noor1234

He's learning. It's called on-the-job training nowadays.

I don't know why the drama did not 'suggest' a kiss when it clearly suggested a makeout between ML & the doctor-consort early on (which was a lie and a play on shadow screen - she was merely bandaging him but the world thought he was a womanizer). The drama could've suggested something like that between the leads without showing anything.

With great power comes great responsibility. SML was not born a hero nor was he born an heir to the throne. He was technically a prince's son who lived on the street begging for food till ML saved him & grand tutor took him in. He was educated as a scholar, lived as a commoner, born to a prince (& later found out he was an illegitimate child AND an illegitimate heir). Nothing that he did was of his own choice at this time. He is a victim of elitism. He neither had a home nor familial support. Yet, when he tasted power, he tried to be selfish & cruel with it for personal reasons, but he also did good for common people in 2 years he was in power, he has shown he is human, proud & naive. He faced a choice of following between two 'tutors' - his dad, the one with narrow vision, or ML, the one with a broader, lasting vision that reminded SML what kind of emperor he wants to be. He WANTS to be emperor, and hence wants to be a good one for a united country where opportunity to rise above one's station is available to all, not just nobles.

I think it's a very good message in this drama, that blue bloodedness & nobility is not enough to make you eligible as a ruler, nor does it guarantee that you will make right decisions.

SML has performed well, he had a more difficult role than ML. Everyone has done a good job in this drama. Even that dowager......

I'm on Team SML as king. I think he has earned it at this point.

I'm fine with him being blind & living a quiet life as the husband of a businesswoman. I'm fine with an open ending with FL+ML traveling the world for adventure 'till his time runs out'. Drama has told viewers to expect doom & gloom. But after today, I believe once the separation (presumed dead) track end, he will get a HE too.

He was the head of water canal project. His title was stripped off because he took responsibility for the canal damage & said he wanted to fix it by using the new method. He may not have been directly responsible for the damage (that was due to scholars / officials who took kick backs & used bad material) but he was the BOSS of the project so he came forward, took responsibility while also showing the new flood-proof method (of An/Lu families) that he & FL had worked on. That's my understanding of it all.

Ep. 23: This felt like a last episode to me, very nicely wrapped up.....but there ARE five more episodes to go......should we start taking bets as to who out of the characters will end up where, with whom & in what condition (dead, blind, etc.) by Ep. 28?

Ok, what do you think after Ep. 23? Is SML looking more worthy now? I think my prediction has come true! He chose ML's way / suggestion because he wanted a fairer system & strong country unlike grand tutor / dad & because of his own life experiences as a disenfranchised person. This felt like a last episode frankly. The only problem is there are FIVE more episodes to go, and anything can happen!

The entire premise of ML's crusade since day one ("Beifu Reform") is that military & emperor should be independent from 'nobles' so that emperor doesn't feel he's hostage to 'blue-blooded classes' & army cannot be misused to overthrow governments. ML wants commoners to enter all professions & have equal opportunity to get the positions nobles hold (in government, bureaucracy, judiciary, army, etc.).

All the conflicts he has faced till now have been with dowager & nobles who don't want commoners to get ahead & don't want to give up power.

I think that is what this drama is about too. That you don't need to be born to be an emperor / heir - anyone can be a good, fair, peaceful ruler.

SML is a commoner + blue-blooded (consort + tutor progeny) who is supposed to be a 'Prince's' son, he studied with the grandest tutor of them all - whose students are all in positions of power. SML & his 'sister' lived an impoverished life till tutor took them in (because he wanted to use his son as emperor & to kill all those who betrayed An-Lu families. His lover /consort was from An family too).

SML is the best option because he is an ordinary (highly educated) person who has seen the worst of poverty, worst of privilege & worst of desire, & has faced extraordinary dilemmas & fumbles in choices. He's human. He makes mistakes. He learns from them. And he will move on. He's not a bad person or ruler: there has been peace for 2 years under his command & he resolved issue with ML even after stabbing him.

He basically is caught between 2 tutors right now: 1 is his dad who has a very limited agenda & scope - as machiavellian as dad may be, he is not thinking of the greater good of the country. ML is SML's second tutor - love rival, yes, hence the stab - but ML shows SML a future much broader, more peaceful & more commoner-friendly than his snooty dad. And he wants him to be in control, not be swayed by anyone else. Which tutor SML decides to follow is what the last arc is about.

Unless the drama shows him as being exposed as an illegitimate son & surviving any 'deceiving the emperor command' & giving up all this power & privilege to live his years in some other region, I am rooting for him to continue as king.

I also thought ML will be dead by the end & FL will roam the earth as an inventor - BUT in Ep. 21, when FL found out about his illness, gives me hope she'll figure out a 'safe gadget' for his operation too which will make him live a long life beside her.

Right now, however, I'll bet 60% chance of him saying sayonara at the end, 40% survival chance. 2 years are already gone. The separation track is coming up - so year 3 will also be gone, FL will complete the cannonball thing, ML will come back, then there's the WAR with Eagle King & that will take another 2 years - that makes it 5 years. If ML is to survive he better have the operation / cure before separation & war.....

Ep. 21-22: I love the frenemy bromance between ML & SML. I hope at the end SML survives everything & ascends the throne while ML can ride off into the sunset with FL.

Also SML's role is far more difficult than the ML's who is supposed to be Mr. goody-two-shoes & Mr. Understanding throughout - like a Chinese ethics role model - but SML has had shades of grey & as a commoner to get to that position & do the right thing is difficult. I hope he makes the right choice in the end.

Ep. 1: I liked it. It balances the mystery of Mariko's past & creepy protection by Yukimura with cool-aid bubble-gum of office work (which is usually present in lighthearted J-dramas, not in something like this).

The kidnapper back then, who has just been released, goes looking for Mariko. The civil servant her grandma arranged for her turns out to be the detective investigating the executive's murder. And Yukimura may or may not be in jail after all of this is over! I don't see Mariko & hi having a HE, but let's see. For now, I'm rooting for him & her.

They are not her real dad & bro - she's an imposter living in someone else's body, someone else's life & throwing temper tantrums because of someone else's power & privilege.

And yeah, I've never seen one actor on at the same time in rival dramas doing complete opposite characters. ML & second lead couple is the only thing worthwhile here.

Yeah the sword giving and taking back was immature / knee jerk reaction.

Ooooohhhh! I think she's a wonderful girl & the actress playing this role has done a good job showing childish behavior, then grace & maturity as time & situations change. FL was always intelligent with a knack for making crafts / weapons. She is a talented girl. Having a stable, sensible guy like ML who didn't demand anything from her & gave her room to flourish, gave her the 'courage' to handle all the betrayals & storms. ML is a serious man of substance who wants to reform governance in this country. She has helped him in his crusades. Remember, this is a girl who is adopted with undeclared origin, hence her status is derivative & her famous grand tutor father disinherited her, mom is dead & SML went back on 'roaming the world with her'.

I think the scene in Ep. 19 where she tells him to live for himself is a gift he never received from even his lovely adopted family or other 'wives'.

Don't worry - the ones who had an affair are either dead or presumed dead in Ep. 1. The story is about their left spouses who find out about the betrayal after their death / disappearance.

Ep. 1: was good. There are other stories that have dealt with this kind of situation: Chinese classic film 'In the Mood for Love' & Harrison Ford's Random Hearts have a similar storyline. Let's see what happens here: I'm half expecting the husband to not be dead. FL will not have an affair with the younger guy. Her attachment will be with the widowed ML & his kid. There's also feelings of how could two good married people do this to their halves who were also good people. BUT I think husband may show up all apologetic & remorseful & wanting his old life & wife back. Let's see which way the drama goes.

As for appearances, I do think FL is shown as a bit dowdy (always in slacks) & even at work she's not sharply dressed. The ML is a model IRL, his job is not shown in Ep. 1 but his hairstyle has been changed to make him look 'ordinary' & middle class perhaps - but it's a ridiculous hairstyle to have as a man. Kids are combed that way!

I think the problem is not her ice queen status, that was a refreshing bit, a heroine who wants to safeguard her life above all else. The issue is that she has a very unpleasant manner of speaking & dealing with people, especially her peers/ nobles. She has achieved nothing in life. She has no personal accomplishments. It's her damn luck that she got into a younger woman's soul & got a second chance at life. She gets her power & ability to negotiate only because of her general father & brother. She is arrogant & rude unreasonably so. There is zero humility in her.

All of the guys are accomplished people - one is a budding general (Jungkook hothead), one is a renowned scholar still grieving for dead wife, one is a poisoned prince who can do martial arts & saved her & has a heart & plan for people's welfare. The last one is a party-guy (the one with the dancer, I don't know if he had any accomplishments). Then there's the emperor who has survived as an emperor for at least 20 years. All are skilled people.

It's jarring to see an unaccomplished woman prance around all of them thinking she's a catch & orders nobles around, only because of her father & brother's life work, not her own. And then she has the audacity to be rude & abrasive.

It has nothing to do with love. She does not need to be in love with anyone to be nice or pleasant in behavior or to accept a proposal. There's a difference between being cold & being a b***ch. She has veered into the b* territory.

There's a difference between creating distance because you cannot trust a guy (ML or anyone else) but it's quite another matter to humiliate lovestruck men or reject them rudely and not remove them from your circle. A no is not a no with her. She rejected the young general early on, but took him back in her circle (giving him hope, or making him look like a fool), she has done the same thing with her ex-husband - without putting a finality to whatever delusion he's under, and he is a suffering man, she just watches him & goads him 'what chance do you have against the prince' (in the new year fireworks scene). She is going round in circles with ML as well. She is unfair, unpleasant & unreasonable to all of them.

The drama has failed in maintaining a balance between gender roles & relationships - men & women. She is the one calling the shots. All the men are at her knees. Why? What makes her so special? It is her father and brother & the fact that all the powerful men in this dynasty have got the hots for her - that is what makes her special. There is nothing in her worth having, except for her beauty.

This is not a drama where ML & FL are falling all over each other. There's an old-fashioned quality to it, respect & distance, banter, that kind of thing. I've given up hope of any other kind of intimacy between them.