“I’ve learned that a new king means a new world. If being king means I’ll no longer be a dog on a leash and be able to end all the tragedies, I definitely want to become king.”
Is this guy even a human? He can control his innervation! If you look carefuly at the end of video at his lips, you will notice that corners of his mouth shakes and then whole upper part of his lips.
While I thought I covered everything I wanted to discuss in my finale post about Moon Lovers… guess who discovered she still had something to say while she was going to sleep last night? #me #nevershuttingup #pleasestopme
I only really have two-three extra things to say. They’re passing observations.
King Gwangjong and Queen Daemok
Towards the later years of Gwangjong’s rule, historians say that he grew more and more suspicious about those around him (also in part because many of those who were close to them betrayed him and such). It’s why he killed off his relatives, including Wang Yo’s son Prince Kyeongcheonwon and Wang Mu’s son Prince Heung Hwa. He even doubted his own son, future Gyeongjong (Wang Joo).
And it’s interesting to see how in Moon Lovers, it’s not much because of paranoia that Wang So distances himself from his son. He just thinks that like his mother, the oh-so-ambitious Hwangbo Yeonhwa, that his son is the same. Both of them are ‘hiding’ their true faces behind masks, and he knows one day that they may strike at Gwangjong.
It’s a possibility since Gwangjong is making changes that upset the noble clans because it was taking away their power. Like I discussed in my Gwangjong post, Gwangjong eventually implemented a law to emancipate the slaves–and it was something that Queen Daemok also tried to stop, like the noble clans. This is seen in the drama, and it is an act that weakens the power of the noble clans.
While Gwangjong does this to consolidate his throne, Yeonhwa also suspects that it has to do with Hae Soo, the one girl he could not forget. And yes, part of it is. Years later, Wang So could very much feel guilty about the events that transpired between him and Soo, and while everyone played a part in that tragedy… Wang So still deeply misses and loves Hae Soo.
Thinking of her time as a musuri and watching her struggle, he could’ve very much empathized with the plight of the slaves. But more than that, I think the weight of what happened with Chaeryung also deeply affects Wang So, since a lot of their fights and ‘falling apart’ happened after Chaeryung. It was one of the events that eventually drove Hae Soo away. Hae Soo says that Chaeryung’s only crime was that she was born a slave. And that is true. Chaeryung was a slave who was caught between larger systems of power since the day she was born, and deprived her of her own autonomy. In her limited standpoint, she only had the option of being used by those who were above her–Wang Won and Wang Wook, respectively.
Gwangjong really hits two birds with one stone here–he attempts to repent for his mistakes that made in the past with Hae Soo, as well as protect and consolidate his throne.
I also don’t know if you guys noticed, but Gwangjong is actually using ‘formal language’ while he talks with Yeonhwa here. This is something that he didn’t do before, but probably now does because it follows the etiquette of the time. While the kings were in higher power, they still used formal language with their queens. Furthermore, my mother once told me that during the Joseon Dynasty (and this probably also applies to the kingdoms that came before–Goryeo, and the Three Kingdoms), married couples used formal language with one another. I assume that this would’ve been more widely done among royalty and noble families, so I can’t speak to if commoners practiced this or not. However, formal language was probably used as a sign of respect.
Growing up, I’ve seen many Korean families, and I can only remember one family where the couple continued to speak formally to one another. (I don’t know if anyone cares but I also know that actor Song Il Guk said that he also used formal language with his wife; seeing his interactions with his wife on the variety show, The Return of Superman, I think formal language also makes us think of how language can influence the way we behave (like if I use formal language, that somehow makes me want to act more respectfully)…. but I’m veering off my point.)
I just thought it was interesting how there’s a changed dynamic between Gwangjong and Yeonhwa in terms of the way they’re speaking to each other.
Narrator Shift
This is just something I’ve thought about. But I found it interesting that after Hae Soo dies, Baek Ah sort-of becomes the new narrator.
He’s the one left in Goryeo that is still tied with everyone else, and has remained quite neutral among all of his brothers and maintained good relationships with all of them, even if he was Wang So’s person. Much like Hae Soo, he seems like that sort of neutral character, who could never really intervene into much.
What a pure cinnamon roll, too good for this world. Honestly. Baek Ah, the unsung hero of Moon Lovers. I cry myself to sleep because of this kid
Friendly Reminder that Wang So enjoys hawk hunting the most
idk why this is important
but i think it is
right?
wang so likes hawks idk why but that makes me want to cry???
The moment the little girl bumps into him Wang So feels an instant connection and is drawn to her, just like he used to be drawn to Hae Soo. And it makes total sense that So noticed something similar about Seol because his blood runs in her veins and blood is not water; he who remembers every word, every smile, every tear of her mother. His memories of Soo are igrained on his body, heart and soul. The meeting of the father and daughter is like another eclipse - beautiful, destined, but brief - destined to meet but never to be together. After so many years, he once again lowers himself in front of a woman, a king who does not knee in front of anyone. It’s such an instinctive and visceral reaction WHEN HE REACHES OUT AND CARESSES HER CHEEK WITH SUCH HEARTWRENCHING TENDERNESS, JUST LIKE HE USED TO CARESS HER MOTHER. Even before So spots the lotus hairpin he already suspects, but the moment he notices it in Seol’s hair, the hairpin that belonged only to them, he immediately connects all the dots - he is shocked and awed - and one look at Jung is all the confirmation he needs; THAT THE CHILD HE ALWAYS LONGED FOR SO MUCH IS NOW STANDING IN FRONT OF HIM - REAL, ALIVE, A LIVING PROOF OF HIS AND SOO’S LOVE, AND SO CLOSE and all he needs to do is to claim her.
“For this child… she asked that she does not live in the palace. It is so scary and lonely. She said she did not want her here. That is all Hae Soo worried about until the moment she died.”
He wants so much to simply reach out and take her with him, but does not because Seol is the greatest gift he can never have. You can notice the exact moment he makes his decision. It’s not merely that he is respecting HS’s wish even after he death, BUT BECAUSE HE CHOOSES THE SAME AS SHE DID FOR THEIR CHILD - FREEDOM. It’s not that he chooses to let her go because WANG SO NEVER LETS GO, HE IS SETTING HER FREE; just like everyone he loves. HE GIVES EVERYBODY FREEDOM (even to slaves) AND PROTECTS THEM WHILE HE HIMSELF CHAINS HIMSELF INSIDE THE PALACE - it’s his price to pay. Once again he denies himself and until the very ends he does not change, staying unselfish in his love. He is setting his daughter free SO SHE CAN LIVE FREELY, something her parents longed for so much but never could. In the end, he allows himself one last look at the daughter he can never claim, a daughter who will never call him ‘father’, and leaves without even learning her name! BECAUSE THE FACT THAT SHE EXISTS AND WILL BE FREE IS ENOUGH FOR HIM - and he will love her, watch her and protect her from afar till the day he dies, but she will never know.
