Summary
The fifth episode gives a glimpse of the intirguing mysteries behind the Palace and some triggers to look forward to for development in the upcoming episodes.
This recap of The King’s Affection season 1, episode 5 contains spoilers.
Today’s episode is underlining Ji-Woon’s having a tingling feeling towards Lee Hwi. Nothing much is progressing. But on the bright side, we get a couple of backstories and some triggers to look forward to for development in the upcoming episodes. Before we continue, I need to remind you that this show might slowly give us a major second lead syndrome, or maybe three, if you find yourself easily swayed by all of these visuals and charms.
For a starter, my prediction comes true! It turns out, Lee Hyun does know about Lee Hwi’s real identity. We’re walking down to the childhood memory when the young Hyun is about to show the Crown Prince about a cute little kitten at Lee Hwi’s chamber. He is still not aware of the switching identity situation. While adorably cherishing the kitten, he hears the footsteps of a couple of people coming into the room. Hyun quickly hides in the dressing room with the kitten. Lee Hwi, her mother, and her maternal grandfather are just coming back from horseriding. Unlike the real Lee Hwi, Dami-i is not yet familiar with the whole horseriding thing and got hurt in the process. Their differences cause suspicion from Lord Sangheon.
After Lord Sangeon leaves the room, The Crown Princess warns Dam-i to catch up with everything and not let her guard down. She has to be as perfect as the real Lee Hwi. Even the tiniest differences will never go unnoticed in the Palace. Hyun accidentally overheard their conversation and was bewildered. But things don’t stop right there. The Crown Princess orders her to switch the costumes due to the injury that she got. Nobody is aware of Hyun’s presence. He witnesses her transformation from the prince to the princess and learns to know her sorrow. Ever since then, Hyun has always protected her identity from afar. This explains why he gives her the precious brush and the flower rings.
The King’s Affection season 1, episode 5 recaps
So for almost the entire episode, Ji-Woon is trying to melt the icy cold Prince’s heart into a more warm-hearted person like a summer breeze. Other than that, we’ve seen him immersed in her charm and beauty countless times. He begins to wonder about the similarities between Lee Hwi and the court maid he met at the Royal Hunt. It’s funny every time he is questioning his own sanity when in fact Lee Hwi is the woman that he falls in love with all this time. Trust your gut, Ji-Woon. One of the funniest things is when the noblemen at Royal Institute real face featuring laziness and gambling cultures are accidentally exposed by Ji-Woon during the lecture session when he tries to emphasize that a Crown Prince needs to know and understand her Palace well. Ji-Woon tries to block her from all the mess by pretending to cough. She shoves him right away. From the Royal Institute, Royal Kitchen, to the Royal Medical. Lee Hwi shows no mercy to all the faults and imperfection that’s happening within the Palace’s walls. Suddenly the Palace turns busier than ever.
Ji-Woon, who notices that Hwi is being overboard, takes her to the place where she can see all the corners of the Palace. It’s a place where you can see everyone, from the court maid to the helpers that are considered as the low-class but are keeping the Palace running. Ji-Woon reminds her that the Palace worker is human with imperfection but shows dedication and work their best for her every day. What Ji-Woon is preaching is the long-forgotten real Dam-i before she is taught to be a perfectionist who shows no mercy nor trust anyone ever since she traded her life to the Palace. Ji-Woon asks him a simple yet powerful question that helps her to gather a piece of her true self once again, “Why don’t you slowly learn to trust people? Not for them, but for yourself. Don’t distance yourself too much because it’ll get lonelier.”
The mysteries behind Ga-On
So, it seems that Ga-On does have internal motives at the Palace because we’ve seen him running in disguise with green costumes that the assassinator uses to attempt Lee Hwi’s murder. One of Dam-i’s trusted guardians notices his presence. Both of them dwell in the “catch me if you can” scene but the guard loses him in the end. Not long after that, Ga-On is seen beside Eunnuch Hong, five steps behind Lee Hwi. Hong advises Ga-On to drink more water because he takes a toilet break too long. But his shoes are dirty and the guard notices them. Both of them stare at each other from afar and he leaves with Lee Hwi’s assembly. Days later, another inspector dies hanging at one of the Palace’s buildings. Ji-Woon’s father tries to identify the cases. It’s the second man who dies and it is related to the testified against preceptor Kang ten years ago. Ga-On is probably related to all of this, since he is a well-trained military soldier in the past. It seems that Ji-Woon’s father and Lee Hwi trusted guardian knows something behind the conspiracy regarding persecutor Kang.
After a hectic day, it’s time for our Lee Hwi to take a bath to refresh her mind. The court lady warns her to keep her identity from Kim Ga-On. Lee Hwi gambles her trust in him since Ga-On will be guarding her and the chamber for a long time. So, even though she built her wall so high, we can see how Dam-i still got a naive and innocent heart when it comes to giving her trust or taking a harsh decision regarding someone. She let him stay to guard her chamber, while the other court lady is put on rest. He waits in front of the bathroom. But something fishy comes up, one of Lee Hwi’s uncles, Chang Woon is planning something behind her back. He finds it suspicious that Lee Hwi has never shown any interest in not playing with the woman at her age. He tries to come up with the plan by trying to persuade a woman to her bathroom to stimulate her vigor. Lee Hwi notices that the smell and the smoke of the bath are heavier than usual. Ga-On who already noticed the strange thing through her bathroom fiercely opens the bathroom door and comes without permission. For a second, all of us probably think he will attack her when in fact, he slashes the curtain to reveal the real culprit behind the heavy smoke and all. She later admits to being sent by Chang Woon.
“Harras the Crown Prince once again, my sword will do more than just cutting beans.”
The Palace is in chaos after the childish act. Chang Woon is receiving scolding here and there and facing judgment from various people. From the Queen, Lee Hwi himself, to Lord Sangheon. But the scene-stealer tonight is our Prince Lee Hyun with his killer smile. After getting punched and threatened by Lord Sangheon who overheard about the Royal Hunt incident, he is set to be punished but Lee Hwi crumbles when Chang Woon is screaming for help through his face and asks her maternal grandfather to put his anger aside and let her take it on the easier rode. Well, who says he can breathe comfortably after the incident? Chang Woon almost got killed by Hyun’s sword. He warns Chang Woon to stay away from Lee Hwi and if he does dirty things behind her back again, he will not hesitate to cut his throat with his sword. Chang Woon laughs at his threat, defending himself as his uncle, but Hyun doesn’t come to play. He slashes his hat’s beans to pieces, leaving Chang Woon no more room to talk further upon his sin towards Lee Hwi.
The ending
After all the hassle, Lee Hwi hasn’t got any rest due to her nightmares. Eunuch Hong is concerned about her well-being and suggests her to take a nap. Lee Hwi refuses. She choose to study literature to distract her mind. Not long after that, Ji-Woon is coming to visit the Royal Insititution and finds Lee Hwi is anxiously falling asleep. She is sweating due to the nightmares that she’s getting. Ji-Woon wonders if she catches a cold or not. But before his finger touches her face, time stops. Once again, he is mesmerized by her hidden beauty.
Suddenly, Lee Hwi wakes up frightened as if someone is threatening her. She unintentionally chokes Ji-Woon with fear in her eyes. “It’s me, the Royal Tutor,” he says. Lee Hwi snaps herself back to the reality. While still experiencing severe panic, Lee Hwi moves herself to the shelf not knowing that a glass of antique vase upon her are about to fall. Ji-Woon notices it and quickly protects her from the falling vases. They later unintentionally share a hug, and once again… the staring contest begins.
You can stream The King’s Affection season 1, episode 5 exclusively on Netflix.
