noor1234

ML's role in Blossoms of Power is pretty well-thought-out (dubbed voice is good too). FL's role is monotonous (& the actress' face doesn't move). Both are interesting characters. But I'm watching it to see who poisoned ML & who the grand villain will be! It's based on a 800+ chapter webnovel! 300 chaps covered by Ep. 13.

There's a basic courtesy, manners & fairness that she lacks. I don't care whether she's in love or not. She has no manners of talking to this henpecked ML. I think the drama should've shown her to be a bit more expressive & courteous / gentle at least in speaking to ML. She's very offensive, rude & brusque, talking sweetly but with poison laced in every sentence. (I know they both are dubbed by voice actors). I laud ML's patience for putting up with her so far.

Then her entire thinking is faulty & without logic: 'Marrying a prince without powerful backing allows her to be the main power holder and it won't be a struggle like in her previous life.' - which planet is the FL living on? Disneyland? There will always be enemies in court & palace - and she has chosen to be in palace - she will always need support, whether she likes it or not - she just didn't like the idea that someone outsmarted her, that's it - she has no other viable option but kicked the best option to lower him & make him feel guilty for wrongs he has not even committed!

That last scene in Ep. 13 was unnecessary & counter-productive just to prolong dramatic effect at the cost of good storytelling.

At this point I don't know nor care what her goal is. None of the other princes are good choices & she knows it. ML is the best choice & she knows it. Her ego got hurt that she couldn't recognize a master planner or strong partner - she thought she was in control & manipulating the chess board in her favor. ML has done nothing bad to her but she has to be nasty with him.

Prince who is general will make her family more of a target (& he is difficult to manage, too impetuous & foolish), the other prince is her former husband (she already knows how that 'partnership' will turn out), the third one has concubines already. She knows ML is the best choice. That last scene in Ep. 13 was unnecessary.

@changemysoul This is a very detailed reply & very well-thought-out, pint-by-point analysis of FL's actions. I'll give it a good reading.

Ep. 13: I'll just say someone needs to tell this FL, that the only reason why all these princes & emperor gave her any attention is because of her father & brother, without whom she has no status. She has leveraged this position to get the best option for herself & her (fake) family by choosing the weakest & terminally ill member of the royal family. That he turned out to be resourceful & strong should've made her happy - because she has said again and again that she wants a 'partnership' but the reality is that she wanted a weak, dying man so that she could've ultimate power as queen. That is what she really wanted but never said. She doesn't care whether someone likes her as a woman or as a leader, she just wants to be in control of the empire without any partner. I think she is manipulative, extremely cold & unnecessarily poisonous, using this ML's obvious affection & need for love. She hasn't thought about him or his goals for even a second.

She has NO other viable option but went to give the third degree to her best option. Who else can she possibly marry out of the princes? The hot-headed moronic Jungkook-lookalike general? Her former (& still obsessive & weird) husband? The peacock who has a thing for dancing mistresses? She just rubbed salt on ML's heart because she knows she can get away with all this nonsense with him & nobody else, just to make him bow to her.

She should leave this court, go to northern border & live out her days as a general's daughter, but she won't do that, she'll pretend to be forced into this marriage to get a cuckolded, simp husband who she will then control. That's where this drama is headed. Why does everyone have to live up to her expectations? There has to be a balance, & it's missing from the narrative.

Plus, the lead actress' face does not move no matter what the situation.

I get that, but she only selected ML thinking he'll be dead in a few years OR be so weak that she'll have more control over him & the court through him, even after his death. So she may have noble reasons to protect herself, but she was using him more than he was using her.

The only reason why anyone has given her the time of day is because of her (fake) father & brother - both are generals. On her own she's nothing. Someone needs to tell her that so that she gets off her high horse. ML loves her, and that's why he puts up with her attitude, whims & demands.

He is living with a deadly poison that to-date has no cure. IF he has people working for him, she should be pleased that he has support in court. Him being strong does not mean she'll be weak - after all there have been so many attempts on her life in that very court, so a strong partner is good. IF he met her in disguises, it was never to endanger her or kill her, if was simply to get info or that ledger. But her maneuvers have all been to secure the weakest guy she can then use for ultimate power. It's quite rich for a woman to seek power but not like the trappings of power - she HAD to pick someone from all these princes - she picked the one she thought was the weakest - she is manipulative & self-serving. ML is not. She just wanted a hen-pecked mannequin she could put on a shelf & forget about or control, while she lorded over the court as a queen!

Now that she knows he is as much secretive as she is, & has as much of a BRAIN as she does, & cannot be easily controlled, she doesn't like it. Which is extremely weird. You don't want to be in court without a powerful partner. She should just leave ambitions of being queen.

The only thing / threat she's living with is that IF someday maybe someone conspires against her strong army family, they should survive & not end up like her Gu family. Right now she is as much a poison for this ML (even though he doesn't think so) as the incurable poison.

Yeah, when in Ep. 8 she was thinking of a key problem, she found herself missing ML & in front of Eastern Palace. So she subconsciously is falling for him / depending on him as a sounding board.

Then that's v. cool! I rewinded it a couple of time just to see how he had done it.

My assumption so far is that Prince Qi was outed as the result of affair between a consort & grand tutor BUT his sister may not be his real sister, maybe she is his half-sister or unrelated to him entirely, because Prince Qi was the only one grand tutor's wife mentioned when accusing her husband of conspiracy to install his own son as emperor.

I was actually very surprised to learn that ML had sung start & end credit songs. I've not seen that in other dramas (usually MLs/FLs sing token song just for idol effect), but here, his songs are included in each episode too, in key scenes.

Ok tutor guy has his own plan, but she went along with it, and she was actively sabotaging a win of 3 territories by her own country on a playground. I don't understand why a so-called leader who just wants to maintain her own power do something like that. That's the kind of thing an enemy of the state / country would do.

IMO, ML wouldn't care. Because this entire drama has obviously been built around him & for him - this production is a vehicle for him, to lift him up & give him a successful project - he even has sung 3 songs - & 2 of these are used for start & end credits!!! So I doubt producers don't know what they are doing in casting & other choices. ML is probably laughing all the way to the bank, don't feel bad for him or anyone else!

Ep. 9-10: Ok so the relationship between ML & FL has officially progressed to the friend zone territory, which is good. Funnily, ML is shown to be a caring sacrificial lamb who is available as stop-gap for all beauties wanting to marry other men! I hope he gets out of this uncle-caretaker-zone & starts being more selfish about what & who he wants! I wonder whether the stunt of him climbing down a running horse to go hug FL was CGI or real, because it's very difficult to pull off getting down that smoothly from a running horse!

But I fail to understand the empress dowager's constant attempts against ML both to kill him or to sabotage win of 3 territories against Northern leader.

When I mentioned her weird maneuvers last time (when that faulty crossbow thing led to death of 30K soldiers on a battlefield), a few commenters suggested it was her attempt to maintain a power balance & to keep a powerful general family in check. But trying to actively give the disputed territories to an enemy - AFTER KILLING OF 30K SOLDIERS btw - makes her seems like an enemy of the state & country itself. I don't see why any empress would do all this just to go after an army general. Weak plot, paper-thin villain, IMO.

Thanks. It's an amazing song.

Not really. She's an actress, he's an actor. They are playing roles in a historical make-believe world. FL is chosen for a specific reason (other than the obvious reason of introducing her as a lead in a drama): His 'wives' are all shown to be older women - FL's role is supposed to be much younger in age to ML & his 'wives'. Hence, the age-difference. It's literally the demand of the role. He gets interested in her after she's living on the premises temporarily as a 'wife' - & she, in him. There's nothing wrong with it. I hope they show full-fledged romance.

Ep. 10-11: Okay I like FL's no-nonsense attitude towards enemies.

All these assassination attempts on her life are to make sure she dies before betrothal or after - which means someone does not a) want ML to survive & b) for him to get powerful army behind him. Hence, he was poisoned & his to-be wife is also under constant threats. And if it was done by emperor, then the drama better have a very good reason for it! And if it's someone else, then drama better have a very powerful villain who could maneuver even a king's consort to move against these two & remain hidden from even the king.

My question is even though FL would make a very good queen (ruthless & compassionate but never 'loving'), is she worthy of this ML? I don't think so. Because even though the drama is built around FL & everyone is either vying to love her or kill her, ML is far more intriguing a character & far more 'human' than her. FL's story & behavior is monotonous. ML's personality & motivation is dynamic. Yes, she's 'warming' up to him (& his puppy colorless eyes) & is nice to people in an indifferent way, but if commenters are right & she does reject ML simply because he kept a side hidden from her & gauged her motives through disguises, then it shows how illogical she can be, his secret does not mean he is untrustworthy or non-dependable. In fact, it shows he is not a weakling & has a mind of his own (& is able-bodied). And he got to appreciate her more during the disguises. She probably wants him to turn into a vegetable! ML has already told her his opinion on what control he as a husband can have over her thoughts (i.e. none), so she should afford the same courtesy to him! In fact, it is FL who is deceptive, cold & manipulative & rejoices in telling everyone how cold & manipulative she is! She hasn't even talked to ML about how painful this poison has been since infancy for him, but was happy when he said I won't live long & will believe if you lie & say you like me (!) in Ep. 9.

I think drama should've shown some interaction of FL when she was a Gu / consort with that husband & her family so that we could see just how cold yet empathetic she actually was beyond the massacre. FL in the drama is literally a robot going from one location to another. And also a few scenes of FL as Shen Hi with her northern area family because she's an imposter, yet does not act or feel like an imposter.

I also don't understand why she keeps asking ML's motivations in riddles - for e.g. she wanted to know whether he sees northern army as a threat - who knows what someone will do after marriage - in Ashes to Crown, in Ep. 1, the emperor actually killed his love-marriage wife empress & her general father in court in front of everyone!!!!

She trusts & is warmer to that imperial bodyguard pretending to be a man (who can get herself & FL killed upon disclosure for impropriety) than ML. There's also zero sisterhood in this drama - all of the females who are FL's peers are jealous of her! All of the guys of noble status are in love with her & ready to die for her! Even though everyone should have their head examined as to what is so special about her that they like or hate her!

So I don't like how everyone has to measure up to the FL, but she does not submit to anyone else. You cannot root for a FL who is this cold. She didn't have as tough a life (or near-death) as ML is having but everyone (esp. ML) bends over backwards in trying to make her happy & accede to her never-ending demands & expectations. Is she worth all this fuss? Yes, as a queen, but as a woman / human being / buddy, she's a cold dish.

Well there better be skinship / romantic / kiss scenes. I'm not watching a documentary on palace intrigue & long-lost kids raised by surrogate parents! It's supposed to a grand love story spread across years of battles.

Yeah.

Ep. 7-8: When did the ML fall for FL? Till Ep. 5, there is no scene of him looking at her for more than 2 seconds & putting up with her - and then the two Mrs. start a bet whether he's in love or not, & the hawthorn thing starts. I think drama should've shown us the 'fall'. It's clear he has supported her life & ambition without conditions (& a general / heir needs good weapons), but about 'love', they should've shown crystal clear 'love'. Anyways, trailer for Ep.9-10, things move fast in the romantic / trust department between the leads. Like their bickering.

Prince Qi's transformation starts the second he tastes power / bow by common people during that lantern scene in Ep.6.

More than finding the pieces of phoenix heart, I think people should find a birth registry because everyone is raising someone else's kid in this one!!!

Fortune-teller/senior weapon-maker tells FL she'll be married 3 times but only uses 'husband' not 'husbands'. Foreshadowing to the max! I'm expecting a sad ending (I think ML will win some grand war by using her technology, but she'll die).

I loved the (female vocals) song ('love & hate fade like shifting sand') that was played during the 'racecourse training / flashback' scene in Ep. 8. I wonder what it is? Didn't find it on youtube. (Btw, I didn't know the ML had sung the lead singles (start & end credits) as well other songs for this drama). But the new song in that scene is pretty awesome.