This drama was certainly not the most well-made and perfect drama that I have seen so far, but it was certainly one of the most meaningful and influential. This drama has several layers that get deeper from one layer to another and brings with it deeper and more beautiful concepts. Its first layer is the narration of a certain period of history. The second layer is a story of friendships, loves and sacrifices, and the last layer is the deep psychological growth of the characters, especially Sonho's character, which is the biggest lesson and message of this drama.
This drama very well accompanies the audience step by step in the development of the characters and ultimately leads the audience to growth and prosperity. It is as if the main character of the drama is the audience itself, but the character who is outside the camera frame and every part of his personality is institutionalized in the heart of one of the characters of the drama. But in the meantime, Sonho's character is that part of our personality that plays the biggest role in our feeling of happiness or pain.
From the beginning of the drama, we witnessed bitter and terrible events that plagued Hui, but in the end, it always seemed to be Senho who felt a deeper and more deadly pain inside him, but why? This drama has highlighted the role of 3 factors for us:
1. Support: From the very beginning, we could see the existence of supporters who supported Hui with pure love and affection. Hee-jae, Moon Book, Chido, Jung Beom, and Bang Won, all of these people were by Hui's side and shared in his pain under any circumstances, trying to heal it. At the forefront of all these people was Sonho, who we witnessed his grief for Hui since childhood when Hui's father was buried, and this continued until the end of the drama. But it seems Sonho was always alone in his sorrows. Without any support or backing. Alone, alone. At the peak of his loneliness, Yeon became his only companion But the duration of this companionship was short-lived like Yeon's life. And after that, Sonho was so broken that he could no longer stand upright. Remember Sonho's dialogue after Yeon's death: "I lost someone. The only person who loved me and trusted me." In fact, Yeon gave Sonho something that Sonho had been screaming and pleading for his whole life. But where did this bitterness and lack of support come from? Perhaps the next two factors can be involved in shaping this factor.
2. Sonho's personality: Sonho had a unique personality. But until you are an introvert, no one will know about your inner beauty. Sonho swallowed the fire of his pain and his loved ones and burned from the inside, but he did not complain. He knew the meaning of pain better than anyone else; Because he had spent every moment of his life with it. He did not want those he loves to experience pain, so he made all those pains his own. He smiled despite the pain and played the role of the oppressor despite being a victim. No one grieves for a sad tyrant. Remember Yeon's dialogue (your facial expression never changes, you smile when you're tired, you smile when you're sad about something, sometimes you just smile. You can cry on my shoulders, you have nowhere else to cry) and This was the understanding that distinguished Yeon from others for Sonho. Sunho's introversion was clearly seen in the dialogues exchanged between Chi Do and Sunho at the end of the drama (Chi Do: Your wound is too deep. Sun Ho: I got used to being wounded. Chi Do: You can never be wounded Get used to it, every time you get hurt the pain comes back and every time you get hurt, all you can do is scream. It's okay to scream sometimes when you're in pain).
Sonho was born with pain. Being born as an illegitimate child from a servant mother and a father who did not accept him as his son. The deep pain that his father inflicted on him after the death of Sunho's brother and created a nightmare for Sunho that haunted him for years and would not let him go (remember Namjoon's dialogues after his son drowned, saying: "Why? Why are you the one who survived? You should have died instead of him. You should have died instead of my son). He grew up instead of his brother and his own identity became nothing, which is what Sunho hated. The pain of death. His mother, who was his only refuge. Also, the peak of his hatred for his father because he saw him as the cause of his mother's death. He grew up and all his pain, anger and hatred grew with him, but even Hui who was Sunho's closest friend He was also never aware of his sufferings. Remember the scene of the return from Liaodong (A. Who left you here to guard? I asked who ordered you? B. The commander in chief of the right wing army, Namjoon. A. It is not possible, his son. Our companion B. ordered us to kill his son first if we catch him.) It was here that Hui was shocked when he heard this, but soon he forgot it.
Sonho gave his whole life for Hui without any remorse. He had a big dream in his mind and for years he had planned every single step on the way to achieve it. He had dedicated his life to this ideal and every time he patiently put the beads of these two minnows together one by one to reach his goal, but every time when there were only a few beads left, he suddenly fall apart the beads to save Hui and without a moment's hesitation he would rush to help Hui. He blamed himself many times and promised himself that he would not give up his life and purpose because of Hoi, but he broke his promise every time. Kim Dong-won also asked him many times to come to his senses and leave Hui, but he could not turn his back on his friend even though he mercilessly wounded him every time and ignored his help. Several times in several different scenes, we saw the same thing that beautifully depicted Sunho's inner self. We saw that when Hui is in danger, Sonho pulls himself out of his problems and reaches Hui, shields his hand in front of Hui and shouts for him to leave, and he stands in Hui's place and He struggles with problems. The arrows that were supposed to target Hui were aimed at his body, and the swords that came to wound Hui injured him. No arrow injured Sunho's body except that it had torn Sunho's heart before. It was as if Sonho was saying you stay alive, if necessary I will die instead of you
3. The role of the family: At the beginning of the series, we saw Hui jealous of Sunho's status and social position and his aristocratic father. Hui felt that due to having a father from the noble class, luck is on Sonho's side and a bright future will await him, but he himself will not have good luck due to having a father who has the stigma of theft and betrayal on his forehead. Remember the following dialogues exchanged between Sunho and Hui (Hui:Hey, Mr. Ashrafzadeh; Have mercy on me. Sonho: Leave these compliments. Those who are born from mistresses are considered only semi-nobles. In fact, if your mother is a slave, you become a quarter noble. What an incomplete and worthless patch. Hui: Exactly. But you are someone who is made of silver; While I am a worthless stone. Sonho: Wow, how much you talk nonsense every time you open your mouth. Hui: Anyway, half of your destiny is determined by the person you are born from. I am jealous of you. You have a rich father). However, Sonho had a different view:(Sunho: You said that the person who gives birth to you determines half of your destiny. It means that we can change the other half. Hui: Fate is not something that you can easily change).This was Sonho's deep belief. A belief based on which he had set his aspirations and goals well. But which of them was right?
Hui, who was complaining and dissatisfied with the stigma of his father's traitorous name, attracted many supporters because of this father's name, especially Hijeh, Chido, and Bangwon, whom we mentioned in the description of their support and their role in saving Hui. However, this was the name of Sunho's aristocratic father, which not only did not bring him honor and patronage, but also drove his supporters, friends and loved ones away from him one after another. Like Hijah, Hui and many others. Everyone judged Sonho because of his father; But how painful it is for someone who you have grown up with since childhood like a brother, you have shared his happiness and sadness with him moment by moment and you have grown up next to him, does not know you properly and judge you. Maybe Sunho could expect wrong judgment from anyone else, but not from Hui. But in spite of all this, none of these two people were condemned by the Predestination of the father's name.
The creators of this drama, in the first 2 / 3 of it, were able to instill Sunho's deep pain to the audience and make it understandable to the audience. In such a way that we can feel this pain with all our being and maybe even be angry with Soo Hui for neglecting Sunho. Hui who, after seeing Sonho's ruined condition, at the moment he wants to kill himself, leaves him and leaves, and even after 2 years, he doesn't remember him. He doesn't even know if Sonho is dead or alive after that day. Until Bang Geun brings him to himself and makes him remember Sunho again and look for Sunho (Remember the sequence where these dialogues are exchanged between Bang Geun and Hui: (Bang Geun: I have always had penchant for two swords, one of you and the other of your friend Sunho. One of them is rotting While that one has disappeared and no one has seen his body yet, is it true? Hui: He is no longer my friend, so ask somewhere else. Bang Gun: Well, you joined the man who killed his father. I doubt it matters to you what happened to him).And how bitter was the scene when Hui enters Sunho's empty room and realizes how lonely Sunho was. It was from here that Sonho's every effort for Hui got a different color and he understood their true meaning. Yes, Sonho spent every moment and every hour of his life trying to protect and protect his friend and brother Hui, but all those efforts were interpreted differently by Hui. Remember the following beautiful dialogues from Hui (Thank you for supporting me and I'm sorry that I was so engrossed in my own anger that I couldn't see your pain) or this dialogue (Did you know that whenever I was in pain, you were always by my side?) And the scene where he remembers his sister's words (No matter what happens, never lose Sunho. He was the only one who held our hands when everyone else treated us like ghosts. He and the mosquitoes are the only ones who love you. ) What a good anthropologist that simple and inexperienced little girl was. But now that everything is clear to the audience, why do we hear this dialogue from Sunho? (I realized that a life like this is not so sad. I always thought that I only have two choices in my life. A bad choice and a worse choice. But I could have another choice, and I deliberately ignored it). Sonho has found the limit of happiness within himself. Sunho now realizes that each person makes his own bitter or sweet destiny and decides whether he wants to live with pain or with happiness. If we have chosen sweetness for our life, no pain in life can make life bitter to our taste. Sonho finally realized that living with pain is only the result of a choice. Choosing sadness from sadness and happiness. Sonho was full of sweet possessions that he just ignored, this is what almost all of us do with our pains. Hui's dialogue in response to Sonho's words in the previous dialogue is very interesting: (If I were in your place, I would only see the same two options. What do you think, to have an easier life from this moment on? A life in which there is a smile). The first part of Hui's speech may be the heart speech of many of us. If it was me, I would have made the same choice, and of course it's true because when we are in pain, can we see anything other than pain, even if that thing is right in front of our eyes? But what about the second part of Hui's talk? Is this just a reply to Sonho or an answer to our question? Hui tells us that you too find the limit of your choices. When you know the border, everything becomes clear for you. Now you can choose happiness and live a life full of smiles. This concept is the biggest concept that urges the audience to come to their senses. We alone are responsible for all our pain because we have made our own decisions. We are the ones who decide to make the pains the milestones of our lives and lead our lives on their path, or to choose small joys instead and leave ourselves in their hands. Remember Sunho's meaningful and touching dialogue in the last moments of his life (I was only staring at miles away and when I finally looked behind me, I saw you and Yeon. My homeland was just one step behind me. I wish this I knew earlier). This beautiful concept of choosing between pain or happiness is also beautifully drawn in the drama Just between lovers (which is another product of the director of the same drama). Especially in the scene where Kong Doo decides not to mourn his grandmother's death anymore. A pain that he never thought he would be able to overcome
A book can be written about this drama. It was as if he had something to say at every moment, but even so far, my conversation was too long. So I will try to limit myself to pointing out some of them. For example, in the dialogue in the initial flashback of the series, Hui says: swords are like Confucius and arrows are like Mencius. During the series, we saw Sonho with Lee Song Yi's sword and Hui with a bow on his shoulder. With a little knowledge of the two schools of Mencius and Confucius, it is possible to understand and understand all the actions of Sunhu and Hui in a more correct and deeper way (discussion about it can multiply the volume of this article, so I will refrain from explaining it further). Or Hijah's character, which may be considered a symbol of a calamity. But the sweet calamity that was taking little by little the joys, beauty and precious things of Sunho and Hui's life from them, but they both fell in love with this calamity at the peak of negligence.Remember the scene of Hijah's entry into Sonho and Hui's life and the beginning of the bitterness of their lives, and follow his role in each calamity (broadcasting the announcement and being pursued by Sonho and Hui, reporting the violation in the competition and sending Hui to Lyaedong, burning the path of the king and the death of the crown prince, Sambong and Namjoon etc). Or the point that there was no bad character among the characters. Each of us has our own personal perception of the world around us and those around us, and it is this perception that makes the truth of our life. Not the real truth of the outside world. Sonho's father loved his son, but Sonho's perception was different from him, and it was this perception that shaped reality for him. Sonho wanted to ensure Yeon and Hui's safety, but Hui's perception was different from Sonho's actions, and this formed Hui's reality. Bang Won wanted to build a prosperous country, but his father's perception was different from Bang Won's goal, and this reality shaped him.
with many unspoken word, I will end my speech here. I know that my text is very long. I sincerely apologize to those who read it and thank you for taking the time to read this message