This present. This present. It’s simply so good. “My Dearest” quickly takes its focus off historic occasions because the struggle attracts to an in depth. But the tip of the Greater Jin invasion doesn’t imply that issues are again to regular. The struggling has solely begun for Joseon’s folks as they navigate their new post-war actuality. Lee Jang Hyun (Namgoong Min) and Yoo Gil Chae (Ahn Eun Jin) discover themselves unanchored whereas the land tries to rebuild, at the same time as everybody inside is stored downtrodden by the Greater Jin. Happiness is simply inside attain. But Jang Hyun and Gil Chae’s biggest enemies on their path to one another could also be none aside from themselves.

Here are 4 occasions the principle characters missed their timing within the earlier episodes.

Warning: spoilers for episodes 7-8 beneath.

1. When Jang Hyun didn’t inform her that he was the soldier who saved her

What’s so heartbreaking about this week’s episodes is that a lot of this ache (and all the pieces that’ll come sooner or later) might have been prevented if Jang Hyun and Gil Chae have been able to being clear. But that’s simpler stated than accomplished in an age the place social norms and gender roles have been unquestioningly obeyed and the place most individuals have been too busy surviving to have the time to realize readability on the workings of their minds.

We left off with Jang Hyun combating off the Mongol squad he was pretending to be part of. He defeats them 16 to at least one, however his smallpox an infection is taking its toll, and the final man almost kills him. Only one of many king’s troopers, Goo Won Moo (Ji Seung Hyun), sweeps in and kills the final one, simply as Gil Chae arrives on the scene. She searches for Jang Hyun however doesn’t see him collapsed within the underbrush, and Goo Won Moo takes all of the credit score for Jang Hyun’s kills. Jang Hyun falls comatose and awakens to a brand new Joseon a day later. King Injo (Kim Jong Tae) has taken his recommendation and surrendered. Jang Hyun had suggested the king’s ministers to threaten the Greater Jin and the Mongols with information of their smallpox drawback and twist it to point that the heavens usually are not on their aspect. The Greater Jin emperor Hong Taiji’s (Kim Joon Won) complete battle technique has been that he was despatched by the heavens to rule over Asia. If the reality comes out that the heavens appear to have cursed the military with smallpox, his rule wouldn’t appear reliable. So, each side comply with a cease-fire, and Hong Taiji agrees to not hurt Injo. Joseon will get to maintain their king however is now subsumed to Taiji’s rule. Crown Prince So Hyun (Kim Mu Jun) shall be despatched as a royal captive and hostage to the Greater Jin courtroom in order that King Injo does what the Greater Jin need. The struggle is over.

Goo Won Moo and Nam Yeon Joon (Lee Hak Joo) are given excessive honors by the king for his or her assist in battle, when in actuality all they did was survive the battle. Won Moo takes all credit score for Jang Hyun’s kills, and Jang Hyun, regardless of all the pieces he risked to assist, is given no honors.

He’s nursed again to well being by his loyal pal Goo Jam (Park Kang Sub) and Ryang Eum (Kim Yoon Woo), who stays secretly in love with him. Jang Hyun and Gil Chae each discover their strategy to Hanyang as Kyung Eun Ae (Lee Da In) prepares to marry Yeon Joon. Despite enjoying it cool, they each search one another out. But with the desperation of wartime days now gone, all social norms rear their head. Gil Chae realizes that each one she is aware of about Jang Hyun is that he appears to love her and is outwardly a large flirt with each lady. He even lives in a gisaeng home in the mean time, which doesn’t assist her opinion of him. And Jang Hyun feels responsible for having informed her to go to Ganghwa Island, believing it to be secure, when she almost met her demise there. So, when she asks if he was there, if he fought off all these males and saved her life, he lies and says he wasn’t there.

And her opinion of him deflates. She wonders what she noticed in him even whereas he yearns for her. Jang Hyun and Gil Chae are each proud in their very own method, and it’s that fierce satisfaction that dooms them at this hour. And it hurts as a result of happiness was so, so shut, and it slipped by way of their grasp.

2. When Gil Chae continued to be hung up on Yeon Joon

Eun Ae and Gil Chae’s friendship continues to be the most effective elements of this present. Eun Ae, like Yeon Joon, acknowledges that Gil Chae’s emotions for Yeon Joon are that of familiarity, consolation, and a toddler who desires the toy she’s yearned after for years. She’s dreamt of this mysterious man who she is aware of is the love of her life for therefore a few years and informed herself that it was Yeon Joon. He’s the one crush she has ever had. He represents each romantic excellent she possesses. So, though she know he’s going to marry Eun Ae, a part of her can’t assist however cling to him one final time and ask if he ever felt something for her. And Yeon Joon stays a coward, as a result of he leads Gil Chae on by vaguely indicating that he does, and he even says that he’s marrying Eun Ae partly as a result of he can’t abandon her after she misplaced her father within the struggle. Jang Hyun witnesses Gil Chae tearfully pleading with Yeon Joon to offer her not less than one little bit of honesty, and his coronary heart simply breaks so he calls Yeon Joon out on being a wishy-washy, spineless coward.

Namgoong Min is great at displaying simply how a lot Jang Hyun adores Gil Chae. He realizes that it doesn’t matter what Gil Chae feels for him, her craving for Yeon Joon has been happening for years and received’t simply vanish in a single day. So when the Crown Prince asks Jang Hyun to accompany him as a translator as he heads off into royal captivity, Jang Hyun agrees. He has nothing left to reside for right here.

3. When Jang Hyun kissed Gil Chae

Gil Chae doesn’t need to present that she’s affected by Jang Hyun’s departure however runs to him anyway when she finds out. He teases her concerning the ribbon she snuck into his saddlebag as a wartime memento to maintain him secure and recollects how a lot she appeared to take care of him in the course of the struggle, however his eyes are unhappy. It’s like she solely relied on him when issues have been bitter, and now that they aren’t, she backs away. When he kisses her, it’s as a result of he can’t assist himself, and he sees that she’s not against it.

He quietly tells her that he is aware of she doesn’t love him however hopes she received’t neglect this second. And maybe, if he returns safely after serving the Crown Prince as an interpreter, then perhaps, by then, she’ll need him. It’s heartbreaking as a result of he even tells her that he has by no means believed in marriage however that he’ll marry her if it’s the one method for him to have her. The scene is highly effective, shifting, and painful as a result of we all know Gil Chae isn’t there but. Her ties to Yeon Joon have deep roots, and though she’s pulling them out, it received’t occur in a single day. Jang Hyun is all the way in which in, however Gil Chae doesn’t belief him sufficient to dive in. Her place as a girl is just too precarious. Taking the unsuitable man to be her husband might actually break her life—which is why it’s so bittersweet to see her watch Jang Hyun stroll away and freeze in shock. His departing determine is similar as that of the mysterious man in her desires, the person whose face she by no means sees. Gil Chae lastly realizes that Jang Hyun is the love of her life she’s been dreaming of. And he’s leaving.

4. When Gil Chae didn’t maintain Jang Hyun again

The subsequent day, she dangers all the pieces to run to him as he follows the Crown Prince’s procession into captivity. He rescues her when Greater Jin troopers try to pull her as a captive and is brief along with her, asking why she got here. Gil Chae doesn’t know how you can clarify to him that she is falling in love with him and doesn’t know if his emotions for her are equally robust. And Jang Hyun doesn’t know if Gil Chae is right here as a result of she cares or as a result of she simply likes the thought of him liking her. The factor is, he loves her. And from his perspective, she appears to solely be enthusiastic about him, so he retains enjoying off all the pieces he does as a joke, and that confuses her as a result of she will be able to’t inform if he’s severe or not! But in a heartbreaking second, he places all the pieces on the road and asks her to cease him. If she will be able to inform him that she has no real interest in Yeon Joon, then he’ll depart the crown prince’s service and go along with her. It doesn’t matter if she’s mendacity about having no real interest in Yeon Joon, simply the phrases are sufficient.

But Gil Chae can’t mislead him. She truthfully tells him that her emotions for Yeon Joon aren’t utterly gone but. And Jang Hyun’s coronary heart shatters so utterly, you possibly can see it in his eyes. Namgoong Min nailed each inch of Jang Hyun’s ache as he cups Gil Chae’s face and tenderly says he sort of hates her proper now. He guarantees to convey her the loveliest pair of footwear when he subsequent sees her, and he leaves.

Weeks go, and Eun Ae and Yeon Joon are married. Gil Chae realizes that she doesn’t really feel a lot jealousy seeing them being joyful collectively. The king tries to drive Yeon Joon right into a suicide mission so he can save his captive son, however Yeon Joon refuses and is jailed. Eun Ae and Gil Chae are kicked out of their dwelling and transfer to a small village. She thinks of Jang Hyun most days and falls asleep holding onto his coat. News arrives, and the Greater Jin have rounded up and executed all of the interpreters for supposedly conspiring in opposition to Hong Taiji’s righthand man. Among the useless males’s belongings, Gil Chae finds the ribbon she gave Jang Hyun. And it’s her flip for her coronary heart to interrupt. She weeps, begging for him to be alive at the same time as Jang Hyun is taken earlier than Hong Taiji. And we depart off there.

Next week’s episodes will finish Part 1 of the present and depart us with a couple of month and a half’s wait till October. Thus far, each political motion Jang Hyun has taken has been motivated by Gil Chae, be it guaranteeing her security or making the nation safer for her. But that resulted in him gaining the eye of the rulers of each Joseon and the Greater Jin, which has required him to play each side. Unless this present devises a method for him and Gil Chae to flee to some distant, joyful village, then he’s all however doomed at this level. And but, like her, I proceed to hope that subsequent week will convey a conclusion to Part 1 that received’t rip our hearts out! Give Namgoong Min a motive to smile! He has such a stunning one!

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Shalini_A is a very long time Asian-drama addict. When not watching dramas, she fangirls over Ji Sung, and spins thrillers set in more and more incredible worlds. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and be at liberty to ask her something!

Currently Watching:  “Longing for You,” “My Dearest,” “Moving,” and “My Lovely Liar.”
Looking Forward to: “Gyeongseong Creature,” “Ask The Stars,” “The Girl Downstairs,” “The Worst Evil,” “Queen of Tears,” “Vigilante,” “Daily Dose of Sunshine,” and Ji Sung’s subsequent drama.