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Captivating the King: Episodes 1-2
by mistyisles
“Captivating” is the word! Stunning visuals, beautiful music, and an engaging emotional undercurrent all add up to an impactful opening week for Captivating the King, which gives us compelling heroes, political scheming… and perhaps a newfound appreciation for the rain.
EPISODES 1-2
Captivating the King’s grim opening introduces a Joseon caught between the Ming and Qing dynasties. Our hero, the current GRAND PRINCE JIN-HAN (Jo Jung-seok), is face-to-face with the few survivors of a grisly battle against Qing invaders when he’s called back to the palace: Joseon is surrendering. It only gets worse from there, because the terms of surrender include the transfer of hostages to Qing… and Jin-han is numbered among them.
Jin-han’s brother, KING LEE SUN (Choi Dae-hoon), tearfully orders him to survive and return safe and sound, insisting Jin-han address him as “hyung” instead of “Your Majesty” as they say their goodbyes. Only to his mentor, CHIEF STATE COUNCILOR KANG HANG-SOON (Sohn Hyun-joo), does Jin-han admit that he’s terrified. But he’s also trying to make the best of a terrible situation: if he can learn how the enemy operates, he can find a way to beat them someday.
To that end, he ingratiates himself with Qing’s Prince Rui as a favored baduk opponent and companion, which enables him to negotiate better conditions for himself and his people. He keeps Lord Kang updated on his progress, each letter increasing in enthusiasm until he’s finally released from captivity. The people rejoice at his homecoming, but when he arrives at the palace, he’s met with strange and sudden hostility.
In Jin-han’s absence, the QUEEN (Ahn Shi-ha) and her brother, MINISTER OF MILITARY AFFAIRS KIM JONG-BAE (Jo Sung-ha), have been plotting to take control of the court. Although the queen has finally given birth to a son, the king has yet to appoint him crown prince, meaning Jin-han remains next in line to the throne. Thus, Minister Kim has spread rumors accusing Jin-han of forsaking his loyalty to Joseon in favor of Prince Rui. The resulting paranoia has poisoned the king beyond recognition. Gone is the man who tenderly embraced his brother; this king chews his nails until they bleed and pours out his medicine because he believes everyone wants him dead.
Minister Kim has Jin-han followed as he goes from gibang to forest trying to find something to soothe the pain of his brother’s rejection (Jin-han easily evades the spy, but his heartbreak is much harder to shake off). Drawn by shouts of excitement, Jin-han happens upon a lively game of baduk. The young scholar who wins collects the loser’s table and stones as a prize, boasting that only Grand Prince Jin-han has the skills to beat him. The crowd instantly launches into gossip about Jin-han’s rumored fealty to Qing, but the young scholar jumps to his defense and storms away before Jin-han can reveal his identity.
Touched, Jin-han follows. Just as he challenges the scholar to a game of baduk, they’re interrupted by a ruckus at the gibang. Minister Kim’s spy YOO HYUN-BO (Yang Kyung-won) is harassing a gisaeng named HONG-JANG (Han Dong-hee), demanding she tell him Jin-han’s whereabouts. The scholar leaps to Hong-jang’s defense. He hurls the baduk table at Hyun-bo, but misses (barely). The distraction gives Jin-han time to enact a royal intervention, and Hyun-bo slinks away vowing revenge on the scholar.
This “scholar,” it turns out, is actually KANG HEE-SOO (Shin Se-kyung), Lord Kang’s daughter. She’s grown up playing baduk with her father and hearing stories of Jin-han’s accomplishments, and now she spends her days masquerading as “The Baduk Gambler” and using her winnings to help repatriate more Joseon captives from Qing. Hong-jang was one of those captives, so now she’s Hee-soo’s friend and confidant.
The other important thing to know about Hee-soo is that the queen and Minister Kim are angling for her to marry Minister Kim’s son, KIM MYUNG-HA (Lee Shin-young). Myung-ha is more than happy to oblige, but Hee-soo refuses to marry anyone who can’t beat her at baduk. Myung-ha has already tried and failed, and she doesn’t do rematches.
Hee-soo tries to avoid Jin-han, mortified that she unknowingly used uncouth language in front of her idol. But when Hyun-bo’s thugs ambush her, Jin-han comes to the rescue and gets his arm sliced open in the process. Now she feels embarrassed and indebted, so she checks on him while he rests at the gibang. One thing leads to another, and they play a game of baduk. Near the end of the game, a light rain picks up. Jin-han calls it a mongwoo, adding that the word is also a cherished nickname to him, and after he declares Hee-soo the winner, she asks for that nickname as her prize. Then she makes an exception to her “no rematch” rule just for him — they’ll meet back here the next time a mongwoo occurs.
Not long after, Jin-han is summoned back to the palace. The king’s health has taken a turn for the worst, and he’s still refusing visitors and aid. To everyone’s surprise, he allows Jin-han entry. Although he accuses Jin-han of lying about wanting him to recover, he eventually agrees to take his medicine — but only if Jin-han tastes it first.
Just when it seems the king might be coming around, however, Minister Kim doubles down on his manipulation. The other lords regret not replacing the king with Jin-han, he says. As he’d hoped, that’s the push the king needs to let Minister Kim take the reins in negotiating a conscription arrangement with Qing. Outraged, a group of lords led by Jin-han’s uncle, PARK JONG-HWAN (Lee Kyu-hwi), try to convince Jin-han to take the throne and stop Minister Kim from ruling through the young not-yet crown prince.
Jin-han tells them in no uncertain terms that he’ll have nothing to do with their plot. He leaves in a fury, only to realize Hee-soo has been following him all afternoon in her scholar disguise (she saw him from afar and tried to catch up, and he only spotted her because she tripped). They relocate to a stream so she can soak her ankle, where he expresses the heartbreak of seeing his people led into captivity and the shame he feels at being asked to commit treason just now. Then it’s her turn to confess: due to a technicality, he was the real winner of their baduk game, and they both know it. But “a loss is a loss, no matter how small,” he says, and gives her two new stones to add to her eclectic collection anyway.
Sometime later, Myung-ha accompanies a friend to seek out the infamous Baduk Gambler. Myung-ha recognizes Hee-so immediately and excuses himself, but the friend challenges Hee-soo to a game. He’s no match for her, until it starts to rain — a mongwoo! Hee-soo purposely loses so she can race back to the gibang, and soon Jin-han comes riding around the corner like a hero. But Myung-ha interrupts their reunion, and he doesn’t seem particularly concerned with keeping Hee-soo’s secret.
I’m bracing myself for devastation to come, but for now I’m loving the budding relationship between our two leads. Their shared passions — for baduk and for their people — help them connect at a deep level, and you can feel Jin-han’s relief at finding a safe (if secretive) person after dealing with so much cruelty and greed. Plus, there’s something beautifully poetic about promising to meet on the next rainfall, and how afraid they both were that the other might forget. I know we’re technically still in the prologue, but I’d say Captivating the King is off to a lovely start.
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