I do wonder how Ashin managed to manacle all of her family members. If I remember correctly, there is a two hour window between placing the leaves/flowers of the resurrection plant into key areas of a corpse's body and the moment the corpse becomes re-animated. Ashin knew from the drawings on the wall that the gift of life would come with a price, but there is nothing to indicate that she knew the specifics of that price. Did she tie her family members together before they became reanimated? If not, she probably would have been attacked and turned into a zombie, if not outright killed. The question of immunity is interesting. The second season did discuss the different types of immune responses following a zombie bite: some people become zombies, others do not. They just just die. I remember that Prime Minister Ho was one of the ones who did not transform. He was still infected, and it wasn't until after he was submerged in water that the parasitic worms left his body. So I guess there are actually three reactions to the zombie bite so far: becoming a full-on zombie, dying, getting infected without turning into a zombie. Where does Ashin fit into this? Is there the possibility of complete immunity, as @missvictrix wondered. I don't know. The worms get transferred through the bite. Would they die in the body of the bitten person if there is such thing as total immunity in this drama universe? I wonder.

I thought this was a brilliant prequel. For me personally I had no trouble connecting emotionally to Ashin as she steps through a life of purgatory, working as a spy across the river, enduring poverty, abuse and rape at the hands of the Joseon soldiers while she waits for the general to enact the revenge she sold herself for. And then the realisation that, not only would that revenge never come, she had sold herself into servitude to the real perpetrators. It's why her brutal unrelenting vengeance at the end had almost no catharsis. She has no capacity for it because she's the walking dead herself.

After I watched this yesterday I'm now so excited for season 3. I hope they manage to get it together sometime next year (cross fingers).

I didn't think too deeply about it while watching but it did raise a lot of questions about how Ashin managed it all. I found it slow but Ashin's revenge was satisfying. If a third season was coming relatively soon, I would be more excited about it, but I believe they are doing a special episode with the Crown Prince next.

I thought this was a great prequel. This wasn't a scary movie per se (despite the gore, I didn't need to avert my eyes or cover my ears like I do with most horror movies), but this is definitely horror - Ashin's story is horrific in its tragedy; the people around her are horrible people; the zombies just made that horror and tragedy manifest.

My personal opinion is that she is insane. Is there such a thing as a high functioning insane person? She was revealed to be very intelligent even as a young girl, even understanding the political nuances between the different groups of people. After finally learning how terribly her people were treated, she now just has one goal: annihilation of Joseon and Jurcheon people; after which she plans to join her zombie family. She's crazy, yeah?

I got goosebumps when it was revealed that she reanimated the townspeople -- her family, friends, and neighbours -- as zombies. While I remember a passing comment from the soldiers who found it amazing that she buried all her townspeople herself. I didn't think about the possibility that she turned them and was feeding them animals for YEARS. She was ignored as a young girl, and was being sexually abused when she became an adult (can I just say, I'm glad the director decided not to show any of that; just hinted at it); that lack of human connection led to a coldheartedness and single-mindedness that is terrifying. The only time we see her show emotion as an adult was when she found her father, with his limbs cut off and forcibly kept alive by his captors in order to maximize his suffering - yet another element of horror.

Ashin's story is amazing; this writer is fantastic. I hope to see more of this Joseon zombie world.

The deer tells us that animals that eat the wrong flower zombify... So what do we fear most:

Zombie rabbits? Not unless you are Jimmy Carter or Monty Python.

Zombie wild boar? No, those are dangerous enough in non-zombie form.

Zombie caterpillars...

I enjoyed it, and the despite the slow pace mostly held throughout, when it got to the credits I was like "Oh, it's over already?" I think this might have worked a bit better as a mini series vs. the one episode we got. Jeon Ji-hyun definitely had a less animated role than I was expecting, but she did a great job, and so did the child actress (her scene where she wanted her family avenged was great). I'm always a fan when actors or actresses will take on these understated performances.

When she makes it back to her village near the end, and she sees in her head all their happy faces smiling at her returning, that was just a nice juxtaposition from her about to feed this guard to her family.

You definitely get why she is the way she is, and it just makes me want to watch the world burn with her, silently perched atop the rooftops.

Man I want the third season now! I'm a little saddened that if the rumors are correct, we'll be getting another special before the next season.

As much as Asin's bio revenge warfare is as badass as it is dark, she could've also just fed her then would be abuser to the pigs in the sty next door after killing him, as that would've removed all the most significant fleshly evidence , and her role as a laundry women would've made it easy to get rid of the rest of the material evidence...

This was a lot darker than I was expecting. To be honest Kingdom despite it's promos has never been that dark but this was very dark. I did like how the darkness of this episode didn't actually come from the zombies but the living. What did bother me was the lighting in some of the night scenes was too little but maybe it was intentional.

Not really a fan of zombie stuffs but then there's Jun Ji-hyun hahaha....
Ahsin standing on the rooftop looks cool but also it made me laugh like wow, how did she manage to climb up there without breaking a sweat. I sympathized with her backstory and her taking revenge after finding out the truth but I don't understand her intention to bring her family back from the dead. Isn't it bad enough that they died brutally? Why not let them go peacefully? Does bringing them back even as zombies lessen her grief or guilt as the sole survivor? How did she managed to control them for so many years? I still have so many questions hahahah so I'll just have to wait for Kingdom 3 then :)

What a horrifying and brilliant twist ending to this special. I kind of anticipated it when they started showing the flashbacks, but to visually see it on screen sent chills down my spine.

I thought this special was really well written. I was surprised at how small JJHs role actually was, but once she was on screen the story development went at lightning speed. I do enjoy the conflicting emotions of empathy/horror. Ashin's childhood was shaped by monsters and she grew up to become to biggest monster of them all.

Does anyone know if Ashin will be a major character in season 3? I can't wait for the crown prince/ nurse vs. Ashin face off!

I am both a fan of the Kingdom series and of Jun Ji-hyun.

I so hate to say this, but I found this prequel incredibly boring. There is just not much happening, and the story is contradictory and lacking:

Ashin is unbelievably (in the truest sense of the word) well educated (advanced medical knowledge, able to read and write Chinese characters), but she is too dumb to recognize (over years, if not decades) that she is being betrayed by the Joseon warlords? She can use the Zombie flower just like that, but endures years of abuse?

Although I would love to see a third season, this prequel lost me half an hour into the movie.

The Ashin story is a great fit into the Kingdom narrative and I couldn’t wait to see how this plays out in S3.

However, I’m disappointed at not able to feel emotionally connected despite the epic tragedy of this back story. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong with the directing or how the story was pieced together. I felt detached - when I should be rooting for her from early on. It’s a pity.

It was treat to see JJH again, and the child actress was really good but after exciting opening (zombie tiger!!!) it felt like the rest of the move was sacrificed for the sake of climax. I watch Kingdom for zombies in Joseon and there wasn't enough zombies for my liking.

There’s one detail I think isn’t really consistent. Either in the first or second season, the king was resurrected after consuming the plant. He would devour human bodies however, those victims do not turn into a monster, they just die. It is only after other people eat the corpse do they turn into a monster. But in this prequel, she killed a Joseon soldier and gave him the plant and soon after, the whole camp became a zombie military. So the question is, how could they have become monsters? Shouldn’t they have just been dead? I’m honestly so confused so can anyone help me figure it out? Maybe I missed something from this episode.

so this was far better than I expected and kept up the suspense quite well.
Joseon zombies are the scariest after all

What a fantastic prequel to Season 3! I absolutely loved how they set up her story/character and tied it to the ending of Season 2. And that climax was chilling. She is going to be a terrifying antagonist and I can’t wait.