sai

To think some people have the audacity to call Deokim foolish for rejecting San for so long as if her incredibly valid reasons weren't one of the main themes of this drama. That dilemma is what makes her so strong, that she wanted to choose herself and her freedom over the king. But in the end, she did choose him, and took on those sufferings for the remainder of her life. That itself shows just how much she loved the king, and people want to doubt that too? She chose her love over her own self. The only reason why Deokim wasn't very affectionate with San was BECAUSE her love was the only thing she had left which belonged to her. But even that she confessed on her deathbed. Her story breaks my heart, I hope in another life she gets to choose herself.

I'm literally 3 mins in but wow, the casting is crazy! The side by side shot of young Yoon Jiwon and old Yoon Jiwon really looks like they are the same person at different ages

I'm rewatching s1 while waiting for the next s2 episodes and wow, I forgot just how close the first death match win was. POSTECH was seconds away from surviving, which makes Harvard taking their place with no effort even more frustrating. I'm glad they didn't do that with s2 and gave both Korean and western teams equal chance to survive the first round.

I see that too, maybe a mix of both

That's the main point of her loveline arc. She had insecurities as the ignored middle child and liked Sunwoo and Junghwan only because she thought they liked her first. Taek was always going to be the one she chose because he visibly loved her and didn't give mixed signals. Deoksun's crushes just show the different stages of maturity she was at, so it's done well for a coming-of-age drama.

I really hope they do a s2

I'm glad production learnt from the mistake of s1 and let all teams compete fairly for the first round while still maintaining an element of surprise for the western teams. This was definitely the right way to do it.
I was so upset in s1 for the first team that lost because it felt like they were just being replaced by Harvard, but if all of them had competed the first round together, that team had a bigger chance of surviving.

I was not a fan of the Harvard team because of how prideful they were, and I'm starting to feel that way about MIT too. But Oxford team, definitely rooting for you guys.

The only times she had to go with the plot where when the system gave her direct tasks and she had to complete them, loophole or not. The Lin Yu father plot changed because of Miaomiao's personality within her character as Lin Yu, which made her father act better and therefore, not commit fraud. But even if she did try to change the plot, it wouldn't break the game's rules because she was free to behave as she wished whenever she didn't have a task.

woah nice analysis there!

third time's the charm, shuxin and yuxi pls star in another drama together!!!!!

That one guy in the Kaist team looks just like Jeon Wonwoo he's very handsome

I keep coming back to this page like every month since I finished this show lol this drama has made such an impact on me, especially the character li lianhua

I think something so beautifully painful about this drama is that you know from the very first episode that the main character is going to die and that he's ready for it, and yet we keep watching, knowing it's going to break our hearts. Lianhua stands out among other main characters because he has already lived a hero's life and instead wants to live the rest of his days peacefully and find closure for his loved ones. The end hurts more because even after his long journey where he finds true friendship and people who love him immensely, he still accepts death with both arms. He does not fight it. He is simply ready to leave, despite having new reasons to live for.

There's something so tragic about a hero who welcomes his death rather than fighting against it.

oh good to know!

oh yeah it does explain fuyi's shadow i didn't think about that

ooh good point

I get that but they didn't need to create the whole story of the town being controlled by a demon or whatever for it. The story itself doesn't serve any purpose

I'm struggling to see how the Silk Worm-Divine Doctor subplot had any relevance to the main story. It just didn't contribute to the final fight/climax at all. Was it just to give the second leads more screentime?

I don't speak Mandarin so you could be right. But I think Zhao would be more fitting because Liuniang is the only one left who personally knew his lineage and parents. Also, isn't Xiao normally used in an affectionate way? That wouldn't fit since she hated him until the end

From the story description this drama looks like a parallel universe version of Li Lianhua/Xiangyi lol, except he's a writer instead of a physician