The Crowned Clown: Episode 1

by mary

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tvN’s latest sageuk about a paranoid king and the lookalike clown who sits on his throne pulls no punches when it comes to murder, romance, betrayal and assassination plots, and that’s just the first ten minutes. We’re dropped right into the middle of the action, as the young king struggles to hang onto control of both his country and his sanity. So much is going on that it’s no wonder that the king is going mad, but does his scheme to save his life come too late to save his soul?

 
EPISODE 1 RECAP

A young crown prince, YI HEON (Yeo Jin-gu), stares at his father’s kingly robes as nearby, the dying king (cameo by Jang Hyuk) gasps to his crying younger son, Yul, that he’s sorry that he won’t see him grow up. The king calls Yi Heon to his bedside, then spits with what little energy he has left that knowing Yi Heon will be taking the throne fills him with rage.

He says that he worries Yi Heon will persecute his younger brother Yul out of resentment for their father. He tells Yi Heon to promise that he’ll protect his brother, but instead, Yi Heon whispers coldly, “Your Majesty, that’s not how you ask for a favor. You should plead in tears and beg until your palms wear out.”

The king weakly pulls himself up to be face-to-face with Yi Heon, and threatens to wait and see how he molds his world… “I will see how you govern your people, you insolent and obnoxious fool.” He loses strength and collapses in Yi Heon’s arms, and Yi Heon clutches his father’s dead body as he fails to hold in his tears.

Yul runs over, wailing, and grabs his brother’s hand, but Yi Heon coldly jerks his hand away. The country mourns as Yi Heon bows formally to the king one last time. Tears stream down his face as he says, “Your Majesty, the throne you protected with your blood and tears is now mine to shield and cherish. May you rest in peace.”

Elsewhere, a troupe of clowns performs for a boisterous crowd of nobles and peasants. They play music and perform acrobatics, as they tell a story about the scariest thing known to man — a buffoon who doesn’t know his roots. A figure dressed in red robes and mask to impersonate the king accuses a peasant of being such a buffoon and orders him taken away and flogged.

They’re recreating a torture that Yi Heon actually ordered to force a man to confess to conspiracy against him. The man is mutilated and bloody when he names Lord Neungchang, Prince Yul’s grandfather, as the ringleader, and Yi Heon orders him arrested immediately.

Of course, Lord Neungchang denies the accusation, and demands to speak to his daughter, the queen dowager. MINISTER SHIN (Kwon Hye-hyo), the Vice Minister of War, refuses the request, and Lord Neungchang accuses him of telling the king lies against him. He threatens to tell Yi Heon that Minister Shin is the true traitor, but he doesn’t even finish his sentence before Minister Shin cuts him down in cold blood.

The tiny prince, Yul, is taken from his screaming mother’s arms on Yi Heon’s order, but the Chief Censor argues that the boy couldn’t possibly have committed high treason. Minister Shin asserts that Yul was on the list of traitors, but the Chief Censor tells Yi Heon that if he punishes his brother, he’ll be harshly criticized. Minister Shin calls for the Chief Censor to be punished along with the traitors, and as his advisers argue over what to do, Yi Heon just sits with no expression whatsoever on his face.

He visits Yul at the prison, and when Yul throws his arms around his big brother, Yi Heon crouches down to speak to him. He displays compassion for the first time as he tells his little brother that he has to send him away for a while, promising to come get him as soon as he can. But as Yul is led away, Yi Heon’s emotionless mask slams down over his face again.

Yul is taken somewhere and fed a hearty meal, but he’s dead before he even finishes eating, the food having been laced with poison. The rest of the supposed traitors are executed, and Yi Heon grants Minister Shin the title of Lord of Goseong as reward for his service to his country.

The troupe of clowns finishes their re-enactment of Yi Heon’s murderous rampage with a wild dance by the red-robed figure. He concludes with a jump high into the air, during which he throws off his mask to reveal… Yi Heon?

But no — this is HA SUN (also played by Yeo Jin-gu), a clown who bears a striking physical resemblance to the young king. The noble enjoying the show remarks that Ha Sun is incredibly handsome considering his lowly status, and thankfully, Ha Sun’s personality appears to be playful and carefree.

The following morning, the noble informs the troupe that he won’t pay them for making fun of the king in his house. He tells them to be grateful he doesn’t report their disrespectful display, and the other clowns have to drag the loudly protesting Ha Sun away.

Ha Sun tries to leave town quietly with the others, but he just can’t do it. He jumps the wall into the noble’s yard, where he smashes several food jars, then leaps back over the wall and tells the other clowns to run. They flee all the way to the river, where they collapse in exhaustion.

Ha Sun has another surprise — he stole a small package of yellow corvina, a fish that’s so expensive even the king rarely gets to eat it. The clowns all share the fish, Ha Sun taking particular care of Dal-lae, the youngest of the group.

Gap-soo, the unofficial leader of the troupe, belatedly starts to worry about the huge trouble they’ll be in if they’re caught, not to mention the fact that they’ve lost their performance space. But Ha Sun says they can just move to a bigger town — Hanyang, the capital.

The other clowns are happy to follow him, though Gap-soo has a tendency to collapse wailing on the ground, ha. When Dal-lae grows too tired to walk, Ha Sun just carries her on his back with a huge smile on his face.

That night, Yi Heon has a nightmare in which his dead brother Yul approaches his bed, clutching his belly and crying for Yi Heon to save him. Nightmare Yul climbs onto Yi Heon’s bed and grabs him, and Yi Heon wakes, shaking with terror.

Being awake isn’t much better — several assassins climb soundlessly into Yi Heon’s bedchamber. Luckily the Chief Royal Secretary, Minister Lee, is there and a vicious fight takes place. The assassins get away, only to find more opposition by the palace guards outside. They’re all killed but two, who are taken prisoner.

Yi Heon comes outside and offers to spare one assassin’s life in exchange for the name of the person who gave the order to kill him. The assassin snarls that Yi Heon killed the king and his rightful heir and stole the throne, and that he plays with his consorts while Minister Shin runs the country.

Yi Heon grabs a guard’s sword and runs the man through, then with crazed eyes and an evil grin, slashes him several more times just to vent his anger. Even his guards look horrified, and Yi Heon orders the other assassin tortured until he confesses everything.

He staggers back to his bedchamber, where he paces, still covered in blood, and rants to Minister Lee that everyone thinks he’s out of his mind and wants to kill him just because he killed Yul. Minister Lee asks him to put down the sword, but Yi Heon brings it to his throat and orders him to kill everyone who’s against him.

Minister Lee says honestly that he can’t make that promise, and Yi Heon begs him to say it even if he can’t do it. What Minister Lee swears to protect Yi Heon with his last breath, but Yi Heon growls that it’s not enough and demands that he find a way to eliminate his enemies and ensure his safety. When Minister Lee promises, Yi Heon collapses, begging Minister Lee to hurry or he really will lose his mind.