Amarina

Iqiyi. It came out probably an hour after your post as Phoenix's Gambit: Love or Crown

Calendar looks like it's going to depend on if you paid the extra or not... 😅 Express will have the 19th and 20th get 21/22 and 23/24 while non-payers will go 1 a day 19th onward from episode 19 onwards. 🙄

I think you're on the same wavelength in both comments. When I originally wrote my comment I wasn't intending it to be as long as it ended up being so I tried to limit specific examples so as to not have to spoiler mark it 😅 But then when I hit enter it was a WALL of text so I was like "nah ill just spoiler it anyway."

But yes, I also got the feeling that his dad had forced himself on the mother and the ML was the product of that rpe.
Which makes me have theories about WHY he killed his father at the age of 15... he had ALWAYS been very protective of the FL and if the dad has a history there "may" have been a conversation either between the two of them or that the ML overheard in which the dad was going to make a move on the FL and didn't care if she didn't approve or even was of age. Obviously there's more to the story still yet to come but I could see a revelation like this being used to bring them together if he had been hiding the WHY from her so as not to taint her and have HIM deal with it all.

Spoiler for length

Let me take a moment to objectively state that this show will not be for everyone (what show truly IS?). However, the show was made for a reason and some people WILL enjoy it.

Themes that have so far (ep 9) been explored are:

• A ML who is at BEST morally grey but comes off as morally black

• A ML who comes off as ACTUALLY terrifying towards the FL (especially in initial episodes) rather than "he's scary but he'll never truly hurt ME"

• A FL who has been trapped in a house since she was 8 with a child's promise made after being saved by traffickers

• Eplores the various levels of fear one can have towards others. How one person can terrify you because of an acute situation, while the one who "saves" you may terrify you more in the long run

•ML/FL being raised AS siblings with sibling affections stated multiple times on FL part

• Obsessive and stifling "love" by the ML

• Views about the importance of chastity for a woman

• Mentions of needing to be able to be self-sufficient rather than caged


Plot through episode has indicated strongly that there are indeed forces that have shaped both our ML and FL. Then FL is indeed absolutely terrified of the ML which I "personally" find very well done for the plot because in many of these "types" of shows the FL is merely a plaything giving in to her desires against her will with no psychological reason behind it other than simply "my brain saying I should hate this but I'm hot for my torturer".

There have been hints that not everything has been revealed. One aspect that I found EXTREMELY telling was one of the conversations where his mother points out that he will be ruining the FL just like his father ruined her. At this time we have little information about what his father was like, but we DO know that he hates his father possibly even more than his mother.

Something that I personally have liked up til now is the fact that the FL has a dark streak within herself also. The ML wants to protect her and have it so her hands aren't "sullied" by doing nasty deeds herself, but twice now through episode 9 the audience has witnessed her calculating ways and ability to strike back at those who harm her.

In visciousness and schemes, this woman is absolutely a match for the ML as proved through actions with the 2nd brother's woman and the Princess.

Psychological components of why the characters act as they currently are have also started being revealed. The scene where they talk about the aftermath of his father's death is evidence of this. As the ML sees these actions, she accepts him and loves him exactly as he was and is. As the FL presents it, this action was the final turning point where she became TRULY terrified of him and lays out just how she has needed to survive in this house since she was 8 and how she needed to please everyone to simply survive. During the rest of the dialog he states something interesting:
"You've betrayed me time and again, forcing me to coerce you..."
to which she replies:
"Your heart is already full of wounds, and I've walked this road as if treading on thin ice. People like us are incapable of loving each other. We might as well let go, alright?"
Here she tries to reason with him but she has wounded him too much with her words and current state of mind honesty so he lashes out, like a wounded animal, trying to find anything that will keep her within his grasp. This leads to the "how well do you REALLY know and understand him" half-truth he spits out at her, refusing to say if what he's revealed is actually truth, merely saying "You are so clever. Why not take a guess?" before hurt and disappointment go through his eyes and he stalks away.

Later, there is a conversation where she is asked if she is painting a "Mandarin Duck"
or a "Canary". "Bound by love, mandarin ducks perish together. Birds in cages rot away. What I paint, is a goose that can soar through the sky; unfettered, unburdened by the world".

Finally, we are given a revelation which shows the FL may indeed be suppressing her base desires in order to survive but that given the correct circumstances, she may indeed be able to believe herself in love with the ML. This will obviously need a major shift which is most likely where the synopsis of [she] "decides to break free" comes in. Whether she actually succeeds (hopefully) or not will remain to be seen in further episodes.

It's rather funny in my mind... the need to comment that there is NOTHING to like about the show and critiquing things just to say they won't watch anymore 🤷‍♀️ I'm really liking it too and find the cinematography and set designs personally amazing.

She gets told theres an emmisary from "her" country coming. ML is willing to try and help her but his mom is like "leave him alone... youre his dads wife and this is dangerous" so she goes to master/brother and pretends to be good to him. Makes ML "see" her seducing the other guy but obviously she is.just putting on an act. 2nd ML makes her promise to kill ML and he'll help her. ML finds poison antidote and goes to place with FL and as giving her antidote she stabs him. He kisses the antidote into her mouth.before guards come (because it was a trap) and take her to prison. Emperor wants to kill her. 2nd Male wants to save her. She arranged meeting with Emperor. ML and 2nd Ml are told shes executed. Uhhh.... then she comes back and ML has been told to meet emissary and apologize and kill his uncle by Emperor dad. Something with another emissary girl who is actually an assassin? Some back and forth deceptions that I couldn't follow... Uncle is dead and 2nd Prince tries to take throne from dad. Emperor is saved and 2nd ML is killed. ML is made crown prince. He is told to fight the other country which is invading thanks to help from 2nd ML. While ML is away the Noble Consort (ML mom) poisons the Emperor and he dies. Mom tells FL to be the ruler instead. ML Hears about this. FL takes the throne and and gets a message saying the ML is DEAD ?!?!? THEN.... FIVE YEARS LATER... She id on the throne and has people telling her about all the womens rights things that are going well like that half the babies born olare female now... 🤷‍♀️ Then shes alone and ML comes in and shes like "Youll never leave me again right?" Turns out when he got the news dad was "sick" she sends an edict to ML that he can stay at border Forever or it can he said that he died and he can come back to her (somehow???) Anyways he take the "i pretend to die" edict and then.... IDK fights on the border for 5 years???? Anyway hes back now and they discuss that hes going to be a useless powerless simp who will let her rule and he'll sit at home with the kids basically idk... THE END. 🙄

Basically heres the story after after halfwayish...

Uhhhh so it's a no-brain family politics/Revenge show. (The opening intro made almost no sense to me 😅 but it DOES make more sense later). It'll "probably" be around a 7 or 7.5 for me but I also watched IT over some of my other shows 😅🤷‍♀️

🤣🤣🤣 I don't blame you; there's been multiple shots I've wondered if it's going to fall off myself 🤡

Yeah they were STRONGLY hinting that if not ALL the dreams about him were real, at least SOME of them might be because she thought back on them and got more scared of him. But the one specifically THAT night, unless a plot hole later, would have to have been imagined because he wasn't even at the mansion but instead had to come home on that boat.

😅 I actually thought I had since the others were all tagged already it had been my intention to but I think when I added that the last line after the fact it got untoggled and I didn't notice. 🙃 Oh well I manually fixed it now 😅🤣

Exactly 🤣 - I was watching these two episodes going: I'm kinda terrified of this guy... He IS supposed to be hot right? Right now I'm getting vibes of 'if you try to leave me I WILL kill you and keep your corpse in my room to play with'

It's so pretty though so even if it's ONLY the 2 eps I'll take it and drink each frame in 😭

So 4 episodes yesterday and now we get 4 more today? 😅 Sure 🤷‍♀️

Absolutely not 🤣 - But I will say, the ML wig IS bad and a real eyesore

.....So it updated just now but they only gave us TWO episodes? 👀🙄

He is after the time skip of 10 years yes 😅 He doesn't look like any 18 year olds I've met or remembered being though... but then, his 8 year old self didn't look 8 🤡

So I'm personally liking it so far but I will say 😅 Finding out those "teens" were only supposed to be 8 years old was ummm... yeah.... okay... whatever you say story 🤣

Lol.... for real! I was real time updating my watch and wrote this:
Okay girl.... for real... I get that you're a young teenager but you KNOW that your dad and the other dude are in a battle and you use your whip to break the formation? YOU caused your dad to be knocked off the mountain and die... not the boy or his master who your dad was fighting... and then going to attack a MASTER... yeah??? Blocking the hit caused you to ALSO be pushed off the mountain... but then to REFUSE help to be pulled up... 🙄😑 -BREATHE-
🤣
Also... apparently she wasn't a "teen" though and was only 8? 🤷‍♀️ Maybe that's why?