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

[mirage^]

I will remember this drama for a long time, it was one of the best 50+ dramas I have watched.

Ha Ji Won(Ki) is so beautiful and continued to become more beautiful as the drama progressed. Her acting was on another level in this drama as well, I could really feel the roller coaster of emotions she emitted throughout this drama and hooked me from the start. I love her so much.

Ji Chang Wook(TH) played the Emperor role so well that at times I honestly forgot he was an actor, it felt so real. Although they played him as a weak/immature Emperor, from what I have read in history not many Emperors were necessarily individually strong/mature. I felt he embodied the character as well as he could have. I also liked all of the costumes and changes in looks he went through in this drama, as well as him completely changing his character based on it. He also had to portray such a huge amount of emotion in this drama very unlike his previous dramas I have watched. JCW Fighting!.

Joo Jin Mo(WY) to me had the easiest role of the three by a wide margin, but he did the best he could do with what he was given. Although I was completely shipping TH/SN throughout the whole drama even through the massive change in attitude near the end with TH, I can honestly say I would have been fine with SN ending up with WY as well. That is really saying a lot considering SN/WY were spread apart for the majority of this drama, meaning, he must have portrayed his love for SN very well even with the lack of the couple being together. He had a lot of memorable scenes in which I will not forget.

That is just 3 of many memorable characters in the drama. I loved the early characters like El Temur / Tanashrii, as well as Baek Ahn and Tal Tal. I would honestly rate this drama a 10/10 because there was never a point in this drama where I felt anything weird or out of place. Many 50 + episode dramas tend to lack depth near the end and throw in random events that really make no sense just so they can hit the 50 mark and complete the main story at that point, but with Empress Ki there was no makjang moments nothing really out of place either.

In the end I just want to say that I love this drama very much and all of the characters mentioned above. I am very sad it has ended. Empress Ki Fighting! HJW Fighting!.

[Miky88]

[Miky88]

bashful said: @ tieuyeunu

I don't think SN reaction was in a sense she was already prepared for this moment. It's rather that she was shocked and still stunned by TH death that it took her sometime to realize and accept that he's gone. Instead of crying her lungs out like she did with WY she was tearing from her heart. Towards WY , SN probably felt regretful that things turn out like this. As of TH she was not ready for his death, since she was just talking to TH about traveling with him. SN seems to be shocked and at the very end she was still mumbling about her feeling for TH (even though he was no longer breathing).


This is the first time SN confess her feelings to the man she loves and the PD waited until the very end of this drama to finally reveal SN feeling to the audiences. If ppl still question about her feeling for TH then I don't know what to say. Since I have been watching this drama from ep 1 to 51; SN and TH life and death experiences and all their hardship together is what made their relationship become love.  I am satisfy with the ending even though SN was the only one who survive but she still has Ayu so she is not a lone. Now she could finally live in peace since TH eliminated all those who could become a threat to her.

[Guest sogongx3]

TH&SN's journey was amazing. Even though their ending was tragic I will never regret shipping them. They went through a lot...and that's what I love about their relationship, that it's so REAL!!

JCW&HJW have the best chemistry ever!

[Urnaa]

all the dramas i watched over the years, i always cry hard with HJW. Truly wonderful woman.

[Miky88]

For those who still don't know Golta gave Th two types of drugs/poision in the last episodes...till now he gave TH the drug,the one who made him hallucinate and go all crazy all this years,in the final episodes he started with the poision that was powerful and with all the cups he gave him it advanced and killed him,the only thing that made TH last long was the broth that ET also took his whole life against poision,he was already too late to be saved because the poision already killed his insides,the broth only prolonged his life spam even if he was in pain and all,it made the poison move slower but nothing more,and the 3ed drug ussed was that of making him sleep and forget things....TH was healty exept for his heart problems that were shown from the very beggining in hints...i think TH actually lived much more than they expected beased on his condition...he lived because of the broth and mere will from his part,to stay longer by SN side 

[Guest novemberA]

[Guest Issy_1]

New day, new beginning. ..or is it? Well, at least I have stopped crying and have accepted the fact that my beloved puppy emperor is no longer (oh no! Tears are starting to build up again) and I have nothing to look forward to on Monday/Tuesdays. I know for sure I will be crying whenever I watch the last ep.

What got me the most is TH taking the poison knowing well it's killing him but not hesitating for one second for sake of SN and Ayu. Most important people in his life. This affected me more than dying at the end scene. It wasn't a quick death like WY but years of agony and pain afterwards.

Since people are comparing SN's reactions to death of both WY and TH as an indication of depth of her love to each man, here is how I see it.

To me she looked both shocked and in denial state after TH died too. This is her first time dealing with his death. With WY, she has been through his assumed death at least twice. But with his final one, she was in front of a lifeless body. Even as TH shipper I would have thought of her as a heartless woman if she didn't cry like this for WY. He was her 1st love and father of her child in one time. They didn't part on bad terms and she knows he died for her to stay alive. She does feel very guilty about it. As a TH shipper, I am fine with it because the drama proved to me that she did love TH deeply and sincerely with all of her heart and she did actually chose him.

I always had doubt about SN's love to TH when she decided to give herself to him. So last few eps, were very reassuring to me on how much she loved him.

Before TH died, he talked about his itchy ears. So obviously he would in that position, resting his head on her lap when he died. If she found him dead in his bed, she would have hold him the same way as WY.

SN might have been preparing himself for TH death for sometimes but at the same time, praying for miracle to happen. People who gone through this can tell you that even when all hopes are gone, you still pray.

After reading translations (thank you so much @pegster‌ ) I feel so much better knowing that TH didn't die right after getting rid of traitors in the palace. When I was watching the raw ep yesterday, I was hopeful that TH survives the poison somehow. Specially when he told SN "no matter how hopeless they say his condition is, he will live a long life with her and Ayu". I didn't know there were two time skips between two scenes. I knew that after WY's death, TH's won't be long. I just wanted him, SN and Ayu could enjoy some happy times together before he's gone.

I'm happy now that it did happen. The Poison might have shortened TH's life but it didn't kill him right away. It means TH did fight the poison and SN did all she could to slow its effects. He kind of survived that poison and it makes me feel much better now. As others said, it's a bitter sweet ending. For our little cute family at least.

The love confession just killed me at the end. In olden days people do not say "I love you" to each other as easily and as often as it's said in our days. No matter how they deeply love and care for each other. So for a person like SN to say those words back to TH, it's a very big deal. Not even that, she said "sincerely" not once but twice for confirmation. She just could have said "I love you too". I don't think she said so TH can die and end his pain too. (And here goes my tears again, oh dear god T-T)

And for the last scene, it was a confirmation for me that I thought at that time was right. She did made her choice back then unconsciously about which man she wanted to be with and I don't have problem if she chooses WY this time (even though she was standing closer to TH than being in exact middle trying to decide) because she has already proven her sincere love to TH.

It seems that I just can't write short posts when it comes to Empress Ki and my puppy emperor TaHwan. Sorry for long rant and as I wrote it without reading all of back post, I do apologise if I did repeat sone points without knowing.

Empress Ki wasn't a great drama for me as it suffer from bad writing and writers indecisiveness and had many illogical plots, flaws and plotholes. But at the same time I did connect strongly and emotionally to it and it was entertaining enough. It was my top drama for past 6 months that took most of my attention. Watched each ep at least twice (raw & subbed) and capped every single ep. So you can say I was kind of obsessed with it. God, I'm going to miss this big time. :-(

[Guest larabn]

So sweet how she cried for TT  .... Subanim @Lucel18 so it's Sabunim LOL I was wondering how to pronounce it


Atleast, they could have let TT alive to be her loyal friend and be there with her to help her


Bye Bye TT

[haruhi17]

love how Ki calls TT "Sabu-nim" (after many years of him being the Great Prime Minister) and not "Dae seng sang" (sorry, i think this is wrong spelling) at that scene when she heard news of his death…and how she has this young look on her face that her dearest friend and mentor whom she looks up to have passed away…this scene was beautifully done b/c her tears show us how much she's going to miss her beloved and highly respected Teacher/Master….i'm gonna tear again… ( (  (…i'm in the denial and depression stages of grief….T__________T…i still like to think he survived the war and is waiting for Ki in the North of Yuan.

[haruhi17]

@larabn   LOL  i didn't notice your spelling. I thought you got it right the first time  
@Miky88   thank you so much for your eng translations and insights into the scenes of EK.  'appreciate it a bunch!!!!  Knowing that TH was given two different types of drugs helps me to understand his character change after he authorised the war with Baek An.  It helped me not to dislike his character but to kind of sympathize with him.  He's surrounded by many people whom he thinks he can trust, but are actually not trustworthy.  And the ones who are he had taken for granted.  As a result, he regretted the way he didn't trust Ki all those years and the way he distanced himself from her. By the time he realises the truth, it seems almost too late for him to make it up to her. My heart goes out to him not just for that reason alone but also for when he made that sacrifice for his family and for Yuan in the finale, my heart bled for him, for his decision to do the things he did for their sake especially knowing that he doesn't have much time left.  But i'm so glad that he lived for a couple of years with the help of the broth you've mentioned which slowed down the poison.  Oh yeah, i have a question though, why was ET taking a similar broth? How was he poisoned?  Did I miss something?  Thank you again for helping me to gain a lot of understanding of this drama ( thus, appreciating it more), esp when there are no eng subs yet for the episodes.  

[Guest truong.michelle]

We all seem to feel ripped off that the writers let TH die and have Nyang tell him she loved him only just at the end. I think their point is to showcase how beautiful their love story is and how much they truly care for each other at the end.We have to remember a lot of time has passed. TH did in fact live quite a number of years more with a lot of history passing (the slow decline of the Yuan influence on Goryeo). It just seemed abrupt to us as it was only shown in the last few minutes. Within those skipped years there would have been many instances where EK would have shown TH (as well as say) that she loved him, we just have to read between the lines, eg. how by his last moments, every look and touch they exchanged had understanding, acceptance, and TH had no doubt in his eyes, his mind was at peace. He already knew she loved him. The writers could have easily let it end with a similar scene (years before his death) where she was cleaning his ears, they mention their love for each other, and he falls asleep, she checks and he is still breathing. And the next morning, wake again. Sick, but woken. But they chose to do his death scene to highlight that even by the end of his life, their love was unwavering as well as solid.  

[Guest larabn]

@Miky88
Thank you for the explanation , So the other drug was given to him long time before, probably since the 5 years he started drinking?
So, it affected his attitudes and temper too like alcohol? Sorry, but I'm confused about what that drug Golta gave him from long time does and why did Golta give him this drug? Is it so he can't think straight and do wrong decisions listening to Golta?

[Guest critics]

THE DEATH OF SN'S MEN FROM A MAN'S POINT OF VIEW:
After reading all your comments/observations, out of curiosity I asked a friend who is not interested in drama thing but very expressive when it comes to loving.  I begged him to watch just for the death scenes of WY & TH (without eng sub).  Afterwards, I asked him about the comparison between SN's reactions about their death.  He said, SN had more love for WY than for TH.
Have a nice day to everyone.  Still waiting of Ep. 51 with eng. sub.

[Guest x1102107]

taltal is going to be reincarnated today right???lol.....

[Guest gerryd]

just saw TalTal in a suit...still hot.. with the same hair color and bangs.. 

[Guest truong.michelle]

critics said: THE DEATH OF SN'S MEN FROM A MAN'S POINT OF VIEW:
After reading all your comments/observations, out of curiosity I asked a friend who is not interested in drama thing but very expressive when it comes to loving.  I begged him to watch just for the death scenes of WY & TH (without eng sub).  Afterwards, I asked him about the comparison between SN's reactions about their death.  He said, SN had more love for WY than for TH.
Have a nice day to everyone.  Still waiting of Ep. 51 with eng. sub.

[shesays]

critics said: THE DEATH OF SN'S MEN FROM A MAN'S POINT OF VIEW:
After reading all your comments/observations, out of curiosity I asked a friend who is not interested in drama thing but very expressive when it comes to loving.  I begged him to watch just for the death scenes of WY & TH (without eng sub).  Afterwards, I asked him about the comparison between SN's reactions about their death.  He said, SN had more love for WY than for TH.
Have a nice day to everyone.  Still waiting of Ep. 51 with eng. sub.

[Miky88]

IF people watch WY scene with SN when he is dead with subtitles will see that she cries because of regret not love....and just becase she cries more paintfully than with Th it doesn't mean she loves him more...she cried like that because he was a man who did many things for her and she has greatfull and guilty,of course she would cry like that(i would as well if in my mind i find myself guilty)
SN:"This is my fault... all my fault...How could this happen?Sire.The curse over us is lifted.You're free.Forget me in the next life.But I will remember.In the next life and the next...I will repay you for all you did."WY was her first love,that make her councious she is a women,SN was a women who fell for WY because she admired him alot but that love died long time ago,10 ago...that doesn't mean she didn't look up to him as a great man and King and felt remorse for all she did for her and guilty,of course she would cry like that when she finds herself part of what happened,she was part of the reason...SN even WY leaving the Palace said she is in that position manly thanks to him and all he did for her...What women says to the man she loves ,i'll remember u i'm my next life to repay all you did...that was like a promise to pay him back for all he did for her and in her view she didn't do as much for him and was involved in the tragedy and nothing about romance...the writers long time ago changed the OTP and showed many times were SN love is...
SN was already starting to feel in love with TH when ET was alive and they went on the hunting trip and she did it slowly over the years which made it a more mature love and the writers made it like that with small steps

[pegster]

@Milky88 where/when was it explained that Golta gave TH the different drugs/poisons?  I didn't see that explained in any of the subs that I watched, it only said that the poison he gave him would eventually cause him to have all those symptoms.  Lose energy, headaches, memory lost, and coughing blood.
As with the tonic ET took to immune himself from poison, was that explained?  In my subs, DM only said there was something, but didn't explain what it was.