I finished this within 8 hours not because i was hooked up, but because i wanted it to end soon. Decent. If you don't have anything to watch then go for it.
Credit to @faseasha's got your six from drama cool comment section under this movie . I thought it was good and more in depth, so wanted to share it .
PLEASE DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU LIKE TO READ THE END OF THE BOOK FIRST!!!
What I'm trying to say is that I'm going to be talking in depth about things that happened during this movie, and if you want to watch it with "fresh" eyes, you shouldn't read my comments, until you've watched the movie.
WARNING>>> IN DEPTH COMMENTS!!!!!
Who DID Hong love?
The King is passionately in love with Hong, but what about Hong? Does Hong love his king? I think the answer is yes. Hong loves his king,.. why wouldn't he? Here are the reasons why I think he loves the king. 1st) He's been groomed revere royalty, and total devotion towards this king. 2nd) They grew up together. The time the young teenage king spent teaching him to be a great warrior, and all around courtier touched his heart. 3rd) He's absolutely devastated when the king is injured during the assassination attempt. 4th) When someone truly loves you, it's hard not to love them back. He lost his virginity to the king, and sex can be a powerful thing. He shows his love in small, but very telling ways. How he combs the kings hair, how he personally cares for the kings health and sends the honeysuckle tea, how he leaves "the good stuff" for the king eat, how he holds his hand when they are making love, and how he simply won't allow anyone to say anything the reflects badly on the king.
But is he "In Love" with his king? Probably not. I think that that he would have loved his king just as much without the sex... here are the clues: 1st) Hong is uncomfortable with the obvious favoritism the king shows him. This is a key point the king misses about the man he's in love with... it makes doing his job as Chief of the King's Guards much harder because it and the gifts the king gives him further separate him from the men he's supposed to lead.. Although he's worked harder than anyone to become a great warrior, and probably deserves the position, it breeds doubt..."Is the reason he's Chief because he's the BEST leader, or is it because the king loves him?". Even when he uses it for the advantage of his brothers, it breeds jealousy and resentment. 2nd) How he looks at, and treats the queen...his smile when she thanks him for saving her maid, the looks he has when the queen let's him know she's aware of his special place in the kings heart or during the picnic while she's singing, and then again while she's making an impassioned speech defending the king and taking the blame for the lack of an heir when Hong is well aware that it's not her fault...and that's all before the king orders him to "help" with the problem of a legal heir. 3rd) His sexual orientation. Is Hong gay? No. Best case scenario is that he was always Bi. The king is aware that Hong isn't gay. Why else would the king order Hong "service" the queen? We don't get to see his "first time", but I have a feeling it had more to do with "duty" than sexual desire. I'm not saying that he didn't feel any desire. I'm saying that it wouldn't have even occurred to him to look at the king in a sexual way, much less make a move on the him. I'm pretty sure his first time would have been a least little scary. The king may have been pleased that his chief couldn't "do the deed" the first night, but he misread his man. I think Hong was feeling massive empathy with the queen. When he sees the queen's clenched hands, how stiff she is, and the slow tears falling down her face? He can't force himself to take what she clearly doesn't want to give. He cares more about her feelings, than he cares about doing his duty tor the king. 4th) The first night when he looks towards the king at least twice before even tries with the queen. Then the second night, as he looks towards the king's shadow and that mix of resentment and reproach on his face? That was a really powerful look, what is it trying to say? I think it's a kind of, "I'm devoted to you, so why are you tempting/doing this to me?" moment, before he engages with the one person (the queen) who can shake that devotion. 5th) If it was just about having sex with a "woman" for the first time, his thoughts would be different. He'd be thinking about the sexy women he saw in town, or maybe one of the palace maidens, but no, he keeps flashing back to the queen. That night when he rides back alone to the palace, the person he wants to see is the queen. I mean, he didn't even TRY to see the king. We know this because Hong is surprised to see the king waiting for him. He wasn't on Hong's mind at all until he saw him in person. When the king asks him why he was so late, and how worried he was about him, Hong is so mixed up with feelings of love, loyalty, duty, and guilt he's moved to tears... 6th) That moment when he's hugging the king, and you see that Hong desperately wants to feel the same feelings he felt before, but his feelings towards the king have already changed, the queen is becoming the center of his world.
Why I think Hong was "In Love" with the queen... 1st) He's been groomed to revere royalty. 2nd) His sexual orientation.The movie doesn't show most of his early years, but the king is aware of the fact that Hong will be able to 'service' the queen. Those scenes between him and the king were STEAMY! They were also very tender on Hong's part, he loves him. But what they never show is Hong having sexy thoughts, or quite frankly any thoughts at all, about the king when he's away from him. There's no flashing back and no love tokens given to the king by Hong. If Hong had given the king a hairpin, ring, or even a bracelet made from his hair, you can bet the king would have been wearing it... what they show is a love that's based on respect and devotion If it was just about having sex with a "woman" for the first time, his thoughts would be different. He'd be thinking about the sexy women he saw in town, or maybe one of the palace maidens, but no, he keeps flashing back to the queen. 3rd) The look of devastation while he sits on his horse after the second night. Why? We can certainly understand the devastation queen would be feeling, but Hong has been in a loving sexual relationship with the king for years now. He's no virgin. Having sex for the first time with "a woman" shouldn't be THAT big of a deal. (I mean, we can joke about the power of the "V", but I don't think it's "that" powerful) I think it was because "the woman" he had sex with was THE QUEEN. If it had been another woman, say a maid or concubine, I don't think it would have been a major issue, his love and loyalty to the king would have trumped whatever momentary "higher" sexual pleasure he might have experienced. 4th) The third night. There was very good reason for them to just "have sex", but Hong either completely ignores or forgets about the fact that the king is in the next room and listening to them. This time he doesn't even look towards the king. Why? Because he doesn't care. The queen is "his" woman now, and he wants her to respond TO HIM. When she's laying in the bed waiting to have sex on the third night like a sacrificial statue, Hong is like, "Oh, I don't think so!". He throws down like the alpha male he is, and actually "makes love" with her. 5th) I think he's secretly "liked" the queen as a woman all along. Why? Because she was the one "safe" woman he could allow himself to like in that manner. She was The Queen. so he would never expect be near her in any way that would matter. Her resentment of him, her self pride (she's a Yuan princess) and her love/respect for the king, guaranteed that is the normal course of things she wouldn't let him near her, and he would never be tempted. It's not just about having sex with a "woman" for the first time, his thoughts would be different. He'd be thinking abShe's his woman now.an he can't get her out of his mind. He buys her a love token When he rides for hours alone at night to see the person he misses, that person is the queen. When he hears she's ill, he personally makes sure she gets the special tea, but the most telling part is the way he starts to actively avoid the king almost immediately after he makes love with her. 6th) I also think the risk involved adds to the intensity of his feelings, he knew that what the king was asking him to do would probably end with his death. 7th) The queen's temperament. How the queen shows she understands him and privacy of their relationship just suits his personality better. When he actually gives her necklace, it's a declaration and she understands it. She wears it in public while sitting next to the king, and risks her reputation to meet him in private. But what I think tips the scale to "LOVE" love, is when she gives him a small piece of silk she personally embroidered and asks him to keep it with him always. She serves him those beautiful small flower rice cakes to eat, and talks about how she had always wanted to make give some to man she loves. Think about what she does there... what she gives him are small very private things. There's nothing about that silk that would show it came from her, only he would know that, and the cakes are a shared memory that's so visceral.anytime he sees rice-cakes or even tastes spices used in them he'll be reminded of her. The gifts the king gives him are grand and public, but impersonal...the beautiful clothes, the perfect horse are nice, but they don't show an understanding of Hong, (For example, he could have given him one of the combs he uses for his hair, that would have meant more then some "perfect" arbitrary horse.) she understood him, much, much better than the king! 8th) It wasn't just about making a baby. In other words if those two did what they did solely to protect the king, to make sure he had a legal heir, than nothing would have happened when the queen told Hong she was pregnant with his baby. These two were in love and they were saying their goodbye before he went off to war, possibly to die. Sorry this is so long, but I'll end it with the question we all want to ask... What in all the seven levels of hell was the king thinking?!
This movie is a masterpiece... I dropped real tears especially at the end ...I just wanted less and less detailed…
Lmao are you nuts.. 😭 the king's love was true but he clearly groomed him and manipulated hong to love him the sex scenes between king and honglim, honglim did it as he thought it was more as a devotion for loyalty and friendship than love. He actually wasn't gay or bi, he was straight. And he loved the queen.
PLEASE DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU LIKE TO READ THE END OF THE BOOK FIRST!!!
What I'm trying to say is that I'm going to be talking in depth about things that happened during this movie, and if you want to watch it with "fresh" eyes, you shouldn't read my comments, until you've watched the movie.
WARNING>>> IN DEPTH COMMENTS!!!!!
Who DID Hong love?
The King is passionately in love with Hong, but what about Hong? Does Hong love his king?
I think the answer is yes. Hong loves his king,.. why wouldn't he?
Here are the reasons why I think he loves the king.
1st) He's been groomed revere royalty, and total devotion towards this king.
2nd) They grew up together. The time the young teenage king spent teaching him to be a great warrior, and all around courtier touched his heart.
3rd) He's absolutely devastated when the king is injured during the assassination attempt.
4th) When someone truly loves you, it's hard not to love them back. He lost his virginity to the king, and sex can be a powerful thing.
He shows his love in small, but very telling ways. How he combs the kings hair, how he personally cares for the kings health and sends the honeysuckle tea, how he leaves "the good stuff" for the king eat, how he holds his hand when they are making love, and how he simply won't allow anyone to say anything the reflects badly on the king.
But is he "In Love" with his king?
Probably not. I think that that he would have loved his king just as much without the sex... here are the clues:
1st) Hong is uncomfortable with the obvious favoritism the king shows him.
This is a key point the king misses about the man he's in love with... it makes doing his job as Chief of the King's Guards much harder because it and the gifts the king gives him further separate him from the men he's supposed to lead.. Although he's worked harder than anyone to become a great warrior, and probably deserves the position, it breeds doubt..."Is the reason he's Chief because he's the BEST leader, or is it because the king loves him?". Even when he uses it for the advantage of his brothers, it breeds jealousy and resentment.
2nd) How he looks at, and treats the queen...his smile when she thanks him for saving her maid, the looks he has when the queen let's him know she's aware of his special place in the kings heart or during the picnic while she's singing, and then again while she's making an impassioned speech defending the king and taking the blame for the lack of an heir when Hong is well aware that it's not her fault...and that's all before the king orders him to "help" with the problem of a legal heir.
3rd) His sexual orientation. Is Hong gay? No. Best case scenario is that he was always Bi.
The king is aware that Hong isn't gay. Why else would the king order Hong "service" the queen? We don't get to see his "first time", but I have a feeling it had more to do with "duty" than sexual desire. I'm not saying that he didn't feel any desire. I'm saying that it wouldn't have even occurred to him to look at the king in a sexual way, much less make a move on the him. I'm pretty sure his first time would have been a least little scary. The king may have been pleased that his chief couldn't "do the deed" the first night, but he misread his man. I think Hong was feeling massive empathy with the queen. When he sees the queen's clenched hands, how stiff she is, and the slow tears falling down her face? He can't force himself to take what she clearly doesn't want to give. He cares more about her feelings, than he cares about doing his duty tor the king.
4th) The first night when he looks towards the king at least twice before even tries with the queen. Then the second night, as he looks towards the king's shadow and that mix of resentment and reproach on his face? That was a really powerful look, what is it trying to say? I think it's a kind of, "I'm devoted to you, so why are you tempting/doing this to me?" moment, before he engages with the one person (the queen) who can shake that devotion.
5th) If it was just about having sex with a "woman" for the first time, his thoughts would be different. He'd be thinking about the sexy women he saw in town, or maybe one of the palace maidens, but no, he keeps flashing back to the queen. That night when he rides back alone to the palace, the person he wants to see is the queen. I mean, he didn't even TRY to see the king. We know this because Hong is surprised to see the king waiting for him. He wasn't on Hong's mind at all until he saw him in person. When the king asks him why he was so late, and how worried he was about him, Hong is so mixed up with feelings of love, loyalty, duty, and guilt he's moved to tears...
6th) That moment when he's hugging the king, and you see that Hong desperately wants to feel the same feelings he felt before, but his feelings towards the king have already changed, the queen is becoming the center of his world.
Why I think Hong was "In Love" with the queen...
1st) He's been groomed to revere royalty.
2nd) His sexual orientation.The movie doesn't show most of his early years, but the king is aware of the fact that Hong will be able to 'service' the queen. Those scenes between him and the king were STEAMY! They were also very tender on Hong's part, he loves him. But what they never show is Hong having sexy thoughts, or quite frankly any thoughts at all, about the king when he's away from him. There's no flashing back and no love tokens given to the king by Hong. If Hong had given the king a hairpin, ring, or even a bracelet made from his hair, you can bet the king would have been wearing it... what they show is a love that's based on respect and devotion If it was just about having sex with a "woman" for the first time, his thoughts would be different. He'd be thinking about the sexy women he saw in town, or maybe one of the palace maidens, but no, he keeps flashing back to the queen.
3rd) The look of devastation while he sits on his horse after the second night. Why? We can certainly understand the devastation queen would be feeling, but Hong has been in a loving sexual relationship with the king for years now. He's no virgin. Having sex for the first time with "a woman" shouldn't be THAT big of a deal. (I mean, we can joke about the power of the "V", but I don't think it's "that" powerful) I think it was because "the woman" he had sex with was THE QUEEN. If it had been another woman, say a maid or concubine, I don't think it would have been a major issue, his love and loyalty to the king would have trumped whatever momentary "higher" sexual pleasure he might have experienced.
4th) The third night. There was very good reason for them to just "have sex", but Hong either completely ignores or forgets about the fact that the king is in the next room and listening to them. This time he doesn't even look towards the king. Why? Because he doesn't care. The queen is "his" woman now, and he wants her to respond TO HIM. When she's laying in the bed waiting to have sex on the third night like a sacrificial statue, Hong is like, "Oh, I don't think so!". He throws down like the alpha male he is, and actually "makes love" with her.
5th) I think he's secretly "liked" the queen as a woman all along. Why? Because she was the one "safe" woman he could allow himself to like in that manner. She was The Queen. so he would never expect be near her in any way that would matter. Her resentment of him, her self pride (she's a Yuan princess) and her love/respect for the king, guaranteed that is the normal course of things she wouldn't let him near her, and he would never be tempted. It's not just about having sex with a "woman" for the first time, his thoughts would be different. He'd be thinking abShe's his woman now.an he can't get her out of his mind. He buys her a love token When he rides for hours alone at night to see the person he misses, that person is the queen. When he hears she's ill, he personally makes sure she gets the special tea, but the most telling part is the way he starts to actively avoid the king almost immediately after he makes love with her.
6th) I also think the risk involved adds to the intensity of his feelings, he knew that what the king was asking him to do would probably end with his death.
7th) The queen's temperament.
How the queen shows she understands him and privacy of their relationship just suits his personality better. When he actually gives her necklace, it's a declaration and she understands it. She wears it in public while sitting next to the king, and risks her reputation to meet him in private. But what I think tips the scale to "LOVE" love, is when she gives him a small piece of silk she personally embroidered and asks him to keep it with him always. She serves him those beautiful small flower rice cakes to eat, and talks about how she had always wanted to make give some to man she loves. Think about what she does there... what she gives him are small very private things. There's nothing about that silk that would show it came from her, only he would know that, and the cakes are a shared memory that's so visceral.anytime he sees rice-cakes or even tastes spices used in them he'll be reminded of her. The gifts the king gives him are grand and public, but impersonal...the beautiful clothes, the perfect horse are nice, but they don't show an understanding of Hong, (For example, he could have given him one of the combs he uses for his hair, that would have meant more then some "perfect" arbitrary horse.) she understood him, much, much better than the king!
8th) It wasn't just about making a baby. In other words if those two did what they did solely to
protect the king, to make sure he had a legal heir, than nothing would have happened when the queen told Hong she was pregnant with his baby. These two were in love and they were saying their goodbye before he went off to war, possibly to die.
Sorry this is so long, but I'll end it with the question we all want to ask...
What in all the seven levels of hell was the king thinking?!