Valicious

Glad it was helpful. I know how frustrating it can be when you like something and you're not sure it's been done properly

You said brazen I just repeated your words. Wow you get easily triggered by a light comment 😳 let's not talk again. I'm here for fun not to be attacked over nothing jeez...

No, the late king is his uncle and Je-woon's father. Kang and Je-woon are cousins. The son the late king had with his second wife died with him in the Gyesa year. The dowager only has Je-woon as her grandson.
Yeah the whole adultery question is open. Why did the dowager accuse her? She probably didn't like her for whatever reason and wanted to replace her with someone of her choosing. Maybe she was too outspoken. For now we don't know her motivation. At one point I thought that she might have indeed cheated and that potentially Je-woon was not the late king's son after all... But even Han-cheol says he is and that his mother was unjustly accused. The dowager is a snake that's for sure.

The sequences we saw show him in the palace... So I doubt he'll do much of that. If he leaves the palace he'll go to Je-woon who is hardly a pauper... But he remembers what Yeon-wol said in the past and Dal-i told him again on how to be a good king... This is what hit him and started the whole process of reconnecting the thread between them

Acting brazen? She's the crown prince, nothing she'll do will be seen as brazen 😂😂 it's more Kang who will have to remember he's a low ranking scholar or eunuch when in Dal-i’s body

That was the norm though in Joseon. You don't have a son you adopt one from a lesser branch of your family or from an ally. It's not deception, it's how it went.

I was interested until she became a total villain with no global vision of the game she tries to play. She acted with a plan that was bound to fail because she ignored how this could affect Je-woon and what he wanted. That for me effectively ended any story between them. It looks more like we now have Han-cheol+Woo-hee against Kang+Dal-i+Je-woon.

Sure it's quite complicated I wrote things down... So... There are 3 blocks of events. The first queen was accused by the Grand Queen Dowager of adultery which caused her suicide by poison and the deposition of Je-woon as crown prince who was exiled. Kim Han-cheol already played a part there but he wasn't as high ranked. His father remarried and had another son. Then the events of the Gyesa year happened. First the two brothers of the dowager were killed weakening her, then the king and the crown prince were poisoned during sword practice (Kim Han-cheol was in charge of preparing the swords), then the Royal Physician died during an acupuncture session. Kim Han-cheol rose to a higher power as he became Left minister (previously he was minister of war). He put the late king's half brother, the current king on the throne (son of the old king by a concubine). Apparently his plan from the start was to marry his daughter to the Crown prince, but 'unfortunately' he met Yeon-wol and married her. He decided to frame her in the death of the queen. He forced her to suicide, pushing the king to ask that of her. This left the place empty for that marriage... We are here now. In the meantime Kang has decided to go for revenge investigating the events of the Gyesa year, but while there are hints Kim Han-cheol is behind all of that, there are no definite proof. That's why Je-woon went to Qing to find if some elements still exist

She "killed" herself by drowning in an icy river. She was accused of being responsible for the death of the queen (Kang's mother). She was asked to kill herself with poison, but refused as that would have recognized her guilt. The king asked her to kill herself because he worried his son would try to die in her stead...

Which ones? I haven't found one yet and I usually love to go into those. The timeline is a little tricky if you don't pay attention. I got confused by the two dead queens (Je-woon's and Kang's mothers) and the events in the Gyesa years as I thought that all those deaths happened at the same time.

I'd expect that now that the souls switched they will be mostly in the palace... He's not supposed to leave for extended periods of time, and they'll try to stay together as they want to switch back...

I don't know... I worry she'll become a cornered animal with no way out of a situation she doesn't want. She hates Dal-i that's for sure and naturally that will antagonize Kang and Je-woon. For now she can breathe, but her stalkerish behavior is going to be an issue. She might understand the soul switching and that would be bad if it happens too early.

There might be redemption but no happy ending... Like she kills her father and dies doing so. I don't think many people at this point want her to ride in the sunset at the end 😅

Redemption in death and sacrifice maybe... But I'm not convinced... She might go full mental and Je-woon will have to kill her to save Dal-i or Kang

Dumb trolls who hate it for whatever reason. When you ask they're usually unable to explain why. Most people haven't rated it yet, so I wouldn't worry too much.
I also finds this show incredibly good. We only had 4 episodes and in most other sageuks to get to this point we would already be mid season 😂 the acting is excellent and the cinematography is top notch.

The Left minister had his hand at killing both previous queens. The dowager doesn't want Je-woon back either as she is the one who started the whole rumor about infidelity. She wants to choose the next king as is her prerogative, and she wants her puppet in place, while the Left minister prefers his own puppets there. He put the current king on the throne after killing the previous one. So he sticks to his plan. He has already pegged Kang for being a weak coward, even though he's wary of him. As he plays the fool, Han-cheol thinks he still holds most of the cards. Je-woon went to Qing to enquire about the poison that killed everyone so the minister probably thinks he's a greater danger, maybe not understanding that Kang send him on that quest...

Many people haven't rated yet. I always wait until I've seen everything before deciding. But then we all have different taste. I know I dislike shows with huge ratings, while I love some that are poorly rated. It shouldn't matter. I don't pay attention to that. I love what I love 🤷🏼‍♀️ I love this, unless there's a huge shift I'll go on loving it

Yeah, many have problems to explain what they truly dislike. Some have barely watched and come here to tell us how bad it is. I'm always open for a discussion. I personally am rather impressed by the ML, he went from being ready to die after his wife death to getting rid of the Left minister his new life goal. He's aware of all his crimes, those he freely admitted to him as well what happened in the Gyesa year and probably before. Proving everything is another story...

She consciously desires power now I think, not saying it was always like that. She dislikes (hates??) her father and this might be her way to take control as she's tired to be treated like a pawn. But I agree with you that's definitely not someone I'd root for. I must admit her ruthlessness threw me off. I was expecting her to play the crown prince's game as both what to get rid of her father, like both couple overthrowing the main villain, but now... But I love it. I'm also wondering how she'll even survive this. Lee Kang is alive, his word will have more power than hers. I guess the Secretary she's trying to rope in (we know he supports the former crown prince) will take the fall. I like how they keep us guessing what's happening next. I can't wait for the next episode.

Happens to me often when I watch sageuks especially when the actors have had lots of plastic surgery... Here I'm fine with the FL and both ML. I have more problems with the SFL, but it disturbs me less than in others shows I watched recently.