If it’s something that I can’t fight off…I might as well prepare for it.
Episode 42.
In between Ta-hwan who wanted to hide the gold and the rest who were intrigued by the Emperor’s reaction, Seung-nyang chose to reveal the gold chest to everyone. They were surprised to see the gold but Seung-nyang was prepared with an excuse: the gold was merely a gift from the merchant group for granting them the right to provide supplies for the palace. Empress Dowager didn’t want to believe her and Seung-nyang ordered for the rest of the containers to be opened. Phew, they all contained ordinary goods such as silk, ceramics, and ornaments! Seung-nyang had planned it all with Bi-soo, knowing that it’s not safe to bring in all the gold in one trip and chose to transport one chest at a time.
Ta-hwan could see that Seung-nyang’s gaze was different; in fact, he felt that they had grown further apart and she had changed. Golta, unlike his usual cheery self, reminded Ta-hwan that Seung-nyang had been someone that shouldn’t be trusted from the beginning. He pleaded for the Emperor, who was no longer a weak and lonely person like he used to be, to escape the lowly concubine’s influence had on him. This enraged Ta-hwan and he threatened his eunuch that he won’t stand still if he heard someone cursing his most precious person, the person he won’t give up on even if it would cause him great pains. Seung-nyang was thinking that she should tell Ta-hwan about the treasure but Eunuch Park knew that Ta-hwan would use it for the expedition. She wanted to give it a try to persuade Ta-hwan into agreeing with her wish..
..but it’s not going to be easy since Ta-hwan must had made up his mind for him to tell the officials about the military expedition. The Three Lords didn’t agree with the expedition since they had more pressing issue to be dealt with such as famine and plague. Going into a war amidst the citizens’ hardships was impossible but Ta-hwan, through Baek Ahn, threatened to kill those who dared to oppose the Emperor’s order. The governors were ordered to provide manpower and supplies for the expedition and Goryeo was not excluded from the responsibility to do the same thing. Taltal didn’t look amused and he too thought that it’s not a good time for a war. Baek Ahn, just as stubborn as ever, didn’t want to hear any of his thoughts.
Seung-nyang went to meet Baek Ahn with the intention of persuading him by insisting that he was paving his path as another Yeon-chul in the making. He thought that his dream of painting a new history for the nation was not greed but Seung-nyang didn’t think so. It’s their way of life as warriors and she would never understand. Seung-nyang wondered if Baek Ahn would acknowledge her as an Empress if she agreed to support the expedition but he played the same old card again: he won’t mix personal feelings with his duty and she should give up on that dream. Yeah, Seung-nyang…he was indeed scary, far worse that Yeon-chul, probably.
Dangkise, Byung-soo, and Jo-cham were in hiding and they’re back in the capital since Dangkise had been summoned by the Eagle Group’s Leader-nim. Dangkise suspected that Leader-nim was a person inside the palace and he might had met him before. They happened to hide near the temple (per Leader-nim’s order) where Wang Yoo and Seung-nyang had been meeting all this while and those two happened to meet again on that fateful night, witnessed by the wicked Byung-soo. Of all places…why there? Seung-nyang admitted rather dejectedly that they won’t be able to stop the war. Yoo had a plan in which they would be able to give Seung-nyang the power to control the assets and armed forces of Yuan. He was going back to Goryeo but he’s leaving his underlings in Yuan to work out a new merchant group. Byung-soo saw them and reported what he saw to Dangkise, who was impatient to get rid of Seung-nyang; however, Byung-soo had a better idea and grinned his infamous menacing grin.
Seung-nyang went back to her quarters, where Ta-hwan was waiting for her. He wanted to know what she prayed for after hearing that she went to the temple but thought that her prayers (she wished for the people to be safe from the war) was useless. She tried to persuade him again into reconsidering his decision, afraid that the citizens would blame him for going into a war despite the difficulties faced by them. Ta-hwan then told her about ‘yeokrin’ a.k.a. a dragon’s inverse scales: once those scales were touched, the dragon would be furious and it could kill the person who did it. Using the metaphor, he warned Seung-nyang not to touch on his ‘yeokrin’ that would turn him into a mad dragon. Seung-nyang wondered if he would kill her if she happened to touch it, but he assured her that she’s always on his side and he won’t kill the people he included in his plan: Seung-nyang and Ayu. He begged for her to agree with him but Seung-nyang was thinking of something different; one day, he would understand that she did it for his sake.
Seung-nyang proceeded with the plan proposed by Wang Yoo. She went to meet the Three Lords or the governors’ representatives, having heard about the order for them to provide supplies for the army. She told them to give only a part of the supplies and the rest would be bought by Bi-soo and the gang to be sold to the army with a higher price, with the profit used to save the suffering citizens. It’s a risky business but Seung-nyang realized that there’s no gain without risk!
Seol-hwa played with Maha outside and he wanted to go to Seung-nyang but Seung-nyang walked away. Awww…was she trying to put some distance to avoid any attachment later? Bayan got an idea after witnessing the scene and planned something by trapping Yeon-hwa into working for her. She made it that Seung-nyang would be taking care both Maha and Ayu to make the princes grew closer to each other. Maha approached Seung-nyang right after Ayu fell asleep and Hong-dan joked that Maha might be jealous of Ayu. Awwww~! Seung-nyang put Maha on her lap and Eunuch Bang, who happened to drop by to take some documents from Seung-nyang, was surprised to see Seung-nyang with her biological child. Maha’s babysitter came over to take him away and he refused to be brought away from his mother *sobs* Seung-nyang didn’t think it’s a good time to reveal Maha’s real identity since it could affect Ayu negatively; plus, she thought that Maha was pitiful. Ack~~!!! Even Eunuch Bang was touched to see Seung-nyang her real child in her arms.
The babysitter handed over Maha to Yeon-hwa during her break and Yeon-hwa had this evil glint in her eyes. Uh-oh! Maha was crying non-stop afterwards and the Dowager wondered what happened to him. Bayan suggested that he might be hurt somewhere and the Dowager found some bruises on his body, suggesting that someone had pinched him. Poor baby! The babysitter suspected that Seung-nyang was the one who did it since the prince was with her before this. Ta-hwan was feeding Ayu when the Dowager barged into his quarters and slapped Seung-nyang. WHOA. Empress Dowager accused her of hitting Maha but Ta-hwan won’t believe it. Seung-nyang wasn’t someone who would do such thing. He ordered for all the people who spent time with Maha to be gathered and Seung-nyang suggested that Maha to be brought there too.
Seung-nyang held Maha in her arms and he didn’t cry, showing that she didn’t harm him. Although the boy couldn’t speak, his reaction would be more than enough to see who was the real culprit. Everyone was to hold Maha and he was calm except when Yeon-hwa held him. Oops..sorry, Bayan. Try again next time…or probably not. Seung-nyang ordered for Yeon-hwa to be dragged away but she could see Bayan’s changing expression. She realized that the Empress was the person who was behind Yeon-hwa. Although she was tortured, Yeon-hwa didn’t admit that she was ordered by Bayan but Seung-nyang was aware of it. Seung-nyang told her that she knew about Maha’s real identity and the reason she spared Yeon-hwa’s life was to become the witness when the right time came. Bayan went to the prison and Seung-nyang told her that the Dowager was the one who ordered Yeon-hwa. Bayan was relieved to hear that but Seung-nyang was just trapping her. She sent Yeon-hwa back to the Empress.
Wang Yoo went back to Goryeo and ascended the throne. The first thing he did was cancelling the military support meant for Yuan’s military expedition and ordered for the dispatch of tribute women and men to Yuan to be stopped at once. He also rooted out the officials who were working for Yuan. Ta-hwan received the report and followed Taltal’s suggestion to stop the sea trading to put pressure on Goryeo since they were currently focusing on the expedition. Taltal suspected that Seung-nyang had been working with Yoo but she denied it; after all, she and the rest of the staff of Goryeo origin had been abandoned by their mother nation, hence it’s not her place to meddle with Goryeo’s business. Taltal reminded Seung-nyang to stop getting involved with Goryeo since it would only meant harm for her, but Seung-nyang was still worrying over the fate of her country after hearing about the trade.
Bi-soo and the Gang made a visit to Goryeo to meet Yoo. They were nervous to see Yoo sitting on his throne but Yoo still thought of them as his comrades who fought along with him. Aww~! This was the second time Bi-soo appeared with her new attire and I like this one! Bi-soo recalled the words Yoo told her back at the border: Yuan held the control over the sea trade route but it’s different for Silk Road. Hence, he wanted Bi-soo to open the Silk Road again; it’s about time she kept the promise made when they first joined forces at the border. He offered Bi-soo to handle the trade with other countries and she asked for Goryeo ginseng and silk to be traded.
Baek Ahn was ready to depart with the troops for the military expedition and he assured Ta-hwan that he would return safely although it would take a long time. Ta-hwan issued his order for the soldiers to return alive and see their names recorded in the history. The expedition started out well for Yuan with news about their victory reaching the capital. Yoo also heard about the victory but at the same time, Bi-soo had left for the country at war with Yuan, Ilkhanate, to sell the goods. Seung-nyang gave the profit from the trade to the governors to be spent for the suffering citizens.
Golta seemed to have a bad news for Ta-hwan as he dashed through the doors towards the Emperor’s quarters. He had got his hand on a secret letter allegedly sent to Lady Ki from Wang Yoo. Ta-hwan read the letter and his glare was deadly. He reminded Golta to keep this matter a secret. Anger and disbelief were visible on his face before Ta-hwan decided to destroy the letter by burning it, as if it would make him forget what he just read. Seung-nyang dropped by and she found it odd that he was still awake. He pulled her into a hug, assuring her (and himself) that he was thankful to have him by his side and he’s content to be like that. Those eyes…oh, those eyes! They’re full of insecurities again..
The letter was planted by Dangkise and Co. with the intention to make the couple grew apart. Urgh! They were just waiting for the right moment to strike! They visited Eagle Group HQ to ask for Leader-nim’s help and Leader-nim wrote something that gave them a surprise..They’re up to no good, right?!
*Five years later* (That was quite a stretch..)
Both Maha and Ayu had grown up into boys (naturally). Maha was a good brother to Ayu but treated Seung-nyang coldly, thanks to Empress Dowager who never failed to remind him that Seung-nyang had killed his mother. Aish, I feel bad for this poor boy. (ㅜㅜ) Seung-nyang got to know that the expedition met another defeat and she looked worried, somehow. Maybe it was related to Ta-hwan, who was drunk, disheveled and grew more furious upon hearing the devastating news. The defeated troop was waiting in the throne hall and Baek Ahn was trying to console them. Ta-hwan staggered into the hall and Seung-nyang greeted him with worry in her eyes. I think it was a common occurrence for them and Seung-nyang couldn’t do anything. She looked so worried for him 😦 Ta-hwan approached the general and insisted that the man had done a serious crime although Baek Ahn tried to tell him that the general had tried to fight the larger enemy’s troop with his small troop.
Ta-hwan suddenly took Taltal’s sword and slayed the general, to everyone’s horror. He accused the troop of ruining his mood and they deserved to die.
“Am I right, Consort?”
*
Episode 43.
Ta-hwan stepped closer to the soldiers with the sword still in his hand. They were trembling and pleading for their lives to be spared, but Ta-hwan heard different things from them: in his ears, they were jeering and mocking him as a puppet Emperor. He stepped back but he couldn’t stand the sight of those lowly soldiers mocking him and insisted that they had to be killed. Baek Ahn tried to stop him, but Ta-hwan accused him of defying his orders and held the sword on his Chancellor’s neck. Uh-oh! Taltal tried to help his uncle but Baek Ahn stopped him, saying that he’s willing to sacrifice his life if his death could knock some sense into Ta-hwan’s head. Ta-hwan looked like he could kill Baek Ahn at that moment but Seung-nyang stopped him and stared straight into his wild eyes.
Seung-nyang: I am Yang-ie. Yes, Your Imperial Majesty…I am Yang-ie.
Ta-hwan’s glare softened as he realized that it was really Seung-nyang in front of him and he broke down. He admitted that it was another hallucination and soon came to his senses: he saw the dead general and the bloody sword in his hand 😦 Maybe the shock was too much for him…and Ta-hwan passed out in front of others.
Golta was probably more curious about what the couple was talking about rather than worrying about Ta-hwan’s condition as Seung-nyang held Ta-hwan in her arms, consoling him after what happened before. He didn’t want to stop the military expedition because he thought that it was his only chance of proving that he’s capable of being a true Emperor, but he promised not to get drunk anymore. Seung-nyang wondered if he was harbouring any resentment towards her since she noticed that the way he looked at her had changed. He was about to ask her but decided against it, hugging Seung-nyang while telling her that she’s the only person he could hold onto. It is too much for him (ㅠㅠ)
It turned out that Byung-soo and Dangkise continued to send the fake letters to Ta-hwan as they’re still waiting for the moment of Seung-nyang being abandoned by the Emperor. Sheesh. Dangkise was focusing more on a new info he found out from a spy: Goryeo had been dealing with Ilkhanate. Instead of meeting Maha, Dangkise wanted to send the information about Yoo’s involvement with Ilkhanate to Empress Dowager since he knew that the Dowager was raising Maha to be more powerful. Urgh.
Maha was a bright child with deep interest in learning though I wished that he could escape the bad influence coming from those three women around him: Empress Dowager, Bayan, and Court Lady Seo. He wanted to learn how to fight but the Dowager advised him against it since it would make the Emperor furious. Bayan told him to be patient for the time being. At the same time, Seung-nyang was teaching Ayu, who resembled Ta-hwan a lot when it came to being sleepy during lessons. LOL. He was happy to go to the morning greeting session with the Emperor but Seung-nyang knew that he was more excited to see his brother Maha.
The two princes went to greet Ta-hwan but it was obvious who was the favourite of the father among those two. Maha could only put a longing stare towards Ayu and Ta-hwan. Ayu had to recite what he had learned so far but got stuck and Ta-hwan laughed, but when Ayu said that Maha would be better at it, Ta-hwan’s face said it all: he wasn’t amused to know that Maha had started to learn how to read. Maha questioned why he couldn’t learn but Ta-hwan refused to answer him. Ayu looked upset to see his brother being scolded like that and at the same time, the Dowager came to Maha’s defense. Ta-hwan didn’t give the permission for Maha to learn since he knew that the Dowager intended to use the boy just like how Yeon-chul did to him and he wanted to protect Maha from the torture he had to face. Maha was not interested in receiving pitiful look from Seung-nyang and acted rudely in front of her but Seung-nyang reminded him that he’s old enough to judge between wrong and right. Empress Dowager and Lady Ki’s relationship was getting worse through the years and Bayan was only waiting for them to kill each other. Maybe if you looked around more, you’d realized that Lady Ki had someone planted beside you..
Yeon-hwa brought Court Lady Seo along with her when she went out to meet Byung-soo and Dangkise was glad to meet Court Lady Seo. She informed him that Maha had been living in sadness and Dangkise wanted her to tell the kid that his uncle was still alive. He also gave her the letter to be passed to the Dowager. The troops returned with yet another defeat (I really like the camera work here) and Baek Ahn informed the Dowager that Ilkhanate had a large supply of explosives. The Dowager grabbed this chance to tell him about Goryeo’s deal with Ilkhanate and suggested that they fabricate the proof to put the blame on Yoo. Drat. She’s even thinking of trapping Seung-nyang this time since she had found out that Seung-nyang had been working alongside Yoo all this while.
A Goryeo official sent a petition to Yuan reporting about Yoo’s trade with Ilkhanate and his plan of raising the army with the profit to reclaim their land from Yuan. This was deemed an act of treason and Yoo deserved to be deposed again. Maha was used to inform Seung-nyang about it and just like what the Dowager planned, Seung-nyang managed to get her hands on the petition and the fake ledger since she had the control over most of the palace staff. Seung-nyang realized that the explosives trading between Goryeo and Ilkhanate was something new to her; however, she knew that the ledger was fake since the explosives were originally from Yuan and the amount recorded was more compared to the original supplies. Baek Ahn and Empress Dowager brought the matter to Ta-hwan, who didn’t believe that Seung-nyang would dare to to do something like that; but then, he recalled the letters from Yoo to Seung-nyang that Golta managed to intercept and he chose to burn them. He started to get suspicious, but Seung-nyang arrived to give him the petition and the ledger. Phew!
Actually, it’s all thanks to Dok-man, who sensed that something was off when he was at the Dowager’s quarters. He managed to alert Eunuch Park about the plan and Eunuch Paek thanked him for helping Lady Ki. Dok-man was only trying to save the other Goryeo people as he knew that they could die if Lady Ki was accused of helping Yoo. It’s kinda sad to hear his words: he was neither a Goryeo nor Yuan person. What he did was purely for his own life.
Ta-hwan was angry to find out about the trade and he had issued a decree to depose Yoo. But then, it would be possible for Yoo to resist the order and it would be better for them to send Tutor Jang to Goryeo first. Seung-nyang tried to persuade Ta-hwan into finding the truth first before deposing Yoo but Ta-hwan had set his mind and he wanted Seung-nyang to stay out of the matter since he didn”t want to suspect her. With everyone’s eyes on her, Seung-nyang couldn’t do anything to send a warning to her fellow Goryeo team. Maha wanted to follow Tutor Jang to Goryeo with the excuse that he wanted to see the person who killed his mother, but he was actually going out of the palace to meet Dangkise. Eunuch Bang and Co. saw Maha and his entourage on their way to Goryeo and he decided to go back to Goryeo too. Another thing worth mentioning was Eagle Group’s Leader-nim was probably a she…but anything could happen, right? It’s as if Leader-nim became shorter after a few years and s/he also got prettier. HA.
Seung-nyang was on her way out when Taltal went to see her and it turned out that she wanted to meet him. He had been watching her closely during the last five years and knew that she used the treasure to help the citizens and also for her own ause, which wa to bribe the officials to be on her side. Taltal wondered if she was helping their enemies (you know who…) but Seung=nyang denied it, but she admitted that Goryeo trade was teh source of the money she had been using to help Yuan. She asked for Taltal to help her since he knew everything and her life was in his hands. These two’s chemistry is no joke =.=’
Maha had reached Goryeo but he wasn’t glad to step on the enemy’s land. Well, if only you knew your real identity…He went straight to the palace with the intention to meet Yoo and Yoo was surprised that a young prince went on a long journey like that. Maha demanded to have Yoo step out of his audience hall to greet him and Yoo was like, “Challenge accepted, boy!” Both of them refused to give in (like father, like son?) but Eunuch Bang told Yoo to give in since Maha was still a boy and Yoo acknowledge the prince’s persistence. Yoo was ordered to go to Yuan to provide an explanation on why he refused to provide military suport and tributes after he had been reinstated. Later on that night, he met Maha to know why the young prince joined the trip and Maha told Yoo that he wanted to meet his mother’s killer. Maha vowed to teach Goryeo a lesson when he became an Emperor but Yoo reminded him that he had a lot of things to be learned. Yeah, I also thought that it’s a waste for Maha to be raised under the wrong people, Wang Yoo..
Bi-soo had a nightmare about Yoo and it was indeed happening: the Emperor aimed to depose Yoo and Yoo was going to Yuan without realizing the Emperor’s true intention. Oh no! Maha was probably thinking about Yoo’s words over and over again along the journey as he stole glances at the Goryeo King (who was also your biological father, kiddo!). Tutor Jang suggested that they stopped there for the day since they had reached Yuan’s border and Yoo agreed, although it was suspicious since they had been hearing some rumours on their way to Yuan. Yoo was more concerned on Maha and Eunuch Bang told him not to worry over someone not related to him (but he was!).
Tutor Jang was expecting someone and it’s Dangkise and Co. Maha had actually told Tutor Jang beforehand about Dangkise and he’s letting them meet each other only this time. Dangkise went to meet Maha and they shared a teary reunion, but Dangkise was going to attack Yoo after he went to sleep. Although Yoo tried to fight back, he was soon overpowered and the real decree from the Emperor was read to him: he was to be deposed because he helped Ilkhanate against Yuan and he was deemed a traitor of Yuan. Maha was glad to see him being captured but he’s troubled to see Yoo being tortured on their way to Yuan.
They had reached the capital and the citizens blamed Goryeo for causing Yuan to be defeated. Ouch. Please don’t make him suffer any more (ㅠㅠ) Bi-soo and the gang were unable to help them and she could only cry. Argh! He was dragged to the palace to meet Ta-hwan.
Ta-hwan rushed to the gate and so was Seung-nyang, but Ta-hwan reached the place first and he wasted no time to take his bodyguard’s sword. Ta-hwan exchanged death glares with Yoo and he was ready to strike Yoo with the sword as Seung-nyang arrived to witness the scene.
*
What will Seung-nyang do?
Preview for episode 44 can be found HERE.
the talking cupboard 
@muchadoaboutlove
You feel better?
yes yes ^^b
That is good. When EK is over are you watching the next drama?
Triangle? Nope, planning to give Hotel King a try and catching up with other shows. Haha I’ve been neglecting other dramas to focus on EK 😛
@muchadoaboutlove
LOL. I know what you mean I just caught up on a few of my American TV shows I neglected for EK.
wanted to find out who put this blog together and it is you! muchadoboutlove, I am new to your site and I want to thank you so much for all your hard work in explaining, interpreting each episode to make sense and clarify whats going on.
Wishing you better health, time to do all the things in your life you need to do and moments to just sit back, relax and appreciate the good things in life.
take care and be happy!
So there was another time jump. Everybody mad about TH. I am not surprised because that is what insecurities and jealousy will do to you.
Maha/Byul has a little attitude. I mean what do you expect when TH has treated him so badly and ED is influencing him.
@Meme your not surprised because your a WY fan. 😛 I always knew something like this would come up but it bad writing and guess what girly? SY hadn’t become empress yet, which means the emperor will become sane again so have fun with that. But being a WY fan you’ll probably get yours in the end because more than likely he’ll reunite with SY after her disappearance and I’m cool with that, i just don’t line how they ruined the emperor’s character out of the blue, even in history he didn’t care about politics. I don’t care what happens anymore, I’m resign for a b*llsh*t ending so I’ll watch at my leisure. I might love this drama but i hope the ratings drop after today.
@Ariel DuBenion
LMAO!! What are you like 12 years old because you sound real childish. Actually I like both WY & TH. So that makes me WY fan and TH fan. I am not surprised because I have had experience in dating a guy who was insecure and jealous. I see all those traits in TH. As much as I like TH he needs to grow up.
You are wrong! I have stated I wanted WY with Bi-Soo.
Little advice: Calm down. It is only a TV drama.
Ariel, I was shocked to see the emperor crazy like that and when he killed the general and like you I too don’t like how they messed him up.
otherwise I think its crazy to get caught up in the shipping war and wished everybody can agree to disagree respectfully.
This drama is getting darker and I hope the ending wont be horrible. only reason I started this and still sticking around is because of Ha Ji Won. Hopefully she can help the emperor come back to his senses.
Now come on I love the emperor but he has to grow up a little more and not try to own SY I mean he knew she loved someone before him but to go back to drinking because life is starting to suck is going to make it easier for people to try and use him. I beleive at some point SY loved him but he makes it hard
I don’t know why everyone acts so surprised over how the Emperor is acting. He’s always been all about Seungnyang, nothing else ever really mattered to him. Now take Seungnyang away from him – how did you think he was going to act?
@Ariel DuBenion: You don’t have to act so spiteful towards MeMe just because someone may prefer another character than you do. What does it matter who other people like? You have your preference and everyone else has theirs. Let’s all just be respectful towards each other and agree that no one’s personal opinion is superior to someone else’s.
@AlohaDara
Regardless of liking a character you should be able to criticize them when they have done something.
I agree this shipping war has gone to some people’s heads. They need to calm down.
@Jara
Ariel DuBenion is mad because I don’t praise everything TH and I criticize him. Yes I like TH. Nobody is worried about her. LOL
@Ariel DuBenion, I know it’s just hard to understand. But we should realize this is Korean drama w/ Korean writers, if there’s anything, the temptation to make a hero or to trash the character out of national pride is very high. This has been toying on my mind for quite sometime and I am not too surprised, they had to earlier build a strong lovestory of TH & SN for the sake of ratings, now that they got what they wanted and have established that position, in a snap they can destroy TH’s character in favor of you-know-who (the highly favored Goryeo citizen of the kdrama world).
For the last 4 episodes, I have stopped watching this and was just reading recaps like here, as I have anticipated this to come. Anyways, what goes around comes around.
@muchadoboutlove, keep it up, as always great recaps!
@Kristine Marie
Are we watching the same show? Those writers favor TH. Even blind person can see that. I know this might be hard for you to understand and for you to realize since you love everything TH. TH’s insecurities and trying to prove himself did this him. He took the cowards way out instead of taking responsibility for the defeat he blamed it WY. Like I said before I want to see SN with her husband not some needy child(TH).
@kristine i agreed with u
How interesting. Thanks for the sub
writer please just kill me!
why they do this to TH! he was more secure and now everything is going down!
crying a river here…
i can believe that in 5 years TH didn´t say ANYTHING to SN!
¬¬ just seeing this to know the end… but i´m so close to stop watching it TT.TT
my poor baby emperador TT.TT
Oh my gosh this show just took a turn for the worst. If the emperor and SY were going to grow apart at least make it believable. Maha is really stank acting but you can’t blame him, he actually probably likes SY but won’t give in because of the Dowager. I hope WY makes an impression on him and hopefully if the writers stop taking stupid pills, one of his comrades will tell the f*cking truth (and yes i did have to curse) Just because he knows that’s his child doesn’t mean he’ll make trouble and he will probably try to find a way to get him from yuan or something. Obviously the emperor will become sane again because SY isn’t empress
yet. How can you write someone as not really caring about government to someone whose blood thirsty for war?
Okay all bets are off on what’s going to happen next.
The Emperor looks so sexy with his hair out (even though he looks 100% insane) i wouldn’t run into his arms unless he could calm the crazy out of his eyes. Lol 😀
And dangkise looks really hot with that eye patch. I’m glad the kids are older but everything feels insanely rushed.
I guess it’s time for SY and Tal Tal to have an affair 🙂 and i really mean that. Or her and the emperor need to take a vacation (poor emperor. . . The side effects of drugs is what he looks like but i hope he never puts his hair back up again, so sexy 😉 )
Reblogged this on queenbelle.
Thanks for the recap. Stay healthy always. What you do for us is not an easy thing. You are amazing.
I hope for the last 8 episodes they wont ruin the emperor and just fucos on the girly/smart fight. I dont mind ED and Bayan to be hang at the end of the drama (훌, am i too cruel? ㅋㅋㅋ)
I am expecting a lovey dovey episodes writers. So please spread some love for this month of April. The heat is on in Philippines and i dont want to add another heat coming from the fans because you messed up…바이팅 everyone!!!
I am soooo upset I could cry… people have been saying all around that how could someone who doesn’t care about politics suddenly become like that… I think it’s the fact that they’re losing to WY and that letter.. I wonder what’s written in it. I just don’t understand though how this could happen… they have been doing this whole SY TH thing for so long that most are rooting for him and I am afraid this plot of him going crazy might ruin the show. It’s too late to start rooting for someone else. But maybe they took this direction because it explained episode 1 well. Oh wow for the first time I’m confused… how is this going to end
Tanx for the recap, and I hope u will do the same for Hotel king airing this weekend.
am hoping TH becomes sane,5 years how could he stay away from sn,he has always insisted that SN is his most precious jewel. everyone is just holding on to the thought that SN isnt Empress yet! hope this series doesnt have a sad/bad ending I will feel like I got unnecessarily excited after each episode 😦 Your recap is Amazing thanks!!!!
Well, I definitely didn’t expect for the Emperor and Seungnyang to further drift apart over a letter about her and Wang Yoo. It’s really sad to see the Emperor so insecure and adrift again after he has grown so much stronger in the years before. Now I’m kind of scared of what he’s capable of believing that Seungnyang has betrayed him.
So the Empress stayed quite for five years and did absolutely nothing? Really, nothing? No more killing birds? Well, I guess she’s lost all her evilness with age. 😛
I was really surprised that we get to see the children growing up. I wonder what’s in store for them. I really hope they stay close and won’t turn on each other.
I don’t know what to hope for Seungnyang anymore, to be honest, because I’m not quiet sure what it is exactly that she’s aiming for. Having a peaceful life? Becoming Empress? Is she staying with the Emperor because she has feelings for him or because of ambition? Is she still pining for Goryeo or Wang Yoo? Or as some people here apparently would like it is she going to have an affair with Tal Tal? I just would like for the show to give us more hints into her feelings and thoughts. At the moment I don’t really know what to hope for her or expect from her – and yes, I know she’s later going to become Empress, but that doesn’t mean that is still her ambition right now.
Wang Yoo’s storyline bores me already. I don’t why but whenever he’s out of the Yuan palace doing his own thing I stop caring about what he’s doing even though he’s probably my favourite male character in this show. 🙂
Oh and one last thing: It’s really low and hypocritical of the Empress Dowager to turn Maya against Seungnyang by telling him about her killing his mom, considering that the Empress Dowager hated the former Empress just as much and would have loved any opportunity to get rid of her herself.
Thanks for the recap!
@Jara
People like WY but he is not the favorite. The favorite is TH.
For me my lord was WY only. mwa mwa mwa
😛
@Meme you took what i said the wrong way. I was only teasing LOL cause I’ve been on this site for a long time and have seen your post. I thought that was obvious but things sound different when your reading something compared to hearing it. I’ve gone back and forth with WY, have always been a Tal Tal Lover and would love for the emperor to improve and think he’s cute. Regardless the shows writing has turned to crap, it’s not believable.
I’m in my late twenties and what i said was not childish or spiteful (I’m using my phone so what i swipe doesn’t always come out right) When things go in the crapper i make jokes. Sorry if it hurt your feelings (no sarcasm) It’s just a show. A show I’m barely enjoying anymore. I don’t want WY to have SY by default, that’s dishonoring all three of those characters.
@Ariel DuBenion
You did not hurt my feelings. It just bothers me when somebody says I don’t like TH because I criticize him. I like TH just as much as I like WY.
If I took what you said wrong then I am sorry. I am on a phone as well. I don’t think WY & SN will be together in the end. I do think the writers will give a ending that will satisfy all ships. I don’t hold a grudge. We are cool. I respect your opinion.
WY is many people’s favorites :)! He is certainly my favorite.
if you looked at the Naver search his rank has been pretty good, regularly in top 10 (He became No.1 this week). It meant that people are interested in this character. WY is popular, but his fans are low key and quiet in the internet.
@Random
Oh yes a lot of people like WY. I figured they are low key. It just seems like TH is the favorite. So he was #1 this week. That is good. I know that somebody use to post Naver rankings on the Empress Ki Soompi forum but they don’t anymore. Come to think of it some posters are missing from that forum. What Happened?
@Meme okay I totally get what your saying with your opinions about the drama and not just favoring one character. I do agree about the emperor not quite reaching the level of a respectable man. I wish he’d stand up straight instead of always being hunched over too.
Reading your post makes me reconsider to stop watching. Thanks.
I can’t believe we’re so close to episode 50. I heard there’s gonna be 51 episodes.
@Ariel DuBenion
Oh no continue to watch.
Yes I hoped TH would turn into the respectable man but he did not. The writers developed him so well only to fall short on maturing TH. Right now I am indifferent to both couples SN & WY and SN & TH. I want to see SN in an adult relationship with her husband. Right now that is not what her & TH’s relationship is. SMH. I want WY & Bi-Soo together. Hope you continue to watch EK.😄
@Jara i totally agree especially about the empress not trying anything for five years. I don’t know what i want for SY except a Tal Tal affair or reuniting with byul. Something that doesn’t make sense is SY raising a child who isn’t super smart and headstrong. I know they’re trying to say it’s WY’s genes vs the Emperor’s but they forgot that SY is both of there mother, it’s make more sense for both of them to be smart. Jmo
I like taehan too especially when he got this serious look or stare, remember the first shadow play with wang yu, and both of them were grabbing sn’s hands, i like the way taehan stare at wang yu? I saw that expression again, when he went out if the archives when tansiri punished Sn, i also love it when he hugged sn when she wad unconscious both at the bath tub and at the archives
Just thonking that wang yu will soon die is making me sad, will sn lament his death? By the way guys, from the start i love taltal for Sn and i was excited when i read in soompi that he will aldo fall in love with seung nyan.. Will he be in the end but will just supress it. Hope these two will habpve their own drama soon
@ Ariel DuBenion: I want to apologize to you for taking your words too serious. 😦 You’re right, writing in general – no matter if on the cell phone or internet – is always up for interpretation and it seems I took it the wrong way. I shouldn’t have gotten involved, I’m sorry. I’m in my twenties too so I should have known better and acted more mature. It’s just that I’m a little sensitive when it comes to drama watchers insulting other drama watchers just because they don’t build a shrine for their bias: I’m sure there are some people over at gooddrama who are still making voodoo dolls in my name because of my dislike of “My Love From Another Star”…. 🙂
Anyway, although I love Wang Yoo and I though it was great how equal his relationship with Seungnyang always was, I’m kind of growing on the idea of Seungnyang and Tal Tal, because they are on the same wavelength as well. But is it even really intended by the show that there is something going to happen between them or is it just on-screen chemistry mixed with fans’ wishes?
I’m really disappointed with the Empress. I was so looking forward to a real battle of the wits between Seungnyang and her, because the former Empress never quiet measured up to Seungnyang’s cunning.
I think Ayu is taking after the Emperor a lot: He got attached to Maya and no matter what he wants to please him. Maybe he’s he’s trying to hide his smart mind because he wants to help his brother help gain recognition? We’ll see in the next episodes.:)
@Ariel DuBenion
Did you read what I wrote.
@Jara
I say yes to Tal Tal & SN. The voodoo shrine stuff was funny. What is that show about anyways?
I just wish somebody teach Byul/Maha.
@MeMe: “My Love From Another Star” is a mixture of 80% fluff and 20% trying to create suspense that could have been so good if had been the other way around, you know 20% fluff and 80% murder suspense. Now usually I’m all for cute fluff, but fluff without plot or character development or anything substantial at all to anchor it is really tiring. And I don’t care if the male lead is pretty to look at, if his character is boring and he’s not as good an actor as everyone claims him to be, then the drama is still a disappointment to me. But man, the fandom of this drama was vicious over at goodrama….It actually makes me dislike Kim Soo Hyun (?) a little.
@jara
LOL I see. To be honest I was almost there with TH. Starting to not like him a little because of his fans but I decided not to let them persuade my liking of him. I still like TH even though he does some things I don’t like.
@MeMe: I feel sad for TH, to be honest. I can’t really like him and I can’t really cheer for him for all the bad things he’s capable of, but I guess I feel some sympathy for him for everything he had to go through. He never had anyone really support him or be there for him or love him unconditionally; since young he lived in a constant state of terror because of ET and so I understand his clinging onto Seungnyang, but on the other he IS the Emperor and Seungnyang isn’t his only responsibility, so I can’t respect him as the leader of a nation. But I don’t hate him because I understand that circumstances made him what he is – but I wish he’d grow up and rise above his past and start being more mature for all the people that depend on him.
Though I have to admit, I did hate him a little the first 20 episodes when he was responsible for killing Seungnyang’s dad and burning the paper that would have let her leave the palace and so on and his fans kept saying “He’ll grow up, he’ll become a good man. You’re just haters, so stop posting. You’ll see he’s going to become a great man.” I have to say fans can really destroy a lot of watching experience. There was no indication whatsoever that he would ever stop cowering before EL and turn into a decent man and yet his fans kept downplaying the fact that he was responsible for killing her dad just because the actor is “hot” and people like me turned simply into “haters” even though we wrote down many reasons for why we disliked his character. Sometimes I wish to know how old those commentators are…and a thought like that actually makes me feel old. 😀 😀 😀
@MeMe: Do you only watch Sageuks?
@Jara
Yes fans can ruin a drama. I don’t know what happened Empress Ki Soompi Forum. It is use to be more balanced now it is more like a TH shipper thread. For me it is not about if you are cute or not. It is about acting. I agree TH was given a pass by fans on everything because of how cute he is. Don’t get me started on what they were saying about WY.
I don’t know if I still have sympathy for TH because I feel he should know better now. He needs to grow up. I can only take immaturity for so long. I still like him though.
No, I mostly watch American Tv shows. I watched K drama Heirs. I watch a couple of C historical dramas. I started watching sageuks a year ago this month. My first one was Queen SeonDeok. It was really good and since then I have watched many sageuks.
Well the ratings dropped and everyone can see why. What did the writers do to TH???? Are they the same writers???? They gave us a TH we grew to love in this drama. And now they take that away. HIs silly antics, his sincere love for EK and Ayu, his wish to not be an El Temur. I feel like sola. After enjoying all the previous episodes, including watching them again and again, all of a sudden these past 2 episodes have been so disappointing. I used to look forward to Mondays, now I just dread what will happen. The writers took so much liberties with the real story why not just give us a happy ending. Thank goodness the writers didn’t turn on EK, yet. Who knows?
Disappointment to the MAX!!!!!
@Jara OMG you didn’t like My love from another star too? 😀
Wow that drama was really dragging and the worst part is that they had great ratings the whole time.
What a horrible ending too. I feel better knowing that i was the only one who had issues with the writing and plot points.
@Ariel DuBenion: Haha, I’m glad I’m not the only one as well.:D I was starting to think something is wrong with me because everyone else seemed to love it.
I think the ratings were so high because of KSH (?), the male lead, and not really because the drama was good. Man, after a few episodes the only scenes I was looking forward to were the ones with the villain… 😉
I just think it’s a shame that bad dramas like this one gain so much recognition simply because the male lead is hot while other dramas with a great plot and acting get overlooked. I mean, KSH isn’t even a great actor and he’s not that good looking either, so really, what exactly is it about him that everyone goes gaga about him?! It’s the same with Joo Won and Lee Min Ho. No matter how bad their dramas, everyone still loves it. I will never understand it…
The ending, do you mean the way he keeps disappearing and suddenly reappearing? That was so stupid, I won’t waste my energy on typing about it.
Arghhhh! There would be no drama if SN, WY, and TH occassionally had an honest discussion. I have grown to dislike the way that SN manipulates and/or keeps secrets from people who care about her. I know that we are supposed to admire her cleverness and ingenuity but she has grown quite tiresome.
Seung Yang has become rather scary that scene with yeonhwa in the dungeon,she is acting like a female Yeonchul (just a bit 😉 As for Golta someone kill him already, when did he become so Anti-Seung Yang.He seems hell bent on getting at her. The ED seems to have lost her relevance except to make bitchy comments rather than make political intrigues and the new Empress is just a two faced spiteful schoolgirl who cannot show her hand but right now I think Tanashiri was way more interesting with her less than clever plots
@houstontwin If SN did tell TH about her plan and happened to agree with it, he would have handed over the treasure Bayan. TH is all about going to war and invading weaker countries, while his country is suffering from famine and the plague. For me,SN did the right thing. She now has all the treasure,she could now help the needy and starving citizens of Yuan through the Governors help. The Governors and even TalTal oppose the expedition. SN,as the smart person that she is was able to foresee the result of this conquest. She tried to persuade TH to reconsider but TH was like “NO! I made up my mind. My decision is always right. I have full trust on Bayan” Big mistake! Trusting a not so smart Bayan,an even bigger mistake! Now they keep on losing,they don’t have enough funds and Most importantly,The citizens of Yuan are starving. He should have listen to his clever Gwibi (SN) and none of this would happen. I can sense that your a TH bias,that’s why your judgement is being clouded. Facts are facts though. Without SN,TH would still be an Illiterate,Weak,Coward Puppet Emperor (well he still is..a puppet..with ED and Bayan as his puppeteers) Without SN,El Tumur and his two devilish children would still be alive.and TH might have been dead by now.
Ui, me too. I re watch my favorite episodes but these are too dark for me.dreading the ending. K-Dramas and Asian dramas on the whole tend to go toward bad endings. I love SY TH and WY TT and hope there will be a happy ending. This last episodes I found myself skipping and thankfully for this blog I could figure out if I wanted to go back and watch it all. soo painful to see TH this way. I still believe in SY.
agree completely!
pressed the wrong button. I agree with you TheTruthHurts and hope she will be able to straighten out and strengthen the Emperor in the end.
Whether we like it or not if there is no TH, SN will not be able to accomplish her revenge and that is why she insisted on being a concubine.TH is her tool to get her revenge. And that’s a fact. Both of them help each other to accomplish their goals.
Thanks for the recap! I admit the time jump freaked me out but I’m gonna go with the flow. (LOL) Can’t wait to see where they’re going with Maha!
Let’s follow the flow together and get ready to ride the waves! I think I’m ready for anything that may come later after watching this week’s episodes 😉
@muchadoboutlove lets gear up together, i see that the waves get rough… Than kyou also for your hardwork
Without those ups and downs in the story, EK would be plainly boring. The fact that we are hooked on this drama up this episode and still watching it regardless if the flow of the story does fit the way we want it to be meaning we love the drama itself and personally, I want to be a witness of its ending.
@LIZ
Yes you can say that again.
I’m afraid to watch this episode, our TH is gone crazy! I’m gonna miss baby Ayu so much! I don’t want him to ever grow up! I just hope that SN will not become empress in the very last episode. I don’t think I can give up on this drama but my interest has waned a bit after seeing Secret Lovers
@Teawater is secret lovers good? I need a new drama.
Yesss!! It’s my new obsession! The acting is superb and the subject matter mature. There’s sizzling chemistry between the 2 leads and it is a fast moving drama, plot-wise.
After seeing the 43 , I have one question: Somebody can tell me what’s going on ? What the writters are trying to do? ……We can call this episode : Dangkise ‘s revenge Lol…I know it’s not funny but can wait to see the preview for the 44…. And the recap of course…
waiting for 44 preview,i want to see what the writers have done this time,am not in a hyping spirit the writers are not making me excited SA before 😦 I need some TH-SN pda
The writers messed up when they kept ET around too long. ET should have left around episode 30 or 31. SN should have become the Empress in at least episode 37 or 38. That would have left 13 episodes for the rest of the story. To be honest I think the writers was scared the ratings would fall if ET was not around. I don’t like to go into this ratings stuff or blame certain characters for the ratings decrease. I blame the writers for dragging stuff out too long.