LBPG

Does she become concubine after Deok Ro's sister does?

She estimated middle of 13, so 3.5. I've no idea how she derived this math, tho 😬

Some math on which episode we could see Deok Im as concubine: https://twitter.com/sillysone/status/1469844068784037891?t=-T_6A5K7FEe8dLBqj-gY1Q&s=19

True! They're still subverting tropes, love it! I loved how he gently rubbed her tear away. He's completely aware of how she feels but really made a good faith attempt at cutting the tension with that move. Good job, San!

And what a great mirror scene to the one where she throws salt at the door while he's still there. In both he saw a glimpse of how she really felt, but what an evolution of her own feelings 🙌

We went from angry/possessive neck grab, to desperately relieved squeeze, to touchless caress, to life-affirming embrace (did that hold at the end of ep9 look like a reverse Pieta to anyone else? Idk if it was intentional, but that foreshadowing of him holding her lifeless body, aisshhhh), to that tender and deliberate (reassuring?) hold to kiss her on the forehead.

This director knows what she's doing.

The evolution in the intensity and meaning of San touching Deok Im is something else... (below)

Omg I totally missed that you typed San instead of Deok Im, my bad! Yeah, I can see that! That'd be a mother of a twist lol

Oh and not to discount wanting to see Junho and Seyoung in a 50 episode epic, that goes without saying 🤣 I've spent this whole year obsessing over this man, such a drama would be wish fulfillment x100000.

Hopefully nil. 😁 End of ep9 is pure foreshadowing

Idk if you've seen the cdrama Ever Night, but if not, check it out as well. Awesome wuxia, though season 2 is a huge dud. I ended up reading the 1000+ chapter web novel after watching s1 a few times, the novel is *chef's kiss* kinda crazy in the last third, but super fun.

SFD has some amazing characters. You can *never* go wrong with a Yoo Ah In vehicle, and in here he plays petulant, arrogant, violent, greedy, even romantic and nostalgic to a T. It's long so it gets a bit draggy in the middle, but your patience is handsomely rewarded!! Also his character is played by a very young Nam Da Reum in the first 4 episodes, so be patient, but the young actors are so great, too. Must give you a rape tw, tho, just in case.

I even started rewatching Six Flying Dragons clips on yt and am so tempted to watch it again (4th time! God I love epic sageuks, I need to watch different ones tho 🤣)

Good perspective on the sister, sadly, yes. She only lasted a year as his concubine, too, died very young. They've set her up as his pawn regardless, will be interesting to see how they put her into play

Not (recorded) historically accurate, but who knows if they take license.. But seems unlikely and redundant to introduce that sort of conflict at this point, imo.. He's definitely jealous of the trust San places on her vs him, he seems to think it's unearned (driven by lust - "just have your way with her") vs all that he goes through to earn it, starting with the torn book pages

🤷‍♀️

They totally rushed through her brother's sub-plot, I wouldn't be surprised if they rush through his sister's too, though she is way more meaningful, yeah. They omitted his wife altogether, I wouldn't surprised if they minimize the sister's role. This needed to be an epic 50 episode sageuk 🤣

Also, I hope this is her second "rejection". Like I said before, I love the chase - delayed gratification in kdramas are so tasty - but with the politics that's enough of a hurdle to overcome, we don't need more, with how few episodes remain to be aired.

Yes! Re-direction, love it. It settled his fearful heart for good. I am so in love with their love for each other.

Idk how any romantic ML will fare in my mind against this perfection in the future. I think I'll be a very disappointed drama watcher for a good long while 🤣

The scene with CL Jo and the King was fantastic - her heartbreak at hearing the reason why Yeongjo didn't take her in as his concubine --- I felt that! His acknowledgment that what made him happy was the embrace of a warm person, that's San and Deok Im in a nutshell, too. I love that mirroring.

Glad they got CL Park out of there, too, and we're back to the hat, the linkage back to Sado, and, according to something I just read somewhere, perhaps the evidence that Sado was manipulated into his mental state.

For sure this episode felt very different than 9, but I like the set up it gave us.

And even though the San/Deok Im scenes were not predominant, they were beautiful. I felt his frustration with her and his desire to let it all out. I also felt her restraint for his protection. In a modern drama, this would be some serious noble idiocy, but in this drama, it's literally a matter of life and death. That kiss on the forehead was the acknowledgement they both needed ~~ we don't have to speak the words, our hearts belong to each other, and the time will come for us to be together.

After ep 9, 10 feels like the calm after the storm.. to allow another one to brew. There are so many open plot points still, hopefully they pick up the pace a little, or extend again. I'm glad they mentioned the extension was to improve the ending, because it feels it was necessary now.

Having said that.... (spoiler below)