CKT_DramaFan

Not only that but Uibin is included and honored in the annual memorial service for Yeongbin/CP Sado/Sukbin (great-grandmother) and apparently Sunjo kept up the services in place of San after his death. Not normally done for concubines whose son’s didn’t become King.

They didn’t show the marriage but he was married since 10/11 yo and she was 9 while he was CP.

First in ep 14 (convo w/mom) then in ep16, Court Lady Seo explained to Doek-Im that San went to console the Queen when Doek-Im found out she was pregnant so he couldn’t go see Doek-Im that night. Queen had been trying since they came of age to get prego but couldn’t.

Viki has it mistranslated. It should be Consort. The Queen is SAN’s legal wife who is mentioned but not shown.

We’ll said. 😢

Agreed.

It needed to be at least 20 episodes to capture all that properly.

I’m just glad people got past the comparison after the first few episodes. I only looked at the episodes in the old version where she became Uibin for a spoiler/novel comparison. But I think the Korean audience was skeptical and most likely MBC too because of the success of the old version, hence why this drama didn’t get the attention it needed from MBC until right before it aired. They changed the time slot because I heard the original time slot was bad and usually a drama ratings killer. Maybe in the future someone else will take a stab at something that’s in between the two versions.

That’s because even though Yi-San is one of the main characters, the drama isn’t his story alone. It’s about one part of his life that many found romantic due to the epitaph, kinda like what Court Lady Seo said, the country knew of his affection for Uibin. Adding all that would have taken away from the main plot and Doek-Im. As it was, the Yi-San parts were already dynamic as he’s CP then King. It’s funny how life imitates art because I see it on how people viewed the drama, the Court Lady who’s a pivotal role in the drama is backseat to the King, even though it’s called Red Sleeve Cuff (sleeve cuff of court lady). I do wish they added one more episode of married life with baby Munyo.
Plus, they didn’t want to compete with a beloved historical classic like Lee-San, Wind of Palace which was all about him.

Yes…same here. He experienced her loss, and he’s not going through it again.

Definitely would be. It was that question Doek-Im had for after finding out she was pregnant. “What if I wasn’t a Court Lady and you weren’t King, If we met as commoners”

He was a very progressive King and the last successful King in the Joseon Dynasty. He tried to implement lots of reform that benefited all the people not just the nobility which created a lot of tension in court. Sadly his son and Grand Dowager Empress (his grandmother) as Regent reversed a lot of it so some of his dreams were not realized. After Jeongjo, there was a succession of ineffective King’s and Regents. During the reigns of YeongJo and Jeongjo were probably the best times for the common people, especially during Jeongjo’s reign…he basically devoted himself totally to the people after Uibin’s death, which was the most successful time of his reign.

Bittersweet ending that is realistic. They did have their moments of happiness.

Died…forever sleep to live in his dream of the perfect moment with Doek-I’m in the afterlife.

Exactly. And I don’t begrudge her withholding the words when everything else she gave up showed she loved him. Let her have one little thing to herself as she’s already given everything else, her children, her husband, her freedom, her life.

Most likely the usual stuff like illness. Times were tough back then. People didn’t live long. Also, Sunjo became King at like 10 or 11 yo so Yi-SAN’s grandmother became Regent and essentially ruled in his place. Subin would have been in her late twenties so was still young though it’s considered nearing middle-aged during that time period. Yi-San and Doek-Im were considered middle-aged when they finally got together and had their son.

He had to have an heir since their children died so a few years after, they selected another concubine for him, Subin. She bore him a son (later became King Sunjo) and a daughter. No other children or concubines. He was fond of the Queen and Subin but did not love them or have the kind of relationship like he did with Uibin (Doek-Im). His Queen, Hyoui, and two concubines, Hwabin and Subin, outlived him. Subin is the only concubine in history to be alive when her son took the throne (other Kings have been born from concubines but their birth mothers died before they were crowned). Hwabin after her fake pregnancy incident and due to issues with family, was essentially ignored and lived the rest of her life in what can be considered a cold palace.

Thanks for the recommendation. I will watch Kairos since it’s like a suspense/thriller.

I loved the development of both Doek-Im and Yi-San throughout the whole drama. Seyoung did such a wonderful job with the micro expressions that made you know even though, her mind said one thing, her heart yearned for something it knew was unattainable.

Trying to decide if I want to rewatch memoirist or start Kairos since I didn’t get to see that one yet. They’re both on Viki.