Freefoxx

Also, Prince Bogeum is showing his "dark side" insulting his mother like that - so I guess he is not going to turn out to be a semi-decent character in the end.

Question about the last scene. At the start, Court Lady Shin tells her counterpart to smile so the Grand Heir doesn't sense anything's off. Is the Queen essentially taste-testing his food to try and prove to the Crown Princess that there's nothing wrong with it? That's what I figured but wasn't 100% sure. Obviously this sets up the major discovery about the poisoning.

Somewhere in between. The tone is not extremely dark, but there is a lot of tension and tragedy thus far.

I thought the same thing. I also wonder if something weird happened when or after the doctor was preparing the medicine, because this scene was also shown.

I think you might be onto something with the medicine clashing with the food or otherwise having a bad effect on him. I get the sense that his symptoms (like the prior crown prince's) are the effects of long-term poisoning, designed to resemble a disease with a specific medicine. I'm thinking that the medicine in question reacts with the poison and basically kills the victim. Presumably the head royal doctor played some role in making all this happen with the prior crown prince and maybe this one too.

I think she knows or suspects this, but worries that he thinks so differently from the palace-raised princes that he couldn't help getting himself in trouble. I think his actions in Ep. 4 show why this could be the case - he's showing his superior abilities and resourcefulness but in a way that creates its own risks in terms of the palace politics.

I agree that the Queen Dowager is motivated primarily by keeping power in her hands. I think she wants Prince Bogeum as the Crown Prince because his mother is obviously no threat to her (and agreed to give her life if/when the QD demands it). So essentially, whether her son or Bogeum is the king, she will be the real power behind the throne. And Bogeum has the smarts and ethics to be king, so her goal of keeping the dynasty strong wouldn't be impacted.

I don't think she's involved in poisoning the current Crown Prince (she doesn't really hide her views and is always quick to point out that she respects him and wants him to recover). I think she strongly suspects that he's being poisoned, likely by Consort Hwang, in the same way that she herself poisoned the king's elder brother (hence the interaction when she noted kind of ominously that Consort Hwang reminds her of her younger self). Rather than investigate, I think she's turning a blind eye because his illness and prospective death gives her a chance to take down the Queen, who clearly makes her anxious.

I think neutral. He clearly loves his sons but he seems relatively disengaged from their day-to-day lives (even the Crown Prince). And he's very much under the Queen Dowager's thumb, as well as seemingly completely blind to the undercurrent of plotting that takes place in the palace itself.

He's not afraid to stand up to his ministers, though, which is interesting. It seems like he's probably a good king from a "ruling the country" perspective but just sort of a hands-off father and husband.

It's also not clear yet whether he was directly involved in getting himself placed on the throne (which clearly involved some shady dealings back in the day). I'm thinking that he knows that *something* happened, and that his mother engineered it, but is happy not to know exactly what it was.

Something I think is underrated (and very impressive) about the drama is how it sets up the Queen's character. A lot of times, the "lead" in a court saeguk is hardened from past experience (e.g. seeking revenge or a lost love due to trauma in their youth) or we meet them in the middle of a struggle (a prince vs. a king, a king vs. a powerful courtier).

Here, the Queen is unconventional, coming from a non-aristocratic background and not having a lot of connections at court. But when we meet her, she seems to be enjoying life and in a relatively safe position, not having to fight for her place. We get the sense that (with the exception of having her 2nd son raised outside of the palace for as-yet-unspecified reasons) she hasn't experienced much of the "dark side" of palace life. She only starts learning about it once the events of the drama make it an absolute necessity.

So we're essentially seeing a mature lead finding her entire world shaken, and having to fight against people who might not have been her friends, but at least weren't her enemies. And without having ever needed to engage in court politics, she's having to build alliances and brace herself for what's to come.

It's a really interesting premise for a character and it's kind of nice, because she isn't world-weary or bitter or out for revenge, just a relatively "normal" person trying to deal with what the world is throwing at her. Kudos to the writers for giving us a fresh take on a saeguk FL.

It's a great drama thus far, very much enjoying it. The irony of someone using the Bible to criticize a saeguk set in pre-missionary Joseon is quite rich.

Totally agree also. For such a short arc, it was handled in a thoughtful, meaningful way that highlighted the Queen's acceptance of Gyesong. The painting was a great way to conclude the arc: highlighting Gyesong's true identity and his mother's acceptance and love, while still wrapping this story up (at least for now) in a way that's true to the saeguk setting, as openly showing his true self would be impossible in Joseon.

This makes a lot of sense (both the writer being a former historian and the "ghost story" setting from the Tang dynasty). The haunted waystation and SWM's (incense-fueled) dream reminded me of a common setup for a chuanqi/zhiguai short story (official stops at an abandoned place and encounters some sort of mystical/dreamlike experience).

This is spot on. I like the flashback showing Sung Nam and the Crown Prince as I think it put a spotlight on his character. I think he's actually shrewder than the Crown Prince, but loyal to his brother(s) and willing to do what it takes to keep them safe. Guessing his mother helped set this up by having him raised outside the palace (assuming with her family?) so he could have a different perspective on things as well as a more practical skill set.

Very impressed with this drama so far. Excellent acting and the cinematography is extremely good. I like the plot, too - interesting to see the main rivalries being Queen vs. Queen Dowager and brothers vs. brothers as opposed to father-son or king-minister.

Lol the synopses always amuse me. This one is a particular hoot, what with "the mysterious underground ghost palace" and all!

That was my understanding, too, although it wasn't super explicit. Based on the flashback, and Su Wuming's suspicions, I think the Emperor had Eunuch Feng introduce (impostor) Official Wang to Pei Jian, who was in charge of selecting officials, so that Wang could get an official post and propose the dangerous tower design.

I'm also pretty sure the Emperor knew that "Wang" was really Sha Si. The "real" Official Wang had previously worked for him, and it's clear from Su Wuming's encounter that Sha Si's impersonation wouldn't fool someone who really knew Wang. Plus, Eunuch Feng is presented as being loyal to the Emperor AND an old friend of Sha Si, making it unlikely that the Emperor wouldn't know what was going on.

Not exactly Dad/Brother of the Year material, lol!

Yes, the Emperor doesn't exactly win Father/Brother of the Year!

It looks like Chicken Fed's actor is also in the support cast for another upcoming Tang dynasty detective drama, "A League of Nobleman." Will be kind of hard to think of him in a different role!

And the Emperor is even worse, in the end!

This was my sense, too. He mentioned once that as a kid, he thought she might have been his mother. And you can tell he senses that something is up from the way she acts towards him in the last few episodes. But I think Su Wuming was right that he could never actually accept her being his mother (he's still way too stubborn for that) so it's probably for the best that he can at least have that "room for doubt."

Very pleased with the ending and that a second season is seemingly intended (who knows if we'll get one, but it'd be great).

Agreed! I also like that the relationship between Princess Taiping and the Crown Prince isn't the cookie-cutter "court faction" rivalry. Both characters are well-acted (particularly the Princess) so you get the sense of the developing rivalry egged on by their subordinates, but also the real affection that still exists (after all, in reality, they were close allies before they turned against each other).