Original subtitles

Final Episode

Three steps forward...

Six steps to the right...

Your Majesty!

I didn't know they have a new desk.

Just tell them you can't see.

Hiding your blindness from the subjects is Groping in the dark.

I've been groping in the dark for nearly 30 years even with my eyes wide open.

Because that is politics and the King's path.

You're looking straight at me, Your Majesty.

I promise you I will not lose this fight, Prime Minister.

Border at Yalu River

Ming army is threatening our border?

Has a countermeasure been devised?

Of course, Your Majesty.

How is it going?

I was told you're going to the Uiju border.

This could be an opportunity to

demonstrate the new and improved large rocket launcher.

"Records on Gunpowder Weaponry"

I never thought I'd see it written in our own writing.

Return safely, sir.

Don't worry about me, and give Choi Haesan his wish.

I'll see you when I get back.

Nay to the new writing system!

This is the official position of the Hall of Worthies!

The first reason, of course, is to stop cultural corrosion.

But that is not the only reason.

Obstructing distribution of Joseonese writing is an act

undermining the autonomy of Joseon!

I will take an unyielding stand and show no tolerance!

It is also to stop Joseon from driving itself into a war!

At times King's take dangerous risks to protect their policies

the most dangerous risk being a war.

And when he does, it is the people that are sacrificed.

Hence this is not opposition for opposition sake.

It is our final recourse to protect the people!

Now I ask you to sign your names on this petition.

A petition?

I guess it's time to start the battle.

Hall of Great Peace

The Ming envoy is at the Hall of Great Peace?

Give them a little scare and they come running.

How will His Majesty respond to our petition?

What are the chance that he will give up the new writing system?

None.

I have absolutely no intention to give up the new writing system.

But there is a way to stop me.

What would that be?

Fight me and win. You can take as long as you want.

I might give up the new writing system if you win.

We've already stated our position through the petition.

But I disagree.

Fight me if you want to win, Assistant Director.

Politics is a pen fight after all.

If you lose, would you really give up the writing system?

I will not lose.

I will not lose either, Your Majesty.

This will be an interesting fight.

You must be fatigued from the long trip, venerable.

I owe it all to your King's insolent behavior.

Our King is a great man.

Not as long as he insists on this Joseonese writing system.

Creation of the writing system will be his greatest achievement.

Academics in Joseon will take a nosedive.

Who would want to learn Chinese when there's an easy script that

can be mastered in a single afternoon?

I would think that officials of Joseon have enough insight to realize that improving

the quality of life by teaching people how to read and write and enriching culture

through higher education are two different endeavors that can be carried out together.

Yi Sunji.

Yes, Your Majesty.

I want you and the young scholars to translate the "Conduct of the Three Bonds"

and work out a plan for national distribution.

Teach them literal and civility at the same time.

Now that's what I call killing two birds with one stone!

We refuse.

Refuse?

People are not lowly because they don't know how to read and write.

Education cannot change one's lowly nature.

How dare you speak of my people with contempt!

If the people cannot be enlightened, why are you in government service?

Simply to dominate the people and enjoy power over them?

Assistant Director.

Yes, Your Majesty.

What are your thoughts?

Do you oppose the writing system distribution for the same reason?

I want to know what you think about the people.

They should not to be slighted,

but I don't believe they should be completely trusted either.

And you call yourselves intellectuals?

If the people become literate and that literacy is exploite for individual gain,

the country will descend into greater confusion.

If we can't control their exploitation, neither you nor I deserve to be here!

It all boils down to this.

You don't want to use the same language that the common people use.

You just don't want to be in the same group with them.

You want to hold on to the difficult writing that they can't learn and

act as if that gives you special rights!

Do you want to contest to that?

Those without will to understand the people,

those without will to serve the people, leave the Hall of Worthies!

I will not accept you as a scholar or as an official of this government.

If Joseon insists on having its own alphabet, Ming will stop the investiture of its kings.

I guess this is severance of diplomatic relations.

There will be military punitive action as well.

This is frightening.

You wish to take this further?

Minister Gim.

Ming army has 300.000 soldiers ready for immediate deployment.

Maximum number of soldiers Joseon can scrape together is about 100.000.

What's more, our men are elite soldiers trained by war.

Our soldiers haven't exactly been sitting around either.

What's more, we have the new weapons that Ming has been so covetous of.

New weapons?

Rocket launchers in various sizes and caliber as well as over

300 mobile gunpowder weapons that can each fire 100 arrows in 15 minutes.

If all 300 of them are fired at once,

that's 30.000 shots even if only one tenth of those shots hit the target,

3.000 Ming soldiers will be meeting their maker.

Is this a declaration of war?

Ming threatened our borders first, venerable.

I hope whit I heard from your ministers does not reflect your will.

My ministers are loyal.

I'm quite confident they would not misrepresent my will.

I will give you one last chance.

Do not promulgate your alphabet.

I've already unsheathed my sword.

If anyone attempts to stop the promulgation of Hunminjeongeum,

I will fight them to the end.

Joseon could never defeat the Great Ming, Your Majesty.

We will not go down easily.

Even if we are defeated, our fight will serve a lesson to neighboring states.

Our unmistakable reprisal against Ming's unjustified

and excessive interference in domestic affairs will be remembered.

And those states will gain courage and strength to stand up against

Ming's hegemony and fight.

Mark my words.

If Joseon falls, Ming will not be standing in one piece either.

I see there is no room for negotiation.

No when it comes to the promulgation of Hunminjeongeum.

Our guest is leaving. See him out courteously.

A resignation?

Does this mean you're giving up the fight?

I'm drawing a definite line between the King and myself for the new fight.

Did you deliver the secret letter to Prince Jinyang?

Yes.

All you need to do is to deny the new writing.

Then Ming will choose you instead of the Crown Prince as Joseon's next King.

To have a new King, the old King has got to go.

Once he's gone, the threat of war will be gone.

Wouldn't that be a good thing for Joseon?

Yu.

What trouble you?

Go to the Hall of Worthies. You'll find someone waiting for you.

Is that you, Jinyang?

No, I shall call you Suyang from now on.

I don't understand.

It's your new title.

"Suyang".

Su meaning "leader", Yang meaning "bright".

You are to become the leader of the Royal House in the future.

As the head of the Royal House, I hope you will give your brother

the future King your help and support.

You've known... about my vain ambitions.

Anyone could harbor such thoughts. But harbor them for too long.

Is that Choi Manli's resignation?

I can't accept it.

He's opposed you on every issue.

More importantly, he tried to bring me to the...

He's done many more good.

It wouldn't be an understatement to say that he's responsible for

half the all achievement of the Hall of Worthies.

You have many more talented men.

But they are not Choi Manli.

Assistant Director of the Hall of Worthies.

I intend to leave this position open until he returns.

You're going to Jingwan Temple?

I did my research there for over a year.

I left a lot of things behind that need to be cleaned out.

Jingwan Temple?

The King is going to Jingwan Temple today?

Jingwan Temple...

Is this what you call a sign from god?

Isn't this my resignation?

You won't be serving me, so I'm asking you to remain my father's service.

What do you mean?

"Politics is not fighting for higher position or greater power...

... but working together and studying how to make the world a better place."

That's what my father always said.

But I guess I had forgotten for a while.

I'm giving up all the vain ambition I had.

I'm letting it all go, and leaving on a long trip with my mother.

The King still holds you in high regards and wants you back.

So please don't keep him waiting for too long.

We came to the academy and studied our hearts out to become government

officials so we can provide valuable service to the country.

But this country has no hope.

Despair is a right you earn when you've tried everything you possibly can

and you have nothing more left to give,

but you're still getting beaten down and knocked around.

Only then we will have the right to despair.

Frankly, I still don't know if giving him a government post is a good thing.

But I do know how much Joseon needs an astronomical instrument.

I welcome your debate anytime, Choi Manli.

I have faith in you, Choi Manli.

Sir.

I am Choi Manli.

Once I start a fight, I never back down.

In exactly half an hour, you are to infiltrate Jingwan Temple and kill the King.

Where is Shuqing?

He's gone to Jingwan Temple alone ahead of us.

What?

Is that you, Royal Attendant?

What brings you?

Deliver my message to the Prime Minister...

... that the time has come.

That now is the time to bring me down with his own hands.

No one listens to me.

I know this room like the back of my hand,

so don't treat me like a blind man when I'm in here.

I told you to get some rest for that cough, but here you are again.

How do you wish to be punished for making an attempt on the King's life?

Do you have proof?

I will get it soon enough.

Drop you weapons!

His Majesty is in danger!

What do you mean?

Shuqing has already.

Sir?

You underestimate our intelligence capability.

Let me see.

It was around here somewhere.

Don't just stand there. Take it.

The physician left it. It works wonders for coughs.

I need you to be healthy so you can be with me for a long time.

Those heartless subjects keep leaving me one by one.

If I have to see you off first, you'll get a whipping from me. You hear?

It wasn't... you?

Times are always troublous.

You and I have weathered the troublous times both in our own way.

But I still cannot acknowledge the writing system you've created.

However, I do acknowledge your dedication and sacrifice.

Even if history should prove me right and you wrong tomorrow,

I bow down to you today.

Devotion that knew no end through infirmity and ultimately loss of eyesight.

I surrender to that earnest devotion for Joseon.

I think this puts us at a distinct advantage.

No deal.

You have quite a few political enemies in Ming.

When they find out about this, they'll use this against you to render you powerless.

No one can lay a finger on me in Ming.

Because...

The Emperor is in the palm of my hands!

Royal Villa, Liaodong

You are the Queen of Joseon?

Yes, Your Majesty.

Liaodong is a thousands miles from Joseon.

What brings you on such long journey?

I was told Your Majesty will soon be leaving to

distant Mongolia on a military campaign.

A cold winter is approaching.

I just wanted to deliver a cotton stuffed garment I have sewn myself.

You came a thousand miles to deliver a garment?

Do you expect me to believe that?

I am not much of a seamstress,

but I have put a mother's love in every stitch.

I pray for your health and longevity, my Emperor.

Wait.

The Emperor does not receive a gift and send off his guest empty handed.

I will grant you a wish.

I have nothing more to wish for.

My husband has already given me a gift that I wouldn't change for the world.

A mother's love...

Has my mother ever sewn a garment for me?

You must be exhausted from the trip.

It was nice because you were with me.

You made thousands of miles feel like a single step.

The days that lay ahead...

The long and endless future will not always be easy for you.

Mother...

But like today, won't you look after your father the King and

your brother the Crown Prince like the way you so attentively looked after me today?

Promise me that you will.

I promise you.

I won't disappoint you, Mother.

Did you say Joseon was just across this river?

Look how swift the water flows down the river.

I feel like my heart has reached Joseon already.

October, 1446, 28th year of Sejong's reign

Ah.

Ah-Anhae...

Ming envoy Wang Zhen is here, Your Majesty.

Escort him in.

Your Majesty, I come in dismay.

The Emperor expresses deepest condolences for the Queen's passing.

My departed wife will he grateful.

He also hopes that the Joseonese alphabet held so dearly by the departed

Queen will be widely distributed and put to valuable use.

The Emperor's kindness will always be remembered.

What did Envoy Wang just say?

"One blind man opened the eyes of all men."

Your Majesty, it's time for the ceremony.

Anhae: archaic Korean term for "wife"

Records on Gunpowder Weaponry: Book written in Hangul about the use of cannons and gunpowder.

Father.

Are you watching us?

Your hard work and the fruit of your efforts have been

immortalized in our own language.

Hunminjeongeum.

"Because the speech of the country is different from that of China..."

Chinese characters are incapable of capturing uniquely Joseonese meanings.

Therefore, many common people have no way to express their thoughts and feelings.

Out of my sympathy for their difficulties. I have created a set of 28 letters.

The letters are easy to learn,

and it is my fervent hope that they improve the quality of life of all people.

Here I am! Catch me if you can!

Makdong, no!

Gotcha!

Makdong, you rascal!

How many times did I tell you not to play mean tricks on your friends?

Show me what letters you've learned.

"D-A-R-L-A-E" My name?

"P-U-G-N-O-S E"

Pug nose?

Makdong!

Pug nose! Pug nose!

Makdong, writing is not for making fun of your friends.

Pug nose! Pug nose!

"Dar... lae... is... a... beau... ti... ful... girl."

Her heart is just as beautiful as her face.

Um, sir?

Who is that nice old man?

He is the most exalted man on this land...

... and the most humble.

Every one of us are his heaven, his earth and his universe.

The world is still vast from up here...