[Drama 2013/2014] ♚ Empress Ki (기황후) ♚

[pegster]

New BTS photos for EP40:

Does anyone else find the back of SN's new hairpiece really pretty?

There was an attached article. (google translate haha) I think it mentions how from watching this puppet show SN figured out the secret to ET's treasures is within the lyrics of the song the kids were singing around WY.

[기황후]의 하지원과 지창욱이 데이트를 하는 모습이 공개됐다. 

24일 MBC 월화특별기획 [기황후](극본 장영철 정경순, 연출 한희 이성준) 측이 공개한 사진에는 서로 다른 표정으로 피영희(皮影戱)를 관람하는 하지원과 지창욱의 모습이 담겨 있다. 

극중 바얀(임주은)이 황후에 등극한 후 마음이 복잡한 승냥과 연철(전국환)의 비밀자금을 찾기에 바빠진 승냥(하지원)에 대한 타환(지창욱)의 서운함이 서로 부딪히며 조금씩 갈등을 빚었던 두 사람이 함께 피영희를 보고 있어 눈길을 끈다. 

특히, 같은 공간에 있지만 즐거워 보이는 타환과는 달리 무언가 골똘히 생각하고 있는 승냥의 상반된 표정이 궁금증을 높이고 있다. 또 다른 사진에서는 승냥은 무언가를 깨달은 듯한 얼굴로 피영희에 집중하고 있고 그런 승냥을 의심스러운 눈길로 바라보는 타환의 모습에 두 사람의 관계가 좋아질 수 있을 것인지 주목된다. 

드라마 관계자는 “피영희 장면은 타환이 승냥의 마음을 풀어주기 준비한 것으로 타환과 승냥의 현재 마음이 잘 드러나는 장면이다. 승냥과 타환이 서로를 이해하고 다시 가까워 질 수 있을 것인지 방송을 통해 확인해 달라”고 전했다. 

한편, [기황후]는 승냥이 바얀의 모함으로 난처한 상황에 처하고, 타환은 승냥에게서 벗어나라는 백안(김영호)에게 "지금 그 태도 연철과 다를 바 없다"라고 맞서 기대감을 높이고 있다. MBC 월화특별기획 [기황후] 40회는 오늘(24일) 밤 9시 45분에 방송된다.

Credit: EK DC

[EstelleH]

Aww she doesn't even seems like she was happy at all from the pictures above me , poor ta hwan, don't worry she'll be yours and only yours empress at the end. Hwaiting oppa!

[Guest critics]

From the picture that @pegster posted (the puppet show).  I think KG's reaction while watching puppet play isn't funny anymore.  I guess, she is really in to finding the missing treasure - as if her time is wasted.  Glad if out of it, she will truly discover the where about of the wealth she's so inclined to possess, then she will be more joyful than expected and perhaps "kiss Paeja to her heart content" after helping her solve the puzzle.

[palilsan]

critics said:

[Guest critics]

@palilsan said:  TH: Gwibi, please I’m begging you, do not make me become angry.

Sorry, if my hearing is off but that is what I thought I heard from the dialogue.
I think Ta Hwan is just putting the ball back in Seung Nyang’s court. Based on their dialogue, he’s already distressed and he is asking her to not do things that will further upset him which explains why he turns around after he says it. It may just be the writers’ way of planting seeds of miscommunication between them. We’ll find out soon enough.

It's okay, which ever is true between these statements below, maybe the outcome is still the same.

1. TH begging KG not to be angry/upset with him.
2. TH begging KG not to make him angry/upset.Paeja will always find ways to be near with or to reconcile with KG.  Even in reality, sometimes couple needs to be against with each other just to come up with a better method in solving the problem.  In the last episode, what KG & TH had was just a normal lovers' quarrel but needs to be resolved ASAP to bring back immediately what they used to be since they are both facing threats from within and outside Yuan courts.
   

[cherkell]

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Hulu has just posted that all 'Empress Ki' episodes currently on their website WILL EXPIRE as of 30 March 2014.  You could have knocked me over with a feather, since virtually all other K-dramas on Hulu will not expire until 30 December 2030... and this show hasn't even ended yet!!!

Investigation continues; e-mails have been dispatched to both Hulu and MBC America for clarification.  Stay tuned!

EDIT:  Seems to be a licensing issue between MBC and Hulu.  Will report back once details are verified.

[Guest mickey002]

I sometimes ask myself. Am I really watching the same drama? It seems like I no longer understand the meaning of this drama. If it is about Empress Ki, doesn’t she need to do good deeds for her mother land? The drama is closed to ending and yet we have not seen the heroic in SN.  We instead see a lot of romance scenes which were deeply developed around TH and LK. Where is SN that I know from beginning of the show?

Writer/PD: If this is a “seaguk” drama, then where is the hero/heroine?  

[Guest rasberryMINT]

This article was shared on the WangNyang shipping thread and I'm sharing it here on the main drama thread because it's relevant to the entire drama: http://enews24.interest.me/news/article.asp?nsID=372373
The main point is that: 1.) The drama will be extended to 51 episodes and 2) There will be a sad ending.
The big question is: Who will die? According to the article, the Dowager Empress, Baek Ahn, Bayan, Dang Ki-se, Wang Yoo, and Ta Hwan are all characters whose death is probably inevitable and will meet a sad ending.
It then referred to Ha Ji Won's previous dramas and movies that had sad ending, as a possible foreshadowing for what's to come and be expected at the end of the drama, especially because the drama has been getting darker and there's still much drama yet to unfold. 
I'll try to translate the article during my spare time unless another Korean on this thread beats me to it.

[EstelleH]

Oh god I hope that neither ta hwan or nyang or wangyoo or tal tal will die, if one of them die, my heart will die as well (not literally but I'd probably feels depressed)

[blossomz]

Tal tal won't die, he's too handsome to die

Ta Hwan won't die, he's just a cute baby.

SN won't die, she's the heroine who hasn't have her fair share of kicking off her frenemies.

WY won't die, because he hasn't stared at SN enough. He needs to battle TH in a stare off contest.

Baby Ayu won't die cause he hasn't said his first words yet to his mothers' enemies: "off with your heads."

End of story.

[SamShop Watch]

as history telling, TH died during the retreat to the north. i forgot where i read, but he died stabbing by one of Ming army during the attack.
wikipedia :

In 1369 when Shangdu also fell under the Ming's occupation, Toghon Temür fled northward to Yingchang, which was located in present-day Inner Mongolia. He died there in 1370, and his son Ayushiridara succeeded to the throne and retreated to Karakorum in present-day Mongolia in the same year. The Yuan remnants ruled Mongolia and continued to claim the title of Emperor of China. It was called the Northern Yuan by Chinese and Mongols.

At the time of his death, the Mongolia-based empire maintained its influence, stretching the domination from the Sea of Japan to Altai Mountains. There were also pro-Yuan, anti-Ming forces in Yunnan and Guizhou. Even though its control over China had not been stable yet, the Ming considered that the Yuan lost theMandate of Heaven when it abandoned Khanbalik, and that the Yuan was overthrown in 1368. The Ming did not treat Toghon Temür after 1368 and his successor Ayushiridar as legitimate emperors.

But for SN, after the coronation as an empress and the reatreat of north, Toghun Temur (TH) died, she went missing. it could led us enough to a sad ending

[EstelleH]

As you can see, so far the story does not match up with the real history, so if anything I don't think the writers would just have ta hwan get kill and nyang went missing for the ending. Sad ending could mean that nyang is finally said her final goodbye to wangyoo and become an empress, which she will ruled for 37 years. And if ta hwan died, he would die in his own bed with nyang next to him. It would make more sense that way than have him killed and nyang went missing, unless the writers really meant to tell the real history of empress ki, but you see the real empress ki were suppose to be "bad" and all that nasty stuff, which by far in the drama, it showed nothing to prove that nyang is a bad person. And for those bad bastards, I'll kill them myself hah. So let's just hope that the writers aren't going towards the actual history for the ending of the drama. As far as I'm concern right now is that how the heck is the writers gunna fit all that dramas into 11 episodes, I feel like they are going to rush through everything and bam the end, sure I heard about one more episode had been add, but how much can you really fit into one episode? I'm excited yet disappointed that this show is gunna end soon.

[Guest seohaseurri22]

Because of that ending "spoiler" (which is not really a SPOILER anymore, the novel itself is a sure giveaway), suddenly I listed the probabilities of the characters who would be dying at the end of the drama:

1. Ta Hwan (96% chance)
      
              Well again, according to history, the Emperor died at a fairly young age of 50 (??) while fleeing to Yingchang at the time of the fall of Yuan Dynasty. I am not that sure if the story would include the downfall of Yuan because, hello? There are only ten freakin' episodes left, and here we are, still hanging because of that "new-beeyotch-empress" plot and the "El Temur's hidden treasure hunting" arc. It would take few episodes to feature those scenes. And for me, it would be the most heartbreaking, seeing the Yuan Empire being destroyed as it was once renowned by the world for its stunning victorious glory, back in the time of the great Genghis Khan, only to witness to be handed down because of ignorant rulers and corrupt officers.

              I have this strong feeling that uri Paeha will die from heart complications, maybe because of getting old, or being too stressed from his duties as an Emperor (if he really does his duties, huh). Seeing from the past episodes, we could see that TH is the most fragile and vulnerable, both physically and emotionally.

             Remember the "all-of-these-years-I-was-your-woman" line? It would somehow be reflected in the drama.

2. Prince Maha a.k.a. Byul (80% chance)

              As much as he is just a fictional character written just to add the friction between Empress Ki, Wang Yoo and Ta Hwan, he is, and must suppose to die for the best of both worlds, like a sacrificial lamb to all of their faults in the past.

3. Wang Yoo (65% chance)

             Why do I say so? I can't tell it right now. I was just having my slightly bad intuition about what will happen to him in the future. *sigh*

4. Empress Ki (32% chance)

              Who knows, gah? The story seemed to be an open end as to what had happened to EK in the end. Maybe she would be killed together with WY? Fled to a faraway land and became a Buddhist nun instead? Or maybe she went distant away from the prying eyes of the people and lived a simple life instead, while watching Ayu become the new Emperor of Yuan... No one knows.

5. Prince Ayushiridara (0% chance)


     Uh-oh, just my guesses only. Don't worry guys, I am not really good in predicting things. I made those stats with 0.3 level of significance.
>-

[Guest [Deleted User]]

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[EstelleH]

Ok I think I'm gunna drop this drama now. Can not bear the fact that my lovely ta hwan will die.

[Guest [Deleted User]]

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[Guest seohaseurri22]

hanaseyes said: Oh, please, stop saying TH died in 50 years old and 37 years of rein , was young age.
I analyse many times before , In 700 years ago, and at that context history, it's quite long living !!!!
You became grandfather, even can be great father at that age.

[EstelleH]

This is stupid, they might as well just keep it 50 episodes instead. I'm sure none of us cares about those bad ones, because most of us are rooting for ta hwan and nyang to have at least a good ending. I don't really care about other characters, well maybe tal tal, but other than that, atleast keep the original ending, I dont like that fact that the ending might be switch up now since they are going to have an extra episode. Shesh!! You give us hopes that maybe nyang and ta hwan might have a good ending and now you totally ruined it. Dear writers.

[Guest GenaL]

Watching this drama subbed in English at the moment. It's so addictive!  Up to episode 14 in three days lol! But I know from experience that historical dramas always have unhappy endings so really fighting the temptation to read all of Wikipedia right now... Just a little on Genghis Khan and his descedents but no up to Emperor Huizong.

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