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

[LorenHaze]

39 minutes ago, mychoiyoung said:

 

I have never commented on the ratings issue, probably because am not Korean & I maintain that as long as I enjoy a show., that's what's more important. 

 

However, the domestic reception is indeed puzzling.  And right now, am just pissed off that domestically, there is not enough PR to trumpet their international success. I don't get that from the SK media & I have been checking the news.  What I see are the negative write ups about the TV ratings. Isn't the success of this drama or any kdrama for that matter, a success for SK entertainment as well? I do not understand the hate.  Is it jealousy with KES success? LMH's?  Is it because it is such a hyped-up project? Cos most of the negative comments are targeted at these two...

 

My 1st & last comment about this topic.

I’m not Korean either and much like yourself, I could care less for ratings. If I enjoy the feels, then I’m a satisfied customer. 

It’s a mystery to me as well and I can’t for the life of me understand why the international success of TKEM is being snubbed by the SK media. Was the success of Parasite treated with the same indifference? Or is that not a good comparison? what do I really know. 
 

I’m just thankful that SK viewership isn’t the be all and end all of this drama. The international love it’s getting is amazing. Deservedly so. 

[mamabear]

2 hours ago, CallieP said:

But LR was not crossing the portal. He is still in ROK the whole time.  Why did the time stop?  I think LG realizes that it stopped for a different reason, because he tried to take a photo of the two of them? (Not allowed)? I am not sure what he realized.

Not sure if somebody answered you already, but he did. He went back to RoK coz the scene after that was him dining with Ji Hun's mom. 

 

3 hours ago, mrsj3n said:

The detective who got the truck of doom seem to be ok and provided Intel but again.. how did LG knows that he has to check it?

Did I miss something here?

I think the it was mentioned there something about them having intel about Luna? I have to rewatch to confirm. 

[kboramint]

3 hours ago, CallieP said:

But LR was not crossing the portal. He is still in ROK the whole time.  Why did the time stop?  I think LG realizes that it stopped for a different reason, because he tried to take a photo of the two of them? (Not allowed)? I am not sure what he realized.

 

 

 

I thought LR was in KOC when he kidnapped JTE and his goons were trying to find her. It could be when PM Koo crossed back from the ROK. By the way, nice car she drove. I keep wondering if took her doppleganger's place. 

[ck1Oz]

1 minute ago, jerboa83 said:

I just listened again to the dialogue between Tae Eul and the kid (god) in ep. 11: her exact words are "You're on this side" ("이쪽에"), not "here" or "in this world". 

Just give up on the subs dear. I already read so many sentences that were off for episode 12 that I just listened to it again purposely without subs. I did go back to episode 11 too. Not that I cared but more because everyone was so bugged by it. Here, there, this world which world ... Don't think the subber caught or cared about the plot. Otherwise she would be more sensitive to the nuances. Even the romantic lines were spoilt.

 

Bye all till next week. I watched episode 12 and yeah the OTP were sufficient. The frozen time when LR came back to Corea and Lady Noh jarred me. Even I was a bit shocked when the Korean war was brought up. The writer's ambitions are too big.

 

I am just happy that she slept in his room and they were there for days. Lol. Told y'all ain't going to stress over the plot no more and just zoom in on the OTP and Jo Yeong.

 

 

[Joanna Alfson]

27 minutes ago, LorenHaze said:

I’m not Korean either and much like yourself, I could care less for ratings. If I enjoy the feels, then I’m a satisfied customer. 

It’s a mystery to me as well and I can’t for the life of me understand why the international success of TKEM is being snubbed by the SK media. Was the success of Parasite treated with the same indifference? Or is that not a good comparison? what do I really know. 
 

I’m just thankful that SK viewership isn’t the be all and end all of this drama. The international love it’s getting is amazing. Deservedly so. 

 

It actully has success in sk(streaming platform called i guess wavve and netflix sk) just not with the elder people but the younger generation who dont watch tv as the survey suggest in the naver comments age range while its international success is unprecented and something to get behind. Its performing like a western hit on netflix its rare you see foreign shows perform like that outside of money heist. 

 

This is probably the biggest thing coming out of asia for a good while and you have to go back a decade to find anything comparable to it coming from that region. 

 

It was trending #2 on twitter the night it premiered worldwide and it was trending #2 few days after that with LMH horse riding leak on weibo Thats basically the two major social Media worldwide and trending on both 

[kboramint]

5 hours ago, AgentQuake said:

NO BUT GIRLS SERIOUSLY

 

WHY would Head Lady Noh leave ROK??  Yes, war was happening and it was Japanese Korea

 

 

Japanese Korea was already abolished in 1945 after Japan lost WW2. ROK was founded in 1948. The war she was talking about was the Korean War.   

 

 

Oi.... btw, I totally get it now. The people who are getting lighting scars have dopplegangers that died. Which is why JTE and Jo Young aren't getting those scars. So, PM Koo's doppleganger was killed? 

[SweetButters]

 

So this may be totally wrong, but I feel like this whole story is connected to the legend of the flute. Anyways the legends of the Goryeo royal family seems kinda similar to what's going on in TKEM (founder of Goryeo family has a name similar to LG except its "Geon"). Also see Dragon Kings of the East and West legend which was talked about in the history of the flute. 

 

Also check out this link and look under the background section! The story of Lady Dou kinda sounds similar to that of Lady Noh in TKEM. Makes me think what if in some crazy whacked out world, Lady Noh is actually JTE's grandma??? Or she could be seen as the "dragon woman" in the story of the Goryeo royal family since she Lady Noh had mentioned she was from Pyongsan County which the dragon woman was also from. 

 

Anyways below is just some history LG mentioned...I dont know if anyone can connect anything !

 

Prince Sohyeon

 

 

King Yeongjong

 

 

Spoiler

King Haejong (LG's grandfather)

 

 

King Sunjong

 

 

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Basically who yo-yo kid is :

 

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1 hour ago, mrsj3n said:

@SweetButters to be honest, after reading about antibiotics lessen the effect of birth control..and babies of our LTE couple... I can no longer concentrate to read the rest of what you type!

What have you done to me?

 LOL

 

  Reveal hidden contents

First horse, now babies??? 

 

 

Hehehe.. if they did the deed.. all LG need to do is ask JTE/Luna to strip.

Luna has a scar on her upper right arm.

Easy peasy. 

 

@mrsj3n HAHAHAH totally understandable ! I literally lost my concentration in the show once JY flashed his bare chest hahaha. Just wishing for some heirs here haha

 

Like this show is literally leaving me feeling like I have a boyfriend, he left and ghosted me, and boom he shows up and is like I love you, but oh we can't be together just yet because im too far away and the country I am in is at war. At this point, if JTE goes cray cray I dont blame the poor girl because we are here are her hahah.

 

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1 hour ago, cpt_falcon said:

Oh my.  That is one of the primary warnings they always give you re: antibiotics and oral contraceptives.  Always use secondary methods if you are on antibiotics, though as we also know, those secondary methods aren't foolproof either. 

I still posit there may be at least one baby.... that grows up to be the living portrait of his father, also a traveler (has some means - possibly one of LR's spare umbrellas per @Kdramatic's theory here - to travel between the worlds) and travels back in time to save his 10-yr-old father from being killed by his evil uncle?  Sort of like Horus avenged his father Osiris by battling/killing Set .  Then again, I'd have figured if anyone were the Horus in this scenario, it was LG who's father was killed by the "Set" figure aka LR.  If LG should become a father, maybe the roles change and he becomes the Osiris while his future son becomes the Horus?  While LR, the unnaturally immortal, always stays the Set?  I don't know, I'm just musing at random here.

 

RE:  Jack and the Beanstalk:  The "golden eggs" could be her own as well.   Per the above and possible failure of birth control.

 

@cpt_falcon hahaha yep some of my friends were born as "accidents" or "oopsies" hahaha

 

oh yea that could totally be true that the son saves the father or parent. Like in this show I watched call "The Flash" the main character, Barry Allen, times travel back in time to save his mom. However, as a consequence, he accidentally created a different time line haha. So if I remember correctly, Osiris had a wife named Isis who after Set had killed Osiris and cut him up into a bunch of pieces. Later on, both her and Horus had put together Osiris's body and made him King in the underworld. So in this case, Horus would be LG, Set is LR, and Osiris would be LG's dad. 

 

ahahahhahahaha we are all cheering for jack to climb that beanstalk 

[Keikokoko]

9 hours ago, mychoiyoung said:

It had nothing to do with WHO killed WHOM.  It is NOT a punishment for the killer doppelganger. 

It is all about balance.  Remember what the Yoyo Kid said "I am trying to restore balance"

Murder is against nature cos it s not yet time for the murdered doppelganger to leave their world.

That's why there is an imbalance

 

The scar is a consequence or manifestation of such imbalance.

 

Then we should also not forget the other condition -- they have crossed-over or are still crossing-over.  Which means they are or have been in worlds or spaces where they do not belong. There is already an imbalance in both worlds and then we have characters "abusing" the use of the flute - a broken one at that.

 

Perhaps there is a need to restore the flute. Perhaps there is a higher reason why the flute only shows itself every 20 years.  Perhaps it was never meant to be used arbitrarily.

 

 

Just finished watching ep 12 and come to write about my thought on scar pain /lighting on those crossing portal and happened to read

@mychoiyoung,  which said everything I want to say. Thanks!! 

 

Those tried to manipulate and alter the result of nature occurrence brought negative (bad) karma onto themselves. This includes LG himself. But why not JTE, because she accepts whatever fate will bring to her. She is not trying to change natural order.  

 

Flute must be united and put to safe to restore the balance of two universes. Lady Noh was brought to KOC last time when flute was used to open the gate between two worlds. Was she the love of LG's grandpa? She stayed behind in KOC for love but missed her family and love ones in ROK. That's why she cites those longing poems. Is her story foretelling JTE's? 

 

When human tried to alter fate forcefully, whether because of greed or love, against the natural order, we brought tragedy and disaster to ourselves.  LG uses flute for love; LR (LL) for power; both against law of nature. 

 

8 hours ago, SweetButters said:

So this may be totally wrong, but I feel like this whole story is connected to the legend of the flute. Anyways the legends of the Goryeo royal family seems kinda similar to what's going on in TKEM (founder of Goryeo family has a name similar to LG except its "Geon"). Also see Dragon Kings of the East and West legend which was talked about in the history of the flute. 

 

Also check out this link and look under the background section! The story of Lady Dou kinda sounds similar to that of Lady Noh in TKEM. Makes me think what if in some crazy whacked out world, Lady Noh is actually JTE's grandma??? Or she could be seen as the "dragon woman" in the story of the Goryeo royal family since she Lady Noh had mentioned she was from Pyongsan County which the dragon woman was also from. 

 

@SweetButtersI was thinking that JTE is walking on the footstep of Lady Noh before reading your post. So at least there are two (you and me) thinking the same or similarly, whether right or wrong.  Thanks for the link. 

 

Looks like the writer wrote fairly tale / folk story than sci-fi that I have been theorizing. I will have to start watching this drama with different lens now. 

[CallieP]

1 hour ago, Gariyada said:

 

This is my first time, I join and check discussions about something I watch. I am very much amazed on a few matters including ratings.

- Trolling about a tv series' worth; I understand the reason of common trolling (especially within kids) but making it over a tv series on this level is pretty new to me. It's all over those English discussion boards. I don't speak Korean, I can only guess what's going on in Korean Language ones. It must be something like a hate-match.

 

- Giving importance to ratings; Of course, popularity of an art work is important, but this type of competitiveness wasn't something I expected. After each episode, forums full of talk about ratings. I am not sure if this is same on all over the TV production market over the globe, but this is a cultural aspect I do not share.

 

- Critics over Kim Go-Eun's apperance or lack of charm; Of course she is beautiful,  she is on TV. Like every other lead actor or actress she is very good looking. I read before how high/different beauty standarts of Korea is, but this was not something I was expecting. 

- Low Ratings in Korea; 16-20 episodes Korean Dramas are a bit unique in the World. I didn't watch many, but they are not simple soup operas. On the other hand, they carry a lot of similarities. After I had a glance to World of the Married,  maybe taste of Korean audiance shifting to an ordinary drama style, ie. "How lied to who? Who slept with who? Who is more mean to the others?" type. Producers of this Drama is really trying something different. Editing, storytelling style even the story is not something I have seen before in a production this big. I truely enjoy it. As a middle aged man from other side of the world from Korea, this series somehow manage to reach me. I really hope to see similar very original works in the future.

Thanks for posting. Which country are you from if you don't mind me asking?  And it is great that a middle-aged man is posting here. You are very welcome to post more of your insights as a man. What parts of the drama do you like.

 

About ratings @Nikaa94sends us Naver searches and it always trends 1,2, 3, or 4.   Wavve and Netflix Korea is either #1 or #2. Twitter is trending though I don't know if it is Korean Twitter. We know internationally it is doing phenomenal so why do we think it is a failure in SK?

Are we sure it is a failure in SK?  What is the role of Naver?  How important it is to the popularity of a drama? If people are searching King, won't they watch it?

 

Someone said Nielsen ratings are going away, is that US or do they have Nielsen in Korea too? I see it is AGB or Tmns in Korea so I am unsure.

 

 

[LorenHaze]

17 minutes ago, Joanna Alfson said:

 

It actully has success has in sk(streaming platform called i guess wavve and netflix sk) just not with the elder people but the younger generation who dont watch tv as the survey suggest in the naver comments age range while its international success is unprecented and something to get behind. Its performing like a western hit on netflix its rare you see foreign shows perform like that outside of money heist. 

 

This is probably the biggest thing coming out of asia for a good while and you have to go back a decade to find anything comparable to it coming from that region

that’s great news. thank you for sharing that...

 

all those who gambled on this drama deserve a raise. and all of those viewers like us, who’ve decided to support this drama forever, deserve a baby.....
 

...from LMH & KGE. 
 

Is that too much of an ask?

[michaelgcasey]

I'm watching this now,  one years behind you. Here in England UK

it's really good. as are all K dramas

they are one of my weaknesses

I have  5 books translated into Google Korean

if you google me you will find them on my WORDPRESS

It's my thank you to Korea for Kdrama

Edited May 26, 2020 by michaelgcasey

[rocher22]

 

hmm...pretty cool...

 

 

 

 

[kboramint]

The problem about ratings is that most people nowadays don't watch TV shows when it's broadcasted live. They either wait for streaming (Hulu for example), and since this is on Netflix, people would rather watch it when they have the time to do so. 

[mouse007]

Guys!! Ep 11 and 12 are so epic!!!

 

I’ve liked LMH since BOF and honestly, he just keeps getting better! This role really suits him. The reunion scene amidst the chaos was so beautifully done. I thought they did such a great job of showcasing LG’s majesty, power and strength but also his gentleness and love for JTE. I love the longing you can clearly see in their eyes and the way they hold each other. 
 

And the kids scene which led to the... ahem,.. bed scene,... I was screaming so much!! HAWTTT!! 
 

I was so surprised with the revelation about Lady Noh. Did not see that one coming and now my head is spinning as to what that possibly means.

 

I also wonder why some get the thunder scars while others do not. It doesn’t look like Lady Noh gets them either. I wonder if the only ones who get them are those whose counterparts have died? Another theory is that it only affects those who are trying to change fate or the natural order of things. I guess time will reveal its significance. 
 

I am so glad that PM Koo suffered the thunder scar in front of LG so now he knows she’s been exposed. I hate her. 
 

I wonder why JTE didn’t tell LG about his future self visiting her. But from the look on LG’s face, I think he suspects something. 
 

One thing though, when they took the photo together in front of the church and time stopped, LG started crying.. why? Is it bec the door is closing? I’m not sure I follow this part. 
 

 

[jangmi92_]

help me,can't stop watching this scene

she said three times!!!!

and most intimate hug scene ever!!!

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Jillia
Please put more than 3 pics/IGs in spoiler tags, thanks!

[kboramint]

9 minutes ago, mouse007 said:

 

One thing though, when they took the photo together in front of the church and time stopped, LG started crying.. why? Is it bec the door is closing? I’m not sure I follow this part. 
 

 

 

Yeah, I think he believes he needs to close the door or time will stop forever for both worlds. Which means, he thinks he'll never see JTE again after the doors close. Which is probably why his future self dumped her in episode 10?

[briseis]

SR is a terrible person but she must feel like the meme guy with pizza who comes back into a burning flat because she takes one day off in four years and Lee Gon orders the execution of the first person in 100 years, mercilessly purges his enemies, starts a full-on battle on the streets of the capital, kills 10 people in 5 minutes, and then gets himself laid and engaged. The man has had one hell of a productive day!

After witnessing what betrayal rouses in Lee Gon, betraying him for Lee Rim is the biggest mistake of SR’s life, and one which will prove to be fatal for her, because in some ways, LG can be even more dangerous and ruthless than his  uncle - the moment he deems your life worthless, he will put you down. 

[Marcela]

6 hours ago, LeftCoastOppa said:

 

Don't think it works that way - LG did NOT kill his ROK counterpart, but he still has the scar

LL killed LG counterpart when he was a child after killing himself (wheelchair) and his brother. 

[sal2]

9 minutes ago, mouse007 said:

One thing though, when they took the photo together in front of the church and time stopped, LG started crying.. why? Is it bec the door is closing? I’m not sure I follow this part. 

 

I think after having his uncle die, Lady Noh reaction to the death, fighting his way to JT. Being happy she is safe. but suddenly getting a cold shower of truth that he need to close the doors and knowing he have to send her back. It is just so many emotion to handle that he just broke down at that moment. That is just my take. 

[kboramint]

PM Koo is totally going to get hanged out in public just like they do to treacherous witches in saeguk dramas, isn't she? LOL.