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Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People: Episode 26

by tineybeanie

Gil-dong and his family are all together in the safety of the cave stronghold, but it’s like the calm before the storm, and I have a feeling all hell will break loose soon. We’re one step closer to bringing down ultimate karmic justice on Yeonsangun, and the people around Gil-dong are beginning to show their strength. The scene-stealer was definitely little Eorini, about whom we finally get some answers…

 
EPISODE 26 RECAP

Scholar Song and Yeonsangun are shocked when they learn that Park Ha-sung is Gil-hyun. Expressing their rage at the betrayal, both throw impotent tantrums, Scholar Song at his spy, and Yeonsangun at Jeong-hak, the people who respectively inform them of Park Ha-sung’s real identity.

At the cave, Gil-hyun is finally reunited with Eorini/Sang-hwa, but she doesn’t believe that these strange men are her family. Sang-hwa pushes Gil-hyun away as he approaches her with tears in his eyes, firmly denying that she’s his sister.

Choongwongoon and Mistress Jo discuss the revelation about Park Ha-sung, and she gnashes her teeth, upset that she didn’t recognize Park Ha-sung as Gil-hyun, but Choongwongoon presents a different opinion. He sees it as an opportunity to take down Scholar Song, and to help elevate Jeong-hak in the king’s eyes.

In front of the king, Choongwongoon declares that Scholar Song is the one who betrayed the king by putting a traitor like Park Ha-sung in his midst. Yeonsangun’s eyes turn to Scholar Song, who reels at the unexpected backstabbing from Choongwongoon. The scholar tries to reassure the king that he only had his best interests in mind, and that he is not on the same side as Gil-hyun.

At the cave hideout, the original Amogae Avengers attempt to jog Sang-hwa’s memories by talking about their individual relationships during childhood. Eop-san can’t believe she doesn’t remember him as her handsome neighbor oppa. Ilchung even lets her touch his head because she used to like the scratchy, bristly feeling of his short hair. But Sang-hwa just looks at them all, confused.

While Sang-hwa is sleeping, Gil-dong comes to look in on her, and she wakes as soon as he touches her hand. Affronted, she demands that he not touch her, and he explains to her that they all missed her so much and that he’s been looking for her for a long time.

He shows her the other half of the purple ribbon that she always carries. Just seeing the two pieces together seems to give her some flashbacks of their separation, but the sudden onslaught of the emotions and memories are too much for her. So she yells loudly, denying her memories and any connections with Gil-dong, who looks stricken to hear her say that.

Gil-hyun leads Gil-dong out, and tells him that now they have found her, they have all the time in the world. He tells his younger brother that they should give her time to process and go a little slowly, and not rush her to remember them. Sang-hwa overhears their conversation, and is discomforted by the thought that she could be stuck with them for any longer.

During lunch time, everyone sits in bustling groups, reunited and happy with their families. But Gil-dong sits to the side all alone with a pensive face, and suddenly a mirage of his wife Ga-ryung appears and she begins ladling him porridge soup.

He confides in her his worry about potentially making tears fall from these people’s eyes by not succeeding in his rebellion. But she tells him not to worry about things that haven’t happened yet. Her mirage disappears and he’s alone again, and he talks to the empty space where he imagined her to be sitting, wondering where she is.

At the palace, Jeong-hak tells the king that they’re doing all they can go catch the Hong bandit, when Choongwongoon enters with Mori. In order to capture the Hong bandit more effectively, Yeonsangun gives Jeong-hak a promotion to Chief of Police, but also gives Mori the position as Jeong-hak’s right-hand man.

However, Jeong-hak protests, saying that it’s against the social order for a commoner to become an officer. But Yeonsangun tells him that Mori is his best chance at defeating Gil-dong because of his Mighty Child strength, and Jeong-hak has no choice but to acquiesce.

Later when they’re actually carrying out their duties though, Jeong-hak tells Mori that they’ll be going separately, and assigns him to a different region. Jeong-hak and his men head to the mountain that they’ve heard might be the location of Gil-dong’s hideout.

Gil-dong and crew notice the arrival of the soldiers and prepare their emergency plan, although the priestess tells them that these mountains don’t easily let ill-intentioned strangers in. Unfortunately, despite their best attempts at staying inconspicuous, the mothers can’t help it when the babies cry and the sound echoes throughout the caves.

Jeong-hak hears the crying infants and approaches the hideout, getting dangerously close. Just then, Gil-dong lets arrows fly at Jeong-hak’s soldiers to distract them. They take cover and then scramble to pursue the bandits, when they’re suddenly confronted by a local magistrate.

The magistrate tells Jeong-hak that they’ve been hunting on the king’s official orders, suggesting that the arrows were actually friendly fire to cover up for Gil-dong and his men. He goes on further to mislead Jeong-hak by telling him that no one could hide here without him noticing, and the only way for the thieves to escape would be a trail lower down the mountain.

When Jeong-hak leaves, Gil-dong emerges to thank the magistrate and asks why he helped them. The magistrate replies that he also knows what it is to truly care for the people, and that he’s glad Gil-dong taught the cowardly court officials a lesson during the king’s banquet.

Yeonsangun asks for Ga-ryung every night because he’s suffering from nightmares, and as a result, Wolhamae worries for Nok-soo’s continued position as a favored concubine. However, Nok-soo isn’t too concerned because she claims that Ga-ryung can’t possibly handle the depth and darkness of Yeonsangun’s true self.

She calls Ok-ran to her room, and asks why Ga-ryung and she are so close. Ok-ran explains that Ga-ryung mistook her for Sang-hwa because of a purple ribbon she carries. Nok-soo remembers the purple ribbon as well, the one that Gil-dong had when he was first discovered at the gibang with amnesia.

When she’s called into his bedchambers that night, Ga-ryung tells Yeonsangun a story about a flourishing village with a dark secret: In the one damp, dark northern corner of the village lived a small malnourished boy, imprisoned in a dank hut. The prosperity enjoyed by the village was dependent upon this boy being imprisoned.

When they turned twenty, the villagers were given knowledge about the boy’s existence. Although some people left because they couldn’t stand the idea, others stayed because they deemed that the suffering of one child was worth the continued success of their own family and lives. The king listens to her story intently.

At the cave, Eop-san tucks Sang-hwa into bed thinking her to be asleep, but as soon as he leaves, she sits up immediately, determined to go to tell Scholar Song the location of the thieves’ hideout. On her way down the mountain, she experiences several flashbacks that leave her in a cold sweat, but she continues her perilous journey forward. Gil-dong and Eop-san haven’t been fooled as she thinks though, and they follow her surreptitiously.

By morning, Sang-hwa stands outside a breakfast house, almost drooling with wide eyes as the hot food comes out, and the owner takes pity on her and gives her a bowl of soup. Eop-san and Gil-dong watch her from afar and pay for the owner to also give her some meat. Gil-dong’s heart goes out to his little sister as he sees her sleeping on the side of the road, and he wonders where she’s going, perhaps trying to gauge where her loyalties lie.

In the palace, a lesser Heungcheong brings up a complaint against the king for exiling her husband, when all she’s done is to be in service of him. Her eyes radiate with hatred toward the king, who is bemused by this show of insolence, as he ponders the best way to kill her.

Sang-hwa is at last about to run up to Scholar Song, when she spots him acting very friendly with a nobleman. The sight of the man suddenly triggers a memory that leaves her shaking in fear and makes her retreat. In bits and pieces, she begins to recover memories of the extensive brainwashing program that she and the other Geo-in went through.

In a darkened flashback, she remembers: The nobleman using terror of implied corporeal punishment (with a large whipping stick), as he drilled into them their new identities. He force-fed them drugs, wiping their memories of their pasts, including their families and their own sense of self.

When she was first captured, her one wish was to meet her brother, but after countless repetition from this abusive “teacher,” she was taught to fear saying her own name. In the present, she begins to say, “My name is Eorini…” but flinches at the memory of her fear. But it’s enough, and all of Sang-hwa’s memories of being Eorini come back—the ribbon she had ripped to get water for her brother, and how she had been caught while bringing him frozen water from the pond.

She collapses in the middle of the road with her memories regained, and Gil-dong catches her as she falls. She calls him oraboni and tells him that she just went to get him some water, but he was gone. She faints, and Gil-dong breaks down in sobs. He piggybacks her hurriedly to the caves and she comes to when Gil-hyun takes her hand, and she brightly calls him her oldest brother. Gil-hyun’s face lights up, so happy that she’s back to her old self.

Later, Eorini explains the Geo-in brainwashing to the rest of the Hong family, and all the harrowing experiences that she went through. She tells them that the people who were recruited were from the lowest classes, the most marginalized and vulnerable. These people were lost orphans, beaten wives, and impoverished prisoners, and they were taught that if they were brutalized, tortured, or killed, it would be for the good of the nation.

In a parallel conversation going on at the palace, Yeonsangun explains to the lesser heungcheong who complained that she’s actually the jewel of the nation because she’s serving an important function for the land. He continues by saying that citizens who criticize the king can be used as examples to the others, who will now do whatever they can to not end up like her.

So he tells her that her death will be for the prosperity of the nation, helping keep social order intact. After this monologue, Yeonsangun order his soldiers to dismember her and force all of his officials and courtiers to witness her state. Then, Yeonsangun elevates Ga-ryung to a heungcheong, and commands her to come to entertain him that night.

In his bedchambers, the king asks Ga-ryung to retell the story about the lonely boy in the flourishing village. Ga-ryung begins her story, and Yeonsangun soon falls asleep. As soon as he lays his head down on his pillow, Ga-ryung stops her story and approaches him with a steely look in her eyes.

She takes a sharp hair ornament and raises it, ready to strike down on the king’s head to avenge Gil-dong and the lesser heungcheong from that day. But suddenly Nok-soo stays her hand. She doesn’t murmur a word although her expression shows shock.

She drags Ga-ryung out of the king’s chambers, and when they’re safe in her room, she slaps Ga-ryung for her actions and demands to know the truth. Ga-ryung replies that she did tell the truth—her husband was ripped apart by a beast, and that the beast is the king. She finally tells Nok-soo that her husband is Gil-dong, but Nok-soo does not share the knowledge that she knows Gil-dong is alive.

Rumors, circulating posters, and flyers go around the country, spreading opinions that the king is no better than a thief, with his arbitrary taxes, evictions, and punishments. In fact, some of the people think the Hong bandit may be better than the king because he actually watches out for the interest of the people.

News of this gets into Yeonsangun’s ears, and he asks which villages have been the most rebellious in their anti-government rhetoric. Jeong-hak comes forward with a list of regions and villages that have shown insurgent sentiments.

Yeonsangun fixates on one village called Hyangjumok, and orders that the entire village be declared an enemy of the state and commands his soldiers to kill everyone in it. But the people aren’t really thinking about committing treachery against the nation, as Yeonsangun makes them out to be. In the village, the people are unaware of the king’s order against them and they gather at the town square to discuss their grievances, believing that if they brought it up with the king reasonably, he would help solve their problems.

The king’s soldiers suddenly show up and decimate the populace in the village. One man gets away and reaches Gil-dong’s cave, where he pleads for the Hong bandit’s help, telling him how Yeonsangun is using royal soldiers to kill off Hyangjumok to make an example of it.

Gil-dong’s rage returns and he yells “Yi Yung!” in fury, and then begins a plan to help the Hyangjumok villagers. The people in the caves who were all saved by Gil-dong want to help in the fight, but the Hong Avengers tell them to stay back and protect the hideout, because they’ll be going up against the best soldiers in the nation, the king’s personal royal army.

Yeonsangun receives the report from Eunuch Kim that the second wave of his soldiers are approaching Hyangjumok, and he smiles as he watches his musical troupe perform. Smirking, he says to himself, “Now let the Joseon people see what is the greatest power in this land. It is fear.”

On the road to Hyangjumok, the royal forces are confronted by Gil-dong’s small band of fighters, who block the path. The king’s general scoffs at Gil-dong’s meager army composed of lowly gangsters and thieves. They engage in battle, but because the Hong force is outnumbered, less seasoned, and less armed, they’re slowly but surely pushed back. Gil-dong looks shaken up as he sees his brothers take heavy losses—Yonggae and Ilchung are slashed, and Eop-san and Segul are punched to the ground.

Meanwhile, Yeonsangun is rocking out to the drum music that a talented woonpyeong performs for his pleasure. The tempo keeps the pace of the battle going on in the forest near Hyangjumok. From the viewpoint of Gil-dong and his men, there seems to be a never-ending sea of soldiers, while only a few of them are left. The outlook seems dire for our heroes, and Gil-dong steps out in front and tells everyone else to back off, ready to fight the army alone.

But of course they refuse to listen to him. Thinking that this may be their last battle, Gil-dong’s men rally one last time as they make this resolution: “If we die, we all die together, and if we live, we all live together!” To the opposing army they cry, “Let’s all die together!”

Then from the sky, a fleet of arrows rains down on the king’s soldiers, and boulders crush them from above. When Gil-dong looks up, he sees the people from the caves that he saved from the king, coming to save him in return.

Unexperienced as they are, they’re brave about coming to Gil-dong’s rescue because he’s empowered them. A man leading the charge shouts to Gil-dong: “We are here to rescue you this time, General Hong.” So Gil-dong and company move with a renewed fervor in their fight, as the people have come to bolster them, and they emerge victorious.

During his private dance show, Yeonsangun is informed that a rebel army has crushed his forces. Immediately reacting to this bad news, he smashes his glass down, and all the musicians kneel to the ground in collective fear.

Although they are victorious, there have been many casualties on the Hong side, including the one man who led the people into battle to save Gil-dong. With his dying breath, he thanks Gil-dong for letting him live this one day of his life being free to do what he truly wanted.

He dies and Gil-dong weeps, crying for the man to at least tell him his name before he goes. His determination firm, Gil-dong rises to his feet and resolves to make Hyangjumok an independent territory.

 
COMMENTS

I love Sang-hwa. I thought the first child actress playing Eorini was cute, and she did her job well, playing a devoted younger sibling who’s slightly spoiled in a good way under the doting care of her two older brothers and loving father. But it was Sang-hwa who stole the show, the way her brother stole the people (hur). She’s a fierce little munchkin, sticking to her mission with a dedication worthy of admiration, until her memories of Gil-dong and her past life resurfaced.

For me, her brief runaway back to the Sugwidan, her mental breakthrough, and subsequent storytelling of her time as a Geo-in were the highlights of this episode. Thank goodness the writers gave her a semi-plausible background and logical story arc, which made her a much more compelling character in my eyes. Initially when she was introduced, we were put through a tiresome game of cat-and-mouse as the plot continually hinted that she or Ok-ran might be the sister that Gil-dong had been searching for this entire time. I think Ok-ran was purposefully depicted such that she seemed to be the favorite to be The One, because she was naturally gifted, made all the “right” decisions, and also had lost her brother in childhood. Meanwhile, Sang-hwa came with wily social ambitions and actions that seemed selfish, which normally would detract from viewers having sympathy for her. But in my case, I loved that she had a little devil in her because it made her stand out, amongst all the other protagonists who seemed one-dimensional in their reasons for choosing the side of “good.”

Despite still being such a young girl, she displayed actions that made her seem far more intelligent, resourceful and competent than her years. She navigated her way from the mountainside all the way back to Hanyang, and to the doorstep of Scholar Song’s house on sheer perseverance of will. And I guess a little extra help from her big bro, but she didn’t know it! I know that she didn’t really fool Gil-dong and Eop-san by pretending to be asleep, but the fact that she took factors like them noticing her absence into consideration is a testament to her strategic thought process. Gil-dong, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have any strategy in mind, charging like a bull to get his way at this point. He and the Hong brothers always seem to be gathering at that meeting table to discuss military tactics, but so far, I haven’t been too impressed. Engaging in battle head-on with a royal army that you know is more capable and numerous than you are seems to be the wrong tactic to use, and I’m pretty sure Sun Tzu would agree with me on that point.

Gil-dong just gets angry, and then he moves. Even the rescue of the people during Episode 24 wasn’t that much of a thought-requiring operation. It was primarily Gil-hyun who did all the dangerous parts, secretly taking a copy of the palace blueprints, providing the Hong crew with a way into the palace. All Gil-dong did was put on his mask and scare the king. That’s why I’m still scratching my head wondering the reason he was chosen to be the Mighty Child. I wish there was a bit more clarification on that point from the shamaness because I’m not sure if Mori is still a Mighty Child, or if it’s just Gil-dong at this point, and what distinguishes him from the rest of the people. Or maybe that is why he was chosen, because he’s no different from the rest of the people?

The one part that almost got me to tears in this episode was when the people came from the caves to rescue Gil-dong and the Hong brothers when they were in peril of dying at the hands of the royal soldiers. The way the people cheered was uplifting because they looked genuinely happy for the opportunity to lay down their lives to rescue their rescuer. Usually, it’s a one-way street, the hero rescues the people, and they are eternally grateful. But this time, the tables were turned and our hero was in trouble, and it was the people who ended up saving him. I know this streak won’t last for long, especially with Ga-ryung still in the palace under Nok-soo’s watchful eyes, but overall, victory almost seems to be in grasp and Yeonsangun’s absolute reign of terror almost at an end.

 
RELATED POSTS

Tags: Chae Soo-bin, Episode 26, Honey Lee, Kim Ji-suk, Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People, Yoon Kyun-sang

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I CRY.

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Almost! But there are still 4 episodes to go and who knows what will happen to the gang. We know what happens to yeonsangun and nok soo cos of history. But I am most worried about people like ga-ryung and uh-ri-ni..

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I paused 10 minutes before the end and got myself an ice cream because I thought we are going to lose Soburi right there and then. But I guess they're saving that for another day.

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NO! I really hope all the hong brothers survive! I can't bear to see any of them being hurt...let alone killed.

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Me too. But I can't unsee not seeing some of them in that battle scene from episode 1 :(

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Yes, I've been running that image through my head too! Please don't kill any of them, Show!

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I really thought soburi was gonna end up dead (I also hoped not) bcuz how long can that old man fight? But hez still strong for an old man hehe

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I know right! That's why I'm so worried for him :D He should retire and stay in the cave with Magister Eom (hmmm... now he's not an official anymore I don't know what to call him :D) from now on.

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He'll always be Magistrate Eom to me. ;-)

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They still call him Magistrate Eom in the drama as well XD

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I know, right? But often when Gil-dong left to do missions, he'd leave Soburi to hold the fort...so maybe he was doing something else while the others were at the fort place in episode 1?

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I hope so too. It's gonna be weird/sad not seeing the complete Hongvengers at the end :(

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My favorite moment was when the people rescued gil dong and his brothers. That just showed how much they support and trust Gil Dong <3

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Yes! I loved that final scene. It really showed that these people were ready to put down their lives for Gil-dong. I think that in itself would have given all the strength Gil-dong needed to face the army.

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My gosh, I actually cried at that moment. The tears just came without warning. It's probably the most heart-warming moment for me in this entire show since their children backstories.

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I know! And Gil-dong's face was just a mixture of gratefulness and hope...and my face was smiling like an idiot because that scene was so beautiful!

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Same! That moment was just amazingly beautiful. Also, Gil dong taught them to fight and shoot arrows, so why didnt he Let them come along?

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They were supposed to guard the women at the cave and they were all commoners without combat experience. Meanwhile, they are up against the King's personal army.

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Right? I was surprised I got as emotional as I did towards the end of this episode.

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Same here, I think I had something in my eye around then. And then a lot of somethings in my eye when we got the flashback (in the place where a preview would normally be) of his first encounter with Gil-dong and the now-famous thumbs up.

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Definitely a memorable scene. As the instigator of the Hong Descendant was expiring, all I could think was, "Today is a good day to die." -- For him, it certainly was. He got to return the favor, and it pleased him no end to be able to do so, even as it cost him his life.

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Gah! That thumbs up. IT KILLED ME. Cry a little. Cry a LOT. lol.

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Our hero still seems to just go ahead and do things because he can. I guess I don't really mind this because I'm just so grateful to all the secondary characters who have been stealing the spot light instead of our hero. From Gil-hyun, to the King and Nok-soo, Ga-ryung and of course Sang-Hwa.
At first, I was on board with Ok-ran being Eorini because I couldn't imagine her growing up to be ambitious like Sang-hwa. But this episode turned that thought right around. While i still like Ok-ran's character, I'm glad that Eorini is Sang-Hwa because already she's being a great help to her brothers by providing them with information on what happened to her and how the Geion's are recruited. I think Gil-dong can use this information to go ahead and rescue all the people who are forced into brainwashed servitude.

I also can't wait to see more of Ga-ryung. I was disappointed that her scene ended with Nok-soo slapping her. I wanted more from Nok-soo as well. Why couldn't she have said Gil-dong was still alive? And I still can't believe that the King hasn't done anything to Nok-soo even after finding out the truth about Nok-soo's relationship with Gil-dong.

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I think Nok-soo didn't tell Ga-ryung Gil-dong was alive because she was probably jealous, but also because she can now use this information against Ga-ryung to get back into Yeonsangun's favour. More than love or anyone else, she cares about herself. Survival is the name of the game for her. Plus, she's on a path she can no longer turn from. She chose the path of pain and sorrow when she chose the name Nok-soo.

I think the king is biding his time, thinking up a good way to punish her. Also, part of the reason he hasn't done anything yet is probably because he's holding onto Nok-soo like a toy and keeping her out of Gil-dong's hands. I would not be surprised if he requests/orders something from her to make her show him her love. Revealing that Ga-ryung is Gil-dong's wife would work wonders.

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@cloveredlioness ahh ok! Thanks so much for your explanation.
Yes, I thought that she could have been jealous of Ga-ryung but I didn't realise that she could use this to her advantage. After all, her goal always was to be with the King, for power and status.

And I like your take on the King too. It makes sense that he's holding onto Nok-soo in order to keep her away from Gil-dong. I just thought that he would have her punished for lying to or betraying him. I guess he is just biding his time?

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I was on Ok-ran being Eorini from the beginning. She seems to fit the country girl type etc. Not that Sang-hwa couldn't be Eorini because she was the sassy princess of Ikhwari.
But I did say unless Eorini went through some kind of drama in that shed she was held at or the separation from her family then it would make sense for her to be the other girl (Sang-hwa).
Halfway through the show I was sick of the who is Eorini game. I lost interest in her and her story.

I think it's kind of convenient that she was brainwashed and lost her memory. At the same time this brainwashed girl's action fits the real Eorini.
What if she wasn't brainwashed? Would she still be ambitious? I felt like her ambitious comes with her job as Scholar Song's spy then maybe after meeting Nok-soo kind of change that which might explain why she was lashing out at Ga-ryung.
(Too much vagueness for my liking)

On the other hand I'm glad some of you guys enjoyed it.

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My favourite scene this episode is the reunion between Gil-dong and Eorini, it was so well delivered I got teary. I love that Sang-hwa is Eorini too. At first, having assumed that Jung Da-bin (being more experienced and well-known) as Ok-ran is Eorini, I was pleasantly surprised that I was drawn to Sang-hwa's character more. Ok-ran seems like a typical boring heroine compared to Sang-hwa's more layered personality. The actress who plays her also has a nicer voice and sageuk speech, and an all around better actress than Jung Da-bin, that the latter pales in comparison, in my opinion. Now that Eorini is part of the gang, I'm looking forward to her contributions. She could be a double spy that will bring down Sugwidan from the inside.

4 more episodes and there's still so much ground to cover. We still haven't got the opening scene of Gil-dong shooting that arrow at Ga-ryung. We better move quickly, writer-nim.

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Four more episodes and two pre-emptions! I don't know how I'm going to hold on. I think I would have felt better if they had extended the series by at least two episodes...but I'll take what I can get.

It's funny how I flipped flopped on who I wanted to be Eorini. At first, I didn't want Ok-ran because she was too saccharine and then I didn't want Sang-hwa because she was too ambitious/antagonistic. But it's worked out well now that we've seen Eorini's backstory.

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Thank goodness the pre-emption did not happen this week, because that 2% confirmation of Eorini's identity that wass missing from the last episode finally got answered. Anyway so many favorite moments from this episode:

1. GilDong missing GaRyung. I loved it that she's the only person he can open up to when it comes to his feelings and fears. And they played Chae Soo Bin's song as well.

2. Eorini got her memories back. That scene when the fragments of her memories came back to her was beautifully edited, crossing back and forth between each flashbacks, and the moment Ahn Ye Eun's Red Ties started playing to the scene of Eorini and GilDong running away, I just got goosebumps all over and was drowning in feels.

3. When the people came to save GilDong. I loved how the women were also able to help with what they can. Sure they can't fight, but that oil and fire arrow were a genius idea. Whoever came up with that tactic should be hired as GilDong's tactician. I got teary eyed at the ending when he answered "Just Because". Ugh, good job making me care for a minor character, Show!

4. GaRyung was so badass this episode, I'm so proud of her. And she's not only trying to kill Yi Yung for her personal revenge but also for all of the people that sufferred because of him. The following scene with Nok Soo was so great to watch. I did wonder if Nok Soo did tell her that Gil Dong is alive off screen though :D

I still can't accept it that we're only getting one episode next week :(

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@latteholic With your 4th point, I was thinking the same. But then I remembered that I the preview for this ep where Nok-Soo was telling Ga-ryung that Gil-dong was alive. So I was waiting for that scene in this episode but it wasn't there. Hopefully they either show that scene in the next ep, or Ga-ryung finds out somehow.

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*that I saw the preview

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Ooo... That could be the case. I remember same thing happened couple of episodes back with Mori and GilDong where Mori asked him why he saved him (in the preview), but it was not actually shown in the episode, but a couple of episodes later.
GaRyung looks a lot more calmer so I was wondering about that...

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Yes, maybe they'll show it to us via flashback lol.

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At this point, I'll take flashback over off-screen conversation that we aren't privy to :D

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Agreed!

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That smirk though, when Nok Su realises that Ga Ryung doesn't know Gil Dong's alive!

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So... does that mean that Eorini and GilHyun are going to soon use their heads for once? Because I see that GilDong is a bit hopeless in that department and probably needs much more help.

Strength is not everything, kiddo!

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Yes I think Gil Hyun will be a brain for them. Gildong has never really learn properly before, so I think he is not that smart. Luckily Gil Hyun is around to help with the plan and he especially knows more about palace.

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Aw, but that's baby Moo Hyul...

GilHyun is intellectually smarter than GilDong, but also I wouldn't say that GilDong is hopeless either in that dept. I think all three siblings are real smart (or maybe wily is better word?). GilDong has always been calculating and able to come up with great plans to outsmart his opponents before. This is just one of those moments where his hot-headedness got the better of his judgement.

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I agree. I don't think Gil-dong is stupid. I think sometimes he just acts first before thinking. Gil-hyun is the opposite. He makes sure to always plan before rushing into anything. Now that they're working side by side I'm sure they can out both their strengths to good use.

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yeah, Gil-dong isn't stupid, but he's not the kind of careful strategic thinker that Gil-hyun is. And that's been a part of their characterisation since childhood - even little Gil-dong tended to go on instinct and was impulsive, while Gil-hyun was more of a thinker. That's carried over to their adult selves too - Gil-dong was thrust into the leadership of the Ikhwari clan in Gil-hyun's absence, and the framing of Choongwongoon shows he's no slouch.... but Gil-hyun's just on another level when it comes to self-control and keeping a cool head.

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I feel like Gil-hyun is the brains of the operation and Gil-dong would be the heart/strength of the operation lol. Gil-hyun has much more perspective and worldliness.

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Oh, GilDong is definitely not stupid. More than strategy, GilDong is a street-smart tactical person. But we're upping the ante here and GilDong needs more than to just solve one problem. He needs GilHyun for the strategising and Eorini for her knowledge of how the palace and the Sugidan and it's GeoIn work.

At this scale, GilDong's way too over his head and if left to go at it alone, he'll definitely fail.

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I love that each sibling has a piece to the puzzle in solving their conflict with Yeonsangun. Eorini has the knowledge of the hidden forces in the palace, Gil-hyun has the strategy and Gil-dong will put those things into action and execute their directives.

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I just started Six Flying Dragons and given the pre-emptions, just in time! Lol. Moo-hyul is adorable/adorkable! Like the first time he's asked to use his skills to defend Boon-yi and Bang-won and he's just like 'Who me!?'

Gil-dong does tend to be a hothead, but he does have cunning when asked for it, but I agree with everyone else, Gil-hyun is just more intellectual...I would also say that Gil-hyun has more emotional intelligence (recognizing his own and others' emotions. Dude took forever to get together with Ga-ryung) while both are pretty evenly matched with social intelligence (ability to navigate complex social environments and relationships, given they're both great at adopting new aliases).

Gil-dong seems to choose how/when he reads peoples' emotions and when he wants to ignore them. Until he properly embraces his mighty child status and gains compassion, he selfishly acts this way. His brushing off of Ga-ryung initially, the hotheaded way he acted as a kid with no social awareness, his reaction at being asked to help people etc.

Gil-hyun, however, has always been more empathetic and clued into other peoples' emotions. Probably because he's older...but he could read peoples' emotions and react to them more readily. It's how he stays cool under pressure as Park Ha-sung and discovers things like Madame Jo being his friend's mom etc. And how even as a kid, he would be annoyed at the things Gil-dong would get up to. It's why Gil-hyun can have so many insights into the behaviours of the ministers at the palace while Gil-dong just sees the black and white wrongness of the matter.

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Lol that's Moo-hyul all over again. Strong, loyal and endearing but he's no scholar. A typical warrior.
Even Joseon was established with Jeong Do-jeon's brain and Yi Seong-gye's military strength.

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I don't think Gil-dong is hopeless. He came up with some great plans, including the frame-up of Choongwongoon. In this instance, they were caught flat-footed by news of the king sending his personal army to put down an allegedly rebellious town. Gil-hyun even said that they had not yet gotten up to full strength in numbers, or something like that.

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Since Sanghwa is Eorini, who's Okran? Surely she must have a purpose in the story besides confusing us regarding who's Eorini...

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You are right. I still shake my head whenever I am thinking about this weak plot. LOL. I think she could be Ga Ryung's sister (because their bonding seems so genuine) or Mori's sister, since she said she lost her brother.

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I hope so too. I think Eorini and Okran's sisterly relationship is sincere. Despite the competition in the palace they do look out for each other.

I'd love to see Okran as part of the Hong family. Hummmn Gil Hyung is still single ...*wink*

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I think noksoo will use garyung as Gildong´s wife to win the king one more time and that´s why garyung ends up hanged on that poll in episode 1 :(

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You could be right. Especially now she feels betrayed with Gildong(I think she thought Gildong told Yeonsan about their past) and with Garyung as his wife, not only that, Ga Ryung also got favour from Yeonsan. Noksoo will use whaetever means to gain back Yeonsan's trust.

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Admittedly, that head on battle with the royal army was not well thought out. But I can understand that they were really short in time and need to block the soldiers right away to actually come up with a strategy (plus they were probably discussing the strategy to take down Sugwidan in THAT meeting table when they were informed about the royal soldiers). I was just glad that the people from the cave actually came up with the idea to use oil and fire arrows.

Other than that, I think Gil Hyun and Gil Dong had been working awesomely together to come up with strategies against their enemies. And although Gil Hyun was the MVP from last episode, let's not forget that it was Gil Dong also who told Gil Hyun that he should pretend to save the king when Gil Dong led him to the forrest because knowing his temper, he could have blamed Gil Hyun that they managed to break into the palace but then "saving" him from Gil Dong would earn him extra credit instead.

Also I believe he didn't just scare the king, I think he was actually trying to get the king away from the palace to enable the whole prison break scene because that way the royal guards would be scattered looking for the king.

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I think the point of that battle was to show that others are willing to support Gil-dong and protect him because Gil-dong gives it all up for them. They show Gil-dong the same level of devotion. So yeah, it's not the most well planned strategy in the world, but that's not the point lol.

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Agree. I liked it also that it wasn't conveniently set-up just to show that. I believed someone, maybe GilHyun, mentioned that they didn't have time so it will be hard for them to fight off the royal army, but they will give it a try (or maybe the subtitle I'm reading is different). At the end, I'm happy that this scene finally let the `regular/weak people to shine`. I kept reminded of that scene in ep 16 where GilDong said that he hates weak people who can't stand up from themselves. Look at where you are now and what you have done to that people, Gildong-ah~ :)

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It's really come full circle. He hated that weak people don't stand up for themselves, but he finally realized that he had to be the one to empower them and show them how to do it first for the people to stand up for themselves.

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Mudang was the one who pointed out to all the Hongs that the people taking refuge had never experienced a win in their lives, and needed personalized encouragement to make the leap of faith in themselves.

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Why on earth and how in the world is Gil-dong having so many visions/dreams about Ga-ryung. This time, he was even AWAKE! Is this part of his mighty child thing? I think it goes beyond the writer/PD/staff etc wanting to have Gil-ryung scenes but the two being separated. Is Ga-ryung a mighty child whose super power is astral projection and she doesn’t know it? The scenes are always interesting since it seems like sustenance is always a theme behind it. She sustains him with food, literal sustenance, and also emotionally.

Poor boy, though. It’s KILLING him that she’s not around. I think he’s starting to realize how much he relied on her for emotional support over the last 4/5+ years he’s known her, not just when they got married and how much she’s been the constant in his life even when he was blind to it. She became the first one in his heart…which is probably why he looked like he wanted to gouge his own eyes out with a rusty nail every time there was a possibility of a suitor for her. Not to mention, it’s probably been the longest he’s ever been away from her. It totally reminds me of that music video Yoon Kyun-sang and Chae Soo-bin are in together where he plays a guy who really loves his girlfriend and misses her. (Boy’s definitely bulked up since…)

But Gil-dong, HINT: TELL YOUR SISTER ABOUT YOUR WIFE AND FIGURE IT OUT! I’m sure they’ll figure out what she was trying to do when they figure out the timeline of when she went into the palace and her whole widow schtick to get into the palace.

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You speak my mind as always! We need to have conversation between the three siblings about how the middle child got married first XD I think Eorini still want to save Ok Ran from the palace, so I hope she'll bring it up at one point.

Other than that I'm loving these role reversal with GilDong pining for GaRyung. If we can't get the reunion, then I'll take GaRyung's astral projection. lol.

And yessss. This is totally like the Uniqnote's MV! Actually I've been wanting to see both of them in a drama together because of that MV, and then Rebel happened :D

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I am dyyyying for a scene where his siblings meet his wife. I just wanna see it. Plus, I want them all to rib Gil-hyun about how Gil-dong got married first. (Even though that boy took literally a stone's age to figure it out.) I suppose Gil-hyun was too busy wandering Joseon as a secret investigator to find someone. Plus, there's that whole secret identity thing which is probably a damper to any relationship.

The reversal in their relationship is really interesting because now Ga-ryung is the one who's a closed book who doesn't express her feelings towards Gil-dong (I mean, she thinks he's dead but she doesn't even quibble about her feelings for him, save revenge) and Gil-dong is the one who's open about his emotions towards her.

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If Rebel won't give me any happy ending between Gil Dong and Ga Ryung, I'll just consider the MV from Uniqnote "Girlfriend" as their epilogue/alternative ending, even cliche reincarnation plot story will just be fine for me as long as I get a happy Gil Ryung couple. They deserve it soo~ much after all of those angsty separation..

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Right? If "Girlfriend" is their reincarnation epilogue then Yoon Kyun-sang and Chae Soo-bin's phone stacking game CF is the love confession part of their epilogue lol. (It even happens on a set of steps lol)

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To be fair, Gil-dong got married when he thought both his siblings were dead - he didn't purposely jump the queue on Gil-hyun lol (and like you guys noted, Gil-hyun has the massive secret identity impediment to having any kind of romance or any prospects of marriage).

We're four episodes from the end and I have no idea how Gil-dong is going to make it out alive, or Ga-ryung. I suspect I'm going to need that Uniqnote MV to soothe my own howls of despair if one or both of them dies.

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Love confession: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmYb-hFt6BM

Separation and reunion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q49rAWg1wY

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I actually watched that when they were first cast and beanies said they'd worked together before, that was what sold me on them as OTP. . But I'll keep it in reserve for the end of the drama now!

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"Is Ga-ryung a mighty child whose super power is astral projection and she doesn’t know it? She sustains him with food, literal sustenance"

she was also able to remove that grain of rice on gildong's lips! mighty child confirmed

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Lol. I just imagined the Mythbusters crew going 'MYTH CONFIRMED!'

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I know we're all clamouring for a Gil-dong/Ga-ryung reunion but Ga-ryung's palace sojourn as the vengeful widow has actually given her her own storyline in which she, not Gil-dong, is the primary mover. I appreciate it on a story level because it gives Ga-ryung a more active role in the story and makes good use of Chae Soo-bin (also, that flashback to the gibang really shows how much Ga-ryung has changed, she really does seem years younger than she is now).

But I really, really appreciate Ga-ryung as a character - it's nice to see a sageuk heroine who isn't one of the "not like the other girls" type (like the crossdressers of other fusion sageuk dramas, because how would we know a girl has guts if she doesn't ever dress like a boy?) and is totally a commoner (there go our theories that she was Song Sabu's secret granddaughter) and just a regular person, but still no less worthy of romance and love for it. Another win for the common people - even our heroine is one!

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Well, she did get closer to solving everyone's problems than Gil-dong has so far. If Nok-soo had been just a second slower...I would have loved to see the Hongvengers rescue the gisaeng that assassinated Yeonsangun from execution and be like WTF!? GA-RYUNG!?

I just love how much FIRE Ga-ryung has in her scene with Nok-soo. Like, Nok-soo got into the palace and was all about being the HBIC, telling the other gisaengs she was crazy and to find out how much of a monster she could be...but Ga-ryung outright tells Nok-soo that she came to the palace to die. I don't think Nok-soo has EVER been that level. She wants to survive/live more than anything.

I don't think we really know how much Ga-ryung has changed until Nok-soo says it...how's she's grown up and matured, but also lost her liveliness.

And doesn't it say something that Hong Chum Ji's wife isn't someone special with a flashy rank or a glamourous gisaeng? She's just a regular girl who is bold and spunky.

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yep, Ga-ryung in that scene with Nok-soo is now the woman we see tied to the stake in the flash-forward - it's not hard at all to see how she got there.

And a double thumbs up on that point about how fitting Ga-ryung's ordinary status is. This iteration of Gil-dong doesn't need birth secrets feat. Secret Noble Origins to be interesting and worthwhile, and neither does his wife.

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I'm soooo relieved that she doesn't have any birth secret whatsoever. I always like her humble and ordinary back story and it's just so refreshing to have a heroine who is just like everyone else (and by everyone else I meant by the standard that they have back in 1500 Joseon dynasty).

In another sageuk, her plucky and straightforward character would have become the best friend/servant of the female lead. You know, those characters who are so full of love and light that you can't help but adore them but eventually will die in the end to save/protect the lead *cough*Sa Wol*cough*?

So I'm happy that the writer actually make her character type the heroine of the story who actually takes things into her own hands to get things done and get her man. And it was a trip to see her transform into the feisty woman who is willing to give up everything just to get closer to the king and to kill him. Also I mentioned this above but I loved that her revenge is not only a personal one but she also does it for all the oppressed people. I can finally see how her character turned into that fierce woman on the stake who rather give up her life than to be used as a bait to harm others.

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Also, birth secrets in sageuk are so overdone that it's a relief to have protagonists whose ancestry is exactly what they know it to be - Ga-ryung's origins are humble and like you said, her character is the type that would normally end up being the heroine's maid and not the heroine. And on top of that, she's the one falling for Gil-dong first and making that very clear, with zero ambiguity . Kdrama convention usually has the male lead fall for the female lead first, or at the very least they fall for each other at the same time and live in various stages of denial about it - but Ga-ryung carried a torch for Gil-dong for years while he was getting over Nok-soo, which doesn't sound great but I like that this is a girl who was proactive in her love.

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And I love that they also have the reversal where when Ga-ryung's finished her pining and chasing, Gil-dong is the one who has to do it. And by this time, you see exactly WHY he would, why it's so hard for him not to have her with him.

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That happens a lot in fusion sageuks which annoys me to no end.
I prefer conventional sageuks. It waste no time on these ridiculous overused tropes.

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@cloveredlioness - yes, I felt like Ga-ryung was rather underused in the early/middle stretch of the drama, but the romance between her and Gil-dong, and his eventual falling for her, are believable because of Yoon Kyun-sang and Chae Soo-bin - as is the reversal of him now being the one pining and realising how important her presence was to him.

@kiara - yeah, it's definitely a fusion sageuk trope and not so much a regular sageuk one, though I guess Rebel is a fusion sageuk of sorts since we do have Gil-dong as the Mighty Child? But either way, it's overdone and I'm very glad Rebel eschewed it. It really wouldn't be in keeping with the point the drama keeps making about actions, not bloodlines, being what's important for people to remember you by.

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@pogo
I think the writer did her/his best to steer Rebel away from the typical mindless fusions and gave the viewers a lot of food for thought which is enjoyable.
Hong Gil Dong wouldn't be Hong Gil Dong without his supernatural/spiritual abilities.
There wasn't much that was written about him so the writer doesn't have much to work with historywise like Yeonsan and Nok-soo.

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Ga-ryung has honestly probably become my favourite kdrama heroine thus far. I loved Kim Na-na...but she gets brushed to the side at the end of City Hunter. And I love Oh Hae-young, but I wish she had more self-esteem. I also love Kim Bok-joo...but Ga-ryung is total SWAG.

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I really appreciate that Ga-ryung is believably a woman of her time, as is Nok-soo.

And honestly, it's a tough role to pull off because Ga-ryung, on paper, could come off as rather boring next to the far more charismatic and tragic Nok-soo - something she herself admits. But it's Chae Soo-bin who gives life to a character who would easily have been insipid and milquetoast in the hands of a less skilled actress - it's because of her that the romance is believable and something I can root for, when on paper/with another actress it would have come off as 'he just falls for her because she's there'.

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The dreams/visions of Ga-ryung looks like Mugyo elements to me. Plus, Eorini still had yet to recover her memories at that point, IIRC, so the dude is totally stressed out. The two most significant women in his life are missing in action, one literally, the other, figuratively.

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It is cute, but incredibly sad, that he stress imagines his wife.

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yeah, poor Gil-dong - it's not hard to see why he's hallucinating Ga-ryung now, it's not as bad as when he'd been tortured but he is under a great deal of pressure.

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@cloveredlioness I just randomly read somewhere that YKS and CSB's character got married at some point? Please tell me that is true and that there is some cohabitation hijinks involved, lol I know this sound utterly ridiculous since this is sageuk we're talking about. But I would really love to start watching the show again, if that's the case. I kept it on hold after watching ep 1. ^^

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sounds*

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They do get married and there is cohabitation hijinks before marriage since they live in the same house/compound (but not in a say City Hunter way). The journey is fun. Happy watching! ;-)

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OMG, so all the uncles crowding around Eorini trying to make her remember them was HILARIOUS. Especially Ilchung being like…You liked to touch my hair! Go on, touch it! I think now that Eorini can remember who she is…I’m going to like her a lot more. It was also interesting how the process of her remembering who she was was very similar to Gil-dong’s even though she was more brainwashed with drugs and behavioural changes. On another note…Are they trying to make Eop-rini happen? My shipper senses are tingling. I mean, there’s a pretty big age difference between them, but they kept on showing Eop-san doing nice/considerate things for her and showing concern for her well-being a la Gil-dong to Ga-ryung. (Gil-dong, Gil-hyun and Eop-san are SOOO babyfaced though.)

The song is called ‘Red Thread’ referring to the red string of fate that links people ie. lovers together…but the cord that linked Eorini and Gil-dong is blue…the sibling colour lol? I have to say that Sang-hwa really won me over as Eorini after I wavered on her lol.

I find it fascinating that Gil-dong is so upset at the fact that the name of the peasant was unknown to him, while everyone is expendable to Yeonsangun. Gil-dong is moved by the death of one man. Yeonsangun couldn’t care less. He’s killed hundreds for petty reasons, for control. One soldier dies, he’s got thousands more. His lack of value in life is what brings the people to Gil-dong’s side and allows Gil-dong to steal them from under his nose.

So that was some real LOTR Battle of Helm’s Deep realness, but instead of the Rhohirrim cavalry, we have the people who support Gil-dong…with flaming arrows, no less! (They even ran down a steep cliff/hill!) And Yeonsangun headbanging to the frantic drumming at the same time totally gave me Denathor vibes lol. Given that the bow and arrow was a symbol of the king, I find it apropos that the people now take control of their own lives and as ruler and use their bows taught by Gil-dong.

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ack, I really hope they don't go there with a romance for Eorini. The characters may be both adult by Joseon standards, but the actress is a minor and I'd really rather not add to the rash of grown man/underage girl pairings in kdramas these days. Anyway, as the gang said before, Eorini was a little sister to all of them - Eop-san tucking her in didn't really register to me any differently tfrom Gil-hyun and Gil-dong doing the same.

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Lol...it's one of those I don't hate it, but I don't love it either kind of things. One of the subtitles I read had him tucking her in with 'Little pretty one' and I was like...umm...

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I know what you mean, but it actually felt like the subtitle made a bigger deal of it than it should have been - he could as easily have been speaking to her little kid self.

Also I doubt that with four episodes to go and Ga-ryung still at large, we have any time to start romances for Eorini. If we absolutely must have another Hong sibling romance, I hope it's Gil-hyun, he is the eldest sibling after all!

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LOL. It's about time Gil-hyun got married! I don't even know who he'd marry. He's literally not had any scene with a woman in a romantic sense...or a woman who is his age. Literally, all the women he has scenes with are old and usually married lol.

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ha, that's weirdly true - practically every woman Gil-hyun has spoken to in this drama is either much older and married, or related to him. Too bad Ga-ryung doesn't have a nice sister/close friend she could hook him up with....

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I think implied romance is alright considering it's a proper thing in Joseon era for a girl her age to even marry.

In MLFTS, the Joseon Chung Yi is a widow and she is in Eorini's age. I think I'll lose count if I start mentioning romance and marriage of teenagers in sageuk.

As long as there is no scene that makes me feel uncomfortable because the actress is still underage (direct kissing scene, for example), I have no problem with such romance in sageuk since it's historically correct at the time.

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I pity the fool who wants to marry Eorini with her brothers and all her uncles...

You just made me realized how uncomfortable this relationship would make me feel if if it actually becomes romantic. It's one of those things where I'm like...logically it happened, but I don't want to see this in the drama necessarily.

I wouldn't mind if it was like a one-sided crush like Kim Bok-joo and Jung Jae-yi that doesn't go anywhere.

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@kendidb That's not what I meant at all...I meant I pity the fool who wants to marry Eorini with all her brothers and uncles... in a way that meant. I pity the fool who marries Eorini because she has so many brothers and uncles that will be protective of her. Sorry that wasn't clear.

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@cloveredlioness Ah, I see. Since you directly replied to me, I thought...

Nevermind, I'll try to delete my comments.

Sorry, too.

All that drama for nothing, lolz.

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@12 cloveredlioness April 28, 2017 at 10:04 PM:

I loved that scene of guys trying to help Eorini remember, and the looks she was giving them. If she'd made with any more side eye, she would have turned into a flounder.

The drumming on the hourglass drum was great, but some of the other court music sounded not so spiffy. I'm thinking especially of the dance with the big pink flowers. The music sounded anemic, for lack of a better word.

While the battle raged, two women performed a sword dance for the king. The contrast between the parallel scenes was cool. But I much prefer Gil-hyun's sword dance. -- The ones between Ha Ji-won and Gang Dong-won in DUELIST are among my all-time faves. ;-)

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Sometimes I think the music played by the gisaengs is meant to be meh to show the different level/class between Nok-soo and the rest or the higher levels and the lower ones...Just as a means to let you know which performances you should be like 'that was really great' or 'eugh that was horrible.

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I have to say, I really admire this drama's commitment to actually featuring Korean traditional dance and music - it can't be easy, especially now they're in live shoot mode, but I feel like we see at least snippets of performances every week, which helps in building up the idea that this was something Yeonsangun was into.

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Right? I also love how the art is included into the drama and used to reflect the characters...their mood/circumstances and plot. In another drama, Nok-soo would be the most amazing gisaeng because the drama calls for it...but here, we get to see her perform and SEE her charisma and understand WHY she's an amazing gisaeng and would enrapture a king. She was enticing the first time we saw her dance and sing with a fan.

The planning and scripting of this drama must be TIGHT.

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Agreed. Most sageuk these days don't even bother with it.
I'm glad they took advantage of Honey Lee's talents as an entertainer in traditional Korean music etc.
The only other actress that I can think of that could rival her in traditional dancing is Han Ye-ri who also major in Korean traditional arts and traditional dancing. She did a flawless traditional dance in SFD.

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This is late but I think we can definitively rule out an Eop-san/Eorini pairing since they're both Hongs of the same clan so they're family and can't marry anyway!

(I remember Ga-ryung refusing to take the Hong family name for that exact reason - if she'd taken it, she and Gil-dong would have been related on paper and she'd never be able to marry him)

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Ga-ryung things...on which I have MUCH to say lol.

Ga-ryung’s story is an allegory for the class divide in the Joseon era that Yeonsangun does nothing about. The boy who has to suffer so everyone else gets to live their happy life is all the servants and everyone below the yangban class. The ones that feel guilty move away while others feel that his suffering is justification for prosperity. This shows how everyone is complicit in keeping things the same and upholding the status quo…those that could change it do nothing and the rest don’t care or feel that it’s supposed to be that way. I’m happy for this because I was waiting for when Ga-ryung would use her position to throw something hefty at Yeonsangun that he would overlook as mere entertainment.

In the end, I think Ga-ryung’s vengeance went beyond the king killing Gil-dong. She saw first had the violence of his whims and what he did to everyone. I truly think she meant to do it for everyone, not just that singular wrongdoing of killing Gil-dong, particularly since it was after Yeonsangun had just killed another gisaeng she knew. That moment was SUPER TENSE though. I was on the edge of my seat. She had finally reached the gisaeng rank to get close enough to the king to kill him.

It’s SO interesting that Nok-soo is the one that saved Yeonsangun. Even with his cruelty and violence, knowing that she herself is expendable, her position is still more important. She even refuses to tell Ga-ryung about Gil-dong’s escape. But she probably has a dilemma. She can use Ga-ryung as a bargaining chip to gain back her position with Yeonsangun, or she can hurt the one guy she’s ever loved by getting the woman he loves killed/hurt.

And now...Ga-ryung and phoenix imagery:

Soo…I saw a gif on tumblr of Ga-ryung taking out her hairpin to stab Yeonsangun and my mind went to a rabbit hole. I had first thought the flower on the Heungcheong gisaeng outfit was a phoenix…but then I realized that the hairpin Ga-ryung used is probably a phoenix feather. It’s not a flower because it’s more oval in shape and looks like a peacock feather. A phoenix is basically an amalgam of a lot of birds in Asian culture (pheasant, duck, peacock, quail, etc), but it does have peacock feathers in its tail. So I was like interesting…phoenixes are all about fire and rebirth from the ashes and her husband was reborn to become the hero of the people. Plus, phoenixes are a representation of females in the whole yin-yang balance while the dragon is considered male. The king is considered the dragon while a queen would be the phoenix…So Ga-ryung is a queenly figure who is killing the king who isn’t…And Gil-dong is a tiger not a dragon…hmmm…MUST DO MORE RESEARCH! (Wikipedia, my friend!) There may be more…There was so much more…

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A phoenix’s feathers is made up of the five fundamental colours, black, red, white, green and yellow. These colours are meant to represent Confucius’ five values, which are (from Wiki): ren (benevolence, charity, and humanity), yi (honesty and uprightness broken down into zhong (doing one's best, conscientiousness and loyalty) and hù (the virtue of reciprocity, altruism, consideration for others)), zhi (knowledge), xin (faithfulness and integrity) and li (correct behavior, propriety, good manners, politeness, ceremony, worship) Funny how Yeonsangun pretty much eschews everything except li in terms of correct behavior, propriety, ceremony and worship. He also does these things along with Song Sabu, the Jos and Pedo Prince in an incredibly dogmatic way. So in attempting to stab Yeonsangun with the phoenix feather hairpin, it’s like real, true Confucian values attempting to destroy that which is dogmatic and fake.
Even more interesting is that a phoenix represented powers sent from the heavens to the empress. And get this…a phoenix only stays when the ruler is without darkness or corruption. Therefore, it’s like Ga-ryung is given the strength to assassinate Yeonsangun from the heavens. A phoenix is also yin and yang in harmony and each body part symbolizes something. The head is virtue, the wings are duty, the back is propriety, the abdomen is credibility and the chest is mercy. Therefore, in using her hands/arms like a wing to stab Yeonsangun, Ga-ryung is doing a duty. What she says, that she is doing this to set an example of what a horrible person Yeonsangun is rings true. She’s not killing Yeonsangun just for revenge.

And now it gets trippy…So liina explained that each of the Hongvengers represents one of the Eight Immortals and Ga-ryung is He Xian’gu, the only female of the eight. He Xian’gu is often depicted with a phoenix. Why you may ask? Because her special power is being immune to death! And phoenixes are immortal… Ga-ryung isn’t going to die! (I hope.) He Xian’gu’s lotus flower also improves one physical and mental health. Ga-ryung has certainly healed and provided sustenance for people all throughout the series. She healed/nursed Amogae and Gil-dong when he was knocked out due to Mighty Child Syndrome lol. And as for mental health…well, Gil-dong’s visions and dreams of Ga-ryung are always about the emotions he shares with her and the emotional support she offers to him. His current pining for her comes from a place of needing her emotionally.

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Very intersting! Thank you so much for sharing and giving us these detailed explanations.

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@13 cloveredlioness April 28, 2017 at 10:07 PM

The queenly phoenix imagery is very interesting. In my mind, the fire element is the ultimate yang. And what is it that revives Gil-dong? The tears of the people. The water element is the ultimate yin. Now that's an interesting twist.

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And that is why they're OTP! They're perfectly yin-yang balanced! lol.

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I'm loving these analyses incorporating so much cultural imagery and meaning I didn't know - and WHOA at the possible significance of the phoenix feather to Ga-ryung's eventual survival (finale week is still going to be hell though, I'm not completely sure our heroes will live).

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I think finale week will be made worse by the pre-emptions and the promo that aired for Episode 27. Plus, I've become SOOO invested in our heroes.

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I nearly screamed when I saw the stake again - I know there's symbolic hope for Ga-ryung's survival, but I will be utterly RUINED inside if this drama decides to kill her. Even worse if it does it with three episodes to go, that's just utterly unfair.

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I know, right? YOU MAKE OTP LIVE! I don't care what you have to do! (Well...maybe I care a little. But not all that much lol)

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I NEED OTP to live like you wouldn't believe, but even at this point, I still can't tell whether they will or not.

(but they better not do anything awful like killing off Gil-hyun or Eorini or one of the Hongvengers instead, the old man rescue squad leader this week wrecked me badly enough)

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Also, re: Ga-ryung, Nok-soo and the king, that was fantastic - and I think the difference between Ga-ryung and Nok-soo's actions, as pointed out, does boil down to the fact that one of them is there for her survival (which makes her complicit in Yeonsangun's actions to an extent, and risks her own corruption by her power - she sent Ok-ran to prison purely because the girl inadvertently made her lose face for a moment in front of the others, and public loss of face is not acceptable for a royal concubine), while the other is in it to die and take Yeonsangun down with her - which ironically lends her a certain purity of purpose which just adds to her appeal as far as the king is concerned.

It's also worth noting that the king's 'courtship' of Ga-ryung is following the exact same pattern as he did with Nok-soo - both women deliberately flouted the rules to get the king to notice them, albeit with very different motivations. And as with Nok-soo, Yeonsangun seems content for now to only make use of her art, instead of taking her to bed. And Ga-ryung's only use for that proximity is to get close enough to end him with her own hands.

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It's interesting to see that Ga-ryung and Nok-soo's seduction of Yeonsangun follow the same pattern because we get to see the different choices these two women make. Even though she's there to kill the king, Ga-ryung never loses herself and who she is at the core. She helps and comforts others, like Ok-ran when the king sets out to execute that gisaeng. When Ga-ryung earns favour for the king, she wants him to spare Ok-ran. It's so ironic that Ga-ryung's purity of purpose, even if it's to kill Yeonsangun, gives her an appeal to the king. In contrast, Nok-soo has lost herself and become a monster. She's losing her soul meting out punishment for petty crimes and inflicting strict rules on the other gisaengs to keep her position but she does nothing to stop this. She only cares about her survival and her position. And when she first earns favour from Yeonsangun, she asks to meet the minister that first abused her to get revenge, instead of the assumption that I made...which was to meet Gil-dong.

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It's not just the similarities in how Ga-ryung and Nok-soo approach him for their respective ends, it's also how the king treats them - he didn't lay a hand on Nok-soo for years, just as he isn't with Ga-ryung now.

I also find it interesting that both women, early in their acquaintance with him, clearly say they're in love with/were married to another man. It actually seems to increase their appeal to him, because he actively pursues them even after knowing that - I suppose for a king who can have any woman in the land, emotionally unavailable (albeit still caring) women have a certain draw.

As for Nok-soo, I want to believe her old self is still in there somewhere, but the strain of palace life under the knowledge that the king could get rid of you any day would grind anyone's soul down. I'm not surprised that she'd lash out at any perceived risk to her status, or even prioritise revenge over a love she'd given up on entering the palace. But hiding the fact of Gil-dong's survival from Ga-ryung..... that did surprise me.

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The king really likes to want what he can't have...He's attracted to the fact that Nok-soo and Ga-ryung are emotionally unavailable and the challenge of overcoming that because he's THE king.

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@cloveredlioness - I think on some level, they genuinely have him flummoxed - like you said, he's THE king and they're already part of his gisaeng ranks. But he has no way to get what he wants from them, which is their hearts. Nok-soo even flat-out says she won't give him hers because she knows it's what keeps him intrigued. And the same works for Ga-ryung.

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Also, I like that this drama did something very important without making a big deal of it - Gil-dong has made it abundantly clear to Ga-ryung that he was marrying her because he loved her, not because he couldn't have Gong-hwa and she proposed to him (SHE proposed to him! Can't remember the last time a drama did that!).

That really is important to Ga-ryung, especially when faced with her former mistress, who is also her husband's very beautiful, charismatic ex whom he took years to get over.

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And not only did they make it clear he married her because he loved her, they kept showing that he truly loves her, and only her, afterwards. It's all well and good to promise to love someone during marriage, but it doesn't mean anything if that's not the case after. For Gil-dong, it was like getting married finally allowed him to show all the pent up affection he'd been hiding for years.

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@cloveredlioness - Exactly! Gil-dong wasn't marrying her because he was 'settling' or just because she was there, but he did fall in love with her without quite noticing it at first.

(also, this would actually have come across as 'he just married her because she's there and the script says so' if the actors hadn't had the right chemistry, so two thumbs up to Yoon Kyun-sang and Chae Soo-bin for selling that so beautifully).

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@pogo The creators lucked out on Yoon Kyun-sang and Chae Soo-bin having worked together before and having chemistry lol.

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@cloveredlioness - I would bet money that Chae Soo-bin was actually cast after YKS was courted for the lead, and that her casting came aboutbecause they'd worked together before and had the chemistry down.

I've been a fan of Chae Soo-bin since 2015, but I was honestly surprised when she booked the lead here, since she was a rookie and rookie actresses don't get that kind of break until several years after debut these days. But once some helpful beanies left the link to the Uniqnote video, let's just say the mystery (of why her?) was solved.

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I like that the focus of the whole drama is every oppressed commoners, not just Gil-dong. Everyone play a part in the grand scheme of thing, Gil-dong just happens to be the leader because he actually act on what he think is not right, which in turn inspire all these people to be a rebel against the King as well. Maybe this is why it will seem to some that Gil-dong is not doing anything/enough to warrant him to be a leader of the rebel group.

In any case, Gil-dong only moves when the King moves. I think by this time in the drama, he still have faith that the King will change for the better. That's why it will seem like he's doing nothing in the cave (as opposed to actively plotting to overthrow the King).

One more thing with this being a drama focusing not only on Gil-dong but on all the oppressed commoners, gives every actor a time to shine, which in turn made me realise how I've been sleeping on many of them and their talent/acting prowess. This is definitely one of the dramas with the best ensemble cast I've ever seen.

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I do like that even though it didn't seem like it by the midpoint of the series, every character, whether secondary or not, has a significant role to offer in the story. Like Yong-gae, his first defection was important because it allowed the Hongvengers to empathize with the people they were trying to help and gain their support.

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Gil-dong as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King...

Speaking of the Eight Immortals, liina also mentioned how Gil-dong is like Sun Wukong/the Monkey King who helped the Immortals reach immortality. When Gil-dong first started shaking the rock, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Sun Wukong being trapped under the Buddha’s hand for 500 years. (But Sun Wukong is actually born from a rock after a 1000 year incubation.) Gil-dong’s come out from under the rock! And now my view that he’s like Sun Wukong is solidified (whoa pun) by the fact that Gil-dong uses a staff banded with studs on each end, similar to the golden banded staff that Sun Wukong used, in his battle with the royal forces. That staff, along with the cloud he rides on, are Sun Wukong’s iconic items.

While Sun Wukong is overly powered…He’s literally god-tiered, that’s not the same for Gil-dong…but I do think Gil-dong’s story arc follows a similar thread to Sun Wukong. At first, Gil-dong, like Sun Wukong, uses his powers without restraint and causes harm. Gil-dong creates precarious situations for his family while Sun Wukong trashes the Jade Emperor’s palace and just causes general havoc. The havoc causes Sun Wukong to eventually be imprisoned by the Buddha for 500 years under a rock. In exchange for his eventual freedom, Sun Wukong agrees to help a monk, Xuanzang, to retrieve Buddhist sutras in the west. Knowing that Sun Wukong isn’t exactly trustworthy, the monk sticks a headband on Sun Wukong that tightens and causes him an unbearable headache when he’s acting out with a spell. Therefore, Sun Wukong is restrained.

This is similar to how Gil-dong’s powers become lost from the negative consequences of using them and going back on his word. His mighty child powers also become restrained because he uses them for the wrong reasons with the consequence of death. It is only when he’s on the right track that Gil-dong has reached his purpose as a mighty child and can use his powers without risk of death. Eventually, Sun Wukong becomes a trustworthy member of the gang and the monk no longer needs to tighten his headband and restrain him.

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Ah, thank you for the long and detailed comment! :)

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Then the shaman is to Gil-dong, what Guanyin is to Sun Wukong?

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I think you're right...because I don't think Sun Wukong ever has a significant love interest the way Gil-dong does. And there's not really a significant female figure in Journey to the West.

I mean, the most I remember is the guys being seduced by the creepy spider women who put them in webs and tried to eat them...(Don't remember much about that story...it's been probably 15 to 20 years since I heard it read by my mom lol) Oh and the Fan Princess.

The important thing is like the mudang, Guanyin kind of guides Sun Wukong on his journey.

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omg. Princess Iron Fan! I watched The Journey To The West back when I was in elementary school so I forgot lots of the details, but for some reasons, I always remember Princess Iron Fan and her bison husband :D

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YES! That is the tale I can remember most clearly. We studied it in Chinese school, but I have memories of my mom reading it to me (She had to read the Hong Kong, Taiwan AND mainland China edition picture books)...It's probably the whole fire mountain thing and how Sun Wukong has to do all that crazy stuff with his powers to get across the mountain and save the gang.

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The best scene in this epi was when the ppl help Hong and his Avengers in whatever means they could. I think this is so satisfying, considering the title "Rebel Thief Who Stole The People." Before this, the ordinary ppl probably went to him for protection. But now they are willing to work together with him even though they have no skills. Man, this is the true support. It is like, although I have nothing to offer you, but I will stay together with you until the end. I think this show successfully develop how Gil Dong earn the trust from the people. First they only talk about him, now they are willing to fight together with him.

That ahjusshi, dying with pride ? He feels proud that he was able to do something that he wanted to do before he die and the little flashback - so touching.

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Thanks, tineybeanie, for your recap and comments!

REBEL just keeps getting better and better. The careful weaving of details and backstories of even minor characters is coming into focus now that the tapestry is being turned face up. Context is finally being revealed for scenes and characters whose significance seemed inconsequential. Writer-nim did exactly this in THE KING'S DAUGHTER, which is why I had to tune in to REBEL. If that show hadn't been preempted by the Sochi Olympics and lost 12 episodes towards the end, I'm sure satisfying character revelations and resolutions would have been made instead of abandoned.

All along I've been wondering about Horny Uncle's identity -- and his relationship with Song Sabu. Now we know. He's the chief brainwasher of the Geoin. Beyond his being an old goat, the implications of Eorini's falling into his clutches is only a shade less horrifying than if Choongwongoon had succeeded in having his way with her and killing her for being one of Amogae's children. Sadly, I can easily imagine Horny Uncle doing to her what Gong-hwa's gisaeng mother allowed the elderly magistrate to do to her young daughter. (Think of it as stealing yin energy to rejuvenate exhausted yang in a kind of energy vampirism.) Yikes. And this guy is doing it as a scholar and Protector of Values. At least Yeonsangun and pre-exile Choongwongoon didn't try to pass themselves off as being morally superior.

In a way, my suspicions were borne out. While Eorini was not directly held captive in Song Sabu's household, she was at an associate's. And that was why neither Choongwongoon nor Gil-hyun crossed paths with her.

So -- throw all that into the equation, and it's no wonder Eorini's memory was kaput. Like Gong Hwa, she is a survivor. But because she was so deeply loved and cherished by her extended Ikhwari family since infancy, she has a lot more internal resilience than the king's concubine ever could. Which reminds me: Gil-hyun as elder brother took Mom's place when she was tiny. As he became involved in the silver mining and smelting operations, Gil-dong rode herd on her until he undertook his own mercantile enterprise. I think this is why Gil-hyun was particularly stricken when she did not recognize him at first. The same goes for Eop-san, Gil-hyun's boyhood buddy who has known her and helped her brothers babysit her since they lived in the old neighborhood.

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Errr...but Horny Uncle is not the Brainwashing Scholar. They're two different people.

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Are you sure? He looked the same to me as well.

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It really is him. I recognized him when he and Song Sabu were in a crowd listening to Choongwongoon expound on Confucianism to a group of young scholars in the street in front of Assistant Governor Eom's office. Ever since that reappearance, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for him. I suspect that he may actually be Song Sabu's teacher, as his hair was already white when he attacked Amogae's wife, IIRC.

There may have been another scene of him with Song Sabu before the one in the classroom with Eorini and the other Geoin.

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it's two different actors. kim jong goo plays as the brainwashing scholar and ko in beom plays as the horny uncle.

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Thank you. I stand corrected. (Where did you ever find that info? Or is it in Korean and I can't read it anyway?)

Okay, then that makes me really wonder why they have two scholars who look so danged much alike. Don't tell me we've got another pair of Eorinis!

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@LOL at another pair of Eorinis! Ok, I think the sassier guy is the real uncle.

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@pakalanapikake haha, i just recognized their faces from other dramas so i just searched up their names

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Correct, these are two different actors.

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I can definitely see Gil-hyun being the mom figure since he really did end up becoming her primary caregiver since Gil-dong was probably too young. Plus, I think Gil-hyun being the more emotionally aware one between the two brothers just feels more mom-like than Gil-dong who can be kind of obtuse lol.

I thought Horny Uncle was skinnier...This new guy is more rotund.

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Maybe Horny Uncle was a bit less rotund. But I chalked Brainwasher-in-Chief's heftiness up to the passage of time.

Duh. Horny Uncle would maybe be about 80 if he were were still alive. So maybe by now he's kicked the bucket.

But why does he have a Doppelgaenger? Is this guy Son of Horny Uncle? Brother of song Sabu?

*scratches head*

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The tension between Sang Hwa and Ga Ryung solidify my hunch that she is ERN. Weird. Lol.

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OTT, seems like Chae Soo Bin will not have long break after this drama since she is already casted in a new KBS drama Strongest Deliveryman. What will I say, strike the iron while it is hot.

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I noticed that was to be a Fri-Sat drama (Producer's old slot, I suppose?).

I just hope they find her a good leading man and a good script. And that if it's unsuccessful, she doesn't get blamed for that but does get more work. She's talented and I need her rise to continue.

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Can't wait for Gil Dong and Ga-ryung's reunion

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Favorite scene :
When Gil Dong and (imaginary) Ga Ryung, the true King and Queen figure, were looking after the people..

I wonder what's on Nok Soo's mind after Ga Ryung confessed that Gil Dong 'was' indeed her husband.. what's the meaning behind her smile? Also.. Did she just let Ga Ryung free from her treasonous action? Why? I thought she was angry and jealous enough to give Ga Ryung the cruelest punishment..

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I do think that when it would be found out that Ga-ryung was in the palace to kill the king, Nok-soo would loose her head. She is already doubted by the king and he knows that Ga-ryung and Nok-soo have an earlier connection.

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I wish their friendship was much stronger than this but I guess it's more dramatic for them to turn on each other.
(The real Nok-soo tried to keep the king happy with whomever he wants to entertain him in his bedchamber.)

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I think Nok-soo is waiting for the most opportune moment to reveal this to Yeonsangun...or to extract something/blackmail Ga-ryung. I mean, there may be hope for Nok-soo yet...but that's yet to be seen.

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Was thinking of the same thing. Would she (Nok-soo) help Ga-ryung errr flee or give her chance to get away without question or would she throw Ga-ryung under the bus to save her skin and be back as the favoured concubine to the king?

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yeah, there's still the chance of a surprise there - there's no guarantee that Nok-soo is the one to give up the fact that Ga-ryung's husband is Gil-dong (the jig would be up the minute Mo-ri, for instance, laid eyes on her - probably good for her that the wunpyeong/heunchong were kept isolated away from the men of the palace, then)

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I really liked that the Kwangju massacre was incorporated in that episode and that it's used as a reminder as well as a sign for the reorganization of the pro-democratic (pro-real-confucian state) forces. In my opinion this is very in sync with the overall message of that drama. This drama - imho - is basically not only about class divide and a confucian society where the values got perverted. This is at the same time a drama about democracy (King Sejong's nation tree has the people as the roots :)) and where the democratic values are perverted and the class divide is in the head of the people.

Now in the last years we got a lot of dramas that featured corruption, misuse of power and so on. They are mostly about rich people and politicians and a small group of people who fight against them. The sinking of sewol ferry is often used (more analogistic not directly). Now in that dramas the "normal" people they would just be victims.
Rebel instead goes a different road. Of course this is a drama that shows everybody who misuses his power and destroys democratic values the middle finger. But in addition to that this is a drama about the responsibility of the people to protect this values.

I find the reminder to the normal day people of Kwangju who, after seeing what happenend to their students, stood up and died for doing what they thought is right heavy and meaningful. It's so "people, the fight for democracy was hard and people died for it, don't let their sacrifices come to ruins!"

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I do like that the message is not that Gil-dong the hero is going to save you. It's about you taking your life into your own hands and doing it yourself. Gil-dong helps you and empowers you, but he doesn't do all the work. I like that the writer thinks to put change in the hands of the people.

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I wonder if Nok Soo will use what she's learned from Ga Ryung and betray her to the king so that she, Nok Soo, can get back to the good graces of the king and lead us to that scene in the opening where Ga Ryung was tied to the stake and Gil Dong has to choose. Am glad to learn about Eorini. ? Mannnn she's actually quite strong considering amongst all siblings she was the one who has never known the slave life unlike her older brothers. Actually flipping at the thought that Scholar Song lost one “loyal” aide and to think he has a hidden weapon in Eorini only to find out later he's been duped yet again.

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I think Nok-soo will betray Ga-ryung to the king. It's in her nature now...But it will be a surprise if she doesn't.

Good point about Eorini's strength despite never knowing what it was like to be a slave. She seems to be the child that was spoiled and given an idyllic childhood that her brothers couldn't have. That being said, they probably tried to give her perspective and let her know where she came from. And why her mother died.

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The Hongs may have ensured Eorini had the happy, pampered early childhood her brothers never got as young slaves, but that was brutally ripped from her by the Geoin brainwashing and she had to take on the identity of a slave anyway - it's effectively what she was. It's rather sad, really.

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I was just wondering about the story Ga-ryung told the king.
I was reminded of the story "The Ones who walk away from Omelas". It contained the element of one child suffering for the good of everyone and people who know the truth either walk away or stay.
I was just wondering what might be the significance of the story in the narrative and if there is a similar story in the East.
Hopefully someone can answer.

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My understanding is that Yeonsan saw it as an allegory of his reign, that's why he punished the woman who spread it (the woman whose husband was exiled)

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@24 Aiwille April 29, 2017 at 3:47 AM:

I didn't see your comment until after I posted my own below. Although I love Ursula LeGuin, I was unfamiliar with this short story. Her science fiction novel, The Lathe of Heaven, takes its title from a passage by Zhuang Zhou / Zhuangzi (author of the "Butterfly Dream). She has also produced her own translation of the Tao Te Ching. You may find other East Asian influences in her writings. ;-)

I'd like to think that "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is an indirect acknowledgement of Ishi, the California Yahi Indian who was the last of his people. The author's father, anthopologist Alfred Kroeber, befriended him. Her mother, Theodora Kroeber, wrote a stunning account entitled Ishi in Two Worlds. I mention it because REBEL has me riled up. The extermination of Native Americans is a profoundly dark chapter in US history. This book should be required reading in every school in the land. My folks had a copy of it that I read when I was growing up.

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I read about Ishi (only on wikipedia), since I wanted to know what you are talking about. The incident with the research center and the keeping of the brain, that's similar to what happened to two of the people from our indigenous people, the Sami. After the Kautokeino uprising in 1852 the heads of Mons Somby and Aslak Hætta were kept at the anatomisc research center of Oslo university. It was only in 1997 that the decendants got the skulls of their ancestors back and could bury them with the rest of the remains.

The treatment of the indigenous people is also a very dark chapter in the history of Norway.

Even not so long ago the Northeners were still seen as alcohol addicts, lazy workers or second class people by some South Norwegian people. Some of my folks really had problems when they moved down from the north to Oslo. I think it has become a lot better now. Partly because most of the younger generation has grown up with Nils Gaup's movie Ofelas (Veiviseren/Pathfinder (1987) - that beautiful movie that was so horribly remade by Hollywood) and being Sami has become a little bit more "romantic". Sami is more connected to joik, traditionell cloths, shamanism and reindeer now ;).

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That would be the official music video to the movie "Kautokeino rebellion" (Kautokeino opprøret (2008)). I love that music video!

Mari Boine "Elle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF8RvYcAwU0

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And to relate this to Rebel again:

The third verse translated:

The lips of the silenced people bursted out in speech

The stream of words once again were flowing

Over the frozen riverbanks when we finally came together

My dearest son of the wind

credits: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/elen-skum-elle-elle.html

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@liina April 29, 2017 at 1:09 PM:

Thanks for the translation! I think I saw a translation of the lyrics in the comments on YouTube. They reminded me of "If Spring Comes" from the REBEL OST. ;-)

The music itself has an otherworldly feel. I would never listen to it while driving -- nor to Singh Kaur's "Ardas" (the Sikh prayer that goes beyond all prayers).

Singh Kaur Crimson Vol. 6, "Ardas," with Kim Robertson on Celtic harp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Ws6CYy74Y

Too bad Yeonsangun didn't have access to this. It might have saved his soul while alleviating his insomnia.

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@liina,

I'd forgotten about Ishi's brain. What a horrible thing to do to that poor man's remains. Utterly barbaric. It was bad enough that his family was killed off, and that he had no one with whom he could communicate in his mother tongue.

Thank you for the information on the Sami and the Kautokeino uprising. The film (and also OFELAS) looks interesting. I had not heard of it, but I guess it should come as no surprise. The discrimination is reminiscent of what the Ainu have had to endure in Japan.

From what I read in Wikipedia, the Sami were discouraged/prevented from speaking their own language and practicing their shamanic religion. That sounds depressingly familiar.

It is interesting that firewater was such a scourge among the Sami -- just like among First Nations in North America, and among the Irish. Ireland was invaded and settled by vikings in southern coastal areas, so there may be a common genetic aspect to alcoholism in both the Irish and Scandinavian populations. Aside from inborn metabolic quirks, I think part it may ultimately trace back to the spiritual suppression the various peoples have experienced, but that's only an inkling.

Thanks so much for the link to the MV for KAUTOKEINO REBELLION. Mari Boine has a gorgeously ethereal voice, and the music itself is hypnotically relaxing. I read very favorable comments on the film, and have already started looking for it online. Thanks for that hot tip. ;-)

Thematically it fits in very nicely with REBEL, especially as various national governments had policies so detrimental to the Sami portions of their citizenry.

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I found that incredibly said. Especially because they made the autopsy against his wish. It was a violation against his religious believes. :(

It also took Japan a looooooong time to give the noses from their ancestors (that were taken during the Imjin wars) back to Koreans, so that they could bury them.

Ofelas is a beautiful movie! I don't think you would regret watching it. It features lots of beautiful snow... It was made by a Sami director and the whole cast is Sami, they also speak one of the Samilanguages. It's a retelling of a Sami legend about a boy who grows from seeking revenge, by learning the meaning about the connection between all living people, into a "pathfinder", a spirituell Leader. Haha, it's the Sami version of "Gil-dong"! :)
In comparison, it was rather low budget, but still it was chosen by the US film academy for the oscar competition for the foreign language oscar.
(Regarding Kautokeino rebellion: I personally prefered the the musicvideo over the movie...)

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Argh, I meant living beings not only people.

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The trailers for Ofelas are really awful. So I found you the intro of the movie. It's funny, because it actually has some connections to Gil-dong and the tiger.

In the beginning of the movie the old Pathfinder tells Aigin:
"Today I saw the great reindeer bull for the third time in my life. I saw him first when I was your age. Then a second time in the prime of my years. This morning I saw him once again. Young friend, I grow old. The reindeer and I will not meet again."

The spirit tiger was shown once in Gil-dong's childhood and also when his powers awakened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDoCD-72PYc
The music, the way of singing, it's called joik.

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@liina April 30, 2017 at 3:28 AM:

Thanks so much for the pointer to OFELAS. The music is hauntingly beautiful. And it certainly does remind of a Sami analogue of Hong Gil-dong, who is a pathfinder for his own people.

The reindeer bull as the equivalent of Gil-dong's tiger is apropos. In an unforgiving environment where the reindeer spell the difference between survival and extinction for the Sami, the great bull would have to be the spirit animal. It's reminding me of the cave paintings in places such as Altamira in Spain (which fascinated me as a child) showing deer, bison, and horses.

It's cool to see a little bit of Hong Gil-dong in such far-flung cultures. But isn't that what makes him an Everyman?

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As long as REBEL has already put a burr under my saddle, I also want to mention actor George Takei's recent thought-provoking opinion piece on President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 that authorized the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. Truly a shameful chapter in American history.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/opinion/george-takei-japanese-internment-americas-great-mistake.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=opinion

This was not mentioned in my high school history books. One day a substitute teacher brought up the subject. It came as a whack on the side of the head. I might add that this was around the time of Watergate and the impeachment of President Nixon. Six years later, I moved to Hawai'i to work, and got to learn about another side to the story. Japanese-Americans were not interned in the Territory of Hawai'i as they were on the mainland.

Milton A. Murayama's wonderful novel All I Asking for Is My Body gives a taste of Japanese-American plantation life on Maui and in the US military before and during WWII. You'll recognize more than a little filial piety in it, too.

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The responses were overwhelming ( not in a bad way, though).
I only learned about the short story Omelas through a Kpop music video so it was quite good to learn more things through the comments.

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I'm going to assume you're referring to one of BTS's recent music videos? haha
I first learned of the short story in my Lit class at uni and I was so floored when Yeonsangun turned the whole story on its head and used it to justify his actions.

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@Aiwille April 30, 2017 at 6:18 AM,

I'm glad it wasn't too much for you as I sometimes get carried away. REBEL has really stirred up a lot of associations for me that are off on a tangent if you look at them factually. But in other respects, the historical parallels and allegories hit close to home. Sometimes too close. -- I love how Writer-nim has introduced so many elements that give REBEL connections with life in the 21st Century -- and the collective unconscious. ;-)

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Question about more flowers

Is there a helpful beanie that knows what the meaning of a White Magnolia is? - Because I think in Ok-ran's case they really just went for the flower name, since most of the music girls have flower names. Ok-ran is a White Magnolia.

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@25 liina April 29, 2017 at 3:57 AM:

Hi! I took a quick look at the Japanese term Hanakotoba on Wikipedia, which gave "natural" as the meaning. Elsewhere I read that it is a very tough flower, despite its delicate appearance. So maybe Ok-ran is stronger than she looks. Hmmm. Her staying behind with Ga-ryung to look for Sang-hwa in spite of her death sentence supports that notion. According to http://www.buzzle.com/articles/magnolia-flower-meaning.html, it symbolizes eternity, endurance, and long life. -- So if Ok-ran is one aspect of a triple goddess along with Ga-ryung and Sang-hwa, it bodes well for Mrs. Song's phoenix-like survival.

Magnolia sieboldii (Korean mountain magnolia) is the national flower of North Korea. It blooms in early to late summer (per Wikipedia).

Maybe I missed it: What does Sang-hwa mean? I'm curious to learn what Eorini was renamed (and whether she received it as a Sugwidan-approved name before entering the music bureau).

What did leap out at me was the Japanese meaning for lotus, which I think was mentioned somewhere in relation to Ga-ryung. It had me jumping up and down: "Far from the one he loves / Purity / Chastity." That one is right on the money. Buddhist iconography has other meanings, depending on the color. ;-)

Hope this helps. ;-)

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A, thank you so much! :)

I haven't found any flower that is called Sang-hwa yet. But I'm more inclined to think that the "sang" might be something else entirely and only the flower "hwa" is still there for the flower.

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Thanks for looking. ;-)

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Lotus symbolism is really interesting. According to my Google research, since lotuses grow in muddy water, it's a symbol of growing from or overcome unfavourable conditions to bring about beauty. White lotuses symbolize the purity of heart and mind, long life and honour. Red lotuses are a symbol of the purity of the heart, passion, love and compassion. Blue lotuses are victory, knowledge and wisdom. Pink lotuses symbolize Buddha and Buddhist teachings.

It just sounds SOOO Ga-ryung.

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Red lotus was specific to Avalokitesvara (Kwan Yin).

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I THINK I MAY HAVE FIGURED IT OUT! The magic lily/resurrection lily from the song Lycoris is 상사화, SANGsaHWA. (I can read a little bit of hangul (Thanks Running Man for name tags!))

I got this by thinking I wonder what image would pop up if I searched 상화...and since I can't type Korean, I was like. Oh, the easiest way is just to copy and paste the characters from Magic Lily. ...0_0...SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!

I mean, think about it...There's that long separation between her brothers, a person you may never see again, the thought of her being dead, the whole resurrection into a new person....

All this because I was like 'oooh...my favourite Japanese fall flowers!)

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This will make more sense in context if you read my comment below about the red spider lilies lol. Got excited...Whoops.

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@cloveredlionessApril 29, 2017 at 5:50 PM:

Holy cow! Now that's what I call an inauspicious name. I don't care whether red is supposed to be lucky. Yikes!

Lycoris radiata (spider lily) is a different species from L. squamigera (resurrection lily), and their blossoms look drastically different.

I'll be back to discuss horticulture later. It's half-past midnight here in New Jersey, and I'm about to turn into a pumpkin. Laters! ;-)

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@cloveredlioness April 29, 2017 at 5:50 PM:

Holy cow! Now that's what I call an inauspicious name. I don't care whether red is supposed to be lucky. Yikes!

Lycoris radiata (spider lily) is a different species from L. squamigera (resurrection lily), and their blossoms look drastically different.

I'll be back to discuss horticulture later. It's half-past midnight here in New Jersey, and I'm about to turn into a pumpkin. Laters! ;-)

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Is there an echo here?

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Duh! So that's why it sounded vaguely familiar.

*sits in corner with dunce cap*

This is truly inspired. (Your research, and Writer-nim's botanical references.)

We could also consider temporal implications. Think about the bloom times.

Resurrection lily (Lycoris squamigera) blooms in mid-late summer after its spring foliage withers away to nothing in June -- a fact that I'd gotten wrong earlier.

Red spider lily (L. radiata) is a fall bloomer -- so you have to wait longer to see it pop up in an unexpected place -- just like Eorini.

Writer-nim wasn't just trolling us. Gosh. ;-)

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Not related to white magnolia, but still related to flowers. I noticed that Yi Yung (yeah I'm gonna call him that from now on :D ) took the flower hair pin ornament from the heungcheong before ordering the soldiers to execute her. So I guess this is another confirmation that flowers do represent life in this drama.

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That was some reverse Bachelor realness. If a consequence of not receiving a flower meant death...

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You know, I find that whole scene really eerie when you talk about it from the flower's angle. I actually didn't find it so eerie when I watched it.

But now that you talk about it, it's like giving death sentences comes so easy to "Yi Yung" like picking flowers to others.

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I noticed that, too. How symbolic. It reminds me of Chuck Connors getting drummed out of the US Army cavalry in the western BRANDED.

The flower looked like a lily of some kind, too.

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Going from various sources on Google and wiki...Magnolia also has the meaning of nobility and dignity. It also symbolizes perfect femininity (yin) in Asia. Interesting fact, Mulan (the famous female general in China) means magnolia. So perhaps a transformation is in store for Ok-ran? There's the whole 'steel magnolia' thing, a woman who is feminine, but has fortitude.

Like @pakalanapikake a flower also caught my eye, the red spider lily because in Japan, when they pop up, they're a sign of fall and I love them. But their meaning was so bad..."Never to meet again/Lost memory/Abandonment " And I clicked the article, and got Lycoris and I was like well crap. The red spider lily is also called the 'magic lily' like the one in the song. According to wiki, legends say that when you see someone you may never see again, the flowers bloom on the path. They're also called corpse/funeral lilies and used at funerals. They also don't have leaves...Searching for images of the flowers in Korean, 상사화 (used for the OST title), lead me to see many more of the red spider lilies than the resurrection lilies. But again, the writer is VERY aware of symbolism so there may be double meanings. However, the lyrics make me think red spider lilies particularly how it talks about someone being left behind and another going on a dangerous road...Eep!

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I came about the "sang" from Sangsahwa also, when I had a look on the Hanja for sang. 相 means grief, sorrow.

But the thing is from the more used Hanja words, there were a couple that meant things like "figurine", "statue" and so on. Quite a couple that are connected to inanimated bodies. Or were describing face and appearance.

I felt they would match too, since Sang-hwa had lost her Eorini Soul. And I felt the appearance ones matched too, because Sang-hwa only had Eorini's appearance. So I just gave up with the Hanja. Also because it's the same with Mo and ri. One just has over hundred Hanja and Korean writers seldom use the most used one when they come up with names. Hm - I still think the Mo from Mori would be the "just a certain somebody" one. I brought that only up the other day, because I thought moraly/religiously cultivated money exchange was really, really, really appropriate for Scholar Song since there is some connection between him and real life Choi Tae-min.

But I wish and hope that the connection to Sangsahwa that you described was the one that was meant. Because I just really love it, when things are connected! :D

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I too, love when things are connected! lol.

I just remembered that you can check other language articles on Wiki...So for the red spider lilies, their Korean name is 석산, while the resurrection lily is 상사화...But WHHHHY are there so many more pictures of the creepy lilies than the ones that aren't on the Google Image search in Korean? I'm thinking this HAS to be a double meaning.

The hanja for 상사화 is 相思花. In Chinese and Japanese, 相思 means lovesickness/a feeling of longing or pining and mutual affection, respectively.

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@cloveredlioness April 30, 2017 at 2:18 AM:

I looked at the Wikipedia entry for Lycoris radiata, which states that the common names red spider lily, red magic lily, hurricane lily, and resurrection lily can all be used for the genus. Interesting. (All this time I've been making a false distinction between the common names. Mea maxima culpa.) There's lots of detail on the death and funerary aspects, too. Its toxicity was used to keep vermin away from houses and paddies. Also very interesting.

When I searched on 석산, I turned up this site, which has stunning photos of red spider L. radiata naturalized under trees, along with one of L. squamigera for comparison of foliage as well as flowers. Very cool. Be sure to scroll down all the way. Gorgeous.

http://blog.daum.net/gonghana/7130

I'm wondering if red spider lilies are simply more popular in Korea than 상사화 and other members of the genus.

The hanja for 상사화 is 相思花. In Chinese and Japanese, 相思 means lovesickness/a feeling of longing or pining and mutual affection, respectively.

This fits Gil-dong, our walking resurrection lily, to a T. He's not only reanimated by the tears of the people, he's sorrowing and pining for his lost sister and wife.

Is it possible that Sang-hwa/Eorini, as a potential undercover spy against her Sugwidan master, could turn out to be a "poison pill" -- just like Gil-hyun happened to be?

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@liina April 30, 2017 at 12:33 AM

Wow! I think you hit paydirt with regard to Eorini! The themes of grief and sorrow hidden away by an image / surface appearance of Sugwidan-approved propriety is so very apropos.

Thank you for digging through so many hanja. It boggles my mind.

I think your take on Mori as meaning "just a certain somebody" has great merit. It reminds me a lot of Amogae's name.

"moraly/religiously cultivated money exchange" for Song Sabu says it all. Well done!

There are so many levels on which the language and imagery could be operating that I feel as if we have fallen down a metaphorical rabbit hole and need to call 119 to get rescued.

Yoo hoo, Gil-dong-ah, please lower a rope for us. ;-)

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If going down the rabbit hole means Gil-dong will rescue us, I will do it all day long lol.

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I don't mind a rabbit hole as long as it turns into Gil-dong & Co's cave

But seriously, the thing with the names blows my mind.

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@cloveredlioness April 29, 2017 at 5:34 PM:

That's so interesting about the red spider lilies. Used as a funeral flower. Dang. Carnations, gladiolus, and I think white Easter lilies were used a lot for funerals when I was a kid. I associated the spicy scent of carnations with funerals -- and Kentucky Derby winners. Then I moved to Hawai'i where they are often used in leis, which is a much happier use.

Nowadays, it's rare to find cut flowers with any scent at all. Roses are an utter disappointment. When I spoke with a florist about it a couple of years ago, he said that he carries what people want: long-lasting flowers at a price they're willing to pay. No one seems to want flowers with fragrance these days if removing the scent (or breeding it out of them) keeps them from withering a bit longer. Call me a dinosaur, but to me, there's no point in bothering with scentless flowers. They might as well be artificial. They look nice -- but the essence is totally lacking.

When I had a garden, it was full of scented plants that nourished a wide range of pollinators, including hummingbirds -- who were bonkers for tiger lilies. Have you ever seen a tiger swallowtail butterfly face off against a hummingbird over a tiger lily? It was hilarious. I was floored to see a tiny "dogfight" as they bobbed and wove like a pair of boxers. IIRC, the bird prevailed. ;-)

Anyway -- unscented flowers tie in with the earlier observations about Nok-soo's fake flowers versus Ga-ryung's real ones.

Might the red spider lilies presage a spy mission for Eorini to extract Ok-ran and Ga-ryung from the palace?

Hey -- another red parallel: Red thread = binding together versus red spider lily = permanent separation/lost memory/abandonment.

I'm still wondering about the flashbacks of Gil-dong tying Eorini's wrist to his -- the tie definitely looked blue, whereas the actual pieces of fabric look purple to me.

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I think they DEFINITELY played with the tone/saturation/hue of the ribbon in the flashbacks to make it look more blue since they made everything else black and white.

If the spy mission is to extract Ok-ran and Ga-ryung from the palace, I can definitely see it happening...And perhaps going wrong. If that promo for episode 27 means anything. ie. Those horrible screams from Ga-ryung and Gil-dong that are not in context in the promo...It could also be how Ga-ryung outs herself as Gil-dong's wife.

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Ok-ran actually seems to mean Jade Orchid rather than White Magnolia. Koreans use the word 목련 for any kinds of magnolias, not 옥란. Not about Ok-ran, but this drama also features many purely Korean names like Amogae, Eorini, Soboori, Mori, etc. So trying to find the Chinese meanings for them won't work every time.

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The White Magnolia and the Jade Orchid are the same flower. Magnolia denudata. 玉蘭 in Hanja. 옥란 in Hangeul.

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Thanks, O_o. Yet another name comes into play. From what liina says, it's actually a species of magnolia. But it sounds like a gisaeng name, too. I'd never have known until you both mentioned it.

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Ok-ran literally translates as Jade Orchid. That's the old name of the Magnolia denudata. In english the flower is known as White Magnolia or Yulan Magnolia (from mandarin; translates as Jade Orchid Magnolia). In contemporary Korea it is known as Baek Mok Ryeong (translates as White Magnolia).

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While I understand why some people find Gil Dong to be uninteresting despite being the titular  character, I think this is as perfect as it could be.

Life is not meant to be lived alone. The people around us not only influences the decisions we make but they also shape who we are as a human being.

And a story about life is not something that can be told by only one person. We get to experience Gil Dong's life as shaped by the people around him. It's storytelling at its best.

Whether it's the writing or the actor's interpretation of the character, Gil Dong is a character that makes everyone around him shine and that's quite difficult to do. I cried for a drama character whom I don't know and who I saw for at most 2 minutes onscreen because Gil Dong's interaction with him made him significant.   And this is only possible because Gil Dong is such a low key character. If I could be someone who can make everyone else around me shine, I think I've lived a good life.

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I agree with this completely! I think Gil-dong has this energy that brings people together and inspires them to have a strong spirit --something he has consistently displayed throughout the drama, even in the face of numerous hardships.

I think the problem with this is that I sometimes feel like I know him more through their eyes, rather than through his own. Which is actually an interesting thing to feel because, at times, I kind of enjoy that aspect. But I wish for even more moments that make me feel that this is his hero's story. Sometimes I feel like we get more focus on what's going on in the King's mind, than in his and I just want a bit more for him.

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Agree! You hit the nail on the head. Gil-dong made that man significant and he was such a throwaway character in the overall story.

I also think that the way Gil-dong is played and written is very intentional. This story is Gil-dong's story...but it's also the story about him inspiring the PEOPLE to act...so really, Gil-dong is the hero, but the story is also about the PEOPLE. So Gil-dong can't be too over the top and overshadow everyone because then that equality and egalitarian-ness would not be there.

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It's quite an interesting view. I honestly think an actor/actress doesn't need to be lowkey in order to make others shine.

Is it just me or this logic doesn't apply to actress? The last time I read about an actress's bland acting that makes everyone shines, it wasn't a compliment.

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I don't really understand with the whole low-key character, and Gil Dong definitely is not a bland character (and YKS isn't one bland actor). He went from peddler Gil Dong to Stepstool to Hong Thief to just being Gil Dong himself at some moments, he basically played more than 3 characters in one drama.
Or is it about the complexity of Gil Dong's character? Some might found him uninteresting but some would think that he is 'rich enough' to be the centre of the story. But again, it all depends on preference and how we (want to) see it.
Agreed about the possibility of the double standards between actor and actress, but it will always happen as long as there are bias and objective opinions from different people. And we can not judge which one is right or wrong. All of them is true depends on each individual point of view.

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Low-key is different from bland acting. There are some actors and actresses that are too intense or memorable that they overpower everyone else. Let's take Johnny Depp for example. In all of his movies, you just remember him and his wackiness. The whole movie revolves around him. Bland acting is just reading aloud the script given to the actor. Low key for me is one who's able to make the character feel organic and real. It's almost like under acting but serves as a glue for all other characters. The King, Nok Su, Amogae are all intense but because there's a foil that is Gil Dong, it somehow works. For actresses, I consider GongHyoJin as low key. Somehow she makes all her partners shine.

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Aah~ I see it now.. thank you :)

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You nailed it on the difference between low-key and bland, thank you!

Kim Go-eun is another actress who's capable of playing roles in a low-key way, though she can be wildly different between roles - but in Cheese in the Trap she gave a very naturalistic performance, where her body language actually reminded me more than a little of Gong Hyo-jin and made it more believable for being the one sane person in the midst of all the crazy (though I would really like to forget that drama).

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I've said this before but I really think it's significant that they changed the show's name to "Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People" rather than the original "Rebel Hong Gil-Dong".
Just highlights the fact that this show isn't all about HGD, it's about the people.

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yeah, I thought the revised title sounded clunky and corny at first, but it's actually quite fitting for the drama this turned out to be.

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I'm coming to think that Gil-dong is the one who got stolen out of his insignificant, pedestrian life by the Zeitgeist (Spirit of the times). Perhaps his most significant hallmark is his leading by example. That is how the leader of the Hong Descendants who was mortally wounded in the ambush in the valley came to be inspired to stand up against the status quo and Yeonsangun's despotism.

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Now that the Eorini mystery is over I would love it if she wasn't relegated to the background and helped them. She could be a spy for them and fool Master Song or something like that but I don't dare to hope for much, they could easily use the excuse that she has to be protected and we wouldn't see her again until the end.

Loved the scene of the people helping Gil Dong and co. I have the feeling that Gil Dong and Ga Ryung won't reunite until the stake scene.

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My two cents on Eorini and Ok-ran

While I was initially annoyed with the Sang-hwa - Ok-ran mystery too, I very early set it aside and told myself to just wait till there is some sort of reveal. Quite rewarding, since in contrary to - like it seems - everyone else, I appreciate what the writer did here. With the Eorini-Ok-ran the writer made sure, that the audience got that brainwashing feeling right. For us Eorini - despite looking like Eorini - never really 100 % was Eorini. She wasn't even the most likeable character. If the writer had us known that Eorini was Eorini, we would always have seen Eorini in her, depite the fact, that she was brainwashed and a whole different person.

Practically it also allowed for Ga-ryung to tell somebody that Gil-dong is her husband who would innocently tell it to Nok-soo.

Thirdly, the Ok-ran character is obviously the character from the novel (and I have to say that - the writer did not let any novel character out till now) that was close to Gil-dong's wife that became family to Gil-dong (depending on the version shortly till he brought her back to her family; over a longer time till she and her family found their own place; or forever). Having Ok-ran mixed up with Eorini, made us see her as a part of the Hong family. She is already introduced, so there won't be another Hong brother-and sisterhood woman out of nowhere.

It's like killing three birds with one stone. Though it was probably a little bit too much emphasized.

A fourth thought about it, but it's a very vague idea and I think I have already talked about it, that MAYBE Ga-ryung might represent Korea's ancient, ancient mother godess Mago. Mago is a trinity godess (similar to the norns and the moirai only that these godesses are fate godesses while Mago and co are creators and the mothers and protectors of humankind). Mago builds a unity with her daughters Goong-hee (Vault Lady) and So-hee (Nest Lady). The Eorini-Ok-ran mix up definitely would have helped to see them as siblings.

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I love what you said about the Eorini mystery. While it was frustrating at points because I still think they drew it out a bit longer than necessary, I appreciate that they actually had in interesting parallel to display.

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I love the point you made about having the audience to empathized with the brainwashing part, @liina! I never really thought it that way but it totally makes sense and the mystery did give the required emotional buildup towards the scene where Eorini finally regained her memories. All the frustrations I got from the mystery somewhat got channeled into that one scene and I was just drown in feels.

One thought I had was your second point, that the writer trying to put us in GaRyung's shoes of how the we can mistaken their identity just based on looking at what we thought were the evidences. She said she was an orphan, she got separated from her brothers, and she picked up the blue ribbon. So the red herrings were put in on purpose to justify how GaRyung can mistake one girl for another. It just that it took soooo long to get to that part :D

Btw, thanks for bringing up that in the grander scheme of things, it does make the reveal that GilDong is her husband more natural. And thanks always for your wonderful insight on the novel! :)

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I think they did master the Eorini mystery well in terms of the evidence and red herrings because at first you go purely on appearance. Sang-hwa OF COURSE is Eorini. Then you get some characteristics. Sang-hwa is Eorini because of her spunk. Ok-ran is a doormat. Then you get evidence that splits the Eorinis. Sang-hwa has an adopted mother. Ok-ran was separated from her brothers. Sang-hwa gave Gil-dong water. Ok-ran feels sympathy for Gil-dong. Then you get character interactions. Ok-ran is Eorini because Sang-hwa was antagonistic to Ga-ryung and TOO ambitious.

The writing took you on a ride and caused you to second guess everything by pulling on your intellect and emotions.

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Ga-ryung's story about the scapegoated boy locked in solitary confinement in the house while everyone else lives a wonderful life triggered comments on Viki that were wonderful!

mandiekaye: We read this in AP Lang. It's called "the people who walk away from omeleas"

And from our very own Beanie

carole_mcdonnell: wow, "The ones who walk away from Omelas" by Ursula K LeGuin!"

Here's a link to the short story:
http://engl210-deykute.wikispaces.umb.edu/file/view/omelas.pdf

The boy reminds me of the mysterious and tragic historic figure Kaspar Hauser (1812?-1833).

On another level, that boy locked in the dark could have been young Yeonsangun himself. Just think back to how his father treated him, and to early in his reign when the scholars and ministers were driving him crazy with their round-the-clock protests. I've watched enough sageuks to know that the royals' lives were not their own. Haven't produced an heir? You're deposed! Pissed off your boss the Mongol Emperor? You're deposed! Lost the war? Kowtow in abject submission. And send your sons as hostages! While the slaves and commoners at the bottom of the barrel had miserable lives, rulers sometimes had to contend with cutthroat political opponents who didn't give a fig about the nation or its people as they lined their own pockets and made political hay.

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And the boy locked in the dark now lashes out at those that flourished while he was imprisoned...I do like how it's a double metaphor depending on perspective.

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In the showdown with the king's troops en route to put down the alleged rebel village, Gil-dong cuts loose with a quarterstaff. Heavens to murgatroyd, he's channeling Little John from the Robin Hood legends -- who fought with that weapon as well as a bow. And he was seven feet tall. Sounds like Orabeoni. LOL!

To underscore the Robin Hood reference, there's the earlier scene when the local magistrate and his hunting party give Jo Jeong-hak a bum steer to divert them away from the cave full of crying babies. The Sheriff of Nottingham is a good guy in this show! Only in Kdramas! ;-)

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I know this came out in the last ep but General Hong!! Amogae's dream come true!!

I also feel like I might be a minority but I feel like the Eorini memory thing was a bit too quickly resolved. I’m glad it’s done and over with especially since there are only a few episodes left but if they had given up that Eorini Reply chase earlier I think I would’ve warmed up to Eorini’s storyline a bit more. I didn’t like Sanghwa as Eorini so this whole change of Sanghwa suddenly accepting her brothers again was weird and abrupt ?

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I think the brainwashing and behaviour/memory modification, plus possible Stockholm syndrome made me accept it. Plus, by that time, I was ready to just end that plotline. I think we were all pretty sick of it by maybe episode 16/17.

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I know right, I thought the people he rescued would call him "Great Elder" like the rest of Hong Avengers, but turns out they call him General Hong. Another great detailed writing by the scriptwriter :)

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yeah, that was a nice touch - Gil-dong didn't mean to be a general, but he's become one anyway!

The people he helped used to call him 'Great Elder' as they did Amogae before him, but I think it's fitting that that title changed after Gil-dong's near-death at the hands of the king, and he's now General Hong even if he's not the king's general.

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He's the peoples' general. Kind of how by defecting, Gil-hyun has now become the peoples' scholar.

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It's rather fitting considering Gil-hyun was the one who volunteered to be an undercover investigator and travel all over the country (no coincidence that in that job, he was seeing more of the common people than anyone else at court ever would). And this was when he still believed the system and the king were on the side of the people!

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I'm glad Minister Noh gave Gil-hyun the impetus to go among the people and really find out the pulse of the nation. Without it, he wouldn't have had all the insights into the palace or the common people.

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yeah, RIP Minister Noh - he was a great bulwark against the worst of Song Sabu's teachings, which is important given how new Gil-hyun was to politics.

I also rather like that Gil-hyun - who was once to be the heir and mastermind of a criminal empire - ended up being so upright and principled as an officer. Goes to show, it's the spirit, not the letter of the law that matters.

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@pogo May 1, 2017 at 9:31 AM,

"Gil-hyun was the one who volunteered to be an undercover investigator and travel all over the country"

I just realized that in his undercover reconnoitering, Gil-hyun did what his kid brother had done as a peddler: they both walked the length and breadth of the Eight Provinces and met the people up close and personally.

@cloveredlioness May 1, 2017 at 12:40 PM,

"I'm glad Minister Noh gave Gil-hyun the impetus to go among the people and really find out the pulse of the nation."

Not to mention Minister Noh's pointed reminder of the true definition of loyalty to the king -- and refraining from using the king's power to settle personal scores. -- Talk about foreshadowing. Everyone at court, even "outsider" Song Sabu, used their connections with the king for their own purposes, and all too often for power plays and revenge.

@pogo May 1, 2017 at 1:06 PM

"yeah, RIP Minister Noh - he was a great bulwark against the worst of Song Sabu's teachings... I also rather like that Gil-hyun - who was once to be the heir and mastermind of a criminal empire - ended up being so upright and principled as an officer."

Again, it was a great blessing for Gil-hyun to have met Minister Noh, who was a mentor in the true sense of the word. The contrast between him and Song Sabu couldn't be more stark. While Song Sabu's advice enabled Gil-hyun to ace the civil service exam and gain Yeonsangun's trust, Minister Noh's deeper insights into the spirit of the law versus its literal wording is what set Gil-hyun apart in his thinking from Song Sabu's Sugwidan automatons. It is truly ironic that Gil-hyun was all set to become a hereditary crime boss until Madam Jo and Choongwongoon targeted Amogae's family. The Hong clan would never have existed had Lord Jo and his awful wife treated their slaves as human beings. Corrupted Neo-Confucianism -- in parallel with the king's heavy-handed reliance on violence to rule his subjects -- brought about the very events they all sought to prevent. It is a sterling example of "energy flows where attention goes." By focusing so intently for so long on the darker aspects of human beings, the Jo family, Song Sabu, and Yeonsangun have created their worst nightmares and superimposed them onto the lowest citizens of the land.

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Oooof. I'm so happy I had time to catch up for this awesomeness. This episode had everything I wanted and more!!! Like everyone here, I got so emotional at the end. So many wonderful things to discuss, but I'll probably just have to use my upvotes for the most part this time.

While I feel like I understand why Gil-dong is the Mighty Child and have been impressed by him in many moments, it's true that I want even more from him so I sincerely hope this ending was a turning point. I finally felt the passion from him I wanted ever since he escaped last week. It's time for the thief to steal his show back (though I definitely love how the show let's everyone shine)!

Thanks for the recap!

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So preview for episode 27 is out. And I really don't think I can handle only having 1 episode next week after seeing that part towards the end.
https://twitter.com/Ffion1127/status/858429191850565632

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Why they do this to us???? T_T I saw it on instagram. They even have the part at the end isolated and I'm like...I will not survive. What is this one episode week thing?

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This goes down faster that I thought though - which gives me hope... But I can't wait a whole week for another episode! I think MBC is trying to kill me with my own emotions.

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Right? But I feel SO attacked right now by MBC lol. That promo is just ...ugh... And the context between the speaking parts is not the context of the video portion...What is the audio context?

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Thanks for the link!

I can't believe this isn't the preview for epi 29 since everything feels epic and final. And Ga Ryung-aaaaaah...she is tied in the pole in the preview.

On a positive note, does this mean we can have at least one episode where everything is alright and everyone is happy?

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On a positive note, does this mean we can have at least one episode where everything is alright and everyone is happy?

/crossing my fingers so hard right now/

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I will say one thing about the stake scene...It's not the same as the one in episode 1. The fortress/gate in episode 1 was on a grassy hill/slope and the camp was far away. Ga-ryung also didn't look like she had a pyre underneath her. It also looked to take place at dawn, not at sunset/dusk like in the promo.

It could be a production thing...like they couldn't film at the same location because of explosions/fire/fighting that would potentially damage a historic site. Or...we've reached the episode 1 scene and they had to film it differently.

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I noticed the stake was different, too, and now Gil-dong's shooting the arrow makes a whole lot more sense.

It certainly would not be the first time Writer-nim showed a flashback or preview differently from how it ultimately played out. She did this a lot in THE KING'S DAUGHTER. And it wasn't just with the visuals. There were changes in dialogue, too. You think you're getting a repeat of the previous episode, but nope -- there's a twist, new information, etc. We may be getting more of the same here. Depending on the subtitles, the repeated dialogue from the previous episode is sometimes not translated -- and it makes me wonder what I'm missing.

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Honestly, my very first thought when I saw the stake in ep 1 was that the king's generals were threatening to use Ga-ryung as target practice, or that they'd burn her at it (natural association with stakes, but there was no pyre) - and Gil-dong shooting her would be him sparing her from torture or a painful death.

But now that we've seen the pyre, it does make a lot of sense. And it really speaks to the forethought and planning going into this drama, that scenes turning up a clean 20+ episodes later are thought out so far in advance.

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One of Gil-dong's people: The armies are gathering (and coming at us) now
Eorini: I'm also going to help (the Hong clan)
Soo-hak (to Gil Bros): I see that my servants are all gathered here now
Someone (maybe Yeonsangun's army General): If you surrender now, we'll spare your lives
Someone (maybe random villager, to Yeonsangun): Are you really going to abandon your people?
Yeonsangun (to someone): I've brought the object/thing here, take care of it well
Ga-ryung: Seobang!!! (husband)
Gil-dong: Ga-ryung ah!!!
OK PEOPLE GET READY FOR THE ANGST NEXT WEEK ㅠ.ㅠ

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@enkeys April 30, 2017 at 8:15 AM:

Thanks for translating the preview for ep. 27. Dang.

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NOOOOOOOOOO

I'm going to be such a mess next episode.... just 24 hours left till we have subs!

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NOOOOOOOO I'm not ready for this NOOOOOO even the screencap has me terrified, it's the one from the flash-forward, I'm not ready ;__;

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Random Thoughts:

1. In several shots of Song Sabu, his gat ends up shielding his eyes...in this episode and the last one. He’s covering up his honesty since eyes are the window to the soul. It's very interesting because I think it's a reflection of his shadiness and also that he may be still hiding something.

2. I love that they got Chae Soo-bin to sing “That’s Love”. It’s such a sweet song and I think it’s done from Gil-dong’s perspective…but it works for both of them. Since it mentions the stars, I can’t help but think of Gil-dong’s vison/dream/past where Ga-ryung asks if he’ll pick the moon and stars for her.

3. It’s funny that Nok-soo thinks Yeonsangun is too dark for Ga-ryung to deal with…She just has a different way of handling him lol. It just shows a difference of how they each see Yeonsangun and what they’re going to do about his behaviour. Nok-soo will tolerate and enable his behaviour while Ga-ryung is not going to tolerate his behaviour and make him pay for it.

4. I find the colours of the different gisaeng ranks interesting. The wunpyeong is pink, white and yellow and seem spring like. The gaheungpyeong is yellow, orange and green like the summer. While the heungpyeong’s colours are red, blue and gold like the fall. And then there’s Nok-soo, as consort, whose now wearing a lot of purple and mustardy yellow and dark black colours….that just make me think, winter. She looks deathly…even though her outfits are more sumptuous, there’s a certain ominous quality to them that her gisaeng outfits, while dark, didn’t seem to. It’s because that mustard looks like a dead colour. It’s like the further you go up the ranks, the more dead you become. You start with hope, you leave with death.

5. When the man rushes into the Hongvengers Cave, the Hongvengers are sitting in a circle and he goes into the centre of the circle. This shows the equality between the Hongvengers and the focus/importance on the man and his plight. The Hongvengers value the people.

6. Seeing Song Sabu's reaction to Gil-hyun was just as good as seeing Yeonsangun because Song Sabu had the longest long con of all pulled on him.

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That's a great point about the clothes and colours of the various gisaeng ranks, it does seem like the youngest and most junior of them (the wunpyeong) generally have the most vivacity, but the higher up the ranks you go, the more they lose it, or it's crushed out of them.

Also, the king promoted Ga-ryung straight from wunpyeong to heungcheong despite her explicitly stating that she has no skills in music or dance (the very thing the gisaeng brigade of the palace are there for, and which is supposedly so carefully regulated for his amusement) , simply because he's attracted to her. Screw standards, he likes her face! Yet another sign of how far gone Yeonsangun is.

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oh, and I just realised - Ga-ryung's change in gisaeng rank and subsequent costume and hairstyle change, have sent her from looking like an unmarried girl to a married woman - which is exactly what she truly is. And I like the visual link to her married status being re-established just as she's about to do what she came to do and finish off the king once and for all.

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More Random Thoughts:

7. Gil-hyun and Gil-dong's reactions to Eorini are interesting because they're different, but mirror each other. When Gil-dong is restrained, Gil-hyun shows an emotional response. When Gil-hyun is restrained, Gil-dong is emotional. But I think Gil-dong was waiting to show his response and when he saw that she still carried the ribbon, he kinda lost it...because there was that physical evidence where before it could have been anything. Maybe he even imagined she was Eorini...but now he can't deny it.

8.It’s really amusing to see Pedo Prince get one up on Song Sabu after the reveal that his prize student was actually Gil-dong’s brother. The yangban peeps like the king, Song Sabu, Jeong-hak, Madame Jo etc. all have a habit of not giving credit to those who they view as inferior and it ends up biting them in the ass. Pedo Prince sticks a knife in Song Sabu in front of the prince and no doubt Mori will one day betray Jeong-hak who throws him away like nothing. Song Sabu's power in court has taken a nose dive and it will be interesting to see where he goes forward and where Pedo Prince will go as well. Pedo Prince is nowhere near the chessmaster Song Sabu is either so can he really go where is big talk is going?

9. It's so amusing to see the Hongvengers try so hard to jog Eorini's memories using their particular gimmicks and history with Eorini. It's an insight into her childhood which is just sweet and charming.

10. It must be a trip to realize that the guy you were sent to spy on is actually in possession of the other half of your precious object. I find it fascinating that Eorini kept and cherished that ribbon for so long. It's like she knew she'd need it one day to remember...or she had used the ribbon to try and remember what she had forgotten each day. Only eventually she did forget and only the memory of the object holding importance for her remained.

11. I had thought that Eorini would eventually be assimilated into the Hongvengers and want to stay with them based on their courage and kindness to others in contrast with the cruelty of the Suwigdan and wanting to rebel against them. Instead, it's her memories that shift her loyalties and give her the clarity to see the horrors of the Suwigdan.

12. Jeong-hak's bias against Mori based on his status is to his own detriment since Mori is a mighty child and could surely be effective against Gil-dong's strength. He didn't even find out about his abilities because he was so dead set against working with someone of his status. I really think this will come around against him soon.

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re: point 12, Jeong-hak REALLY won't learn his lesson, will he? He's got a job to do, and has a Mighty Child with a death grudge against Gil-dong put on it with him, but his first thought is 'ewww none of your lower-class cooties on me please, I don't care if you're the most competent and well-equipped to deal with the people we've been sent to catch'. There's no way he DOESN'T know about Mo-ri's abilities, since Gil-dong and Mo-ri have even fought in public and the king, Choongwongoon etc know he's super strong. But nope, class order comes first! It's like they never learned anything from what happened with Gil-hyun.

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It is so utterly satisfying when the Sugwidan choke on their own Kool-Aid. Talk about poisonous orthodoxy.

Song Sabu could not refute Gil-hyun's reason for keeping mum about Gil-dong's escape because it would have contravened the king's command. That totally made my day.

I was laughing my butt off at the irony of Jeong-hak throwing away his greatest weapon against Gil-dong simply because the guy was a social inferior. If anything, Jeong-hak is disrespecting the king, who gave Mori a commission. It's tantamount to mutiny. He's not following orders. Does that make him a rebel, too?

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Those Sugwidan idiots are exactly the type who'd cut off their noses to spite their faces, in the pursuit of dogma. I'm not surprised Jeong-hak was that way, given his mother and teacher's school of thought.

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Since he found out what happened to his father, the more poisoned he's become and the more handcuffed to dogma he's become. And the funny thing is, he's gonna fail because of it.

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@cloveredlioness - there's an interesting argument to be made there about nature vs nurture, because the guy Gil-hyun made friends with on his first day at Song Sabu's actually didn't seem like such an a-hole, or quite as obsessed with status. But the minute he's back in the fold with his mother and her views on class and status, it's back to being, as you said, poisoned, and now he's beyond hope.

It's weirdly similar to the king in a lot of ways - both are characters who could have been very different if they'd grown up with/been surrounded by different influences.

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@pogo1 Sooo true. At one point there was hope for Jeong-hak to become a different person and to escape the poison of his mother...but as soon as he found out about his dad's murder, that was gone. It's like at that moment he went on to accept everything his mother/family said to be the way of the world. And that envy and jealousy of Park Ha-sung didn't help matters either.

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I'm sure he thinks Gil-hyun must be an anomaly or the exception that proves the rule kind of thing.

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Even More Random Thoughts:

13. I like that someone with power and status like the magistrate also supports and saves Gil-dong. It's not just those without power that see the wrong in the behaviour of the king and his ministers. It's also interesting that Jeong-hak takes the magistrate at his word and doesn't even think to ask further. He sees the rank/status of the magistrate and takes for granted that the magistrate must support him, the so-called social order and the expulsion of Gil-dong. It definitely shows his bias and leads to him doing a poor job. And this is in spite of the magical powers of the mountain that protects the people in the cave. At first, I thought the magistrate's appearance was a vision sent by the spirit of the mountain lol.

14. I like that even though Ok-ran tells Nok-soo why she and Ga-ryung have become close, she doesn't tell Nok-soo all the details. It shows her loyalty to Ga-ryung, despite threat of death from Nok-soo. The only problem is that Nok-soo has too much info and can easily put the pieces together.

15. It's so cute to see Gil-dong and Eop-san following after Eorini like the protective brothers they are. (Future Eorini suitors beware!)

16. Well, Eorini's brainwashing is pretty intense and complete. We have physical punishment, drugs and a healthy dose of reprogramming...I like how she links the sound of the tapping of the switch to the tapping of the branch on the ice. But it's so sweet to finally be able to see her remember her brothers and have a proper reunion with them.

17. The framing of Eorini telling the Hongvengers about the Geoin and how she was brainwashed amuses me because it's one of those shots that's clearly constructed because they have to put a camera on the other side of the room...Kind of like how people only eat on one side of the table...

18. It's really sickening how those in the lowest social status were exploited for the poor justification of serving Joseon as examples. It's pure social control at its best. I like how it's paralleled with the king setting an example of the insolent gisaeng because he turns her into a geoin. Geoins are basically kind of like an expendable collateral needed to run the country and this is made all the more clear by the way the king takes the flower from the gisaeng and tosses it aside like nothing.

19. I think the meaning of geoin, cart people is meant to keep them in their place. Don't forget that you are always pulling the cart and doing the work for those of high class. And their role is to move the nation in the way the upper class sees fit. They carry those of status where they need to be so they can direct outcomes that will hold the status quo as spies. They also turn against those of their class by being forced to do this.

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20. It's interesting that a switch is what stirs Madame Jo's memory of Gil-dong...but it's also what stirs Eorini's memory of him as well...

21. Yeonsangun demonstrates exactly how expendable the gisaengs are when he kills Mo and then promotes Ga-ryung to the top.

22. I think the story Ga-ryung tells Yeonsangun, if in fact it was told in town, is a low key way the people are rebelling against the king and showing support for Gil-dong. Why should we suffer while someone else prospers and ignores us?

23. Ga-ryung's story about the boy imprisoned to prosper everyone else changes the second night she tells Yeonsangun. She says that over time, people forgot about the boy...the king forgot about his lowly subjects. It launches into a great way for the reasoning behind why Ga-ryung is going to kill him. To set an example of a king who cares not for his people.

24. I LOVED how much fire Ga-ryung had when facing Nok-soo. In that moment, the Nok-soo who had been her superior disappeared because nothing could put out the fire of Ga-ryung's determination and conviction. I think Ga-ryung saying that she came to the palace to die may be part of the impetus for Nok-soo to toss her over to the king...You said you wanted to die, have at it.

25. Of course it's Jeong-hak who turns the towns over to the king. He's such a self-serving rat.

26. I like that even though Gil-dong is going to help save the villagers from the king, he doesn't expect his followers to do the same. I think this is what causes them to save him at the end of the episode.

27. I LOVED the vignette of all the people in the kingdom turning against the king to the point where the kids even sing songs about Gil-dong...but it also made my heart jump into my stomach because I was like OH SHIT! The king will throw a hissy fit when he sees this due to his narcissism.

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Still More Random:

28. The point of the final battle is the fact that people are willing to support Gil-dong and empower themselves...They even use arrows to kill the king's men! They were trained by Gil-dong to use a weapon symbolizing and provided by the king against the king. That being said, it is strategically dumb. Why confront an army upfront when outnumbered? Especially when you're in a valley which would provide you with a VERY strategic vantage point/terrain. Why didn't you plan to use the oil and arrows like your people did later on? How did they prepare all that stuff so quickly if that was never the plan? Like, I know Gil-hyun is a Confucian scholar, but SURELY he's picked up Sun Tzu's The Art of War at some point...I think it would have been very useful as a gangster. It even has a chapter on terrain. ...Or was this the Hongvengers' plan all along to empower the others? (After all, the famous line from the book is...All war is deception...) Anyway, I think the drama earned the dumb plot point because the outcome was extremely satisfying and meaningful. It served the story well.

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@ cloveredlioness

>Why confront an army upfront when outnumbered?

Perhaps they thought they could rely solely on Gildong's power.

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About Gil Hyun's wife candidate.. How about the mudang? (Wait, what should I call her? Is she a shaman or a mudang? What's the difference?) Can she get married like a common person or not?

For me, Eop San-Eorini pairing is a no since it will be weird to have him as Gil Dong's little brother-in-law..

As for Eorini's possible future husband (if the Hong clan survives until the end *fingers crossed!*), I think the boy who ran to get help for his village is around Eorini's age..

Hahaha XD Why am I being obsessed with some fictional characters' fate?

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@ keiru
Your comment is just too cute! LOL

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A mudang is a shaman. Here you can either call her shaman or mudang, both would be right. I don't know if mudang is a special sort of shaman though or whether there is hirarchy of shamans. And I too would like to know, how it is with the shamans and marriage? I know that they weren't supposed to live in villages or cities but outside and they would have had difficulties to marry in high classes. But how is it with commoners or low class people?
They needed to get children because the shamanistic knowledge was passed on from mother to daughter. Or did their children get born out of wedlock?

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My two cents on the multiple Mighty Children

The Mighty Children were another thing in the story that gave me some heartache. First when Mo-ri was revealed to be another Mighty Child, I was so angered, for a moment I really wanted to just say Good Buy to the whole drama. The new Mighty Child seemed to come out of nowhere and seemed to break all the rules the writer had set with Amogae telling the only every hundred year Mighty Child story in the first episode of the drama.

But with passing of time there came reason. The writer never broke her every 100 years rule in that episode with Mo-ri, she clearly broke it already in the first two episode with the mentioning of Samson's (haha) child, the mentioning of Amogae probably being a Mighty Child himself. She clearly desctructed Amogae's tale from the beginning, showing it as not the rule of the drama's universe but the rule how the people perceived the Mighty Child stories.
I actually find the Mighty Children a little bit intriguing now, because it shows, how many people could actually be a Mighty Child but are hindered to really fully grow into one, because they are either hindered by themselves, circumstances or by others.
Sam-son's Mighty Child was really killed as an infant. The MIghty Child in Gil-dong nearly died by the interference of parent's (Amogae killing it by putting psychological pressure on Gil-dong, even though it was meant in a non-hostile way). Amogae's powers died, because he never used them. Eunuch Kim castrated them himself. And we will have to wait and see, what will happen to Mo-ri.

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I still have a problem with it and the how vague the rule is when it comes to some of them especially Mori but that's just me.

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@kiara
could it be that you have more a problem with the rules of how the Mighty Child powers function than with the existence of mutiple Mighty Children?

Because with the rules of the Mighty Child powers I have huge problems myself. It seems there are certain rules to Gil-dong that doesn't apply to Mori at all.

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Maybe it's like the whole Harry Potter vs. Neville Longbottom thing. They're both born on the same day, July 31st, making them both eligible to be the child that would kill Voldemort, but Voldemort CHOSE Harry which made Harry The Boy Who Lived and not Neville. So Gil-dong maybe did something early on or up until Amogae consulted the mudang in his dreams that made him THE Mighty Child vs. a mighty child.

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And perhaps the rules do apply to Mori as well, we just haven't seen it yet.

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@cloveredlioness - oooh, good point about the Harry Potter parallel/the hero being created and not just born (and actually, in his own way poor Mo-ri is even more pitiful than Neville, even if their personalities and morals are diametrical opposites).

Harry Potter himself is also somewhat similar to Gil-dong, in that there's nothing particularly special about his skills, but he's an icon in the wizarding world because he survived what should have killed him. And like Gil-dong, he's basically an accidental legend who inspired people around him into resistance, even if he himself wasn't the smartest, most skilled or even the most confident around.

Though in Harry's case, reports of the Voldemort-survival incident meant he was a figurehead of the rebellion to complete strangers by the time he could walk and talk (his active participation came much later), while Gil-dong's rep started with people around him and only then spread to people who didn't know him.

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In the Korean folklore of Mighty Child, the Child's life is threatened by everyone including his own parents and neighbors because his strength is so exceptional and capable of overthrowing the status quo. So he hides away inside the bowels of the earth (often Mt. Jiri, one of the most sacred mountains for the Korean people) with sacks of millets, beans and red beans until he readies this army of grains (who all turn into soldiers and horses) to pop out in full force and wage war against the oppressive, corrupt overlords (usually kings or the occupying Japanese forces). The only thing that can stop him and his army is the sharp object that cut his umbilical cord when he was born. The king or the Japanese governor hears about this and tries every kind of sharp object known to man (kitchen knife, scissors, sword, scythe, etc.) all to no avail. Finally they torture and get the answer out of the Child's mother. Mighty Child's great rebellion is aborted just as his great army was about to march out because the womb of the mountain was cut open by purple eulalia.

I think this folklore and the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty are two greatest sources of inspiration for the writer-nim.

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By purple eulalia you mean those plant (?) which Gil Dong used as a weapon to beat Heo Tae Hak's men down in his reinstated Mighty Child mode on? Cool..

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Gil-dong's even hiding away in the bowels of the earth right now...Hopefully the story won't end so sadly!

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Yes, purple eulalia in Korean is 억새풀. "억새" means tough/rough and "풀" means grass. It is the lowliest level of vegetation that keeps getting trampled on but is tough enough to withstand it and resilient enough to spring back.

One can imagine Mighty Child's heavily pregnant mother toiling in the fields until the very moment she has to give birth and cutting her own umbilical cord with an edge of the grass leaf after delivering the child. The grass represents the common people and their grassroots. It's where the Child comes from and it is what can either save him or perish him.

The Mighty Child is really a messianic figure dreamed up by the people who long for freedom from oppression. But at the same time their fear of rocking the boat holds them back and most times results in their forestalling the Child themselves.

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Interesting! As always thank you for sharing.
I think the two sources are intriguing separately. It's too conventional and unconventional at the same time that I don't know what to make of it.

I believe the couple of rebellions led by a commoner/butcher that was recorded in the Annals did not escalade to a face to face confrontation with the king.
(I had a good laugh though at Yeonsan chasing down Gil Dong and his donkey. Could they make him any more pathetic lol. )

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Yes, it is an unusual combination of sources, but I think the writer-nim uses the Annals a lot for the details of the social inequality and injustice taking place at the time. For example, all the heinous deeds the Protectors of Values (a/k/a Confucian ISIS) were committing and proudly keeping records of in Haengrok are actual events that took place and were recorded in the Annals. Even Okran stepping on Noksoo's skirt and getting heavily punished for it was a real event that happened in Yeonsangun's court and recorded in the Annals.

Meanwhile, the myth of the mighty child seems to give the drama the overarching structure. The writer-nim is very explicit about how this drama differs from the previous Hong Gil Dong dramas when she had GD firmly deny any royal or aristocratic roots or ties. She wanted to imagine the life of a real, historical figure of Hong Gil Dong who was arrested and held in awe during the reign of Yeonsangun, circa 1500, as recorded in the Annals. The myth of Mighty Child seems to have helped her with that task and I am sure she referenced a whole bunch of other stuff as well like the fictionalized stories of Hong Gil Dong.

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Perfect description...."an unusual combination" and I'm enjoying the heck out of the history and side notes from the Annals.
I do recall the skirt incident from history too but it looks like Okran might survive? I'm 50/50 on her just to be safe lol.
Nok-soo is not as evil to the core as I expected her to be but she is getting there.
I figured the information from the Haengrok was recorded in the Annals in details with dates and names etc. The natural disasters and the mandate of heaven etc.
I noticed that some incidents are taken from Rebel Im Kkeok Jeong's era too.
All the tax related incidents, raiding the government offices and storage in broad daylight and distributing the food among the poor, fighting off foreign invaders who were mostly Japanese pirates, the alliance with local magistrates, support from the people, his blood brothers, taking over Hwanghae provinces etc etc.

There are also some incidents that are being reversed like the signs that were left on the ministers by Gil Dong. Yeonsan was the one who made them wear a sign to court but I like the change here.

I'm glad you are still here. I need a history buddy to enjoy the more conventional part of Rebel with me lol.

I like all the myth, legend etc and there is a ton but I'm having a hard time connecting them to more historical part of the story. Half of it is very much real and then there is the not so real part of it. You know, like this whole open war with the king and the fact that in never happened kind of add to it.
(Was it ever a part of any Hong Gil Dong novels or is it a nod to Robin Hood?)
Yeonsan was evil but those yangban were even more evil imo and they directly abuse the peasants daily. Yeonsan got what he deserved but those yangban continues with their abuse till the end of Joseon.

Thanks for explaining the myth of the Mighty Child. As far as I'm concerned Gil Dong is the only Mighty Child in this drama lol.

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yeah, it's interesting to see how some of the king's more seemingly whimsical moments of cruelty are taken directly from history too - like having his minister of protocol beheaded for spilling a drink on his robe. Or forcing the ministers and eunuchs to watch an execution without looking away.

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It's fascinating the way myth and history are getting blended in Rebel, I love the comments explaining various historical/cultural aspects of the story that we wouldn't otherwise get.

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Thank you for providing us with the whole Mighty Child story. Much appreciated! :)

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To all Gil Hyun's fans, I've just found something and I'd like to share this with you (forgive me if I'm breaking any Dramabeans rules ya):

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4zxb41_actor-sim-hee-seop_tv

I also just knew that he was in Actor School where he was taught by Park Shin Yang. Actually I saw bits of the show before but thought it was boring so I never really watched it!

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@43 applecrumble April 30, 2017 at 9:54 PM:

Thanks for posting that link. I thoroughly enjoyed his interview, and will check out his films. ;-)

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He's so charming, those dimples <3333

I've actually watched The Attorney but never realised that was him in it, he looks so different. And I've loved his arc in Rebel so much, he's the dark horse of this drama in the best possible way.

I love it when an actor whose role we didn't even hear a thing about before the drama began, ends up winning hearts - it happened with Yoon Kyun-sang himself in Pinocchio, Byun Yo-han in Misaeng, Ji-soo in Angry Mom and now him. I hope we'll see him in other great roles too!

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I became SUCH a fan of Yoon Kyun-sang's after Pinocchio. Ki Jae-myung was just so intriguing as a character. He had all the same brightness and kindness as Ki Ha-myung/Dal-po but they have these character arcs that run parallel and in opposite directions. The story is about how Jae-myung succumbs to his rage/anger and finds temperance/punishment for his actions and how Ha-myung opens up and rises to be who he was all along. I just BELIEVED so much that Yoon Kyun-sang and Lee Jong-suk were brothers and you just want them to reunite SOOOO badly but then Jae-myung goes and kills the people who frames his dad. I want YKS and LJS to play brothers in another drama where we don't have to have the painful 'Hyuuuuuung' parts lol.

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I just realised, Jae-myung and Ha-myung/Dal-po's respective arcs in Pinocchio are almost like a dark-side modern parallel to Gil-hyun and Gil-dong here, only this time YKS is playing the little brother, not the older brother who's cut off from his family and left all alone believing they're dead.

Jae-myung broke my heart and for a while there, he was thisclose to running away with the drama - and I couldn't even call it second lead syndrome because he was what, a third? fourth lead? lol. But seriously, that part was tricky, Jae-myung was supposed to be at heart a good person who was driven by anger and loneliness to do awful things, and Yoon Kyun-sang made me feel every bit of his pain. I'll never forget the scene where he and Lee Jong-seok finally find out each other's identities, boy did they rip my heart up between the two of them.

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That scene and the one outside the MSC news station after Jae-myung outed himself as a murderer KILLED me.

It's funny how this drama ended up being somewhat Pinocchio-ish. It's also funny for me to watch Six Flying Dragons because SOOO many of the actors of that were on Pinocchio.

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@cloveredlioness - seriously, it's been two years and even now the thought of the brothers in Pinocchio makes me want to howl. Practically every look out of Jae-myung's eyes broke my heart, he could have so easily been the protagonist of his own drama.

Pinocchio was never quite the same after hyung was locked up - I stayed in it for Dal-po and In-ha's amazing chemistry and their adorable family, but none of the side plotlines/second lead stuff were as engaging as hyung.

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@pogo SOOO true! I wished the entire drama was about whether or not they could help hyung make a better decision instead of having to kill people...Or have hyung join the team somehow as an undercover source to help take down Song Cha-ok. The show really kinda just loses something after episode 12 to 14...

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I made sure to watch PINOCCHIO a couple of weeks or a month ago, and was taken with YKS's portrayal. Holy cow! What a performance.

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@pogo

I love it when an actor whose role we didn't even hear a thing about before the drama began, ends up winning hearts

Me too! The Gilhyun role was a good one, from childhood up till now, and I really hope it will end well too! I was impressed with his character since he was a kid, being protective of his family, carrying and taking care of his sister, and I'm so relieved he didn't turn bad! What a family man! I just love all the Gilhyun moments so far! I think I'm gonna rewatch the earlier episodes again soon!

As for the actor Sim Hee Seop, I thought his acting was just so-so at the beginning. Yeah, hope to see more of him, and preferably in KBS shows 'coz KBS has the English-subbed Entertainment Weekly for interviews with the celebrities!

You may want to check him out in This Week, My Wife Will Have an Affair ep 6 and 9 - he acted as PD Lee Ji-Hoon; very minor role though.

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ikr?! I had no idea Gil-hyun was going to play such a major role in the story, but by the time he was facing down Choongwongoon's thugs in the effort to buy Gil-dong and Eorini time to escape, I knew I loved him (even if I was sure he'd probably die, this was before I went and checked the flash-forward). I feel like that's the moment I realised I actually loved this character, and I'm so glad we kept him around - the story is that much richer because of him.

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For a long while I didn't care for his arc since I more interested in the Hongvengers than the palace drama...but he really won me over after the time jump when he became the undercover investigator and helped seek justice for the woman killed by her husband and subsequently had her reputation ruined as justification for her death. And he just has been so good since his reunion with Gil-dong. And badass with tricking literally everyone in the palace.

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There was that stretch in the middle when we weren't quite sure what Song Sabu was up to, but my Gil-hyun love came on in stages - first when he was holding Heotaehak's thugs off his siblings to give them a chance to escape, and then the deal was sealed when he and Gil-dong took down Choongwongun together without knowing it. And then sealed some more when he actually turned out to be a dedicated amenghosa.

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Second try, the other one just get too long. I wanted to show as well, the many "Yeonsan"s in Koreas New History, and the many times, the people stood up. It wasn't only the protests that lead to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye. There were the April 1960 Revolution and so on.

The boy in the village

The boy in the village might also - and that doesn't deny any of the great interpretations other beanies brought up, just one interpretation more - refer to the abusement of the working class during Park Chung-hee's presidential time. Park Chung-hee is credited for the rapid growths of Korean economy under his leadership. He is also seen as an authorian ruler who stripped the working class of their human rights. That's how he could achieve the economical growths and a financially prospering country.

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I should probably add this, but I'm trying to make it very, very short. I promise!
When Park Geun-hye, the daughter of Park Chung-hee, candidated for presidency, she said, she isn't her father. Most of you will know that what lead to the protest waves against the president (though the people were already fed up due to a number of other heavy incidents) came with the discovery of a person, that was believed to pull the president's strings, a woman named Choi Soon-shil. Choi Soon-shil is the daughter of the leader of a religious cult, Choi Tae-min. Now Choi Tae-min's church, the Eternal Life Church, is said to be a church that has build up connections to a number of persons in positions of power, or has put members in positions of high powers. It is also said, that if you are very rich and you have done something illegal and are about to be discovered, you can pay money to that "church" and they will pay the right people to intervene in any investigation.
Choi Tae-min approached the Park Geun-hye after the assassination of Park Geun-hye's mother. The families are said to have been close since. Now when Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979 by the chief of his security guards Kim Jae-gyu, one of the reasons Kim Jae-gyu gave for his act, was that he believed, the president had failed to get rid of Choi Tae-min's influences in politics and over his family.

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This is depressingly true, Yeonsangun wasn't unique in Korea's history for being a terrible ruler. A Yeonsangun by any other name....

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True, there were terrible rulers but no one came close to Yeonsangun's violence and cruelty. It was also well documented.

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That's true, there were crappy kings and then there were the Japanese and then there were dictators, but at least among the kingly lot, Yeonsangun seems fairly unusual for having (or being depicted as having) virtually no redeeming qualities other than a brief spell of decent ruling at the start.

This just reminded me of how the heroine of Moon Lovers lost it over encountering pre-Gwangjong Wang So .... I'd probably be a lot more understanding of her vapours if the king she encountered in the past was Yeonsangun.

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The Story of Hong Gil-dong - Chapter 4 - Gil-dong And the Robbers: Part 2 The Robbing of Hae-in Temple

To approach the monks at Hae-in temple Gil-dong dressed up like a Yangban's son and after arriving there (on his donkey… :)), he spoke to the monks: „I'm the son of Minister Hong from the capital city. I came here to study for the state examination. Please prepare a room for me and close the temple for outsiders. Tomorrow (in a week) I'll return with 20 seok rice. Take the rice and prepare a feastly meal for the day I'll arrive for my studies!“ Then he asked the monks to let him inspect the whole temple complex and after that he said his good bye to the monks and returned to the robbers.

The robbers dressed up as Gil-dong's servants and brought the rice to the temple. Then they and Gil-dong prepared their plan. On the day he had arranged the monks to prepare the big feast, he arrived on his donkey with his robber „servants“ entourage. The monks led Gil-dong to the room, where the food was served and let him sit down on the seat of honor. Gil-dong pretended to enjoy the food, but he secretly mixed some sand inside his rice. When he bit on the rice a loud crunch could be heard. The monks got pale and tried to explain and appologize, but Gil-dong exclaimed with loud voice: „How dare you to not take care in preparing the food of a noble man's son! I will have all of you arrested!“ and he ordered his servants to tie up the monks. The monks were confused and let themselves get tied up, but when they couldn't move anymore, the robbers started to clear out their treasure chambers and flee with it.

Next installment:

The Story of Hong Gil-dong - Chapter 4 - Gil-dong And the Robbers: Part 3 The Escape and the Establishment of Hwalbindang
--- that chapter is related to episode 26

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The Story of Hong Gil-dong - Chapter 4 - Gil-dong And the Robbers: Part 3 The Escape and the Establishment of Hwalbindang

When Gil-dong's robbers had tied up the monks, they had missed one little kitchen boy who escaped by climbing over a wall (a little servant boy returned to the temple just in time to see the robbers robbing the temple and could hide away before he was noticed). The boy ran to the local magistrate (of Hapcheon) and informed him of the robbings.

So when the robbers started their escape they were immediately followed by the magistrate and his soldiers. The robbers were quite afraid (the robbers blamed Gil-dong for what have happened and themselves for trusting such a young boy), but Gil-dong reassured them. He told them to go on without him, he would divert the magistrate and the soldiers. The robbers went South and Gil-dong stayed back and disguised himself as a monk with a huge straw hat. Then he waited at a fork in the road. When the magistrate and the soldiers arrived he told them the robbers had fled North. The magistrate and his forces believed Gil-dong to be a monk from the temple and followed his directions and the robbers were safe.

Gil-dong used his heavenly powers to transport himself back into the robber's lair, where he waited for his gang. When they arrived they thanked him for saving them (and apologized for distrusting them). Gil-dong said, that he couldn't call himself their leader when he wouldn't even be able to think/to care about their safety. So the robbers accepted Gil-dong as their leader with their hearts.

After that Gil-dong named his band „Hwalbindang“, Organization that lives (works) for the poor (people), and they went through all the 8 provinces and everywhere were they found corrupt magistrates or officials they would rob them and distribute the treasures under the poor.

Next Installment:
The Story of Hong Gil-dong - Chapter 4 - Gil-dong And the Robbers: Part 4 The Robbing of Hamgyeong and the creation of the straw puppets

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I really love these reversals. Like here in episode 26 the magistrate that was the persuer in the escape story took Gil-dong's place and became the one that diverted the soldiers in the drama version. :)
But still Gil-dong dressing up with the huge straw hat wasn't lost in the drama, he just wore that disguise in the episode before...

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I love these instalments from the Hong Gil-dong story, thank you for putting them in the comments! I love seeing the details that went into this drama.

(and wasn't Hwalbindang what the Hongvengers named their gisaeng parlour?)

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Yes, they named it Hwalbindang but with the meaning of "?? Rejuvenation Pavillion"! That made me laugh so much! :)

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well, I suppose a gibang is one way of sorts to encourage the redistribution of wealth :)

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Thank you for your feedback! :)
Sadly I'm mostly upsetting people with it. :(

Now that I already started it, I'll also end it, but not commenting on it anymore. As I said before, I'm not an expert on the Hong Gil-dong research I only followed it over the course of the last 12 years for fun, for myself, not in an adamical way. And Joseon Dynasty isn't my time either, I studied the Three Kingdoms/Gaya period and the time between 1980-1988. My Joseon dynasty term paper wasn't exactly a historical one but one on arts and I wasn't overly interested in that... (I would have preferred another topic. sigh.)
I thought, because I made that clear from the beginning, that things I say wouldn't be taken too seriously, but I see now, that I really probably push beanies in the directions from where I see the drama.

Since it seems that the novel(s) and the Hong Gil-dong research aren't a primary source to the drama as I perceived it, I don't want to get the novel and the HGD research parts into the way of other beanies perception of the drama. I also don't want to overinterpret the drama. I know that I'm really lacking with some of the background, so I'll happily bend to greater knowledge.

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@liina
I don't think you are upsetting anyone with it. I'm actually learning a lot from your translation of the novel. The version I'm trying to read is very simple. I like the little details from your version.

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@liina

No, you're not upsetting anyone. After all, this is where Rebel's fans come to talk about the drama and share their views, interpretations, opinions etc.

I simply added the Annals and the myth of Mighty Child to the discussion because the majority of international fans may not be as familiar with them. But your presentation of the Hong Gil Dong Jeon is also very interesting.

It's fascinating that you studied the Three Kingdoms/Gaya period. That's one of my favorite eras as well.

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Don't worry, you're not upsetting anyone at all! I think beanies take it as a given that sageuk dramas won't stick to history exactly as it happened, or to other sources they may use for the story - and that goes for the HGD story as well, we don't expect Rebel to follow it to the letter or even in larger arcs. We just like having background info!

And speaking for myself, it's no different from watching, say, Star Wars and knowing the background influences on that franchise (The Hidden Fortress, Joseph Campbell et al). It's really cool to know, but it doesn't alter my viewing experience in any way, so please don't apologise for sharing your knowledge with us!

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Your insight is too interesting to keep to yourself! I for one love you telling us all about the story because it's not really readily available as a summary online. Plus you tailor it to the things that harken in the drama.

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*happen...Ugh Swype issues on phone lol.

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@liina May 2, 2017 at 4:45 AM,

Hey, liina, I'm sorry to have fallen off the face of the earth. Was physically under the weather earlier in the week, and just didn't have the mental energy to keep up with the scads of background information you and so many other knowledgeable Beanies have so kindly provided. I have a tendency to get lost in the details and overwhelmed -- which is funny coming from someone who can dish out so much trivia herself.

Please keep doing what you're doing. The sheer volume of interesting comments has reduced me to using thumbs-up and not commenting as much as previously. I can't keep up with you guys.

I have to add that my fear and loathing over episodes 27 -- and now 28 -- has had me in a depressed swivet on top of everything else. I have a feeling I'm in good company.

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There are some 19th century versions in which Gil-dong after robbing Hae-in temple and returning to the robbers lair, is dancing and singing on the table with a bottle of alcohol in his one hand and a sword in his other.

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Our boy has really done a LOT of drinking on the show lol. I wouldn't have noticed that much if it wasn't for a video posted on the Rebel naver tv site lol. There are some weirdass clips on there. Some intern must be having fun lol.

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Thanks liina.
This part clearly has Im Kkeok Jeong as the inspiration for the Hong Gil Dong novel. The Hwalbingdang Organization who were helping the peasants. The plundering and robbing of 8 provinces etc etc.
(Im Kkeok Jeong and his 6 friends started the Noklimdang Organization which means The Green Forest Union. Killing the corrupt officials, freeing the slaves/commers who were in prison, returning the food/tribute back to the people etc was actually mentioned in the Annals.
Heo Gyun, the disputed author of the original lived during Im Kkeok Jeong's time. He was still a child when Im was caught and executed. Everything about him was fresh in his mind growing up. He was probably fascinated by his bravery and somehow affect him. Although he grew up as a yangban he was too radical for his time and he paid for it with his life.
His novels seems to be a reflection of his views of the future democracy where the class system no longer divides the people.

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I'm guessing Rebel is banned in North Korea like Jeong Do-jeon etc. This can't be good entertainment for a country that is ruled by dictatorship.

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It's me again, your resident Filipino lol. I've been waiting for this recap to say this so here I go:
I can't help but relate Gil Dong's character to our national hero, Jose Rizal. Specifically, the fact that they were the ones who inspired their people to stand up for themselves.
Jose Rizal was no military leader like HGD is in this show (he was actually a writer, thus we have Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo). But it is thanks to the ideals expressed in Rizal's writings that the Filipino people realized their national identity and rose up against the Spanish colonizers. Much like how HGD gave the people the courage (and the skills) to fight against the royal army in this episode.

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I feel like that's a common thread in the independence movements of so many former colonies - people now known as national heroes inspiring their compatriots, not necessarily into armed conflict, but into resistance against the tyranny of people who had no business ruling them anymore.

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@pakalanapikake
While preparing my data/documents/base papers (I don't know the english word, help!) for the write up of next Hong Gil-dong chapter I stumbled about a paper I had totally forgotten about and that might interest you.
It's some notes from Soon-mi Hong-Schunka in her explanations to her translation of Hong Gil-dong (Soon-mi Hong-Schunka, Frank Kraushaar: "Die Geschichte von Hong Kiltong - Ein Räuberroman aus dem alten Korea"; München 2002) about the meaning of Gil-dong's Fight with the Eul-dong, the shapeshifting monsters from which he saved his future wife (wives). It includes some explanation of names.

She says that the dong in Gil-dong's name translates as "Child". She is of the opinion that it connects to the dong of the eul-dong (with the eul-dong I wasn't sure if that's just her opinion or if she found the word eul-dong in Hanja - the story was written in Hangeul after all. I think these monsters are not mythological but made up?). This is why she interpretates the eul-dong story as a fight of Gil-dong vs some dark aspect(s) of himself that he has to overcome.

She also explains that the name of the father of Gil-dong's wife, Baek Nyong (Ryong) would translate as White Dragon.

And I forgot to tell you, that you are right, the music video you gave me and the one from Marie Boine are quite similar! Very meditative.
And thank you for watching the Ofelas Video! I hope for Ga-ryung that her willingness to sacrifice herself might have the same outcome it had for Aigin, who became blessed by the Great Reindeer spirit.

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I didn't know part of Gil-dong's name translated as 'child'! That ties in beautifully with the Mighty Child legend (doubly so after his father chose the name for him) and also with the way this particular iteration of Gil-dong is played (there's certainly something of the child about Gil-dong, and a certain innocence Yoon Kyun-sang brings to the part).

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It's sweet, it's very sweet, and it really soooo fits to Yoon Kyun-sang, especially when one has seen Three Meals a Day....
And especially now that with that little help, I found all the right Hanja that were used for Hong Gil-dong in the old manuscripts of the Hong Gil-dong tale. :) (Not guessing, the REAL thing! :))
And whomever asked if the Gil from Gil-dong was the one that meant "lucky-" was right!

It's 洪吉童
洪 - Hong - I had explained that before, that the drama writer had used a different character. The novel character means: Flood, big water and so on
吉 - gil - lucky-
童 - dong - Child

(It would also tie in with our Eight Happy Immortals that bring good luck and good fortune...)

The White Dragon stands for the Dragon God of the West, the Autumn Dragon.

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WHOA. I can't believe the hanja for Gil-dong's name actually have that meaning!

Also I've never seen Three Meals A Day, but YKS's baby face really doesn't need variety show background to get it across, he's just straight-up adorable. I still can't believe he's 30 already!

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O.K., I do understand Soon-mi Hong-Schunka's thought process when it comes to her explanation of Gil-dong's fight with the Eul-dong. If it's the same dong, then in that case there really is only one Hanja that would make sense, which is:
乙 - second; the other (side/party)
So the Eul-dong would be the second child/the other child.

That's interesting for us, because we have Mori. (Haha, or it's Ga-ryung, because Gil-dong shoots the Eul-dong King with his bow... I haven't seen next episode yet, don't tell me anything!)

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Hm, now I'm totally confused, I have to sleep over that whole Eul-dong thing. It would make most sense to me when the other child would not be a mighty child but Yeonsan, because the King of the Eul-dong's is still a fake human King of fake humans. Sigh. - And perhaps that other child idea isn't even integrated in the drama. It's not like everybody would have read Mrs Hong-Schunka's work (especially since it's written in German).

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Well, if the second child is Ga-ryung...the psychological aspect of battling the Eul-dong would definitely be in place since the whole stake thing is psychological torture to Gil-dong.

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@liina I think we may have to wait to see the entire series to see if the second child aspect shows up. I'm still confident it will.

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It would also feature (and probably feature best) in what we talked about in the episode with the Arena fight. That the stake scene and the arena scene mirror in the choice between Ga-ryung, the person who is most dear to him, or the people who depent and trusted on his protection.
In the arena scene he chooses to protect Ga-ryung and looses the fight against the other child metaphorically and against the other Mighty Child literally.
In the stake scene we have Ga-ryung, Mori, People and choice again and hopefully Gil-dong will choose differently this time, so that Mori can save Ga-ryung.

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Oh, sorry, you meant how Gil-dong is played/portrayed, not Yoon Kyun-sang's public persona...

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I generally try not to pay attention to that, public personas can be tricky things and he is a grown man pushing thirty - innocence is not exactly a trait one associates with that age group :) But I love what he brings into his performance.

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Don't worry I never take a public persona for a real persona. - But I have to defend the Three Meals Team a little, because I brought that upon them: they didn't push for innocence but for happy and lucky. - And that persona in the end got Yoon Kyun-sang the job (at least that's what the PD said - he didn't mention that the other actors that were approached, had turned down the role... ;)).

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That last scene was really powerful to me, but not for Gil-dong's statement at the end. It was great insight into his character to see him weeping over that man, despite not even knowing his name. He genuinely cares for these people, and just his love for his country alone motivates him. I appreciate this scene as clarification for his motives, because they seemed rather unclear in previous episodes. He doesn't have the same emotional tug as Amogae did, and I felt like Gil-dong's character wasn't very convincing at first. Now, however, I feel as if I can believe Gil-dong's motives just based on his love for his people. This show makes me feel all the feels ;__;

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The Story of Hong Gil-dong - Chapter 4 - Gil-dong And the Robbers: Part 4 The Robbing of Hamgyeong and the creation of the straw puppets

One day Gil-dong heard that the governor of Hamgyeong (a cold and unthrifty[?? - there are lot of stones, so creating fields is a hard work there] province in the north that was often used as a place of exile and administrated by people that court didn't want to keep close by) was a man that greatly abused the poor. Gil-dong decided that they had to rob him.
Some of the robbers infiltrated Hamgyeong's capital city, while some of them in the night started fires in front of the southern city gate. All the soldiers and citizen's ran out while the robbers inside the city opened the Northern city gate and led all other robbers in. The emptied all the weapon arsenals, the treasure chests and the grain stores (set fire to the governor's residence) and fled through the Northern gate.
Gil-dong left a letter, explaining that all these things were stolen by the robber Hong Gil-dong and the Hwalbindang.
(The robbers asked: "General, why did you gave away our identity?". Gil-dong explained that it was a big crime and he didn't wanted that somebody else would be falsely accused and would have to pay for it)
Then Gil-dong used his powers to falt so earth, so that the robbers had a short way home and their safe escape was assured.

(The following description is not included in all the old manuscripts. In the shorter ones, the straw puppet thing is found out a little later.)

Some days later, Gil-dong said: "Now that we have disclosed our identity, we are known in the whole country and my wanted poster was hung out in the capital city. It won't probably take to long till I'm apprehended. Watch, what I will do now!"
Gil-dong then took some straw and crafted seven (eight) straw puppets. Then he called upon his powers and gave life and sense to the puppets that now looked all exactly like Gil-dong. They ran around talking wildly with each other and nobody could tell them apart. Gil-dong assigned to each straw puppet 500 robbers and send them out in all the eight provinces (in the versions where he created 7 straw puppets he led a contingent of robbers himself - in the other versions he rested at home) where they wrecked havoc without any restrain.

Next Installment
The Story of Hong Gil-dong - Chapter 5 - Gil-dong And the King: Part 1 General Yi Heub

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his powers to fold the earth

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I like the 7 straw puppet story and 500 robbers assign to each. The amount of Gil Dong's followers should be in the thousands which would make an epic final battle.
I'm guessing General Yi Heub was the one who captured Gil Dong? I haven't even read that far yet so I'm looking forward to this part.

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The capture scene is similar to the drama. He went to his brother, so that his brother can capture him.
If you really don't mind me projecting that on the drama, I would have seen the story of that General two times in the drama - one time with Mori and one time with Heo Tae-hak.

The old manuscript Gil-dong never battles the King of Joseon. But what is there is the "flying" in and out of the palace, the arriving at the palace with grand entrence, the questioning through the king and the questioning the king. The arena fight is not in the book; at least not in that way (could really relate to the eul-dong though). As far as I know it's not historical either and neither has a relation to any of the other historical figures? - The shooting arrows at humans has a historical connection to Yeonsan, but not with a further connection to the real Hong Gil-dong.

The Joseon King is willing to learn from Gil-dong so they don't really have to battle. The king breaking the idea of class, at least in terms of Gildong and his little gesture of support later leads to good fortune for Joseon (that's an interpretation, I'll tell that novelwise later.).
Gil-dong's army clashes with the army of the King of Yul-do (an imaginary country), though. In that battle the King of Yul-do gets defeated and an ideal confucian nation (this kind of confucian nation where for example everybody could take the state exams, without corruption and so on) gets established.

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Now that makes a lot of sense when you explain the source materials in details.
I figured that some of the incidents with Yeonsan that didn't happen in history is taken from some of the Hong Gil Dong novels.

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Thanks for this! I now feel like I have a better understanding of the plot and events in episodes 18 to 22. In the novel, the king listens to Gil-dong while in the drama, he doesn't so we get a clash. I also love learning about the references in the drama from the novel. So keep it coming! ??

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There is some sort of duality when it comes to King of Joseon and King of Yuldo. At least in the longer (probably older) textes. It's like good king vs bad king. The good king in the end gets a present of lots of silver ;) from Gil-dong and the bad king through his arrogance destroys himself.

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