[Drama 2020] The King: Eternal Monarch, 더 킹: 영원의 군주

[SCSfanz]

1 minute ago, Kim Rama said:

Wait. If LG and JY will be successful in killing LL the 2nd time, would that mean no KSJ/KHM for the future? Kid KSJ waa in a coma and dying while kid KHM was about the be thrown down the bridge by his own mother. 

 

Very interesting thought... in fact... if there is no LR, the savior scene wouldn't have happened, and LG would never had possession of TE's card. Which also means he'll not even have thoughts of finding her. the whole drama unwinds itself. LG and JY will just be in ROC living happily ever after. TE / ES/ Nari/Jangmi etc in ROK living their normal lives. 

 

Nah i'm sure the writer will come up with something that surprises us again  LG marries TE , JY doesn't die a virgin, SJ (just give him good natured luna), ES marries Nari , maximus have babies with JY's horse.

 

Happy ending pls!

[Goong_admirer]

11 minutes ago, gwin said:

 

 If LG did not visit JTE at when she was 5 years old or 27 years old, then it means their meeting at Gwanghwamun Square would play out exactly the same as what we saw in the first episode.

 

So now it's a question of:  It is really worth it for storytelling purposes to have him alter that timeline?  To me, it isn't. Especially if the only effect is that they spent more time together (and all the other major events still happened).   But because he did that, we are now left with a sort-of-absurd situation where everyone around them has two sets of memories (it can't be just LG and JTE affected by this).

 

To me altercation of this timeline deepens their love for each other. If we are looking from JTE pov, it's just few days after Gon is poisoned, he came back right? To explain her decision to probably die for Gon, her love for him must be greater than her love for herself at this point. To arrive at this conclusion, she must experience how rigorous Gon has to work to come back to her and also by this altercation, they are closer than the 13th episode that we have seen before.

 

I must be crazy about them, hahahaa to defend the writer this much.

 

[mychoiyoung]

14 hours ago, Elnin Joery said:

14 hours ago, koreaboooo said:

 

Honestly they can just skip have a second female lead. LG is too into JTE to even turn heads for a need for second female lead. PM is there for eye candy. 

 

Even JY makes better romance than PM.

 

This show dosen't have any triangle and thank god for that tbh that is a concept that has been overdone again and again and again in Kdramas. Two girls fighting for one guy or vice versa where two guys are fighting for one girl 

 

Well our OTP has a lot to contend with as it is.  This is the most complicated LDR in history ever.  So why bother with a trope such as a love triangle. Thank goodness!  Besides, can anyone realistically believe any guy has a chance with TE after everything she has gone through with LG?

[Amy323]

7 hours ago, SweetButters said:

@Amy323 What else? That freaking ID card haha !!! Luna was the before version of JTE who got a little lost from the first time around trying to find LG once he erased everything. The JTE we see now figures out that Luna is her, she will tell Luna to go get the other ID card so that when JTE goes into the portal with LR to that night of treason, she will have something to give to young LG so he can remember her. That's why JTE tells Luna to take care of their dad since she's going to be gone for awhile. Plus an earlier article did say "Luna" is central to this whole story! Also if you remember in ep11, Luna tells yoyo kid to keep the knife so he can "use it to protect what belongs to you" and in ep12 LG says similar things to JTE by saying "Ill always protect what belongs to me".

 

JTE only makes the decision to go once she sees the flowers fading and if you remember the only thing different from a previous time is that JTE doesnt tell LG what flowers she likes and so its assumed that in a previous timeline or whatever, that KHM (formerly KSJ) was the one that had originally gone instead of JTE. Also here's the example that Luna is JTE.....YOYO KID. Basically yoyo kid has been JTE's spiritual guide in all the important moments in her life because yoyo kid was trying to help her even if she may not have known it. For example, when she was "Luna" because she forgot she was JTE. Also, yoyo kid was the one that caused JTE to get a new ID card made. 

That makes sense!!! I totally forgot about the ID card. I'm hoping Luna has more to add to the story in the last episode

[ms_inquiry]

Let's talk about LL and his plans (analysis):

 

I saw that some people were wondering abut LL's plans and his core motivation. So I just wanted to post my theory.

 

LL wants to rule and be eternal. He wants to be an Eternal Monarch, which means becoming a God. He grows up resentful that he is not the heir to the throne and in episode 14 he tells his past self:

 

Quote

"You've been dreaming of staging a coup here every single night under your dim-witted father and your younger brother who became king just because he is the legitimate son" 

 

It is no accident that he emphasizes that his brother only became king due to his birth or describes his father as dim-witted. His anger at his brother (ep. 1), the Prince (ep. 10), his father and LG are all part of his emotional core which consists of resentment.This resentment and his belief that he is the deserving ruler is his core motivation. In his exchange with himself it is also revealed that past LL has heard about the existence of a parallel world. His future self simply confirms its existence and the fact that the myth of the flute is true. LL thus stages the coup to grab it to become an all-powerful being with the intent of ruling both worlds.

 

Talking to FateGirl (ep. 10) he states that being the rightful wielder of justice (which here is synonymous with being the King) has nothing to do with noble blood and that it is not the rightful King who delivers justice but that the one powerful enough to become King/the wielder of justice is the person who determines what justice is. While LG seeks to be a good ruler, someone who respects God, others and justice. LL wants to become an absolute ruler who determines what justice is, what right and wrong is etc. He wants to become a God.

 

LG and his father are shown to be believers and to respect God(s)/Fate while LL is a non-believer (in ep. 1 he even states this) and someone who who wants to become a God (which is basically the ultimate act of blasphemy). This is why LG's father is shown to tell LL off about not fearing the punishment of the Gods (ep. 1) and why LG is shown to be respectful of God/Fate. @bebebisous33 has written a wonderful analysis of LG's journey from basically lapsed-believer/sceptic to true believer and on why LL is doomed to fail. 

 

So what is his plan in the drama and how does it change? 

I'll soon write a new post where I summarise/theorize about this.

 

Honestly though I sadly believe that the drama might have run out of time, which is why LL's plans have been a bit rushed and might even have been re-written from what was imagined earlier on. 

[Goong_admirer]

i always have this issue with time freeze that i hope someone enlightens me. When EXACTLY does the time freezes? At the point either LG or LL enters the portal? If that is so, anybody that enters immediately afterwards (such as JY at the end of ep 15) should be frozen after LG enters right? But JY clearly can move.

 

If it is frozen few minutes after, then the danger of JTE or SJ together with LL in that portal is not that eminent because they will not freeze, and thus LL cannot kill them. 

 

I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

 

 

[Dramanoona]

In Ep 15, It highlighted that events will still happen.

Not killing LR in 1994, still lead to events of 2019/2020.

I agree that visiting TE throughout his time-travelling was to let her know where he was and what he was trying to do - get back to her.

And when they reunited - LJH was still dead (because he was already killed by LR) when LG arrived back into ROK.

After Gwanghamun, things progressed more quickly without TE being disbelieving and suspicious of LG. She went  to KOC earlier than the previous timeline and she still got kidnapped and that epic LG on a white horse scene declaring that she was the future queen of KOC and to protect her still occurred.

That was the whole discussion in the bed at the hospital.

Can fate be changed?

What if you can go back and prevent LR from killing the King, escaping to ROK and begin his plans there by replacing KOC people with doppelgangers loyal to him?  Then LJH will still be alive, SJ would most probably have remained in KOC.

BUT! it would also mean that TE and LG would never have met since there would have been no memories at all. That's tragic.

And it is likely only the time traveller would have the memories so LG will know all about TE, perhaps JY too (if he survives)

Just like when time froze and LG can only stare at TE. *heart breaks*

[mychoiyoung]

21 hours ago, Heretorant said:

Verdict: LR was caught in ROK.

 

Was there any confusion about it?  Episode 15 should also put to rest the issue on where the interrogation at the start of epi 1 - in ROK.

[madmad min]

1 minute ago, Goong_admirer said:

i always have this issue with time freeze that i hope someone enlightens me. When EXACTLY time freezes? At the point either LG or LL enters the portal? If that is so, anybody that enters immediately afterwards (such as JY at the end of ep 15) should be frozen after LG enters right? But JY clearly can move.

 

If it is frozen few minutes after, then the danger of JTE or SJ together with LL in that portal is not that eminent because they will not freeze, and thus LL cannot kill them. 

 

I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

 

 

When They Cross the Portal then the Time should freeze. Eg-LG and JTE sat on Maximus rode through 0-1, just crossed over to KOC ...everyone sees JY and guards. LG should be breathing and animated, rest should have been frozen around sometime. (This is the 3rd or 4th travel from what I recall)..Why I say so because LG crossed over to KOC it was a bamboo portal, he never noticed the stillness and reach Main street WITH A HORSE. Time unfreezes doppleganger see the counterpart's reflection on a mirrored surface.JTE saw LUNA then everyone saw LG( time was frozen here for 4 minutes)

[Alice Wonderland]

17 hours ago, SweetButters said:

LG 1.0 = Original

LG 2.0 = Original + add new memories to JTE

LG 3.0 = Original + new memories + does whatever to erase his memory + goes to portal + flute becomes whole

LG 4.0 = Original + Has no memories of JTE yet + JTE 3.0 adds memories back

 

JTE 1.0 = Original but does not have any memories because LG 3.0 erased everything and she becomes "LUNA"

JTE 2.0/Luna = Original, but does not have any memory

JTE 3.0 = Original + new memories + kills both LRs + adds the memories of both her and LG to JTE 4.0 this one goes into portal + flute becomes whole

JTE 4.0/"Luna" =Original + new memories + memories of her and LG

 

KOC JTE1.0 =Original/ Sacrifices herself for greater good/DEAD

 

Oh gosh... when I read the earlier post of this, I thought, were you talking about intel versions??? Hahahaha. I'm about to ask what all these number refers to. Now it is much understandable. 

 

@Ameera Ali and I'm not ready to say goodbye  this is just getting more interesting. TKEM should have like 30 episodes. Back in the old days where dramas have 20 or 24 as the mini-drama episodes. And around 30 till 100 for the long episodes. If only TKEM could go for 30 episodes. It would be wonderful. I don't mind to get headache each week for thinking a lot of the theories or whatever. Huhuhuhu.... 

I shouldn't quote so I repost it instead. 

LOVE this part a lot! Her smiles after she kissed him. Aw... so cute. I really wan to see LG's expression. Why they didn't pan the camera to show his reaction???? Oh.. well. 

 

Arrived in 764, 10 pages more!!  Aja aja!!!

[Goong_admirer]

9 minutes ago, madmad min said:

When They Cross the Portal then the Time should freeze. Eg-LG and JTE sat on Maximus rode through 0-1, just crossed over to KOC ...everyone sees JY and guards. LG should be breathing and animated, rest should have been frozen around sometime. (This is the 3rd or 4th travel from what I recall)..Why I say so because LG crossed over to KOC it was a bamboo portal, he never noticed the stillness and reach Main street WITH A HORSE. Time unfreezes doppleganger see the counterpart's reflection on a mirrored surface.JTE saw LUNA then everyone saw LG( time was frozen here for 4 minutes)

That made sense. So time freezes at the exit of the travel. Now that really complicates the calculation LG has to do in the portal when he was on the way back.

 

Time to reach = time in the portal + time freezes outside + time to reach destination of the people he wants to meet + time to chat with everybody

[imels]

18 hours ago, LOWlie said:

To make it sure , that's its not her doppelgänger . So on the 15th episode. she was shocked, that's not her real mother.

In ep 14 PM Koo told her mother if she asked what her mother had for dinner, the answer should be Mackarel. But, after listened the news that Lee Se jin or PB grand daughter was killed in an accident by pregnant lady in US. So, when her mother answer was jajjangmyeon, PM Koo was shocked because the woman is not the mother, but the doppleganger.

 

Lee se jin death let LG made the decission to change the past, by went back once more. I think he will kill LR there and save his father King LH and little LG. But, JTE did not want he went alone, so she asked Luna to take her place as JTE and steal something from the precinct (LR?). She also asked manpasikjeok from SJ cause she need both to enter the gate and meet LG in the past.

 

one thing that I understand JTE has made decission accepting her fate as the wife of LG or Queen of KOC. Maybe after manpasikjeok become whole, the world become balance again and they can travel back and forth as they need to.

[madmad min]

2 minutes ago, Goong_admirer said:

That made sense. So time freezes at the exit of the travel. Now that really complicates the calculation LG has to do in the portal when he was on the way back.

 

Time to reach = time in the portal + time freezes outside + time to chat with everybody

 

Yes Also my 2 cents maybe IF YOU ARE in touch with the FLUTE you should also not freeze.

 

Cue-JTE when she crossed over with LG the first time around, The Whipflute was touching her as well,JY and guards would have been still BUT she could have been moving. SIMILARLY JY had the FLUTE when LR-LG had a face off so JY was able to shoot once His gun Got animated after time unfreeze since he was not still earlier as well.

[vangsweetie637]

Im back!
 

Whoa..gone for just 1 day because I had to host a party and now I have 20 pages to backtrack 

 

lol!! I agree that we should change our profile picture to something happier.

 

Anything TKEM happy lol because dang, I cried too much in episode 15.
 

Seriously, I feel like this is what KES did to us:

alright then.

 

To celebrate our desperation and belief that there will be some kind of happy ending for our OTP, let’s change our profile picture!

 

I think us losers have already suffered enough with our baddie/horseshoe/ I am a Loser punishment (just for 3 days only hahaha)  I honestly think we already have our answer to the poll and next week scene with JY/LG is a whole new event. Of course, you can keep your baddie too if you want  

lets all enjoy the final ride of next week’s finale instead

@mrsj3n @AgentQuake @leeminhosny @Heretorant @Time loop @koreaboooo @madmad min @mychoiyoung @Amy323 @gwin @Wanderer062287 @MairaA @deabakdrama @lyrically aesthetic @Alice Wonderland @Ameera Ali and those i forgot to tag..so sorry!!

 

pass the word along, guys

[nikir]

In Ep 15 during the time freeze of LG n LR  confrontation..are SJ n JY frozen ? They came with LG to ROK..so the persons traveling with either LG/LR are not frozen when they travel?  If thats the case then JTE should also have noticed that time freezes when she moves from one world to another? JTE isn't aware of the time  freeze till LG tells her..

 

 

 

[Orientalfan]

39 minutes ago, Goong_admirer said:

 

To me altercation of this timeline deepens their love for each other. If we are looking from JTE pov, it's just few days after Gon is poisoned, he came back right? To explain her decision to probably die for Gon, her love for him must be greater than her love for herself at this point. To arrive at this conclusion, she must experience how rigorous Gon has to work to come back to her and also by this altercation, they are closer than the 13th episode that we have seen before.

 

I must be crazy about them, hahahaa to defend the writer this much.

 

I am at the same page with you. LG indirectly planting new memories for her to aware that he is travelling from the past and is on his way to her....hence why she waits for him.

[mychoiyoung]

14 hours ago, AgentQuake said:

In conclusion, the logical change in this timeline is that they've been doing the deed for at least 3 or more months longer than before.  Good work, LG.  That seems to be the only real change you made.

 

See, that's what I like about you - knowing how to distill the KEY take-aways!  Saweeet!

 

Quote

I wish we had gotten this earlier in the show - the sheer POWER when LG and JY have when SJ joins them is incredible.  In a different lifetime, SJ could've been another JY.  He has the ambition, moral goodness, and ability to have worked himself out of the slums in KOC to become a trusted friend to the King, if he had the opportunity.

 

Who knows if next epi we will see LG, JY, SJ & TE together fighting it out against LR & his minions. I think SJ will join TE going to KOC out of concern for her

[Orientalfan]

Is Luna JTE....? That is when the half flute disintegrates after LL died in the NML and as a result she forgets everything....the reason why Luna suffers memory loss. 

[Goong_admirer]

5 minutes ago, madmad min said:

 

Yes Also my 2 cents maybe IF YOU ARE in touch with the FLUTE you should also not freeze.

 

Cue-JTE when she crossed over with LG the first time around, The Whipflute was touching her as well,JY and guards would have been still BUT she could have been moving. SIMILARLY JY had the FLUTE when LR-LG had a face off so JY was able to shoot once His gun Got animated after time unfreeze since he was not still earlier as well.

Wohooo that's a good observation. I was worried before that because of the frozen time, LL would just cold bloodedly kill JTE/SJ or both, whichever will accompany him later. Now that you mention it, what is actually the impending danger that LL meant when he said to Gon, "who would Gon send to die accompanying him (LL) in the portal"?

[J13]

I think with these types of storyline’s, there are always going to be different theories and potential loopholes but I always enjoy a good analysis and I think a good more complex drama should allow people to express their different interpretations, which is what this drama is doing.

 

I quiet liked that when LG was travelling through time, he created additional memories with TE. I also thought this was his way of communicating with her given he knew she would have been worried about him. He was unable to stop LR when he travelled back to 1994 and once he realised he would need to slowly work his way back to April 2020, why wouldn’t he also think of finding a way to communicate with TE? While this drama has a variety of different genres, it is first and foremost, a romance and I think these moments certainly highlighted his devotion and love for her. I would also assume that even though LG was travelling through time, he would have just been gaining additional memories too as they were occurring the same way everyone else appeared to be.  
 

One thing I’d like a bit more of understanding about is how LR is still alive given he murdered his past self. I think the storyline works quiet well if we are working with one overall time line and any events in which time travel are involved, just alter any future events/memories but it does get a little messy if there are multiple time related storyline’s occurring at the same time. For me, it makes sense if LG is travelling through time and there are still events occurring in the current chain of events involving him (I.e. when he meets TE in ROK the first time but he is technically still working his way back through time) because he is technically still alive so things would just be playing out as per usual but in LR’s case, his past self has died so it’s confusing that his 2020 self remains alive. This also makes more sense because LG appears to be concerned that if he focuses on capturing LR and not saving his younger self, then this would be why he doesn’t return because technically if his younger self dies then so does he, so I’m confused as to why LR is still alive.. And when LG refers to Yeong and SJ ‘not coming back’, is this in more of a metaphorical sense like they’ll lose their current memories if things change prior to the current path they are on? Cos if their younger selves are still alive then wouldn't they just continue to live on but just perhaps with a different future?
 

Hopefully everyone is fine anyways especially if TE and SJ end up helping LG and Yeong. That’s more than enough to get rid of the baddies and LR and save a young LG right? Then they can all just be stuck travelling back to the right point in time together 

 

But still I just think it does get a bit more confusing when we are working with different versions of characters in different timelines. The parallel universe aspect and having a portal to travel in between universes made more sense to me but different versions of the same characters in different time spans just confuses me a little. I might just be overthinking it but again, I do love when dramas make me really think about what’s happening so I’m not complaining!

 

I like that Luna is helping TE now and has grown fond of TE’s dad. I was really hoping her character stepped up to do some good so hopefully we continue down this route cos she has a lot of redeeming to do. I'm also very happy that SJ is helping out in a more positive manner now and agree that it would be absolutely awesome if he went through the portal with TE and LR.

 

Lots of very sweet moments in episode 15 and I absolutely love how much LG and TE have grown to genuinely love and adore each other. At this point, my ideal ending would be: they succeed in getting rid of LR and find their way back to the present together. Then when they end up in the present time, LG and TE get married and TE stays in KOC. LG figures out how to open the portal between both universes without it altering time or anything badly so TE can travel occasionally back home to see her dad and friends. Luna ends up getting better with love, support and treatment and stays with TE’s dad (and I wouldn’t mind a happy ending with her and SJ). Yeong ends up with the cute assistant, ES ends up with NR and we have cute babies all around! I would love to see Lady Noh’s relief and happiness when LG finally has a baby too haha I also wouldn’t mind seeing the prime minister just living a humble life with her mum even though she has annoyed me most of the series but just more for her mums sake. Yep this would be my ideal ending  looking forward to the last episode!