MaSuNaRa

@Jovana Exactly! I know the writer might have chosen the wrong version of "the long live the king", but still during production the show must have been consulting with historic professionals to insure accuracy of anything related. As for the wrong crown, that is definitely production team and director's fault. I believe they must have decided to edit out the wrong crown with the right one post-production for the Disney+ streaming.

Did anyone else feel the director was trying to throw the writer under the bus here, or is just the wording of the translation?! Imean there is a bunch of things the writer of this drama should be definitely held responsible for, least of which is an inaccurate historical term used, but as for the crown Yi-Ahn wore for the coronation, how are we supposed to blame the writer for that too?! Does she manage the production of the drama props herself? or was she involved in the storyboard and they drew this specific wrong crown so the production team stuck to it.
The director should be the first one to have apologized and stated regret for the mishap and maybe next the production team, neither the writer and with doubt nor the actors.

I understand the public's concerns regarding the historical accuracy especially sensitive ones that concern the image portrayed about the sovereignty of their country, but how does it concern the actors? I know they are professionals and can exercise a certain level of liberty when it comes to the portrayal of their characters, and can choose to debate certain aspects of the script and production with the director and producer, but I doubt seriously they have much say when it comes to such specific props, and also do we expect them to become historical professionals who can vouch for the accuracy of all details in the story and script?
I understand the statements were issued to show support and dampen the public outrage, but it makes it sound like it was their fault!
I did not like a lot of things about this drama, but still I don't understand why the leads would apologize for this mishap.

now that the production team have wrapped up their homework like they just wanted to get finished with it.....i will not be delving deep here in my disappointment any more.

but now fans of IU and BWS can feel free to revisit the cute parts however rare they might have turned out to be and just skip all the stupid political and palace struggles.

There is just this one scene that keeps bothering me. remember the flashback when I-An was confronting his older brother I believe on his wedding day, I-An held his brother's collar telling him that he had given him his last chance, I just need to confirm what everyone made of this scene exactly. what was all this about? was I-An warning his brother that his marriage was doomed? or had he offered to become next in line instesd of his brother who was having cold feet? since they didn't bother to elaborate on this scene as well as his mother's death which I believe must have been orchestrated by someone at the palace, we are only left to guess.

I have been noticing that since the begining, but especially the last few episodes they're not even bothering to fade out the BGM for God's sake, they just cut it abruptly and move to the next scene. all scenes feel disjointed and choppy to the point it'd distracting.

haven't watched king the land so I wouldn't know, but this one I had high hopes for, didn't expect such sloppy writing and choppy direction.

to add to that I would have wished for a better performance from actors I am a fan of.


But al least I have a bunch of OST songs on my playlist that I have been enjoying for the last couple of weeks, and some swoon-worthy scenes to revisit.

I might have made things worse by re-watching lovely runner during the wait time between PC episodes, which turned out to be a bad move, I ended up comparing the BWS pre-his break and post stardom. or I am still holding on to the hope that he just needs a winning combination of good solid story/smart director/FL with great rapport like in the case if Lovely runner to shine.

totally agree. worse than the extreme amateurish villainizing of the PM, the extreme and sudden redemption of the QM didn't make any sense. I went into ep 11 wishing that there was a plot twist to the PM and that he was pretending to collude with QM's father but actually spying to gather evidence to rid the crown of him once and for all and keep Huiju safe, but Nah they had to stick to the obvious and portray him as an obsessive sore loser.


the QM did a miraculous 180, after having literally brought her late husband to his demise, and considering the fact that she knew all along it was her dad who had attempted to kill IAn but still chose to cover for him, not buying that it was the Fire and her beloved I-An's almost dying that brought her to her senses, not buying that it was her son's crying about his dad's death that did it too. the writer's wanted to wrap everything up in the remaining limited run time so they needed someone to hand them all the cards on a silver platter and she was the easiest option they had.

but still to think that the character he had to work with is a prince with major daddy issues, a high achiever who was forced to grow up in thr shadows of his father and older brother, who literally witnessed his own mother's assassination and had to bury his older brother knowing someone within the crown might have been behind it, then he had to suffer for years as a regent to his poor nephew whom he wanted to keep safe while burying his ambitions and his knowledge of his brother's dying wishes all too well.

the character even on paper is made up of layer upon layer of trauma, vulnerability and inner struggles. to say that the writer who drew up such a background story could not manage to flesh it out and give an opportunity for the actor to breathe life into him, an actor whom we know all too well has the potential to perform above expectations. the BWS I saw in lovely runner was ready to give his all to express even the slightest of emotions, he didn't mind looking messy if it meant he portrayed the inner feelings of his character (remember the scene he was devastated after his shoulder injury and he fell to the floor crying in the locker room).

here all the emotions were as if just written as a narration in a script, they're implied or stated but not acted upon, all the scenes feel like they fall short, only brushing in a shallow manner and not digging deep into the emotional state of the characters. I am not sure if I was able to explain how I feel, but it felt like I was watching an animation or webtoon sometimes.

I will be avoiding future work from the writer of this one.

not just the writing getting worse, but also the direction and editing is past the point of being simply choppy to the point of being distracting and laughable level shitty.

I hated every moment of this episode, and to think they wasted almost 10 minutes on the fire rescue scene, only to sloppy round up everything else and give a miraculous redemption and a clear conscience flip to tie all loose ends.


this drama is the biggest missed opportunity in terms of production value and stellar cast. and I unfortunately have to admit one of the biggest disappointments was Byeon Woo Seok's portrayal of the prince. I am starting to genuinely hope that rather than his acting skills having deteriorated, that it was per the director's orders that he acts so stiff and overdo it with the elegance-exuding performance at all time

reading your insightful comment, I started to think that the only way it would make more sense that he would be willing to harm the crown prince, would not be out of the trivial wish to get the girl, but rather that the PM has his secret agenda to maintain the status quo at the palace (a young king, a puppet regent, a Queen Mother and her father acting as puppeteers),maybe as a politician he now knows that by holding dirt against the QM and her father in the form of the poisoning incident, he maintains his upper hand and ability to control them. But since he knows I-An since the school days and has been seeing up close his true nature and willpower and wishes to prevent him from taking the throne.

Now thinking of it, the king might have summoned his brother to inform him of his abdication and to present him with the robes, but after I-An heard the conversation between the QM and the king, he chose to leave along with his nephew.
This drama suffers from terrible editing and showing important scenes in snippets only to jump suddenly to a different scene, but I feel that when it comes to the details of the king's death and the fire, it seems to be deliberate by the director not to show us everything at this point, so we can never be sure how much time passed between I-An and his nephew leaving the king's chambers and the fire taking place, or if sending the king robes was done right before the fire or if it had been on its way from the royal seamstress or whatever, but it is safe to assume that the King chose his own demise judging from the flashback that shows he had barricaded his chambers and sat calmly inside the fire. That would suggest that the QM was not fully to blame, but rather partially owing to her parting words "I would rather you die, for the crown prince". He chose to die to rid himself of the burden of the crown, and throw it all to his younger brother whom he knew all along was more fit for the job and had been willing to carry it out all along.
Though I doubt it, but I really hope they would focus in the last 2 remaining episodes on these parts, namely I-An and his brother's relationship and what were their differences on the king's coronation day (?) when I-An held his brother by his robes and warned him it was his last chance. Was he really offering to become king now that his father had died?

perfect analogy. not just the writing is shitty, it doesn't help the decent actors give their best performance. I guess they're more focused on eveyone looking sharp cool and grand. I mean I KNOW BWS is a good actor, so it's genuinely sad to see him here just playing the part of a pretty looking fashion model, stiff, cold and all so cool. unfortunately just a few crying scenes, or swoony kisses are not enough. it's also not helping that we are only given crumbs of his past trauma and not enough background story to relate to him on a personal level. since they replayed it in ep 10, I was reminded how I hated his reaction after seeing his brother's dead body! I know he might have been acting tough on purpose because he knew he had to protect his nephew and all, but still he could have used subtle facial expressions to show that there he was heartbroken. also the scene where Hiuju was addressing the council and announcing their divorce, the crown prince almost felt like a robot just sitting there! his head movements are so stiff I don't know if that was the director's choice (a crown prince can not move like normal people, he has to move with elegance and splendor 😏) or BWS acting choice. I just wish he would loosen up a little bit. he looks like he is posing for the promotional still shots all the time. I loved him in Lovely Runner so I am disappointed here.

they have sophisticated smoke detectors, fire alarms, sprinkler system other than fire extinguishers. but putting aside the fact that they seem to forget the drama is taking place in the 21st century and not jeoseon, you would think at the very least they would show people actively working on extinguishing the fire or going in to rescue people and not just standing around like that. for heaven's sake they waited until hiuju came running all the way from the opposite side of the palace to come and pull out her husband!! talk about palace employees showing loyalty and dedication to the crown.

hilarious comment🤣. I came here once I finished ep 10 just so I check for people's comments about this . they used truck of Doom, tampered car accident, fire, and poisoning, they could have thought of a better method this time, but why use your imagination, when you could just reuse the tried and proved method this time as well.

are we supposed to believe that a democratically elected young and successful PM, and the son of a past PM is willing to jeopardize the peace and stability of the country by covering for assassination attempts and conspiring directly to kill a crown prince.....just for a girl!!!! naive me had my own conviction that surely the PM would not turn evil, however much he would be swayed by jealousy, but this is just going too far with the love triangle.

I just dearly hope the writer doesn't expect us to show mercy or understanding for the QM just cause she had a crush on I-an in school or that she was moved towards warning him of the danger coming his way. she is beyond redemption imo, and not just because she "might have" played a role in her husband's death, or because she is covering her father's evil deeds, but above all else because she was willing to cause harm to her own child to force him out of his chambers!!! talk about a monster parent.

the preview shows us an unscathed and perfectly manicured crown prince rescued by his macho wife, I am getting major cringe alert a la dynamite kiss. why is the writing becoming sloppier by the episode. I mean they can't even settle on who has the upper hand, at the begining they showed the QM with authority to approve or reject the crown prince's wedding, then it was the crown prince acting as regent to the king who was ordering people around and rejecting QM's offer to carry the crown prince's wife's duties or ordering no one to visit her for 3 days like she's on house arrest. all the scenes are made with the aim for achieving the visual effect and awe-inducing grandeur, I don't know how to put it but it's like we're Watching an expensive luxurious painting with no deep message or emotional impact whatsoever.

was thinking the same thing rolling my eyes at how sucha grand palace doesn't seem to have fire system or a brigade on site, if they insist on sticking with the choeson style architecture I mean. and I guess the writers and directors also knew the viewers saw it coming when they made a close up shot of candles right after PM and lord inpyeong had met. it wasn't enough they used the staple murdering trope with the truck of doom, they choose to use the same assassination method in burning the whole place down. a bunch of writers with a serious case of lacking imagination or originality.

just my theory and expectation for the PM character, any character that is shown to have strong jealousy and unrequited love will be harboring ill feelings and intentions along the way, but since the main antagonist in the drama ie. the queen mother confronted him saying she's looking forward to the time he can no longer keep his restraints, that made me feel that against her wishes he will not completely shift into the dark side, and that even if he starts to plot to break their marriage he will eventually maintain his support and love to SHJ and his character will no be fully villainised.

that does not cancel the possibility that he might have been behind exposing the contract marriage, because he would have felt that the only way to keep SHJ safe from the royal family was to reveal the true nature of their marriage and to push them faster towards separation.

as for the other possibilty that the queen mother was involved; I have had my doubts from the single flashback they showed of her past relationship with her brother in law / the prince when her husband was still alive, and how she appreciated his support and willingness to handle the royal responsibilities his brother shied from even standing up to his father, it gave me feelings that she most probably was slightly attracted to him maybe not fully in a romantic way, but more like possessive attraction; in that she wanted and still wants to maintain a certain control over him. that is why she wanted to plant someone from her circle as his wife, to keep him under her thumb and hold him back from his royal aspirations by moving him permenantly to his private residence. then came along SHJ who is the total opposite, a rebellious strong woman who was cheering him towards standing up to the queen mother. she wants to keep her out of the picture now but still keep the grand prince beside her.


my bet is that after the poisoning, the PM somehow gained control of a physical evidence of the marriage contract and conspired with the queen mother to expose it to speed their separation and save SHJ from the danger of the crown.

yeah if we make a list of the villainous acts up till this point


1) first fire and the death of the late king; responsibility falls on queen mother either fully or partly (ie. she caused the first spark but someone prevented him from escaping the fire or took opportunity of the moment and set a bigger one side eyeing her evil father).

2) his mother's truck of doom assassination ; maybe it was some faction in the palace or even her own husband the king, still not sure. I hope they don't skip this detail later.

3) the second fire; maybe an accident or maybe someone wanted to create a card to reopen old wounds and throw accusations (the queen mother or her father?)

4) SHJ'S car sabotage; this certainly feels like the queen mother's father's doing because a few scenes prior to that he was telling his sister that SHJ has many enemies who would wish to see her dead and it would be easy to get rid of her.

5) the poisoning attempt; I believe this too was the queen mother's father attempting to off the prince as regent, especially since he must have been sensing his daughter's attraction or weakness toward IAn.

6) the marriage contract; not sure but if I would guess it would be either the PM or the queen mother or both in cahoots.