[Drama 2016] Moon Lovers ❤ Scarlet Heart Ryeo, 달의 연인-보보경심 려 \^0^/ Soompi Kdrama 2016 Winner

[hiluna]

On 10/25/2016 at 3:04 PM, imaginary24 said:

I believe that there are many things we've all learned from this drama. But, one thing I'm definitely sure learning now is LJG acting is DAEBAK! Of course having a handsome face is an added bonus! Can I say that his acting skill surpass the other so-called A-list actor in Korea? Or... is he already in the A-list? Correct me if I'm wrong, cause I don't have knowledge about this. 

He is already in the A-list

[Gabi Bros]

3 hours ago, Maral said:

Hi everyone this weeks episode were both tense. I tried to catch up with the post but couldn’t.  however I’m surprised that some of you are chocked by WSs actions, specially when it comes to CR….

 

In the beginning of ep 17 WS trays to be a good king. Remember? He returned the laborers to their homeland. Those who had lost their lives, their family got compensated. But no one accepted him as a king. His mother still despised him, Jung hates him and so on…. They forced him to marry some one he doesn’t love. WS  was ready to fight but HS gave up….yes I know it was  out of love but still.

 

As for CR I understand HS got frightened, but think about it. Because of her action WM died, some one WS desperately tried to protect. That event was a turning point. With WM as a king WS could leave with HS. But he became Yos dog instead.  He saw  Eun being chased and day in the worse possible way!! Jung turned his back on him. ALL because CR! I’m not excusing his actions but I understand.. 

 

And let’s face it HS is doing the one thing WS asked her not to. WS asked her to NOT leave him!

 

Abut Wook, he’s getting what he deserves! IMO  

 

And YES I’m sold to the dark side thanks to LJKs awesome portrayer of WS

 

He also said HS was his only queen....but in the scene before the one of HS with BA he was telling YW he will make her his only queen and making the baby crown prince if she betrays Wook (and family)? Mmmm. I don't know anymore. And if that happens, It won't be "for the nation"...It will be for auto satisfaction of framing Wook, Wook who (for him) is making him look as a monster in HS'eyes.

[RaeShin]

No matter how long I think, the only thing comes my mind about happy ending is when Hae Soo goes back to 21th century and wakes up from coma, she will not remember her times in Goryeo. Then as her true self Go Ha Jin will meet with modern Wang So. They will fall in love and live happily together. What do you think? Am I so daydreamer? 

[sosooyah19]

Spoiler

39 minutes ago, LyraYoo said:

A parody. From what i understand , Wang So twins ?

 

wow, fans really are amazing... its nicely done hahaha... im so convinced there were 2 different princes..
i think LJG will like playing doubles in the future hahaha..

[Maral]

6 minutes ago, Gabi Bros said:

He also said HS was his only queen....but in the scene before the one of HS with BA he was telling YW he will make her his only queen and making the baby crown prince if she betrays Wook (and family)? Mmmm. I don't know anymore. 

but that's after his knowledge about WW. I though it was an excellent politic move. By the tree where he poposed he was WS, a man devoted to his woman. when he told YW she'd be the queen he  was a king seeking for revenge. 

[hiluna]

23 hours ago, may6 said:

This is my take on their interactions...I honestly do think that it was love at first sight for him ,but since he was regarded as the lone wolf , a terrible guy capable of so much violence.. and to top it off his low self esteem and poor  social skills...he just choose to ignore it ...how  could HS ...a pretty upper high class lady of the nobility will ever came to consider him far more love him...he just choose to  ignore his initial attraction for preservation...he wouldn't be able to recover if we were to be  rejected by a woman like his mother rejected him... he knew he was not worthy by the social standing and demands of that particular era...he wasn't even consider a prince or  an eligible  bachelor...so for WS it was better to keep away and not fuel the fondness...the only time that i though he was  acting cruel to her was when he told the monk to get rid of her ...but to his credit ..if you look at LJK expression on that particular scene you can see he is concern ...i read that scene as him surprise by her unexpected  appearance  ...he took a risk...perhaps trusting that the monk was not going to truly hurt her for if he were, he would have done something by now and the monk took too long ...and he WS wanted to have a witness for interrogation...the matter of whether he was able to stay in Songak or return to shinju as a hostage depended on it..he was desperate...and she ruin the momentum of him getting that ...i don't what version you watch but when Soo bit the monk and he was going to be head her, So became more proactive ...he was going to help her but WW was faster and ended up killing the monk....the other actions are defense mechanisms...when he was forceful with her face  ...he was mad ...not particularly   getleman like behavior ...but he thought he had lost his chance of ever staying in the capital...i don't see that as a cruel act...just something that spur in the moment and to intimidate her into telling her all she knew...Ws is not very patient when he is desperate... the don't look at my face ...don't show up in front of me...ect..are all i don't like your pity ...and because i might like you in a romantic sense ... that hurts me even more....because that makes me know that i'm unworthy to love you ...i can't love you because of this scar...ect..and he choose to ignore her marriage  at first because deep down he knew there was nothing he could do to persuade his father  not to marry Soo ...and also because like i said it was easier to ignore his feelings when he thought all hope to woo her was lost to begin with...so i don't think he was particularly cruel with her ,which is why she always came back to him...looked actively for him...a argued with him , and talked back to him  without feeling threatened...oh sorry my grammar is probably bad ,but i just wanted to share that... 

I think you have a point there and wonder whether in the preview when he tells Soo that he doesn't want to see her again, it is a self defense mechanism rather than a rejection of her.  The old So would have considered himself unworthy to love her with all the blood on his hands. All the doubts and lack of self confidence has come flooding back knowing that she had at one time accepted Wook but never accepted him, and he thinks that he is a monster in her eyes. He doesn't want to feel the hurt anymore and puts up a wall between them. The timing for our OTP  was off since the beginning and for the next 7 years plus 

[vwj1]

Writer-nim of this drama is a genius.  I cannot even fathom the headaches in trying to synchronize the drama to the historical time. Not only did she do this so well, but the drama itself is so outrageously well thought out that it creates not only misunderstandings and misconceptions within the drama but also among us.  Just to name a few: We are analyzing who loves who more? Who is more evil? Who sacrificed more? Reasons behind those sacrifices? Did So changed after obtaining power or was he always this way? Did Soo change at all?  

Whats even more interesting is that we are having dialogues about the ending because the darn drama is again not predictable.  Will So see Soo before she dies? Will Soo even die?  Did or didn't they sleep together? Is Soo pregnant?  Did So and YH sleep together or will they and when? Next episode? 5 years from now? Never? (I prefer this one personally myself). Will WW die? 

Let's pretend that the drama is a person, it follows the C-version but still maintains it's own personality and characteristics that it leaves us viewers disoriented because we expect or want certain things to happen and when it does or does not happen, our hearts either is happy or it gets broken.  These things to me exemplifies how good this drama is.  Don't y'all agree?

[sosooyah19]

8 minutes ago, vwj1 said:

Writer-nim of this drama is a genius.  I cannot even fathom the headaches in trying to synchronize the drama to the historical time. Not only did she do this so well, but the drama itself is so outrageously well thought out that it creates not only misunderstandings and misconceptions within the drama but also among us.  Just to name a few: We are analyzing who loves who more? Who is more evil? Who sacrificed more? Reasons behind those sacrifices? Did So changed after obtaining power or was he always this way? Did Soo change at all?  

Whats even more interesting is that we are having dialogues about the ending because the darn drama is again not predictable.  Will So see Soo before she dies? Will Soo even die?  Did or didn't they sleep together? Is Soo pregnant?  Did So and YH sleep together or will they and when? Next episode? 5 years from now? Never? (I prefer this one personally myself). Will WW die? 

Let's pretend that the drama is a person, it follows the C-version but still maintains it's own personality and characteristics that it leaves us viewers disoriented because we expect or want certain things to happen and when it does or does not happen, our hearts either is happy or it gets broken.  These things to me exemplifies how good this drama is.  Don't y'all agree?

yeah we became psychologists all of a sudden.. haha.. it was not just a drama, its a special story of everything in life... even its old times, same misery still happen in modern time, in different settings..

[winterbubbletea]

Title: One Shot 14 - Servant Girl
Drama: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Rating: PG-13
Type: Introspective
Character: Chae Ryung
Summary: The moment when my mistress changed.

Title: One Shot 15- Dragon Reborn
Drama: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Rating: PG-13
Character: Public, Wang So
Summary: Return of the reborn Dragon.

Title: One Shot 16- My Child

Drama: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Rating: PG-13
Type: Introspective
Character: Oh Hae Soo, Hae Soo
Summary: Oh Seo Yeon loves Hae Soo like her child.

Title: One Shot 17-You are Quite Something
Drama: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Antagonist
Character: Wang Yo, Hae Soo
Summary: A woman that is something that he cannot beat.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 18 - What is this Smell?
Genre: Humor
Rating:  PG-13
Character: Baek Ah 
Summary: The agony of seeing something precious wasted.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 18 – How Can You Waste?

Genre: Humor

Rating:  PG-13

Character: Baek Ah 

Summary: The point where Baek Ah throws a fit.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 20 What are you Doing?
Genre: Angst
Rating: PG-13
Character: 13th Prince Baek Ah
Summary: Soo was in pain.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 21 To Touch
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Wang So/Hae Soo
Summary: Unbearable feelings between the two. The pull in between them even though the world may be against them.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 22 Lady Hae
Genre: Angst
Rating: PG-13
One Sided Love: Lady Hae
Summary: The choices a lady makes sometimes can result in a cold death.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 23 Stay Still
Genre: Humor
Rating:  PG-13
Character: Prince Wang Jung 14th (One sided love)
Summary: Wax on. Wax Off.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 24 Only For You
Genre: Angst
Rating: PG-13
Character:Lady Oh
Summary: A final letter that Lady Oh written to Soo.

Title: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo One Shot 25 I should of Died
Genre: Angst
Rating: PG-13
Character: Hae Soo
Summary: It should have been me and it will be me in the end.

Title: One Shot 26-Sister
Drama: Moon Lover Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Rating: PG-13
Type: Introspective
Character: Wang Jung
Gif Credit
Summary: To call her sister wasn't what he felt for her.

 

Episode 16 was really heart wrenching in my opinion. In a way in the sights that Soo see and her knowledge of history. It could be taken that So did indeed kill his brother but was rather place in a tough position when it occurred.

At this moment his only sort of kill would be that of Prince Eun, but that was because he beg for it. Prince Yo survive his slicing and dicing so he doesn't count and still became King. However, he died due to Wook and the same could apply to Moo.

[Miky88]

Does anyone kinda know how old was Wang So when the drama started and feel in love with Soo?In the last episode he mentioned that in his whole 25 years that was the first time his Mother touched him etc. so i concluded that now he is 25 in the present timeline,so how old was he then?I really lost count of all the time jumps and passing years...Was he 18 years old?

 

Also don't know if many might abide by this but i think Hae Soo for a long time is not a 21 Century women and is now part of them...Seen many times already(kinda enough with it by now) being mentioned how can she stand and accept being the other women,not do anything when she is a modern women(as being a modern women can be the solution to everything)...I actually consider she will have a harder time to adjust to the future when she will go back as she i now a past person(to name her like that) rather than a modern one...I really really feel bad for her as she doesn't have a place of her own by now...She went to the past as a modern women and will go back as a past person...That place wasn't her home in the beggining and now her own timeline will be a strange place...Not even mentioning that she will have to continue her life while all her dear ones are dead and even more if she will encounter the man who looks like So yet for me is not him,how cruel is that for her...Seeing him yet knowing it's not the man she loved and shared the bad and the good also not knowing (if the stay true to the original) that Wang So forgave her and doesn't hate her anymore,she will never know...Life is really cruel with Hae Soo(actually life is cruel with everyone in ML)

[hiluna]

22 hours ago, arabela said:

I AM PROBABLY one of the few who liked this episode and feel that things did develop naturally and they are not out of characters personality .

THE BEST SCENE THAT DESCRIBE WHO WS REALLY IS IN THE ENTIRE DRAMA, is in my opinion the entire scenario with his mother being on death - in this we can see all that is in him  : pain turn to anger and revenge , jealousy, determination, unable to forgive and let go, his deep need to be accepted, longing, passion, his aggression, darkness, the will to be loved, the vulnerabilty, his ability to do anything for what he wants no matter how crazy it seems, his fury when he doesn't get it, his cruelty , his regrets, his mistakes  .... his last scene  with his mother is in a way a preliminary on his relation with HS , cause they are both the only women he loved and needed , punishing them for betraying him, unable to forgive, unable to let go, unable to stop loving them, unable to not feel hurt ....and again his old habit to transform his pain in anger ... who burn it all  his pain of not being loved in anger  and then regrets his actions  and feel again an unlovable monster .... this is WS - the man who wanted his rejecting and dying mother all for himself, refusing so cruel her last wish to see her beloved son,wanting to punish her, but longing for her love, crying for her only caring gesture .... this is pure WS!!!!!

All this episode we see WS growing more and more anger on WW, blaming him for all the wrongdoings .... is only natural in my opinion to go mad after he will find that this man who already did become the object of his destroying fury is also the one that had HS heart before him. To be surprised by his future reaction ,jealousy and anger,is to not understand who he is . I find the scenario and his reactions very coherent ....if only people won't fool themselves thinking WS is a better and lighter man than he is or that HS changed his nature .... he is the man who killed his tree friend to survive, burn a mountain to revenge, kill some men to get his mother appreciation, almost abused the girl he likes, want to hurt even more someone who was dying ....and know, I mean in do 19 find out that the man he hates most was the first love of his HS ....even if she doesn't go so far as wanting to marryWW , even if We didn't love her, even if nothing happen, for  man with his personality to find out that his enemy, his most hated person is just the man she liked is reALLY TO MUCH .....

I agree with you totally. This is why I love this character so much and I am so happy that LJG is portraying WS so perfectly. With all that WS has endured in his life, he still remains true to his principles and sense of justice and hasn't turned evil and conniving like his greedy brothers.  He took the throne to make a better world and not for his own selfish purpose. A truly good king for the common people and nation.

[sosooyah19]

Spoiler

5 hours ago, runitaaa said:

I'll try to answer but put in spoiler tag incase too spoilery @ktcjdrama @imaginary24

  Hide contents

The last 3 ep was when YuTan (Chae Ryung in k-ver) died, Ruoxi (Hae Soo) found out and super shock by this fact. 8th prince wife came to the palace and threatened her by saying everything that happen is because of her early warning to 8th prince (Wook) to be very careful with 4th prince (So). Now she fully understand the extent of her intervention in history which give her even more shock and lost the baby. She didn't take it anymore and want to leave the palace but the king didn't let her. She ask 13 prince (Baek Ah) to rely her message to 14th prince (Jung) that 'she is willing'. 14th prince come with previous king decree to marry her which makes the king furious. To help Ruoxi get out from the palace, 8th prince spill everything about their past romance, the king gets even more furious and let her leave the palace to marry 14th prince. Long story short, ruoxi is sick and near her time, she sent a letter to the king ask her to meet her. But since her writing is so similar to the king, 14th prince thought it will cause problems (we might get this in k-ver also) and put her letter inside another envelope with his writing in it. The king receive the letter but since the writing is 14th princess's he didn't want to read it. Ruoxi finally died a few days later in 14th prince arm while waiting for her 4th prince. The king just found out about her death a week later!!

And we got final scene where she come back to 21 century, she google (use weibo) her name and didn't find any record. She went to a Qing dynasty exhibition and saw one painting with her in it (indicating everything is not just a dream). And then she saw modern time 4th prince, she become all teary but he didn't recognise her at all.

End.

 

(in c-version) oh my handwriting of RX is similar to 4th? (HS) she's been practicing the handwriting of 4th from the poem.. that's the reason + 14th letter handwriting that it got delayed (st*pid 14th again?) ouch... now its leaning toward not meeting her (HS) at her deathbed if that would be the case..

[mcdc]

Soo is bored to death.  She doesn't get to DO anything but wait around for So and have dinner or unless he storms off because he questions her loyalty.   She doesn't like the court ladies following her around and now with her "little sister" dead she only has WH & BA to rely on.  She's not allowed to leave the palace or visit anyone without So's permission.  

What kind of life is that for her?  Especially now when her relationship with So is quickly unraveling and the future is looking pretty bleak I don't blame her for leaving with Jung.  Unlike a lot of posters I don't dislike Jung.  He has been a source of companionship for Soo with no strings attached...just someone she can depend on when she needs it.  I'm glad he is the one to take her away and be with her till the end.  I know Jung will take care of HS and although not receive her love will continue to be a source of kindness and protection.

At first I couldn't get enough of So's all consuming love for Soo.  But now I realize it borders on obsession and that can not be a healthy kind of love.  Soo's wish to be free and travel the world is just what Jung is offering and something So could never do now that he is the King.  Soo is just not cut out to be the bird in a gilded cage....  

By demanding her absolute loyalty on Everything...shouldn't So respect her opinion at all???  Does he only want people to agree with him all the time and never challenge the wisdom of his choices?  That is and never will be the mark of a true leader.

I am mourning their inevitable separation and it pains me to watch their wonderful, loving scenes of the past.  Then reality sets in and I need to face the fact that they were doomed from the start.  

I don't know what happened at the end of the Chinese version but can We please have a happy ending for ours?  After watching the SoSoo love story explode in our faces....I think we deserve one.

[jjingjjang]

1 hour ago, kdramawriter said:

This my unpopular Wang So opinion. I believe in their love, but I think Wang So has been selfish and cruel to Hae Su after he became king, precisely because he has been backed into a corner with being a King. He's striking out at everyone (the betrayers of the throne, he tells Baek Ah that he has no one) and he's been relying on Hae Su to keep their love going. Those sweet moments are all WS reaching out to HS for comfort. But that is NOT ENOUGH for a relationship. A relationship has to be both give and take. Hae Su has nothing at the palace. She tells Woo Hee that she feels like a doll waiting for her master because her wings have been cut off as the King's woman; she has nothing to look forward to except seeing Wang So. HS is a modern woman, she needs MORE than just one person to look forward to in her life. While WS suggests a child, we know that might not be an answer either. (How many unhappy mothers do you know?) The real issue is that WS expects her to only exist when he has time for her. 

Some would say that it's natural because he's now a king, but I believe that HS gave up a lot to be with him. He wants her to be everything to him: both Mother and Lover. And I feel like she has already given him her heart, her body, and his chance to be King (she pronounced him King setting in motion the eventual end of their relationship). I really know how much left she has to give. 

HS’s love of freedom and individual choices is something that WS is well aware of, but in his rise to the throne, this has been backburned to deal with all the political instability. 

But Jung notices, and Jung listens, and Jung knows. I don’t ship them at all and I don’t believe HS will ever love Jung the way she loves WS, but at the same time, he’s the only man who’s actively trying to give her what she wants right now where as her past two loves are trying to fit her into THEIR LIVES.

We already know HS is from the future, she will NEVER fit into Wook or Wang So's lives. I’d LOVE for WS to really think about HS’s past and how she arrived and why she’s writing in a different language than he know instead of dismissing the information because it doesn’t fit “his picture” of her.

From Dramabeans: 

 I am fairly certain that the poignant pause and wide shot frame after Soo finishes the letter were intended to show her realization that she has become just like her dead friend–she has fully compromised herself for love and gotten lost along the way. She is personally responsible for naming So king-which she was dead set against. She spends her days doing nothing and helping no one, when work was so important to her. She is siding with one brother over the others. She let So marry someone else, after hating the practice of plural wives and concubines. She is unhappy. She’s letting So lie and mistreat her, after saying she wouldn’t have a repeat of her ex. She’s letting other people die to make her life happier, which she vowed to never do again after lady Oh. And, worst of all, she gave up. She has completely betrayed her core values for So, and this is a just and understandable reason to leave So.

THIS. She is not the same person she was at the beginning. Leaving Wang So is an attempt to save Ha Jin.

Spoiler

right in the feels

so true, so sad. my heart is aching   how could people just blindly hate her..

[sosooyah19]

13 minutes ago, Miky88 said:

Does anyone kinda know how old was Wang So when the drama started and feel in love with Soo?In the last episode he mentioned that in his whole 25 years that was the first time his Mother touched him etc. so i concluded that now he is 25 in the present timeline,so how old was he then?I really lost count of all the time jumps and passing years...Was he 18 years old?

 

Also don't know if many might abide by this but i think Hae Soo for a long time is not a 21 Century women and is now part of them...See many times already(kinda enough with it by now) being mentioned how can she stand and accept being the other women,not do anything when she is a modern women...I actually consider she will ahve a harder time to adjust to the future when she will go back as she i now a past person(to name her like that) rather than a modern one...I really really feel bad for her as she doesn't ahve a place of her own by now...She went to the past as a modern women and will go back as a past person...That place wasn't her home in the beggining and now her own timeline will be a strange place...Not even mentioning that she will have to continue her life while all her dear ones are dead and even more if she will encounter the man who looks like So yet for me is not him,how cruel is that for her...Seeing him yet knowingit's not the man she loved and shared the bad and the good

before he became king, time jumps happened: 1 year passed from sanggung's death to taejo's death, 1 year when HS was a watermaid, 2 years in Wang Mu's time, 3 years when So left her (but i think its 2 years) so all in all, so 6-7 years.. WS became king at 24/25, so he came back in Songak when he was 18/19.

[Gabi Bros]

8 minutes ago, Miky88 said:

Does anyone kinda know how old was Wang So when the drama started and feel in love with Soo?In the last episode he mentioned that in his whole 25 years that was the first time his Mother touched him etc. so i concluded that now he is 25 in the present timeline,so how old was he then?I really lost count of all the time jumps and passing years...Was he 18 years old?

He was 17 years old (18 in korean age).

[hiluna]

On 10/26/2016 at 7:08 AM, MikaylaP said:

 

Yeah, unfortunately they are not doing well with the ratings compared to MDBC. Personally, I watched 2 episodes of MDBC and dropped it. I couldn't get into it.. there are a lot of international fans into Scarlet Heart unlike the Koreans. I don't know what it is but I don't understand the hype around Park Bo Gum. But maybe it is me.. 

Furthermore the acting in Scarlet is really good so I don't really know what is "unappealing" about the drama to the Korean audience.

Overall I love the drama (I just don;t know what the hell happened to Wang So today). We can't do anything about the ratings, 20% instead of 10% would have been great but thats how it is! Anyways, they did their best

 

Spoiler

You are not alone. I also dropped MDBC after second episode, too boring and I don't understand the hype with Park Bo Gum either, he sort of shot up in fame but I don't know what for. Could be that he had a lot of media attention because he is Song Joong-ki's best friend, some of the stardom rubbed off on him?? but he is far from being as good an actor as Lee Joon Gi. I love ML but it is flawed by the editing and the pacing of the episodes which is a shame because the cast did a good job, especially the dying scenes.

 

Edited October 27, 2016 by LyraYoo
OFFTOPIC

[eunki]

More ending scenario (based on my wishes of course)

Soo says she's leaving

heart broken WS after fight agrees but asks for one last night together

we have "leaked kiss" pleeeease (and more)

they live apart but knowing they love each other

HS finds she is waiting a baby but miscarriages and her health rapidly deteriorating

she calls for WS and dies in his arms

---------------------------

HS leaves palace

WS is furious but after his anger subsides he goes and finds her

we have "leaked kiss" pleeeease (and more)

they live together for a while and she dies peacefully in his arms

---------------------------

you see, I wish only one more love scene and peaceful dying) is that too much?

yeah, I know it's probably too much... 

[yuhotarubi]

@violet90  Your posts are breaking my heart  every time I read one of your ending predictions my eyes fill with tears as I imagine the scenes play out in my mind. I think I'm gonna cry a lot after the drama is over. ( don't take it the wrong way, I love your posts and I look forward to them n_n ) 

[Adnana]

17 hours ago, liddi said:

[...] I think my main whiplash with So is not so much that he is cleaning house, but his wholesale slaughter of those innocents who were in attendance when Yo died, who had nothing to do with their political intrigues. That was no longer protecting someone he loves, but fiercely and jealously protecting his claim to the throne, and seeing bystanders as mere collateral damage. Yet, this is supposedly the same person who in the next breath, cared so much about those forced into labour in Seokyeong, that he made such complete provisions for them and their families. [...]

@liddi That was honestly the one decision of Gwangjong's that initially made me raise a brow, because it seemed out-of-character for the man we knew as 4th Prince, who is compassionate and caring--as shown in the way how he deals with the forced laborers, which you pointed out as well. But only initially was I disconcerted.

Then I saw a comment somewhere, and it clicked for me: 4th Prince might have an essentially good heart, but he carries a lot of emotional and mental baggage that will take precedence when it comes to his hot-button issues. And for this man who's been shunned practically his entire life--by both mother and father (to a lesser but still significant degree), brothers, adoptive family, even the common people who feared and despised him despite his status as a prince--the issue of acceptance/legitimacy would be his greatest sore spot. He was barely a prince (he even has a line, I think around the rain ritual, where he bitterly remarks that while his brothers lived as princes, he was treated as less than a butcher's son, which is the lowest possible position on the social ladder), and now even after becoming King, he was being undermined yet again. 

The rumors were extremely dangerous and needed to be nipped in the bud before they grew out of control because:

1) they struck at the core of his hard-earned position, questioning the very legitimacy of his claim to the throne; and

2) they were also his detractors' way of testing the new King's power/boundaries

all of which meant, really, that Gwangjong's swift brutality was the only appropriate response. Sad but true, since his opponents needed to know they couldn't mess with him indiscriminately or they would have done it again and again.

But also, and I think this is very important, those rumors scraped the open wound of 4th Prince's lifelong rejection issues, so his extreme reaction was not just a politically expedient response but also came out of a place of awakening old hurts and lashing out in response. The innocent lives affected became incidental in this scenario.

It's not even out-of-character for 4th Prince to shrug off the deaths of many as long as he can justify his actions in his mind (even if an outsider wouldn't necessary agree with him)--we've seen it happen before, when he wholesale slaughtered an entire temple of (assassin) monks. Let's be clear: afterward, he wasn't upset because of the river of blood he'd shed, but because it failed to win him a positive reaction from Queen Yoo. His later discussion with the General proves it. But I digress.

Basically, I'm saying that 4th Prince had already shown himself capable of monstrous acts and killing on a large scale, and with even less excuse. It's not out of character for him to order all those people killed; moreover when it was essential in order to protect his throne and when the rumors circulating were felt like a personal blow against him, the perennially unwanted former Wolf-dog. And lest we forget, his new status as King is apt to amplify all the darkest sides of Wang So as he gradually becomes Gwangjong.