Calm Before The Storm
Hyun’s suspicious glance towards Seok-Jo signals the start of a dangerous game. Seok-Jo must find out what Hyun is up to before he can hurt his son.
Ji-Un and So-Eun are having a difficult morning meeting. Ji-Un is trying to keep her secret, but So-Eun is not happy about it. Hwi is also struggling to understand what is going on.
Hwi’s best friend is pretty shocked when he finds out Hwi is getting married. He’s angry and confronts Ji-Un, saying “you would never do something like this without good reason.” Ji-Un, on his knees, refuses to speak. ..
Ji-Un leaves the palace and heads straight to see Ki-Jae. With Hong listening in, he now knows who’s conspiring against Hwi.
Ha-Kyeong’s maid tells Ki-Jae that she and Hwi have been sleeping with separate blankets, which only makes the rumours about Hwi’s affection toward Ji-Un worse. ..
The young woman confronts Hwi about what’s really going on. She’s in a precarious situation and decides she should take a royal concubine. Hwi refuses, but embraces the poor young woman tightly, promising to tell her everything that’s going on soon.
Ji-Un is in trouble. He’s out looking for the herb that killed the King, and he runs into Seok-Jo. Seok-Jo confirms that the pharmacy is under Ki-Jae’s supervision. Ji-Un’s eyes light up with horror. This means Jil-Geum is in big trouble. After all, he’s out trying to find the herb too.
Ji-Un races up to find his friend, saving him from a horde of assassins that show up. As things grow ever-more desperate, Seok-Jo eventually shows and breaks up the fight. Despite Ki-Jae’s wishes to end the man, Seok-Jo intervenes and saves them both from a messy fate. He’s going to speak to Ki-Jae personally himself. ..
Meanwhile, in Wonsan, Hwi is absolutely adamant that Ji-Un is a woman and confronts her about this. She’s taken aback but her feelings betray her. Hwi knows the truth and he immediately heads over to tell Ki-Jae. Hwi brings up Ji-Un’s mood changes in the past but Ki-Jae laughs incredulously, eventually kicking him out his chambers.
Left State Minister: What do you know about Hwi? Ka-Hyeong: I’m not sure what you’re asking me. Left State Minister: Are you sure? You’re the only one who knows anything about her. Ka-Hyeong: I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. ..
Ki-Jae heads straight into Hwi’s chambers and demands an audience. He brings up the “rumour” about Hwi being a woman and demands to know the truth. His eyes twinkling with mischievous malice, he tells her it’s interesting and wants to know Hwi’s thoughts.
Ki-Jae reveals that he was the one who ordered the girl to be killed all those years ago. After all, royal twins would plague the lineage. He promises to kill anyone who reveals this secret – which includes Court Lady Kim and Eunuch Hong.
Hwi decides to leave the palace after learning her grandfather is an underhanded threat. She will confront him and learn the truth regardless.
Hwi promises not to die in the final conflict, but it also arrives off the back of Ki-Jae reflecting on what he’s learned and starting to believe Hwi is actually a woman. ..
Just before Hong and Kim leave the palace for good, they take Ji-Un aside and reveal the truth. Before she was the King, Hwi was actually the court maid, Dam-I. When Ji-Un finds out, he rushes back to the palace to protect Hwi.
Ji-Un finds Hwi burning all the memorabilia from her past life when she gets there. “Dam-I,” He whispers, locking eyes with her.
The Episode Review
The King’s Affection returns with another really good episode as all our chess pieces begin to move ready for next week’s checkmate.
Hwi’s secret is finally out and it seems that Ji-Un has now decided to stay by Hwi’s side no matter what. However, the preview for next week appears to hint that Seok-Jo and Ji-Un are going to face a pretty nasty fate, while Hwi finally reveals the truth around her identity. ..
This episode looks set to be very dramatic, with what we’ve seen so far indicating that it could well be one of this year’s better historical dramas.
King’s Affection is a much more streamlined story than Lovers of the Red Sky. It embraces its supernatural and romantic elements, while Lovers of the Red Sky meanders around its different plot points. ..
As the sun sets, the clock ticks off the seconds until the final showdown between the survivors and the zombies begins. Will anyone make it out alive?
