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Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: Episode 17

It’s lonely up at the top, and no one’s coming to realize that more than So. Everyone’s becoming increasingly more isolated with all the major changes taking place within the palace, and friends seem to be in short supply. Loyal family members are in even shorter supply. But there’s always love, and these two better relish it while they still can.

 
EPISODE 17 RECAP

After telling Su of his desire to become king, So manages a smile as he asks, “Why, do you not want me to become king?” Su says she doesn’t, but that she hates the idea of being separated from him even more.

“You will become king,” she tells him. “I know that.” But concern floods her expression as she implores him to not kill his brothers, to which he nods his head in agreement, taking her hands in his.

March of 949, one year later.

The palace gates are closed against the sound of a revolt let by So, as Su nervously tends to the king. He swats away the tea she offers, claiming it’s poison, but then he decides to blame his entire situation on her.

According to King Jeongjong, the reason he’s plagued by the ghosts of Hyejong, Eun, Soon-deok, and even King Taejo is because she helped So to cover up his scar. Because So was able to then take what was rightfully his, he’s ended up like this.

Queen Sinmyeongsunseong rushes in to declare that So’s leading a revolt. She pleads with her son to put it to paper that he’ll be abdicating the throne to Jung, since they can’t lose the throne.

“Then… what will become of me? Am I even your son? What am I to you, Mother? Just something that exists to sit on the throne?” Jeongjong cries as he says this, the realization hitting hard. Despite her pleads to the contrary, he now claims to finally understand So, and orders his mother to be taken away.

Su turns to leave, but the king rises on shaky legs to advance menacingly toward her.

Unlike the evil queen, Queen Sinjeong is much more levelheaded about what’s to come, and though she says she’ll follow Princess Yeonhwa’s lead, she tells her daughter that there was something she never taught her: “If you want to become master of the palace, you must be willing to give something up.”

She tells Yeonhwa that she could give up love in order to have the world at her fingertips, or have love, but not the world. “What if I want the whole world?” the princess asks haughtily. To that, her mother can only say that she will cast Wook aside, presumably in order to survive.

Alongside Grand General Park and Baek-ah, So leads an impressive number of forces to storm the palace gates. But before they can advance, Princess Yeonhwa comes out to meet them, accompanied by only a few soldiers.

“I will help you enter the palace without any bloodshed,” she says, the gate open behind her. So says he won’t forget what she’s done, and the men behind him cheer.

King Jeongjong starts laughing as the sounds come ever nearer, though tears fill his eyes as he pours his soul out to Su. “What have I done so wrong?” I was afraid that I would be cast aside as well, just like So was.” Sounding like a lost little boy, he says that his mother told him he wasn’t lacking.

But then he pivots back to blaming Su for everything, throwing her to the ground in the process. As he coughs from his mysterious illness, he begins to write the decree his mother wanted, but with a twist: Su gets to pick the next king. Yes, really.

Before she can answer, and with the sounds drawing ever nearer, Jeongjong writes his answer and holds it out to Su in shaking hands. But then he chokes, coughs, smiles just a little, and promptly collapses. In voiceover, we hear him say, “I was just trying to survive.”

Su cries in fear as the king’s dead eyes stare up at her. So bursts in, takes stock, and quickly reads what the king left behind. After asking Su if she’s read it, he tears it up.

Queen Sinmyeongsunseong comes in to see her son dead. Su drops to her knees to pay her greetings to the new king, So, with the traditional cries of “Manseh! Manseh! Manseh!” So claims that the king abdicated to him before he died, which is all everyone else needs to hail him as king.

Cut to: So being officially crowned as KING GWANGJONG, fourth king of Goryeo (but for ease of use, we’ll stick to calling him So). And Su, no longer dressed as a court lady, smiles to see him in his kingly robes as she thinks to herself that he’ll no longer be remembered for leaving a bloody trail behind his ascent to the throne. “I will help you,” she adds, smiling at him.

We finally get a glimpse of Wook as he broods over his mother’s warnings for him to distance himself from the royal family—their own family will push to have a queen in the palace instead of a king now.

Princess Yeonhwa asks her brother why he didn’t attend the coronation, but he calls her cruel for wanting him to see So on a seat he desperately wanted for himself. All his best laid plans went to waste, since So became the hero who brought down the traitor (Jeongjong) instead of him.

Despite that, Yeonhwa still pleads for his support. If he helps her to become queen, she promises to repay him for all the pain he’s suffered. But she can’t seem to get a reaction—positive or negative—out of him.

So reads through kingly missives until he arrives at one asking for the capital to be moved to Seokyeong (which was Jeongjong’s original plan). But So orders a stop to be put to all the construction, declaring that the capital will stay exactly where it is.

Once he hears that Su is waiting for him, So enters his quarters to find her sleeping sitting up against his bed. He apologizes for making her wait, and shares his kingly dinner with her and Baek-ah, who keeps referring to him formally as “Your Majesty” despite So telling him to just call him “hyung-nim” when they’re alone.

Since Baek-ah replied with the incredibly formal “Your grace is immeasurable” when So put a bit of meat on his rice, Su pranks him by sneaking another piece of protein onto Baek-ah’s plate, prompting the same knee-jerk reaction from Baek-ah. She and So have a good laugh at Baek-ah’s expense.

So is genuinely happy to be sharing a meal with them, seeming more at ease than he’s ever been before. Later, Su approaches him as he sleeps and tucks him in, though he wakes suddenly from a nightmare, calling her name.

When he comes to his senses, he immediately pulls her into an embrace: “I thought you were gone.” She tells him that she won’t leave until he’s asleep, but instead, he pulls her down into the bed with him. “We can just sleep together,” he proposes, though she leaves the warmth of his arms.

She’s afraid of rumors spreading, though he isn’t, and doesn’t want her to leave him alone. He feels suffocated by the specters of those who’ve slept in this room before him, and asks her to stay with him. Then, like a little boy, he snuggles up to her with his head in her lap, asking for her to tell him a story.

She decides to tell him the story of “Little Red Riding Hood,” which he falls asleep to. In the morning, Su wakes up in his bed to find him gone. We cut to her confiding in Woo-hee later, though Woo-hee warns her to be careful—the king will need a new queen, so everyone will have their eyes on her.

She’s called to Queen Sinmyeongsunseong’s quarters only to be confronted by Jung with the remnants of the decree So tore up. The queen wants to know if the king truly did name So as his successor, and Su shakily answers that he did. (They couldn’t just… piece together the remnants to find out?)

The evil queen calls Su out on her lies, demanding to know the truth. She’s stopped by So’s intervention, as he pulls Su out of his mother’s grasp and tells her to ask her questions to him directly. When the queen asks why he tore the decree, So denies being the one who did it.

Su’s hand tightens within his own as So claims that Jeongjong definitely gave the throne to him, even though Jung raises the question as to why he’d do that when Jeongjong had a son of his own. “If you are that curious,” So ventures, “do you want to ask him in the afterlife?”

So makes the threat very clear that if Jeongjong hadn’t abdicated to him, then he would have been forced to usurp the throne, which would have been much, much bloodier. He does take issue to his mother refusing to be called Queen Mother though, since she all but disowns him as she calls him a thief who stole the throne from her real son.

After leading Su out by her hand, So tells her that she’s not to heed anyone’s summons without his permission first. Before she can get a word in edgewise, he’s gone.

Astronomer Choi tells the king that there are rumors going around that he fabricated the late king’s final decree and that Jeongjong’s only son should have been king.

But So puts his foot down, and orders that anyone submitting an appeal against him be charged with treason, and to kill everyone associated with the late king. “I shall not let a single soul live,” he adds menacingly.

Minister Park Young-gyu knows he’s soon to be arrested for spreading rumors that So fabricated the late king’s will and plans to take Woo-hee down with him by exposing her as a spy. Instead of letting him do that, she kills him, and he breaks off her norigae ornament as he falls.

This turns out to be a flashback, since we find Woo-hee nervously holding the very same ornament. She grabs it back from Baek-ah when he takes notice of it, but he has other things to focus on, like getting her adopted into a noble family so that they can be married.

They both know that it’s because she’s from Later Baekje, and because Baek-ah’s family has some bad history with Gyeon Hwon, the once-king of the region. A confusing voiceover from Minister Park tells us that Woo-hee is the granddaughter of Gyeon Hwon, and that he foresaw that Baek-ah would be in danger if he were to find out about her true lineage.

She can’t help but note the irony of their situation, in that the king of Goryeo killed her family, while the king of Later Baekje killed his grandmother’s family. But Baek-ah knows that none of that was their fault, and just wants them to focus on being together.

Despite So wanting him to stay close, Grand General Park formally asks to be allowed to retire peacefully to his hometown. He can’t help but be reminded of his daughter every time he looks at So, though he doesn’t seem to blame him for it—he only wishes that So become a good and wise king in his absence.

So tells Su about General Park leaving, before asking her if she’s curious to know whose name was written in the late king’s final decree. Does she think he stole the throne? Su says she couldn’t be any less curious about whose name was there, but So reveals that there wasn’t a name written at all.

Knowing that a blank space would leave the throne open to more fighting and confusion, he ripped it up, which Su commends him for. But then he grows more introspective as he notes how alone he really is—General Park is gone, Baek-ah sees him only as a king now, Jung sees him as a murderer, and his own mother considers him a thief.

“You were right,” he says, tears welling in his eyes. “The throne is frightening and lonely.” As one tear spills down, Su comforts him by telling him that he still has her, and comes to rest her head on his shoulder. “I will not leave you.”

Chae-ryung tells Su that she’ll be among the court ladies released from service now that there’s a new king, though she makes it clear that she doesn’t actually want to leave. She pleads for Su to ask the king to allow her to stay in Damiwon, which is later revealed to be part of ninth prince Won’s plan.

Won clearly wants her to stay in Damiwon as his spy, but Chae-ryung wonders if they shouldn’t use this opportunity (of her being freed) for them to just be together. But Won couldn’t be less interested in Chae-ryung as a free woman, and needs Chae-ryung the spy.

It’s made to seem as if they’re being spied upon themselves, though we don’t see who it is. The quick cut to So looking smug might tell us something, even as he faces off against fourteenth prince Jung and family members from his mother’s side.

They refuse to pledge loyalty to him, and Jung declares that they’ll find out what was really on the late king’s decree before they all leave as a group. Astronomer Choi warns So that it’ll be dangerous to leave the Chungju clan against him, which he can fix by either showing them the decree, or by getting even more powerful families on his side.

But all So can think about is that his mother refuses to acknowledge him as a son to the end. Aw.

Now that Su’s been moved to the king’s quarters, she and Woo-hee prepare food for him as a gift. Woo-hee tries to vaguely ask if actions have consequences—say, if she were to wrong someone else for her own happiness. Would she be forgiven?

Su says that she shouldn’t hurt others just so she can survive, but she wants to believe that the universe would be kinder to the two of them, who’ve had their share of suffering. “Even if we were selfish at times, we’ll be able to be forgiven. I plan on believing that,” she adds.

That night, Su encounters Wook outside, and he has the gall to be upset that she went to So in the end. “Now you are the king’s woman. How am I to accept that?” he asks stoically. Su simply replies that So was honest with her about his greed to have both her and the throne.

“Why is it that you insisted I could not become king? In your eyes, was I not enough to become king?” he asks. She insists it wasn’t like that, explaining that So was born under the star of a king. “It is not your fault,” she adds. “It is only nature taking its course, and it is fate.” So… it’s fate, and it’s fate?

Wook’s offended that she made her decision off what she believes to be fate. He broods in his library later while looking at the bracelet he once gave Su, and flashes back to their fond memories together. Then he shatters the jade pendant on the bracelet.

When Yeonhwa walks in, he tells her that he’ll help her become queen. “No one can have everything. Isn’t that only fair?” Ohh, he just wants revenge on Su. That’s cold.

So writes the verse of the poem Su so loved over and over again, though she doesn’t tell him the reason why she needs so many copies. They act like a normal couple with normal problems, with So smiling widely. But it’s that smile that unsettles Su, and she asks if anything happened to him today.

He denies it, and half-jokingly tells her not to try to know everything about him: “If you keep doing that when we’re not even married, I’ll want to run away.” She pouts that it’s because she spends all day waiting for him, so she’d rather spend her days in Damiwon being productive, at the very least.

She picks that time to bring up Chae-ryung’s plight, and So readily agrees to whatever she asks. When she says that she’d be lonely without Chae-ryung, So tells her that she won’t have to worry about that for long—not if they’re going to have children, anyway.

With a grin, So tells her that she’ll be visited by a doctor soon so she can start taking care of her health for their future children, though Su blusters that they aren’t even married yet. So blinks as though the idea hadn’t quite occurred to him, but he’s more than open to it: “Marriage? We can get married. When should we? Let’s do it when you want to.”

His overeagerness is adorable, but Su complains that the proposal isn’t impressive enough. Hadn’t he planned on proposing to her at the prayer stones? He jokes that he’ll have to come up with a satisfying proposal in order to marry her then, adding that it’s tougher to deal with her than it is to rule a country.

As promised, the royal doctor comes calling, and concludes that Su’s knee may make her unable to walk someday (from being tortured). But there’s a bigger problem in that she has heart palpitations, which has him claiming that all the frustration she’s had in life has caused an illness in both her heart and body.

“At this point,” the doctor says, “I cannot guarantee how long you will live.” (What.) Su blinks at him before flatly asking him to be honest with her about how long she’ll live.

We find her making her own pile of prayer stones later as she prays to just have ten more years, though she knows that she’s asking for a lot. “I want to be with him a little longer,” she all but whispers.

Jung and his sideburns come upon Su and her stones, causing him to wonder if she’s praying for So to live a long life as king. She instead replies that she’s praying for Jung to be her friend again, but he throws back that she once said she wouldn’t take anyone’s side—and then she took So’s.

Su reminds him of what a horrible king Jeongjong was, claiming that So ascending the throne was only natural order. Jung agrees with her there, but says that things only started going wrong when So came to the palace. Plus, he still believes So stole the throne.

He’s also worried about her, since he asks if she really thinks she can become queen. She’d just be one of many women for the king, and he doesn’t think that’s the life she wants, not when she told him of her dreams for the future. “Tell me whenever you get tired of this place. If you really want to leave, I have a way out,” he adds.

Wook pays a visit to the new king, claiming to be a representative of his vassals. He doesn’t waste time before listing the demands of said vassals, who want him to give up his hold on both the military and the treasury. In exchange, they’ll do their jobs and actually show up to court.

But So recognizes his requests for what they are, and plainly says no—by cutting him off from the military and the treasury, he’d be cutting off both his wings. “If you do not want to lose your wings,” Wook says, with a dramatic close-up, “how about your heart?”

That’s when he proclaims that his family requests to be joined with So’s in marriage.

Princess Yeonhwa visits Su, who’s less than happy with her company. But Yeonhwa claims that she’ll accept Su as the king’s woman, since she won’t care about who else he’s with. “What I want is honor and recognition. Also, I want my son on the throne,” Yeonhwa says, before adding with a smile, “I will be marrying His Majesty. I will be the king’s wife. I will be queen.”

With a mirthless smile, Wook tells So that he’ll have support from all the powerful families if he marries Yeonhwa, pointing out that So can’t protect that seat alone. “If you want to sit there for a long time, you need them on your side.”

So says that he already promised to marry someone else, and Wook knows he’s talking about Su. “That girl cannot become a queen,” Wook replies, though So shoots back that he always does what he says he’ll do.

Wook doesn’t need to remind him that she scarred her body to get out of marrying King Taejo, but he does. And they both know that a woman with a scar cannot be allowed to marry the king.

 
COMMENTS

This cliffhanger could’ve done more if events weren’t now tainted with the knowledge that Su is going to die—and though we can hope in vain that the doctor was just misinformed, sageuk doctors are never wrong in their diagnoses unless they’re being paid to lie. So sayeth the rules of Sageuk Dramaland.

And that just really puts a huge damper on everything, not necessarily because Su’s a character who’s earned our emotional investment, but because if there was a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel, it’s effectively gone now. Which isn’t to say that a show can’t be good if it doesn’t end happily, since that would be disingenuous to the generally unhappy spirit of Moon Lovers. My main concern is that the final episode will end with Su dying, and while that in and of itself wouldn’t be a terrible ending, the idea that we’ve been forewarned takes the dramatic tension away. Now we’ll just be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I’m sincerely hoping that the next episode will put all my fears to rest about us spending this show’s last hours with Su being a noble idiot and hiding her illness, so I’ll table those concerns until we have a better idea of how she plans to deal with this news. It’d be nice if she helped us out by giving us even an inkling of how she really feels, but we got no information from her during the scene where she was told she didn’t have long to live, and having her calmly praying for ten more years made it all seem like a nonevent. Even though it is, and I’m sure it’ll be an even bigger one when it matters.

I wish I could tell what it is that made So’s coronation feel like just as much of a nonevent, despite the fact that it all happened so quickly. Having Jeongjong just die of unknown reasons before So barged in was a bit of a letdown, though maybe that’s just because we jumped a year ahead and suddenly So was waiting with an army at the gates to take over the palace. And all Jeongjong could do was blame Su for everything that ever happened, because he was crazy.

It was even more of a missed opportunity to keep Wook completely out of the events leading up to So’s coronation, just because I feel like we could’ve mined a lot more dramatic tension if So had a worthy rival. But since we didn’t, and since So seemed to become king in a vacuum, we instead got that really bizarre scene with So threatening to kill everyone who didn’t agree with his reign. It was an extreme character shift for him, and it would’ve been slightly more palatable had the show at all carried through with it—but instead we continued on as though it never happened.

It’s disappointing that So would devolve into mindless violence the second he got on the throne, because now more than ever is the time for him to play politics, and he’ll find himself outclassed by someone like Wook unless he gets his head in the game. But then I suppose his threats really didn’t matter when he didn’t carry through with them (at least as far as we know), so maybe we can just chalk it up to him learning on the job.

While it was strange to see Bloodthirsty So immediately followed by Puppy So, there was at least some solace to be found in So and Su’s scenes together, though it did feel like we were on borrowed time. I really wish that So could prove everyone wrong and not suffer the same constraints as those who’ve come before him, but things are admittedly looking a little bleak right now. But it’s not the end yet, and if this show has taught us nothing else, it’s that being king turns people into lunatics, and everything can change in an instant. In the meantime, I’ll start collecting prayer stones.

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Thanks for the recap, HeadsNo2!

Apropos of the doctor's diagnosis that Hae-Su's heart palpitations stem from prolonged/ excessive emotional frustration manifesting in the physical body, I realized there may be another cause. When she slashed her wrist to prevent Taejo from marrying her, she did a number on her heart meridian. Plotwise, that killed two birds with one stone.

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Other than this reason, I can't imagine why a young 20-something girl would have such serious heart-related health issues without prior warning, unless they haven't told/shown us something. The body can take alot at that age, and I'm guessing that she eats a fairly healthy Goryeo diet and gets plenty of exercise with all that work. Not to be unsympathetic but I would say that she got some severe punishment over torture. And she has not really been shown as suffering from any specific side-effects from the punishments except for occasional limp. So I feel that this is just a new inconsistent variable in the mix to wrap up her storyline.

Ah, Show, can't live with you, can't live without you. ?

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Farewell, Mane of Glory! You looked positively fetching with So's armor...

*sniff*

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I saw the Chinese version and loved it. However, I have not watched the Korean version at all. Occasionally, I browse through the recaps and read the comments. Your comments are so thoughtful and witty. Secondly, props to LJK for being able to draw back so many viewers despite the show's lacking. You guys are wonderful fans! Thirdly, I'm really curious to know how the show is still doing in China. I'd love to hear what they are saying about it, since this is a remake of a Chinese original mega hit.

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They've deleted all those adorable scenes!!!
What is wrong with them?!!

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I know this drama has been the Lee Jun-ki show so far and for very good, undeniable reasons.

But WOW!!! Hong Jong-hyun really stepped up his game a couple of notches higher on this episode. I've seen him in other dramas playing mostly the cool, nonchalant guy. Here though as a king who is slowly losing his mind and ultimately defeated to find in his last moments that he is after all just another pawn by his own mother, he proves that there's more to him than meets the eye.

He must be happy that his efforts paid off after he promised himself to play a villain even once in his career and to do so with all that he has.

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And as Hae Soo walks one night back in 21st Century Korea ,with her friends who invite her to a concert ...and this is what happens next....LOLhttps://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=99Bv1xA3cBA

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I'm not reading all the comments. I'll only comment on the review of this episode by the Dramabeans staffer who really hasn't seem to like this drama much from the beginning. Every critique of this episode assumes the Korean writer planned to deviate from the Chinese version. It didn't. So reaches the throne much like the 4th prince in the Chinese version. Su is informed she only has about 10 years left to live. Biggest difference is the Chinese 4th prince was a bit more blood thirsty. He pulls a rival apart with horses. knocks off everyone that was present the day the previous king died. Otherwise, a little less blood thirsty this version follows the Chinese fairly accurately. Don't even complain about time slips. The Korean version has much shorter time slips and a lot less staring out into space by the actors too. Give me a break.

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"pulled apart with horses"

oh dear, i think i know what is going to happen to my beloved wookie.

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On previous comment here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=99Bv1xA3cBA

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I was fascinated by Yo in this episode. It really hit home that he is just as damaged as So, but internally, rather than externally.

His insistence that Su is the driving force behind their "fate" and that everything went wonky the day she arrived (Jung also noticed this, but blamed So's arrival, not realizing it was the same day as Su's and that she is determining factor) was very interesting and made me think of Harry Potter.

Maybe this is a Harry Potter/Neville Longbottom situation.

If Su had not helped So hide his scar, take place in the rain ritual, and gain confidence, Yo definitely would have and become king, trailing bodies behind him. Su did not receive confirmation that So was The Evil One until after this fate-deciding moment, implying that it was up in the air until then and perhaps Yo could have been the chosen one if Su had actually chosen him. Su and Yo also have a refreshing banter when they actually talk that implies that, maybe, just maybe, they could have gotten along and become friends, resulting in Su being the same type of influence on Yo that she is for So.

The clincher is the "I was just trying to survive" line, which is exactly what both So and Su have said in the past.

Hae Su is obviously Voldemort in this analogy, and made the choice to go with So (Harry Potter) because she likes him and has more in common with him than Yo (Neville Longbottom).

I believe I saw the other version of this episode.

Differences:
They open with the scene of Yo being plagued by ghosts, scaring him until he has a heart attack, and then they show So, Baek Ha, and others escaping the palace in ninja outfits, implying they are the ones who have been driving Yo insane this whole time. It still doesn't make much sense why Yo never suspects Wook anyway.

The dinner and bed scenes were significantly cut and made fairly choppy, with most of the conversation removed. I believe this was to imply this was now their regular routine. There is no protestation about sleeping elsewhere by Su, and when Su wakes up in the king's bed, attendants enter and wash/dress her, so that cat is definitely out of the bag.

Su's complaining to Woo-hee is slightly different, with Su saying she's bored and feels like a doll who must wait on a shelf until it's owner returns. There is no second scene where they prepare food together, though in a later conversation, Su snips at So for eating all of the food and not sharing, causing So to become possessive and say Su should only think about him.

The order of the Wook, Wook's mom, and Yeonwha scenes and revelations is changed so they are a little less like flashbacks.

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ok, i'm really confused with how this is working out. Why does Wook have so much power all of a sudden? Before wasn't it that he had to marry Hae Su's cousin to get back into the palaces good graces as his wife's family was powerful? and then when she died they lost their connection?

So doesn't have Hae Su have powerful famiy on her side and thats why the King wanted to marry her?? and now they're saying she has no family and is not powerful?

The only thing I can see is the scar thing... but honestly if So can cover his with makeup couldn't she do the same?

really just watching this for lee junki.... storyline is so disappointing compared to Chinese one...

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Idk as well.. But we did see that Wook was considered as the most eligible bachelor where families with daughter were trying to get a piece of relation with him (during King Mu era..) Probably his clan got strengthen and gain power over the years.. Anyway those ppl only looked at benefits.. they change face faster than anything..

Those king rely on in-laws power as a boost to theirs, so the stronger the better.. Even if Soo is the queen, she cant command much respect and would probably be looked down, not to mention countless of objections that would be raised before that.. hae clan might be good during taejo era.. but So and Baek ah also pointed out that even if Soo marry king taejo and he got the in laws relationship he wanted, the king wouldnt visit her after their marriage since she doesnt have parents or strong networking in the palace..

I think the scar thingy is a law passed down.. So he probably cant just change it as and when he like despite being a king..

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Oh Scarlet Heart. You never let me down in your horrible pacing and editing, distraught and quite literally Yo-level insane writing. Never once have I my low expectations of each episode not been met :). Except for Episode 11. This is still the same show as Episode 11, right?

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Just want to state my favorite prince is Wook, but no longer a WookSoo shipper. Just wanted to get some opinions no blind fandoms,please don't bash, this is my first kdrama.
Anyhow, I personally do not like Soo, because I felt like she ignited everything to go wrong. She always flipping around,but never explains her reasoning like when she warned Wook about So (which is why I don't understand why people bash on Wook for disliking So). Soo had almost a nervous breakdown and kept saying don't go near him, and then after the poisoning she asks Wook how So was. I would just have the same reaction as Wook, like first you warn me that he is dangerous and now you act like he is your best friend. He never got any explanation just paranoia and anyone would have a reason to mistrust someone in this time period, especially if they were given a warning. (Js I didn't like how he turned his back on Soo, but he had more to lose. Not only would his sister die, and his mom would be sent away, but he would lose his title. Then he wouldn't be able to keep Hae Soo safe even if he didn't turn his back. And in these recent episodes we can tell, that once you lose your status as a royal you are fcked. So on the other hand doesn't care for his siblings, which you'll see in the next episode, so he didn't have much to lose but himself.) Wook was a snake in the way he tries to get the throne, but I feel like he was not only pushed to that point by his sister, but from Hae Soo as well. I felt bad for him with Hae Soo's half assed answer, it was "fate". I would be pissed off too, and you can tell he was shocked by that response. He has every right to ask why it was ok for So to become king and have her, but not him. She is a hypocrite, So said he is willing to kill people who get in his way just like Wook did. Just saying So was honest doesn't justify that they are willing to spill blood to get what they want.
As for So, (I did like both Wook and So in the beginning js) he is a good person to Soo. He is direct with her and he doesn't go behind her back. However, what really turned me off is that he is obsessed with her, he is serious when he said he'll kill the man she likes, except for Baek Ah. I feel like he promises he will keep her "free", but its not really freedom in my opinion. I feel like he forces himself onto her alot, and I do feel like hes more of a emotionally unstable boyfriend. But I feel Soo deserves So less than he deserves her. In this episode she says I won't let him become that blood spilling king, which means she still doubts him. She never tried to understand why he would kill his siblings when she had that vision, and only got it after its to late. (Did she ever question, why? he would kill his siblings, instead of jumping gun and calling him evil.)
When it comes down to it, Hae Soo is the wrong one. She plays victim, and should know that ofc a prince would want the throne. She wanted to escape, but now she seems to want to be...

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As much as we hate what's happening with Scarlet Heart, remember what Astronomer Choi and King Taejo said: "Let things as they are." It's funny how Hae Soo tries to stop the inevitable from happening at first, thinking that she can change history. But history did change because of her, in a bit. It's like the things she didn't want to happen did happen because of her, in a way.

I've watched Bu Bu Jing Xin, the Chinese version, and it looks like Moon Lovers will be following their path. In that case, looks like Jung will be Soo's end game. Still crossing my fingers for a happier ending when she comes back to the 21st century

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Ill get through this, Ill get through this ^^^^^...

Didnt anyone noticed how all the-should-be- tense- moments always happened in BROAD Daylight!or maybe they have really expensive lights GOSH! so much for a cliffhanger

And dont get me started on the OSTs, Beautiful songs, but wrong Drama! it doesnt help me get the ^Love is the moment¨^ feel

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Meh...what an anticlimactic ending
Not gonna comment on the messiness of this episode, this is obviously ML's trademark by now.
Anyway... what we gonna do with Wook? Can Wonhee accidentally kill him or something? At least YH has a purpose but Wook is just being evil but not moving up a spot. Such a useless character makeover.

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Thanks for the recap, Heads!

It's already ep. 17, and honestly, I feel like I'm ready to see this show wrapped up. Besides being tired of watching multiple versions to get the "whole story", the plot seems slow-moving and disjointed while the characters are underdeveloped. Su's days being numbered didn't bother me so much since I'm already aware of the ending in the source material and the C-drama. I'm just curious how they plan to handle it in this adaptation.

I'm also not found of the jerky camera angles. What's up with the sudden zoom-in to Wook's face?! As if the usual close-ups weren't bad enough...

The only thing that really keeps me watching is my love for the original story and LJG. But as some of you mentioned, his actions in this ep seem out of character and we're supposed to just believe that he will use aggression as pleased. I feel like the writing is sloppy because tropes would get injected into the storyline for the sake of pushing it to the next phase of the plot, which often felt forced or hard to believe.

Jung's scenes are usually the ones that get the ax first for the SBS re-edits. At least the SBS added some worthy scenes in place of those for this ep. I'm getting kinda tired of looking at Jisoo in this hairstyle as well just cuz I feel like everyone else's looks decent and only he got these weird hairstyles for this series.

Anyway, three more ep's!! Let's get through this, So and Soo!!

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This drama is just so sad why can't two people in love just have a happy ending :-(

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You want a happy ending? Sure!

How about if Hae Soo dies in the arms of Wang So, the man she truly loves?

Instead of Jung, the man who's more like a brother.

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Well guys it took 17 episodes but I finally figured out what went wrong with the editing. Have you ever gotten ready for a party to early and kept messing with your makeup until you ended up looking like a hot mess. Kdramas produces aren't used to the amount of time they had to edit this one so they just kept going until it was a discombobulated mess with mutlipilule versions.

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Poor Baek-ah..

I think the Woo-hee scene with her uncle/minister is the most under-utilized or redundant.. The uncle appear so many time, spy or spotted Woo-hee with the princes in so many ep (Baek-ah and even So).. and even baek ah spotted the minster appearing with woo-hee.. And yet that minster didnt do anything big, except just verbal threaten Woo-hee and in a rushed and sloppy manner too..

So he's going to suffer double heartbreak when he realizes that Woo-hee had been working with Yo and spying on him and So.. And her hidden identity.. though i wouldnt say he would take it too much about her hidden identity, since it seems quite fair that both their ancestors killed the other family in different generations.. But the sudden out of nowhere grandmother is definitely going to be a big obstacles to overcome..

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what is the difference between concubine and king's woman? sounds like the same thing to me: side chick
tho when a king has more than one queen, that's makes the queens sidechicks too.
what's the difference? only queens children can inherit the throne?
concubines children i guess they have to join the army. that's one way to swell the ranks i guess...

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