Seven Day Queen: Episode 20 (Final)
by javabeans
Wow, that was perfect. I wasn’t sure what to expect of the finale, which felt predictable in a way but still ended up producing something surprisingly lovely and poignant. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that it ended beautifully given that it’s been so strong all the way through, but it’s such a rare thing to feel like a show got an ending pitch-perfect, and especially so when we’re dealing with a historical piece whose characters’ endings are well-known.
I cried buckets watching the finale but feel really good about it; they weren’t tears of sadness or misery, but the kind that hit you for being so emotionally resonant, so thoughtful and fitting while also honoring the trajectories of these characters. I’m not sure when we’ll get another show this good, but I feel really satisfied and fulfilled having lived with this one for the past couple months.
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FINAL EPISODE RECAP
After admitting to helping the former king and refusing to vow loyalty to the current one, Chae-kyung is led through the streets, tied up as a criminal, for public execution.
She thinks to Yeok that she now understands her father’s words about their unhappy fate. “But given that we met and loved, we must take responsibility for that,” she adds.
These are the words Yeok reads in the letter she left for him, heavy-hearted, until his eunuch bursts in frantically to alert him to news: Chae-kyung’s execution has been moved up.
Chae-kyung is brought to the gallows set up in the square, while Yeok tears out of the palace on horseback after hearing that it was his mother who pushed for this change, having argued that Chae-kyung couldn’t be trusted not to try something.
“In this life, I will protect that love with my death,” Chae-kyung narrates as she stands before the noose. She looks up at a bird flying overhead as a cloth bag is placed over her head. “If I am born again, I will not meet you then.”
The noose is placed around her neck. Yeok charges toward the scene with moments to spare, yelling for a halt to the proceedings. He removes Chae-kyung from the noose, and she slumps against him in shock. Untying her ropes, Yeok helps her off the gallows, ordering the guards to step aside.
In the pawnshop, Seok-hee and Gwang-oh discuss the search to find the fugitive Yeonsangun, noting where he was last seen and deciding to search the homes of his relatives. Myung-hye joins them to inform them that while Chae-kyung was saved from immediate execution, Yeok will find himself in trouble if they don’t do something quickly.
After they leave, Myung-hye thinks back to an earlier conversation with Yeok, where he’d told her that Seo-no’s grave was moved yesterday and she hadn’t been there to see it. She made the excuse that she was busy with other work, but he’d called her out on the lie—she was spotted near a posting station that Yeonsangun had used. He’d already guessed that she was involved in the attack on Yeonsangun, and had asked why she did it.
“Is this the world you wanted?” he’d asked. “How did we come to this?” He’d given her the chance to right her wrong, calling this the last time.
Yeok remains at Chae-kyung’s bedside, tending her while she sleeps. Seok-hee arrives to report that the true culprits behind Yeonsangun’s attack have been captured.
The three leaders in that attack, including Yeonsangun’s closest eunuch, have been rounded up and brought before the entire court. Deputy Commander (now Minister) Park looks particularly uneasy as Yeok demands an explanation, and the men admit to receiving orders to send Yeonsangun toward Minister Shin’s home. Yeok insists on the identity of their leader, and the eunuch names Park.
The court murmurs in surprise, and Park drops to his knees, declaring that he is being falsely accused—the eunuch had been loyal to Yeonsangun and is accusing him out of revenge. The other ministers argue that Yeok cannot believe the words of the perpetrators over the words of a hardworking minister like Park.
Yeok sees that he won’t win this way, and agrees to carry out a thorough investigation. The three criminals are carted off to prison, while Yeok shoots Park a hard look.
Park goes to Myung-hye and delivers a slap across the face, knowing she was the source, asking if she means to give up being queen to Chae-kyung. Myung-hye replies that she’s not giving it up when it was never hers to begin with (what is this, sense coming from Myung-hye?), but Park orders her to shut up and leave for China, saying that he has ways of fulfilling his goals without her.
Yeok confronts the queen dowager about having Chae-kyung killed, asking how he could live on if that happened. She asks if he and Chae-kyung could really live without doubts and resentments creeping in between them, pointing out that he’s already wracked with guilt over her parents’ deaths.
Yeok replies that she’s right—there was a time when he couldn’t look Chae-kyung in the eye. “However, through words, and touching hands, and embracing hearts, there would come a time when scratched hearts would melt. A time when things are better. In these times, being together and saying ‘I love you’ and holding each other is what spouses do. That is what Chae-kyung told me.”
He begs his mother to leave them be.
Myung-hye walks through the empty pawnshop thinking of the first time she met Seo-no here, and thinks, “I thought wrong. I thought that since you were not with me anyway, it did not matter how I lived.” She thinks of how Seo-no explained to her that love meant respecting the other person, and continues, “The moment I saw Shin Chae-kyung, I realized that to really love is to honor the other person’s wishes. Even if that means they may die.”
She remembers Seo-no’s execution, thinking, “And so, the Shin Chae-kyung you thought so dear—in saving her, I will repay my debt to you.” Myung-hye takes Seo-no’s head sash, which she has kept all this while, and ties it around her own head.
Yeok returns to Chae-kyung’s bedside, and when she wakes and registers what happened, she bolts up in alarm. She asks why he saved her, more worried about what it means for him than for her. He asks despairingly why she admitted guilt to a false charge when she should have insisted on her innocence through the end. “How could your first thought be to die?” he asks.
“What if there is something I fear more than death?” she asks. “What if there is something I can only protect by giving up my life? What must I do then?” She asks why she can’t be his person fully, saying that she hates herself for the first time, feeling pathetic for being who she is. Yeok gathers her to him as she sobs.
When Yeonsangun stirs awake, he’s shocked to find himself in the pawnshop with Myung-hye. He recalls collapsing in pain after fleeing Minister Shin’s home, and seeing her standing over him with her sword. He eyes her warily and asks after Chae-kyung, and Myung-hye informs him that she’s safe.
He asks her to let him go, and she asks coldly, “Is there a reason you must live any longer?” Yeonsangun grits out that he started this, and he must finish it.
Myung-hye brings over the old crutch, explaining that Yeok had used it for a long time: “Now it is your turn.”
Nanny nods off at Chae-kyung’s bedside clutching a spoon, and fumbles for it when it falls out of her hand. Chae-kyung hands it to her, and Nanny explains that it was Chae-kyung’s mother who’d instructed her to always be watchful over Chae-kyung’s food and to use a silver spoon, lest someone try to poison her. The mention brings both Nanny and Chae-kyung to tears, and Nanny holds her tight, saying mournfully, “This is not how to live. Even if you only live a day, you shouldn’t live like this.”
The three prisoners wind up dead in their cells of apparent suicide, although Gwang-oh supposes that it was Park’s work. How convenient that the people who could testify in Chae-kyung’s defense are all dead. Park presses again to depose Chae-kyung, saying it’s dangerous not to act while Yeonsangun may be plotting against them.
Yeok cuts him off, stating fiercely that the next one to accuse the queen without evidence will be punished for showing contempt of royalty. Park drops to the ground, and the others follow suit in appealing to the king. Yeok storms out of the room, and Park thinks to himself that he isn’t going to give up after working so hard.
That night, Minister Park convenes his Snail Bride army to say that their king has closed his ears to his advisers and the people, and that they must show him the will of the people and the heavens. He sends them on their task, and Myung-hye catches the tail end of that and looks upset.
She tries to reason with her uncle about not making an enemy of the king, but Park cuts her off, telling her she’s got a long way to go. He seems to have already written Myung-hye off, saying that she’s not his only niece. He calls in his adopted daughter, whom he intends to make the new queen rather than Myung-hye.
When Yeok visits Chae-kyung’s quarters, she greets him warmly and sits him down to ask if he fought with his ministers again, having heard that they’re arguing over her. Yeok is upset with the servants for telling her that, but she just tells him calmly that while she doesn’t know much about palace customs, there is one among ordinary households that she does know: that a woman cutting the ribbon from her outer jacket is a request to part ways.
Chae-kyung snips the ribbon on her top and places it in Yeok’s hand. He tries to refuse, but she holds his hand in hers and says, “If I do not cut ties first, you will never let me go. I wish for a divorce. Please allow it.”
Yeok looks stricken, and says that she knows his answer. “Reconciliation, recovery, courage, resolve, promises, consolation—there are so many things we can do together, for each other. Why, without even trying them all? Why ask to separate first?” He won’t do it.
Chae-kyung asks him to think back to when he pretended to be someone else and pushed her away with hurtful lies. She knows he was thinking of her safety then, and tells him that his safety is all she hopes for. She tells him that Seo-no, her parents, and countless citizens are on the path he will now walk as king: “After you have accomplished your goal, after that, you can come to me.”
“Why can we not take that path together?” Yeok asks. She says they are both under constant threat of death, and will continue to be so as long as they are together. She reminds him that he is the nation’s leader, and must now be afraid of death. She begs him to survive: “Perhaps the biggest consolation we can give one another is staying alive. Thus, for us to live in good health for a long time will become proof of how much we love each other.”
Oof, that’s powerful stuff. Chae-kyung keeps smiling through her tears, and though his face looks bleak, Yeok says that if he lives a hundred years, he will have loved her a hundred years. “Even if we are not together,” he adds, “if we just stay alive, that alone…” He breaks down, but finishes through his tears, “…means we loved.”
She agrees, telling him that it’s like leaving home to do important work, but “that house remains where it always was.” He asks if that home can’t be here, but she replies, “This is the queen’s home. I am just Shin Chae-kyung.” She wipes the tears from his face and kisses him sweetly, then holds him as he sobs in her arms. Ugh, my tears won’t stop.
In the city, people read flyers posted on walls, which seem to have something to do with Minister Park, judging from the side-eyes he gets as he travels past. Murmurs break out when he arrives at court.
Yeok arrives and addresses the disturbance that occurred overnight regarding Snail Bride activities, and asks Minister Park what he knows of it. Park declares righteously that on his way here, he witnessed citizens united in expressing their discontent about the king, and that the king cannot ignore the voice of the people.
He doesn’t seem entirely up to date, however, and Yeok tosses over a stack of flyers, telling him he must have seen wrong. Yeok reads aloud a list of Park’s corrupt activities, starting with profiting personally from the deaths of the three criminals (whose estates he claimed for dirt-cheap).
Aha, in flashback we see that the Snail Brides he’d sent out were diverted by Gwang-oh and Seok-hee, who burned the original flyers and replaced them with their own.
As Yeok reads off Park’s misdeeds, Park insists on his innocence. Yeok calls for the witness to be brought forth, and in walk several noblemen whom Park immediately disavows knowing. Except then, another figure enters the room: Myung-hye. Ohhh snap. Dammit, do I have to like you now?
Park glowers at his niece, and Yeok asks if he means to have all the witnesses killed again. This time, Park doesn’t say a peep, even when Yeok orders him stripped of his position and his ill-gotten gains reclaimed.
When Yeok sentences him to exile, Park insists again that he’s innocent, but Yeok says that he will leave the matter here if Park acknowledges his wrongs and repents—but if he digs his heels in and continues to deny it, Yeok will take it as an insult against the king and treat him as a traitor to be put to death.
Chae-kyung leaves the palace with only Nanny at her side, and pauses for a last look around. The queen dowager finds her here, and Chae-kyung drops to the ground in a formal bow and apologizes for causing her worry.
The queen dowager tells her not to be sorry, and her court lady hands over a gift. She tells Chae-kyung that protecting each other through separation is also a kind of fate. Chae-kyung accepts that advice with a bow, and walks out of the palace for good.
Yeok walks over to see Chae-kyung in a good mood, until he sees the doors shuttered. Racing inside, he finds the rooms emptied and Chae-kyung gone. Reeling, he falls to the floor.
Chae-kyung steps through the palace gates, which close behind her. She looks up at the sky, looking almost at peace.
Yeok sits alone, holding her cut ribbon, thinking, “From now on, each of my days will be spent loving and missing you. To love and miss you more, I will live on.”
Chae-kyung thinks, “And so, in order to protect each other, we find our own way.”
Yeonsangun staggers along in pain, clinging to Yeok’s old crutch, and collapses just shy of reaching a house in the mountains. Ah, he has returned to his exile house, and the soldiers stationed there rush to apprehend him.
Yeonsangun gasps, “I never ran away. And thus the queen did not help me flee.” He instructs them to be sure to convey those words.
Seok-hee delivers the message to Yeok, as well as the news that Yeonsangun surrendered himself. Yeok thinks to himself that his brother must have wanted to save Chae-kyung too.
In exile, Yeonsangun reaches for the chest he’d taken from the palace, pulling out a letter that he struggles to read through blurred vision. He reads Minister Shin’s letters, which are full of concern and urge him to take care of his health.
Yeonsangun takes a few feeble steps, then closes his eyes and falls…
It’s Yeok who catches him before he hits the ground, calling out, “Hyungnim!” When Yeonsangun makes out Yeok’s face, he recoils first, but then reaches out a hand as though to touch Yeok’s face. That aggravates his stab wound, though, and he doubles over with pain.
And so Yeok reaches out and takes his brother’s hand in his, raising it to his cheek. He says, “I have come. I am here to see you.”
Yeonsangun seems moved, but then wrenches his hand away and tells him to go, accusing Yeok of coming to mock him. But then he does collapse, and Yeok lurches forward to help him.
Yeok sits at his bedside until Yeonsangun wakes. Although he opens his eyes, he reaches out blindly, wheezing anxiously until he feels Yeok take his hand in his.
Yeonsangun says despairingly that everything was in vain—he’d wanted to prove their father wrong, only to turn into the tyrant his father predicted. He became like his mother, who had become blinded by jealousy and was the cause of her own ousting.
“Yeok-ah, I did not hate you,” he says. “I hated the me that was reflected in your eyes. And the eyes of Chae-kyung, whose eyes looked exactly like yours—I was ashamed to see those eyes, so I tried to kill you and ruin you. It was me I hated and resented.” He supposes that this is his punishment for trying to drive a wedge between them.
His breathing grows increasingly labored, and he wheezes out, “The punishment I did not fully receive in this life, I will receive the rest after death.” Yeonsangun’s breathing slows and his eyes grow slack, and he envisions his father motioning to him from the doorway.
“He has come,” Yeonsangun says. “At last, as a father, he holds a hand out to me.”
Yeonsangun extends a hand toward the vision of his father, a smile on his face, and Yeok looks toward the door quizzically. Then Yeonsangun’s head drops lifelessly onto Yeok’s shoulder. Yeok sobs over his body and wishes him a peaceful rest.
Chae-kyung joins her aunt, the former queen, in her home of exile, which is where both women hear the news of Yeonsangun’s death. The queen dowager receives word too, and actually looks saddened by it. She takes out a hairpin from her drawer and remembers how Yeonsangun gave it to her as a birthday gift years ago. She’d been pleased to receive it then, and now, with tears running down her face, she removes the pin from her hair and places Yeonsangun’s pin there instead.
“In the next life, be born as my daughter,” she cries, thinking of how Yeonsangun had suggested changing places with Yeok, offering to live as her son and Chae-kyung’s husband. “I will cherish you greatly then.”
On his way back from visiting Yeonsangun, Yeok stops to rest the horses, though that’s mostly an excuse to drop by to see Chae-kyung. But when his eunuch announces him, Chae-kyung merely offers horse feed, and Yeok is disappointed to hear that she didn’t ask after him.
Yeok wanders into the courtyard while she prepares the feed, and she ducks out of sight when she sees him. He notices the open door, though, and approaches knowing she’s there. She stops him before he opens the door, keeping him at arm’s length with the container of feed between them.
She offers him the container, and when he places his hand over hers, she drops the container in her agitation. He asks to see her face, begging her to just say the word: “Then I will open this door and run to you.”
Chae-kyung fights her own longing to remind him that they aren’t like others, and that they agreed to love each other without being together. She asks if he is already crumbling.
And so Yeok leaves without seeing her face. But as Chae-kyung replays his words in her mind—“Do you truly want me to leave like this?”— that sparks something in her, and she runs outside shouting, “Husband!”
He’s already gone, but Yeok hears her cry from the road and whirls around. Racing back toward her, he and Chae-kyung run into each other’s arms and he confesses, “I can’t do it, Chae-kyung. I can’t live without you.”
She says, “Don’t go. Let us be together.”
And then, it seems sometime later, we see them getting dressed and clearing their bedding together, and Yeok laughs over the too-short arms of the clothing she made him. Later still, he paces outside the house nervously until Nanny declares that a son has been born. Wait, is this real? This had better be real. If this is some La La Land bullshit there will be flipped tables.
Skipping ahead some more, the happy couple watches their children play—one son and one daughter. We see Yeok and Chae-kyung sleeping peacefully side by side, hands touching, and Yeok reaches out—but finds the space next to him empty.
And then, suddenly, Yeok wears a beard and wakes alone in the king’s bedchamber at the palace. “Chae-kyung-ah,” he says sadly into the empty room. (So that was a dream?! Arrrgaksdf;lajksdfljka. Hulksmash!)
Chae-kyung writes Yeok a letter, thanking him for wanting to reinstate her position but telling him that he already has a son, and even if she were made queen again, any son she might have would be caught up in succession politics. She reminds him of his tragic relationship with his brother, not wanting to relive that strife.
We see Chae-kyung lying down on a bolt of fabric while Nanny measures out a set of clothing for Yeok, based on Chae-kyung’s very hazy measurements of handsbreadths. Yeok receives those clothes, as Chae-kyung’s letter continues, “How painful must it have been? How afraid must you have been? We must not make more of that tragedy with our own hands.”
Yeok wears the clothing proudly that night, and as he looks up at the night sky, so does she. Her letter finishes, “That you live well, for our sake, is enough for me.”
Then, we’re 38 years later in the year 1544, Yeok’s 39th year of rule.
Yeok is an elderly king now, and he calls faithful Eunuch Song to his bedside. A palanquin is taken to the palace, and it’s an elderly women who sits inside—Chae-kyung, still wearing her wedding ring. With the king’s health weak, the order is given to open the gates and not restrict entries.
Yeok is assisted to his feet and dresses in that same piece of clothing Chae-kyung made for him years ago. He waits alone in his chamber, anticipating Chae-kyung’s arrival, and she makes her way through the palace corridor toward him.
When the doors open, it’s familiar adult Chae-kyung we see—and then we go younger still as the teenage Yeok beams at teenage Chae-kyung and pats the seat next to him.
He calls her Bird Poop like he used to, asking if she waited long. She pouts that she’s used to waiting, then smiles up at him.
They transition into the adult couple, and they gaze at each other for long, tender moments. “Am I too late?” she asks.
He shakes his head, saying, “You’re not the least bit late.”
She says he endured many struggles, and praises him for holding on through it all. “Because I knew you were waiting, I could hold on,” he tells her. “Because I knew you were there, in that place, I could protect my place.”
He lays his head in her lap, and she thinks, “Now I will be at your side. So, please rest now, at home.”
“Now I am finally home,” Yeok thinks, smiling with his eyes closed.
“I love you,” she says, using three different words that mean love. “I love you. I love you, Husband.”
“You could just say one,” he replies teasingly, just as he’d done all those years ago.
JAVABEANS’ COMMENTS
That has to be the most beautiful depiction of a death scene I’ve seen in a long time, maybe ever. I had a brief moment of anger at the fantasy dream sequence that could have been seen as teasing us with what could have been, and that really hurt. But I’m also recalling previous moments when I’d yelled at a withholding drama, “C’mon, throw me a bone here! Can’t I just get a crumb of satisfaction?” And I feel like that wistful what-we-could-have-had moment was something of a crumb, as well as a stark reminder of what Yeok’s life would have been like for the next forty years, and how long that time was for him to hold on.
Historically we know Jungjong (Yeok’s posthumous name) was not considered a strong king, but I find it touching that in this version, it didn’t matter so much that he wasn’t the best king ever—it was enough that he did his best with what he had. We know he never really wanted to be king but felt it was his duty to do so and rescue the people from a terrible tyrant, so he couldn’t abdicate his position and subject the country to more turmoil. Nor could he be an iron-willed dictator like his brother, which is both a strength and a flaw, because while he didn’t have his brother’s violent rages, he would always be beholden to the powerful politicians who put him on the throne. He was caught between a rock and a hard place for forty years and did his best to live with it. There’s a really bittersweet, realistic beauty in that, and I was surprised by my tears when Chae-kyung praised him not for being a good king or a powerful leader, but for enduring.
I did wonder whether Yeonsangun would be made too sympathetic, too late in the game—it’s not something I would have felt too comfortable with, after he’d been shown going on murder sprees and abdicating all his responsibility as ruler, if not the position outright. I think what feels appropriate is that he acknowledged himself that he hadn’t met his full punishment, and would take it on willingly in whatever came next. There’s something dissatisfying about delivering a punishment to an unrepentant evildoer (Minister Park can die in a hundred fires and it wouldn’t be enough), but once they feel true remorse, it changes things. It shifts from a matter of meting out punishment onto someone else to that person locking themselves up in their own prison of guilt, and that, at least, seems enough to me.
I found the queen dowager’s response to Yeonsangun’s death a fitting reaction, even if it doesn’t make me warm up to her all that much. It’s just that in her world, showing love is a weakness that could be exploited, so for her viewing Yeonsangun as an enemy was an act of self-defense. It’s only in his death that she allowed herself to feel that grief over him—and even so, I would bet that she wouldn’t have done anything differently toward him in this life.
The irony is that Yeok and Chae-kyung may have been the only two people who would not have wielded love as a weapon or seen it as a liability, but they didn’t get a chance to prove that through living the example—or maybe it’s not ironic at all, because they were the exceptions to the rule, and they couldn’t stop other people from using their love against them.
One of the things that make Seven Day Queen such a compelling love story is in the way that it isn’t a passionate, romance-wins-all story. It’s about love, certainly, but I found it particularly powerful that these two had a bond that transcended romance—in this love story, it’s the mundane, everyday touches that lent the relationship power, not the grand gestures. All they really ever wanted was a situation that allowed them to be in the same space at the same time, and the drama did a fantastic job in weaving its plot so as to make that feel impossible. Who knew that such a simple conflict could be such a driving force?
It’s like Chae-kyung said toward the end regarding the concept of home, that she isn’t the queen, she is just Chae-kyung. And you get the sense that the throne wasn’t what Yeok was, either—it was just his necessary work that took him away from home until he could return to it in the end. It makes the time spent apart feel both astonishingly long (39 years! More time apart than they spent knowing each other!) and also, in the long run, inconsequential. How cuttingly poignant to have created a scenario in which the cause of your pain—separation—also becomes the thing that proves your love. By their metric, the longer they’re apart, the longer they have spent loving each other, and then it all ends peacefully by returning “home.” I mean, I didn’t even know there was that much silver lining to be mined out of their miserable predicament, but it makes it all the more admirable that they found a way to love no matter the circumstance, rather than give up in despair. An example to aspire to!
GIRLFRIDAY’S COMMENTS
I think this drama may have been perfect. I didn’t even know there WAS such a thing! At some point during the hour I thought maybe I had cried all there was to cry, but then that fantasy sequence hit and I turned into a sobbing, wailing mess, screaming at my screen, “I know you’re a fantasy! Stop telling me lies!” That glimpse of a happy life that couldn’t be just broke me.
I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better finale, because I was worried that they’d mess with history too much to fake a happy ending that I would know in my heart was false. That would’ve ruined what this drama worked so hard to build. Instead we got the loveliest possible version of bittersweet love and lifelong devotion that will linger in my memory ten times longer than a simple happy ending would have. That final sequence with the three generations of actors portraying our couple was a thing of beauty, and I loved how the drama began with the queen leaving the palace, and ended with the perfect bookend of her return.
I was so impressed by the heroine of this story, and for the way that she was consistently written as a strong and dignified woman who chooses her own fate. While political machinations and enemies were directly responsible for tearing our lovers apart, it’s so important to me that at every step of the way, they weren’t torn apart by powers outside of their control or moved around like pawns in some larger game; in the telling of this story, they were individuals who chose to love and sacrifice and fight, in whatever way they could. That made me so appreciative of the writing, especially when it came to the heroine and the way she acted on her love. And I’m such a fan of the fact that in our story, Chae-kyung is the hero who saves Yeok and finds a way for them to live and love.
I’ve never really had this thought before after finishing a drama, but I wish this director, writer, and cast would stay together forever and just make show after show. They could do a modern rom-com next, and then an action thriller after that, and then a fantasy sageuk, and then a melo… Maybe they should wait a few years on the melodrama. I think I’ve spent all my tears for the next five years on this one.
RELATED POSTS
- Seven Day Queen: Episode 1
- Premiere Watch: My Sassy Girl, Seven Day Queen, Best Hit, Duel
- Arranged marriages and love at first sight for the Seven Day Queen
- Queen for a week, heartbreak to last a lifetime
- Seven Day Queen’s young lovers realize their tragic fates
- Elegant tears and waking forbidden hearts in Seven Day Queen
- Thwarted kisses and rom-com hijinks in Seven Day Queen
- Blood, thorns, and tears in first teaser for Seven Day Queen
- Seven Day Queen team puts in their first four hours at script read
Tags: Episode 20, Lee Dong-gun, Park Min-young, Seven Day Queen, Yeon Woo-jin
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101 rentenmann
August 4, 2017 at 2:50 PM
And I've cried a few more times just reading the recap and each of your thoughts on it. I loved it. How beautiful, especially the last episode. Throughout the series, the subtle background music played a big part in my enjoyment. Oftentimes loud or overbearing BGM takes me out of the scenes. This series was lovely all around, and I thank the leads for choosing to do this project; I can't think of any others in their place now. *sniffle*
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102 @prkyjn
August 4, 2017 at 3:07 PM
I'm a lurker by nature, but I just can't not leave a comment on my favorite drama, especially when binge-watching the last two episodes gave me puffy eyes and stuffed chest from too much crying and I loved every second of it. Chae-kyung once said to Yeok (in voiceover), "All the tears in the world came to me because of my love for you." Well, that's now me to Seven Day Queen!
Thank you, javabeans and girlfriday, for the wonderful recaps and comments! JB and GF already took the words right out of my mouth, but I just have to highlight these scenes that deeply struck me:
Farewell scene (with a bonus kiss!)
-- Yeok and Chae-kyung's was the most heartrendingly beautiful of all farewell scenes. Props to Yeon Woo-jin and Park Min-young for bringing life to their characters! Everything felt real, or my heart won't break with theirs. I thought their tears (and all the little details of their embrace) were as genuine as they could be and that made the scene (mechanical tears would have broken it). And coming from ep 19, I no longer expected to see them kiss in the finale. I thought that there's no way Yeok and Chae-kyung could just go back to how they used to be (that includes their affectionate selves), but it seems I have underestimated their love (I'm so sorry, Chae-kyung!). So it was a bittersweet surprise.
Dream sequence
-- I was happy seeing the stills (because who wouldn't want Yeok and Chae-kyung to have a happy family?) but after seeing ep 19 and the preview for ep 20, I knew it could never happen because sadly, it just doesn't fit. But hey, this is the writer which never failed to surprise me. True, but she's also really consistent and sensible. So I thought that though it's tragic for Yeok and Chae-kyung, this being a dream sequence would make the most sense. #WhatCouldHaveBeen
And so having that mindset, I watched ep 20 and was still fooled into believing the dream sequence was real until I saw that empty spot beside Yeok! (Must be the editing. Was it intentional? That's just cruel!) As I watched that scene, I actually felt a pang in my chest and burst into tears at the realization that their happy moments were indeed a dream. I should've realized it the moment Yeok was wearing the same hanbok when they were with the kids as when CK supposedly gave birth. So yes, I was expecting it, I even wished for it to be a dream (after Ep 19), but seeing it unfold like that still hurt. A lot more than expected. Yet I wouldn't want it any other way. That's the beauty of Seven Day Queen, every scene was finely crafted and never failed to surprise me. Most of the time, I couldn't guess what would happen next, and on the rare occasion I'm sure of what's coming, the execution still stuns me.
Congrats to the Seven Day Queen team for producing a gem and big thanks for sharing it with us! And yes, I'd also love for this team to work together on another masterpiece. KBS, are you listening?
I'm just glad I was able to...
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@prkyjn
August 4, 2017 at 3:13 PM
(Oops, character limit)
I'm just glad I was able to catch Seven Day Queen before deciding to take an indefinite break from kdramaland as I feel so drained and nothing else appeals to me at the moment. One thing's for sure, I'll return the moment this team reunites for another drama. I'd gladly take any partial reunion (YWJ-PMY, YWJ/PMY-PD/writer, PD-writer) too.
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103 sweetgoguma
August 4, 2017 at 3:50 PM
Omg I was in absolute tears while watching this episode...it was both heart wrenching and beautiful at the same time. It is so rare for a drama to be so strong from start to finish and 7DQ was executed beautifully. The entire cast and crew deserves a standing ovation. I've never been a big fan of Lee Dong-gun but he absolutely blew me away in this drama. His character was so tragic and it was his mental instability that lead him to a path of self-destruction. Yeok and Chaekyung were adorable together and had a love so pure that I just wanted to sweep they far far away from the palace myself and away from all the asshole politicians. The supporting characters Seo Noh, Chaekyung's father, her nanny, and even Eunuch Song (i love how he ends up supporting the couple) will also have a special place in my heart as well <3.
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104 lunatic4kd
August 4, 2017 at 4:21 PM
I really loved this show...everything about it...topped off by both Javabeans and GirlFriday lending their comments at the end. The fact that our leaders and the creators of Dramabeans both essentially gave this drama 10 out of 10 (I'm imagining their former ratings feature) makes it even more special and gives the drama greater gravitas. But my very truly favorite thing about the ending is that history and truth were served, rather than miserably altered as so many shows do (I'm looking at YOU, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds!). I always maintain that the true story in history can be honored and told by a skillful writer, rather than made totally false and sicky sweet just to please those fans who demand a happy ending to everything. We truly don't know if this king and his queen maintained decades of love until they both passed away, but what a perfect way to insinuate this fantasy, while also recognizing that he had children with the female antagonist many viewers would rather ignore, but who also became his queen. I will forever love this drama for the simply pure satisfaction that it managed to tell the historical truth in a fanciful way, thereby successfully playing both roles. Kudos to this writer!!!!!
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PakalanaPikake
August 4, 2017 at 10:24 PM
@lunatic4kd,
I'm glad that history was honored, too. It was what I was hoping for all along. We knew from the start where Yeok and Chae-kyung would end up. The only thing in question was how that would be accomplished.
We can never know what was in the minds and hearts of the historical personages, but Writer-nim came up with realistically plausible scenarios, and that may be the best part of this drama. As if there could only be one "best" aspect of this show. ;-)
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junah
August 5, 2017 at 7:07 AM
(I'm looking at YOU, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds!)
lol. but i think it is necessary for MDBC writer to make the end like it is as much as SDQ writer stick to the history ending. if MDBC ends differently, the whole narrative will be irrelevant. it's not like i would mind the writer make a detour to the history, but i do think in SDQ case sad ending suits more to the how they build the plot and characters all this far.
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daktorichick
August 5, 2017 at 7:53 AM
Yes! I love that the writer was able to both honor history and flesh it out in such a lovely way! <3
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105 PakalanaPikake
August 4, 2017 at 4:47 PM
“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” -- Shakespeare, “Henry IV” (Act III, Scene I, Line 31)
Thank you, javabeans and girlfriday, for your recaps and insights into this most exquisite of dramas. I'm not one for crying much, but this finale has had me in persistent tears. I'm grateful to have had a chance to recover from a recent string of “finale fatalities” so that I could be as present as possible for the denouement of SEVEN DAY QUEEN. This drama deserves nothing less, even as it has flattened me like a ton of bricks.
When I watched this episode raw I wasn't always quite sure what was going on, but tuning in to the body language and facial expressions left me with a feeling of calm assurance that everything was turning out exactly as it was supposed to. Sometimes I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box, especially when sleep deprived, as I had been for several days. The subtlety of the final scene of Yeok placing his head in Chae-kyung's lap left me wondering if he'd expired. Now that I think of it, rulers rarely abdicated in the old days. The only way he could have gone home was by dying in the traces, with his boots on.
The symmetry between Yeok's going home to Chae-kyung and Yung's seeking solace from the Dowager Queen was poignant and telling. I immediately recalled how a much younger Yeok had told her he loved her using three different words. When he came home to her after 38 years, she told Husband that she loved him three different ways as well. That got me right between the eyes. Especially when he likewise replied that once was sufficient.
The final scene of the aged Chae-kyung entering Yeok's chamber and reverting to her younger selves upon crossing the threshhold, first to meet him in his sky blue scholar's garb and then as his young adult self, is hands-down one of the most lyrical reunions I've ever seen. It walloped me the same way that Heo Joon's passing through the gate into Yeon-Hee's yard did in MIRROR OF THE WITCH, and I mean that as the very highest of compliments.
Because of Chae-kyung's clear-eyed and unswerving acceptance of reality, Yeok the romantic idealist was able to rest far easier than would have been the case had she remained by his side. By choosing to redefine love as supporting his highest good on his destined path, she could rest easy knowing that his opponents could no longer use her as his Achilles' heel.
My one wish is that they could happily meet in the next life and raise the family together that Yeok could only glimpse in his solitary dreams.
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106 Rigby
August 4, 2017 at 5:42 PM
Beautifully written, beautifully acted and executed! BRAVO SEVEN DAY QUEEN! i Have never been so emotionally invested (with all the bucket of tears) in a sageuk drama since EK and Scarlet Heart. This will probably one of my top 3 sageuk drama. This is a gem to behold!
Congratulations to all the cast and crew. Thank you KBS for giving us one of the most memorable historical drama. This will linger for a long time in our hearts! Bittersweet but beautiful!
Thank you JB and GF for all the recaps! You have made our journey with SDQ more interesting!
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107 Mad for k dramas
August 4, 2017 at 5:59 PM
Will miss this amazing drama...
Lurking at DB due to separation anxiety...
Just watched the subbed episode and got a migraine from all that crying...poor OTP must have had perpetual migraines given how many years they've shed... not too mention...starving...late nights...heat..
Hope they have a good rest and we'll be able to see them in another drama soon... with a real happy ending
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108 pandafats
August 4, 2017 at 6:07 PM
This drama is such a treasure. I just want to keep this drama tenderly (if that even makes sense) in my box of treasured belongings where i can look through it again every now and then.. I loved that they showed us what could have been instead of changing history since we know in history what it would actually be.. i think it's more satisfyingly this way than having them deviate from history.. ending scene was beautiful..
The cast, the music, the costumes, the acting, thw writing..
I can't imagine if anyone else took any of their roles. I'm so glad this cast took up their respective roles.. esp the main 3 and the 2 young casts <3
Can't you all go on a Na PD variety together?? Or have Na PD plan your wrap up party??
Or take on another maybe happier project together?
I have nothing to look forward to on friday nights anymore ToT
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109 ca mira
August 4, 2017 at 6:50 PM
What a beautiful ending!
What a journey this was, there were countless buckets of tears, major swooning and uncontrollable smiles to anger and frustration.
Hands down one of the best saeguks I've ever watched. This drama really is a hidden gem.
I'm looking forward to seeing PMY's and YWJ's future projects but I seriously hope they work together again. (I HIGHKEY SHIP THEM)
Thankyou to the cast, director, writer, ost singers and producers, costume designers etc. for making this an unforgettable drama.
Will miss this drama alot ;___;
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110 The first_Strawberry
August 4, 2017 at 8:56 PM
This drama gets five stars from me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bravo!!
'Nuff said. ♥♥
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cassie23
August 4, 2017 at 9:09 PM
five stars from the start ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐????
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111 jillian
August 4, 2017 at 9:31 PM
I dearly love this show. I didnt get to watch it sooner due to RL commitments. But watching this now made me better prepared for the ending. When I saw that photo with the kids floating in the beanies wall, i knew it would be a dream. I still held on hope that the show will throw us a bone and they did. Its bittersweet but I appreciate it.
Yeok and ChaeKyung did the best with what they are given. It may not be the perfect life but as javabeans said they made the most of it and love they did.
That ending scene between the brothers was heartbreaking. If circumstances were different they couldve doted on each other.
I couldnt care less what happened to Minister Park. He deserve to be stripped of his money and power. Then never to be seen again.
May there be a romcom with Yeon Woo Jin and Park Min Young. Then I will imagine that Yeok and ChaeKyung reincarnated and met again in modern times. I truly want them to live the simple life together. I will cherish this show for a long time.
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112 estellebyul
August 4, 2017 at 9:56 PM
This finale episode broke me. The ending was so heartbreakingly beautiful... I don't think they could have done it any better. Applause to Lee Dong Geun, Park Min Young and Yeon Woo Jin for their amazing acting. I wished the cast and crew knew how well-received it is amongst international viewers.
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113 narcolepticsmurf
August 4, 2017 at 10:24 PM
7DQ team has proven majestically that a melo and saeguk CAN be an all rounder heart-wrenching, historically honored, and beautifully executed story. The cast cannot be complimented enough to bring such nuances to their characters.
Thank you for all of your hard work dear team!
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114 anonymous
August 4, 2017 at 10:28 PM
Their running towards each other and hugging at the bridge happened, right?;__; I want to believe because the fan scene indicating the dream sequence only happened sometime during that scene leading into the one where they're trying on clothes. I want to believe that they still met from time to time.
Anyway, I don't have anything else to say for this amazing drama that others haven't said already. It's already in the top 5 in my heart.
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115 PakalanaPikake
August 4, 2017 at 10:35 PM
A parallel popped up that forces me to look at the Dowager Queen in a different light. I hate to admit that she might be right, dammit.
Chae-kyung has enough intestinal fortitude to throw in the towel by cutting her coat string and leaving Yeok. (Interestingly, it's almost the same color as the string that Hong Gil-dong used to tie his little sister's wrist to his own in REBEL. Literally a tie intended to bind, it failed.) She knows he would never leave her, so she leaves him -- to ensure that they both live to fulfill their respective destinies. She is not a political animal, and knows it. She is only too aware that in the palace, she will only ever be prey. Yeok himself is more prey than predator, unlike Yeonsangun, who ruthlessly annihilated his opponents. The fact that Yeok allows Minister Park to live in exile instead of executing him for his crimes is proof positive that the king will never be able to protect his wife from the implacable opposition.
In a similar fashion, the Dowager Queen has all along served as the Voice of Reality -- more accurately, the political reality of the court. Personal love and honesty have no place there. It's all a matter of risk management. I hated her guts when she sped up Chae-kyung's appointment with the hangman because she feared the missing Yeonsangun's potential intervention. After all his excesses, it was simply unthinkable to her that he could have had an innocent reason for going AWOL, let alone a self-sacrificing attempt to rescue his sister-in-law.
To the ears of a peon like me -- and a loving husband like Yeok -- the Dowager Queen's reasoning was insane. But to an experienced mistress of the covert intrigue of the Inner Court, it was simply a preemptive strike against the deposed tyrant which only coincidentally happened to involve the daughter-in-law her besotted son had so foolishly insisted on marrying. Nothing personal. Given the opposition among the ministers towards Yeonsangun and his extended family, Yeok would spend his entire reign wasting time and energy on political wrangling instead of rebuilding the nation. His mother knew better, and acted to safeguard his reign.
Ultimately, both Chae-kyung and the Dowager Queen had Yeok's best interests at heart. In the rough and tumble of realm of kingship, the political trumps the personal every day of the week.
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116 ohhaeyoung
August 4, 2017 at 10:38 PM
So I cried while reading the episode recap before watching the finale tonight, watched ep 20 and cried three times. Once when Chae Kyung asked for the divorce, I sobbed when Yeonsangun died with Yeok by his side, and then cried some more at the final scene. </3
I think this is the first melo I've ever watched and it's a sageuk so dang it was all so intense. I was mostly moved by the depictions of friend and family relationships. Ultimately the most tragic part for me was the broken brotherhood. I actually didn't connect to the romance as much but overall 7DQ was a joy to watch as there was never a dull moment and the plot was so well paced and written. I'm so glad I watched it despite shedding many tears at ep 16, ep 18, and finally cried three times at ep 20.
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ohhaeyoung
August 4, 2017 at 10:41 PM
Oh and re-reading the recap after watching the final episode made me cry a bit yet again :/
Thanks @javabeans and @girlfriday for recapping this drama so beautifully!
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117 PakalanaPikake
August 4, 2017 at 10:41 PM
The parallels between Yung's exile and Yeok's “solitary confinement” without Chae-kyung, and their death scenes, were equally touching and meaningful. At the end, Yung had his brother with him, and I am grateful that they reconciled.
Yeok may have been the king, but his life was circumscribed by stifling protocol. He had been raised in it, but it was an alien and hostile environment for Chae-kyung, a place that could never be home for her. Just like Yung began to reach a calmer, more centered state (before the attempt on his life), Chae-kyung also breathed a sigh of relief upon exiting the palace gates for the last time.
I do not doubt for one moment that Yeok, too, would have reveled in his freedom if he had had the opportunity to abdicate. But after all the travails the nation and its citizens had been through, he could not in good conscience leave to follow his own bliss. Yung's ploy to foist the throne on him worked only too well.
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118 jae
August 4, 2017 at 11:35 PM
Beautiful journey for 7DQ fans
no regret at all ^^
Thank you so much 7DQ drama teams, DB and all fans..
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119 Roma
August 5, 2017 at 12:32 AM
Wow! The people who write these synopsis and drama reviews are such AMAZING writers! These posts are incredibly well written. Kudos to you guys! Thank you for all the hard work you must put into writing the plots of all these dramas. You guys are awesome! Love, from California. :D
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120 daisy_mae024
August 5, 2017 at 2:37 AM
I haven't watched an ongoing drama in ages.. Not until 7DQ. Ending was poignant and even though our head knows what happened in history, it's really amazing how the ending was portrayed and still satisfied my heart's yearning for the couple. I cried buckets; face and eyes are still puffy but overall at peace with how they have wrapped up the series. Thank you
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121 lalala
August 5, 2017 at 7:10 AM
did any1 know the three words that chae-kyung said to yeok? i just know the "Saranghanda" one. please, if you know tell me.
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Sunny
August 5, 2017 at 5:30 PM
I found out the meanings from the Soompi thread there is a very kind and knowledgeable Korean speaking poster (gerrytan8063) who is an expert on Korean history and he has shared so much knowledge on the thread. Hope he doesn't mind me posting here. Please credit him if you repost this anywhere:
"...3 different words that Shin Chae Gyeong had use to express "I love you":
연모합니다 - Yeonmohabnida ...Yeon Mo (연모,戀慕) means to have great reverence & affection for the person, I will put that as "I adore you"
은애합니다. Eunaehabnida - Eunae (恩愛) is express of a conjugal devoted love usually express with married couple
사랑합니다 - Saranghabnida, everyone know this term....so I will not explained"
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122 Shahirah Hasbullah
August 5, 2017 at 9:33 AM
Petition for Park Min Young to be a villain in her next drama, please? She's wowed me in Sungkyunkwan Scandal, City Hunter, and Healer but I'm just so very impressed and in love with her acting in this drama that I want to see more of what she can do. Suchhhh a talented actress.
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123 irmar
August 5, 2017 at 10:27 AM
The heroine is the epitome of "noble idiocy". Rather than admirable for enduring, she is fleeing responsability, because she hates the palace, its machinations, its dangers. It's not that I blame her, that palace was hell. She had been raised roaming free in the countryside, and for her the palace is suffocating. For her staying on, gritting her teeth and making the best of situations, adapting and enduring IN the palace for the sake of her love is not an option. Her love is not enough. She prefers to love him from far rather than have to live like that. In Dante's Inferno (hell) there is "the one who, because of cowardice, made the great refusal" ("colui che fece per viltade il gran rifiuto). He probably refers to Pope Celestino V, a pope who abdicated after 4 months because he was a simple monk, ignorant of the affairs of the Vatican and preferred to return to his monastery among the mountains.
Chae Gyeon was no Scarlett O'Hara. Fighting was not in her blood. She was a Celestino V. She preferred to withdraw from the arena and watch from the side. That was her character, that was her upbringing. She was so disgusted by the Royal Court that she sacrificed her love and made her husband miserable because she didn't want or couldn't cope.
I respect her choice, but let's not say it was inevitable, let's not say she was admirable. There WAS another option. I am more of a fan of Scarlett O'Hara, of the ones who are ready to fight for what they want.
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irmar
August 5, 2017 at 10:29 AM
Of course they had to make her like that, because that's what happened to the historical queen - she did leave.
But I'm just analyzing the character as it is written. The screenplay could have given another reason why she HAD to leave, something more believable.
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124 daisychain
August 5, 2017 at 1:23 PM
Oh my god. I have never cried so many ugly tears for a drama before. That was just...gahhh... so beautiful. The cast was so, so amazing and every character so fleshed out. I loved that Chae-kyung was such a smart and dignified woman and that there were no typical drama tropes separating the OTP. They understood each other and trusted one another unconditionally. YWJ and PMY absolutely crushed it with their portrayals. The emotions they both showed in their eyes were so believable and potent I couldn't help but get completely invested.
What really stood out was that none the antagonists were ever one-dimensional. I mean, Yeonsangun?! Man, LDG killed it with this. From the crazy laughter to the boy that just wants love and approval, I've never pitied, understood, and hated one character so much.
The child actors have got to be my favourites of all time and when they brought them back for the final reunion? Tears. So. Many. Tears. That combined with the montage? My god.
Everything just worked perfectly in this drama, from the gripping plot to the heartbreaking OST (literally, every time that one song played - you KNOW what I'm talking about - I could feel the tears building). HUGE round of applause to the writer and the PD. This drama was like being punched in the heart a million times, but in the best possible way. I totally agree with girlfriday; can they all just make a rom com now to heal this pain??! Will remember this one for years to come.
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125 empresski
August 5, 2017 at 2:44 PM
Thank you for the poignant recaps. they have enhanced my viewing joy and expressed the deep emotions have felt watching this beautifully written and acted drama. I actually watched the last episode and read the recap days ago and have pondered Javabean's comments "Chae-kyung praised him not for being a good king or a powerful leader, but for enduring". These words have cut me to the core and caused ugly crying at random times throughout the day. There is honor, dignity, importance, value and peace that comes from "enduring". Sometimes that's the harder role in life. I am forever changed in my perspective of those who endure and maybe even found grace in my own ability to endure. Thank you. Now back to ugly crying.
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126 Lulu02
August 5, 2017 at 3:20 PM
what a beautiful drama! I cried again reading the recap. That scene when CK decides to go separate ways was so beautifully sad and perfect, so by the time that fantasy scene came I was so happy that it wasn't the sad ending we all thought that I got carried away and then my heart was broken again.
I felt also for Yung's death, I always liked him even when he was a terrible king and a villain I loved to love. I was surprised to know in ep 19 that he had children they were never mentioned before I think. In ep 19 he made my eyes teary when Nook Soo asked him to take her life, he was really affected by that, at the end he was just a person who never felt loved, and the persons who showed him loved where all gone, his mother, Nook Soo (even when she was crazy and encourage him to be mean) and CK's dad, and Yeok who did love him but his jealousy, resentment and fear of him taking his throne (which Yeok wasn't even interested in) lead to this tragic end.
These characters were amazing, each one, but the three leads WOW. they did an amazing job, I am really taken by their performances and chemestry together, LDG, YWJ and PMY (I've seen her in CH and Healer). Writer, PD, Direction, did a great job. I'll be looking forward so badly for their future work.
Now I have to figure out how to move on. I set the 2017 really high with 7DQ and Forest of Secrets. It's not so easy
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127 frenchvanilla
August 5, 2017 at 11:13 PM
KBS should give LDG a daesang XD
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128 asdfg
August 6, 2017 at 2:11 AM
Can someone give me links to sites about the real history of king jungjong and queen dangyeong. I want to know more about these two but there's very limited info on the internet...
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129 caroline
August 6, 2017 at 3:00 AM
Comment was deleted
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130 caroline
August 6, 2017 at 3:28 AM
Damn i already watched it two days ago and yeah i was crying like a child, it's even worse bcs i'd watched it at night before i went to sleep and yea my eyes was swollen in the morning lol luckily i don't have any schedule that day and now i just simply want to read the recaps and the comments but why the fuck i'm still crying while reading this recaps T.T poor my heart.
Anyway, this drama is the best drama so far in 2017 imo. Story may be not complicated like others but the main casts acting and chemistry between otp play a BIG role here. Bcs of their excellent acting and ywj x pmy chemistry are amazing, they make this simple drama plot becomes an interesting drama and fun to watch, also it's kinda refreshing. Tbh, i can't imagine i would like this drama this much if the main casts weren't ywj, pmy and ldg. Especially ywj x pmy. I can't, i just can't if the prince isn't played by ywj and chaekyung isn't played by pmy. Let's not forget to thank lee jin wook for dropping yeok role. That was a right decision ever. I dare to say this drama would be boring af if the otp isn't ywj and pmy. Fight me if you disagree! haha
I wanna talk abt the ending scene. it's so beautiful. I cried a lot at that part, really cried like a child T,T I'm weak when the young yeok x chaekyung showed up. I paused that scene and took a moment to cry while remembering their sweet teenage moments (i'm abt to cry now lol). And when adult yeok x chaekyung came, i was trying to hold my tears to watch their loving eyes staring each other and also pay attention to the subtitle but my tears broke so hard in the middle of their conversation. Such a pain experience. Also when yeok x yung last moment, originally, i was just tearing a bit but bcs of that fucking ah ah ah song right after yung died, i ended up crying a bucket lol The power of song.
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131 Sunny
August 6, 2017 at 4:20 PM
An absolutely wonderful drama (despite my misgivings about certain historical liberties taken). I don't have the words to say just how much this drama impressed me, moved me and stole my heart. I have never cried over a drama the way I cried in this last episode. I will remember Yeok and Chae Kyung as one of the greatest love stories.
Thank you to everyone involved with creating this masterpiece.
Thank you javabeans and girlfriday for your speedy intelligent and in-depth recaps that guided so many of us on the journey of watching Seven Day Queen.
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132 Liliz
August 6, 2017 at 10:45 PM
I totally need the writer/PD to do a modern rom com follow up to this drama now--with Yeon Woo Jin and Lee Dong Gun playing loving brothers and a super duper happy ending for the couple tied up with ten, bright pink bows! That said, this was probably the best ending I could've ever asked for, for this drama. ?❤️
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133 chanelai
August 7, 2017 at 12:59 PM
That reunion as their familiar adult selves into their teenage selves then back was a really powerful and poignant way of showing how, despite an intermittent separation of 5 years then 39, their love hasn't changed from either generation till the end. It's always remained the same-- strong, constant and eternal, a full circle. That mundane-ness, tenderness, familiarity and purity. The leaving home for work metaphor perfectly encapsulates all that where once they finally reunite, they see and feel for each other exactly where they left off decades ago. It's beautifully bittersweet.
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134 TM
August 8, 2017 at 8:49 AM
What a drama with such a satisfying ending. I loved this drama from beginning to end and kept watching it even if I knew it would end sadly. I had to keep my tears from falling as I watched the last episode on a train. It doesn't often happen to me but I'm really satisfied with the ending and yet I'm unhappy with it. It's a good thing that they didn't forgo history but the ending was so sad because our OTP got seperated. And I don't think I ever got over the death of Seo No. I still really enjoyed watching this drama but I don't think I could watch it again because it's so sad. And the OST was just perfect, it really added something to the drama and I think moved me as much as the story did.
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135 Rey Rautha
August 8, 2017 at 10:20 AM
my heart was about to explore when i saw chaekyung but it was a happy ending wow i really love Queen for Seven days. Sarang
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136 Miracle
August 8, 2017 at 12:30 PM
truly one of the best historical dramas i've watched. out of five dramas i'm following, this has been a satisfying journey. at first, it was so lighthearted and silly. i sat through each episode with giggles, most of the time tears. ending was lovely and i, too, thought i cried throughout the whole last episode. every character contributed to the plot perfectly. i wouldn't ask for more! thank you to our prince / majesty and the beautiful queen.
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137 baghag
August 9, 2017 at 12:13 AM
I'm suffering from QFSD withdrawal, that's why I'm still here reading & commenting even if the drama ended last week! I miss them so much! YWJ & PMY are daebak! Hope to see them in another drama soon. Would like it to be a rom-com with a happy ending please!! ❤️❤️❤️
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138 7th queen
August 9, 2017 at 6:38 AM
For those who wish to see more of the real history (since there is a limited info on wikipedia), you can check soompi threads, especially posts by gerry tan.... It's so informative... Knowing that king yeok's cause of death is constipation... The real legends of Snail Bride, and others...... Anyway, this is such a great great perfect historical drama of the year!!..
https://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/399275-drama-2017-♚-seven-day-queen-7일의-왕비-♚/?page=210
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139 Shahirah Hasbullah
August 10, 2017 at 3:35 AM
Can't help but to compare Chae Kyung's decision to leave the palace with Hae Soo's decision to leave the palace (in Moon Lovers : Scarlet Heart Ryeo).
One did it to remove the king's weak spot thus protecting the king's authority. The other did it to sulk over the king's authority of killing her "best friend" Chae Ryung who was... Uh... A traitor.
Ladies and gentlemen, choose your fighter.
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MoonLovers
October 22, 2017 at 2:09 PM
It's definitely, Queen for Seven Days...... Cause the chemistry is overflowing!!... Hahaha.... and the Love they have, is so pure & sincere...
On Moon Lovers, the writer CAN divert the ending, but with 7DQ it's already written in history.... heheheh...
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140 Ainos
August 10, 2017 at 5:32 PM
I finally finished this drama!! And all I can say is that it was beautiful!!!! The story, the scenery, the wardrobe, even the tragedy. I cried so much in this final episode. I haven't sobbed so much for a drama since Gakistal. Also for once I didn't hate the bad guy. Yes the previous king was a tyrant, but I still felt he had redeemable qualities. And the fact that he died in Yeok's arms, just made their story close so perfect. Big props to PMY. Usually I dislike actresses that spend their whole time crying, but her crying was so beautiful and realistic that I didn't mind it. She made me feel her pain, sadness, as well as her little joy.
Definitely worth 20+ hours.
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141 Tera
August 10, 2017 at 10:46 PM
I'm glad i dismiss this drama. I love melodrama but not not the one with sad ending., exception nirvana in fire because it's the best Chinese drama i've ever watch.
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Nirvana in fire
August 18, 2017 at 5:22 PM
It's not really a sad ending...... It has a beautiful sad ending, with great lessons to learn.... Queen for Seven Days is the best drama worth watching!!
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142 kakuzeh
August 27, 2017 at 11:18 PM
the last episode affected me so much, more than i had expected. I cried so much - when she cut off her ribbon and said farewell and he said if i live a hundred years it would mean i loved you for a hundred years; when evil king died in yeok's arms; when she handed him horse feed and all the way till he rested in her lap...
I can't look at the screen shots or photos right now cos seeing them makes my heart ache
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143 tinu
September 1, 2017 at 10:14 AM
very beautiful. don't like the ending tho. their whole relationship was a battle
I wish they allowed them reap their suffering by giving them a happy ending. they loved until they died 2geda. nope me no like at all. at all.??
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144 Nellie
September 2, 2017 at 2:00 PM
They couldn't have used a better qung
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145 Eunice Aguilar
September 6, 2017 at 12:02 AM
I couldn't agree with you more
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146 sah
September 12, 2017 at 2:07 PM
Late to the game but gahhhhh finished this right now and I have no words. Exactly what you guys said. Such a beautiful painful bittersweet but realistic story. So so painful night I add again. Think I cried more than any other drama ever. So beautiful. Even when I hated it I loved it sooooo fricken much. The ending was a stab in the heart but...satisfying. Like perfect. Hurts to know they couldn't live their life as they could have happily as friends and a couple with children but wow...that's what really perfects this drama. MY HEART LITERLALY HURTS ?????hands down my favorite drama.
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147 hibeautiful
September 26, 2017 at 6:52 AM
I feel like I'm the last person who (finally!!) watched this series, but hey "Late is surely better than never". I'm so grateful to get 7DQ under my radar after I read the very first line written on this recap which made me binge-watched this in 3 days. I was in sageuk-drama slump after I was too immersed by SFD but 7DQ now is on my three top favorite historical drama.
Personally, I had watched some other dramas with heartbreaking love story, a heroine who has to leave the palace (and her love) for undergoing 'nobility', and the most feared one: sad ending. BUT, I have to admit, 7DQ has the most entirely well written plot comparing to other series in romance category. I love the writing that gives clearer explanation on why characters made decisions, the beautiful hanbok, the breathtaking cinematography, the music, and ofc the OTP. I actually felt numb when I watched the last scene, and finally cried real hard when I understood everything. I cried during SN's and Yung's deaths scene a lot too.
I've read all the previous comments here, which left me nothing to add more but I just want to say 7DQ is definetely one of the best shows this year!
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148 Mimi
October 21, 2017 at 2:48 PM
I have a question, so did Yeok die? Did they really grow old? Because I just finished the drama and I'm crying so much and I'm so confused because I thought they were old and then when they went back to their normal age and Yeok laid down on Chae-kyungs lap and said something (I don't remember what) but it sounded like if he died. so did he die or not? I just need my feelings to be at ease, Idky I cried so much in this drama, this is the most I've ever cried oml. Please if you can, can you clarify?
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ck
October 22, 2017 at 9:57 AM
Try to go back on their lines on the last scene....... The king is very ill, and he requested CK to come to the palace... The writer just sum it up in a nice way...... Yes, at that time they are on their 50's...... because the king died on his 50's...... according to history: CK stayed with the king for 2 weeks before he really died due to illness...... of course they just show the faces of PMY & YWJ and not the really old folks....
and yes CK said to yeok: "I love you" (three times in different language) "husband"....
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149 Beanfan
November 29, 2017 at 7:31 PM
I just finished Seven Day Queen last night. Just after it had aired, I started watching until episode 17, then kinda got into a slump until last night before I finished off the last three episodes.
While I liked the drama a lot, and think that Park Min Young and Yeon Woo Jin have never been better, I was more than a little annoyed by all the suspicion and doubt and soul-searching that this OTP had to endure. There was just too much of it, and I really couldn't bear watching some scenes... Chae Kyung and Yeok's relationship needed such frequent clarification/reiteration/confirmation...all the time! It was altogether too torturous.
I was definitely reminded of an 8-novel historical saga that I'd read by Dorothy Dunnett, called "The House of Niccolo" series, where the main protagonist and his wife have the same suspense-filled relationship, where it isn't clear at all whether they are going to endanger/injure the other, and yet you somehow have faith that deep-down they truly love each other... Complicated stuff!
A'way, so mine were mixed feelings... This drama was so well-executed, so beautiful, and filled with deeply-moving moments. I can stand a good amount of pain and angst, but for some reason, here I felt quite stifled and wanted/needed many breaks in between watches. A solid A- in my books.
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150 Charlotte
March 12, 2018 at 9:50 PM
Gosh, seems like I'm the only naysayer in this group, but have to toss in my two cents. I wish I had seen what you saw in the heroine during this drama, because it might have made me enthusiastic with the ending instead of dry-eyed. For you she was 'strong & dignified' and the 'hero who saved Yeok'. Wish it looked like that to me. Likely it was the younger Chae Kyung who disobeyed her parents and charmed the tyrant king with her 'reality checks' that put me off first, and then her impulsive actions (like never being quiet when they were in danger) or the adamant presumption that she knew best what to do in any situation. A hero for Yeok? Maybe if she had stayed to help him during his reign then he would have accomplished more. As it was, she left him to protect a love that they would never be able to share until he was dying? A hero for me would have made a choice to stick it out to the end, even if that meant they died trying....together.
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