Sppi

I tried to watch ep 11 and I fell asleep twice while watching it! I must try harder....

Oh dear, what a mess! I really thought the FL was gonna offer herself in place of the Joseon Princess as the Qing prince's trophy baduk teacher and er, chum. I mean her father is supposed to be in Qing, so she could reconnect with him again. I thought she does become a spy at some point.

It was just getting interesting between the King and Mong-woo, but I really hated the maids gossiping about the king subplot. It was super predictable that everyone immediately finds out and tries to get rid of Mong-Woo!

Fantastic. Why isn't this show on MDL's Top Ten airing shows. It's really good quality drama.

Thanks for the clip. JJS is great but its starting to bug me a little that the FL has exactly the same wide-eyed expression in every scene with the ML, regardless of what's happening.

You're right about the contradictions. I think the whole treason plot and the iffy misunderstandings aren't the best writing, but I also think there's stuff that's still to be revealed about why the King is the way he is.

I think you may be right. That explains quite a lot - why he became king, changed character, kept his nephew alive and didn't have any children with the queen! I think its how he got Lady Dong to lie for him, too. She had some kind of weird finger-sucking relationship with the former king.

I'm in two minds about FL actress. She's fine as her female character, but lacks something as her male character. Like during those intense scenes with the King - she always has the same wide-eyed innocent expression, and its not helped by the girly makeup. The ML's acting is excellent btw.

He did say that since he became King every one of his companions tried to manipulate him. So, basically he has no one he can fully trust or relax with. Even his court lady wants something! I guess living that life make him into a cruel, suspicious person.

Episode 5. If we imagine politics is like a game of baduk, I would say the King wiped the floor with the FL in their first round. She got into the palace as his baduk teacher, but is that the best she could come up with after 3 years of plotting. He immediately guessed that she wasn't exactly his friend anymore and why she is there. The ML is way more formidable than he used to be. I wonder why he went straight to the Queen Dowager and told her about Kang Mongwoo?

Agree - I thought it was JCW!

I think the ML knew that country was being mismanaged and eventually realised he could do a better job than anyone else as king and save the nation from the war, disaster and the Qing. That was kinda his motivation from episode 1.

Finished episode 4, and what the hell? What's going on with our ML - he spent all that time chasing the baduk player and his noble ideals, he seemed to be smitten. Now he's attained power, he just shelves her and his ideals without much thought. And what about justice - I thought the whole treason plot was based on framed tortured confessions - why did he send all the baduk players away for 3 years hard labour. Maybe power corrupts, but he hadn't even been in power that long!

The ML has charisma in spades. I watched him for a minute and I was sold on this drama. The guy who plays the King is very good too.

The usual reasons are they got married or got a better job. Perhaps his acting career took off....

Finished 6 episodes - its watchable but a bit predictable. It a mishmash of scenarios and character types that have been done better elsewhere (like Moon Embracing the Sun and Princess Man). The MLs are okay if a little bland/ one dimensional. FL is immature, headstrong but without much common sense. Like she wants to marry a prince then gets pissed when he has to put 'duty first' and go fight the jurchens. Apparently everyone in Joseon knows the deal when you marry a royal, apart from her.

Yeah the plot didn't really leave time for emotional connections or character development. But it was still pretty exciting overall.

Personally I really enjoyed the Sword of Aramun - the story unfolded at breakneck speed - with lots of twist and turns. Great bronze age action scenes from LJG. I think it will gain popularity over time with international viewers, just like Moon lovers did. Lets hope Netflix gets to show it eventually.

Hmm, longer hair suits him. Nice.

'One of the reasons why I love this drama is that despite it being fantasy, so much of it reflects real history. It was really fun to watch how writers drew inspiration from real history and how they incorporated it into this fantasy world.' Couldn't have put it better myself ;-) - I loved all the prehistory references. Made it such a unique show.