foster parents (her mom is like ... WTF? And her dad is like ... I knew it right away!). (I love them!) Shin-yool logic goes like this: because Wang So doesn't know she's Kaebong, they're to pretend not to know he's a member of the royal family. Also, don't tell her brother. Sense this makes ... NOT.
Makes sense not to tell the brother.
YES. but not the rest.
In other words: If So So is Wang So but couldn't just say so, continue to not know as they've done from the get-go.
*applauds*
At home, the crazy king is still plotting crazy stuff, thanks to Wang Sik-Ryeom's poisonous words. When did Wang So learn martial arts so well? Why did he always pretend to be just a fool interested in women? Why did he defend the Assistant Head at the gathering? Wang So deceived him! (well, in a way, he wasn't entirely honest with him, that is true!)
What a shiny blade!
Not a wobble in it, either.
Nice to see he's still in control of some of his faculties.
Wang So, now recovered and in So So clothes, is inevitably drawn to Kaebong. He is worried about him. After hesitating for a while, he finally goes in - and meets Baek-Myo and Gang-Myeong, who are like completely different people, almost falling over themselves out of politeness. Haha, politeness by adding polite ending to words that is. Yeah. Way to keep it a secret!
Hung Kyeong man-handled him in there and his poor confused face when they yelled at him - I loved it. (+1)
Best best BEST scene of the episode. They're suddenly worried about offending him, and his confusion is priceless. He's the same So So!
But then, bro Gyu-Dal rushes in and hits His Majesty over the head - just because he is still so angry over his massive loss at gambling. He starts to insult everything about Prince Wang So. Wang So himself is confused (about why Gyu-Dal wants to eat "Ox" (Wangso) soup) and Baek-Myeo and Gang-Myeong do everything to shut him up. Our prince is even more confused when Baek-Myeo politely guides him to the VIP room. He asks for Kaebong (who is well) and whether the Assistant Head is already back (she says she isn't). He likes that, because if she doesn't tell who he really is, he can stay at the Trading Company as So So for a while longer.
Aww, the poor guy really likes it there, pretending to be So-So and hanging out with them all.
He's been starved for affection all these years, and these people probably feel like family to him.
When Baek-Myeo readies Shin-yool as Kaebong, she warns her. This man? Still not for her. He may be royalty, but he is also married. To an ice queen. Yeah ... that. But Shin-yool is not disheartened ... it was her that married him first! Oh .... YES! It's true! Here is our opening, people! She doesn't need to die at all, they can be together!!!
Squatter's rights. No, wait, that would be Princess YeoWon.
So in Goryeo, does that make Yeo Won a concubine or an actual second wife? Oh, I would still expect Shin Yool to die. Just maybe not from a chill, if Yeo Won has her way.
Eep.
Awwwww, they're so happy to see each other. Well, she's playing a bit hard to get and "mad" because he didn't contact her for so long. He is so downcast and subdued, believing she didn't even worry for him ... Being his most sincere, he tells her how worried he was. And how much he missed her. *melts* *is a puddle of goo* I'm just starting to hate her a bit for her games when ... oh no! ... the King arrives. I think he needs a restraining order O___o
She's such a mildang girl.
Ah, but look what she gave us. *melting too* *Hyuk wins all the girls* *half the boys* *most of the dogs and cats*
*still a puddle of goo*
Yah! My socks are wet now! *waves wet socks in your faces* I demand to be compensated!
Neither did anything for me. Sorry, but I just don't feel their chemistry. :-o
Actually, it seems Shin-yool is finally ready to reveal her true identity, because she wants to drag Wang So to see the Assistant Head - but that's not gonna happen, the king wants to see the Assistant Head right now, and the whole household is in an uproar. Shin-yool tells Baek-Myeo to secretly guard So So out of there via the backdoor (which Baek-Myeo doesn't consider necessary at all, so Wang So stays) and hastily changes into woman's clothes ... putting on that damned hat with veil again.
See-through veils that achieve nothing in terms of veiling are a bit pointless.
Ah, but I'm so excited for where this is going.
In the VIP room, the King runs straight into his brother Wang So. He immediately thinks the worst: betrayal! Wang So doesn't have a clue what his brother is saying ... he met the Assistant Head the first time at the tournament. How should he have plotted with her? And what? But the King believes that Wang So lied to him all this time, pretending to be somebody he isn't (Sad about it: he is correct).
Ah, but intention is EVERYTHING. (not in the eyes of a mad king though…) (cries for the bromance)
Shin-yool comes in and offers the men tea. She has noticed the king's badly shaking hand and gives him a tea that relaxes him. (OMG, please drink a whole tank of this, King! No more of this craziness, hear me?)
Is there a way out of this that allows the King to die of natural causes, surrounded by people who love him? No? *sobbing*
Death by assassination while surrounded by enemies IS natural causes for a king. Only a fool wants a job like that.
Still, he interrogates her about Wang So - starting by putting the 光 he wrote in front of her. So she reads his fate: There is a light over his head, affecting it. Will he become crazy? He may or may not. Too much heat from the head may result in madness and make him very ill. He must be very careful to control his temper, again and again. He accepts that easily because it's the life he has been leading anyway: a warped, dangerous life that could spiral out of control any minute.
He's okay with that fortune, which is not really good, but he was pissed about his earlier fortune, which was better?
I think he's just "yeah, already know that, next". Resigned.
But then, the King demands to know how the two know each other. She's not even lying when she says that she saw Prince Wang So at the Competition for the first time. Before that, he was at the Company because of an employee. And he hid his royal origins. And then, she goes into all kinds of details what he did while there ... mentioning the two gisaeng names he uttered when drunk and locked into the warehouse. That gets his attention good! For him, it's clear that only Kaebong could have known that. Ta-da!
Because having an hourglass shape, soft skin, and the assistant head never being there at the same time did nothing to make him think this was the same person. Guess he never learnt to add on the mountain.
You don't need more than one pig, so that makes sense.
Next, our sweet and a little dumb Nannies spill everything in front of Gyu-Dal: a) that So So is royal and b) that he is Shin-yool's groom from back then. a) hits him first and hard: he is terrified about how he treated the Prince and about what repercussion this could have for him. But then, he realizes ... that this man is his brother-in-law. But no! He cannot tell! Wanna bet he will very soon? :D Later, he tells his sister that he heard Wang So and Yeo Won are married on paper only - they don't share a bedroom (enabler!). But Shin-yool forbids them to tell anybody - the court is too complicated and things could get dangerous.
I do love the first few minutes of when everyone knows a secret and no one knows that everyone knows.
It Seems Wang-Shin/So-yool/So-Shin (?) have finally convinced the King of their innocence
(it helps that she has proof of how she supports physicians and that
Wang So has good answers to all his questions). Damn, the woman even
collects statistics about where how much of what kind of medicine is
needed! When they leave Chunghae Trading Company, Wang So is deep in thought.
She's a very good businesswoman and I like how her plans are geared toward profit that can be returned to the local community. Very forward thinking.
I really like her in her professional capacity. She's much more reasonable.
Yes, I can stand her when she's being the businesswoman.
After the King tells him he'll trust him again (and calls him his safe haven, aw, so sad), Wang So turns back to make sure. He sneaks into the Assistant Head's room (yay for one-armed, I mean one-thumbed push-ups) and sees that under that hat and veil, his Kaebong has been hiding. His Kaebong, who isn't Kaebong at all and definitely no he. Heureka!
I don't even care that that was creepy. At all. Let someone complain about it. Just let them.
It won't be me!
I guess you expect me to complain about it being creepy, but he really made no impression on me at all.
Haha! Actually, I wasn't even thinking about what you would say.
Oh, no, that was definitely not directed at anyone here, LOL
Dumbstruck, he alternates between giddy with joy and outraged to have been duped. And embarrassment for having been so darn slow. And anger over the many sleepless nights he spent. In the end, joy trumps.
He's happy he can fantasize about her. Very hetero-normative of him.
Is that a problem?
We were robbed of a true bromance. ;-)
Good point!
He is certainly relieved (no problem at all if you are not previously otherwise inclined) but he was totally ready to go for this man-love, too (hence the almost-kiss at the brothel). Only his brother's stupid "do you like men??!" question made him reconsider.
Okay, I take it back: THIS is the best scene of the episode. I could watch Jang Hyuk talk to himself all day.
After a little "Wang So, Wang So, Wang So" fit, Wang Sik-Ryeom realizes that one of the mirror pieces in his possession is a fake. Yup, Eun-chun posed as a traveling bronze-cleaner and got his hands on one of the pieces. The Outlaws now have two - and they fit. The name that becomes apparent where the split was is Wang Sik-Ryeom.
How convenient, Writer-nim.
I thought they knew already anyway.
The writer is just pulling this out of his ass, isn't he? (She? I dunno.)
Uncle Wang thinks Wang So will not be able to decipher the meaning of the letters on the mirror (yet), but Wang So guesses right that this is about the assassination of his father - but they need proof. All the mirror pieces.
I would like less lucky guessing and more logical reasoning, please.
At home, a beautiful princess is waiting for her husband. There is food and she holds that ornament in her hand that he chose for her (feelings?!). But husband doesn't come ... apparently, he went to the Trading Company. I don't like the look on her face ...
She was sad.
She was pissed.
She was sad and pissed. More pissed than sad. If this was me, I'd be 100000x more interested in this guy, cause I would want to tame and domesticate him.
Shin-yool sits alone in her room, staring at the calligraphy that Wang So made. She tells herself: There is a fire in his head. His future will be one of the two: Shine or go crazy.
I thought that was the King?
I learned this: Gwang Jong is the official title of Wang So when he becomes king. The "Gwang" (光) when written in Hanja can be written as "light" or "mad-crazy".
Brilliance. Well okay maybe not brilliance, but at least very clever.
Wang So finally does return home - his real home. In his room: the princess. He smiles a little at that and thanks her formally for what she has done for him. She says that everything will change now. Nope, it won't, says he. But she saved his life, isn't that so? What is it he needs to do in return? asks Wang So. And she holds out her hand and says: "take my hand - and do everything together with me in the future". He? He turns her down. Handholding? Not for him.
I just can't like him. I'm very much in Princess Yeowon's camp.
Why? She only wants him now that she thinks he can get her something. Why should he go along with that? Don't get me wrong, I like the character and I think she's fascinating, but I don't feel sorry for her at this juncture. Not even a little bit.
Ohhhhhhh, we will need to discuss their relationship at length below.
That's going to take a while, isn't it?
She waited for him during their wedding night too. (I bring that up below.) And he's the one who created the drunken lecherous fool character to put her off. As an intelligent woman, she's not going to care about a drunken lech, she's going to care about someone clever (debatable, though) and interesting.
I think the drunk lech was more about keeping everyone else's eyes off his real business, and it just conveniently happens to put her off, too. I don't think she's ever been much of a consideration in his plans, but I also don't think that was cold-hearted (intentional) on his part. He's used to people not liking him or wanting him, he's got this mission, his dad said here, marry her, she'll work as cover for you. I got the impression that for him, that's the end of it, he never thought past it.
The next day, there's trouble at Chunghae - little Prince Wang Won is very drunk and very angry. Well, she did insult him, didn't she. He trashes things and then draws his sword but right when he is about to strike Shin-yool, Wang Wook appears and catches his arm. The little shit uses the sword against his brother (and scratches) his neck - I guess he can be glad he is still alive after that. But Wang Wook hasn't come to kill. He has come to ... declare his love. Hahahaaa, nice try.
Cutie Wang Won getting banned from the trading company is like getting banned from Target, as one of the twitter comments said.
Sure, if Target had a back room full of fabulous luxury goods and was the only store within a day's travel.
I seriously thought Wang Wook was going to kill him right then and there.
Me too!
Young Do? YOU BITE YOUR TONGUE. Also: hahahahahhah Wook you useless thing you. What kind of confession was that? You throw a hissy and then your big move is a HUG? Get the fuck out.
Or to throw himself off a cliff.
I was actually hoping he would kill little bro in a fit of rage. Now that would have made for an interesting cliffhanger.
So my Ohhhhhh ohhhhh ohhhh was actually for Yeo-Won and her approaches to her husband. We kinda saw that coming, didn't we? But now, it's become quite apparent: She no longer wants a distant and disinterested on-paper-husband. She wants a real one - including everything. And that's a problem, because this man now knows that he is in love with another woman. What he doesn't know yet (of course, cause this drama needs to drag something else out) is that this is his bride from Gaebong. And his first wife at that. I don't think he will find difficult at all to go where his heart is taking him.
This is creepy to me, and I'm fairly accepting of polygamy in certain cultural settings. I don't think it's so much that it's about Princess Yeowon, as it is about Goryeo Gun messing up her life unnecessarily. I hope they divorce and she gets with Hot Sewon (that fan fic may happen yet) and lives happily ever after.
How did he mess up her life? Seriously. She had five years to notice him, and didn't. If she'd been interested in him earlier, he might never have noticed GaeBong (and if he didn't ever notice GaeBong it's likely he would never reconnect with his 'first wife'). From what I see, she made her bed. Not Wang So.
I answered this above. He TOTALLY made this bed and it's 50-50 if not 70 him and 30 her.
I know. I asked the question before you made your comments, so it looks a little back and forth but it's really not. Plus, I bring up that very issue below, which time-wise is before, even if it comes after. So we're in sync on that fact, we both think the same about that night, if she went into the marriage thinking it would be more than it was.
Please read on if you want to read hundreds of more words on marriage :D
THIS. So, I've been forming opinions about this marriage-thing, and I've seen many discussions on twitter about it, so I know there are at least two camps. One camp that thinks Wang So is at fault here and the other that thinks he isn't at all. The difference in opinion comes from this: either you believe you have a certain obligation in marriage or you believe you don't really (or you disagree what those are). This is all very culture-dependent, of course. Life for the second camp (JoAnne is in that too) is easy: Yeo Won was never interested until now (or didn't show much interest, in fact, she showed something similar to distain towards her lazy, whoring husband) and now she does become interested because she realizes this man isn't lazy at all, but most likely her ticket to Queendom. She married him because it was a good thing to do for her and her family and the drama made it seem like she could have opposed it if she had wanted. So she is certainly not a victim in all this.
Now for the first camp (and I must admit I used to belong in that as well until recently). If you have a certain idea of marriage that goes beyond a mere political alliance function, maybe one that even believes marriage is, in one form or another, "sacred", then Wang So is not blameless. He married this woman to be safe - it's what his father wanted and it made perfect sense at the time. It enabled him to lay low and perfect his image as good-for-nothing, completely undangerous wasteful cursed prince. In other words, he was using her while she was using him to a much lesser degree because she got nothing out of it (until now).
But back to the marriage-obligations. I have no detailed knowledge about Goryeo marriages, but throughout the history of mankind, marriage was related to a promise to form a bond - a new collective so to say, where you help each other. There is a common home, common goods and potentially, common offspring. I would never go as fas as to claim marriage comes with sexual obligations, but in my view, you do have the obligation to (at least) try and make it work as a common enterprise (with or without sex. It helps if there is sex. Maybe there even needs to be sex to seal the bond?). In this episode, she actually expresses her explicit wish for that: give me your hand and lets join forces. Him turning her down is like smacking her face - and goes completely against anything that marriage ever stood for. Some people claim he has neglected her. Yes, he has. But that was not a problem as long as she was fine with it. In a common enterprise, if both partners agree on the arrangement, we're fine. But if one of the partners is not fine with it, you have a problem. And we have that now.
I am in line with a lot of what you said, Kakashi, with the further explanation that my opinion in this matter is partially based on the actual relationship we've been seeing between them and my expectation is that in Goryeo, as in other countries during that time, multiple wives or a mix of wife, lesser wives, concubines, etc, was common. While I agree with you that marriage is a bond, a contract, a promise, my camp allows that those agreements may include sexual/emotional fidelity, or they may not. In this instance, it was a political marriage. Not a love match where him falling in love would be a betrayal of their emotional commitment to each other - if that's even included in marriage as a matter of course among the royalty of that time period and culture. Now, I would certainly agree that even if the basis is political, a certain amount of compatibility and allegiance would be beneficial and even expected - but in this situation, where both parties have been living separate lives quite happily since the actual day of the wedding (ooh, need to come back to that) - I'd say she isn't being mistreated by Wang So for not suddenly falling in line with her when she requests it. Bad timing isn't anyone's fault, necessarily. Back to the point I noted above, though - remember her wedding night? She sat there waiting. Was that because she couldn't do otherwise, or did she marry him expecting something less separate than what she got? Because if THAT's the case, then I do have some sympathy for her because everything SINCE then would be more of what we saw the night he didn't show up after the battle. She had some hope, she was disappointed, she moved on to a new plan. Then, yes, I would have some sympathy for her, as well as an increase in my already considerable respect for her as a person.
This is what I've always believed about her. That she didn't necessarily want the marriage, but she was open to trying to make it work. In the beginning, she said that she could make Wang So or Wang Wook king, and she seemed willing to consider helping her husband. On their wedding night, she waited, but he never came. Then in this episode, she waited again. Nothing. He never even considered that she could be an ally, let alone a wife, and he has made that painfully clear whenever they meet. If she turns on him, well… he shut that door himself.
I think Yeowon's been willing to give him a chance, both in the beginning and now, when she's learnt he's not the loser he's pretended to be. She's been willing to share and be a couple. So, the blame is on him for closing off like he did.
If that is true, I do feel a little bad for her.
And finally. Thank you, drama, for making it possible to get out of this two-women-but-I-only-want-one dilemma. It is totally true that he married her first. He hasn't slept with either woman either though (and I do think that is necessary in this day and age to really seal a marriage?). So I guess the one that gets him in bed first seals the deal? Hmmm. Oh.
He can be married and sleeping with both. They could be co-equal wives. But he'll clearly favor one over the other and that's unpleasant.
I'm all in! Wang So, go for both of them! More options! Double the fun!
Was there ever a king who had multiple wives who didn't favor one over the other? Why is it unpleasant this time?
Who says it's unpleasant this time and not other times?
You did, right up there. '..he'll clearly favor one over the other and that's unpleasant.' My assumption that you wouldn't assume it's always unpleasant comes from the comment that you made about not necessarily minding polygamy.
Well, if you're in Yeo Won's camp, it definitely does matter. Cause she'll looooooooose.
I know exactly what Saki will say to that! Take it, Saki!
Then again, she could win too. Remember what the actual history is. And remember that in Joseon, even though she died first, Queen Min won over Jang Hee Bin.
Okay, I didn't know. I'll say it, then: Hot Assassin!
Well there's winning, and then there's winning. I think Shin Yool would always be first in his heart no matter what the history actually ends up being, but I could see him caring more about Yeo Won at least than he does now, and that they could end up a viable partnership. It's all about the trade-offs.
becca: Is it as mind-boggling as discovering your chrush's true identity/gender?
S@ki6: That's good advice re Viki. I'll try them next.
Never fear, Kakashi. We have Blood (WHAT A MEAN THING TO SAY!!!). We also have the potential Unkind Women... and there's always that other one I mentioned to you yesterday that I don't want to say out loud.
I will not switch to Viki! Their ads are annoying (and repetitive and repetitive)! And I usually understand enough to catch the important things that Soompi leaves out. (PSsst, becca: Adblocker!)
Episode 10
We rewind a bit to where Wang So is busy not collapsing, the King holds his (barbed) ThankYouSpeech - and has Shin-yool led in ... He says "Just because the dragon didn't win today doesn't mean the blue sea is safe".Okay, that does it. On DramaFever it said something about the Dragon dipping into the Blue Sea and I was like - how the fuck does she get he wants to kill her from THAT? Between that and consistently calling the King the Crown Prince so I spend hours wondering why he isn't yet the King... Viki, here I come. If she doesn't answer his questions, she'll die on the spot. He continues by challenging her to show him her surmised skills in reasoning (and fortune telling = Soompi) (Yeah DF also said fortune telling, which to me is completely out of left field) (so we were debating in the comments section of 9 what he really said there, anyone who knows Korean?). Who will be the next Goryeo King?
The best part is Wang So not recognizing her through her see-through veil. I mean, really, come on!
He's busy not dying. Can we give the poor little tiny awesome man a break?
Yeah, I give him a pass on this. He's too out of it to recognize anyone.
Oh Puhlease. Even if he wasn't out of it, he STILL wouldn't see her in a see-through veil.
Wang (ha, I wrote Wank firsts) Wook's fortune is to be strangled by his Barbie wig.
I might have snickered a bit. Poor Limnium. He doesn't deserve this.
I laughed so HARD at that. I mean I have no idea what she actually meant but damn, it did not sound complimentary.
Dayum, girl. It's the smart thing to do, though - siding with him would be very very bad.
Wang So is "just get me out of here, palli, palli" at this point, but they're not done! Next is prince Won (swayed easily towards things that are impossible and he should become a Buddhist monk).
These were some awesome burns.
It's going to kill me if I can't remember where this guy is from. Now that I know he's Wang Won, I will go check. Searching for 'the assy prince dressed in pink in Shine or Go Crazy' didn't produce much. Okay: Ji Eun Sung, born in '93. No info available anywhere. Those with better access to Korean-language sites, perhaps you will chime in via comments?
He hasn't been in much, but I bet you're remembering him from Three Musketeers, where he played the younger version of Crown Prince So-hyeon. According to Daum, he's also been in Cruel Palace: War of Flowers and a 2 episode special called Mother's Choice. Do I get a cookie?
I don't recall him from Cruel Palace: he must've been a minor prince there as well.
Good answers. Pretty obvious, but still, good answers. Basically came down to handwriting analysis.
While thinking on your feet under the threat of imminent death and you have NO idea what you did to piss the guy off. Our Bori-Bori has impressed me a tiny bit.
He still doesn't know she's Gaebong or the woman he fake-married in China.
Yeah, but he still wants a happy end :)
And if he knew that she was either of those people, he'd want a happy ending, too.
…. I am very suspicious of that phrase now. From now on, I'm just going to let my fried brain assume that everything is dirty.
Always err on the side of caution.
Uncle Hairline, you fuckwit. (that was for Quirkstine, if she's out there.)
*indignant* I'll be right back. *goes off to stab the Wang* *comes back* Don't mess with my bromance.
"Stab the Wang" sent me places. Not good places. But funny, yes, so thank you for it!
Can't do anything about the past, no point in regret. All you can do is what you're planning next.
And we see in a flashback that she nurtured him back to life with a special brew. As soon as he was able to sit and speak again, he asked her why she was helping him. Easy: cause they're husband and wife. He scoffs at that. They only ever had the marriage ceremony - and that was that. Well, be it as it may - but she hasn't yet decided to discard him yet.
Dude, if she wanted you dead, she could've arranged that ages ago! And not so long ago, you thought you'd be divorced! Be a little grateful. You could've had her on your side if you'd just been a little nicer.
Or, she could have had him on her side if she hadn't been so obsessed with making her brother the King.
Neither of them really tried.
Why would any woman try with a man who couldn't even stay the wedding night with her? They don't live in a vacuum: servants talk.
I think it's dangerous to apply current expectations to past centuries in a distant land. Although she is human, and you'd think he would have at least had DINNER with her and saved some face.
Someone expects to be saying Thank you very Kamsa tonight, huh?
I KNOW that was dirty!
Want a cookie?
Outside, she runs into Wang Wook, who says he doesn't blame her - but he'll also no longer depend on anyone. And that was the whole point, it seems - she's pleased with little bro.
I still don't know what he got mad about. And if he thinks he can be independent in Goryeo where everything depends on a prince's maternal family (remember the poor prince?), he's got another think coming.
He got mad because based on past experience he's had every reason to expect that she would do what she could to put HIM forward, not her husband. I don't like him at all, but I don't think that was unreasonable.
For these two, it's always been bros before So's. Two against the world. I'd be upset, too.
I haven't had any indication she wouldn't put him forward. I just got the impression that he was being all defensive of the trading company chick but in why, I don't understand. She wants him married to the woman he likes.
They can be difficult to understand. Although that could just be the subs!
Makes sense not to tell the brother.
YES. but not the rest.
In other words: If So So is Wang So but couldn't just say so, continue to not know as they've done from the get-go.
*applauds*
What a shiny blade!
Not a wobble in it, either.
Nice to see he's still in control of some of his faculties.
Hung Kyeong man-handled him in there and his poor confused face when they yelled at him - I loved it. (+1)
Best best BEST scene of the episode. They're suddenly worried about offending him, and his confusion is priceless. He's the same So So!
Aww, the poor guy really likes it there, pretending to be So-So and hanging out with them all.
He's been starved for affection all these years, and these people probably feel like family to him.
Squatter's rights. No, wait, that would be Princess YeoWon.
So in Goryeo, does that make Yeo Won a concubine or an actual second wife? Oh, I would still expect Shin Yool to die. Just maybe not from a chill, if Yeo Won has her way.
Eep.
She's such a mildang girl.
Ah, but look what she gave us. *melting too* *Hyuk wins all the girls* *half the boys* *most of the dogs and cats*
*still a puddle of goo*
Yah! My socks are wet now! *waves wet socks in your faces* I demand to be compensated!
Neither did anything for me. Sorry, but I just don't feel their chemistry. :-o
See-through veils that achieve nothing in terms of veiling are a bit pointless.
Ah, but I'm so excited for where this is going.
In the VIP room, the King runs straight into his brother Wang So. He immediately thinks the worst: betrayal! Wang So doesn't have a clue what his brother is saying ... he met the Assistant Head the first time at the tournament. How should he have plotted with her? And what? But the King believes that Wang So lied to him all this time, pretending to be somebody he isn't (Sad about it: he is correct).
Ah, but intention is EVERYTHING. (not in the eyes of a mad king though…) (cries for the bromance)
Is there a way out of this that allows the King to die of natural causes, surrounded by people who love him? No? *sobbing*
Death by assassination while surrounded by enemies IS natural causes for a king. Only a fool wants a job like that.
Still, he interrogates her about Wang So - starting by putting the 光 he wrote in front of her. So she reads his fate: There is a light over his head, affecting it. Will he become crazy? He may or may not. Too much heat from the head may result in madness and make him very ill. He must be very careful to control his temper, again and again. He accepts that easily because it's the life he has been leading anyway: a warped, dangerous life that could spiral out of control any minute.
He's okay with that fortune, which is not really good, but he was pissed about his earlier fortune, which was better?
I think he's just "yeah, already know that, next". Resigned.
Because having an hourglass shape, soft skin, and the assistant head never being there at the same time did nothing to make him think this was the same person. Guess he never learnt to add on the mountain.
You don't need more than one pig, so that makes sense.
I do love the first few minutes of when everyone knows a secret and no one knows that everyone knows.
She's a very good businesswoman and I like how her plans are geared toward profit that can be returned to the local community. Very forward thinking.
I really like her in her professional capacity. She's much more reasonable.
Yes, I can stand her when she's being the businesswoman.
I don't even care that that was creepy. At all. Let someone complain about it. Just let them.
It won't be me!
I guess you expect me to complain about it being creepy, but he really made no impression on me at all.
Haha! Actually, I wasn't even thinking about what you would say.
Oh, no, that was definitely not directed at anyone here, LOL
He's happy he can fantasize about her. Very hetero-normative of him.
Is that a problem?
We were robbed of a true bromance. ;-)
Good point!
He is certainly relieved (no problem at all if you are not previously otherwise inclined) but he was totally ready to go for this man-love, too (hence the almost-kiss at the brothel). Only his brother's stupid "do you like men??!" question made him reconsider.
Okay, I take it back: THIS is the best scene of the episode. I could watch Jang Hyuk talk to himself all day.
How convenient, Writer-nim.
I thought they knew already anyway.
The writer is just pulling this out of his ass, isn't he? (She? I dunno.)
I would like less lucky guessing and more logical reasoning, please.
At home, a beautiful princess is waiting for her husband. There is food and she holds that ornament in her hand that he chose for her (feelings?!). But husband doesn't come ... apparently, he went to the Trading Company. I don't like the look on her face ...
She was sad.
She was pissed.
She was sad and pissed. More pissed than sad. If this was me, I'd be 100000x more interested in this guy, cause I would want to tame and domesticate him.
I thought that was the King?
I learned this: Gwang Jong is the official title of Wang So when he becomes king. The "Gwang" (光) when written in Hanja can be written as "light" or "mad-crazy".
Brilliance. Well okay maybe not brilliance, but at least very clever.
I just can't like him. I'm very much in Princess Yeowon's camp.
Why? She only wants him now that she thinks he can get her something. Why should he go along with that? Don't get me wrong, I like the character and I think she's fascinating, but I don't feel sorry for her at this juncture. Not even a little bit.
Ohhhhhhh, we will need to discuss their relationship at length below.
That's going to take a while, isn't it?
She waited for him during their wedding night too. (I bring that up below.) And he's the one who created the drunken lecherous fool character to put her off. As an intelligent woman, she's not going to care about a drunken lech, she's going to care about someone clever (debatable, though) and interesting.
I think the drunk lech was more about keeping everyone else's eyes off his real business, and it just conveniently happens to put her off, too. I don't think she's ever been much of a consideration in his plans, but I also don't think that was cold-hearted (intentional) on his part. He's used to people not liking him or wanting him, he's got this mission, his dad said here, marry her, she'll work as cover for you. I got the impression that for him, that's the end of it, he never thought past it.
Cutie Wang Won getting banned from the trading company is like getting banned from Target, as one of the twitter comments said.
Sure, if Target had a back room full of fabulous luxury goods and was the only store within a day's travel.
I seriously thought Wang Wook was going to kill him right then and there.
Me too!
She applies ointment to the (tiny) cut on his neck, while their theme plays. I like that one, by the way. Why didn't he tell her that So So was his older brother? she asks him. He didn't want to. He doesn't like it that she knows So hyungnim. He didn't want him to know that she is a woman. And the answer to why he is so nice to her ... is this. And with that, he pulls her into an embrace.
What's the name of the character Woobie My Wuv played on Heirs? This reminded me of that.Young Do? YOU BITE YOUR TONGUE. Also: hahahahahhah Wook you useless thing you. What kind of confession was that? You throw a hissy and then your big move is a HUG? Get the fuck out.
Comments
Ohhhhhh. Ohhh. Ohhhhhh!! Wait, not that last bit. I don't care about the Wook - he is annoying and should go away. He is the worst of the worst of second leads ... secret pining is okay, but can't he stop going there and moping around that she likes his brother more?! What a kid! That said, I wonder what the drama will do with him now. He could use some good character development.Or to throw himself off a cliff.
I was actually hoping he would kill little bro in a fit of rage. Now that would have made for an interesting cliffhanger.
So my Ohhhhhh ohhhhh ohhhh was actually for Yeo-Won and her approaches to her husband. We kinda saw that coming, didn't we? But now, it's become quite apparent: She no longer wants a distant and disinterested on-paper-husband. She wants a real one - including everything. And that's a problem, because this man now knows that he is in love with another woman. What he doesn't know yet (of course, cause this drama needs to drag something else out) is that this is his bride from Gaebong. And his first wife at that. I don't think he will find difficult at all to go where his heart is taking him.
This is creepy to me, and I'm fairly accepting of polygamy in certain cultural settings. I don't think it's so much that it's about Princess Yeowon, as it is about Goryeo Gun messing up her life unnecessarily. I hope they divorce and she gets with Hot Sewon (that fan fic may happen yet) and lives happily ever after.
How did he mess up her life? Seriously. She had five years to notice him, and didn't. If she'd been interested in him earlier, he might never have noticed GaeBong (and if he didn't ever notice GaeBong it's likely he would never reconnect with his 'first wife'). From what I see, she made her bed. Not Wang So.
I answered this above. He TOTALLY made this bed and it's 50-50 if not 70 him and 30 her.
I know. I asked the question before you made your comments, so it looks a little back and forth but it's really not. Plus, I bring up that very issue below, which time-wise is before, even if it comes after. So we're in sync on that fact, we both think the same about that night, if she went into the marriage thinking it would be more than it was.
Please read on if you want to read hundreds of more words on marriage :D
THIS. So, I've been forming opinions about this marriage-thing, and I've seen many discussions on twitter about it, so I know there are at least two camps. One camp that thinks Wang So is at fault here and the other that thinks he isn't at all. The difference in opinion comes from this: either you believe you have a certain obligation in marriage or you believe you don't really (or you disagree what those are). This is all very culture-dependent, of course. Life for the second camp (JoAnne is in that too) is easy: Yeo Won was never interested until now (or didn't show much interest, in fact, she showed something similar to distain towards her lazy, whoring husband) and now she does become interested because she realizes this man isn't lazy at all, but most likely her ticket to Queendom. She married him because it was a good thing to do for her and her family and the drama made it seem like she could have opposed it if she had wanted. So she is certainly not a victim in all this.
Now for the first camp (and I must admit I used to belong in that as well until recently). If you have a certain idea of marriage that goes beyond a mere political alliance function, maybe one that even believes marriage is, in one form or another, "sacred", then Wang So is not blameless. He married this woman to be safe - it's what his father wanted and it made perfect sense at the time. It enabled him to lay low and perfect his image as good-for-nothing, completely undangerous wasteful cursed prince. In other words, he was using her while she was using him to a much lesser degree because she got nothing out of it (until now).
But back to the marriage-obligations. I have no detailed knowledge about Goryeo marriages, but throughout the history of mankind, marriage was related to a promise to form a bond - a new collective so to say, where you help each other. There is a common home, common goods and potentially, common offspring. I would never go as fas as to claim marriage comes with sexual obligations, but in my view, you do have the obligation to (at least) try and make it work as a common enterprise (with or without sex. It helps if there is sex. Maybe there even needs to be sex to seal the bond?). In this episode, she actually expresses her explicit wish for that: give me your hand and lets join forces. Him turning her down is like smacking her face - and goes completely against anything that marriage ever stood for. Some people claim he has neglected her. Yes, he has. But that was not a problem as long as she was fine with it. In a common enterprise, if both partners agree on the arrangement, we're fine. But if one of the partners is not fine with it, you have a problem. And we have that now.
I am in line with a lot of what you said, Kakashi, with the further explanation that my opinion in this matter is partially based on the actual relationship we've been seeing between them and my expectation is that in Goryeo, as in other countries during that time, multiple wives or a mix of wife, lesser wives, concubines, etc, was common. While I agree with you that marriage is a bond, a contract, a promise, my camp allows that those agreements may include sexual/emotional fidelity, or they may not. In this instance, it was a political marriage. Not a love match where him falling in love would be a betrayal of their emotional commitment to each other - if that's even included in marriage as a matter of course among the royalty of that time period and culture. Now, I would certainly agree that even if the basis is political, a certain amount of compatibility and allegiance would be beneficial and even expected - but in this situation, where both parties have been living separate lives quite happily since the actual day of the wedding (ooh, need to come back to that) - I'd say she isn't being mistreated by Wang So for not suddenly falling in line with her when she requests it. Bad timing isn't anyone's fault, necessarily. Back to the point I noted above, though - remember her wedding night? She sat there waiting. Was that because she couldn't do otherwise, or did she marry him expecting something less separate than what she got? Because if THAT's the case, then I do have some sympathy for her because everything SINCE then would be more of what we saw the night he didn't show up after the battle. She had some hope, she was disappointed, she moved on to a new plan. Then, yes, I would have some sympathy for her, as well as an increase in my already considerable respect for her as a person.
This is what I've always believed about her. That she didn't necessarily want the marriage, but she was open to trying to make it work. In the beginning, she said that she could make Wang So or Wang Wook king, and she seemed willing to consider helping her husband. On their wedding night, she waited, but he never came. Then in this episode, she waited again. Nothing. He never even considered that she could be an ally, let alone a wife, and he has made that painfully clear whenever they meet. If she turns on him, well… he shut that door himself.
I think Yeowon's been willing to give him a chance, both in the beginning and now, when she's learnt he's not the loser he's pretended to be. She's been willing to share and be a couple. So, the blame is on him for closing off like he did.
If that is true, I do feel a little bad for her.
And finally. Thank you, drama, for making it possible to get out of this two-women-but-I-only-want-one dilemma. It is totally true that he married her first. He hasn't slept with either woman either though (and I do think that is necessary in this day and age to really seal a marriage?). So I guess the one that gets him in bed first seals the deal? Hmmm. Oh.
He can be married and sleeping with both. They could be co-equal wives. But he'll clearly favor one over the other and that's unpleasant.
I'm all in! Wang So, go for both of them! More options! Double the fun!
Was there ever a king who had multiple wives who didn't favor one over the other? Why is it unpleasant this time?
Who says it's unpleasant this time and not other times?
You did, right up there. '..he'll clearly favor one over the other and that's unpleasant.' My assumption that you wouldn't assume it's always unpleasant comes from the comment that you made about not necessarily minding polygamy.
Well, if you're in Yeo Won's camp, it definitely does matter. Cause she'll looooooooose.
I know exactly what Saki will say to that! Take it, Saki!
Then again, she could win too. Remember what the actual history is. And remember that in Joseon, even though she died first, Queen Min won over Jang Hee Bin.
Okay, I didn't know. I'll say it, then: Hot Assassin!
Well there's winning, and then there's winning. I think Shin Yool would always be first in his heart no matter what the history actually ends up being, but I could see him caring more about Yeo Won at least than he does now, and that they could end up a viable partnership. It's all about the trade-offs.