Shine or Go Crazy - Episode 2 (A Quickie Cap)

Two weddings and a funeral. Man, Goryeo really wasn't much of a happy place, was it?
Episode 2 verdict: quite draggy in place and not half as funny as episode 1, but with very, very sweet early OTP scenes.

Episode 2

When it starts to rain on their wedding day (=they will live a life of fortune), Wang So covers Shin-yool with his coat, because, as he declares "You're still my bride". *I die*. And they run for cover.
He was pretty swoony a lot of the time. I don't blame Shin-Yool one bit.
S@ki6: This was pretty cool. 
Awkwardness ensues in the bridal chamber, later. It's dark outside, but Wang So still can't leave because Kwak's men are there, watching. Gotta watch if the marriage is consummated, right? Well, it means our OTP has to spend the night together. Sadly, nothing is consummated.
Sad is right. They should have at least made out a little bit!
becca: What kind of wedding night is this? There are no lollipops!
They kind of matched colours, though. 

But we get some sweet: He tells her he is the unluckiest person in the world, but she tells him that's not true. He married HER after all. (haha, I LOVE her self-esteem). This is the first time in his life he has been called lucky, he remarks. His incredulous half-smile kills me.
Gah! I'm such a sucker for the funny guy who's hiding a hurt boy.
Oof, me too. And Jang Hyuk really knows how to tug at the heartstrings.
He tells her to put a talisman on her door after he has left - he brings misfortune to everyone around him. But she still doesn't want to believe him, even when he says that it wasn't HIM that saved her: it was her own will that protected her. He just hopes to find something he wants to protect himself: maybe then, he will be able to save his own world? But can he change his damned fate? Nothing easier than that, says Shin-yool. You just need to take somebody's hand. And today, he took hers (as she takes his in hers). And her fate changed - no marriage to General Kwak.
Hints of epic love. Maybe a goosebump or two, or at least the thought of some.
They're funny, but I don't feel their chemistry much. It may be because Jang Hyuk is so larger than life in everything he does. 
Of course, that reminds him of his father (who said basically the same thing) and he gets really morose. Well, he should, cause at home, Daddy isn't doing too well. He is poisoned! A VERY clever poison nobody will ever find in his body. Already, the 5 Evil Men (that call themselves Founding Fathers) are plotting: who will be the next next king after the next king? They each take a piece of a bronze mirror, which will "protect their lives", as evil mastermind Wang Sik-Ryeom proclaims.
I will see you dead, Wang Sik-Ryeom. I need to make a list with Wang One equals this guy, and Wang Two equals that guy, and...
Personally, I feel very sceptical about poisons that no one can find in the body. And I don't understand how this bronze mirror protection thing works, but going with the flow should fix that. 

Wang So doesn't know anything about what transpires back home ... but he lends his shoulder to his "bride", who is sleeping upright like him. And he (who has horrifying nightmares of his witch-mother) thanks her quietly for being the first person in his life he was able to save. He now has courage to change his own fate. He lifts his hand to lift her veil ... but doesn't. It's better if he doesn't see her, he told her before, since this is a one-night thing.
Which makes NO sense whatever, but okay. *Reminds self that writers need ways to keep lovers apart.*
I can kind of understand his reasoning, though. In his mind, if he doesn't know her face, he can't be a liability to her in the future.
Why couldn't they just lie down? 
In the early morning, he puts her on the bed very carefully and leaves. She wasn't asleep at all, though and runs after him, to thank him for what he has done. She should forget about it, he tells her - even in her dreams. But she is not ready to let him go yet! She grabs his wrist (and it's not the first and not the last time she does it!!) and hands him half of a butterfly penchant: a talisman, to bring him luck. And she means to honor their contract: she will get him that which means "the world" to him. That just makes him very sad. He steps closer and kisses her on her forehead ... oh so tenderly. "The contract is over", he says. And leaves. And she collapses. Poor Shin-yool is of poor health - and the loss of this man gives her the rest. Who can blame her. 
Yeah, that is definitely a loss, there. Goryeo Gun is a fine speciman of a man in every way.
Sleeping sitting upright isn't exactly restful. I'm not surprised she collapsed afterwards. 
After parting from his "bride", Wang So reunites with grumpy Eun-chun (I love these two together! me too!) and they manage to track down and almost kill the assassin. In the process, they realize that the dagger thrown at the King was poisoned! They take the antidote and rush back to Goryeo. The king takes the antidote ... but he doesn't get better. It's too little, too late .... Aw. Daddy is dying.
I'm sad Dad is dying, but before I forget, what I love between Eun Chan and Wang So is the running gag about things not to do during a chase. Okay back to dad: Yes, it's sad.
Maybe this is colored by knowledge that we get later, but I'm okay with Dad dying. Except for the part where it hurts Wang-so. I'm not okay with that.
Dad dying: yaaaaawwwwn
He is not quite dead yet, though - first, there's some hand-taking and apologizing to be done. So the king exiled his little son to protect him; having him at the palace would have meant his certain death. (Jang Hyuk has to stop crying, it breaks my heart!).
Oh man... he always loved him! *sobs*
This does hurt, I admit it.
If he loved his son, why didn't he make sure he had a proper house to live in etc?

He warns his son of the difficult times to come: whoever poisoned him is among the nobles - and those nobles will shake the nation after his death. So there are two things he needs to do: One, become the leader of the secret warriors to kill all the bad people and two, marry ice-queen Yeo-won (who is of a different family) for protection. Quite opposed to that by the way is Wang Wook (Lim Ju-Hwan aka Limnium), another son of the current king, brother to Yeo-won and half-brother to Wang So.
So she is NOT his half-sister at all. She's the half-sister of his half-brother, which doesn't mean she's Wang So's half-sister necessarily. Wait, let me think about that.
Ok both boys have same dad, which means different mothers.  And she can't share their dad or else she WOULD be half to both. So Limnium and Honey Lee share a mother, and Wang So has his own mother, who might not be sleeping around but is the very definition of a royal bitch.
Nope, she's a princess. And the way to keep track of all these kids from different baby mamas is to assign them to their maternal families.  Plus, even Wiki tells us she's his half-sister. Also, Limnium looks like an elf. 
All three have the same father (the now dying king), but Wang So has a different mother. Mothers are important, hence the different clans. 
This king is a literal stud.
Named Wang Gun. Hahahaaa (thanks, @drama_fan33, for this one)
And thus, the wedding is held ... the night before, Wang So stares at his garment, laughing a bitter, defeated laugh, and then, watches his future wife's "shadow" (assassin Se-won) leave her room. Not sure what he is thinking ... probably that it is her lover.
And now I understand my confusion. I thought it was Limnium in the room with her.
Maybe he thinks his wife will kill him? Still, I'd have liked him to have been as gentlemanly with her as he was with Heroine No. 1. 

When they get him ready, he remembers his other, his first wedding - to the red-veiled woman whose face he never saw. How fitting is it, that it is raining during this ceremony as well? But somehow, I doubt this will be a very prosperous wedding... She spends the wedding night alone in her room, watched from the outside by her "shadow".
So they conveniently forget that custom of hanging outside the room to make sure the marriage is consummated, this time around?
In Europe, they hung around to watch. 
Seeing his son safe, the King dies. And Wang So starts training with the black assassins, telling them to lay low and be invisible until their time has come, while first one, then another of his brothers is crowned King.
Oooh! Yes! Dark-clad protecters of the people FTW!

Five years have passed! Chunghae Trading Company has relocated to Goryeo, too (to get away from General Kwak and the war - and because Shin-yool thinks she can find her mother and brother there. Well...) and is just as prosperous as it was back in China. Always protected by her own hunky shadow called Kyeong (Jung Woo-Sik), Shin-yool is preparing a big order for the King. It's a ceremony to put a dot on the Buddha. And after all that time, her eyes still search for that swordsman from Goryeo. But no, it's not yet to be ... they pass each other on the street, but don't see each other. 
Kyeong is the Hunky Henchman!

Comments

We had to get some history behind us in this episode, but now, we're good and can get started for real. The king is dead, long live the king! After reconciling with the dying king (that was sad), Wang So has taken his fate in his own hands, encouraged by the Red Woman, and is patiently waiting to strike when the time is right. Man, I'm glad I don't have to be anywhere near that palace ... so many unhappy faces and deadly stares!
People are always wishing for the past, when things were 'simple.' HA.
Seriously! Have you SEEN how many kids the now-dead king had?? Family get-togethers must be so awkward.

Also, it is firmly established in this episode that her "mother", Baek-Myo, absolutely hates our Prince - while her "father", Gang-Myeong, finds him pretty cool. I find you two pretty cool too!  
Yes but is the idiot their son?
I have no idea, but I love them.
He's not their son, I'm sure of that, since they're basically family-like servants and he's been raised so he is equal enough to hand her off to Chinese generals.