The Princess' Man - 4 & 5
This show is so beautiful to watch, and I'm loving the story. I really feel for the Princess -- her motivation (to protect her brother) is painfully real, and there's nothing at all she can do that isn't planned for her by others. Her father reminds me of the king on Queen Seondeok -- another somewhat weak and easily browbeaten king. The Princess watches all of her hopes stripped away until she's married off to a man who... well, it's hard to imagine a less suitable Consort. Which is why Suyang agreed to it.
All of the younger generation are puppets for their elders. Brief glimpses of freedom are held for moments before they're taken away. They can see the walls around them, but they can feel everything they can't have.
''You don't want to get married?''
''It's something I can't avoid, can I?''
I realize that astrologers and similar professions were held in higher esteem in the 1450s, but I wonder how it doesn't occur to the king that the royal astrologer can be corrupted or blackmailed. After all, it occurs to someone else. It reminds me again of Queen Seondeok. Misil was using prophecy and eclipses for political ends, and the Princess' faction knew, even if they didn't know how it was being done.
"Are you suspecting the outcome of the sacred calculations?"
Yes. Yes I am.
On the day of her wedding, the Princess' expressions keep shifting between despair, anger, and horrified disgust. This last is especially unguarded when Suyang speaks to the Crown Prince:
"Until then, please think of me as your father."
"Yes, uncle."
It'll be okay. He only wants to kill you.
Se Ryung and Seung Yoo aren't motivated by a need to protect family, but by love. Not affection or a crush, but the love that gives up everything to keep the other safe.
"Don't tell me anything else," he says (not knowing that he's speaking to his love's fiancee). "Just tell me she's safe."
All of the younger generation are puppets for their elders. Brief glimpses of freedom are held for moments before they're taken away. They can see the walls around them, but they can feel everything they can't have.
''You don't want to get married?''
''It's something I can't avoid, can I?''
I realize that astrologers and similar professions were held in higher esteem in the 1450s, but I wonder how it doesn't occur to the king that the royal astrologer can be corrupted or blackmailed. After all, it occurs to someone else. It reminds me again of Queen Seondeok. Misil was using prophecy and eclipses for political ends, and the Princess' faction knew, even if they didn't know how it was being done.
"Are you suspecting the outcome of the sacred calculations?"
Yes. Yes I am.
On the day of her wedding, the Princess' expressions keep shifting between despair, anger, and horrified disgust. This last is especially unguarded when Suyang speaks to the Crown Prince:
"Until then, please think of me as your father."
"Yes, uncle."
It'll be okay. He only wants to kill you.
Se Ryung and Seung Yoo aren't motivated by a need to protect family, but by love. Not affection or a crush, but the love that gives up everything to keep the other safe.
"Don't tell me anything else," he says (not knowing that he's speaking to his love's fiancee). "Just tell me she's safe."