Summary
The wait is over, The King’s Affection episode 2 starts the double-life of our charming yet arrogant Prince Lee Hwi and his tangled palace romance with Ji-Woon.
This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series The King’s Affection season 1, episode 2 contains spoilers.
So after kicking off with a promising start, episode 2 is filled with angst, tears, more angst, and finally our first encounter with Park Eun-Bin and Rowoon!
The King’s Affection season 1, episode 2 recap
The Crown Princess breaks down after knowing that her son, Lee Hwi, is the one who dies instead. To protect her only child left, she asks Dam-i to keep her identity as Prince Lee Hwi for the rest of her life. Dam-i, who still has no idea what’s going on, quickly tries to leave the palace. Bok-Dong immediately tries to stop her but encounters a shocking truth instead. They see the Crown Princess is having a heartbreaking debate in front of Lee Hwi’s dead body.
Ever since then, Dam-i refuses to eat anything. The Crown Princess forces her to eat if she wants to protect the life around her. After that, Dam-i tries to gather her courage and learn to live as Prince Lee Hwi, a boring and lonely life at a Palace that is opposite to the life that she has known all along. She encounters many unfamiliar faces and ways of life. The Crown Princess keeps on reminding her to conceal her heart for anyone to survive while Bok-Dong helps her to address them. One of them is Lee Hwi’s nephew, Hyun. But nobody scares her more than her grandfather, Crown Princess’s father.
The twist of fate
On Lee Hwi’s birthday, Ji-Woon privately asks to visit Prince Lee Hwi because of Dam-i’s admiration towards him, without knowing that the Prince behind the curtain is the girl he is looking for all this time. He promises the Prince to be the man that is worthy by his side and bid the Prince farewell to study in Ming. Dam-i tears up as she realizes that the girl Ji-Woon’s talking about is her. Before Ji-Woon leaves, she gives him the dice through Bok-Dong, before that she turns the dice to “Longing, Not,” from “Longing, wait” in hopes that it will give him courage just like what it did for her.
After visiting Prince Dam-i, Ji-Woon sees his father secretly taking one of Dam-i’s trusted court maid friends, Yi-Wool, to the back of the palace. He secretly follows him and is bewildered after seeing his father rise his swords to kill her. He immediately intervenes and begs for him to stop. Yi-Wool finds her way to escape but unfortunately, Ji-Woon’s father manages to catch and kill her right in front of Ji-Woon’s eyes. But it turns out, Ji-Woon is not only the witness, but Dam-i also secretly follows them and is put in great devastation after witnessing her dearest get murdered, moreover the killer is the father of the boy she adores.
The death of Crown Princess
Traumatized, Dam-i runs away from the Palace and causes a fuss. Everyone tries to look for her. In the middle of the search for her, Bok-Dong starts to cry. His heart breaks for Dam-i due to her endless suffering. The court lady is comforting our lovely Bok-Dong and remind him to be strong to protect her because the day her identity is revealed, is the death of everyone. Dam-i overheard their conversation and shows herself. All this time she hides in the garden where the court maid uses to dry all the cotton.
Later, the Crown Princess comforts her devastated child who blames herself after the death of Lee Hwi and Yi-Wool. The Crown Princess finally shares the truth of her true identity by revealing that she is her twin daughter and Lee Hwi is her twin brother. It’s a brief and touching scene where Dam-i finally calls her mother.
But sadly, the writer says “No, let’s break Dam-i’s heart one more time.” Our charming Prince Dam-i can’t seem to stop her tears from falling throughout the episode. After the mother and daughter finally reunite under the full moon, she must accept the reality that the Crown Princess is lying on her death bed. She reminds Dam-i that she’s very special. His Royal Highness, her father, comes into the room dishearted while asking for privacy. Later, with her last breath, the Crown Princess asks his loyal husband to protect their child no matter what happens. The whole palace mourns over the death of the Crown Princess and marks the official birth of Prince Lee Hwi. Kudos to all the child actors!
The Arrogance Prince and Smart Healer
Finally, after all the sorrow, we arrive at the current times. Exactly ten years after all the traumatic loss and drama, Bok-Dong chaotically runs towards the Prince’s ward to transfer the silk covers she asked for. It turns out, she wants cotton covers but they couldn’t find them. Bok-Dong got knocked out from the ward. Our elegant yet arrogant prince Lee Hwi is seen preparing herself for her charming transformation. From the beauty of a princess to the handsome and charming prince in a blink of an eye. After all is done, she confidently goes out from the ward, ready to start another day to become the prince. Before she leaves with her horse for a hunt battle, she fiercely warns all the court maids and ladies to never do anything beyond what’s been ordered.
Meanwhile, our Ji-Woon mysteriously transforms into one of the smartest physicians in town. From saving the Ming’s vice prime minister to opening his very own clinic near the forest who is known for his hand to cure. He lives a free life avoiding the palace dream that has been guaranteed through his noble family. Possibly after witnessing his father’s dirty little secret. One day, a fierce noble princess comes to the clinic due to a skin problem that causes her face with lost pimples. Ji-Woon couldn’t find the flower seeds that he needs for her medicine. The fierce princess threatens him to find it before midnight if he wants to avoid all the chaos and his friend, Young-Ji gets killed.
The ending
From unable to perfectly shoot an arrow, to becoming the expert to shoot the deer, Lee Hwi has gained her nickname as the prince of arrogance within the Palace family. One of her uncles mocks her by claiming that her skill and wealth only exist because she is the grandchild of the King. Well, the uncle forgets that the arrogant prince is not only arrogant but also heartless. She confronts him and directly shoots an arrow towards him, which surprises him, but aiming at the snake on the tree behind him instead. She chooses to let it slide but warns him that there is no compromising next time, even though he is her uncle.
Not accepting the fact that his pride is mocked, the uncle secretly follows her and shoots an arrow that causes her hair to fall down. He is surprised that the Prince suddenly looks like a woman instead. Afraid that someone might see her, Lee Hwi anxiously runs away into the forest to find a safe spot. I can’t stress enough how I like the forest scenery in this scene. It’s ethereal. It feels like seeing Ghibli’s scenery coming to life!
While carefully undressing and fixing her clothes, she hears footsteps approach from behind the trees. She quickly grabs her knives and aims to the source of the sound and it hits the tree. Not long after, a man comes from behind the tree, looking anxious and bewildered. The frightened prince meet the eyes of the man that he resents yet longing all along. Marking their reunion after ten years and the start of their complicated and tangled romance. Yes, the man is no other than Ji-Woon himself. Except, they are still unaware of each other’s identity.
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