Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People: Episode 19

87 April 4, 2017April 4, 2017

by dramallama

Gil-dong continues to embark on his quest, but he begins to adopt a new purpose. We almost forget why he started on this journey in the first place as his purpose shifts from searching for his sister to fighting for the people. But that shift works in his favor, because he’s discovering much more about his potential as a true hero.

EPISODE 19 RECAP

Gil-hyun matches up the locations of the family disappearances and the Hong Hero appearances while Scholar Song angrily scolds Choongwongoon for losing the Hengrok (“heng” meaning “actions” + “rok” meaning “record” = “Record of Actions”).

Gil-hyun reveals his findings to an elder minister and reports that the common thread among the disappeared families is that they were accused of defying social order. He requests to investigate this further outside the palace and catch the Hong Hero based on his projections from the map. The minister finds this coincidence strange and agrees to help Gil-hyun with this request.

Gil-dong happily reunites with his band of Hong Heroes after embarking on their own investigations of the Sugwidan (the elite group vowing to protect values). At their rendezvous, they pile up the copies of the Hengrok from all the Sugwidan households. All Sugwidan elites seemed to fear the “Geoin,” but didn’t know anything about them. Ilchung wonders what about the name coded in each of the books, and the rest of the gang is even more clueless. To answer Ilchung’s question, we’re shown Scholar Song’s full name in hanja, which is then coded into the Hengrok.

Yeonsangun paints a picture of himself, and Nok-soo admires his work. He tells her that this is how he views himself, and he wonders how others view him. Eunuch Kim enters the room, and Yeonsangun asks to bestow on Nok-soo the title of royal concubine. Eunuch Kim begins to explain the ranking of the royal concubines, but Nok-soo pays no attention to this and simply asks for a taste of the watermelons from Ming.

When Nok-soo leaves the king’s quarters, she’s met with Eunuch Kim and asks him why he didn’t reveal her identity to the king. He responds to her with gratitude for comforting the king from his deep longing for his late mother, calling her by the title of a royal concubine. She praises him for being a loyal servant and looks pleased by his acquiescence.

The king asks his court to import Chinese watermelons for the royal banquet, but he’s met with tense silence. A brave minister speaks up that the watermelons from Joseon taste similar, and that such imports are unnecessary in this time of severe drought and famine. The people are begging for food on the streets, and villages are overrun with thieves. The king seems tired of the talk of thieves and the Hong Hero and abandons his excessive order in such dire circumstances.

After the meeting, Eunuch Kim urges the king not to be mad at the ministers. But the king says that he’s not mad; he’s perplexed. He’s always wondered how the ministers viewed him, and after experiencing their nagging, he can finally understand how they view him. Hmm, curious.

Scholar Song hands Jeong-hak a list of people that Gil-dong is bound to visit. When Jeong-hak asks more about the list, Scholar Song dismisses his question and orders him to solely focus on catching Gil-dong, who is now a mortal enemy.

Deputy Governor Eom scolds Jeong-hak for assembling troops to catch the thieves without his permission, but Jeong-hak has leverage, knowing that he has some connection with Gil-dong. He warns Deputy Governor Eom that any attempt to stop him will serve as evidence of the deputy governor’s connection with Gil-dong.

Of the three leftover locations, Jeong-hak deploys his troops to Sookang while Gil-hyun wonders where to go first. Gil-dong and his bandits choose Goodam first, and they seem optimistic that they will find something there.

But when they arrive, Keutsae reports that the Sugwidan member passed away. They turn to leave, but they notice a crowd forcibly led by soldiers. Gil-dong pulls a man aside to ask what’s going on, and the man explains that they’re delivering the jade to Hanyang from their local jade mine. But their travels interrupt their farming, and they may not be able to sow their season’s crops.

The man continues on with the crowd, and Gil-dong seethes at the annoying whines and whimpers of injustice. Gil-dong goes rogue again and surveys an emotional scene in the village. A mother cries that the elite had requested delivery of ripe fruit as tribute, but it had rotted en route, and the punishment landed on her son. The soldiers come out to forcibly quiet her cries of injustice, but Gil-dong stops one from beating the mother and throws him away with a little too much strength. The bandits are surrounded and end up tied up in a jail cell.

As the bandits complain and giggle (and fart) in their close proximity, Gil-dong wonders about the nature of social hierarchy and order. He’s always been told that masters should act like masters and slaves should act like slaves, but is that the absolute truth?

At the palace, Nok-soo apologizes to the king about her watermelon request causing trouble in the court. But Yeonsangun is more grateful for the clarity he gained from the request. He’s always been told to act like an heir to the throne, a prince, or a king, and the ministers preached that ministers should act like ministers — men like men, and women like women. But he questions whether such roles are a given fact.

Gil-dong says that they all eat, sleep, and poop, so what’s the real difference? King or servant, master or slave, man or woman, aren’t they all human? He asks his hyungnims about his thought, and they laugh at his nonsense. They can’t even fathom being considered the same as the king.

Yeonsangun accuses the nobles for enforcing the social hierarchy and order for the sake of their convenience and makes the same claim as Gil-dong: master or slave, man or woman, they’re all the same. But he deviates from Gil-dong’s epiphany by concluding that all these people can be grouped into one: the king’s slaves. Upon this conclusion, Yeonsangun seems amused that these slaves dared to criticize the king about his request for watermelon. He seems ready to shed some blood.

Gil-dong shakes the complicated thoughts out of his head and gets to business. With his mighty strength, he easily breaks the handcuffs and kicks open the jail cell. He casually looks back to ask whether the rest of the bandits are coming along, but they’re obviously still tied together and remind him that he needs to untie them too. Ha.

The bandits want to flee the site without getting wrapped up with the government there, but Gil-dong has other plans. They dress up as royal inspectors and interrupt the magistrate’s punishment of the villagers. Yonggae plays the role of the royal inspector and is hilariously bad at it, but the gullible magistrate follows along. Yonggae scolds the magistrate for enforcing such excessive tribute taxes on the villagers, and the magistrate acknowledges the excessive dues. But he claims to be following orders from the king, who’s preparing a banquet with the finest goods.

After hearing of this banquet, Gil-dong tells the magistrate that they will be taking the stored goods and adds that he should blame the Hong Hero for the lost goods. That way, the magistrate and the villagers will both survive. So the magistrate and the soldiers get tied up with the classic “Hong” mark on a hat, and the goods are then distributed to the villagers. They tell them to blame the Hong Hero, and they agree to do so with gratitude.

Jeong-hak and his investigation team arrive at the Goodam village, and they find the storage rooms empty. When they ask the magistrate, he blames the Hong Hero, and the villagers follow suit and mislead the group in a random direction. They don’t find any tracks of the Hong Hero, and Mori realizes with a smirk that they’ve been fooled by the lying villagers.

Gil-hyun arrives at the village and asks a villager if the Hong Hero raided the government goods and hurt the people. The villager stoically claims that the Hong Hero is not that type of thief, adding that Gil-hyun wouldn’t understand. Gil-hyun looks confused.

The villager meets with his friends at a village eatery, and they rejoice in their encounter with the Hong Hero. The older brother scholar (Gil-dong had avenged his younger brother’s injuries) overhears the joyful conversation as the villager describes his encounter. He had asked Gil-dong why he helped them, and Gil-dong stopped himself before slyly giving the villager a thumbs up and saying, “It’s my choice.” Ah, the classic Amogae line.

Rumors about the Hong Hero are abuzz in the villages, and we see Madam Jo overhearing conversations curiously, the father Kim Deok-hyung passing by with a knowing smile, Wolhamae voicing her wishes to meet this handsome hero, and Ga-ryung proudly smiling at the news of her husband. She returns home and writes about the tale of the Hong Hero, starting with the story of Amogae.

Gil-hyun returns to the palace and tells the elder minister that his presumptions were correct — the Hong Hero is visiting the locations of the disappearances. He asks to report these findings to the king, but the elder minister says that the king has no interest in such matters. He’s only interested in entertainment right now.

Nok-soo enters the musicians’ quarters, and the ladies now bow to her, since she’s been named a royal concubine. She tells the ladies that if they can make the king happy, they too can be promoted like her. She says this while smiling directly at the jealous musician who had once confronted her.

Nok-soo then turns to the palace maids and asks our two Eorini candidates about their interest in becoming palace musicians. Before our doe-eyed Eorini can object, her friend speaks for both of them and says that they are interested. The ambitious Eorini starts out with her dance, and Wolhamae praises her for her improvement. Next, doe-eyed Eorini steps up and says that she will sing. She sings the joyful song of her village in Ikhwari but with such a sorrowful tone that she begins to cry. Nok-soo asks why she’s crying, but she doesn’t know.

Afterward, the palace maid friend asks her why she was crying. Doe-eyed Eorini doesn’t know why, and her friend finds that strange. The friend expresses her hopes to become a musician and earn great trinkets for her mother. Doe-eyed Eorini says that her mother must be happy to have a daughter like her, and the friend admits that her mother isn’t her birth mother, which only deepens our Eorini identity mystery.

At the palace banquet, the king toasts to the ministers while Gil-hyun watches the king reveling in his extravagance. After the toast, the king tells Nok-soo to observe the ministers and asks her what she sees. She sycophantically responds that all she sees are the king’s slaves, and the king approves of her response.

The king watches one minister in particular by the name of Lee Se-jwa, who was rumored to have watched and confirmed his mother’s death. He tells Nok-soo that these ministers still smile so brightly in front of him after killing his mother. He summons Lee Se-jwa up to receive a glass of alcohol from him, and the minister is honored by this gesture. The king’s smile quickly turns sinister, and we see fear light in Nok-soo’s eyes.

Gil-hyun reports to Scholar Song about the Hong Hero who’s praised by the commoners and the king who lives without criticism. He says the the king is also human, but Scholar Song projects his perspective that they are not people. Scholar Song clarifies that they are simply players trying to earn the king’s power through commodities, so Gil-hyun should not think with such a sentimental lens.

Madam Jo helps Choongwongoon get up from his bed, and she looks determined to capture Gil-dong. She says she has one card up her sleeve that she hasn’t used yet. She doesn’t own the physical object, but she remembers exactly what it was. If the king refuses to order Gil-dong’s capture, she intends to play her card to ensure that Gil-dong is caught.

Gil-dong and the bandits roam around villages bringing justice to mistreated commoners under the guise of the royal inspectors, and Jeong-hak always arrives after the fact, even with more troops deployed with Minister Lee’s permission. Mori watches the villagers give conflicting directions to where the Hong Hero went, and he does not look amused by the confusing leads. The troops guard village entrances and try to catch the Hong Hero’s tail, but to no avail.

Jeong-hak receives a report of the misleading villagers and orders their capture for lying to the royal troops. Mori laughs at Jeong-hak’s flailing attempts to capture the thief and decides that he’ll move on his own from now on. Since all the villagers are on the Hong Hero’s side, there’s no way for them to capture the Hong Hero in this chase.

In the village, Eop-san’s father walks out with his cane and takes a stroll. From afar, Mori watches with a new plan in mind.

Our bandits attempt to pass through the inspection gates by cross-dressing as women, and it’s quite hilarious. The inspectors look at Gil-dong’s height with amazement and are shocked by Keutsae’s appearance, but they all somehow make it past inspection with little trouble. They laugh at their appearances, and Gil-dong vows that he won’t embark on such missions again. He promises Soboori, but we’ll see how long he goes without breaking that promise.

Minister Lee and Deputy Governor Eom report the situation on the Hong Hero to the king. Deputy Governor Eom expresses his concerns about the Hanyang office being empty due to Jeong-hak’s use of all their troops. The king acknowledges this worry and summons Gil-hyun to explain his findings.

On his way out, Deputy Governor Eom meets eyes with Gil-hyun, and they both look at each other in shock. Ah, finally. After a moment frozen in surprise, Deputy Governor Eom retreats, and Gil-hyun reports to the king, who gives him a special title to continue investigations into the Hong Hero.

Deputy Governor Eom grabs Gil-hyun on his way out and recognizes him, but Gil-hyun insists that he’s got the wrong person. As Gil-hyun scurries away from the palace, he’s trailed by the deputy governor.

A village child collects wood from the forest and spots the Manchurian barbarians headed to their village. He runs back to his village to report this to the magistrate, who orders that they report this situation immediately. But the problem is, they’ve delivered all of their horses to the palace as tribute, and they have no way to relay their need for help. At the palace, we see that the king has indeed requested all of the horses for his upcoming hunting trip, and he shows them off to Nok-soo and the other palace ladies.

The village boy offers to relay this cry for help on foot, and he runs through the hills looking for help. He rolls down the hill, right in front of the bandits’ path, and he’s nearly out of breath. He tells them about the barbarians and desperately asks for help, because without it, his whole village will die. He passes out, and Keutsae carries the child as they respond to this plea.

The bandits arrive at the scene of the barbarian pillage, and Gil-dong’s face becomes full of indignation. Without questioning their actions, the bandits enter the fight full on, saving women and children from the wrath of the pillagers. Gil-dong knocks the head pillager off of his horse, and the bandits swiftly defeat their enemy. The villagers cry out in relief and gratitude, and Gil-dong looks around at the praising villagers with confusion.

Scholar Song meets with the king to discuss the issue of the thief, but the king isn’t too worried or interested, since he’s doubtful of the rumors about the thief defeating the barbarians. Scholar Song says that the truth doesn’t matter, since the people believe that the Hong Hero saved them. The people admire the Hong Hero instead of the king. Scholar Song asserts that the Hong Hero is not stealing goods; rather, he’s stealing the heart of the people.

Looking around at the villagers, Soboori regrets that they came back, since everyone will know the Hong Hero now. Gil-dong agrees with a smile, and all the bandits look resolute. A small baby wanders through the crowd, and Gil-dong picks up the child with a smile. Meanwhile, the king seethes in his realization of the Hong Hero’s theft, juxtaposing the power of our two pillars.

COMMENTS

This is a great development of our classic Hong Gil-dong hero, and I’m really hyped about the reputation that our bandits have just established for themselves. It’s much more than any of them hoped to be, and I find it particularly amusing that Soboori’s nagging about not going rogue was just constant foreshadowing about them really going rogue. I think the buildup to Gil-dong as the people’s hero was gradual and believable, but I’m still not quite sure about his motivations, since I’m struggling to really get on board with his character growth. I’m a fan of the father-son parallels that are happening, but it doesn’t really help to distinguish Gil-dong as his own kind of hero. Maybe Amogae just left a really strong and lasting impression, but I still can’t see Gil-dong overpowering his father’s charisma or purpose. I want to see his heart really in this fight for the people. I need more!

The juxtaposition between the king and Gil-dong was well done in this episode. I could see how similar lines of thought can deviate because of the differing underlying philosophies, and I loved how smoothly these conflicting thoughts were interwoven with each other. The king was so serious about his immoral convictions and revelations, and Gil-dong was really nonchalant with his grand and moral epiphanies. That makes Gil-dong endearing but also so frustrating that he still lacks this drive and purpose. I could see hints of Gil-dong’s values of equality and justice, but he just shooed them away without giving them much thought. I don’t want his hero’s journey to be an accident, and I’m hoping to see more growth as we continue with this last third of the show.

Even with the king finally established as the face of the enemy, I still think the war will be fought between Gil-dong and Scholar Song. I’m glad we finally got Gil-hyun to wake up from Scholar Song’s enchantment, and I have hope that he’ll continue probing for the real answers. And now that the Gil-hyun-is-actually-alive reveal has occurred, I’m hoping to see more complex developments in how Gil-hyun gets involved in the Hong Hero schemes.

As many have hypothesized, I do hope that the Geoin is an existing group that will be a strong philosophical opponent to Scholar Song’s radical enforcement of social order. His advisement to the king eerily reflects current corruption in politics, which I think just hits home a little more because of its relevance. Down with the corruption, down with the man, let’s go rogue, Gil-dong.

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1 keiru

April 4, 2017 at 8:26 PM

I was mad at Gil Hyun for a moment. I thought he has changed for the worst by throwing away his real identity as Ahmogae's son only to avoid Deputy Governor Eom. But then I realized what kind of a person Deputy Governor Eom is to Gil Hyun. In Gil Hyun's eyes, Eom is still his family's biggest enemy, he hates him to the bone. So Gil Hyun's reaction is understandable. I'm sorry for doubting and hating you for a while there Gil Hyun..

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BedeliaJane

April 4, 2017 at 11:03 PM

@keiru

I had the same thoughts as you!

I think I'm developing a crush on Gil-hyun! :)

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PakalanaPikake

April 5, 2017 at 12:38 AM

Gil-hyun has multiple reasons for being angered to see former district magistrate Eom. He's the one whose social climbing introduced Amogae to Choongwongoon and got the gang entangled in the case of the runaway slave, which ultimately led to their downfall.

Plus, Gil-hyun is impersonating a nobleman and is in danger of having his cover blown. Eom is such a doofus when it comes to keeping a low profile that I was spazzing while watching their reunion.

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2 zgs1994

April 4, 2017 at 8:28 PM

This show is so incredibly intense! I don't want to watch Gil Dong shoot that arrow at Ga Ryeung! I really don't! I just want my puppies to be safe and happy!

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3 faith

April 4, 2017 at 8:34 PM

Why are they doing this Reply series on Eorini to us? Why?? Its already 20 episode. Do we have to play this guessing game until the last two episode?!!

Btw. Thanks for the recap. Gildong moving to the right path, and finally!!! Someone recognize Gil Hyeon!! Brothers reunite!!Palli!!

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Kiara

April 4, 2017 at 8:51 PM

Pretty annoying at this point.

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⭐ Sera The Ms Temper ⭐

April 5, 2017 at 12:29 AM

Agree. Guessing is fun if like 2 episodes, but now it becomes annoying. They need to tell us next week which one is Eorini.

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voice

April 4, 2017 at 9:37 PM

but isn't eorini played by Jung Da-bin? i mean she even sang the song that Gil-dong and everyone did back in the earlier episodes

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c

April 4, 2017 at 9:57 PM

we still not sure because the other girl still say her mother is not her real mother, she was adopted or something and when she sees gil dong she says he looks familiar

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faith

April 4, 2017 at 10:08 PM

....you give half of spoiler from next episode. Careful there.

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c

April 5, 2017 at 9:47 AM

its a teaser than spoiler

keiru

April 5, 2017 at 3:37 AM

Aack ! I haven't watched episode 20 ! XD

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beoseukeo

April 5, 2017 at 7:22 AM

Well, a commenter pointed out that the other girl could be Noksoo's daughter, disguised as the little boy from ep7 (since he kinda looked like he could be a girl lmao). That's why she would find Gildong familiar-looking. Ok-ran (Jung Dabin) probably lost her memory or smth, that's why she didn't recognize her brother and didn't know why she was crying after singing that song (which seems to be more of an important hint than her friend recognizing Gildong from somewhere). Honestly, all this complication is becoming kinda unnerving now, just reveal (or rather, confirm) who the hell Eorini is and get this over with.

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Kiara

April 5, 2017 at 7:59 PM

I'd be surprised if they make up a fake daughter for Nok-soo at this point. She only had a son that I know of before she went into the palace.

latteholic

April 5, 2017 at 5:48 AM

Ikr? Last time I checked this wasn't Answer Me 1498!

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Teletabz

April 5, 2017 at 6:38 AM

Hehehe...

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c

April 5, 2017 at 8:04 AM

the other girl is Lee Soo-Min (2001), she is more popular as a host, she is not really nobody. Maybe Jung Da Bin (2000) get more recognized but i think in term of popularity its almost the same hence any of them can uh ri ni.

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4 mysterious

April 4, 2017 at 10:03 PM

Since when did Mori join forces with Jeong-hak? Mori does look good in a uniform, though. And Gil-dong's smile is just so sweet.

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⭐ Sera The Ms Temper ⭐

April 5, 2017 at 12:32 AM

Since Choongwongoon and Jeong Hak now join forces.

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latteholic

April 5, 2017 at 5:54 AM

I laughed when he kinda threw shade at Jeong Hak though. He was like Imma do it my own way... :D

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crazykel

April 5, 2017 at 9:23 AM

I'm attracted to Mori when he throws shade at Jeong Hak. He made all these sarcastic looks in the background of each scene, and I was dying at each and every one of them.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 9:58 AM

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Kiara

April 5, 2017 at 6:21 AM

I don't get this power thing. One mighty child is using it for good and the other to stop him who is actually helping the common people even by accident.

What exactly is the rule for misusing their powers? Does it only apply to Gil Dong?

I must say I'm not a fan of this multiple mighty children in this show. When they go into the vague territory then I quickly lost interest.

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liina

April 5, 2017 at 6:35 AM

I'm not a fan of it either. For a moment, I wanted to drop the whole drama. It was just too much for me. And Mo-ri's story was already interesting enough as it was.

Uh, from what I read now from the comments, the Eorini story did complicate itself too? Sigh...

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beoseukeo

April 5, 2017 at 7:16 AM

I find the whole Eorini thing annoying now. Rather than being curious or looking forward to it, I just want them to confirm who Eorini really is, so that the siblings will reunite (since I'm pretty sure it's the one played by Jung Dabin, otherwise, it wouldn't make much sense). Same with the Mori side-story. At first, even though I was annoyed by it, I tried to understand it served to make this good-bad opposition thing or smth, to show the contrast between one who uses his powers for good and the other who doesn't. But the purpose of the second mighty child subplot appears to be simply complicating Gildong & Co.'s mission. Episode 20 just unnecessarily complicated the Eorini plotline. Gildong's journey to become the hero who stole the people's hearts and his opposition to the King are compelling enough, we don't need unnecessary ramifications of the subplots.

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latteholic

April 5, 2017 at 7:51 AM

I am really not a big fan of the who is uhrini game now. I wasn't too thrilled at the beginning, but the longer they drag it out, the more I got annoyed. I hope there is really another purpose to this game other than to be a twist.
I'm feeling the opposite about Mori though. I wasnt sure about him being a Mighty Child at the beginning. But he really level the playing field now. And I genuinely feel worried about everyone now that the enemy also has someone who can go head to head with Gildong. In a way I feel that's a good thing? For the drama I mean. Not for my heart.

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c

April 5, 2017 at 7:58 AM

also the woman said if the mighty child doesnt use power for good he will die.. does it apply to mori too?

5 acacia

April 4, 2017 at 11:05 PM

I loved the development of Gilhyun in this episode. Truthfully, the actor is not a favorite in my book, nor is he particularly awesome at conveying his character, BUT the character is so well written. He is definitely has a "I shall be righteous" attitude but it's different than what Scholar Song's whole philosophy is. We see his mentality that "everyone is equal" when he claims that the King is just a human too. Thankfully Scholar Song doesn't catch on to his student's deviance to his teachings. And when Gilhyun heard that the King was only concerned about entertainment, I think he gets an inkling that something is not right with the King. He is slowly warming up to GilDong's thoughts about humanity!! He is truly a Hong at heart ❤️

The crossdressing was a definite LOVE moment of this episode! EopSan and GeutSae totally killed me with their expressions. GilDong didn't look half bad too except I can't believe they weren't suspicious of an over 6 foot tall girl GilDong. LOL

Kind of random and I'm sure someone probably has mentioned this but I just realized that GaRyung will probably becomes Scholar Song's adopted daughter or something to get in favor of the king. That's going to be an interesting arc to look out for... poor GaRyung.

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faith

April 4, 2017 at 11:09 PM

wait, why did you said that about scholar song and ga ryung?

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Someone

April 5, 2017 at 5:51 AM

Probably bcs Garyung once introduced as Song Garyung but we havent known yet where she got that last name. That theory is interesting tho; being adopted daughter of scholar Song, i had thought about it before but just kinda brushed it off. Now i'm curious.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 6:12 AM

@Someone

Hey, I brushed off this theory a loooong time ago too cuz it looks impossible for Scholar Song and Ga-ryung to ever cross path but what if Gil-hyeon is the one who introduces them later on? That could be a possibility, right?

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Someone

April 5, 2017 at 10:08 AM

@enkeys

Now that you mentioned it, i kinda pick that theory up right now. Its really interesting, bcs Garyung later would after the King and actually Gilhyun could help her. With the only connection he has is scholar Song, that theory could be applied. Damn, 10 eps left and gonna take my seat to see how all the possibilities go through.

6 liina

April 5, 2017 at 1:55 AM

@PakalanaPikake:
I'm glad you still read my comment in the episode 18 comments.
I thought it was very nice what you wrote about the recappers. We really can't thank them enough for the work they are doing!!!

I'm a little bit short in time but I will try to give at least some basic infos about the Hong Gil-dong Cheon now and follow with some other stuff in the next days.

First of all to the title of the novel. Or better to the "cheon". Cheon means something like "Tradition". It is used to indicate historical and fictional biographies. So it should be translated as "The story of Hong Gil-dong" or "The life of Hong Gil-dong".

The first indication for the existence of the Hong Gil-dong cheon comes from the "Works of Taekdang". Taekdang was the penname of a scholar named Lee Shik. He died in 1647 and as it was tradition his works were released postmortem as an anthology. In his works Lee Shik named another scholar as the author of the "Hong Gil-dong cheon". That scholar was Heo Gyun.
With the infos from the "Works of Taekdang" it was long time believed that scholar Heo Gyun was the author of the "Hong Gil-dong cheon" and that it was written probably written between 1607 and 1613 in hangeul.
That would make Hong Gil-dong cheon the oldest korean novel originally written in hangeul from which we would know author and an approximate date of origin.
However since a few decades the authorship of Heo Gyun is discussed. I come back to that later, when I will write a little bit more about Heo Gyun, who was an interesting figure himself.
Regardless of the authorship the novel must have been around already in 1647 for being mentioned in the "Works of Taekdang".

Sadly we will probably never know the original text of the novel that was mentioned by Lee Shik because also there exists 29 old written versions of the story, none of them is dating older than the late 19th century. As it was a loved story it had a written and oral tradition and changes were made so that even our 29 versions differ from each other.

So I have to make a break here. But I will write more later (or tomorrow ;)).

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liina

April 5, 2017 at 6:06 AM

Not moreinfos now, just something I wanted to say to the comment you made in the episode 18 comment section.

"It occurs to me that I left something out of 19.1.1:

IMHO, the title REBEL doesn’t actually refer to the individual Hong Gil-dong so much as to the collective Hong clan with HGD as a figurehead. Later they all use the nom de guerre “Hong Chum Ji.”"

I think it is nice what the writer did here. Originally Gil-dong from his Taoist studies had gained some special powers and could animate straw puppets and give them his looks. So there were usually some Gil-dongs at large. The robbers now have taken the place of the straw puppets. Yes I think the writer wants to say that all the robbers are "Hong Gil-dong". It's probably in connection with Mo-ri being another agi jangsu and Amogae as well? She probably wants to express something like that originally we all have the power to change/to do something?

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PakalanaPikake

April 5, 2017 at 9:27 PM

@Liina,

That's interesting about HGD animating straw dolls. Big ones like scarecrows? They sound similar to the golems of Jewish folklore. -- Not to be confused with the whisperer of "My preciousssss"! The animated straw dolls remind me of goblins, too.

Our flesh-and-blood heroes literally have a handy "straw man" named Hong Chum Ji to hide behind. Maybe there will be an "I am Sparticus" moment when the downtrodden masses help the Hongs escape from the hoosegow or evade capture.

There's a nifty parallel between HGD cultivating his inner capacities with Taoist practices and Neo-Confucian scholars improving themselves through their studies. I just flashed for a second on Woochi, the Taoist wizard. LOL. I can practically hear Song Sabu harumphing at such an undignified comparison.

The existence of multiple Mighty Children is getting kind of weird. Is Eunuch Kim one as well as Mori?

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liina

April 6, 2017 at 2:40 AM

Sadly, the straw puppets are not described in detail, but in the Hong Gil-dong children's books I have at home they are always pictured man size.
Haha, it's true they really have their own "straw man".

I have a big headache problem at the moment so I won't write about Heo Gyun today, but when I feel better.
But I have something else to add that might interest you, because we were talking about the writer splitting the Gil-dong persona in different characters.
The "brother" persona is also splitted in the drama. Mainly into Gil-hyun and Soo-hak. This is a very important part of this drama for me because I really love the novel and one reason why I love the novel is the brother character. It is an interesting complex character because on the one hand he is something like Gil-dong's adversary (they are half brothers and his mother tries to kill Gil-dong...) on the other hand he is never NOT Gil-dong's brother and there is much love in this family. The reunion scene between Gil-dong and his brother is one of my favorite novel parts ever because just a handfull of words described so many contradicting feelings. I have loved that part so much, that after I read it I just layed down everything I did and went off to university again to do Korean studies... :) (O.k., it wasn't exactly like that. I also thought it would be easier to get more information about the Three Kingdoms and Gaya with access to the university library... Still Hong Gil-dong played a part in that decision.)
Adaptions of the Hong Gil-dong story very often paint the brother character as the villain of the story. Which gives no credit to the character. Splitting it, allows the writer of the drama to keep an opponent, to keep the "lady of the house" character as the villain but also to explore the brotherly side of the novel character. I really love that. A lot.

About the Mighty Child(s): I decided to ignore it for a while and see where it will lead us too.

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PakalanaPikake

April 7, 2017 at 4:00 AM

@Liina,

I hope your headache went away and that you feel better. Rest up until you get over it. I used to get migraines, and had to drop everything until they passed. Be well. ;-)

That's very interesting about HGD's brother in the novel originally being a half-sibling as well as an antagonist. Writer-nim has indeed done a nifty job of transferring his brother's negative attributes to the Jo family.

The three of them have been great nemeses for Amogae and his family. Madam Jo in particular is ferociously vengeful, and Jeong-hak, who was a wimpy little twerp as a child, has truly followed in her footsteps. It's ironic to me that she was the brains of the family. She was much more resourceful than her wuss of a husband, and also greedier. I can almost hear warped Confucian scholars lamenting that she would have made a great man.

In the drama, I really liked the personality of young Gil-hyun. He was a truly sweet and caring hyung. The way he looked after the younger kids was touching. He was also very responsible, and took Amogae's instructions to rein in Gil-dong dead seriously -- not that he could always prevail against the Mighty Mite. But he could usually get him to see reason.

Which reminds me: How hilarious was it in this episode that Soboori as the "adult supervision" attempted to get HGD to stop meddling in every town they passed through? I half expected our hero to say, "The Devil made me do it."

PS: More power to you for going back to school for Korean studies. That's dedication! ;-)

liina

April 7, 2017 at 8:15 AM

@PakalanaPikake:
Do you know the book "The Kite Fighters" by Linda Sue Park? - It's a story about three boys that live during the Joseon Dynasty. One is the young king and the other two is a pair of brothers. The book explores older brother younger brother relationships in a Confucian society, daddy issues inclusive. It mirrors the Gil-dong, Gil-hyun, Amogae relationship a lot.
I really recommend the book. It's a nice and easy read but helped me a lot to understand what must have been going on inside our brothers when their roles were suddenly reversed and Gil-dong had to say "good bye, free life" and was the one who had all the responsibilities and Gil-hyun suddenly had all the freedom to do what he wanted (even though it came at a high cost).

I wrote some more but it's a little bit chaotic and a little bit to much. All the comments between 6.2.1. and 6.4. Lol...

liina

April 7, 2017 at 8:24 AM

P.S.: Soboori is one of the best characters ever!

liina

April 8, 2017 at 11:12 PM

I wanted to add, because I didn't make it clear in my original comment about Gil-dong's brother, that I was talking about how the brother is described in "my" older version. In other of the older versions he really is rather antagonistic.

PakalanaPikake

April 5, 2017 at 8:30 PM

Hi, Liina (and latteholic),

Just want to mention that I replied to your acting comments in thread 20 of the episode 18 recap. I try to remember to check back, especially when the discussion raises interesting points.

Thanks so much for the background information on The Story of Hong Gil-dong. It's interesting to note that it was committed to paper about a century after the time in which this sageuk is set. I guess there's no way to tell where it originated as an oral tale, or how long it existed in that form before it was written down.

I literally finished watching TREE WITH DEEP ROOTS earlier today, and think it's downright cool that the novel is the oldest one written in hangeul! ;-)

Thank you! I'm looking forward to your next installment. ;-)

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liina

April 7, 2017 at 1:24 AM

I read your comment and latteholic's comment as well. I'd really like to answer to it. But I feel my English is not well enough to put my thoughts into English words. First of all: Funnily I just started reading about alternative therapy for scoliose some months ago (though things I read weren't in any way scientific...). I really had to find something that would help me with doing houseworks and at the moment I'm trying out all the "doing your housework while in movement" stuff. I think some of the books I read feature some of the ideas you mentioned. Especially I have one books that also explains about mental state and body posture. Somehow I just read that chapter and never thought about it any further. In a way your comment was really eye opening to me.
Because I just found out that I have subconsciously used everything I learned in acting classes to cope with my socialphobia. Always when I'm in difficult situations, I automatically seek for my feet's contact to the earth, try to feel the body streghths and try to relax the face muscles. You automatically get rid of that fear pose that way, so the breathing gets easier because the torso is not crooked, the voice doesn't get whispery and funnily the confidence also returns.

I'm not an actor by the way (because I was talking about acting classes). I used to be a hobby sabre fencer when I was younger. My fencing teacher worked as a stage fight coordinator. So some of us helped out as extras for stage fighting scenes and got paid acting lessons by the theater. For a stage fighting scene body tension is absolutely crucial.

Fast cutted scenes: I don't like that either. I prefer scenes that speak quietly for themselves and have a soft spot for old japanese movies.

It would interest me, how did you like "Tree With Deep Roots" and "Six Flying Dragons"? Because the works of that writer/director are not exactly subtle (SFD has some beautiful, subtle scenes; as far as I remember it also had another director).

@latteholic: yes I was half speaking about the different "languages", but I also really meant the voice itself.

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liina

April 7, 2017 at 2:54 AM

Haha, I'm sitting at home sorting my informations about Heo Gyun and it seems like it will be a little bit more complicated than I thought. He had meddled in quite a lot of political affairs and I have to think more about what of his life is relevant and what not. Also the political factions at that particular time are a difficult chapter for me as well. I would need Kiara to explain that. She is the most knowledged english speaking person I know when it comes to Joseon's political factions...

So basic informations without historical context at first: Heo Gyun was a scholar who was born 1569 and executed for treason 1618. Till some years ago he was seen as a rebel who fought against the class system himself, but thoughts on Heo Gyun have changed a lot in recent years. It's highly discussed if he had any revolutionistic ideas at all. Also his death is more seen as him being the victim of framing by a political rival.
Heo Gyun was well versed in Chinese Literature. He was interested in Chinese Culture and Chinese Lifestyle (Late Ming China). He was responsible for the diplomatic relations between Ming and Joseon. With this position he held wuite a lot of power. He was known to have read 3 of the 4 novels that we now call the Chinese Classics, the Shuihuzhuan (The Rebels from the Liang Shan Marsh aka Water Margin), the Sanguozhi Yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and the Xiyouji (The Journey to the West). He couldn't have read the fourth because Dream of the Red Chamber hadn't been written at that time. :).

Parts of these novels are integrated in the Hong Gil-dong Cheon. The Sworn Brothers part is from the Three Kingdoms and the building of his own Kingdom from the Shuihuzhuan. The drama writer included the Sworn Brothers part and the one fight scene between Heo Tae-hak's gang and Amogae's gang resembles old movie adaptions of the Shuihuzhuan. About the similarities between Gil-dong and Sun Wukong from the Journey from the west I have already written.

The reading of these three Wuxia classics wasn't exactly forbidden, but it was seen as literature for street urchins and not fitting for the scholarly mind. Heo Gyun not only read these novels, he also wrote a scholarly work about the incorporation of the I Qing (The Book of Changes) in the Xiyouji. This is why it is assumed in case that Heo Gyun really was the author of the novel that you can find traces of the I Qing in the Hong Gil-dong cheon (I will write more about that later). Interstingly - since the Hong Gil-dong cheon is thematically close - Heo Gyun had distanced himself from the Shuihuzhuan.

Heo Gyun lead a life that was different as seemed fit for a Joseon scholar. He had lax morals, he was a Buddhist...
He was also described as arrogant and egoistic by his contemporates. Which is by the way one of the arguments agains Heo Gyun as the author of the Hong Gi-dong cheon.

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liina

April 7, 2017 at 2:58 AM

What from Heo Gyun's writing is important for this drama is that he wrote about the importance of looking after the needs of the people, because not the people would rise up like tigers.

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liina

April 7, 2017 at 3:32 AM

Oh, there is something else one should probably know to understand what the writer is doing here.

The novel is a three part novel. First part is the prestory, family issues, awakening of power. Second part includes Gil-dong becoming the head of the robbers and some of their explorations and ends with the resolvement of Gil-dong's anger. Third part is rescuing the women who become his wives from monsters (which by the way includes arrows... but in a different way than in episode 1) and building an ideal nation.

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liina

April 7, 2017 at 4:29 AM

When it was said, that this drama wanted to show the "real" Hong Gil-dong, they probably also meant they wanted to incorporate the old texts more. And then they sadly didn't connect with the preidea of the story that the audience had.
The idea Koreans have of Hong Gil-dong is mostly based on Hong Gil-dong fiction from this and from last century not on the old texts anymore.
It's similar to Robin Hood. The idea of Robin Hood from my generation is highly influenced by Walt Disney and the Bryan Adams movie.

In children's education it is always said "you have to lead the children from the point where they stand".
This show is probably missing to lead the audience from the point where the audience stands.

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7 enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 2:43 AM

Dramallama did not elaborate this but two of the people our Hong bandits rescued were Shim Cheong and Chun Hyang. Hilariously, both were played by not-so-good-looking women by today's standard but they are both beauties desired by men in the show. Cheeky. Also, it's implied that they helped Kongjwi too, when Eop-san said he wished that Patjwi could fix her temper. Ha.

This episode is one of the best yet. The cross-dressing and fairy-tales parallels were hilarious and the fighting scene at the end was awesome. I love the scene where both Gil-dong and Yeonsangun acknowledge that there's no difference between nobles and slaves. I was like "Yeah, you guys should totally get a drink together or something" and then they showed how different both their conclusions are - Gil-dong: all of us are humans / Yeonsangun: all of them are my subjects.

However, I do agree with Dramallama. At this point, Gil-dong and gang is kind of like accidental heroes. He just hates it when the people are whining and complaining, not that he sees it as his duties to protect people against injustices. Well, maybe that's because he set out for this journey NOT to become heroes for the people but to actually look for Eorini but I do hope that he realises that he needs to put those values he believes in into action soon. So far, like Amogae, he seems to only protect the interest and safety of his people/family but going by the 1st episode where he striked Ga-ryung without much hesitation, I'd say we'll soon come to that point.

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liina

April 5, 2017 at 2:59 AM

Haha, now I'm really looking forward to the episode. I haven't seen it yet. But I already laughed so much, when Yong-gae made a Mong-ryong in the episode 19 preview teaser! :D

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 4:11 AM

@Liina

Ah, you're right! I forgot that Mong-ryong is an undercover inspector too lol

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sunnyl

April 5, 2017 at 4:55 AM

"Shim Cheong and Chun Hyang. Hilariously, both were played by not-so-good-looking women" - best part lol

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sooyi

April 5, 2017 at 5:36 AM

Did you know that Chae Soo-bin who plays Ga-ryung played Shim Cheong in a MBC drama special called Diary of a Resentful Unmarried Woman? By the way, Kim Seul-gi was Kongtzi who is written as not pretty in the show.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 5:52 AM

@Sooyi

Oooh! This drama special has been in my recommended video feed in youtube for a while. So is it a good drama? Drama special means it's a one-episode drama, right?

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latteholic

April 5, 2017 at 6:02 AM

YES. The Sherk vibes is strong in this episode, what with all the cameo from other folk tale characters.. :D

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PakalanaPikake

April 5, 2017 at 12:03 PM

@enkeys,

I, too, was laughing my butt off at REBEL's take on Fractured Fairytales, especially the homely heroines Chun Hyang and Shim Chung. It reminded me of another side-splitting version of these tales, MBC's 2-episode STORY OF HYANG DAN, in which magistrate's son Lee Mong-ryong falls for Chun Hyang's maid. javabeans recapped this epic send-up. The music, by the fantastic Kim triplets, aka Infinity of Sound, is terrific -- and the links in the episode 2 recap still work.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 12:14 PM

@PakalanaPikake

The description already sounds fun lol. Thanks! I will check it out.

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PakalanaPikake

April 5, 2017 at 10:48 PM

@enkey(s),

You're most welcome! Choi Siwon is terrific as Lee Mong-ryong.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 10:59 PM

@PakalanaPikake

In my haste to reply you I must have missed the S in my username lol

8 sooyi

April 5, 2017 at 5:40 AM

I think Ok-ran could be Eorini and her court lady friend could be Nok-soo's daughter from her marriage. The drama didn't specify that she had a daughter but the way the friend was crying because she missed her mother reminded me of Nok-soo who had to leave her family to escape her abusive husband and feed her child(ren).
I hope the drama does not pull a "I-thought-you-were-my-sister-but-you-aren't.

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Kiara

April 5, 2017 at 5:55 AM

This show should be firing on all four cylinders by now.
I think the side stories shouldn't be that important to explore any further.

The real Nok-soo had a daughter with the king although she got married a couple times before she became his concubine. Her son is the only one mentioned from her previous marriage.

Anything can happen but I hope they'd concentrate on the main characters from here on.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 6:05 AM

@Sooyi

This could be a possibility too. I watched the clip of when they first showed us her child, he/she was definitely wearing a little boy outfit but I thought that face is too cute to be a boy haha

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 6:15 AM

Sorry, forgot to add that Nok-soo's child once seen Gil-dong so if the other girl says Gil-dong is familiar, then she may be Nok-soo's child after all.

But why has Eorini lost her memories, though? Who is going to recognize her if she can't even recognize her brothers now? :'(

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Kiara

April 5, 2017 at 6:26 AM

It's hard enough to make sense of Gil Dong's short term amnesia, now they have to add Eorini too? *Sigh* this show.

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keiru

April 5, 2017 at 7:33 AM

I hope they will explain about it a little bit more when they reveal the real Eorini. Maybe something like post traumatic stress disorder? She saw her bloody orabeoni dying but then he went into berserker mode on right in front of her. I won't even be able to sleep if I was her..

WishfulToki

April 5, 2017 at 3:59 PM

@keiru: Maybe post tramautic stress disorder, but not immediately. She clearly remembered her name in the aftermath of Gildong's bloody rampage. That's the one thing we know she said when she was tied up in that shack. So... she forgot who she was afterwards, somehow. Frustrating.

I agree, the Answer Me Eurini 1498 game has become annoying. The only way it remains interesting is because it's connected to this mysterious Gaoin (or however you spell it) that appears in the Hengrok book. They have something to do with how Eurini ended up in the palace...

beoseukeo

April 5, 2017 at 7:34 AM

That's quite an interesting possibility. The other girl could've found Gildong family-looking because she once saw him when she was a child, disguised as a boy, and Noksoo's daughter. Then she would've come to resemble Noksoo when it comes to ambition lmao.

Imo, Okran crying after singing that song they all sang together back at Ikhwari (and not remembering it) seems much more of a crucial hint than her friend thinking Gildong looks familiar. Okran even felt sympathy for the caught thief than her friend, which could be another low-key hint.

I was super exasperated at the Eorini memory loss thing. I mean, show, did you really have to? On top of Eorini being older and practically unrecognizable, she can't even recognize her brothers? I really wanted to throw a chair at my screen that moment.

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PakalanaPikake

April 5, 2017 at 10:31 PM

@someone,

I interpreted Okran's crying while singing the Ikhwari song as a parallel to Gil-dong's tears and the inexplicable pain in his heart he felt after he recovered from the arrow wounds at the gibang. He didn't begin to consciously recall losing Eorini until he re-met the poachers he'd asked about his missing sister. Seeing the scrap of purple ribbon that Gong Hwa put aside then opened the floodgates of memory.

I suspect that Eorini may need to meet someone -- Song Sabu's spy?? -- to clear the cobwebs out of her memory. And maybe she'll need to see that flower shoe she lost.

The mischigas about Eorini's identity aggravates me, too. I'd like to think that Writer-nim has a good reason for doing it. Maybe we'll find out that she was adopted by Madam Jo or something heinous like that. (But I don't think she'd let any daughter of hers work as a maid in the palace!)

What are the most outlandish theories we can cook up for Eorini's missing years and current whereabouts? If you can't beat 'em, make fun of 'em. Fnord.

iamyou

April 5, 2017 at 7:20 PM

But if we're talking about the first appearance of Noksoo's child, shouldnt he/she is around Eorini's age back then? Like 12/13 yo, since at the palace they're friends *or kinda.

Ofc its another story if Noksoo has another child, but again that another child wouldnt find Gildong 'familiar'

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 11:01 PM

@iamyou

You're right. I guess it's back to square one of the Reply Eorini then.

9 latteholic

April 5, 2017 at 5:59 AM

I found it funny that Governor Eom seems to be the one who found the scattered siblings. I would have expected him to find Uhrini as well, but...

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WishfulToki

April 5, 2017 at 3:53 PM

Every time Sato learns vital information I panic, thinking he won't be able to fake his way out. Not a born actor (I mean the character, the actor is doing great of portraying someone who can't act :P ) I was worried he'd just yell 'Gil Hyun!' and bring disaster on us all.

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10 enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 8:31 AM

Guys, someone in the editing department is drunk or drugged, idk but they made a funny video about Yoon Kyun-sang's Footstool Neurosis lol.
《스페셜》 윤균상의 '발판' 노이로제...! 나는 발판이가 아니어라!
http://tv.naver.com/v/1572430?openType=nmp

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keiru

April 5, 2017 at 7:45 PM

I was laughing so hard when I watched it ! XD Glad I didn't wake my parents up

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11 Gambitfan

April 5, 2017 at 8:49 AM

*Breathes in, breathes out, tries to calm his chi, utterly fails and begins to bang his head against the wall*

YOU...HAVE...TEN...EPISODES...LEFT!!!!!!!

Jesus fucking Christ this show is starting to piss me off. The powers of the Mighty Child are vague, unexplained, and sent to the back burner for stupid side-story development, rendering the powers themselves, frankly, pointless. They should have just done what the fusion seguka version did; he was trained by a wuxia monk. Boom and done. But nope, you have a "child of destiny" who needs to use his powers correctly or they'll kill him...by apparently giving them to an enemy so they can have a fist fight.

The "Who is Eorini" (which apparently IS but ISN'T solved) is infuriating and stupid and everything I hate about convenient amnesia tropes.

The king is still in villain development when he should be having exotic death orgies in the palace...you know, like in history?!

And Hong Gil-Dong is still, still, STILL not yet a hero! How is this so hard?! How do old-school 100 episode saeguks have better pacing and character development then a 30 episode one?!

This last ten episodes better move at lightning speed, because that's about the only way to salvage this crap. I was looking forward to this show, because I thought it would lead to a renewal in quasi-fantasy martial art focused saeguks, not unlike the classic wuxia series that China doesn't do anymore because they have a CG-and-shitty-actor/actress fetish. Instead, we get this unfocused and deliberate mess. One that showed so much promise, and has just become...this.

Rant done. I'll still watch because at this point I've been in for a pound, might as well stay for the penny. But I'm not looking forward to the next episode like I had been.

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enkeys

April 5, 2017 at 10:09 AM

I guess this is what we got after we complaint so much about other shows not developing their side characters much /shrugs/

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WishfulToki

April 5, 2017 at 11:43 AM

Fair enough, I'm not a fan of Amnesiac Eurini either. But have a look at episode 20. It's good!

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keiru

April 5, 2017 at 6:41 PM

It really is a hard job to be a scriptwriter, director, PD, or whatever their jobs at the dramaland industry, isn't it? They are doing bad, people will hunt them down. They are doing average, people will dump their show. They are doing quite good, people are still complaining. Like, what is it that the viewers REALLY want?
Well, I know it's the viewers' rights to voice their opinion and they can NEVER please everybody anyway..

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Kiara

April 5, 2017 at 9:16 PM

If a writer or director does a bad job, viewers will avoid his/her dramas. If a writer or director does average, some will give him/her a chance. If a writer or director is good, viewers will follow his or her dramas imo.

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liina

April 6, 2017 at 12:50 AM

But isn't it the same with every other job as well. If you're doing a bad job you will be fired, if you're doing an average job you will never be promoted and you will have to hear complaints the whole day. And finally if you are doing a good job your boss will take the credits...

Actually directors and writers from TV Shows have quite an airbag that shields them. They still have the main actors that are the faces of the show. And you can be sure that at least 50 % of the audience will blame the actors for a bad drama. Most well known example is probably Park Shin-hye in Heirs. I'm not a fan of Park Shin-hye but even I feel sorry for her that that awfully written character still haunts her.
On the other hand actors will also steal the glory from writers and directors. For example you can hear a lot of voices praising Yeon Jung-hoon's acting in Vampire Prosecutor and Ji Hyun-woo's in Queen In-hyun's man, but you seldom hear praise for Kim Byung-soo for working well with his male actors and for his knowledge how to put his male actors in scene.

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liina

April 6, 2017 at 1:46 AM

Hm, if you are talking about the writer and director of Rebel in particular, I think you don't need to worry. There were no complaints about the directing at all.
And none of the writing issues were discussed as "bad writer issues" but flaws in the writing that lead to a lot of frustration. There wasn't a single "that writer is really bad, I will never ever watch one of his dramas again". So people know that there was/is potential in the writing.

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keiru

April 6, 2017 at 5:34 PM

@Kiara @Liina
Ah yes, thank you for your comments :) Tbh, my english is still lacking so I don't really know how to express my thought into words without making it too long and unnecessarily complicated. You were conveying my words in a better light :) Thank you

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Kiara

April 5, 2017 at 9:08 PM

Totally understand. I wonder if they were planning on adding more episodes? Trying to understand why it's dragging.

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Gambitfan

April 5, 2017 at 9:21 PM

The only thing I can think of for them to add more episodes is if they will end on a cliffhanger and announce a second season later in the year (or even next year). I don't think Korean dramas (or at least historical-based ones) play that game, but I don't know how else they can do it.

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Kiara

April 6, 2017 at 8:16 AM

Oh I was thinking that they might have planned for a 35 episodes but officially announcing only 30.
This is not the same but kind of like QSD. They planned a 70 episodes I believe but only did 62 since the rating started dropping after Mishil died.

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12 lunatic4kd

April 5, 2017 at 9:37 PM

This episode was fine in my books except for that GODAWFUL computer graphics done on the "herd" of horses rushing into the square. Come on, PD, you can get better CG than that. Yikes!!

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13 PakalanaPikake

April 7, 2017 at 12:44 AM

Thanks for the recap, dramallama!

I wanted to scrutinize the Viki subtitles before commenting, and am glad I did.

In the Haeng-rok, the first two names in the list are encoded with a single radical (Mok = "tree") which turns out to be a component of both surnames. Sneaky. Stick another radical above Mok, and you get Song. I'd assumed that the first name in the list would be Choongwongoon, and (apparently) bingo! Being of the royal house, he's a Yi -- the hanja for which also contains the Mok radical.

That's assuming that there's not another member of the royal family involved with Song Sabu. I keep remembering seeing him with Horny Uncle, however, so I'm not ruling out another surprise from left field. OTOH, his mission seems to be to redeem Choongwongoon, so it makes sense to me that the Grand Prince's would be the other abbreviated name.

Regarding the mysterious Geoin "Wheelbarrows," is anyone else getting a Milbon vibe? The touch with the surname hanja feels like a tip of the gat to TREE WITH DEEP ROOTS. I admit I have it on the brain, having just finished watching it. ;-)

The scenes with Yeonsangun's self-portrait signal a turning point in his self-esteem issues. He wonders how others view him, and then broods about it at various points in the episode. The seeds of his low self-esteem were sown by Dad as well as his mother's demise. Now he overcompensates by hosting lavish state dinners and hunting parties.

The King decides to bestow a royal concubine title on Nok-soo. She says it doesn't matter to her which rank it is. I think she says she's more interested in tasting a Ming watermelon as a way of emphasizing that whatever he decides is fine by her -- but he literally thinks she wants a taste treat. Somehow, in his mind one lousy melon morphs into importing mass quantities of exotic produce (or seed to grow it) from overseas to be served at a state dinner. What the heck?!

(Contrast this with Gil-dong's fulfilling Ga-ryung's request to marry with a down-home wedding. I think they both want to please their ladies, but the King goes way overboard.)

Why did he even have to mention menu items to his ministers? For budgetary reasons? Because Ming treats their watermelons like spices and tea, and jealously guards its monopoly? To avoid a diplomatic incident? It's ludicrous. Or maybe it's underscoring the humiliating petty wrangling and micro-management the nobles and scholars have subjected the king to for years. Because of past history, he cannot differentiate the ministers' valid concerns about drought and bankruptcy from partisan bullying.

After the King lumps everyone else into one convenient category (his slaves), his irritation at being second-guessed by his ministers grows ominously. During the scene in which he purposely overfills Minister of Rites Lee Sae Jwa's cup, I recalled reading that such a minister was exiled for spilling a drink. Here we go again.

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14 Link

April 7, 2017 at 10:32 AM

Thanks for the recap. I agree with you about how they pointed out the parallel between Gil Dong and the King and how each character draws completely opposite conclusions from the same initial observations. That sent chills down my spine and foreshadows the upcoming conflict so well.

I agree that the eorinie story is being drawn out a bit too much. And the Mori character kind of confuses me. I don't mind him being a mighty child but it would be more dramatic if we understood why he is so dedicated to the bad guys and hates the Gil Dong gang so much. Did I miss something?

But I still think this show is so good. I am afraid I will be heartbroken by the end.

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15 jlfc.21

December 24, 2017 at 10:17 PM

The curiosity is killing me who the real Uh Ri Ni is haha nonetheless I am very happy to see the Hong brothers I think that is the essence of this. More of their good works and winning the people’s hearts. I also like the song when they all get excited I wanted to listen to the whole song haha

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