Rooftop Prince: Episode 20 (Final)
by javabeans
Well, wouldn’tcha know: Here’s a surprisingly satisfying ending for a series that was in danger of losing its way on multiple occasions. We finally get at the truth of the big Joseon mystery, and I was pleasantly surprised with how well it worked with the plot we’ve seen thus far, and the characterizations of our characters (in both time zones).
I’ve always wanted to go back to the Joseon times more, and missed the story that got left hanging after the first episode, so I was reminded of how I felt when beginning the show. It makes me think that it was a shame the show didn’t capitalize on the past storyline more, though I can see that the whole point was in making the future the key to the past.
In any case, if a flagging drama had to pull out one really strong episode amid a bunch of middling ones, the finale sure is the place to do it. It seems viewers agreed, since the finale pulled Rooftop Prince into first place after giving up that slot to Equator Man for weeks; it went out with a 14.8%, while Equator closed with a 14.1%. The King 2 Hearts ended on an 11.8% rating.
SONG OF THE DAY
Fanny Fink – “Hear Song” [ Download ]
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FINAL EPISODE RECAP
Yi Gak disappears from the modern world, leaving Park-ha crying on her lonely rooftop. As for the other side of the wormhole? We find Yi Gak reappearing in his own era, still dressed in his wedding suit, sitting in a barn.
It’s a strange sight for the locals, and he attracts stares as they pass by the marketplace. Then a team of policemen barrel through the crowd right for him, yelling, “Stop! Capture him!” Who, me? turns into OhcrapRUN!
As he flees, he literally runs right into Chi-san, who’s also running, still dressed in the same shorts and flip-flops he was in when he disappeared from the 21st century. Wait, have you been running for two whole days? Or does the wormhole dump all travelers into the same time, despite staggered departures?
Lucky for them, these are incompetent officers who lose him in plain sight. Though I suppose since they’re Prince Yi Gak’s line of defense, maybe not so lucky after all.
The boys briefly split up in the chase, and when Yi Gak finds Chi-san, he’s unconscious in the street with blood smeared on his face. He moans in pain… and then licks the blood away—ketchup, his favorite trick—and asks, “They’re gone, right?” HA, and now it makes sense why Chi-san was eating a hamburger in the car when he vanished, because now he clutches a small foil ketchup packet. Handy, that.
They’re safe from the authorities, but now the problem is how to get back to the palace without being immediately cast away as crazies. Thankfully, Yi Gak spies something in the distance: two ordinary-looking Joseon men, drinking from beer cans. Haha.
Looks like Man-bo and Yong-sool’s ever-present backpacks saved their hides after all. They didn’t leap with Joseon money, but they were able to trade a pack of gum for a full meal; a little modern marvel goes a long way.
Thirsty Yi Gak reaches for a drink, but the can is empty and Yong-sool reminds him (a little defensively, heh) that they were responsible for their own belongings. (As in, If you wanted one, you should’ve packed one.) Fortunately, Man-bo thought to pack the prince’s royal garb, which eliminates their biggest concern.
Elsewhere, Minister Hong—Bu-yong and Hwa-yong’s father—is informed of the prince’s shocking reappearance at the palace, which he does not take as good news. If Dad’s reaction weren’t enough to tip us off that he’s secretly aligned against the prince, how about the fact that his partner (dun dun dun!) has Tae-mu’s face? (Apparently his name is Muchang-gun, but no need to introduce new names at this point, is there? Joseon Tae-mu it is.)
Minister Hong angrily tells Joseon Tae-mu that the prince was reportedly taken care of last night when he was chased through the forest. Ahh, so the boys have returned just one day after their initial time-leap, and Joseon Tae-mu did try to assassinate him. Heh, so his incompetence as a murderer spans time and space; good to know some things are consistent.
Lord Tae-mu gets up, takes his sword out, and slices down the two henchmen stationed outside: “It appears that the assassins made a mistake last night.”
The ducklings return to the palace to meet the prince after having some time to go home, see their families, and dress in their old clothing. They’re puzzled at the inconsistency of the time lapse as well, which resulted in one sisterly, “Ew, gross, get away,” when Man-bo gave his sister a bear hug in relief, since she’d just seen him the day before.
They wonder if it could have been a dream, and at Man-bo’s modern reply of, “No way, that’s crazy,” Yi Gak reminds them all to remember their Joseon mannerisms. Ha, now they’re fish out of water in their own time zones. Talk about monster jet lag.
Now that everyone’s back in their rightful places, it’s time to turn their attention to that mystery. The prince orders his team to set up a special division at the Euigeumbu (the Joseon department investigating crimes under the king’s decree), and to summon the princess’s family there.
Bu-yong’s mother can’t understand the summons, and she’s still grieving for her daughter. But Minister Hong understands the greater politics at play and declares that it’ll all be over soon: “Either I will die, or the Crown Prince will.”
Thus they are rounded up and brought before Yi Gak, who asks if they understand why they’re here and where Bu-yong is. Minister Hong claims complete innocence regarding Hwa-yong’s death, and his wife explains that Bu-yong is shut in her room, suffering from a contagious disease.
But Yi Gak isn’t here to find out answers, but to reveal them. He begins with the death seven days ago:
In flashback, we see Bu-yong looking wistfully at the prince, hidden around a corner as he walks through the courtyard. She trips and falls, dropping a cosmetics container with powder, which spills to the ground.
Yi Gak comes up behind her as she’s crouched on the ground and has a little fun teasing her. He offers his hand, tsk-tsks about her tripping yet again, and asks about the dropped container. Bu-yong identifies it as face powder sent to the princess by their older brother.
Yi Gak is delighted to hear that she hasn’t been able to figure out his puzzle—what dies though it lives, and lives though it dies?—and says that if she doesn’t produce the answer by tomorrow, he wins.
Bu-yong visits unni Hwa-yong in the palace and makes her deliveries: the powder from their brother, and a letter from their father. Bu-yong notes that the powder smells a little different, wondering if it’s because it’s from China, and asks to take a look. But Hwa-yong—who opened the letter looking disturbed—snaps at her not to touch it, rattled by whatever Daddy wrote her. To kill the prince, perhaps?
There’s one last thing, and Bu-yong hands over a new handkerchief she has embroidered for the prince. But Hwa-yong is so upset by the letter that she barks at Bu-yong to leave.
Bu-yong arrives home while Joseon Tae-mu is sitting with her father, and the two men clam up at the sight of her. Curious at their unfamiliar guest, Bu-yong asks her mother about him, and learns that he is Muchang-gun, the prince’s half-brother. He’s such an obscure prince that Bu-yong has never heard of him, but that’s because he was kicked out of the palace when he was three, when his mother was dethroned.
Bu-yong starts to wonder at the curious circumstances, especially when her mother dismisses her questions and says vaguely that it’s Dad’s business. The clues are too odd to ignore, and she muses that the powder didn’t smell like cosmetics. She remembers her father’s letter, which she was instructed to bring back after the princess had read, which she forgot to convey back to Dad.
Bu-yong takes it out and reads the ominous contents: “Your Highness, today is the day. Listen to your father’s words carefully, you must not make a mistake.”
Bu-yong understands that a plot is under way, just as Minister Hong remembers that he was supposed to get the letter from her. He sends his underling (brother? son?) to retrieve it, which is found in Bu-yong’s room, open and clearly read.
She’s gone, though, having raced away to the palace, desperate to interrupt the deadly plot. Joseon Tae-mu can’t have that and orders his men to capture her, killing her if necessary. His coup is on the line.
As Bu-yong runs, we hear the rest of the letter’s contents: That Hwa-yong is to handle the dried persimmons at their nightly tea, distracting the prince long enough to sprinkle the powder on top.
So Hwa-yong presents the prince with his new handkerchief, and while he admires it, she poisons the persimmon and serves him tea. He comments that he met her sister today, and that he saw her tripping and spilling that face powder. The longer he talks, the more nervous Hwa-yong gets, shaking in guilt and fear.
Just as he reaches for the persimmon, Bu-yong is announced. She has to explain her presence somehow, and Hwa-yong rebukes her for ignoring the rules, telling her to come back tomorrow. Both sisters distractedly eye the persimmons—one needs the prince to eat it, the other is relieved they’re yet untouched.
Yi Gak is in a generous mood, though, so he allows her to stay and asks what she has to say. Bu-yong replies that she has solved the puzzle, making him chuckle. He’d told her she had until tomorrow, so this is her way of winning the bet (he assumes).
She says, “The answer is… Bu-yong (lotus).” Hwa-yong smirks at the audacity of naming herself, but the prince asks for the explanation. Bu-yong explains how the lotus is a flower that grows in a pond, whose roots go deep below into the ground, where all living things die. In order to flower, the lotus takes in that which has died; even though it lives, the flower must die for its seeds to again fall to the ground to bring new life. Furthermore, in Buddhism the samsara is a concept of the birth-life-death cycle, which is represented by the lotus.
Yi Gak laughs at that, impressed, and concedes that he lost again. By now Hwa-yong is edgy and impatient, and dismisses her sister. But Bu-yong can’t just go, and asks for her reward: the persimmon.
Aww, that’s so sad. And a helluva lot more poignant a sacrifice than running in front of a car, because while the situations are paralleled, the actual mechanism of the conflict works much better in this intrigue-laden Joseon era, with treason and coups and betrayals galore. (She can’t reveal the truth without condemning her entire family to ruination and execution, so she’ll just eat the poison and save the prince.)
Hwa-yong looks troubled while the prince finds the request paltry, but Bu-yong entreats him to comply, saying that this is what she needs right now. With trembling hands, she takes them and eats, every last one. And Hwa-yong doesn’t say a thing.
When she’s done, the prince calls it a night, and Bu-yong asks him to live in peace. Hwa-yong hangs her head, blinking back her own tears. When Bu-yong leaves, she’s already feeling the effects and stumbles weakly. She asks the court lady that if the princess should look for her later, to meet her at the Lotus Pavilion.
Then, with difficulty, she staggers out to wait by the pond, breathing painfully, remembering all her times with the prince.
After the prince goes to sleep, Hwa-yong slips away with two court ladies, heading to the pavilion. She leaves them outside the building, then faces her dying sister inside. I’m going to give Hwa-yong a wee bit of credit in thinking that she is rightfully horrified that her sister is dying, even if her first words are to blame Bu-yong for “ruining everything.” But it’s very wee.
Hwa-yong points out that Bu-yong’s big sacrifice isn’t going to fix much, since once she’s dead it’ll be easily discovered that she was poisoned, and their whole family will be killed if it is linked to an attempt on the prince’s life. But Bu-yong pleads with her sister for one last request, to protect the prince.
To that end, she has a plan: Dress Bu-yong in the princess’s clothes and pass off her corpse for Hwa-yong’s. If her body is believed to be the princess’s, it’ll deflect the suspicion away from an assassination attempt on the prince (whereas, nobody has cause to murder a nobody like Bu-yong, so if her body were discovered, the inquest would continue). This means Hwa-yong will have to give up her identity as the princess, but it would spare the family’s life. Furthermore, without his connection to the princess, their father loses his position of power and therefore he can no longer be a threat to the prince, and therefore the coup against Yi Gak will stall.
Time is running out, and Bu-yong gasps in pain that they must hurry. The women trade clothing.
Outside, however, Joseon Tae-mu is on the prowl, dressed in dark assassin’s clothing. He spies the court ladies and approaches the Lotus Pavilion, and cuts them down—finally, a successful murder! Yay?
Hwa-yong, dressed in Bu-yong’s clothes and face mask, emerges from the pavilion alone and runs to her father’s house. Bu-yong, meanwhile, starts to cough up blood. She clutches a letter in one hand and rises with difficulty to hide it behind a screen.
Outside, she looks into the water for long moments, shaking in pain and fear as she prepares herself. Murmuring, “Your Highness,” Bu-yong closes her eyes and falls into the water to her death.
End of flashback. In the “present” day Joseon timeline, Yi Gak finishes relating this story to the Hong family with angry condemnation.
Minister Hong insists that it was the princess who died, and it seems like the parents really are surprised. Yi Gak challenges them, asking if they can be absolutely sure that the sickly daughter at home is Bu-yong. He orders his ducklings to search the household for Bu-yong, and accompanies his team of special investigators to scour the property.
She is discovered hiding, and Yi Gak reaches to uncover her face, just as they hear the approach of attackers. It’s Joseon Tae-mu and his team of rebels, leading to a skirmish in the courtyard. He seizes his bow and arrow and shoots at Yi Gak… getting him square in the chest. Oh noes!
Yong-sool corners Joseon Tae-mu, though, stopping him in his tracks with a sword to the throat. And curiously, Yi Gak doesn’t seem to be in pain as he pulls the arrow from his chest. Aw, did his marriage pendant save his life?
Now he turns back to Hwa-yong, ordering her to raise her head to face him. He pulls the mask from her face, and sees his wife. That confirms everything, and he looks at her with furious contempt. Hwa-yong grabs his legs and begs for mercy, crying that she knows nothing, pleading for her life. Yi Gak thunders, “How is it that a wicked thing like you could be the princess?! It is not me to whom you should beg for your life—you should beg it from Bu-yong!”
He orders everyone rounded up and taken to the Euigeumbu to be charged as traitors. His men rush to his side, and he reveals the pendant Park-ha gave him, now dented from the arrow. He tells them, “Park-ha saved my life once more. Dummy.”
Hour of judgment. Yi Gak charges Minister Hong for the attempt on his life, and orders father and son executed by beheading. He charges his half-brother, whom he’d thought of favorably despite their long estrangement, with the same crime and punishment. In memory of Bu-yong’s sacrifice, he spares Hwa-yong and her mother, but strips the princess of her crown and sends them into exile.
Some time later, Yi Gak walks along that bridge alone now, thinking of Park-ha. He makes his way into the Lotus Pavilion, his gaze settling on the screen against the wall. The painted butterfly glows briefly, bringing him closer, and that leads him to a discovery: the letter Bu-yong had slipped between the panels.
He rips the letter out of hiding and reads the words she’d written in her dying moments.
“Your Highness, if you are reading this letter it means you are alive, and that makes me, Bu-yong, happy. There is one thing that is good about dying. I am glad that I can now say the words I have long held in my heart. I loved you, Your Highness. I cared for you my entire life. That which lives despite dying, and dies though living—even hundreds of years later, I will love you.”
Yi Gak sheds tears, and then has an idea, scrambling to write a letter of his own, which starts, “Park-ha-ya, I arrived safely. How are you?” He rolls up the paper and slips it into a tube, then tucks that into the palace hiding place he’d once shown her, where he retrieved her jade wedding pendant.
Back to the present, where Park-ha returns to the palace. She finds the hiding spot and feels around, hoping for something. She does, and opens the tube with anticipation, finding the old, yellowed parchment.
The letter continues:
“If you are able to read this letter, three hundred years will have passed. And if this letter finds its ways into your hands, I take back my words calling you Dummy. Is your fruit juice business going well? I can only imagine how you are doing, unable to touch you. I miss you like crazy. I want to hear your voice, and touch you. If I could die and meet you, I would die right now.”
And then, a familiar face arrives to order an apple juice. She’s in such a daze that he has to call to her twice, and then she doesn’t even spare him a glance. It’s Tae-yong, or is it Yi Gak?, and he smiles pleasantly at her.
The letter goes on to say, “I should have said I love you more. Park-ha-ya, I love you. I miss your smiling face like crazy. You must be well.”
The customer pays and keeps looking at Park-ha expectantly, like he wants her to look at him. But she barely notices, and he leaves.
Back to Joseon, where our ducklings… have set up a food stand of their own, selling—what else?—omurice. They even make their own fresh ketchup, bickering like old friends, and Chi-san even plugs in his iPod to ignore Man-bo’s nagging. Ha. What’re you gonna do when those batteries die, huh?
The boys make their delivery to the prince, and then poof, instead of their Joseon hanboks they’re wearing those comfy newfangled tracksuits, so they can eat their omurice in comfort. HAHA. Okay, that’s pretty cute.
They wolf down their food like old times, but as he finishes, Yi Gak finds himself on the verge of tears and sad thoughts. He makes an excuse, but the boys know what troubles him, and offer him a park-ha peppermint as dessert. And today, Yong-sool gets the evil eye for crunching into his, hee.
2012. Park-ha arrives at work to find a postcard of the Seoul Tower stuck into her front door, with a note asking her to meet there tonight.
On the flipside is a new sketch of her, depicting her at her juice blender, with Tae-yong’s familiar initials in the corner. And THAT gets her attention, finally.
She arrives at the meeting point and waits for a while, masses of tourists passing by in a blur. When the crowd disperses, one person is left standing by her side, looking at her with an expectant gaze.
It’s Tae-yong (or is it?), and he asks, “Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for a long time.” Park-ha asks where he’s been, because “I was here the whole time.”
He’s looking at her like he knows her, but it’s not entirely clear which incarnation this is. My brain says Tae-yong, but the heart hopes for Yi Gak…
Tae-yong holds out his hand to her, and she takes it. The moment she does, suddenly the man transforms right before her eyes, wearing prince’s robes.
They look at each other with tears running down their faces, both thinking to themselves, “Even after three hundred years pass, I will love you.”
COMMENTS
I was holding out hope till the very last moment that Yi Gak had found a way back to Park-ha somehow, even if that would have flouted all narrative logic. (Hey, it’s not like the show has a lot of that left to lose.) But no, it’s Tae-yong standing there at the end, as the couple’s last words remind tell us that we’re looking at the three-hundred-years-later version, not the original.
And even though I balk at the idea of swapping out one Yoochun for another, reincarnated soul be damned, the show does manage to soften the blow by giving us the image of Yi Gak at the end to assure us that yes, he is the same person. (Kind of.) As in, this isn’t a cheap copy that we’re left to settle for, but as close a thing to the real deal as you can wrap your head around.
I confess to not being entirely sold on the reincarnated soul making up for the loss, but I appreciate the last scene’s depiction of the reunion—it isn’t the same pairing that we’ve been watching all series long, but because Park-ha sees Tae-yong dressed as Yi Gak (in her mind, it seems to be saying), it’s like their souls recognize each other. The material world and their current bodily trappings change from lifetime to lifetime, but the essence of their love is still there, and that recognition sweeps through them both.
It’s not a perfect happily ever after, but I’m strangely okay with it. Possibly because this show isn’t one that sticks with me emotionally in the first place so its flaws don’t upset me terribly either. I suspect that if the show had gone out on Tae-yong and Park-ha together, I would have been unhappy, but the swap to show Yi Gak standing there, reinforcing that it’s supposed to be the same soul, does go a long way toward getting me to accept it.
I do feel like Yi Gak sure got stuck with the short end of the stick, in that he loses both Bu-yong and Park-ha and has to live the rest of his life single. He’s got his sidekicks there, which helps, but he doesn’t get a consolation romance like Park-ha. I guess she’s the one who has to live knowing that Yi Gak is already dead, but somehow I think it’s worse to be him, either pining or grieving or in an existential state of “Well, I guess it all works out in the end, even if it’s not MY end.”
On the other hand, his Joseon storyline was always about bringing justice for the murder, not recovering a lost love. He starts out the drama grieving for his wife, and he never harbored illusions of being able to jump back in time to bring her back to life. So in that regard, he succeeds in what he set out to do: uncover the murderer, realize the truth, and punish the wrongdoers. If he hadn’t time-warped in the first place, he would still have had to deal with the grief of losing a loved one; at least in this case he knows he loved the right one?
I was satisfied with the wrap-up of the Joseon mystery in the final episode, and found Bu-yong’s sacrifice pretty heartbreaking. I understood it and felt for it, even though the very same action in 2012 had me scoffing and rolling my eyes. Her act had more emotional impact, and I felt the bittersweetness of Yi Gak’s discovery of what she’d done.
The finale also made me think that the seeds were planted well enough in advance to convince me that the writer DID know what he was doing. He clearly had the important beats worked out from the start, and the neatness of the resolution proves that this there was a decent amount of forethought given to the plot. The problem this drama had is the opposite of a lot of other live-shoot dramas, where you can sense the story unraveling at the seams and writers throwing whatever they can at the show to keep it going. Here, it feels like the show knew how it was going to end, but didn’t do a good job budgeting its plot in the middle portion and ended up whipping up whatever stories it could to keep the show treading water till it could dovetail with the planned part.
I do wish the plot mechanisms were more explained, though, since I’m still left wondering at the reason for the time-jump in the first place. We get a vague understanding that there’s a Fate-like power deciding when to move them forward and backward, and I think we’re safe in assuming that this Fate allowed Tae-yong to wake up after Yi Gak left his world. But it never quite addresses the Why of it all. Do random other people throughout history also get to visit their future selves, when something goes awry in their own worlds?
All in all, Rooftop Prince was a fluffy drama that I could watch easily without thinking too hard, especially when the show brought on the cute characters, fish-out-of-water jokes, hilarious sight gags and puns, and the sweet chemistry between Yoochun and Han Ji-min. It definitely is a show where the charm of the cast makes up for a lot.
Ultimately there wasn’t a whole lotta plot, which means that half the show was spent stretching out the same beats and repeating them with slight (but insufficient) variations on the same theme. Here’s a case of a show that should’ve been ten episodes at most, having to scrounge up stuff to fill twenty.
At least we had amusing interactions, with beautiful crying by Han Ji-min and an impressive leap in performance by Yoochun, who stretched himself a lot with this role. I’ll look forward to more things in both their futures—as well as the Joseon ducklings—though the production team is on notice.
RELATED POSTS
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 19
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 18
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 17
- Thing vs. Thing: Time-traveling Heroes
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 16
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 15
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 14
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 13
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 12
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 11
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 10
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 9
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 8
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 7
- The untold love story: Rooftop Fashion King
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 6
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 5
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 4
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 3
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 2
- Rooftop Prince: Episode 1
Tags: featured, Han Ji-min, Jung Yumi (2), Lee Tae-sung, Micky Yoochun, Rooftop Prince
Interview with Kim Yoo-jung
Hello Dramabeans series
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151 ar
May 25, 2012 at 7:00 PM
watching the episode again and felt just as emotional as the first time.
The only thing that really confuses me isn't why she ate the persimmons, but why she wrote that letter to Yi Gak, basically letting him know that she's dead, when she wanted Hwayong to pretend to be her (meaning to everyone, she should be alive). As sad as that letter was, that is something that doesn't make sense to me.
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jyyjc
May 25, 2012 at 7:11 PM
That is a good question......
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EverythingLina
May 25, 2012 at 8:42 PM
she hid it because she didn't expect him to find it... it wasn't a "letter to him" it was more like a "letter for herself to him" for her own closure (like a will), and even if he did find it she expected him to have known everything behind the death of the "crown princess" because the only reason he would find it is yi gak himself realizing how much she meant to him...
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152 MJ
May 25, 2012 at 7:20 PM
So I read Sho's explanation post 130. And her/his explanation makes sense. I do believe that Tae Yong retained Yi Gak's memories when he woke up from his coma. If not why would he have his hands behind his back and ask Park Ha why she was so late as he had been waiting for so long. At least after reading the post, my heart is much at ease that the ending was infact a happy ending =)
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153 KaW
May 25, 2012 at 7:22 PM
So I have a question, if Tae Yong did have Yi Gak's memories when he woke up from his coma. Would that mean he also remembered Lee Gak travelling to the future and meeting Park Ha, and then travelling back to Joseon again?
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exquisitemelody
May 25, 2012 at 10:25 PM
I'm going to go with yes. At the beginning of the first episode, there's a shot of Bu Yong in the pond...then we see Tae Yong in the ocean and then there's a quick flash montage of Yi Gak's memories. I'm going to take this as evidence that Tae-Yong remembers his past life as Yi Gak when he fell into the water and went into a coma. Let's go with the idea that memories stay with the soul. The incarnation may not consciously remember past lives and past memories, but the memories are with the soul. As others have said, there's evidence of this when Tae-Yong's sketchbook is shown and there's a lotus and butterfly. Obviously somewhere in his subconscious, he remembers his past life. When Tae-Yong gets knocked into the water, he remembers his past life as Yi Gak and he remembers EVERYTHING - everything that happens after that point in the drama - because the "future" (relative to Tae-Yong's time line) has already happened for Yi Gak (the circular nature of time travel...just go with it :P).
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KaW
May 26, 2012 at 1:10 AM
Thanks for the reply =D
I've also got another question that's knocking in my head which is - from the letter that LG wrote to PH, would both dimentions be occuring at the same time? (like a parallel world but in a different era). So when LG wrote to PH, the letter would have travelled 300 yrs to the future? And when PH's reading the letter, he would be dead in the present era but alive in the Joseon era?
I was thinking it was sad for Lee Gak to go back to Joseon and die without Park Ha (i know he lived until 36 years old as what the history says, but he lived on for another 12 years without her), but on the bright side, he reincarnated into Tae Yong 300 yrs later =)
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154 Rooftopprinceftw
May 25, 2012 at 7:22 PM
I just can't get over the fact that yi gak is going to be single for rest of his life... While bak ha gets to be with tae yong
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KaW
May 25, 2012 at 7:26 PM
From what I read, the drama is based on the story of the real prince named Prince Gyeongjong, he ascended the throne in 1720 but unfortunately died in 1724. So pretty much Lee Gak did not live an old age. But we do know he reincarnated to Tae Yong.
Here's the post about the history. http://dramahaven.com/actual-model-for-rooftop-princes-yuchun-is-joseon-gyeongjong-tragic-ending/
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ar
May 25, 2012 at 8:33 PM
I felt it wasn't fair for Yi Gak, but then someone did mention that Bu-yong was dead- so both past incarnations got screwed over. Such was life in sageuk times- which also means he will probably only live another 20 to 30 years.
In the end Taeyong is really Yi Gak (same soul), so Yi Gak did get his happy ending. And so did Buyong. They both just had to wait 300 years.
At least he knew he would be reunited. Going to the future and seeing the future incarnations was proof of reincarnation and being able to reincarnate into human beings. Would have sucked more if he had to spend the rest of his life crossing his fingers that reincarnation is real or worrying that he would be reincarnated into a cow.
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155 Viki
May 25, 2012 at 7:42 PM
I'm very satisfied with the ending...'cuz their souls kinda reunited in the future...however, I feel really bad for Yi Gak...'cuz he basically will spend the rest of life alone without Buyong....or any other wives that can replace Pak Ha...
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156 Linh
May 25, 2012 at 8:06 PM
I was bawling after episode 19. This series reminds me of the book Knight in the Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux. I've always been a fan of Han Ji Min, since Capital Scandal. But Micky Yoochun, I wasn't still a fan after S. Scandal but became one after this series. I think it was a big improvement, I did not watch Miss Ripley so I can't comment. But I think he carries the show. Can't wait for the next series from both :-)
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timetraveler
May 25, 2012 at 9:29 PM
"Knight in the Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux"
Wow, I haven't read that book in years! I remember loving it and its ending. You know, I think I still own it. :)
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Coco
May 28, 2012 at 9:17 AM
Jude Deveraux?! Hahaha, I use to read a lot of her novels when I was in 12 grade (high school).
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157 Team YG
May 25, 2012 at 8:25 PM
Thanks for the recaps :)
I didn't quite like the ending, but now that I think about it, I can't find any way to close this drama without making the plot too comical or unrealistic.
All in all, it was a good drama that took me into an emotional ride of excitement. Although there are many loose ends, I would like to think that the writers did that on purpose to make the audience think (and not because the writers really just forgot all about it)
As for the TY reincarnation, I think it's safe to say that love knows no time and it goes to show that YG's love for BY is strong enough to withstand 300 years of waiting. It might be that the body is different (i.e. TY and YG) but the soul stays the same, and so does the love.
I would've probably stopped watching this series after the makjang episode they pulled the last time, but Yoochun and Han Ji Min did a wonderful job, we've gotta give them that.
Now, off to go gaga over QIHM! :D
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158 EverythingLina
May 25, 2012 at 8:33 PM
i believe that tae young's inner yi gak has known who she "was" since new york and the familiarity of park ha to him and he has always wanted to tell her but it was delayed until the last episode because of tae mu's interference... in the end its the reincarnated yi gak, which is tae yong, that finally got to confess his feelings after the entire ordeal... so the ending i was really satisfied with because thats how i saw it... when yi gak was fading away the last few episodes i felt that was because the real tae yong was slowing coming to/waking up from being comatose because the two souls cannot coexist... I loved this series... although i do admit the middle few episodes were quite boring, i still enjoyed it nonetheless... ^.~
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159 krys
May 25, 2012 at 9:05 PM
Woah! Reading some of your posts makes me think a lot...and of course makes me happy :DD
I liked the ending..though the plot seems confusing as some of you have pointed out a lot of comments regarding the events...
I just would like to commend the actors and actresses for doing a great job in portraying their roles....
We were really into the drama as the way they act affected us...as whether we would like to kill SeNa and Tae Mu while watching and cry our hearts out loud for Yi Gak and park Ha...
The F3 were also awesome...
This drama really removes the stresses in my life...
A feel-good drama with confusing twists but overall one of the best for me...
It is a one-of-a-kind drama that doesn't need exaggerating moments/stuffs like that...the actors and actresses doing their job makes this drama memorable...
I really love Han Ji Min and Park Yoo chun...
They really look good together and the way they act....JJANG!
As a fan of loveteams, I wish they would be together in real life....
Can I ask ...DO YOU KNOW THEIR LOVETEAM/OTP NAME OR SOMETHING?...Like I've been searching and I can't find a forum for their loveteam..
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folie a deux
May 26, 2012 at 3:40 AM
In soompi they were given the moniker "whip cream couple" (in ref. to ep.2 where they shared soju and whip cream) :)
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krys
May 26, 2012 at 6:23 AM
Oooh...thanks for the info... :D
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160 Bella
May 25, 2012 at 9:34 PM
Oh gosh, this was good. I love how most of this episode was in Joseon, just like the first episode. And gosh, the last scene had me bawling, when you see Tae Yong, with or without Yi Gak's memories, and he's all calm and then shifting to Yi Gak in his Joseon clad, gosh, Yochun's expression's and tears just said it all.
It was hard, but it did have some sense of closure, more so after reading all of these comments.:) I also happen to believe that when Pak Ha spoke about waiting for him, saying she'd been there all along, she was speaking as Bu Yong as well as her present incarnation. The gestures, I don't know, something in her voice sounded less like Pak Ha and more like Bu Yong. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but yea, its all the more satisfying to think she also subconsciously felt Bu Yong's longing, just like Tae Yong's memory as Yi Gak.
Ahhh, it was a good ride, flaws and all. Off to weep some more.;( Yep, I need to get myself together.
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exquisitemelody
May 25, 2012 at 10:31 PM
I also felt that the "Where were you? I was always here" comment makes more sense from a Bu Yong stand point. I'd like to think that just as Tae-Yong remembered his life as Yi Gak, Park Ha remembered her life as Bu Yong the moment she meets Yi Gak/Tae-Yong again and both of them were finally able to realize the fate they were supposed to have in Joseon.
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161 chewywon
May 25, 2012 at 9:46 PM
Isn't it funny how this drama took an unrealistic theme as the plot & they could have end it in the most unrealistic way as well & get away w/ it.....but instead they took the realistic approach to the ending series and that I believe is why fans are so confuse w/ the ending.
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162 katiamon
May 25, 2012 at 10:21 PM
I've cried like a child with eps 19 and 20... I'll truly miss RP (PH, YG and my ducklins), my wednesdays and thursdays won't be the same... I liked the ending a lot because of the soulmate matter: you will always find it regarding time and space.
About many untied stories, i actually don't really care because the main story was about how will they end up together. Regarding the episode were she read the history book i think she got sad because she realized they were telling the truth: the were from Joseon and her new family was temporary (or at least i wanna believe this).
I'll rewatch this series very soon!!!! Thank you for all the effort with the summaries :)
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163 Susy
May 25, 2012 at 10:31 PM
loved the ending. definitely gaved it an oomph to end it. thanks for the quick recap, always enjoy reading your comments :)
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164 Muz
May 25, 2012 at 10:34 PM
I strongly agree with Dramabeans' interpretation of RTP's ending... Personally I feel that it is Tae Yong in the end, because a pot of lotus in the foreground was being shot when he entered the shop to buy a cup of apple juice, and we all know that the 'lotus' symbolises 'rebirth' in this show.
In my opinion, this show is more than Joseon Yi Gak/Modern day Park Ha pairing. If it is so, then Joseon Bu Yong would be like a third party between them already. The essence of RTP is about the timeless love between 2 souls.
Like what Dramabeans pointed out, "The material world and their current bodily trappings change from lifetime to lifetime, but the essence of their love is still there". This is evidently conveyed with the last line of the show, “Even after three hundred years pass, I will love you.”
I think with that understanding in mind, all of us can better appreciate the meaning of RTP... True love between 2 souls transcends time and what matters is that they get to be together and love each other - which explains why Joseon Yi Gak was brought into the future to undo the interception by Tae Mu.
Will miss this show greatly!
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165 Mikaela
May 25, 2012 at 11:23 PM
Loved the ending.
I've been away hence loads of catching up to do eg watching the previous episodes as from the 14th.
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166 nheony
May 26, 2012 at 12:31 AM
First off thanks Javabeans for the recap. Had fun reading it (always!). I made a guess on this (I think sometime in the middle) that the one in the water was not really the crown princess but BY but I kept thinking how the prince could not have known that (don't they look at the corpse at all??) I had a hard time wrapping my head around that. But this drama pretty much had me scratching my head at most of its plot devices (time jump, tae yongs accident, that damn company etc.), so I went along with it. It was really the relationship between our main leads and the ducklings that kept me watching even when the story went south already. But I was satisfied with our resolution and how the mystery was solved. My heart went out to Bu-Yong when she made that sacrifice and I actually cheered that Tae-Mu was able to kill someone. Though I wished hard too for Yi Gak to find a way back I am at least satisfied that they ended things with the knowledge that no matter what body they get reincarnated in their love for each other would remain the same. -- man this is the longest comment I've made here.
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167 yayaya
May 26, 2012 at 1:58 AM
Bravo to Yoochun and all the cast!
Man, Yoochun did amazing job. He improved a lot. He was good in SKKS and Miss Ripley, but there's something lack in his character in Miss Ripley
With this drama, I truly convinced that he is natural gift actor, I think I won't see him as idol actor anymore but actor Park Yoochun.
How many character he played in Rooftop Prince? Lee Gak, Tae Yong before accident, Lee Gak pretend to be TY and Lee Gak as Taeyong II and he portrayed all his characters very well.
Cannot wait to see his next project!!!!
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168 yayaya
May 26, 2012 at 2:03 AM
This drama has up and down moments, but fortunately the ending was satisfying!
I knew that Taeyong who will end up with Park Ha since the beginning.
My heart was aching to see Lee Gak lived alone for rest for his life, but at least his incarnation can find his true love.
Rooftop Prince, what a bittersweet drama! I will miss Lee Gak, Park Ha and the ducklings. Looking forward for all their next projects ^____^
btw, I hope Yoochun can win Excellent Award for his impressive performance in RTP. His acting is beyond rookie, so he deserves something bigger than just Rookie Award from SBS
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169 obsession
May 26, 2012 at 6:12 AM
i'm gonna miss this drama sfm... the ending is a lil confused but i have no complaint bout it....
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170 jodie047
May 26, 2012 at 7:30 AM
speechless.. the ending also had me think twice.. was Yi Gak able to come back to the present?! but the postcard suggests that nah! it is actually Tae Yong.. and i'm pretty happy that he has come back to life and found Hang ah! :)
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171 Naddie
May 26, 2012 at 10:26 AM
Watched the ending a few hours ago and was slightly upset by the ending (only slightly), left for dinner with friends for a few hours and came back to read the recap. Now I think I've come to terms with the ending and overall I'm pretty satisfied with the drama. I felt like the drama lost its steam towards the end but the conclusion was perfect. Thank you Rooftop Prince for the entertainment :)
And hey we can't expect all dramas to be perfect from start to end (like how Shut Up Flower Boyband was sob I still love that show.)
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172 Nai
May 26, 2012 at 1:24 PM
I enjoyed the ending minus a HUGE plothole. I don't know if this has been mentioned already because I haven't read through the comments.
At the beginning of the series Yi Gak receives the handkerchief made by Buyong BEFORE he gives her the riddle, while they're out and about walking by the lotus pond. Remember? He's comparing the real flowers to the ones on the handkerchief and singing the praises of the Crown Princess' apparent talent.
In the finale he receives it AFTER he's given her the riddle. When Buyong spies on him and trips, he reminds her that she has one day left to solve the ridde. After she trips and flails, she meets her sister and gives her the handkerchief, which the Crown Princess later uses to distract Yi Gak while she poisons his food.
What the heck?
The ending was good, but yeah...that was extremely disappointing.
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Yeng
May 26, 2012 at 2:15 PM
I thought it is a different handkerchief...maybe i should go back to first episode?
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exquisitemelody
May 26, 2012 at 2:41 PM
it might just be a different handkerchief, but I'll have to confirm by rewatching...
The one thing I still haven't been able to logically explain is they had realized in the first episode that the poison was on the persimmons. I know Yi Gak would've been distraught over his wife's death, but how did it not occur to him EARLIER that Bu Yong was the one that ate the persimmons?!
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Nai
May 27, 2012 at 12:46 AM
I just realized that dried persimmons both ruin and end Buyong's life.
As a child, she tries to offer Hwayong dried persimmons to make her feel better about her about her marriage to Li Gak and it is the act of picking up a dropped persimmon that causes Hwayong to burn her face.
As an adult, she eats the poisoned dried persimmons to protect her family and the prince.
Dried persimmons are evil, lol.
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Coco
May 28, 2012 at 9:27 AM
LOL. Everyone should stay away from dried persimmons.
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Nai
May 27, 2012 at 12:47 AM
Sorry that was supposed to be a new comment, not a reply!
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delaney
May 28, 2012 at 12:54 AM
Yes, yes! Honestly this one detail bothers me a lot as it is in fact the MOST GLARING flaw in the entire story, especially during the last episode where BY ate almost all of it in front of YG. They have established in ep.1 that the persimmons were indeed poisoned, so YG should have been aware during that time that it was BY who was poisoned...argh, I'm not nitpicking the show esp. now that the deed's done but this flaw is not to be overlooked, because it goes to show that the whole story becomes an epic fail of logic (yah I know that the show's weak spot is logic, but this turn of events is too obviously illogical).
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pk
May 27, 2012 at 8:29 AM
I don know what version or subtitles you read but the show i wach, YG did said" so u sew ANOTHER butterfly handkechief....."
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Tun Teja
May 28, 2012 at 7:48 AM
Definitely its not the same hanky.How could anyone thinks its the same one.
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Coco
May 28, 2012 at 9:31 AM
Did you not actually watch the show? They are two different handkerchiefs. That is why LG even said, even though the Princess may not be so good at many things, when it comes to such workmanship, she's still the best. Plus this hankerchip had no butterfly.
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173 Yeng
May 26, 2012 at 2:13 PM
the ending is a bit strange, but i love it. When I began this series, i was wondering how it would be ended since they really cannot be together. Fantasy drama like this one usually have weird ending that make no sense, but this one wrap up with a meaningful ending. In the end, they are still with each other, spiritually. It doesnt matter if they cant be together physically because they acknowledge their love, and that is a really cute ending, especially the last line is just perfect.
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174 goldeng
May 26, 2012 at 8:26 PM
thanks 4 the recaps!! after cursing and ranting like theres no tomorrow with K2H's ep. 19 -poor jaeshin... shi kyung ill never forget youuu :'(- I was DESPERATELY wanting a happy ever after in rooftop prince for my other fav. couple but im still like "WHUT??" because im confused x.x the "ive waiting for so long" Tae yong said he def sounded like Yi Gak... and i still dont know if somehow Yi Gak managed to "stay" in Tae Yong's soul or something... i dunno if im picky but id appreciated if they were specific and told me that yes, someway tae yong had all the memories yi Gak made with Pak Ha and Bu yong and that they "blended"... even when i would like the actual joseon yi gak to be with pak ha if the previous happened then im happy... :)
i still want to know what pak ha read about Yi Gak... maybe she read about the plot to murder him and how Bu young saved him?? we'll be guessing what it was forever ...
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175 Luna
May 26, 2012 at 11:02 PM
Is it only me, or did the ending make anyone else feel both sad and happy at the same time? :)) Guess it was a Sappy ending. Anyway, I love this drama!
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176 JG
May 27, 2012 at 2:20 AM
Thanks, JB. I am quite satisfied with the ending. It's been a fun ride. Park Yoochun, Han Ji Min and the rest of the cast did great. I look forward to their future projects.
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177 Belle
May 27, 2012 at 4:42 AM
If you like talented acting, romantic, fun, sad, quirky, mysterious, historical, & contemporary show...this is the show for you.
...really enjoyed it! :)
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178 Bugsy
May 27, 2012 at 4:55 AM
It is bittersweet since we knew that the couple would have to part in the end. But I'm hoping against hope, that perhaps, somehow, someway, the soul in Tae Yong is "woken" and remembers who Park ha is. But it's wishful thinking on my part.
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179 Jazie
May 27, 2012 at 5:46 AM
I just want to say I have thought of the perfect ending for this drama using evidence from history and RTP
1. Bak ha read in the history book that LG was dead 4 years after he became king, LG = tragic king gyeongjong. We know that around the events of RTP he was still a prince.
2. A few months in 2012 is only 1 day in joseon, but I think that's just fate messing with logic.
3. Or is it fate....or bu yong!? Dun, dun, dun. I feel that bu yong was the butterfly spirit thingy because she died before LG was sent to Bak ha. Bu yong as butterfly thingy wants to make LG happy.
4. So technically she can alter the time in joseon and 2012 during time travel...if you get what I mean. THIS MEANS THAT 4 years in joseon for LG may be just a few months in 2012.
5. LG wrote that he would die if he could be with her. He died and butterfly spirit is still there.
6. TY is still in a coma. Not likely to survive. Dead LG enters his body in 2012.
7. Happy ending cause LG with bak ha who knows that he's LG. He did not alter history but is with Bak ha in TY's body but he's LG alright.
MY Ending!!!!!!! Happy right?
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180 Tara
May 27, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Thank you for the recap and it is also so interesting to read all the comment.
I agree that in the middle, it got kind of child-play like plot and story but the ending tried to tie and link every plot that started in the beginning.
The ending leaves every viewer to use their own imagination about what Park Ha saw... Yi Gak or Tae Young?
My thought: the question "why are you so late?" might be indicating that "why are you so late, I've been waiting for your for 300 years". Which I interpreted as Bu Young reincarnated as Park Ha after 300 years.
And Tae Yong is reincarnation as Yi Gak and waiting for her. Their soul finally met and the story ended with happily ever after. And I am happy for them ^_^
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181 gretac
May 27, 2012 at 3:54 PM
For me the ending worked, and worked really well. I hadn't been able to imagine how it could make me feel good - certainly YiGak couldn't stay in 21st c., and it wouldn't have felt right for Park Ha to replace Bu Young in Joseon, not to mention trying to fit into the mores for women of that time period.
But this worked so well, and if I put it in slightly different words, I think I can explain why - at least I want to try. Just saying TaeYung is the reincarnation of YiGak doesn't quite cut it for me, because of the usual assumptions we have about not remembering, new personalities and histories, etc. But in this story, it's clear by the end that TaeYung actually IS YiGak. They have/are the same soul. That's why TaeYung and YiGak couldn't both be conscious at the same time, because there's only one soul between them: TaeYung had to wait for YiGak to go back 300 years (and die in the meantime) in order for YiGak's/TaeYung's soul to be free to come back into his (TY's) body. (I think only Hermione and Harry can have their single souls coinhabit 2 of their bodies in one time period!). While YiGak was walking around in TaeYung's time, TY's body was without its soul, i.e., unconscious. Similarly, it was his unconsciousness that allowed YiGak to come conscious and alive into the 21st century, because their (single) soul was available for YG.
I am sad for YG's remaining Joseon lifetime without either BY or PH, but for me that's taken care of when he says, "I've been waiting so long" to PH once he's back in TY's body: He, YG/TY does in fact get to be with PH.
Also, it's clear to me in the juice shop that TY is remembering the words he wrote as YG 300 years ago: when they focus on TY's face instead of PH's during the voiceover, he clearly looks as if he's remembering and thinking the words that YG wrote and that are in the voiceover right then: "I should have told you that I love you more often before I had to leave. Park Ha, I love you" and they show him looking right at her lovingly just as YG's voiceover says that. It pans to her, then, and then back to TY as he finishes with "Take care," and then TY kind of has to start back to reality from his memories/thoughts. Yoochun did a fantastic job conveying all that! He's clearly giving the looks of someone who knows and loves her, not someone who's interested in a stranger he's seen once a few years ago. I LOVE that whole scene. That's what convinced me he was the same soul as YG, even before the park scene with his princely stance and his statement "I waited for you for so long" (i.e., 300 years). And clearly that's not the first meeting of 2 people who don't really know each other!
So those two scenes, in the juice store and at the end in the park, so beautifully done, completely warmed my heart and let me know that they were truly back together. Happy! :-)
And: has anyone talked about the mystical butterfly? You know, the one that actually flew off of the handkerchief BY had embroidered, and flew from Joseon Korea to 21c NYC?! - and then reappeared on the handkerchief; not to mention the painted one that glowed to show YG BY's letter after her death. I guess it clearly represents BY, and landing on PH's shoulder lets us know they are one and the same, too (even though they don't have the benefit of one of them being unconscious so they could eventually share conscious memories).
Oh! I just remembered another parallel: remember how PH wrote that she loved YG on her cellphone and then tried to hide it by burying it in the dirt - like BY writing that she loved YG and hiding it in the screen...
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Stacy
May 27, 2012 at 7:42 PM
Love your explanation! Now I've got to go back and rewatch that scene (and probably cry again but oh well).
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gretac
May 27, 2012 at 9:17 PM
Oh, good - I was afraid it might be too ramble-y for anyone but me to understand what I was saying!
And, yeah, the crying is inevitable! love that scene so much...
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Coco
May 28, 2012 at 9:38 AM
See, you explains it so well.
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182 lorena
May 28, 2012 at 2:43 AM
this is not my favorite drama, not even of these season, King 2 Hearts is, but this finale , wow, it was great, i think it's the best finale i've seen in a drama, i can't remember other as good as this, maybe later i will remember other as good as this, but today this is it! great episode, i just loved that even when it was Tae Yong they made us feel like it was Lee Gak. I felt bad for The prince and Bu Yong, but that made this episode great, that was true love, ooooooh, i really loved this episode!!!
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183 park yoon hee
May 28, 2012 at 6:56 AM
Well, here is my opinion, after trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together!
Was it the prince? or was it Tae Yong? ------------> It was...BOTH because THEY'RE the same SOUL just living in different eras...not a copy cat...nope it was YI GAK. Notice his hands in the end! he's dressing like Tae Yong but he had his hands on a prince pose...his hands were behind his back!! XD
Remember Tae Yong couldn't wake up from his comma while the prince was there?? well of course...because there aren't two souls for the same person, THEY'RE ONE! So be happy people because Bak Ha and Yi Gak DO get their happy ending (as the song says) in the end.
Remember what YI GAK told Sena once??? two SOULS that know each other should be able to recognize one another...that's what happens when Bak Ha holds his hand in the end!!! their souls recognize each other! because they truely are SOULMATES
so it's Bu Yong (who said in her letter that even if 300 passed she would STILL love him) , it's YI GAK, Tae Yong and Bak Ha ALL TOGETHER ! TWO souls recognizing each other. Hope I made my point clear enough :P
Yi gak had to go to the future to SAVE her just like she saved his life 300 years ago, so they could finally be together and don't feel sad thinking the prince had to spend his life all alone while waiting to be reincarnated again...because he at least got to live all those moments with Bak Ha and realize she was his true love..realize what a bitch the crown princess was and punish the ones who deserved to be punished! THAT WAS HIS MISSION ALL ALONG...
Now ...WHAT DO I THINK BAK AH READ IN THE HISTORY BOOK? As many have already mentioned here...I do believe she read about the way he died...with an arrow through the heart/chest and that was why she gave him the NECKLACE, to avoid his detah and PROTECT HIM.
WHAT A LOVE STORY! I loved Rooftop prince...it has became my number 1 k-drama! I cried like never before...it really touched my heart.
Anyone disagrees or agrees with my theories?
by: Mica1505
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Coco
May 28, 2012 at 9:40 AM
Spot on!
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fab
May 28, 2012 at 2:28 PM
Perfect!
I would like to mention the omurice hit in the Joseon era! Awesome!
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184 fencu
May 28, 2012 at 11:34 AM
So tae yong awake from his coma? or what?
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185 fab
May 28, 2012 at 2:20 PM
The most beautiful end! Really satisfying though I am a bit sad that it ended. Ah well, next.
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186 2ne1doll
May 28, 2012 at 11:22 PM
Thanks for explaining and giving more perspective on the ending! Now I do believe that it was the same 'soul' after all in the end and I am not left with the thought of Park Ha settling for another person who looks just like Lee Gak. I agree, I also feel kinda sorry for Lee Gak... I still don't know how he's gonna cope with being 300 years apart from Park Ha, his love :'( All in all, I am satisfied with how the drama turned out. I admit I thought, at some point, the drama would turn out to be a baffling mess. But the finale proved that the drama is truly well thought out by the writers :) Thank you for all your recaps and comments they were all VERY VERY amusing and enlightening! Love lots from the Philippines! :D
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187 6002forever
May 29, 2012 at 12:16 AM
@Park Yoon Hee, I love the way you explained the ending. It gave me closure because I have been feeling depressed after knowing Lee Gak was spending the rest of his Joseon life, alone and pining for Park Ha.
Thank you.
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188 6002forever
May 29, 2012 at 12:25 AM
@gretac, I also love your brilliant explanation of the scenes at the juice store and at the park.
But what is most brilliant is the parallel you drew on the cell phone buried/letter hidden in the Joseon screen. I think you are right. It was a repeat of the same action.
I now rest assured it was Lee Gak who was reunited with Park Ha and that they BOTH know it ! That's what I believe now and nobody is going to change it !!
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189 dls
May 29, 2012 at 4:19 AM
Javabeans, thanks for recapping Rooftop Prince from the first ep till the finale.
Finally I have a chance to watch ep 20 w subs and come to your post.
I'm quite satisfied with the ending, it's sweet.
For me, RTP is a fluffy drama with heart and memorable finale.
And I love the main couple here Park Yoochun and Han Jimin. They are such a lovely sweet couple.
Looking forward for their next projects.
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190 GIM
May 30, 2012 at 12:15 AM
Any interpretation of the ending that does not take it as given that Tae Yong and Lee Gak are the same person has miss a basic premise of the series. The point of saying that the one is a reincarnation of the other, as Park Ha is of Bu Yong, or Se Na is of the Crown Princess, is that these are all the same people in bodies separated by 300 years. Why else does Tae Yong/Lee Gak comment on how long he has waited for her? Tae Yong's argument to Se Na as to why she should help with the liver transplant for Park Ha is that this would break a vicious cycle of hatred that started when she burned her sister's cheek. Whatever the strengths and weaknesses of the drama, it's basic movement is the undoing of an evil commited in the first episode and allowing two people who should have been together from the beginning to get together at the end, not to mention the moral salvation of the Crown Princess/Se Na.
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191 leehaenui
May 30, 2012 at 6:57 AM
i just saw this blog.. it captures my interest and lessens my longing for rooftop prince.. http://myrooftopprincess.blogspot.com/
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192 madman999
May 30, 2012 at 2:23 PM
Since the time differences are not equal in each era(several months in the modern era was only about a day in the Joseon), i think it would have been awesome and more complete if somewhere along the line, Lee gaek in the Joseon era passes away in old age and that somehow triggers Tae Yong in the modern era to awaken from his coma.
Of course, i want to believe that Tae Yong and Park Ha meet for real-i am not sure if he is recognizing her as the waitress from the bar in NYC.
I am impressed with the writer's attention to detail. the necklace given to TaeYong/Lee Gaek by Park Ha that saves his life from the arrow was a nice touch.
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193 Get Real
May 30, 2012 at 8:42 PM
LMFAO how you guys got so carried away with the drama ha ha. I guess it's sort of alright to discuss whats obvious, what you saw on screen, but to discuss something off screen like is he going to live a lonely life without Park Ha or how old was he when he died and blah blah I think that is pretty stupid.
This drama was just a fantasy, a friction of the writer's imagination and not a very good one at that. First off, traveling through time is pure bullshit and much less this stuff on reincarnation, theres no such thing as reincarnation, mind you. Lol, I cant believe how you people discussed reincarnation like it was something real heh heh.
To me all those things that happened from episode 1 to 20 was just a dream, TaeYong's dream while in comatose. He dreamt that he was a Joseon Prince, traveled to the future and met Park Ha so on and so forth. If it makes you happy I'll tell you who was with Park Ha at the end. It was TaeYong, because it was his dream :)
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194 Zieko
May 31, 2012 at 12:04 AM
I love to read your comments!
Okay ending is simple. Souls recognize each other. Why is Tae Yong standing like Yi Gak, because they have always been the same person. Just one was snoring while the other did all the work. He is the same person. Just like Bak Ha is Bu Young.
Bittersweet ending? Sure. Yoochun 1 is forever alone while he is alive in Joseon. But he gets his love 300 years later! I quote from someone (wonda) earlier...
"The ending to me was clear...
Basically, Lee Gak has been reincarnating over the years waiting for Bak Ha. Hence, the butterfly in episode 1, that drew Tae Yong’s attention to Bak Ha in NY. They were finally fated to meet. However, Tae Mu interfered. Tae Yong’s accident in the ocean and Bu Young’s death in the pond connected them and opened the gateway for them to make the connection that would have been missed again. The last scene was Tae Yong, with the feelings of their timeless love, and Bak Ha making that connection again."
As for the whole "why didn't they check her body to make sure it was the real crown princess?!"...simple. No one touches the body of royalty. It's dishonorable. At least that's what all history-like dramas seem to portray. The body of royalty is sacred, never ever mess with it.
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195 claudefaye
May 31, 2012 at 8:40 AM
This is the second time I cried out loud while watching a korean drama. I cried for Hong Gil Dong and this one is for Yi Gak!!!! I believe that Tae-yong is the one in the ending, though Yi-Gak was also there, in soul. WAAAAAAH!!! I can't do this anymore!!!!!! I'm crying again!!! :( Why it has to end like that? WHY!!!
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196 Altari
May 31, 2012 at 6:36 PM
i just finished watching this.
The last 2 episodes were so good.
I heard a rumor that this is the first drama the writer has written since his wife passed away. If true it makes the ending so much more poignant.
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197 leehaenui
June 1, 2012 at 5:44 AM
I just want to share this with you. for those who are longing for rooftop prince and who want Season 2 :)) http://myrooftopprincess.blogspot.com/ ... :)) rooftop prince ddaebak! fighting!!!
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198 sandy kim
June 2, 2012 at 2:20 AM
I really enjoy watching this drama. I just don't understand why some people didn't get the ending. The story was good and it's very entertaining. All the actors & actress were good in this drama especially Han Ji Min. Her style in acting is very natural which I find very similar to Han Hyo Jo's acting. Actually, before i watch a drama, I would search for the actors and actress who would play the main characters. At first, I was hesitant because this is my first time to watch Han Ji Min in drama, but then as I watch it. I really admire her coz she delivers well in this drama. What else can I say. This is GOOD DRAMA!!! I would still want to see it when they view it here in the Phils. Really LIKED IT!!! Thanks a lot!!!
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199 santiaw
June 4, 2012 at 5:53 AM
Whoaaa..I could not sleep because of the ending..I don't read all the comments..but here's my thought..
lot of people are sad because it seems like yi gak has to live alone..It's not really alone.. He's physically alone but always has her in his memory..I know it's not that easy in reality... and he know after his super looong waiting (which is sad enough) he will finally reunite with park ha :)
At the end, TY is Yi Gak and Yi Gak is TY.. Both are the same person with the same soul.. from the way he stand, hey, it's Yi Gak! only with TY's tone.. So, since it's the same person, it does not matter anymore.. what Park Ha see is he is the man she loves
am I rite? :p
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200 cho
June 4, 2012 at 2:52 PM
i was hoping for a scene that shows tae yong getting yi gak's memories.i mean, like during his comatose state etc.(since he went to meet park ha after he wake up from his coma), even though i'm pretty satisfied how it ends for the joseon era (except for the fact that yi gak is left alone), i don't feel satisfied enough for the seoul ending, i mean they should do a better job in wrapping it for park ha. the ending, it made me feels like tae yong is a whole different person, a stranger. i get it that they're trying to show that the reincarnation of yi gak's and bo young will always love each other, but it's just too heart wrenching. but i still love this drama, it just a part of me, feels like the ending wasn't completely a happy one
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thaifan
June 4, 2012 at 7:24 PM
i also feel like you. by the ending the writer did not show if yi gak recarnation. how long pak ha stayed lonely. it seems pak ha has got her new boyfriend.
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