I have watched till episode 5 and it's really boring other than the Isekai vibe. I don't know why but I think…
I love it and so did a lot of viewers that made it #15 streamed tv show in Netflix in 2020, as of today. You've got an interesting theory. That's one of the things great about this drama. It fires up your imagination, encouraging you to formulate theories and finding out later on if the writer had the same ideas as you :)
I just finished episode 7 and the story is becoming rediculous. I don't know why but the female Prime Minister…
i enjoyed it better after re-watching the episodes because there were things I missed during my first viewing, especially about characters' motives. Initially, I thought the PM, being pretty and seemingly sweet, had good intentions. But, yeah, after seeing what she did to her ex-husband and how she is trying to catch the king in acts that she could blackmail him for, she also got on my nerves. It makes for a more interesting drama though :)
The reason for LG's aversion to touch is actually of prime importance because it largely explains his character. It is not due to his belief that he is God-like. He loves hugging Lady Noh showing he is affectionate. His aversion to touch shows how deeply the assassination scarred him. In Episode 4, when JTE asked him what kind of a king he was, he answered, "A rower, a mathematician, a well-grown orphan, the owner of the Four Tiger Sword. A king who has never been asked such a question and is trying his best not to panic." This sounds far from God-complex to me.
His weakness had been there from the beginning. It was his pursuit of the rabbit that he hoped would give him answers about the face in the ID that led him to Korea. It was just expressed verbally in Episode 13.
I would like to re-iterate what I said about why the show is a big hit with international audience since it seems you misunderstood what I meant. You previously commented, "kdrama you should know, it takes at least 5-6 episodes before the chaebol's heart melts, and it takes a bit longer for the girls heart to melt." TKEM does not follow this kdrama formula. Since international audience is exposed to love stories not based on this formula, they accepted the TKEM romance, enjoying it immensely :)
I'm curious about your intense dislike of LG/LMH. You commented about LG having God complex and having no weakness. I thought you had pointed out in previous comments that his mental condition, being in love with a face in an ID, is a flaw? In Episode 13, he actually admitted that his one weakness is that face. Also, he must be very lonely, understandable being an orphan since 8, that he took solace in an ID. He is always scared of being poisoned or harmed such that he has developed an aversion to hugging. These are serious flaws. He is a complex character. In any case, I thought LMH's characters are just kidding when they act like they're God's gift to women. As far as the actor himself is concerned, I understand he is humble. But then, being new to kdrama, I don't know him that well.
actually, Wikipedia is getting strict about what they allow on their site. If you don't have verifiable source, you might be able to add something but it will be deleted after undergoing a screening process. if you google "the king eternal monarch controvers" you will find several articles about them
I have actually tried to find more information about this back in May, but it's hard to search for Korean news directly because I don't read/write Korean. I can only read Korean news that have been translated to English like in koreaherald site, but if koreaherald is re-posting the controversy itself then it's a dead-end. I could not even post questions or comments. I was hoping to find somebody who would know more about this. But based on my inquiries, I understand that this kind of sabotage is not unusual in kdrama world?
That scene where LG whispered, "Happy New Year, Jeong Tae-eul" before time stopped was what I imagined him doing all those 25 years. Somehow, he felt a connection with this being whose face was in the ID and most probably talked to her a lot of times. Instead of talking to himself, which a lot of people do, I imagined him talking to her. If it's not your type, I'm surprised you watch fantasy films at all. It's all about the imagination. If I can believe in the force and Jedi mind tricks while watching Star Wars or dragons and warging while watching Game of Thrones, I can believe LG felt there was somebody out there with that face on the ID.
Seo-ryeong flirted with him. Re-watch their scenes together. She didn't hide her ambition to be queen. Her friends knew about it. She even said it herself, "If the king has a woman, that woman has to be me. I'm trying to make the whole nation believe that." She practically threw herself at him in that scene with LG and Eun-sup.
Seo-ryeong tried to get him indebted to her when she barged into his study. She was hoping to prove he was missing. Having found him there, she then noticed he was sunburnt when he was supposed to have been holed up indoors. She knew then that he was not really in his study all this time. She was going to use that information to blackmail him, thus he lectured her about why he cannot be indebted to her. Blackmail is her art. She did that to her husband, that's why she can twist him around her fingers. In Episode 10, Seo-ryeong again tried to manipulate LG. Try to rewatch her and LG's conversation about pulling the gag. And in Episode 11, she actually pulled the gag. She is greedy, manipulative and vicious.
As with most people groomed to be leaders, I expected him to have been trained to be a good judge of character. As I noted before, he was good at it. His one "lapse" is mentioned below.
People who are about to take over their doppelganger's lives are given time to deeply study the other person. This was shown with the pregnant woman in that care center. Luna would also have undergone the same preparation. Aside from this, she was given JTE's cell phone that contains more information about the latter. She even found out about the magic lily. She used to have this soft, raspy voice in Corea. In Korea, she learned to sound like JTE.
It was LG himself who said, "I thought I wouldn't be fooled but I guess that face is my one weakness." It's curious, actually, I just answered a comment that was attacking LG for being perfect, and here is a comment attacking him for having a weakness. LG just can't win, can he? I can forgive him a temporary lapse, especially if his weakness is caused by his overpowering love for a woman and as long as he learns from it.
I most certainly value the viewers' patriotism. What I am appalled at is that some quarters used this noble sentiment to attack this show. It's akin to "hitting below the belt".
Below is the timeline of when the controversies were published vs the show's ratings: 4/17: Episode 1 - 11.4% 4/18: Episode 2 - 11.6%
Are we watching the same show? The king is too perfect? He saw his father murdered and he also almost got killed by his uncle. He has been an orphan since 8. And he is trying to save the world from a megalomaniac while also trying to avoid getting himself and his lady love killed.
After fighting off and escaping her kidnappers, escaping being run over twice, defeating the driver of the second vehicle, walking who knows how many miles, facing an army of henchmen, you call JTE a damsel in distress? In fact, if she was an ordinary damsel in distress, Lee Lim would already have LG's half of the flute by end of episode 11. Before this, she was also shown defending Shin-jae twice.
PM tried to get LG indebted to her twice - once when she caught him sunburnt after supposedly being locked up in his study, second when she tried to pull the gag on him. That is what she does. She blackmails people like what she did to her ex-husband.
I'm waiting for how other characters will enfold in the story. Same with the mysteries. I will wait until the story ends before complaining whether characters were ill-used or whether any mystery was left unanswered. Complaining about these before the show ends is plain nitpicking.
I wonder why many international viewers did not have a problem with the romance. No cringeworthy moment for us. I've been re-watching past episodes for several weeks now. I don't get tired re-watching them. I actually find Eun-sup over-acting. But I notice that he is endearing to many. If this is the case, then it's a matter of taste then.
That is what is frustrating. a magnificent drama being pulled down by issues that don't even affect the story. The temple was onscreen for just about a second. And I don't think any normal viewer noticed anything wrong about the imperial seal and the warships You should look into the debates about these issues. SK viewers were passionate about this, saying that anybody who said these issues were nothing didn't understand because they're not Koreans. Regarding alleged non-existent romance and being slow, I wonder why most international viewers didn't have this problem? Check google.com and imdb.com where international viewers are likely to post reviews.
Some of the controversies are in Wikipedia for TKEM. You may also google "the king eternal monarch controvers". I am exceedingly interested in a survey of SK viewers on why they don't watch the drama. For myself, I started believing the sabotage rumor after I saw koreaherald re-post the controversy weeks after the production team issued an apology and the day after TKEM rose in ratings for episode 10 after slipping . It looked like some quarters really would not give this poor show a break.
The controversies undermined the production. They conditioned people to be critical of the show. And it's a fact that when people want to criticize something, they will see something to criticize.
LG didn't think JTE was his savior. I think he knew his savior was a guy. He suspected Shin-jae one time. He just associated her with his savior. In any case, his statement that he felt less lonely because of her indicated he formed an attachment with his imagination of her. I suppose she became like his imaginary friend. He mentioned one time that he imagined she was softer.
I also doubt he fell in love with her upon meeting her. But he was not disappointed with what he saw. She was not flirty like Seo-ryeong, nor did she gush at him like those who exclaimed, "he's handsome" while he was on his horse and while he and JTE were talking. She also showed she was dedicated to her job, indicating honesty.
As a king, he would have been trained since boyhood to be a good judge of character. He immediately appointed Jo Yeong as his Unbreakable Sword when he was eight. And he was right. Jo Yeong would die for him. He also never trusted Seo-ryeong. He was again proven right when she switched to Lee Lim's side.
I think he started courting JTE when he hugged her. Please see more details of his courtship in the discussion thread. I also think he was in love when he proposed to her. He told her "you are much more amazing than I had imagined".
Yo Jeong never did a good job of impersonating Eun-sup and Eun-sup did not pretend to be anybody but himself when he saw Nari and his siblings, that was why they immediately recognized him.
On the other hand, Luna had been studying JTE for a while and pretended to be her. LG admitted his one weakness was her face. He had been obsessed with that face to 25 years. He would never have imagined that face to betray him. He did figure out after a while she was not JTE.
Had it been Luna whom he met at the plaza, if she acted as dedicated to her job as JTE, he probably would have hugged her. But I think it would have taken him less than an hour to get disillusioned with her. I doubt he would have fallen for Luna.
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His weakness had been there from the beginning. It was his pursuit of the rabbit that he hoped would give him answers about the face in the ID that led him to Korea. It was just expressed verbally in Episode 13.
I would like to re-iterate what I said about why the show is a big hit with international audience since it seems you misunderstood what I meant. You previously commented, "kdrama you should know, it takes at least 5-6 episodes before the chaebol's heart melts, and it takes a bit longer for the girls heart to melt." TKEM does not follow this kdrama formula. Since international audience is exposed to love stories not based on this formula, they accepted the TKEM romance, enjoying it immensely :)
Seo-ryeong flirted with him. Re-watch their scenes together. She didn't hide her ambition to be queen. Her friends knew about it. She even said it herself, "If the king has a woman, that woman has to be me. I'm trying to make the whole nation believe that." She practically threw herself at him in that scene with LG and Eun-sup.
Seo-ryeong tried to get him indebted to her when she barged into his study. She was hoping to prove he was missing. Having found him there, she then noticed he was sunburnt when he was supposed to have been holed up indoors. She knew then that he was not really in his study all this time. She was going to use that information to blackmail him, thus he lectured her about why he cannot be indebted to her. Blackmail is her art. She did that to her husband, that's why she can twist him around her fingers. In Episode 10, Seo-ryeong again tried to manipulate LG. Try to rewatch her and LG's conversation about pulling the gag. And in Episode 11, she actually pulled the gag. She is greedy, manipulative and vicious.
As with most people groomed to be leaders, I expected him to have been trained to be a good judge of character. As I noted before, he was good at it. His one "lapse" is mentioned below.
People who are about to take over their doppelganger's lives are given time to deeply study the other person. This was shown with the pregnant woman in that care center. Luna would also have undergone the same preparation. Aside from this, she was given JTE's cell phone that contains more information about the latter. She even found out about the magic lily. She used to have this soft, raspy voice in Corea. In Korea, she learned to sound like JTE.
It was LG himself who said, "I thought I wouldn't be fooled but I guess that face is my one weakness." It's curious, actually, I just answered a comment that was attacking LG for being perfect, and here is a comment attacking him for having a weakness. LG just can't win, can he? I can forgive him a temporary lapse, especially if his weakness is caused by his overpowering love for a woman and as long as he learns from it.
Below is the timeline of when the controversies were published vs the show's ratings:
4/17: Episode 1 - 11.4%
4/18: Episode 2 - 11.6%
Controversy about temple and imperial seal
4/24: Episode 3 - 9.0%
4/25: Episode 4 - 9.7%
5/01: Episode 5 - 8.6%
5/02: Episode 6 - 10.3%
Controversy about warships
5/08: Episode 7 - 8.1%
5/09: Episode 8 - 8.1%
koreajoongangdaily released article about controversies
5/15: Episode 9 - 6.3%
5/16: Episode 10 - 7.8%
koreaboo and koreaherald and koreaboo released news repeating controversies
5/22: Episode 11 - 6.6%
After fighting off and escaping her kidnappers, escaping being run over twice, defeating the driver of the second vehicle, walking who knows how many miles, facing an army of henchmen, you call JTE a damsel in distress? In fact, if she was an ordinary damsel in distress, Lee Lim would already have LG's half of the flute by end of episode 11. Before this, she was also shown defending Shin-jae twice.
PM tried to get LG indebted to her twice - once when she caught him sunburnt after supposedly being locked up in his study, second when she tried to pull the gag on him. That is what she does. She blackmails people like what she did to her ex-husband.
I'm waiting for how other characters will enfold in the story. Same with the mysteries. I will wait until the story ends before complaining whether characters were ill-used or whether any mystery was left unanswered. Complaining about these before the show ends is plain nitpicking.
I wonder why many international viewers did not have a problem with the romance. No cringeworthy moment for us. I've been re-watching past episodes for several weeks now. I don't get tired re-watching them. I actually find Eun-sup over-acting. But I notice that he is endearing to many. If this is the case, then it's a matter of taste then.
I also doubt he fell in love with her upon meeting her. But he was not disappointed with what he saw. She was not flirty like Seo-ryeong, nor did she gush at him like those who exclaimed, "he's handsome" while he was on his horse and while he and JTE were talking. She also showed she was dedicated to her job, indicating honesty.
As a king, he would have been trained since boyhood to be a good judge of character. He immediately appointed Jo Yeong as his Unbreakable Sword when he was eight. And he was right. Jo Yeong would die for him. He also never trusted Seo-ryeong. He was again proven right when she switched to Lee Lim's side.
I think he started courting JTE when he hugged her. Please see more details of his courtship in the discussion thread. I also think he was in love when he proposed to her. He told her "you are much more amazing than I had imagined".
Yo Jeong never did a good job of impersonating Eun-sup and Eun-sup did not pretend to be anybody but himself when he saw Nari and his siblings, that was why they immediately recognized him.
On the other hand, Luna had been studying JTE for a while and pretended to be her. LG admitted his one weakness was her face. He had been obsessed with that face to 25 years. He would never have imagined that face to betray him. He did figure out after a while she was not JTE.
Had it been Luna whom he met at the plaza, if she acted as dedicated to her job as JTE, he probably would have hugged her. But I think it would have taken him less than an hour to get disillusioned with her. I doubt he would have fallen for Luna.