#queen sindeok and yi bang won

[seamayweed]

In Defense of Lady Kang/Queen Sindeok (1/3)

As promised, here's the first part of my defense of Queen Sindeok, explaining her historical political situation + clearing up some common fandom misconceptions about her, which I don't blame anyone for since they originate from the show itself. I must admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for her since history generally tends to be unkind to women - this extends to modern media and MCTNA is no exception:

(more under the cut)

Before we start, I thought I'd give a small refresher on the Yi family constellation - crucial for setting up the conflict and crown prince issue - with the aid of this extremely useful graphic by bodashiri (excluding the daughters for simplicity's sake):

(From here: x)

As you can see, Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo of Joseon) had two wives:

His first wife Lady Han (Queen Sinui) gave birth to six sons: 1. Yi Bang-woo (Prince Jinan), 2. Yi Bang-gwa (Prince Youngan), 3. Yi Bang-ui (Prince Yikan), 4. Yi Bang-gan (Prince Hoean), 5. Yi Bang-won (Prince Jeongan) and 6. Yi Bang-yeon (Prince Deokan).

His second wife Lady Kang (Queen Sindeok) gave birth to two sons: 7. Yi Bang-beon (Prince Muan) and 8. Yi Bang-seok (Prince Uian),

meaning that Seong-gye had eight sons overall.

With that out of the way, let's get started!!!

1. Queen Sindeok was NOT a concubine

(From here: x)

She is referred to as Yi Seong-gye/King Taejo's capital/Seoul wife in the show too:

However, every time Bang-won calls her a concubine and her children illegitimate there is never any pushback or correction by anyone, not even when he calls her younger son Bang-seok/Prince Uian a ‘seoja’ (illegitimate child born to a commoner concubine or royal concubine) in front of Seon-ho:

You'd think Seon-ho would defend Bang-seok by correcting Bang-won... but nope. Nada.

Not even Queen Sindeok (!!!) is allowed to defend herself and her children when they get accused of the same:

Like, what is this madness!!!

Anyone who doesn't know about Korean history would never even SUSPECT that this isn’t actually true, and that Queen Sindeok is in fact a legitimate second wife and queen. By giving no pushback to the (false) claims of illegitimacy, the show seems to implicitly support Bang-won’s narrative of her being a lying, conniving, greedy bitch who wants to push her child on the throne despite having no right to it whatsoever as a concubine and bastard respectively.

Queen Sindeok's tragedy, the one that MCTNA fails to portray, is not that she was a concubine who tried to rise above her station (because she was not); it's that, due to the transition from Goryeo to Joseon, she found herself caught between two conflicting sets of laws:

(From Tombstones without a Tomb by Hildi Kang)

A queen while alive, and unjustly demoted to a concubine in death by Bang-won/King Taejong who used these legal changes and the new Confucian ruling to his advantage, her status was a matter of contention for scholars and kings alike for almost 300 years, until finally, in 1669, the scholar Song Si-yeol managed to amass enough people and put enough pressure on King Hyeonjong to make him give in to their demands and restore Queen Sindeok to her rightful status and honor as queen.

+ Bonus:

(From Tombstones without a Tomb by Hildi Kang)

Turns out that according to the new Confucian ruling, Bang-won himself should have been considered illegitimate too!! Surprise!!!

[gjeirjteiri]

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천) 링크<<

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)

정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)

Looking at the above anecdotes, Chungnyeongdaegun clearly had greed for the throne. The eldest son, who should lead his original family, is the last human, and since it doesn't matter whether he is the second son or the third son, as long a정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)s he is not the eldest son anyway, it is presumed that he moved with thoughts about the throne. In Confucian society, if succession to the rightful eldest son is impossible among the two succession causes, the remaining one is 'Zehyeon (擇賢)'. In addition to this, there is no circumstance in which the second son, Grand Prince Hyoryeong, also showed greed for the throne, so there was no answer except for the three so정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)ns, looking at Jangyuyuseo or Taekhyun, excluding the grandguns who had absolutely disqualified reasons.

As Yangnyeong's delinquency became more severe with each passing day, records show Taejong and his superiors fully trusting Chungnyeongdaegun (later King Sejong). 瑩明, meaning intelligent), so he went around saying openly that he would inherit the throne,' and when he actually delivered a letter fro정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)m Joseon to the Ming Dynasty asking for the seal of a new crown prince, he immediately guessed that 'Chungnyeongdaegun will become the crown prince'.

In retrospect, since it was the early days of the nation's founding, there had never been a case in which the eldest son ascended the throne [20], so it was an era in which anyone정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천) could be designated as the heir to the throne or ascended to the throne if he had the highest level of ability or ambition. His grandfather, Taejo, took the royal seal of Goryeo and became the first king of Joseon, and his father, Taejong, was the 5th prince and was in a disadvantageous position for succession to the throne. Since Taejong had the greatest contri정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)bution to the founding of the country and was a man with the qualifications of a king, at the beginning of the founding of the country, the officials opined that it was right to install the crown prince either as the eldest son or a prince with great contributions. The problem is that her stepmother and Yi Seong-gye's second-consort, Queen Sindeok, mad정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)e an irrational effort to put her offspring's children in the crown prince's seat, and Yi Seong-gye and Jeong Do-jeon agreed, so there was no merit in the founding process, and the youngest son, who was young, took the crown prince's seat. [22]

As a result, the princes of the Han clan, Queen Sinui, especially Yi Bang-won, were the most dissatisfied, which eventually led to the prince's rebellion. However, his father, King 정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)Taejong [23], who rose to the throne by causing the first prince's rebellion under the pretext of 'succession to the rightful eldest son', wanted to establish the principle of succession to the rightful eldest son more thoroughly than anyone else, to prevent disputes over the throne and to promote stability of the throne [24]. ] Despite the Crown Prince's continued 정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)misconduct, he hoped that the eldest son would wake up and properly inherit the throne. Above all, parents would not have liked to see their beloved children fighting for the throne like themselves and killing each other in a bloody struggle. Queen Wongyeong, Queen Min, also opposed to the end the abolishment of the crown prince and the making of Chungnyeongdaegun the new national treasure, perhaps because she w정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)as afraid of a blood-striking contest between her brothers. The problem is that the crown prince continued to do things that went against Taejong's eyes.[25] In the midst of this, Chungnyeongdaegun pressured and kept the crown prince in check, such as telling Taejong about the actions of the crown prince, and at the same time showed his behavior worthy of a model student, earning points from Taejong and his servants. There is a problem that it was written after King Se정식 영화 다운로드 사이트 (추천)jong ascended the throne, but the fact that he openly insulted the crown prince who was later deposed by Yangnyeongdaegun or revealed his intelligence was included in the as it is.[26]

[k-star-holic]

Taejong Yi Bang-won' confirmed its first broadcast on December 11 ..Family Light

Source: k-star-holic.blogspot.com

[convenientalias]

My Country the New Age Ask Meme

Because I want to ask ppl questions.

What is your favorite tragic backstory?

What is your favorite costuming choice?

What is your favorite instance of Seon-ho barging uninvited into Bang-won’s house?

What is your favorite Bang-won murder (including murders committed by his men or as a result of his scheming)?

If you could resurrect a parent, who would you resurrect?

Pick a ship: Seon-ho/Sung-rok or Hwi/Bang-won or Seon-ho/Bang-won?

Pick a ship: Hwi/Hui-jae or Seon-ho/Yeon or Hui-jae/Bang-won?

Pick a ship: Hui-jae/Queen Sindeok or Hui-jae/Hwa-wol?

What is your favorite sword fight?

What is your least favorite of Hwi’s life choices?

What is your least favorite of Seon-ho’s life choices?

Pick an awful father: Nam Jeon or Yi Seung-gye?

Pick a setting: Ihwaru or Hwi’s sad shack of scheming?

What is your favorite time skip?

Would you have preferred, canonically, for Hwi and Seon-ho to have survived the ending?

Are there any songs you associate with the show, other than the soundtrack?

How did you end up watching the show in the first place?

[avauntus]

MC:NA - ‘Timeline’

( @sadviper​ - I promised you these notes ages ago-- thanks for your patience and sorry for the delay! re: conversations on ao3, maybe it’s still useful? I hope so!)

Note - This includes mostly figures and dates relevant to my own fic, because I made notes while writing In the eyes of the ghosts and spirits (yes, I’m still working on it, lol). I hope maybe it’s useful for others working on fic with character backstory in the My Country: the New Age fandom! 🤓

I am not a professional historian. I’ve done my best, but I’m sure this is messy so please, please take this all with a huge grain of salt; I’ve been tying all these things together because ... fic.

Items in ((double parenthesis)) are inferred/invented dates for fictional characters and/or inferred dates for show events- i.e. my headcanons, and please ignore or change if you don’t like them! 😅

Pre-Show - (Liaodong/Goryeo focus)

1311 - Choi Yeong (loyalist general) born

1328 - Yi Saek (Mogeun) & Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor) born

1335 - Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo) born

1338 - Jeong Mong-ju (Poeun) born

((1344)) - Jeong Jeon born

((1346)) - Seo Geom born

Late 1340s > (unspecified) - Yuan dynasty (China) starts experiencing a series of natural disasters such as drought & flood, causing widespread famine and unrest among the people.

1352 - Gwon Guen (Yongchon) born

1350s (unspecified) - Goryeo gained functional independence from Yuan dynasty

1359-60 - Red Turban armies (eventually led by Zhu Yuanzhang, not this campaign; anti-Mongol); invaded and occupied Pyongyang (1359) & Gaegyeong (1360).

((1360)) - Hwang Sung-rok born

1366 - Yi Bang-gan (Prince Hwoean) born

1367 - Yi Bang-won (Prince Jeongan) born

1368 - Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor) overthrows his majority oppressors; moves capital to Yingtian (rebel resistance continues in the north)

1369 - Ming captures Dadu (Khanbaliq; northern capital of Yuan Dynasty) - functional end of Yuan (rebellion continues in north)

1370 > - Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor) orders forced resettlement of families from S. China in northern provinces, including Liaodong.

((1370)) - Nam Seon-ho & Seo Hwi born

((1372)) - No In-do born

1372 - King U takes the throne (Goryeo)

((1374)) - Seo Yeon born

Late 1370s (unspecified) - Yi Seong-gye pushes the Yuan / Mongol forces out of Goryeo; captures Liaoyang (cannot hold it).

((1379)) - Hwang Sung-rok swears loyalty to Yi Seong-gye (possibly in Liaodong)

((Late 1370s, early 1380s)) - Establishment of the progenitor of the “Liaodong Regional Military Commission” (Ming jurisdiction later; contested by Goryeo/Joseon in this time)

“The early Ming court did not impose as much control on the Jurchens as the Mongols did; it did not tax them, and did not set up postal stations in Liaodong and northern Manchuria (as the Yuan dynasty had), which would have promoted control. Despite this, the Ming court set up guards (衛, wei) in Lingdong...”

((Guard posts - could garrison the relays, they’re not passing mail though (which is why Joseon has to send envoys) They’d complain, though. They USED to be able to send mail.))

“...under the Hongwu Emperor and in northern Manchuria later under the Yongle Emperor ((1402ish and LATER)). However, the Jurchen leaders continued to collect the taxes and raise armies for themselves. Jurchen society did not become sinicized; the guards served to reaffirm traditional Chinese foreign relations.” 

((Liaodong is its OWN AREA, not part of Ming. Yet.)).

“By the end of the Hongwu reign, the essentials of a policy toward the Jurchens had taken shape. Most of the inhabitants of Manchuria, except for the wild Jurchens, were at peace with China. Yet a suitable relationship between Ming China and their neighbors to the northeast had not been established.” 

((1382)) - Seo Geom dies (36 years old)

1388 (Wihwado Retreat)

1388 - Yi Seong-gye turns back from Wihwa-do & takes capital in coup (King Chang, son of U, ‘takes’ throne), Choi Yeong killed (77 years old); 

Hwang Sung-rok deserts Yi Seong-gye’s service to serve Nam Seon-ho. 

Seo Hwi & advance troops are deserted at Liaodong. 

Nam Seon-ho becomes a sixth-rank Inspector.

(SHOW - Timeskip #1 - 1389-1392)

1389 - King Chang is deposed; U and Chang killed. 

King Gongyang takes throne (last Goryeo monarch). 

Gwon Geun is exiled to Yuan for his defense of the loyalist minister Yi Sungin (1349–1392). Gwon Geun will be involved in the loyalist attempts to prevent the rise of Yi Seong-gye, (alerting the Ming about what is happening).

1390 - Yi Cho (& Yun I) flee to Ming (loyalists) and spread rumors about Yi Seong-gye (that he’s recklessly killing other members of the royal families, etc; this is what is -eventually, erroneously?- attributed to Bang-won/Taejong that prompts the Ming to term the rulers and officials of Joseon ‘barbarians’).

1392 - First Year of Taejo’s Reign

1392 -  Yi Seong-gye takes throne from King Gongyang and has him exiled to Wonju (where he & family are secretly killed). 

Yi Bang-won exchanges poetry with Poeun, then kills him (52 years old; Bang-won is 25).

Yi Bang-seok (Prince Uian) appointed Crown Prince (August). 

Hwi fakes Bang-won’s assassination & is stabbed with poison dagger (Nam Jeon). 

Yeon dies (18 years old). Hwi joins Yi Bang-won’s retinue. 

Queen Sindeok dies (September). 

(SHOW - Timeskip #2 - 1392-1398)

((1393)) - Gwon Geun tried for treason against Joseon. 

Acquitted when a flood stopped the trial and is taken as an omen. 

Returned from exile and ‘retired’ to the village of Yangchon (age 41), from which he derived his pen-name (Yongchon).

((1394)) - Gwon Geun sent to Ipon (Japan) as an envoy on behalf of Joseon. Other envoys dispatched to Joseon’s diplomatic partners by Taejo between 1392-1394, including the Jurchen, Northern Yuan, and some South Pacific island nations.

Hanyang is established as the capital of Joseon. 

1395 - New Year memorial is drafted, sent to Ming; Nam Jeon is major author, envoys detained (1st P’yojon crisis)

Nam Un dispatched to Liaodong as Joseon’s attache to the Ming Administrative District established in the region (managed by the Ming armies) (Spring-ish).

Jeong Jeon is sent to Yingtian, the Ming capital to request official court seals and mandates. (November - 2nd P’yojon crisis)

FIC Start (1395-6)

1396 - [see story outline]  

[sageukfilms]

historical context pt 2: on yi bang won’s brothers (and sisters), seon-ho and his father, women’s rights in joseon vs goryeo

a bit more focus on yi bang won’s family this time, since he’s always fascinated me as a real historical figure. he did a lot of good, but he committed a lot of terrible things in order to achieve the good and he’s always been a pretty polarizing figure to Korean historians. (the majority of them like him because he’s the father of Kim Sejong aka the King who invented the Hangul/Korean alphabet while the others are like ‘damn why this dude so murderous’)

yi seong-gye had six sons from his first wife and two sons from his second wife, but why are only like three of them mentioned in the drama?

- mostly because they don’t have any major relevance to the plot, tbh. yi bang won IS arguably yi seong-gye’s most talented/qualified son in a lot of ways. he really was the only son who passed the civil examination in that entire family.

Eldest Son Yi Bang-U

- yi seong-gye mentions him in the drama when discussing who should be named crown prince and dismisses him bc he’s an alcoholic. which was true, yi bang-won’s oldest brother WAS an alcoholic, but he only became so after Yi Seong-Gye seized the throne. he was so distraught by the rebellion that he literally retreated to the mountains and retired. imagine serving your dad and your country and then seeing him betray the very country you both spilled blood for your whole life?? he was granted a princely title, but otherwise stayed away from politics and the military until his death

Second Son Yi Bang-Gwa

- this is the dude who is currently king that appears in episode 14. the one who’s in the throne room while bang-won and bang-gan yell at each other lol.  basically he was just put on the throne bc he’s the second son (and the eldest was like don’t even contact me about this shit) and later in history he renounces the throne so yi bang-won can take it. he also had NO legitimate sons from his first wife (though he had many from his concubines, but they were all illegitimate and couldn’t become princes). meaning he was the safest choice to be bang-won’s puppet ruler. all in all he was supremely lucky in that he got to live in peace and avoid getting murdered by anyone

Third Son Yi Bang-Ui

- while he was on yi bang-won’s side during the first coup, he’s never mentioned in dramas/television because apparently he’s not all that interesting. he’s been described as someone who had a loving relationship with ALL of his brothers, which imo COULD have been interesting to see but what do i know

Fourth Son Yi Bang-Gan aka the One That’s Weirdly Comedic and Also Murderous and Has Like that Weird Sword Boner For Hwi

- bang-gan did in fact try to murder bang-won and seize the throne, but he was urged on to do so by a historical figure called park po who was bitter that all his efforts during the first coup were not recognized by bang-won. the most hilarious thing is that bang-gan is like “damn this is a great idea, im gonna do it” and sets an official date for murdering, and NEVER TELLS park po the day he’s gonna murder bang-won so park po is just hanging around in ignorance until bang-won arrests him and then has him executed

- bang-gan actually tells his father yi seong-gye and his second bother yi bang-gwa of his intentions and they BOTH tell him that he’s stupid as fck. at this point, the historical yi seong-gye is SICK of the fighting between his sons and tells bang-gan to stop (unlike in the drama when he purposefully eggs him on). 

- bang-gan obvs doesn’t stop though, but his attempts are foiled bc bang-won knew of his coup beforehand. bang-gan is not executed and is instead sent away in exile. the fault of the coup instead lands on park po who again has no idea what’s occurring until he’s arrested. (damn it would suck to be park po, though inb4 seon-ho becomes the park po of this sageuk)

The Ill-fated Crown Prince Yi Bang-Seok and his brother Yi Bang-Beon

- in history, Yi Bang-Won forces his father to remove Bang-seok from the crown prince position during the coup, which Yi Seong-Gye IMMEDIATELY does in order to save bang-seok’s life (bang-seok is still alive at this point in time). unfortunately, bang-won then murders bang-seok anyway. (fulfilling the queen’s prediction that no matter what he would have murdered her sons)

- there are two versions of the crown prince’s death: the first is what we saw in ep 12 when he was assassinated right after stepping out in the palace. (this is the official record. his final recorded words are “my brother promised to spare my life, do not worry.”). there’s another version that yi bang-won went into the palace and threw his brother into a well to kill him. which is... not recorded, but yi bang-won’s side framed everything in the records to make him and his people look good. (because they were the winners!!! winners in history get to frame themselves however they want)

- so what about yi bang-beon? aka the queen’s other son that never gets mentioned? he gets murdered too of course!!! though bang-won is content with just exiling him, his brother bang-gan murders bang-beon (of course in the show, we see bang-won approving of the assassination). (Bang-beon also suffers from the unfortunate position of having a.) envied his younger brother for being crown prince and therefore did NOT alert him or his father about the upcoming coup and b.) trying to maintain a neutral position that ultimately got him killed

- btw, yi seong-gye was absolutely in the palace during the Strife. He never left to go to a Temple. he was dragged from his throne and forced to abdicate during the coup after stripping Bang-seok of his position as Crown Prince in order to save him.

The Sixth Brother

 - died at a relatively early age, sadly.

Sisters?!

- yes, Yi Seong-Gye had daughters!!! Two from his first wife and one from his second and two more from his concubines (yah he had concubines). sadly, nothing else is known about them. Queen Sindeok’s daughter aka Bang-seok and Bang-beon’s younger sister outlived both of her older brothers, and died maybe nine years later. (somewhat comforting, but ultimately sad.)

- Bang-won’s sisters lived a little longer, but ultimately they had little historical relevance (or they did and the records refused to record them bc they were just Women). mostly, they were just married off to build political alliances

more on seon-ho

- there’s a scene in ep 5 where bang-won makes fun of seon-ho’s bastard status and compares him to Sambong and i just want to say that imo this is very realistic of bang-won. Sambong is an incredibly important and vital figure in history -- he served as yi seong-gye’s aide and was actually the mastermind behind ALL of yi bang-won’s social/political reforms. unfortunately, yi bang-won murdered him because.... uh.... he wanted to carry out those reforms HIMSELF, essentially. (no one else gets to do it but ME!!) he disliked sambong strongly, and there were rumors that sambong was descended from bastards/had slave blood in his family, so Bang-won sneering at Seon-ho for essentially having the same background would be legit. the line where he mentions that “in his country, bastards will never gain status” is so sad... and also true, even though he introduced the new Slave Law (that law was immediately repealed later)

- in other words, illegitimate children from nobleman + slaves were still eventually barred from taking the government exam and owning property in joseon. seon-ho’s fate would have more or less remained the same.

Seon-ho’s father Nam Jeon

- is a fictional figure, but his status as Yi Seong-Gye’s aide in the show cooouullld place him as the stand-in for the actual Nam Eun who was one of Yi Seong-Gye’s trusted aides and who was also killed by Yi Bang-Won

- the difference here is that Yi Bang-Won regrets murdering Nam Eun after and gives government positions to Nam Eun’s friends as like a way of apology lmfao

women’s rights in goryeo vs joseon

- just wanted to talk about this because hee-jae is such a kickass figure, but the long and short of it is that women lose all the rights (what little they had) in joseon vs in goryeo. they’re forbidden to step outside their homes after marriage, are NOT allowed to mingle with the other sex, they lose their rights as land-owners and property-inheritors, and Confucianism gains a huge foothold in a country that already treats women as second-class citizens. they weren’t allowed to re-marry if widowed, and were encouraged to kill themselves if they were assaulted or harassed so like....... life continues to suck for bastard children and ladies

fun fact for that (1) Legitimate Child that Yi Bang-Won Allowed to Live

- in my last post I mentioned that Yi Bang-Won killed the children of the “traitors” who conspired to prevent his coup except for Sambong’s eldest son, who was demoted (name: Jung Jin). Fortunately, this son managed to rise through the ranks of the government again and became the Minister of Justice under Yi Bang-Won’s reign. 

[bending-sickle]

so some of the more astute of y’all might have seen me go absolutely hog wild for this character from my country: the new age (2019)

and the historical figure (king taejong, born yi bang-won) is just as fascinationg

Taejong remains a controversial figure who killed many of his rivals [...] and relatives to gain power and yet ruled effectively to improve the populace's lives, strengthen national defense, and lay down a solid foundation for his successor Sejong's rule.

but then i learn that during that whole show’s timeline, he was married to a boss

With her daring and brave personality, Lady Min persuaded her husband to start a coup but Yi Bang-won hesitated to fight against his own father. When Jeong Do-jeon ordered for all the private soldiers and the firearms to be handed over to the government, Lady Min hid the private soldiers and firearms belonging to her family at her house. Seizing the opportunity when Taejo was lying in his sickbed, Lady Min gave the firearms to Yi Bang-won and persuaded him into carrying out the coup. Hence, Yi Bang-won, together with her brothers Min Mu-jil and Min Mu-gu, led the attack to kill Queen Sindeok’s sons Yi Bang-beon and Yi Bang-seok, son-in-law Yi Je, Jeong Do-jeon, and Nam Eun in the event known as The First Strife of Princes.

[...] Together with Park Po, Yi Bang-gan launched an attack against Yi Bang-won in 1400, which was later known as The Second Strife of Princes. The Min family, including Lady Min herself, fought against them and managed to quell Prince Hoean’s force.

- source, emphasis added

like goddamned i feel robbed by the show. what a duo. i would have loved to see her.

(which is not to say that this was all her doing and his reputation isn’t warranted. i mean, just look at this incident.)

The queen’s relationship with Taejong became worse because of Taejong’s concubines and the king, at one time, even avoided her quarters. When there were rumour of the queen abusing Taejong’s concubine Lady Kim hyo-bin and her son, Prince Kyeongnyeong, Taejong didn’t depose her; instead, her brothers Min Mu-hyul and Min Mu-hee were sentenced to death by hanging in 1416.

[stillnotcute]

Reasons My Country should have had 20 episodes:

I deserve it

gives more time to build up the foundation of the main trio and their relationships, particularly the romance and SH-HJ’s relationship (how delicious would that cup confession have been with more time to gauge a sincere friendship between them, his confession less of a romantic nature and more a desire to hold onto one of the few people he has left, and how much more crushing would her well-deserved rejection have been?)

we could have seen more of the Yi family politics, particularly how Queen Sindeok felt surrounded by her husband’s other children and her reasons for seeking to protect them (all the ladies Park Ye Jin was so underused)

maybe we could have had a better unraveling of why the hell Seon Ho was so Seon Ho about Hwi wanting to kill his dad? It was dumb, we all know it. Some more exposition could’ve cleared that up

MORE YEON

MORE HUI JAE, UH, HELLO? WHY DID HER ARC JUST FADE AWAY LIKE A BAD PHOTOSHOP RENDER? WHY GIVE HER TINY SCENES AMASSING SOFT POWER AND UTTERLY WASTE THEM?

I’m not done, Hui Jae was so much more than just a romantic lead but the writers just dropped it all once her revenge arc wrapped up. Freaking Yi Bang Won tried to recruit her! HE LITERALLY GAVE HER PERMISSION TO KILL HIM.

WHERE IS MY SCENE OF HUI JAE MARCHING UP TO BANG WON AND STABBING HIM NON-VITALLY WITH ONE OF HWI’S ARROWS, STARING HIM DEAD IN THE EYES BEFORE WALKING AWAY? AND BANG WON FUCKING LETS HER? THIS IS MY FANFICTION

anyways Jang Hyuk is bae and I’d watch 20 episodes of him drinking soup

We could have found Chi Do a wife, y’all

Reasons it shouldn’t:

more Nam Jeon ugh

more Yi Seung Gye (this YSG is so different from the SFD YSG who is pure and good and my brain can’t handle it)

show disrespected Yi Bang Woo and I’m honestly still salty about it. yeah he’s an alcoholic, because HIS DAD’S A FRICKIN’ TRAITOR TO A COUNTRY HE PLEDGED LOYALTY TO. LEAVE HIM ALONE

would we have survived? debatable

[avauntus]

@convenientalias​ - ask meme! I’ll play, thanks for the fun questions!

What is your favorite tragic backstory? Favorite? Probably Sung-rok’s or Seo Seol’s -- I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show go quite so hard into the paint in giving its side characters almost decent fates, then yanking them away. (To be clear, Seo Seol doesn’t end poorly, but what happens to her legacy is harrowing.)

What is your favorite costuming choice? I was going to say Bang-won’s earring (because...what?), but it’s actually how the show displays time and fortune changing for its characters through wardrobe choices, especially the “Hwi Squad.” I first noticed this when you see Jeong Beom standing guard outside Bang-won’s estate when Yi Bang-gan comes to visit (I think?) -- they’re just noticeably dressed sharper and cleaner, they have accessories. It’s such a quick and clear way of signaling -- “things are getting better, for us.” 

I really appreciated the moment Mun-bok sits down with Hwa-wol and reverently removes that hairpiece he hates, too.

What is your favorite instance of Seon-ho barging uninvited into Bang-won’s house? I’m a simple girl with simple needs -- it’s the time Hwi decided to fake an assassination attempt, and Seon-ho decides to yolo his way in after.

What is your favorite Bang-won murder (including murders committed by his men or as a result of his scheming)? Bang-won’s assassination of Poeun on the bridge (off-screen). Neither of them wanted it, but it sets so much of the tone for later. (And is actually more historically bad-ass than is represented in the show? How?!)

If you could resurrect a parent, who would you resurrect? Seon-ho’s mother, away from the Nam estate.

Pick a ship: Seon-ho/Sung-rok or Hwi/Bang-won or Seon-ho/Bang-won? Hwi/Bang-won.

Pick a ship: Hwi/Hui-jae or Seon-ho/Yeon or Hui-jae/Bang-won? Gah. None? Or very quietly Hwi/Hai-jae (but they’re not exclusive).

Pick a ship: Hui-jae/Queen Sindeok or Hui-jae/Hwa-wol?  Hui-jae/Hwa-wol, but only before Hui-jae inherits Ihwaru.

What is your favorite sword fight?

What is your least favorite of Hwi’s life choices?

(Hey, Hwi! Get a new GPS!)

What is your least favorite of Seon-ho’s life choices?

Pick an awful father: Nam Jeon or Yi Seung-gye? Yi Seong-gye. Say what you will, he did not try “Son 1.0, then Son 2.0, and failed on both” the way Nam Jeon did.

Pick a setting: Ihwaru or Hwi’s sad shack of scheming? Ihwaru. Bet the beds are more comfy, too. (Although I have, on the record, written AU ‘fade-to-black’ sexy times in the sad-shack, sooo~)

What is your favorite time skip? The two years right after the Wihwado Retreat. There is so much that happens in those two years, and the show is just like: “Nah.” *handwave* Mad energy.

Would you have preferred, canonically, for Hwi and Seon-ho to have survived the ending? No. As I said to a friend, I think the show ended sad, but well.

Are there any songs you associate with the show, other than the soundtrack?

ardruna - Helvegen (Kalandra cover) - inspired by this fan vid by Chiiyo86

How did you end up watching the show in the first place? Bet with a friend. We thought we’d either bounce off the first three episodes or be obsessed for months. It turned out to be...the second option. (haha)