seimei

16/20 Commander Yoon's death hit me hard. I knew it's common in saeguk, still I was hoping he'd make it. The way fl clutched that ledger just like she did with her father's letter was painful. The person who protected her since day one, more than her own father, is now gone.

And I kinda expected the uncle to still be alive because his personality is someone who won't do suicide. It was suspicious that there was no proper body esp. as a royal. Even the og crown prince and king's bodies were shown.

Lastly, I find the ml's father crying at Commander Yoon's death laughable. He was the one that ordered to pursue in the first place and only said "stop" at the 3rd-4th round of the arrows.
Also, him coming to fl's rescue is nothing to celebrate about. He's basically just covering up his own mess. Nowhere as heroic and honorable as Commander Yoon.

I might add this to my ptw if KSY is confirmed.

Yes! I loved JC in the novel, manhua, anime and ended up liking him in the LA too. Then saw his actor's reuter with Lusi so I'm excited for this ~

My expectations were low esp. with that awful thing called Death Note, but this is actually one of the good LA adaptations.
I enjoyed watching Hana and Sota in their 3rd-4th time working together. And Miyavi is so cool.

Thank you. I was brokenhearted, kilig and stressed all at the same time. 😅

I thought the same, like how godly the visual would be with his height and that mysterious aura if he was in a wuxia/xianxia.
Because I've seen him in PDX but he didn't really get my attention, here the impact is different with the long hair.

JC is Jiang Cheng, my bad. I don't follow c-ent so idk names, only the characters I've seen them. He's the one playing the crown prince role here.

Just found out that JC is part of the cast!
More reason to look forward to this drama than I already do ~

Lee Hwi and Lee Hyun are indeed cousins.
Like many royals around the world, Korea has history of marriage within the royal family to maintain pure/royal blood and/or for political strategy.

14/20 I thought no scene would top the 'father-daughter and letter' as saddest for me, but then 'Hwi-Gyeom in prison' scene happened. "Never... will I let them take your life" line with the perfect timing of the tear falling was just heart wrenching. I hope to see them reunite in the future because I don't want that scene to be their last together. 

The previous eps/scenes were really there for a reason. I now understand why ml chose to leave fl before. He really can't stay away from her and has to be by her side always, even moreso now that he knows her secret and still loves her regardless. 

And finally, the fl is now the king. I feel proud of her for making it this far, but at the same time it's stressing me out. lol But it's a sign that I'm into this drama because I'm usually just pretty chill with whatever I'm watching. No kdrama got my full interest this year, but Yeonmo really brought me back to kdramaland.

This is late and you've probably already seen it but just in case, here's a dailymotion link.
Part 1 - https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x85rskz
Part 2 - https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x85rsl0

Taeyeon's thread on OneHallyu is updated every Mon-Tue. https://onehallyu.com/topic/133-official-king-taeyeon-thread/. The second post is the Calendar, all subbed episodes of Nolto this year is there available on dailymotion, mega, okru and googledrive.
The links are from the subber, so I suggest everyone to watch there instead of the illegal sites.

Happy 1 year anniversary on Nolto Taengoo ~

Nah she wasn't, she's calm because she just didn't care. She was plain rude to everyone except her crush, even to her brother she was being difficult. Some of the bystanders had more contributions and actual manners than her.
Like you said they're cowards, so they'd only kill those they think they can take.

There were many good scenes in ep.13 but my fave would be the HwiGyeom and coronation scenes.
PEB's 20+ years of experience was evident, she managed to portay all sorts of emotions in one episode.

The fl is officially the king and the title finally aligns.

Congratulations Yeonmo for the 10%!
Double digits and very much deserved.

Sherlock_Hound above is right.
It was shown in the episode.

It's the opposite for me since I've seen this full episode before the drama. Seeing how he lives and is in real life to a gentle and soft-spoken nobility was an adjustment at first. But the hanbok definitely helped.

Yes. It's already better than most costume cdramas I've seen this year.
The fl's acting and attention to details is worth all the praises. The romantic and comedic scenes are actually sweet and funny, not cringey.
The best crossdressing drama I've ever seen. And it's not even completed yet.

12/20 I've expressed before that I liked the changes the drama did from the webtoon esp. the ironic death of the og crown prince, and now there's another one. The fl revealing the secret herself in her most vulnerable state instead of ml finding out accidentally is good because it showed all previous eps of establishing their relationship resulted to her consent and trust. The scene was done tastefully as well.

At the same time, I liked how the drama didn't change the father-daughter relationship. This drama is well-acted, all the emotional scenes were good but I was never actually teary eyed up until the father and daughter scenes esp. the king's letter and gift. Because for me, angst/death between lovers is heartbreaking, but angst/death between family is soul shattering.
The "I hope to never hear about you" as an indirect 'stay away from the palace' because she'll be safe that way was just pure pain. And the gift, it was so significant because he saw her, and probably thought it would go well with the shoes.
The sibling talk was good to see as well. Hoping the half brother isn't bad because the cousin was already disappointing.

On a lighter note, when ml started talking about taking care of fl, having a job, food, etc.. I'm not saying that's a proposal, but that's exactly what I'm saying. lol And it wasn't even his first attempt.
Lastly, kudos to commander Yoon whose been protecting fl since day 1. I hope he survives until the end.

As the christian one, the 2nd wife is supposed to be the audience's viewpoint, but it was hard to root for her when she talks and acts tough to everyone (even mean to the other wives) but then plays victim in front of ml.
And the "this is what Allah gave/wanted/allowed" for everything the drama/characters couldn't explain didn't sit well with me.

Overall, it's the typical teleserye where its hardship 99% of the time, then in the last ep. everyone suddenly changes then gets along and everything gets solved.

Despite PEB's height, the drama makes it work (that scene when ml tripped and was caught by her). It's not unbelievable either as she is not the only prince on the shorter and leaner side (prince from 100 Days was also one). And like you said, she's doing good, her acting and attention to details are more than enough to make up for it.
But yes, ml is indeed tall that even the director said he had to cast the 2ml and 3ml around ml's height. lol And congrats on your article ~

Halfway through and singing praises again for fl PEB. Her acting is so good and her attention to details make scenes even better. That ending, I felt that, because the river crossing scene wasn't the only callback, it was also fl's second time watching ml walk away...

She also has such good chemistry, not just with her male costars but with the females as well. Esp. her and ml, they work so well both in romantic scenes and comedic ones. The romantic and comedic scenes are actually sweet and funny not cringey.

The pace is just right. Establishing the fl and ml's relationship is good so that it won't be strange if later on ml is going to risk everything, even his life for fl.

Anyways, I'm really glad this has 20 eps because this is the only drama I enjoy these days. It's something to look forward to for more weeks to come.