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That uncle was amazing too. Such a delusional, psychotic character!

Jin Han/Lee In is the star of this show!!!!! What a character! He’s been consistent and steadfast in who he is and what/where his priorities are. I am in love with how he uses his brain and his intellect and to me, he is the true baduk player here. He embraces and honours his emotions while at the same time, disconnecting from them when he has to. He’s such a professional king lol! I applaud him on how he showed his mother and uncle that he will not be used and swayed by the whole “family bonds are heaven’s will” nonsense !!!! Brilliant stuff!!!

The “love story” felt lacklustre to me. There seemed to be a distinct power imbalance - he kept trying to get to her but she either stayed where she was or kept stepping back by using the fact that he is the king as a way to keep him at a distance. In the end, it wouldn’t have mattered to me if she stayed on in Qing and he went on to become a great king and then had the crown prince take over the throne. Maybe the lack of time didn’t allow for their relationship to be fleshed out better? Not sure what it is. I almost feel cheated cos Lee In seems like such an amazing, brilliant guy and MongWoo is so…blah. Oh well! Love is blind I guess lol.

I like that a lot of loops were closed. Everyone seemed to have gotten their just rewards. All the rotten apples were offed off. But in the end, I am extremely curious as to why Lee In killed Kim Jong Bae though. I seem to miss that point. Yes he was a pest but he wasn’t half as bad as the uncle. What was the point Lee In was trying to make with that killing especially considering how he is so anti-death of his subjects.

Also, have I mentioned how brilliant I think Lee In is? 🤩😍

I’ll hold my breath until it actually happens though as all these sageuk’s have a nasty habit of ending on a less than satisfactory note in my experience 🫤

I guess it might be something to the effect of sending ‘him’ off to Qing as the gidaeryong and bringing ‘her’ back to Joseon as her father’s (I forget his name) daughter who is eligible to marry the king.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lee In plots “the gidaeryong’s accidental death” or some such on the way to Qing

Muhahahahahaha!!!!!!! I can’t help but feel like the smart king got his mum to do the deed of getting him the queen he’s always wanted 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Like, way to play your baduk stones Jeonha!!!!! 👏🏼 👏🏼

So basically Kom Jon Bae was a saint when compared to Principal Director Uncle? 🤯

Lee In is crazy intelligent and I am in love with …everything about him! I am keeping my fingers crossed he can deal with the fall-out from Lady Dong revealing that MongWoo is a woman and I am guessing she’ll use it to save herself now that the Principal Director wants her dead no doubt to keep the poisoning of the previous King a secret. IF she does a whole turnabout and decides to put Lee In’s life over her own and keeps the secret of MongWoo’s identity safe, I will save her in my list of “ characters that had the most wonderful turnarounds”.

I think MinHwan and SeongHwa’s trip to the border patrol 3 years ago under the guise of mobilising them to attack JongBae has some sort of significance now. Will be crazy if MinHwan stands with Lee In against the Uncle.

Wah! HyunBo is one loose canon! I foresee him dying a most fitting death most likely brought down by his own plotting and machinations. Can’t wait!!!!

Also, I enjoyed MongWoo’s emotional scenes today.

Yes that could be it, too. She hasn’t been able to understand the character as well in order to be able to give justice to her portrayal.

The king was talking to Master Choam by the cherry tree about something before MongWoo came and there is a look of…something that Choam gives MongWoo. So something was going down by then. Either the grand prince becoming the crown prince or something else…

Also, Master Choam is such a badass. “Please refrain from calling me Choam from now on. That is reserved to be used my by my friends.” 😎😎😎😎

I just edited my comment to include some more thoughts 🙈😃

Yeah. She’s very much human with human flaws. She started off having very strong feelings for him only to have them turned around in such a traumatic way and now, she cannot believe in herself and her feelings for him. So she’ll definitely be swayed until she can have that reassurance from him that she was right in how she felt about him initially.

Which is why I would love to have them sit down and actually talk about what happened 3 years ago. He’s given her a lot of half answers and no apology. He is frankly being quite unfair in expecting her to trust him completely- if that is what he’s expecting. However, I get the feeling that he knows she doesn’t trust him and that is why he is tolerant of her antics and also understands where she’s coming from. He does say that he is disappointed in himself with the whole situation of the princess swapping as he failed to think about how the princess would be feeling and only did what he thought would benefit the kingdom and it’s people. He is quite astute and emotionally aware and I have hopes that he will give her what she needs to heal. I also feel like the king indulges her a lot for his own selfish reasons too. Which is also what confuses her. So yeah, it isn’t fair to lay the blame completely on her.


Also, I realise that the actress sometimes fails to show the emotions as they are supposed to be felt so a dislike for the actress is translated to hate for the character. Which is something I am careful not to do. Especially cos the actor for the king is so damn good with his acting.

The little actor is so good!!!!!!!!!!! He is doing such a brilliant job and I especially enjoy his scenes with the king. He holds his own so well!

I think so too. He looked so lost and done and lonely when he came inside and didn’t find her waiting for him.

Lady Dong to the king’s Ding 😌

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

I get the feeling that there is more to whatever happened 3 years ago than simply saving MongWoo and what not in regards to the notes of treason and the dead minister, etc. Lee In seems hesitant to tell MongWoo the whole story and that makes me think he knows something and that the uncle or even the queen mother is involved.

Oh my goshness!!!!! ROFL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

And his skin!!!! That is the most distracting thing for me hahahha! And those pink lips lol

True. It seems like the king knows that she distrusts him and is out to get him and hence his tolerance for her antics. It feels like it’s a one way street with him having the upper hand on love and trust and whatever else there might be and he is going along with his feelings cos that is the only place he feels himself thanks to their relationship prior to him becoming king and he seems to want to hold on to those moments amidst all the chaos. He looked so lonely when he came back to look for her after telling his uncle off.

I hope they resolve whatever back and forth they have going on between them once and for all so that he can concentrate on securing the throne.

Yes. This is what I took away from the episode too and what I loved about it! All the king had to do was look glum and desolate and hint at the heavens punishing him by striking down that tree and lo and behold! The grand prince is now the crown prince! I feel like he somehow KNEW MongWoo would get the hint and hence his whole spiel about planting a new tree in the exact same spot. It almost feels like Lee In is manipulating everybody around him (except maybe SangHwa - that man is as loyal as they come) and nobody is the wiser 😀 I love it!!!

Oh gosh yes!!!!!!! And then all the 6 packs she kept seeing everywhere 😂😂😂 She’s a riot!!!!!