Musings on the dynamics between Gil Dong and the Prince. Not spoilery
Subtitles for episode 21 of Hong Gil Dong are out. YAY!
One of the things I find most fascinating about HGD is not the OTP, much as I adore them, but the duality presented by the Prince and Gil Dong. Because the Prince might make a good King, and a just one as far as Kings go, but he is ultimately bound by the medieval society, by its structures, its hierarchies, its codes. He is content to be within the system: in fact he wants to rule the system. He wants to repair some 'cracks' in it to make it more functional but he wants the basic system intact. He is happy with the traditional system, as long as it's ruled by a good King (i.e. him) and not an evil nutter.
But Gil Dong? Oh no. Gil Dong is entirely not like that. He is someone entirely outside the system and society, and while eventually it's by choice (i.e. becoming a rebel), he has been outside of it ever since his birth merely by the virtue of who he is (bastard slave offspring of a nobleman). So he is not bound by it and he sees little good in it. His goal is not the Prince's. It is to dismantle this society to bits. After all, even if the King was not the nutter Kang Hwe but the 'good' Chang Hwe, there would have been no difference in Gil Dong's status of a thing, and someone who is not allowed to use his talents.
Gil Dong is, in essence, a professional revolutionary. He is an idealist, he has no pragmatism in him in how to run a country: he is unsuited to being a member of the government, of any establishment really (I suppose he's been rejected by it for so long, he lost any ability or desire to fit in and be molded). The Prince would stop at a realistic goal: making himself King. It's relatively easily achievable and very quantifiable. Gil Dong is after something much more nebulous: a just world.
That is why I love how the drama shows us, consistently, that ultimately there is no choice but for Gil Dong and the Prince to clash. A popularly adored rabble-rouser is an invaluable ally when you are trying to rock the status quo, but when you are the status quo, and he is incorruptible, idealistic, and radical, you do not want him around. This goes far beyond the superficially present 'Gil Dong has the heart of the girl the Prince wants' or even the fact that the Prince is clearly insecure because Gil Dong not only behaves as his equal, but also because the people follow the Prince because Gil Dong says so. People love Gil Dong, not the Prince (understandably so: the Prince has not been giving them food and shelter and fighting the system for them). And of course, there is the uncomfortable feeling in the back of the Prince's skull that Gil Dong actually is better, more capable etc, than him.
But ultimately, even if all of those were absent, they would still be bound to clash. You cannot be a ruler and satisfy and leash satisfactorily someone like Gil Dong. You cannot be a rebel like GD and be satisfied with a slightly more functional version of same-old-same-old.
I am interested to see how it will all turn out.
One of the things I find most fascinating about HGD is not the OTP, much as I adore them, but the duality presented by the Prince and Gil Dong. Because the Prince might make a good King, and a just one as far as Kings go, but he is ultimately bound by the medieval society, by its structures, its hierarchies, its codes. He is content to be within the system: in fact he wants to rule the system. He wants to repair some 'cracks' in it to make it more functional but he wants the basic system intact. He is happy with the traditional system, as long as it's ruled by a good King (i.e. him) and not an evil nutter.
But Gil Dong? Oh no. Gil Dong is entirely not like that. He is someone entirely outside the system and society, and while eventually it's by choice (i.e. becoming a rebel), he has been outside of it ever since his birth merely by the virtue of who he is (bastard slave offspring of a nobleman). So he is not bound by it and he sees little good in it. His goal is not the Prince's. It is to dismantle this society to bits. After all, even if the King was not the nutter Kang Hwe but the 'good' Chang Hwe, there would have been no difference in Gil Dong's status of a thing, and someone who is not allowed to use his talents.
Gil Dong is, in essence, a professional revolutionary. He is an idealist, he has no pragmatism in him in how to run a country: he is unsuited to being a member of the government, of any establishment really (I suppose he's been rejected by it for so long, he lost any ability or desire to fit in and be molded). The Prince would stop at a realistic goal: making himself King. It's relatively easily achievable and very quantifiable. Gil Dong is after something much more nebulous: a just world.
That is why I love how the drama shows us, consistently, that ultimately there is no choice but for Gil Dong and the Prince to clash. A popularly adored rabble-rouser is an invaluable ally when you are trying to rock the status quo, but when you are the status quo, and he is incorruptible, idealistic, and radical, you do not want him around. This goes far beyond the superficially present 'Gil Dong has the heart of the girl the Prince wants' or even the fact that the Prince is clearly insecure because Gil Dong not only behaves as his equal, but also because the people follow the Prince because Gil Dong says so. People love Gil Dong, not the Prince (understandably so: the Prince has not been giving them food and shelter and fighting the system for them). And of course, there is the uncomfortable feeling in the back of the Prince's skull that Gil Dong actually is better, more capable etc, than him.
But ultimately, even if all of those were absent, they would still be bound to clash. You cannot be a ruler and satisfy and leash satisfactorily someone like Gil Dong. You cannot be a rebel like GD and be satisfied with a slightly more functional version of same-old-same-old.
I am interested to see how it will all turn out.