Queen Woo: Episodes 5-8 (Ultimate)
by solstices
In a race in opposition to time, our titular queen rallies each data and wit to recruit allies and counter her enemies. Queen Woo makes an attempt to cobble collectively its disparate plot threads in its latter half, however its scattered narrative leaves viewers with barely greater than a lackluster journey and an unsatisfying conclusion.
EPISODES 5-8
Leveraging on an anecdote Go Nam-mu as soon as informed her, Woo Hee directs her entourage in the direction of the youngest prince Go Gye-soo’s territory — Ba’euitu, named for the financial institution of rocks {that a} sensible common constructed and lured his enemies beneath. Upon Woo Hee’s order, Mu Gol cuts the ropes as they move, and the rocks crumble down on the White Tiger hunters. Solely Nwe-eum and some others survive, whereas Nwe-eum’s son (Ahn Ji-ho) crumples beneath the rocks after Woo Hee shoots his horse. Hellbent on revenge, a grief-stricken Nwe-eum snarls that he’s not capturing the queen alive; he’ll kill her on sight.
Now that they’ve efficiently distanced themselves from their pursuers, our social gathering swerves away from the fifth prince. It seems Woo Hee had solely meant to make use of Ba’euitu as a method of dispatching their enemies — her true vacation spot is the fourth prince Go Yeon-woo. He’s a useless manchild who covets the queen, and Woo Hee makes use of his vapid cotton-filled mind to her benefit. Intentionally enjoying into his lust by coyly tempting him, Woo Hee simply has the flustered fourth prince agreeing to a levirate marriage.
Our queen’s thoughts is sharper than any, and she or he rapidly connects the dots of her sister’s betrayal. Not solely had Woo Solar ratted them out to Go Bal-ki, however she’d additionally sunk even decrease. Earlier, Woo Solar had torn a scrap of cloth off her skirt and left it behind for the hunters to comply with — and when that hadn’t panned out, she’d intentionally stayed behind to strike a take care of Nwe-eum by providing to cause them to Woo Hee.
A flashback contextualizes Woo Solar’s obsession with the king, and wryly mirrors the best way she’d been tricked by Sabi. Pissed off with the shortage of a royal inheritor, the calculative and conniving household head Woo Do had despatched Woo Solar to Go Nam-mu’s army camp. By way of a drug-addled haze inflicted by Sabi, Go Nam-mu sees Woo Solar as his beloved Woo Hee, and she or he takes full benefit of that reality. The subsequent morning, the king is simmering with a quiet fury as he dismisses Woo Solar, sparing her solely on her sister’s account.
Within the current, our queen leads her egocentric sister right into a entice, then confronts her about her betrayal. When Woo Solar whines that all the pieces Woo Hee possesses now ought to have been hers, Woo Hee cuts proper to the center of the matter: Woo Solar all the time turns her nostril up at issues, then covets them as soon as they grow to be Woo Hee’s. Cornered, Woo Solar attracts her bow in opposition to her personal sister, and Woo Hee attracts hers in flip. Each hearth — and whereas Woo Solar’s arrow misses, Woo Hee’s finds its mark.
There’s no time to waste on mourning, although. (What a wasted alternative to discover Woo Hee’s pragmatism and guilt! However I digress.) Woo Hee’s retinue should return to the palace earlier than dawn, regardless of the White Tiger hunters mendacity in wait. Banking on Eul Pa-so being on the identical wavelength, Woo Hee trusts that he’ll perceive her technique — and certainly, he does. Simply as they trip as much as the ferry docks, a wave of arrows commanded by Eul Pa-so comes raining down on the hunters. Secure eventually, our social gathering units sail for the palace.
Again within the royal courtroom, Woo Hee informs the ministers of the king’s demise, then claims that his dying want had been for Go Yeon-woo to ascend the throne by levirate marriage. Not fairly the reality, in fact — however Go Nam-mu’s final phrases to Woo Hee had been for her to guard herself, so maybe the sentiment does ring true. Ever the spoilsport, Go Bal-ki saunters in to voice his opposition (and hilariously, the timid Go Yeon-woo hides behind Woo Hee when Go Bal-ki attracts his sword).
The courtroom manages to show the violent third prince away, however solely quickly. Go Bal-ki seeks the exiled crown prince Go Pae-eui out in Liaodong, inviting him to actual vengeance upon the late king by seizing the throne. Donning an ornate masks to hide his disfigured nostril, Go Pae-eui mobilizes his troops alongside Go Bal-ki’s mounted warriors. He’ll declare battle on the palace.
Whereas Woo Hee was on her quest for a marriageable prince, Eul Pa-so has been furthering his investigation of the king’s poisoning. All traces appear to result in Sabi, however when he makes an attempt to take her into custody, they’re accosted by a horde of blade-wielding eunuchs. Amidst the chaos, one manages to stab Sabi. Alas, Sabi doesn’t handle to eke out something helpful earlier than succumbing to her wound.
Eul Pa-so narrows down his suspicions to the pinnacle secretary Track Woo, who oversees the eunuchs, and a intelligent tactic of swapping two service pigeons certainly yields a affirmation. Track Woo’s secret letter finally ends up delivered to Eul Pa-so’s windowsill, serving irrefutable proof that Track Woo is the mole who’s been leaking info. However nothing fairly factors to the poisoning wrongdoer simply but.
Within the meantime, there’s rather more to our prime minister than first meets the attention. Rewinding to the time a younger Eul Pa-so by accident stumbled upon his grandfather’s decayed corpse sitting within the archives, we study that the Eul clan had as soon as been the royal household of Juna. However King Taejo of Goguryeo — terrified of their good minds — destroyed Juna, then crippled Eul Pa-so’s grandfather and left him to rot.
That was the impetus that catalyzed Eul Pa-so’s diligent learning, honing his razor-sharp mind to avenge his clan. Since Jolbon blood runs in his veins too, he’d approached Yeon Bi on the pretext of reclaiming the stolen Jolbon land for her, asking for her army may in change. Eul Pa-so’s covert scheme is to incite a rise up by Go Bal-ki — and if Go Nam-mu dies early, then a levirate marriage will spur the princes right into a bloody struggle for the throne. Which is precisely what issues have come to.
For now, Eul Pa-so bides his time, observing from the sidelines. However Woo Hee is already a number of steps forward, in additional methods than one. To proceed their interrupted chess recreation, she’d written at least 5 subsequent strikes beforehand, predicting all of Eul Pa-so’s strikes proper as much as a checkmate in her favor. It’s an echo of their childhood chess match, asserting that Woo Hee is greater than only a pawn on a board.
That analogy lies on the core of Woo Hee’s will — she’s going to take cost of her personal future by taking management of the board. “All of the issues I used to be informed I couldn’t do by advantage of being a lady — it’s merely that I didn’t do them. Now, I’ll present you what I’m able to.” Within the face of the approaching insurgence, Woo Hee seeks to reunite the 5 tribes that after swore an oath to the founding king Chumo. And her effort pays off.
Not solely does Woo Hee’s deliberate option to marry the feeble Go Yeon-woo earn her the Nice Priest’s may, however she additionally obtains the assist of the North faction. Alongside the devoted prince Go Gye-soo and his dedication to honoring Go Nam-mu, Woo Hee has amassed sufficient power to defend the nation in opposition to the approaching rise up. Pulling on her armor, Woo Hee grasps her bow and arrows. She is going to struggle alongside her individuals to defend her nation.
And the drama ends proper there. No payoff, no solutions, nothing — simply an eight-hour preamble that most likely hoped to finish on a grandiose scene, solely to peter out alongside the best way. Queen Woo tried to reel in viewers with a surprising and sensationalized first half, solely to flounder in its second half. Open endings that depart off on a climactic level might be efficient and impactful — given a cohesive construct up and enough funding within the characters’ journey. Not when the narrative meanders its approach to a half-finished conclusion whereas dragging the frayed halves of its incomplete plot threads behind it.
Who poisoned the king? Who ordered the hit on Sabi? What are the Chief Priest’s true motives? How will the (anti)climactic battle finish? Properly, that final query might be answered by the historical past books, however that defeats the purpose of watching all the pieces earlier than it in drama kind. Queen Woo didn’t take advantage of its medium, relying as an alternative on superfluous motion to fill the yawning gaps of its scant substance.
The wasted potential is such a disgrace, as a result of there’s a lot of it. The bond between Go Nam-mu, Woo Hee, and Eul Pa-so was maybe essentially the most compelling a part of the present — their unmatched mind, their staunch beliefs, and their childhood connection — but it languished merely in short flashbacks.
Eul Pa-so’s line to Woo Hee, after realizing she’d intentionally misplaced chess video games to Go Nam-mu, stands out: “Please don’t play dropping strikes any longer.” It’s directly an affirmation of her competence, and an acknowledgement of her as an equal. One which echoes his eventual resolution to resign his vengeance and assist her, demonstrated by him returning her childhood daenggi he’d saved all this time.
As for our royal couple, all their wistful flashbacks paint a tragic story of real love torn aside by political maneuvering. Whether or not it’s Go Nam-mu planting a plot of flowers that hark again to the colour Woo Hee wore on their first assembly, or stationing the loyal Mil-woo by her aspect to maintain her protected, or tenderly calling out for his “Hee-ya” when seeing her face as an alternative of Woo Solar’s — there was a lot of the king’s love packed into such fleeting scenes.
However these character beats are few and much between, and it does really feel like greedy at straws. All the royal brothers had been underutilized, many characters had been lowered to one-note tropes, and time may have been higher spent delving into character relationships as an alternative of drawing out scenes unnecessarily. Woo Hee is the middle of the present, but we hardly ever get a glimpse into her ideas. The succesful actors had been the primary saving grace, however even good performances alone can not save a sinking ship of poor writing and unfastened directing.
On the finish of the day, I’m nonetheless not fairly certain what Queen Woo wished to be — a titillating thriller? An exploration of an intriguing interval in Korean historical past? A tribute to a powerful lady who empowered herself? In attempting to tick off too many bins directly, this drama failed to ascertain a transparent path, leaving its fractured narrative falling flat.
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