momo

It's up on Viki now, as "Mr. Queen: the secret"

There was a bit of that in "search: www" but the second female was a supporting character.

Nope, not ready at all! Still trying to decide if I should avoid spoilers or the exact opposite haha

It finally hit me that we will not see our precious Queen and King after this weekend... They cannot be replaced in my heart. Never watching ongoing show ever again, I'm a trainwreck lol.
I just have one wish - happy ending with no bullshity "they die in the past but meet in the present", pretty please. I'm not taking that, not on Valentines day goddammit!
But I'm trying to stay positive and trust the writers. Also I hope the spinoff delivers, getting 2 episodes is honestly such a gift!

Haha, I actually have a similar plan. I'm just worried about spoilers, because I won't be able to watch the remaining episodes until Monday evening, and I'm not sure how I can stop myself from looking at the comment section for almost 3 days...

I assumed that her mother having only 4 fingers was based on Dan-Hyang's worries and nightmares, as she is a child. But I'm not 100% sure and someone can correct me if I'm wrong

I wanted to just clarify a bit for people who are not aware in the comments above - actually Queen didn't keep King in the dark about having male soul, it was stated by the Queen at least 2 times in the show already. The King just doesn't believe it. So yeah, I agree, I don't think that he would care about it that much, he didn't really give it a second thought.

I'm a bit worried about that as well, because I have no idea what to expect from the ending... But till this point the writer proved to be really trustworthy and understanding of the relationships in this drama, so I don't lose hope and believe in a positive ending with Bong Hwan staying in the past and living long life together with the King. We all deserve a positive ending, both the characters and the viewers, so don't lose hope my friend <3

Such a great comment! To be honest, I sometimes catch myself thinking that the Queen is such a good and unique female character, then I get flustered and correct myself that it's a great male character, and then I just don't know at all - but it doesn't have to be classified at all, the Queen is just a great character in general, no matter the gender <3

Exactly! I actually don't agree with the point of view that their souls "mixed". It was never a story about So Yong - she was a part of it, of course, a tragic figure for sure, but she was never the writer's focus. I honestly believe that she is truly dead and won't come back, which is sad, but it was her choice. It wouldn't be right to bring her back now. We don't even know much about her. She doesn't "fight" for control over the body (as would be in many other body/soul-swapping stories), so why would we not consider all of Queen's actions to be solely based on Bong Hwan's soul? The feelings for the King are all his own - as we haven't even had the chance to see many interactions between the King and So Yong before she jumped into the lake. I'm not even that sure that she truly loved him - it's hard to say based on the little evidence we had.

Sure, Bong Hwan as Queen has access to So Yong's memories. But if he was so influenced by them, why wouldn't he have better relationship with Byung In for example? So Yong was really close to him, but Bong Hwan doesn't care for him at all. For me, that means that Bong Hwan is in charge, and is not a "servant" to Queen's body or mind, he can utilize the memories somehow but is not dependant on them. So like you said, Bong Hwan's development is based on his actions.

Hahaha, not to offend anyone, I actually agree with this comment section turning into a one from any k-pop song line distribution video lol. Like the king wasn't around for one episode, it's nothing compared to the rest of the series!

Yeah, you're totally right! I just checked to make sure, but in episode 7 the queen woke up from coma after around 50 minutes into the episode. No one is taking away the fact that CJ is the main lead, come on guys... This was just one episode! Even if he wouldn't appear in the last 2 episodes as well (which he definitely will!) no one could take away the fact that he was the main lead!

I actually think that for those episodes, binge-watching would make more sense. It wouldn't feel frustrating, waiting for a reveal the entire week. Like during earlier episodes, when Bong Hwan fell ill and came back to present to his body, there was almost no screentime for the main character the entire episode, and I didn't see quite as many complaints...
I'm positive for the future, come on guys, don't forget how many good things this show made just because you didn't like the last 2 episodes... Like I also don't like the fact that some characters get a lot of screentime, and I find it a bit boring, but it was the writer's choice and I can respect that they didn't go for fanservice. Be positive!

Same for me, I'm wondering whether to save ep 17 and 18 for next weekend so that I can get positive ending after those, at least I hope for good ending haha

I saw preview of the next episode, and I think it focuses on BI just because they don't want to give any more scenes away and want to surprise us, and it doesn't necessarily mean that the whole episode will be about him. At least that's what I hope for haha, based on the fact that it's basically just one longer scene and previews for other episodes have show way more scenes, I haven't watched episode 18 yet lol

I think that the So Yong is actually dead, even Bong Hwan says so in the scene where the King confesses. So Yong never actually took control of the body, Bong Hwan has been the one residing in this body all along. They never actually fight over whose body is it, like you would see for example in "Oh my ghostess", which left me with huge "who actually is the main character" moment.
In the ramyon scene Bong Hwan as the queen says that he must check if it was result of being drunk, if he's gone crazy or if it's actually right for him - finally realizing that it's not So Yong's fault. Of course, some of his feelings might have been influenced by So Yong's memories, an example would be relationship with So Yong's father, but I would argue that the current Queen had a lot more meaningful moments with the King than So Yong as far as their romance goes.
So basically, I think that true So Yong is dead as she hasn't really showed up, and the feelings are Bong Hwan's, who due to circumstances had a chance to realize that he's bi XD I also believe the theory about So Yong and Bong Hwan having the same soul, it would explain how he's getting some traits after So Yong.
For me, the show is telling us that you shouldn't be worried about your character traits which may be more accustomed with the other gender, and you should be true with yourself, not please other's view on who you should be.
The tricky part is whether him staying in the past would be a good ending, and I'm not too sure about that myself...

Haha, same for me, I wasn't this invested in a drama in a long time, it's getting ridiculous at this point how much it is on my mind every day...

“Kim So Yong and Cheoljong are experiencing another crisis. More so than romance, you will see a heart-fluttering camaraderie.”

Don't get me wrong, I love how their relationship is based on genuine friendship right now, but hell, give me those romantic moments and hot kisses XD

I just came up with a theory - I saw someone sharing piece of Bong Hwan's interview from the first episode, where he said that he wasn't only the youngest chef ever in Blue House, but "the first". In that theory it was said that the interview was made after he came back from the past, and hence the weird reply. It didn't quite make sense to me, as Bong Hwan certainly wasn't the first palace chef... But what if they actually manage to transform Joseon into constitutional monarchy and the Queen becomes the first chef of the new government? As long as she and the King live happily ever after in the past, I'll be happy.

Although there are still some inconsistencies, like talking about fish cake in the interview, and then mentioning it again when he was a queen already...

I'm actually struggling right now, thinking about the possibility of the ending being tragic. I don't think that writers care for historical accuracy and would kill main characters based on that, but I feel like there's no good way out of the time-travel situation... I really don't want all of them dying, and I'm not too keen on "they die in past but meet in the present" idea - not because of Bong Hwan's gender, but because there would be no established relationship between two of them. I need some hope to get through the next 2 weeks, or I'll go crazy!