Six Flying Dragons: Episode 14

by HeadsNo2

Unconventional love and unconventional confessions go hand in hand this hour, but it’s never just about the two people in the relationship, is it? Rejection drives Bang-won to make some really daring choices that he still probably would’ve made anyway, Bang-ji finds himself stuck in the past, and Jung Do-jeon continues to have his hands full with all the wayward youths he’s surrounded himself with. Social change with a side of emotional healing, anyone?

SONG OF THE DAY

SHINee – “욕 (Obsession)” [ Download ]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 
EPISODE 14 RECAP

Despite Yeon-hee calling him out on his hypocrisy, Bang-ji still pleads with her to stop doing such dangerous work—she’s not that kind of person. Yeon-hee bristles at this, and quickly returns that he’s talking like he knows her, which he doesn’t. And besides, people change.

“In life, many things happen, and the choices you make in those events eventually become part of who you are,” she reasons. “Like you, I’ve made my choice, and this is who I am now. Even now… I can’t even stand to see you. Leave.” Bang-ji cries some manly tears after she’s gone.

Lee Seong-gye seems doubtful when Jung Do-jeon claims his new plan is to bring the Haedong Gapjok onto their side, since he feels that the family he comes from is too lowborn for such a noble clan to even pay attention to. I love how Jung Do-jeon is all, “Gee, that does sound like a pickle. If only someone hadn’t broken off a certain alliance…”

“Are you blaming me?” Lee Seong-gye asks, all business. “Why wouldn’t I?” Jung Do-jeon returns, adding that he’ll probably blame him for a lot of things in the future, and he’ll just have to deal with it. His surly attitude causes the stoned-face Lee Seong-gye to break into a hearty laugh, which causes him to chuckle too. This is going to be fun.

Jung Do-jeon tasks old friend Jung Mong-joo with helping them get the Haedong Gapjok on Lee Seong-gye’s side, even though Jung Mong-joo has his doubts that they’ll risk making an enemy out of Minister Hong in the process. Jung Do-jeon isn’t concerned, and knows he’ll be able to convince them to make the right decision.

He then holds a meeting for his closest supporters in the New Joseon Cave, reminding the stately men (and Bang-won) gathered that the most important thing in creating a new nation is to never lose sight of what they want that nation to be.

It’s all quite formal until Boon-yi enters, causing Bang-won’s expression to sour ever so slightly. Jung Do-jeon introduces her as one of the two women fundamental to their cause.

And no sooner does Jung Mong-joo arrive for his preliminary persuasion meeting with the leader of Haedong Gapjok does Cho-young arrive with tidings from Minister Hong, who also seeks to curry the clan’s favor. Specifically, he sent his son’s Sajoo, or Four Pillars of Destiny (the year, month, day, and hour he was born), which symbolizes his desire to cement their alliance through an advantageous marriage.

Min Jae only has one daughter, the clever Min Da-kyung we met last hour, and it certainly seems like it’d be hell on earth for her to have Minister Hong as an in-law. Hopefully that won’t happen, since Jung Do-jeon lays out the compelling reasons why the Haedong Gapjok will choose Lee Seong-gye over the despicable Minister Hong. One of the biggest being that they’ll underestimate the great general, which will work to Team Lee’s advantage.

In a pleasantly surprising move, Daddy Min asks his daughter what she thinks about the options presented to them—who would she pick out of Minister Hong or Lee Seong-gye? Knowing, of course, that marrying into Hong’s family would make their family enemies of the public and Lee Seong-gye.

But Da-kyung thinks he’s asking the wrong question, since it’s really a choice between General Choi or Lee Seong-gye. She believes that there’ll be a revolt soon, and that General Choi will use the absence of Lee In-gyeom to push out both Minister Hong and Gil Tae-mi. Hanging on her every word, her father asks who she’d choose between the two great generals then, and without hesitation, she names Lee Seong-gye.

Unfortunately, Jung Mong-joo doesn’t think it’ll be that simple, as he explains the situation and marriage proposal to Team Lee. He worries that Daddy Min won’t be able to decline Minister Hong’s offer, which means…

“Can’t we just send a marriage request from our side?” Moo-hyul asks in the mess hall. It’s not like Lee Seong-gye doesn’t have any eligible sons, but old Master Hong explains why the highly noble and influential Haedong Gapjok wouldn’t want a marriage with the Lee family, despite the general’s great prestige and land. He still lacks power, which is what they’re really after.

Bang-won listens to the exchange in contemplative silence, while even Grandma gives her two cents on the issue by noting that if they were to send a marriage proposal, they’d be declaring open war on Minister Hong.

Da-kyung stresses to her father that a marriage with Minister Hong’s family will be fruitless when he won’t stay in power long, but they don’t have an official reason to decline. And that’s what Team Hong is banking on.

It’s only after lots of thought that Bang-won approaches Jung Do-jeon, looking nervously away from Boon-yi as he does so. He knows of a way to ensure Minister Hong won’t ally himself with Haedong Gapjok through a marriage.

We don’t need to hear it to know what he said, especially since Boon-yi follows him outside to praise him for his plan. Bang-won asks her if it really doesn’t matter to her if he goes through with it, and she has absolutely no problem with telling him it means nothing to her.

He lets out a cry of frustration, “It doesn’t matter at all to you, so I’m the only one going crazy worrying about you?” For every notch up the emotional ladder Bang-won climbs, Boon-yi turns that much colder as she flatly says he’s not the type to rescind a plan just because he’s worried about her.

And he doesn’t deny that she’s right about that, which just proves her point. “So stop whining just because you were worried about me for a while,” she adds, and Bang-won bristles at that. There are a lot of things he doesn’t understand in Goryeo, he says, but he doesn’t understand why he is the way he is to her the most.

But Boon-yi stifles a rueful laugh when he confesses that her rejection is driving him mad, and she shows him not even a shred of pity or understanding. If this is in a bid to get him to hate her and get over her, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Similarly, Gab-boon doesn’t understand why Bang-ji’s suddenly changed his mind about leaving, and he’s not offering much in the way of explanation other than saying he’s sorry.

Gab-boon storms off and sings the sad lament of the Green Mountain Special Tune, the same song that Bang-ji sang to move a whole crowd to tears. His voice joins hers in the song, and it’s quite beautiful to listen to. (Hurry up and get together, you two!)

Bang-won pays an unannounced visit to Daddy Min’s house, and Da-kyung goes to greet him instead of her father, planning to deny whatever request he has for an alliance.

Meanwhile, Moo-hyul innocently follows Boon-yi to the taffy stand where she exchanges secret messages, and tries to strike up a conversation with the pretty girl by talking about where Bang-won could’ve gone all dressed up.

He doesn’t know what a sore topic he’s hitting on, and he just makes it worse when he tells her that she shouldn’t speak so informally to Bang-won. “He’s a nobleman. He’s different from us,” Moo-hyul says, and Boon-yi says to herself more than him, “That’s right.”

But Moo-hyul just wants to get closer to her, and means well when he’s all, “You can say anything you want to me, just not him! You’ll get in trouble!” He doesn’t know what a chord this hits, and thinks that Boon-yi’s crying just because she’s worried about getting in trouble. “You can just do well from now on!” he offers lamely. Aww.

Back with Bang-won and Da-kyung, she formally declines his offer to join hands with his family, citing legitimate concerns with the possible benefits he listed. It’s only when the situation seems desperate that Bang-won wonders if her family is that scared of Minister Hong, and whether they can’t see that the tide of power is moving away from him. Which is exactly what Da-kyung has seen.

Then, in an unwavering voice, Bang-won adds, “Marry me.” Now he’s gone over the line, Da-kyung claims, but Bang-won persists and asks her again to marry him. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t reject the marriage proposal from Minister Hong’s family.

So Bang-won proposes that if there was a way to make Minister Hong’s proposal disappear like it never happened, would she marry him? Da-kyung allows herself a glimmer of hope as she asks, “Is there such a way?”

Bang-won returns to the New Joseon Cave with a smile on his face, and Jung Do-jeon knows that it means he must’ve been successful. Bang-won catches up to Boon-yi when she excuses herself, and she instantly switches into the much more formal jondaemal. It doesn’t make sense for her to speak informally to him when he’ll soon be the husband of a noblewoman.

Now it’s Bang-won’s turn to be dead serious as he tells her that he figured out why he was so angry—it wasn’t because she rejected him, but because her reason for doing so is a lie. He calls her out on the hypocrisy of slapping him even when she knew he was a nobleman, and her fearlessness in setting fire to the grain storage building.

She wasn’t afraid of power then, nor did she care about their social statuses. So how can she use that as an excuse now? “Those lies upset me,” he admits. “What is the real reason? You like me, so why do you tell me that you don’t?”

“I love you,” Boon-yi says suddenly, instantly taking all the angry wind out of Bang-won’s sails. “I think I do love you,” she clarifies, and she’s so calm about it that Bang-won’s first assumption is that she’s pulling his leg.

“You… you!” he points at her, trying to save face but failing. “I really love you. I won’t be able to help loving you until the day I die.” This has to be one of the more unique confessions I’ve ever seen, so devoid is it of the usual sentimentality. I like it.

When Minister Hong pays a visit to Daddy Min’s household, he witnesses him chastising his daughter over seeing a man in secret. The disgrace of it all gives Da-kyung an easy out when it comes to the marriage proposal from Hong, thus freeing her up to accept Bang-won’s proposal.

This is all business to her, and she stresses that her father shouldn’t hesitate to abandon her should everything go south with her soon-to-be new family. But she doesn’t think it will.

After reporting to Cho-young that Jung Do-jeon is running a secret organization (which is just enough information to make it seem like she’s doing her job), Yeon-hee realizes she’s being followed and confronts one of the men.

It’s Officer Nam, which causes her to drop her guard. But she still gets thrown in a burlap sack (“Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?”) and taken to Jung Do-jeon, while Bang-ji follows from a safe distance.

Officer Nam thinks he’s caught her spying for Cho-young, but Jung Do-jeon tells him that he already knew that, and has been using her as a double agent for a while now. But when Officer Nam doesn’t see her as someone to be trusted, it only takes Jung’s assurance that she has his full trust for Nam to back down.

Once he’s gone, Jung Do-jeon frees Yeon-hee from her bindings, apologizing for not telling Officer Nam sooner. “Do you… really trust me?” she asks uncertainly, only for Jung to amicably reply that he can’t help but trust her. It’s an unusually tender moment for them, and one that Bang-ji is sad to have witnessed.

He confronts her afterward, again about why she’s putting herself in danger and why she shouldn’t. Does she trust Jung Do-jeon that much? (Asks the man who trusted him enough to kill someone based on an overheard remark.) But it’s not Jung she trusts, she claims. It’s the world he’s trying to create that she’s put all her faith in.

“You are not that kind of person, Yeon-hee,” Bang-ji stresses. Again. It’s clear he’s still stuck in the past, since he refuses to believe that Yeon-hee is any different from the girl he once knew.

Yeon-hee: “Yes, I was a young girl. What does it mean to live in turbulent times? It’s hell for the weak. Turbulent times exist in different forms for the weak. The weak that never get left out… are the women and children. That’s right, while I was a child, I was also a woman and a young girl. I had no power as a child, and as a woman… there was something [those men] desired. So that’s how I got stepped on in that brutal period of chaos.”

Bang-ji looks desperate for her to stop now and say no more, but she continues: “Why must I be in this line of work, you ask? Because I, who was a victim as a young girl in those turbulent times… rather than running away, do you think that I don’t have a reason to step up and fight? The ‘us’ that we once knew… no longer exists anywhere in this world.” Ouch. Well, she’s not lying—he did run away.

Despite the tears streaming down both their faces, Yeon-hee tells him that while it’s too late for her, he can still save his sister from going down the same path. Bang-ji thought his sister was dead, so imagine his shock when Yeon-hee tells him that she’s alive and in the same organization. “So take her and leave. I beg of you.”

Minister Hong and Gil Tae-mi find Lee In-gyeom and General Choi (I know, so many names) in the gibang, and though Lee may have stepped down, he’s not about to start bowing his head.

He even laughs when he realizes that Hong has no idea he’s been made a fool of regarding the marriage proposal, and he’s not the first person to tell him so. It was obvious to everyone else but Hong, so he has to ask Jukryong to find out just who Da-kyung was supposedly in love with.

While in training, Moo-hyul almost forgets that the whole reason he left home was to fight the Viper and gain credibility, but he’s not exactly upset about not achieving that goal when he got to meet Boon-yi.

Little does he know that the man who suddenly appears before him is the Viper, though he does grow suspicious when Bang-ji asks after Boon-yi. In lieu of seeing her, Bang-ji leaves a letter.

When Minister Hong finds out that he was duped, and that Lee Bang-won was the man behind Da-kyung’s profession of love, he knows it’s all because of Jung Do-jeon. And he wants him dead.

Moo-hyul tells Bang-won about the shady looking dude that came looking for Boon-yi the night before, and gives him the letter he left for her. Bang-won takes one look at it before telling Moo-hyul to keep it a secret from Boon-yi, and to follow him outside.

Bang-won heads to the meeting place Bang-ji set out in the letter, which he signed as her orabeoni. He’s suspicious only because Boon-yi told him her brother was dead, and is more than surprised when he recognizes Bang-ji as the Viper.

Moo-hyul has only to hear his name before he attacks Bang-ji, and throws him backward with the force of one blow. He’s determined to defeat the Viper in order to gain recognition, and tells the protesting Bang-won that this is the only time he won’t listen to him.

But all that determination melts the instant Bang-won yells, “He’s Boon-yi’s older brother!” Which leaves Moo-hyul to pout that the man he wants to badly to defeat happens to be the older brother of the girl he likes. (He doesn’t say that last part, but we all know it’s true.)

Looking at him now, Bang-won can see the boy he snuck into Lee In-gyeom’s manor with as a child. Bang-ji isn’t interested in reminiscing, and only wants to take his sister away from all this—he’s not going to stand back and let his sister be manipulated.

Bang-won understands where he’s coming from just as much as he knows Bang-ji doesn’t know his own sister. Boon-yi will never leave because she believes in what they’re doing more than anyone, Bang-won says, which only riles Bang-ji more.

He thinks Bang-won and Boon-yi have bought into an illusion, but Bang-won corrects him: “Everything made by man in this world was once considered an illusion created in his mind. But when people gather around it and pour their blood, sweat, and tears into the idea… it becomes truth. We’re striving to create a truth that has not yet been seen in this land.”

This is a speech he’s heard some of before, since he remembers all Bang-won’s high talk in the New Joseon Cave. Bang-ji knows how much blood will need to be spilled in order for Jung Do-jeon to carry out his grand plan, and Bang-won had been completely fine with the idea of sacrificing whoever and whatever was necessary for the cause.

Now, Bang-won clarifies that statement, because everyone is included as a possible sacrifice in the times they live in. “We’re going to create a world where people are not helplessly sacrificed,” he claims, but again, Bang-ji doesn’t buy it. Even if he were to create that world, it wouldn’t be one he or Boon-yi would ever see, because nobles like him always use people like his sister before casting them aside.

Even if that’s so, Boon-yi won’t ever leave, and there’s nothing either of them can do about that. She’ll never give up on the world Jung Do-jeon hopes to establish. So the only solution Bang-ji can think of to free both Yeon-hee and Boon-yi… is to kill Jung Do-jeon.

Speaking of, Yeon-hee recognizes an assassin wandering through town, and finds out pretty easily that he was sent by Jukryong’s temple and plans to be at the spot where Jung Do-jeon and Lee Seong-gye are set to meet. Ruh roh.

Bang-ji goes to the same spot for possibly the same purpose, but is welcomed by Jung Do-jeon with open arms. Though Yeon-hee and Bang-won have never met, she knows who he is and runs to him for help and men—she’s worried that Minister Hong has sent an assassin to kill Jung Do-jeon.

Meanwhile, Bang-ji tells Jung Do-jeon that the only reason he clung to life after multiple chances to die was because he believed in what Jung had said about killing Baek Yoon and bringing an end to corruption. And then he did that, and everything got worse.

Now, Bang-ji doesn’t care about whatever Jung Do-jeon wants to do, he just wants his people—Yeon-hee and Boon-yi—out of it. “If they do not leave your side… then I will make it so you leave this world.”

Jung Do-jeon just nods at his threat, because he understands him. He knows what it’s like to feel guilt over being unable to protect someone, because he wasn’t able to protect those children in the cave. He went so crazy with guilt that he turned the sword he’d pointed at himself out toward the world, out at Goryeo.

“And that’s when I realized… that I was not responsible for those children. That this truly was not my burden to bear. It wasn’t an excuse, that I truly couldn’t protect them. That it was not me who wasn’t able to protect them!

I will take that responsibility to those who couldn’t protect those children, to that world. I don’t need anyone! If one has killed, one must repay with their life! I… will put an end to Goryeo!”

He tries to comfort Bang-ji in the same way he comforted himself, by telling him that whatever happened likely wasn’t his fault. A bit petulantly, Bang-ji says that he never said it was, which Jung Do-jeon knows is a lie. Laying a comforting hand on Bang-ji’s shoulder, he simply says, “Forgive yourself.”

Bang-ji lets out an anguished cry and draws his sword—he won’t be fooled by him anymore. Then, as formally as he can, he begs Jung to leave Yeon-hee and Boon-yi out of his plans.

And then, when he’s far enough away, Bang-ji allows himself to break down. That’s when he seems to suspect something, just as the assassin draws closer to Jung Do-jeon.

Everyone starts running for him at the same time—Boon-yi on her own, then Bang-won and Moo-hyul. Even Lee Seong-gye is ready to drop everything and rush to Jung Do-jeon’s defense.

But Bang-ji is the closest, and senses the whiff of bloodthirstiness and murder in the air. He draws his sword…

 
COMMENTS

I’m really glad we got that shot of Bang-ji to think over for the next week, since he needed to go out on more of a positive note. Working out how to feel about him can be tough sometimes, and while it’s an enjoyable conflict to have, it does leave me feeling a bit stranded sometimes. I want to get him, and there’s always a part of me that does, but he sure doesn’t make it easy.

And when it comes down to it, he’s actually one of the least complicated of the six dragons when it comes down to baseline motivations. No one can beat Moo-hyul in terms of derpish and completely lovable simplicity, but Bang-ji occupies a different space entirely by paring down complex concepts into either one shade of black or one shade of white, with very little room for grey areas in between.

He’s the kind of person that’s all in until he isn’t, and that mindset tends to change easier than you’d think for someone who shows so much determination when he sets his mind to it. He spent six years believing in Jung Do-jeon’s plan, enough to kill someone for it, but the second that didn’t yield nation-changing results was the second he was out. Now he acts as though he never believed in that cause in the first place, and that anyone who does (Yeon-hee, Boon-yi) are just brainwashed sheeple. And he used to be one of them! Unofficially, at least.

Which isn’t to say that he can’t amend his viewpoints or find meaning elsewhere, only that he’s just so very, very lost. The one thing he’d chosen to believe in for the sake of having a reason to live is gone, and though he tries to fight the forces pulling him back into Jung Do-jeon’s orbit, he’s filling the void now left in his life with outdated notions about the people he wants so desperately to keep close to him. No one knows better than him how much six years can change someone, so why does he act like he doesn’t understand how the passage of time could’ve affected Yeon-hee or Boon-yi?

In fact, it was when Yeon-hee called Bang-ji out for his hypocrisy that I sat up and started paying more attention when it came to her, since she understood how to put her life experiences into perspective. Because however much the world they live in has beaten her down for reasons unfortunately still relevant today, she’s choosing to face her fears head on, much the same way Boon-yi and the other dragons are doing. Bang-ji just has to learn how to forgive himself, like Jung Do-jeon so wisely said, and to find hope again. Luckily, he’ll have plenty of time to do just that.

RELATED POSTS

• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 13
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 12
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 11
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 10
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 9
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 8
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 7
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 6
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 5
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 4
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 3
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 2
• Six Flying Dragons: Episode 1