It’s the penultimate week, and in the wake of a near-tragic misstep, our players move into position to face off against their opponents once and for all. All sides have spun and believed their share of lies, but as lines are drawn in the sand, it’s finally time to embrace the truth.
EPISODES 13-14
Confession is the name of the game this week, starting with Lee In’s acknowledgment that he came to meet Mong-woo knowing full well he was walking into a trap — all because he’d promised to come whenever she called. Dal-ha chooses that moment to sneak up behind Lee In, knife in hand, but Mong-woo runs between them and takes the knife directly to the chest. Dal-ha crumples to the ground in dismay. Lee In sends for the royal physician, brushing off Sang-hwa’s protests that Mong-woo and Dal-ha are traitors and vowing never to forgive himself if she dies like this.
The royal physician is next to confess: an old friend — the new inspector general Je-nam — told him about Mong-woo when she first returned to the palace and asked him to watch over her. So Lee In summons Je-nam to hear his side of the story. Je-nam says, truthfully, that he knew about and abetted Mong-woo’s revenge plot, but he’d expected her to fail — and he distanced himself from her upon being appointed inspector general.
When Lee In assures Je-nam he has every intention of hearing Mong-woo out, Je-nam thanks him on Lord Kang’s behalf. Only then does Lee In realize that Mong-woo is Kang Hee-soo, his old mentor’s daughter and only surviving relative. But there’s nothing more he can do for her tonight, so he leaves her in Je-nam’s care and returns to the palace.
Despite waiting anxiously for news about Mong-woo’s condition, Lee In doesn’t immediately run to her upon hearing that she’s regained consciousness. It’s not because he’s angry, he finally explains, but because he’s ashamed. He could have stopped any of her schemes, but he’s been allowing them — encouraging them, even — because they aligned with his goal of appointing Prince Moon-sung as his successor. In his eyes, he’s been using her.
In return, Mong-woo confesses that she overheard his confrontation with Lord Park. She was afraid her love for Lee In would sway her from doing what she thought was best for the people, so she decided to have him killed before she could change her mind. With those confessions out of the way, Lee In reveals that Lord Kang is alive and well — he’s acting as Lee In’s spy in Qing. Lee In has been searching for Hee-soo all this time, never knowing she was right by his side.
Then it’s time to deal with Dal-ha. Lee In gives him a choice: hide his crime and live or confess and resolve his grievances by helping expose the real traitor who sold him out to Qing three years ago. Dal-ha chooses the second option, so Lee In transfers him to the palace and calls in the Border Defense Council — that is, Lord Park and his associates — to prepare an investigation.
Having just learned Dal-ha’s identity, Lord Park is delighted by his arrest… until Lee In explains that he’ll reveal the actual traitor during the investigation. Lord Park can’t have that because, as Lee In suspects, he was responsible. He argues against the investigation, giving Lee In the perfect opportunity to ban the Border Defense Council from participating. When several lords petition Lee In to stop the investigation, he calls them out for only caring about their own agendas, going so far as to say that Dal-ha — who risked his life to act as a spy on the former king’s behalf — is more loyal to Joseon than they are.
Worried for Lee In’s safety, Mong-woo returns to the palace early, and she and Lee In finally lay all their cards on the table. She confesses how she allowed herself to be blinded — in other words, captivated — by her assumptions about him. And he confesses, shamefacedly, that he took the throne against his brother’s wishes. He expects her to hate him for being a usurper, but she embraces him instead, assuring him that by protecting Prince Moon-sung he’s kept his promise to his brother anyway. She pledges her full, unconditional support from now on.
With Mong-woo and Dal-ha’s help, Lee In identifies the man Lord Park sent as an informant to Qing three years ago. But before Lee In can question the man, Lord Park has him killed. Enraged, Lee In gives Lord Park a long-overdue ultimatum: formally confess all his crimes in 24 hours, or be charged with high treason and condemned. Twenty-four hours come and go, but Lord Park maintains that he has nothing to confess. Je-nam worries there won’t be enough evidence to convict him, but Lee In has been harboring a secret witness as a last resort: Court Lady Dong.
The problem? Court Lady Dong knows more than even Lee In realizes. The mysterious poison that killed the former king — the one not even the royal physician can identify — was painted on Court Lady Dong’s lips. Now Lord Park gives her another batch of the poison makeup, along with a threat: If she doesn’t poison Lee In with it, he’ll testify that she poisoned the former king on Lee In’s behalf, and Lee In will execute her to protect himself. So when Lee In asks Court Lady Dong to be his witness against Lord Park, she agrees — on one condition. Much like Mong-woo did before, instead of naming her request out loud, Court Lady Dong approaches the throne to kiss him.
Just when I was starting to think that watching Lee In rain on Lord Park’s parade yet again was (while satisfying) preventing him from feeling like a real threat, Lord Park goes and makes himself threatening in a very different way than I expected. His influence has been his main weapon thus far, keeping him in power even when his crimes are obvious and allowing him to wiggle out of Lee In’s traps in the nick of time. We’ve seen him nervous before, but now it’s like he’s unraveling. And while I suspect he’ll start making mistakes out of desperation, I also believe now more than ever that he can and will do serious damage on his way out.
And speaking of downward turns, Myung-ha is showing his true colors at last, doubling down on his hatred of Lee In and letting himself be swayed by Hyun-bo even after belatedly discovering that Hyun-bo manipulated his father into accusing Lee In of treachery. There’s still room for him to switch sides by the end, but the way he didn’t seem to care overly much that he’d hurt Mong-woo when he grabbed her shoulder was very telling, and I’m glad the show isn’t just pretending he’s been a good person all along.
Finally, I loved everything about Mong-woo and Lee In’s reunions, from her admitting she was wrong to him sharing his deepest, darkest secret even though he was terrified of how it might change her opinion of him. I don’t know what kind of ending will greet these two next week, but I’m so glad they’re finally playing on the same team.