[Drama 2011] Gwanggaeto, The Great Conqueror 광개토태왕

[Guest honzbear]

Sorry, you are right, Katherine.

It's good to see Lee Tae Gon as king at last. In conferences with his ministers and generals, he's the youngest person in the group with possibly the exception of Sagal Hyeon, Yeon Salta and Seolji, and yet he has to assert authority in those situations.

I read that Gwanggaeto became king when he was only 17 years old (not 19 as I thought).

I don't know why more people are interested in the drama and are coming here to post about it. I think the increase is mainly in people overseas who are watching it on KBS World because the ratings in Korea have dropped slightly for the last couple of episodes. It could be as you say, Katherine, that many dramas have finished or are in the process of winding up, and that's why there are more people coming on board. I know there are many fans from Iran. I think the number of people watching it in Korea is steady. The people who started watching it from the beginning have stayed with it. The ones who didn't watch it from the beginning are not going to start watching it now as too many episodes have gone by and they won't know what's happening.

I must confess I probably would not have followed this drama if some fan had not mentioned it and recommended it. I don't watch much TV at all and I don't watch many dramas either. I think I did catch the third episode of King Gwanggaeto (the prisoner swap scene) by chance during channel browsing even before I became a fan of the drama. And then I forgot about this drama until someone said to watch it.

So I started to watch it properly from the first episode with the subtitles. Lee Tae Gon is quite cute in his first scene in the drama where he introduces himself as the ghost general from the north. I thought this would be the general theme of the drama - being a ghost general - but it doesn't appear to have become that.

It's understandable the ratings have dropped slightly as the action is very slow these past couple of weeks. I think Episode 43 and 44 were the most exciting out of the recent episodes. One of my favorite scenes is in Episode 43 when the lit lanterns float up in the sky. Damdeok is a prisoner of Haemowol and he is being transported to Guknaeseong. Haemowol has just sent Bibal away. They all look at the lanterns. Haemowol turns to face Damdeok. Then suddenly he drops to his knees and salutes him by placing his fist across his chest. All his men do the same. I was so relieved when I saw that. At last, Damdeok had a chance. I did suspect something was up when Haemowol ordered Bibal to go ahead and tell the PM he was going to arrive with the prisoners.

I like Haemowol's soldiers too. They are quite handsome and soldierly. I would like to see more of them on the screen involved in the storyline or fighting battles and so on.

I think the executives at KBS made a mistake with the screening times of this drama. If they were after higher ratings, they should have put the drama on weekdays during primetime. This is an expensive production so it would have been worth their while to have done that. I am sure if it had been shown during the weekdays, it would have gotten much higher ratings than it's been getting, perhaps hitting the number one spot. The drama is comparable to Jumong (I prefer this drama to Jumong actually) and Jumong rated number one consistently. So the execs at the TV station made a poor choice when they made this a weekend drama. They probably thought the sageuk fans who had watched Daejoyoung would tune into it so they placed it in this time slot. I kept coming across "Princess Man" on KBS World and on TV and also Sungkyunkwan Scandal. on TV. They showed repeats of these dramas on TV on the weekends during the daytime as well. So these dramas got more exposure. So it was hard not to know about them if you watched TV. I think it would have been the same with KGTG if it had been shown on weekdays.

[Guest flydolesqueue]

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[Guest honzbear]

In the middle of watching Ep 51. At last Damdeok marries Yakyeon. She looks good in this scene with her new hairstyle. It makes her look more mature. This is about the seventh time Lee Tae Gon gets married in a drama. Go Chang looks on content during the ceremony. I like Go Chang. He's earnest and well-meaning. The actor who plays him is quite handsome IMO. I hope they don't make him the baddie in the drama.

The dog is cute in the inn scene.

What a surprise seeing Seoldoan at the wedding. I wonder how he feels about his sister joining Koguryeo. Damdeok has to watch his back – most of the wedding guests from out of town are after his head. Even though they came to his wedding, they are continuously plotting his downfall behind his back.

There seems to be a shortage of salt in Koguryeo.

Damjoo is waiting for a chance to tell Damdeok that Go Un has turned and is now a Houyan person.

Why does Damdeok give such nice presents (three-legged gold cups) to Asin and the Silla man when they are his potential enemies? To bring everyone together and remind everyone that there is fraternity between the three "Korean" nations - Koguryeo, Silla and Baekje? I wouldn't bother. If a nation is determined to fight you, they will do it sooner or later. Neighboring nations are in fact the worst in this respect. If Damdeok had any inkling that Silla would be the nation that caused Koguryeo to be wiped off the face of the map, he would have destroyed Silla the first chance he got.

Still a very slow episode with mostly talking. I guess if I understood Korean better, it would be more interesting to watch. But the build-up to the action is very slow. A lot of fake smiling and hollow congratulating. The place is thick with conspirators. Actually, all his enemies are gathered for the wedding. Don't be naive, Damdeok, you can't trust anyone. The only thing they listen to is your sword.

[Guest flydolesqueue]

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[iledrama]

Hello everyone,

I follow this drama on KBS World and it's at ep 41 and so far, all I can say is that 'The Great Conqueror" is nothing but.

True, he's still only Damdeok and not yet achieved the 'greatness' as his historical self but the writers here have given him a bad deal.....ALL the baddies in this drama (& I do mean all of them) have signalled their selfish power-usurping intentions from the start of the drama and yet every few other episodes, our DD (Damdeok) is caught off-guarded, and has to 'rescue' the situation using his 'no-kill' policy, only to allow the reprieved to plot yet again.

The writers may have taken 'great' pains to portray him as compassionate and merciful but he comes across as a pathetic wimp who never learns frm his mis-judgments.

For a 'great' rookie ruler, his learning curve is virtually non-existent....he KNOWS who his enemies are and WHAT they are after and yet,  time and time again he sits there relying on his enemies 'good-nature' to prevail over their evil one. If that is what the writers call 'great' then surely DD would win the Nobel Peace Prize hands down.

You can almost imagine him giving his acceptance speech in his 'forced' contrived deep voice and glaring eyes lined with eyeliner, telling everybody Goguryeo is the greatest land ever to exist - and in the meantime all the citizens and animals and trees of Goguryeo are still under threat and open to foreign invasion from left, right and center.

The best fun moments for me is for sure when every time something 'unexpected' happens that threatens the lives of his underlings or his mate or whoever he likes, DD will bark orders loudly in his deep throaty voice and trying to look angry and fierce with extra eyeliner. All his underlings in animal headgear will then show their support and unity and just like in true gangsta fashion, his posse would be seen galloping towards their destination with him leading the pack and you'd never miss DD at the head of the formation because he'd be the one with the brightest and most colorful garb. Only thing missing is the target sign on his chest with the words "SHOOT ME!".

Makes you wonder where ALL the assassins in ancient Korea have migrated to, because even a one-eyed grannie assassin can take him down with a single (or two) arrows. But if you remember, in this drama thus far  DD has survived numerous attempts on his life and methinks the various drugs and potions used to heal him may have already garbled his brains.

And why izzit all the BADDIES try to outdo each other & DD himself by purposely and forcefully speaking in deep throaty voices, as if to show who's suffering from the worst case of sore throat? I'll never understand why korean historical dramas are filled with such cliches where all the lead actors in historical costumes and horny headgear by default MUST speak in that manner or else, maybe we viewers might confuse them with the palace eunuchs?

Perhaps that''s why very few, in fact hardly, any pretty boy kpop male idol has ever been cast as a lead in a historical drama because young men with deep throaty voices ARE A MUST - fake beards, mustaches, gorilla eyebrows, chest hair, even deep scars can be applied on but if you don't have a deep voice that sounds like Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones, you're out.

Thank goodness the korean drama producers do not impose similar standards for pretty female kpop idols or prettier actresses to make the crossover to historical dramas....which brings up my question why actress Kim Jung Hwa took part in this project at all as an insignificant character. True, she was about the only 'baddie' character that came to realise they were fighting for the wrong reasons, being manipulated and all, and every time KJH appears, she just lits up the screen with her presence, beauty and charisma. Those sculpted cheekbones and big doe eyes of hers are too good to be playing on the wrong side.

As mentioned, after 41 tedious episodes, we see time and time again DD and his underlings running here, running there, reacting to everything including mosquitoes farting. About the only thing DD has yet to conquer and should conquer first and foremost is his own stupidity. Now wouldn't that be great to see? .

funniest thing, I have read in a while, I laughed so hard my stomach is still hurting.

[Guest alethea33]

funniest thing, I have read in a while, I laughed so hard my stomach is still hurting.

i was in stitches at daunte29's post as well. I couldn't agree more.

[iledrama]

on a quick note, the good guys forgiving the evil plotters repeatedly, is a major plot point in most Kdrama, including those set in modern times.

Drives me bunkers, but oh well

[rubie]

November 29, 2011

[Exclusive]

'Gwanggaeto The Great Conqueror' To be Extended to 100 Episodes

Source: CJ E&M enewsWorld Lee, InKyung l Nate

KBS1’s historical drama, Gwanggaeto The Great Conqueror will be extended by 20 episodes to 100 episodes. The drama was scheduled to end with 80 episodes when it kicked off in early June, but the production team has decided to extend the hit drama.

An insider with the drama said, “The production crew suggested to main cast members in the middle of this month that the drama be extended by 20 episodes to 100 episodes. After thinking over the suggestion, the cast agreed with the idea. To be sure, cast members who are against the idea or who cannot make it due to other schedules will drop out of the drama.”

Gwanggaeto The Great Conqueror has been gathering popularity among the middle-aged or older viewers, ranking first or second among weekend dramas, touting a viewership rating of 20 percent. The drama, which has aired up till the 52 episode, has just entered its second act. The episodes to be aired in December will be covering a triangle love story among Dam Deok (Lee Tae Gon), who rose to the throne in the 45th episode, Yak Yeon (Lee In Hye) and Do Young (Oh Ji Eun).

Meanwhile, the drama was exported to Japan for around three million dollars at the MIPTV, the world′s entertainment content market, which took place in Cannes in April.

Photo credit: Kim Byung Gwan

[Guest katherinekang]

I am so happy that KGTG has been extended to 100 episodes. I know this will be great motivation to all the casts and crew to work harder to make this drama a success. Great work, everyone (including the people on this thread who has contributed).

[Guest flydolesqueue]

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[dramalover1]

Unfortunately, this drama is getting draggier and draggier.    DD is well-known for his wars & conquests, not some political intrigues & scheming or merciful nature.  But so far, it's all about people talking around a table, blah blah blah.  And somebody rushing in and say, "Oh big trouble, big trouble"

Then DD and his gang rush out, talk more, and all the actions happen off-screen, and people discuss the action that happened off-screen and look either serious, angry or pleased depending on their point of view and the drama ends for the week. :sigh:

[Guest katherinekang]

I hope the writers will not drag the storyline into a deadly slow pitch. KGTG is one drama that I watch without subtitles and I love it. I had managed to 'understand' much of what is being said and when the subs comes along, much is true.

This thread is slowly picking up the pitch, no doubt many are intrigued with the story. Even if the storyline is far from history, I am enjoying myself. I am waiting to see how great Damdeok will be, fulfilling the saga of the King Gwanggaeto, the Great Conqueror.

[Guest flydolesqueue]

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[Guest honzbear]

The drama was made primarily for Korean viewers and they understand Korean so it's probably not as boring for them as it is for us. I agree though that too much talking around a table is not exactly exciting stuff especially for those who don't understand what they are saying.

I wonder if they changed the writers at some point. The first three episodes were helluva exciting ones and then it continued on pretty good until episode 18 ... the excitement dropped off after that episode. Did they bring in the female writer about then or was she there from the beginning? How many writers do they have?

Since episode 12, it's been more about internal struggles and romance and so on. Perhaps the PDs wanted to increase the female viewership and so got the writers to write more about stuff that women like to watch - personal stories and tragedies and more on the female characters in general. It became less of a historical drama spotlighting wars and conflict and became more like a contemporary drama, about relationships. Plus this kind of storyline is less straining on the budget.

If that's what happened and there was a change of writers or a female writer was brought on board just for that reason, I think the PDs made a big mistake. They were trying to please everyone and ended up pleasing no one.

The viewers who wanted to watch it because it was a sageuk expecting lots of action and fighting etc would have been let down by the change of pace and the women viewers would have felt that it doesn't have enough romance and they would have been disappointed that Doyeong lost the baby and has gone over to Baekje and Damdeok has married again.

I don't know where the writers have gone with this. The wife gone missing, kidnapped, held captive story is so overused. We saw it in Jumong and in Kingdom of the Wind. I don't like the contrived nature of this storyline. We are supposed to feel sorry for the wife and we are supposed to ask "when will they get together again? When will he find her?" and so on and then feel sad when they finally meet again but she dies or she is married to someone else etc.

It would have been better if the writers had Damdeok fall in love with a female character, have her take part in helping him with his various endeavors and for the suspense to build up throughout the drama - will they get together or not, how attracted are they to each other, can they overcome the obstacles that stand between them and marry ... and for this to continue on throughout the drama until near the end or past the halfway mark when they finally marry. The tension created in this way by this sort of romance would have been nice and suited this drama better than the 'sad' story that was put in the drama.

I didn't think the drama would descend to the kind of hackneyed  plot that has been shown when I first started watching the drama. I thought it would  continue as it started and we would be in for an exciting ride until  the end.

Compare what happened in the last episode with what happened in the first episode. The first episode was packed with so much action it was incredible. The most recent episode comprised mostly people yakking away without much action happening to give us clues as to what they were yakking about.

Of course, as I said, Korean audiences will find it less boring  though they must obviously feel it's slowed down a lot since the beginning episodes.

I also want storylines to end as well. Like some poster said none of the stories get resolved. The drama seems to go around in circles actually. Enemies with Houyan, friends with Houyan, enemies, friends, enemies .... the same with the Mohe and the Khitan (btw, I like the sister of the Khitan chief. She is cute in that scene where she pushes Yeoseokgae and dares him to hit her).

Now that Damdeok is king, will he personally be involved in the fighting or will he just watch from afar? I would think the latter would make more sense. There's no point in the king risking his life unnecessarily.

Then battle scenes will be less exciting because we won't see him actually fight if he's not fighting in them himself.

Though I think the writers will have him personally involved in battle which is not very realistic.

I feel less excited about the drama when I remember there are about 50 episodes left. The drama's only reached the halfway point. These last few episodes have been very boring so I wonder if the next few episodes will be too.

On a side note, I think Seolji and Sagal Hyeon are well-matched up. I like the idea of a man and a woman being Damdeok's top "praetorian guards" - his most trusted soldiers who follow him everywhere and look after his personal safety. They both started off wanting to kill him and have gone 180 degrees and are now two of his most loyal servants.

I feel sorry for Yakyeon as Damdeok doesn't seem to pay her much attention. His thoughts are mostly elsewhere. Also, I wonder if she misses her old role of being a soldier. It must be boring looking after his clothes and personal comforts after the sort of life she used to lead. I would like to see her participate in the meetings and conferences Damdeok has with the generals and ministers and be involved in the decision-making like she used to in the past. There's no reason why she shouldn't now that she's queen. It's not like her brain stopped functioning or something after she married.

I really think they should change the writers. I want them to bring back the feeling of the first ten episodes. That is the reason I keep watching - I really enjoyed those episodes and got hooked on the drama, and also I am hanging on waiting to see if the drama gets that exciting again.

[Guest honzbear]

By the way so many Americans at this site hating on the drama and in particular Lee Tae Gon.

http://deiner.proboa...ead=8920&page=3

Why does Lee Tae Gon inspire such dislike? I don't understand. Okay, he might not be the best actor that ever lived but he's certainly not that bad that he would make people stop watching a drama. But this is what has happened - people on this board say that he's the main reason they've stopped watching the drama.

I don't see why they have so much antipathy toward him. He acts like that because he's directed to act like so and that style of acting suits this kind of drama. Sageuks are by their nature meant to be acted in an over-the-top way. These sageuks make no pretense to be realistic representations of how people behave in actual life. They are exaggerated portrayals of people in history. Evil people are exaggeratedly evil; kingly people are exaggeratedly kingly and so on.

That's the charm of these dramas and reflect the unique Korean cultural character. And these stories are not accurate history either by any means. The fact that so many of them like Dae Jo Yeong and hate this drama shows what bad taste they have. There were characters who were over-the-top in that drama too. CSJ is boring. He hardly emotes. He looks too serious all the time and is a nothing-character. In Emperor of the Sea he was outshone by Song Il Guk (Yeom Moon) even though Choi Soo Jong played the title character.

Some of the people say that Lee Tae Gon is too old to play the role of Damdeok. At the same time, they say they wish Choi Soo Jong or Song Il Guk was playing his part .... If LTG is too old to play Damdeok, what about CSJ (45) and SIG (40)? They would be too ancient for that part.

I think they just want to pick on Lee Tae Gon about something. As for the makeup part, did they complain about Johnny Depp wearing too much eyeliner in Pirates of the Caribbean? Would the fact that he wore eyeliner stop them from watching that movie?

LTG doesn't have any choice about the makeup he wears; it's the director's decision. To blame LTG for that and say that is one of the reasons they don't like the main actor is specious.

Overall, these are petty criticisms.

On the one hand they complain that the drama is a remake of DJY and Queen Sondeok. On the other hand, they wish the main actor of DJY to appear in Gwanggaeto. And they say they want to see the actor playing the bad guy in these other dramas play the bad guy in this drama. Make up their mind - they want to see a remake or they don't?

With their constant comparisons with these other dramas, they are just making excuses as to why they have decided to dislike the drama imo.

You would think these other dramas were such masterpieces of cinema and showcases of superb acting the way they talk up these other dramas and put down KGTG and compare KGTG to them. If KGTG is "trashy", they are ALL trashy. BTW, I think Choi Soo Jong wore eyeliner in DJY and Emperor of the Sea. And he didn't look half as good as Lee Tae Gon with it. He looked like he had too many sleepless nights and was hung over. (Boy am I glad he was not chosen to play Damdeok. We came dangerously close to seeing this guy play LTG's part. He was on the short list for that part.)

If they don't like the main actor for personal reasons, fair enough. But to say that he's so bad an actor that they refuse to watch the drama is going overboard with the dislike I think. The inconsistencies in their criticisms show that their bashing is gratuitous for the most part.

Judging by the way they still post in the thread on Gwanggaeto, I bet they follow the drama in secret ... haha.

For something that they are disinterested in and supposedly don't watch they sure spend a lot of time tearing it apart and discussing it.

[Guest katherinekang]

I really love your last write-up, Honzbear. One bad drama doesn't mean total failure to LTG-ssi. In fact, I admire LTG for his preservance and dedication in his acting.

In every casting of a new drama, everyone has their own favourite actor or actress so opinions vary. I am no longer angry when someone voice their displeasure of Lee Tae Gon being casted in KGTG cos it is no longer relevant. He is in it and he is doing very well in the role.

I think if anyone is hoping for a documented history epic, they should either read history books or watch documentary on Discovery History. They don't understand that it is very difficult to write a drama as they don't have enough history data to work on. They must remember that Gorguyeo was many thousand years ago and the only thing there is left is the Gwanggaeto Stele. I remembered when I was watching TWSSG, there was a lot of make-believe episodes, like dragon flying, tiger flying, turtle-snake flying and phoenix flying and blood flying. Everything was flying here and there. No one mentioned a thing, maybe because viewers loves flying objects.

Firstly, at the beginning, everyone says this drama is a 'continuation' of King Guenchogo and now, it is a remake of Dae Joyoung and Queen Seondok. Complains about the war costumes they wear, storyline, actors & actresses and the list goes on... No one is satisfied, but at the end of the drama, they want more and the cast being admired. Normal, cos it happens all the time.

Let us enjoy this gossipy thread.

[Moosegender]

So...when is the great conqueror gonna...conquer?

[Guest katherinekang]

Soon, enough. Remember we got 100 episodes and we are only half way. I waiting impatiently for the day he hits on Houyan, down with the pigs who provoked the whole fighting issue. Imagine how sickening when they went to Mohe, Khitan and Baekje to star a tbattle against Gorguyeo.

I like to see Damdeok slicing down Murong Bao and Fengba. This would be most exciting. Never mind if everyone says Fengba was supposed to be the 'good one' cos in this drama, he is the international PIG!

But most importantly, Baekje will be one of the three who will be badly hit, with King Asin sending off his brother to Gorguyeo as 'war hostage'. Great show !!

[Moosegender]

If they are staying true to history, Fengba might survive the whole show. Good. I like him.

[Guest honzbear]

If they are staying true to history, Fengba might survive the whole show. Good. I like him.

So far they have stuck close to history with this character. Fengba reveals to Go Un that like him he's an outsider. He is a member of the Han ethnic group and not a Xianbei like the Murong clan and the Houyan people are. In recorded history Fengba was close to Go Un and their friendship lasted for a long time.

I caught a discrepancy watching the subtitled episodes. When confronting the PM in episode 45, Damdeok blames him for causing the death of his mother and his wife. However, later on in Episode 46, he reveals to Seolji that he believes Doyeong is still alive somewhere and that he is hanging onto that belief – that trust and faith are important in any situation.

I believe that Koguryeo was too strong and great for its own good. I think this was the cause of its downfall. The kingdom was a victim of its own strength. According to game theory, weaker people will gang up on a powerful and strong person in a competition. This is because such a person is a common threat to these other people and they will combine to eliminate this threat first before duking it out amongst themselves. With the dominant player out of the picture, the playing field becomes a more level one and the less skilled competitors have some chance of winning unlike before. Just as in the reality game show "Survivor", when it comes to national survival, the best policy most times is to underplay one's superior strengths, to not stand out too much from the crowd, to not be the nail that sticks out and thus invite a hammering-down from others. Time and again, it was the person who spent most of their time under the radar who ended up being the ultimate victor in the show. Thus, it was the same in the Three Kingdoms period. Classic game theory can explain why Koguryeo experienced constant attacks from neighboring kingdoms and tribes.

Eventually, a couple of these nations wised up that Koguryeo was too strong to defeat on their own. These kingdoms conjoined forces, and with this strategy were finally able to bring Koguryeo down.