Recap: “Faith” Episode 7

Softy: It’s official – this drama has me in a vice grip. OMG what happened tonight is just amazing. This is why I love watching dramas – for that hour you get to live through what they are going through and what happens tonight will tear you up inside and leave your emotions raw and vulnerable. Joonni: *Nods head in speechless agreement*

Episode 7:

Assassins wait for Young outside and they attack. Young fights them off but Hwasooin is there too. She asks slyly, “Where are you going?”

Young reenters Choong-jung’s house and grabs him while asking, “Can you stay close and follow me?” Eun-soo asks why and Young tells her that they will run straight to the main gate. He wants her to follow him without stopping or falling behind.

Eun-soo and Choong-jung follow Young as Young fights off the assassins and Hwasooin. More men arrive however, but this time it is the governmental soldiers who have come to stop Young from leaving with Choong-jung. The assassins hide themselves. Young tries to explain to the soldiers that he is a Woodalchi who is trying to protect Choong-jung from the assassins. Suddenly the assassins reappear, surrounding Young and Eun-soo, but facing the soldiers to act as if they are protecting Choong-jung. The soldiers declare them traitors and the assassins begin to attack.

Hwasooin wants Young to decide to just follow her or get caught by the governmental soldiers. Young replies he just wants to return to the house. Hwasooin tells Young to make his decision quickly instead of trying to buy time.

Eun-soo asks Young if the men are fighting because of them- who is on their side? Young tells her it’s complicated. Eun-soo suggests that they ignore them and run. Young happily smiles at her suggestion and tells her to run with Choong-jung. (Joonni: Ha! Eun-soo, the forever practical.)

Young follows behind Eun-soo and Choong-jung, fighting off the assassins and Hwasooin. He finds Eun-soo and Choong-jung waiting beside a horse and he instructs them to ride off in that direction. Choong-jung asks what Young will do and he replies that he will find them later. Eun-soo is scared- why are they going alone? Young pleads for her to just once do as he says without asking why. He hands her the reigns. “Go. Wherever you are, I will find you so hide well.”

Young continues to fight off the assassins in the woods. Somewhere else in the woods, Joo-suk comes upon a governmental soldier camp. He hides from them, in consideration of the warning that Choong-suk gave him about Young being framed as a traitor. Suddenly a hunter shows up behind Joo-suk. Joo-suk pulls out his sword in defense so the hunter explains that Choi Young sent him to find him.

The hunter informs Joo-suk that Gwanghwado is in an uproar over Choi Young escaping with Choong-jung. When Joo-suk responds that it is impossible, the hunter wonders how Joo-suk did not know, when all the soldiers knew yesterday exactly when Choi Young was coming and leaving with Choong-jung. The order already came yesterday morning for the soldiers to be ready.

Jo Il-shin is rubbing it in with Gongmin. What did he say- that Young was not to be trusted. Young was working for Ki Chul from the beginning. It is not possible for Young to have escaped with Choong-jung by himself; Ki Chul must have helped him.

The eunuch informs No-gook of the situation with Young. Lady Choi rushes to the medical wing. She was ordered by No-gook to bring Dae-man to her.

No-gook wants to know if Ki Chul simply handed over Eun-soo to Young. Dae-man replies yes and tries to elaborate but No-gook interrupts him, demanding to know if Young followed Ki Chul’s order to go to Gwanghwado. Dae-man once again tries to elaborate but No-gook cuts him off again- why did Young follow Ki Chul’s order? Is he on Ki Chul’s side? Dae-man scratches his head, unable to answer. Poor boy knows that Young is not a traitor but he doesn’t know why Young is doing what Ki Chul wants him too. No-gook dismisses Dae-man in anger.

Lady Choi once again wants Jang Bin to talk to No-gook. Bin grimaces, all, why must I get involved in all this? (Joonni: I love how Jang Bin is so reluctant to get involved in all these politics. He’s just, “Can I live quietly just doing my medicine thing?”)

Jang Bin offers that there must have been a reason why Young followed Ki Chul’s order- perhaps Ki Chul threatened Young using Eun-soo. Lady Choi agrees- that must have been why- but No-gook doesn’t want to hear it. Lady Choi asks No-gook to think about it from Young’s point of view but No-gook responds, “Who would want to know Choi Young’s point of view? It is easier and more fun to condemn than take the side of unfairly accused.”

Eun-soo is trying to catch the rainwater leaking inside the cottage while Choong-jung sleeps. She goes outside to feed the horse when she hears a noise. She grabs a knife and when she feels that someone is behind her, she dashes forward, her eyes closed and the knife outstretched.

Young grabs her and asks, “Do you stab before asking who it is?” Eun-soo retorts, “Didn’t you say that I couldn’t stab you no matter what?” Young advises her to not attack someone if she doesn’t have the confidence to do it properly- a sword does not differentiate between its owner and its enemy.

As Young sits beside the sleeping Choong-jung, Eun-soo chatters on. How did he find them? She hid the horse out back too- didn’t she do well? But what if the horse poops there?

Lightening flashes and Eun-soo finally notices the blood on Young’s face. Did he get hurt? Young assures her that it isn’t his blood. Eun-soo throws Young a cloth and pushes him. “Go away and don’t wake up the kid.” (Joonni: Aw, Eun-soo is upset to see Young so bloody!) Young demands to know whom she is calling a kid. Eun-soo doesn’t answer and Young, noticing how upset she is, just walks to a different corner of the cottage. As he wipes the blood off his face, he looks at Eun-soo.

Eun-soo gets up from her nap and calls out to Young- did he sleep at all last night (at the camp)? When Young doesn’t answer, Eun-soo realizes that Young has not slept since he woke up from his coma. “So in that state, you fought, rode a horse, fought again, stood guard…” Eun-soo walks over and sits by Young. In response, Young gets up and sits by another beam. Eun-soo follows him and sits down next to him, even closer this time. Young looks at her in surprise and asks, “What are you doing?” Eun-soo tells him to sleep on her shoulder. She will protect him from now on. Young is incredulous. Does he want him, a man, to lean on a woman’s shoulder? Eun-soo is thinking about this practically. All she is offering to do is help out the more exhausted person- why bring gender into this? (Joonni: Can I love her more?). She repeats once more for Young to sleep on her shoulders; she’ll protect him. (Joonni: You know, she can just tell him to lie down while she stands guard. Teehee! Sly girl, trying to get all touchy with Young.)

Eun-soo heard from the other Woodalchi that Young loves to sleep. She imitates one of them- “If you leave him alone, he sleeps for four days straight. When he wakes up, he eats four days worth of food all at once. Then he goes back to sleep. Our dae-jang is truly amazing.”

Eun-soo explains why sleep is necessary and she doesn’t notice that Young has fallen asleep and his head is leaning toward her shoulder. When it finally falls, Eun-soo stops talking and touches Young’s wrist. She measures his pulse and feels his forehead. Pleased with the results, Eun-soo smiles but immediately wrinkles her noise at the smell of blood. Young slowly opens his eyes. (Joonni: Hee! So he wasn’t actually sleeping! He was pretending to be so he can lean on her shoulder without hurting his man pride.) He closes his eyes again, resting peacefully.

Joo-suk and the hunter are still looking for Young. They don’t see the assassins anymore so Joo-suk wonders if they gave up or already found Young. The hunter thinks that the assassins went to watch the road out of Gwanghwado, since the soldiers are inside Gwanghwado looking for Young. Joo-suk thinks that Young is still inside the city since he has other people with him. The hunter directs Joo-suk to follow the fresh horse dung.

In the morning, Choong-jung is experiencing ear pain so Eun-soo asks Young for her aspirin. She hopes that, while aspirin is not a strong pain reliever, since people here have not developed a tolerance to it, it will work quickly. She asks Choong-jung to endure just a bit more since the medicine will soon kick in.

Young is still worried and asks Eun-soo do some acupuncture. Eun-soo tells him that she doesn’t know how so Young gets angry- is this all she can do? Eun-soo is indignant. She sarcastically apologizes- She’s sorry that she couldn’t ransack a pharmacy before she got kidnapped by him. If he had told her before hand, she would have packed all different types of medicine. Young looks a little sorry but when Eun-soo calls him a jerk for asking so much when he kidnapped her, Young gets angry again. “Jerk?”

Eun-soo, to distract Choong-jung from the pain, urges him to follow after her. Eun-soo imitates a Korean singer named Yang Hee-eun (an older, folk guitar singer with a very distinctive way of speaking) and starts to sing…very strangely and off-pitch. Choong-jung and Young finally crack a smile and laugh. But Young suddenly stops Eun-soo, hearing something outside. Yay! Joo-suk finally found Young!

Hwasooin reports to Ki Chul that she lost Young and crew. Ki Chul tells her that she did well; otherwise it wouldn’t be fun. He turns and gleefully smiles. Hwasooin is confused- is he really complimenting her? She really can’t tell what is going on in that head of his. Eum-ja presses a handkerchief to her mouth to stop her ranting.

The hunter informs Young that he was ordered by a Gwanghwado official to bring Young to him so that he can decide for himself whether Young was framed or not. Young asks the hunter if the official told him to bring back Young even if he was really a traitor. The hunter smartly replies that if Young really was a traitor, he wouldn’t follow him back.

Eun-soo is concerned about the bumpy road for Choong-jung. Joo-suk wonders if this Gwanghwa official is someone they can trust. Young doesn’t see any other way -they can’t keep running forever with Choong-jung. He orders Joo-suk to return to the palace and relay a message to the king. Joo-suk tells Young that the king doesn’t know that he came and if the king found out he secretly met with Young…Young assures Joo-suk that the king won’t kill him for relaying this message…probably. Young wants Joo-suk to return with the king’s answer, if he doesn’t die first. Joo-suk is not sure that the king will give Young a reply; Young agrees. “I’m telling you this beforehand since you might die because of me… I’m sorry. (Joonni: ROFLMAO.)

Ki Won gets a message delivered by the Pigeon Express. He shows it to another statesmen and they both do not look happy.

Gongmin and No-gook sit across from each other with Jang Bin standing in the middle like a kid getting punished. Gongmin wants to know if No-gook is worried; he orders Bin to relay this to No-gook. No-gook tells Bin to tell Gongmin, “Yes.” Back and forth, Gongmin and No-gook talk to each other without talking to each other. Gongmin wants to know if No-gook invited him to this meal because she was worried about Young. No-gook wants Gongmin’s permission to go see Ki Chul. Gongmin speaks to Jang Bin while he continues to glare at No-gook. “This is why I called you, doctor. I don’t think the queen is in the right state of mind. How did her head go bad when she was only wounded on her neck?” Gongmin gets up to leave but No-gook stops him. “I will tell him to take me instead of Eun-soo and Young.”

Everyone looks at No-gook in surprise and Gongmin demands to know what the heck she is saying. No-gook explains that since she is a Yuan princess, Ki Chul will not be able to do anything to her. Gongmin angrily asks if that is why she tried to go to Ki Chul before without his permission. No-gook adds that she was also give him money if Ki Chul wanted.

Gongmin grabs No-gook and furiously demands,  “How pathetic will you make me until you are happy? A king just lost his most loyal servant. I have nothing to say even if he turned his back on me. But now even my queen is tired of my incompetence and she is wants to abandon me and go off by herself.” Gongmin leans in closer and whispers, “Am I that pathetic? Do you really like him that much? Do you need to go that far for him?” No-gook holds back her tears as she answers, “ I thought you would need someone like him more than me.” (Joonni: These people break my heart!)

Gongmin: Why?

No-gook: You don’t know and you don’t even try to know but I…but I…

Before No-gook can finish, Jo Il-shin and another statesman (that was with Ki Won before) rush in with soldiers. (Joonni: ARGH!!!!!!! I’m gonna cut off Jo Il-shin’s head!) They declare that they are here to rescue Gongmin from the Woodalchi since their leader is a traitor- are the Woodalchi holding him hostage? Gongmin, annoyed with the antics, tells Jo Il-shin that he ordered the Woodalchi to protect him. Jo Il-shin informs Gongmin that Woodalchi are secretly in contact with Young. Gongmin walks forward to Choong-suk and asks if it is true. Choong-suk and the Woodalchi kneel in acknowledgement.

Ki Won comes with soldiers to the Woodalchi lair and orders them to stay inside in order to prove their innocence. Otherwise, they will be considered traitors just like Choi Young.

Eun-soo, Choong-jung, and Young enter the house of the Gwanghwado official named Ahn. Ahn introduces himself but Eun-soo wants to him to do the greetings later; Choong-jung needs to rest.

Eun-soo lies next to Choong-jung and asks him how he fees. Choong-jung replies that he is feeling better, thanks to her medicine. Eun-soo tells him that she noticed some herbs outside. She thinks she will be able to make a cool pain relief patch from the mint herb. Choong-jung informs Eun-soo that her spell is also working. Choong-jung repeats what Eun-soo showed him when she imitated the singer. Eun-soo looks at him gently but sadly, her heart moved by his bravery and innocence.

Outside, Ahn has listened to Young explain that he is being framed and that he plans to wait for the king’s orders. Ahn asks Young if he is supposed to believe in all this so Young replies that Ahn has to; otherwise, he is doing something very dangerous right now by hiding Young inside his house. Actually, Young is suspicious. Why is Ahn helping Young right now? Does he really want to start a coup with the former king, Choong-jung?

Ahn laughs. He is someone that lives off the country. Does Young know what the three most important things are for that to continue generation after generation? Young replies that he doesn’t know- he’s never thought that far into the future. Ahn tells him that he will teach Young if he gets the chance.

Eun-soo is picking mint when Young finds her and asks what she is doing. She tells him that she is picking herbs to use a pain reliever. “This is rmint. I know this because it goes in my favorite cocktail drink – the mojito.” Eun-soo smacks her lips- “It really tastes good.” Young wants to quickly go back to Choong-jung with Eun-soo since he is alone. Eun-soo asks, “Isn’t this place safe? If you are worried, go back alone.” Eun-soo looks at the mint and says, “Even though I picked it, I don’t know how to make medicine out of it. Do I have to juice it? Boil it?” Young wonders why a doctor doesn’t know. Eun-soo informs him that doctors in her era don’t make medicine. They just type the name into a computer and give it out.

Eun-soo offers Young a small yellow flower-“Take it. It’s a present.” Young dismisses it, all, I’m a man, and turns away so Eun-soo grabs his arm and asks him to not move- “There’s something weird here…” Eun-soo, while pretending to be removing something from Young’s hair, places the flower behind his ear.

Eun-soo laughs and walks away, commenting that the look suits him. Young suspiciously touches his hair and out falls the flower. Young sighs in exasperation, “Is it that funny?” Eun-soo replies, “The flower smells nice. I thought it might cover the smell of blood on you.”

Young notices the guards outside of Choong-jung’s room and rushes over. Ahn stops him, assuring him that Choong-jung is sleeping and his guards will protect him. He asks Eun-soo if she ate yet so Eun-soo replies that she hasn’t- the person who is supposed to take care of her doesn’t ever think about feeding her. Ahn has prepared food but he worries if countryside food will taste good to her. Eun-soo assures him that she isn’t picky and can eat anything but she does miss red kimchi. As they walk away, Young keeps looking back at that room, feeling uneasy.

Choong-jung is inside his room with Ki Chul. Ki Chul suggests that Choong-jung yell now for Young since he can still hear him. Scared, Choong-jung asks, “If I call him, what will you do to him?” Ki Chul responds, “Don’t you know? He lured you outside to reinstate you as a king.” Choong-jung tries to defend Young but Ki Chul ignores him and just informs him that the Woodalchi are prohibited from leaving their lair by the order of the king, his uncle. “The only thing left now is to catch Young and bring him to the king so that he can receive the punishment fit for a traitor.”

Choong-jung tries to explain that this is all a trap to frame Young to which Ki Chul replies that he know that this is a trap- he planned it. Choong-jung asks why Ki Chul would do such a thing. Ki Chul replies that he has several reasons. “I want Young and if he comes to me, the doctor will follow. I also don’t like the new king so I want to teach him a lesson for his impudent behavior. What should I do? Would you like to become the king again? If you want, just give me the order. I will do everything I can to help you.”

Young watches in fascination and horror as Eun-soo gulfs down her food. He asks, “Are you still not full?” Eun-soo tells him to be quiet- “Shut up.” Young wants to know where all the food goes. Eun-soo asks if the old saying “You shouldn’t bother even a dog when it’s eating” (meaning don’t bother people when they are eating) hasn’t been coined yet. Since she doesn’t know when the next meal is going to be, she has to eat as much as she can now. Young tells her to eat slowly then because he will leave first. He stands to go but Ahn stops him.

Choong-jung tells Ki Chul that while he is young and immature, he knows that Young is not someone who conspire a revolt. Ki Chul replies that Choong-jung does not yet know how far a person will go for his own benefit and life- “No matter how loyal Choi Young is…” Choong-jung interrupts him: “Young is too lazy to do something like that. (Joonni: Pfffffttttt!) Choong-jump elaborates. The Young that he knows is not diligent enough to conspire a revolt. (Joonni: Double pffft.)

Ki Chul informs Choong-jung that it is not important now whether Young is committing treason or not. What’s important is whether he, Ki Chul, will let Young take the fall or save him.  Choong-jung cries and asks, “If I make Young kneel before you, will you save him?” Ki Chul replies yes, it’s that simple. Choong-jung responds that Young won’t kneel in front of him; he is too lazy to beg for his life from someone he hates. (Joonni: Hahaha! How beautifully simple is that? Not some grand moral reason but because he is too lazy. Excuse me while I go laugh my head off.) Ki Chul wants to bet that Young is like everyone else and will do anything to save himself- if need be, Young will abandon Choong-jung and the king.

Ahn asks Young what he will do if Choong-jung asks him to help him get back the throne. Young responds that he will pretend that he didn’t hear Ahn’s questions. When Ahn continues to insist, Young replies that while he is just a warrior, he does have a head on his shoulders. Does Ahn think that he will answer a question like that in this kind of situation? Ahn counters that he is risking his life to give refuge to Young right now- he deserves an answer.

Ki Chul pulls out a small jar from his robes. He shows it Choong-jung, telling him that is a poison that will burn your insides. “Starting form your throat to your stomach- one by one- it will slowly burn everything.” Ki Chul wants Choong-jung to offer this to Young and ask him if he will take this poison and die. “If so, Ki Chul will bury this matter with you and save me.” Ki Chul prods Choon-jung- doesn’t he want to know if Young will obediently drink this or not?

Ahn asks Young what he will do if Choong-jung asks him to help with a coup. Young replies that he will have to kill Choong-jung. Eun-soo chokes on her food. Young elaborates. He serves to protect the king. If someone is threatening the king, it is his duty to kill that person no matter who it is.

Choong-jung is about to faint but Ki Chul holds him up and says, “Truthfully, you didn’t commit any crime so if Young quietly dies, I will make everything go away. If not, you will have to die as a traitor.” Choong-jung cries- didn’t Ki Chul say he wanted Young? Why does he want to kill him? Ki Chul replies that it is because he wants to teach Choong-jung about the real nature of humans. “To be honest, Young is meant to die anyway. Let him save you and die.” Choong-jung grabs Ki Chul’s hand- “Is there no way to save Young?” Ki Chul repeats that in order to save Young, Choong-jung will have to die. There is no treason if there is no former king to reinstate.

Young is rushing to Choong-jung and Eun-soo begs for him to stop so she can talk to him. “Let’s do it this way. Take Choong-jung and me to the portal. I want to take Choong-jung there so he can get surgery and chemotherapy. We can save him.” Young tells her that there is no guarantee that the portal will be open so Eun-soo counters there is no guarantee here either. Young is being framed for treason and she’s seen enough sageuks to know that they are all going to die.

Young asks Eun-soo if she knows the way to the portal. She replies without much confidence that she can ask people on the way. He asks how she is going to avoid all the soldiers. Eun-soo doesn’t have an answer. Young walks away so Eun-soo calls out to him. “Can you come with us? You don’t have to kill anyone there anymore. So let’s go together to the heavenly world. With me, together.” Young does not answer her. He just continues to walk away.

The guards are no longer posted in front of Choong-jung’s room. Alarmed, Young quickly goes inside and opens the door. He smiles to see Choong-jung safely there but soon notices that he is sweaty and in pain. Young calls for Eun-soo but Choong-jung stops him. (Softy: oh crap he took that drug to die instead of young) (Joonni: Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! I’m gonna murder Ki Chul.)

Joo-suk is now back at the palace, hiding and searching for other Woodalchi. He gets caught by the guards and he struggles to fight them off. Dae-man is on the roof, using a slingshot to shoot down some of the guards.

Eun-soo rushes into Choong-jung’s room as Young calls for her to hurry. She looks over Choong-jung and asks when this started. She sees his red and inflamed arms and cries, “What is this? Why are you like this?” Young notices the small jar and smells it. He asks Choong-jung if he drank it- it smells like the burning poison. Eun-soo wants to know what it is but Young only asks Choong-jung who gave it to him. Eun-soon once again demands to know what it is so Young explains that it is a poison that burns the insides. Young opens Choong-jung’s robes and shows her what’s happening. Eun-soo can’t believe what she is seeing so Young yells at her to do something- it’s a poison that burns the insides and slowly but painfully kills the person. Eun-soo starts, “If it is poison, we can pump his stomach…” Eun-soo can’t finish- there is nothing here and now she can do. Young asks her again if there is nothing she can do. She apologizes- “I’m sorry.”

Young orders her to bring cold water so they can at least try to bring the fever down.  Eun-soo dashes off. Alone with Young, Choong-jung tells him that Ki Chul taught him how he could save Young. “He must not have known. He didn’t know that I wasn’t going to live long anyway. So he told me to give this poison to you. But why would I do that?”

Tears filling up his eyes, Young asks, “So did you drink this poison instead of me?” Choong-jung can’t answer because he is in agony. A tear falling down his face, Young asks, “Are you in a lot of pain?” Choong-jung wants to know if he will be able to go to the heavenly world. Young assures him that he can. Choong-jung asks Young to tell him about the heavenly world.

Young cradles Choong-jung and describes to him again how in heaven there are carriages with no horses that go on its own, how there are wide streets filled with those carriage, and how the whole world is full of light- even the sky is full of lights! The pain is too much for Choong-jung so he cries, “It hurts, Young.” Young continues to try to reassure him- “If you go there, even if it’s night, you won’t lose your way.” But the pain is unbearable for the small boy so he cries once again, “It hurts too much.”

Young looks at Choong-jung. “ I will help you now so it doesn’t hurt. Can I do that?” Choong-jung replies yes- it hurts too much. Young reaches for his knife and hugs Choong-jung again. Choong-jung closes his eyes and dies. Young holds onto him tightly before letting go. He gulps for air until he hears the door being door opened. Young quickly wipes his eyes.

Eun-soo walks into the room and sees Choong-jung dead and Young holding his bloody knife. She drops her basket and asks in disbelief, “Did you kill him? Did you do that?” Young coolly answers that he thinks the owner of this house betrayed them. He walks toward her while instructing her to wait; he needs to check the situation outside.

Eun-soo back up away from him and Choi Young looks at her with this look on his face that just kills me. Eun-soo tries to leave but Young pulls her toward him. His words are filled with pain as he says, “How many times do I have to tell you to do what I say- stay by my side so I can protect you.” Eun-soo pushes him away screaming, “Don’t touch me. Move those dirty hands.” Young yells at her, “Don’t go outside! Please!” But Eun-soo doesn’t listen and leaves.

Young chases after Eun-soo. Eun-soo, busy looking back, misses a step and falls but Ki Chul catches her. Like some kind of playboy, Ki Chul says, “That was dangerous.” Young menacingly calls Ki Chul’s name and jumps down. He demands Ki Chul put Eun-soo down because he has some business with him. Young draws his sword and moves toward Ki Chul but Eum-ja jumps out and blocks him. He attacks and Young fights back.

Eun-soo struggles out of Ki Chul’s arm and tries to run to Young but Ki Chul stops her. Before Eum-ja can use his eum-gong, Young attacks, forcing Eum-ja to pull out his sword from his flute again. Hwasooin appears on the scene behind Eun-soo. Young, feeling the pressure rising, uses his nae-gong to strength the power of his attack. Eum-ja’s arms trembles as he feels Young’s nae-gong. Young throws his shield to attack Hwasooin but Ki Chul stops it and shatters it with his power.

Ki Chul plays innocent asks Young where Choong-jung is. Young screams that Ki Chul is truly sickening- how does he not know where he is?!  Young tries to get to Ki Chul again but soldiers surround him. Ki Chul declares that Young is traitor and orders Ahn and his soldiers to make Young kneel. To emphasize Young’s lack of options, Hwasooin pulls off her glove and lays her hand on Eun-soo’s shoulder.

Young drops his sword and kneels in defeat. Young looks at Eun-soo but she turns away, tears falling from his eyes.

Preview for Episode 8

ES asks Hwasooin, “If he gets dragged away like this, what will happen to him (young)?”  Hwasooin replies that he will be killed in a slow and cruel manner.

Gongmin: You who disobey a royal order and communicated with a traitor- you committed a crime deserving of death. So die.

Eun-soo: Little by little, this is different from the history I know.

Gongming: I’m ordering it now!

Gongmin: I will do it! I will question the traitor Choi Young.

Ki Chul shows Eun-soo the medical tools from Hwata. He says aside from this, there are two more so Eun-soo asks him to show them to her.

Young goes to see the king: “I came to ask one thing and to give one answer.”

Softy’s Comment:

ES laughs and says “I am going crazy – it suits you too much.” You gotta love her sense of humor.

I keep wondering if she will feel any sense of guilt. if she wasnt so distracted by her hunger and kept Young by her side for so long, he could have gone back to the kid sooner. even though the kid would have died later on, for now he was feeling a little better. he still could have lived a while longer and maybe even get to meet the current king. I bet gongmin would have treated the kid well too, but I guess the story called for this kid’s death. Sure am going to miss him – he was adorable. the look on her face here is so maternal.

I never liked how Young kept up pleasantries with KC – knowing full well how evil he is. I guess Young was using that tactic about keeping your enemies close, but I felt like Young didn’t have the sting he should have around KC. I desperately wanted to see KC scared out of his wits. I wanted him to know he found an opponent in Young that equals no other.  I wanted to see the dread and fear in his eyes as Young  goes in for the kill, but I guess we have to wait for that to come about much later. For now KC lit the fire under Young so that Young will no longer be pleasant around KC. KC woke up a sleeping lion by killing that former king. I never saw that little boy as anything but a child -only because he doted on Young like his long lost brother and friend. The fact that the whole time KC was sweet talking him and making it seem like KC was doing him a favor, the innocent kid had only one thing on his mind. How to protect his friend – even going so far as to willingly die in Young’s place. That sort of self sacrifice guts me and his death will be on young’s hands more than just the fact that Young had to kill him to spare his pain. His death will weigh on Young’s conscience cuz he knows he has to be a better person now that someone was willing to die to keep him alive. Young has to live up to the sacrifice the boy made.  I really hope Young never forgets that even for a second and pays the kid back by living a long normal life after all of this is over.

Joonni’s comment:

Oh, how I loved this episode. I love how this drama is taking the time to develop its characters and both their inner and outer conflicts.

That scene between Gongmin and No-gook- how are these people so funny and dear and stupid and smart, all within moments of each other? It’s hilarious watching Gongmin and No-gook battle each other, with Jang Bin and Lady Choi stuck in the middle. It’s also exciting because both are can be so vicious and cunning with their words. At the same time, my heart breaks as they wound each other, like porcupines who want to get close but their needles get in the way.

It’s sad to see that nobody has faith in Gongmin- not No-gook, not Young, not the Woodalchi, not Jo Il-shin. I can understand Gongmin’s desperation but at the same time I understand why the others are acting as do they. If this drama is truly about faith/loyality like the title suggests, we are in for uphill battle of people learning to have faith in each other and in themselves. Nobody in this drama trusts each other immediately or blindly. They all need to prove and have it proven to them that the people who are by their side are truly on their side.

Take the relationship between Young and Eun-soo. I can’t blame her for feeling disgusted by what Young did, considering her modern and doctor/non-warrior mentality. She’s been kidnapped here against her will and forced to face death and blood almost everyday. Remember, she turned to plastic surgery because she did not want this. Young feels hurt and disappointed by her reaction to him- like he is a murderer. He is also angry that Eun-soo always questions and doubts him, instead of believing that he is trying to the best thing. And this is not just in Choong-jung’s room but also when Eun-soo turns away from him in the last scene. Did you see that look on Young’s face?

On a less serious note, it tickles my funny bone to see that Young is such a man’s man. He doesn’t believe in leaning on a woman’s shoulder, nor does he like flowers in his hair. But at the same time, that pride is such a wall to block out others from seeing his vulnerability. He wiped his tears so that Eun-soo wouldn’t see him crying over Choong-jung and he tried to act like it was a non-issue that he had to kill Choong-jung- a young boy that he protected and cared for like a younger brother.

This reminds me of how Young also wiped blood off his face before he found Eun-soo at Ki Chul’s house. I thought it was just a sweet gesture then but now with all the blood talk in this episode, I’m seeing the importance of the blood motif. Blood isn’t simply a red liquid that flows inside a person’s body. Actually…it is. Because if it flows inside a human being‘s body, it is more disturbing to see it outside where it doesn’t belong, on a person it doesn’t belong to. Eun-soo is making Young realize that. She wants Young to go with her so he can stop being a warrior and stop killing people. The presence of blood on Young, especially when it is not his, is tragic to her. But for Young, it is his life, all that he has known. He has seen blood shed out of stupidity and wrong-doing but it’s also been shed for love and loyalty. Perhaps Young will show Eun-soo that somethings are worth the dirty hands.