Queen Woo – K-drama Episode 7 Recap & Review

A New Dawn 

Episode 7 of Queen Woo starts with a flashback to 6 years ago when the Jwa and Eo family elders were killed and their chopped heads displayed in the capital. The Hae family orchestrated this to pressure the king to dethrone the queen.

The king sent his soldiers to take Woo-do and Woo-so and bring them to the palace. Under Eul Pa-so’s advice, he distanced himself from the queen and thought he was protecting her. 

Of course, this was also a part of Eul Pa-so’s plan to make the king lose favour among the five tribes. He continued to keep appearances, playing chess with the queen and acting like a loyal advisor.

Presently, he finally reads the queen’s next move in their chess game and realises she is the girl who beat him in the National chess game when they were young. Her game plan was identical. Will this change his mind about the revenge? 

Later, he and his men burn the bodies of the eunuchs and notice a strange fire coming from the corpses. He takes the little elixir box he found on Sa-bi before he died. He throws one elixir into the fire and realises that the elixirs are made of mercury.

These elixirs are the same ones that the faithful are popping like pills at the temple. It makes them euphoric and gives them hallucinations.

Meanwhile, at Yeon-woo’s fortress, Yeo-jin tries to dissuade the fourth prince from marrying the queen and leaving for the capital. Yeon-woo insists on leaving and doing things his way.

Simultaneously, Queen Woo sends someone to check the road and asks Mo-chi to keep an eye on Woo-soon. Woo-soon manages to sneak away under Mo-chi’s watch and tries to get to the main gate. Fortunately, Queen Woo spots her and stops her before she lets in the White Tigers. 

The sisters have a much-needed confrontation to clear the air between them. Woo-soon admits to her crimes but tries to justify her greed. She claims that she deserved to be queen because she was the chosen one first. However, she wanted to marry the Crown Prince and refused to marry Go Na-mu. Where does she get off thinking it was her right to be queen?

They both draw out their bows and arrows at the same time, but Woo-soon misses. Queen Woo kills her and leaves her body at the fortress. The White Tigers start getting anxious about the delay and assume Woo-soon failed her mission. 

Elsewhere, the fifth prince, Go Gye-su, sends someone to find out what is happening among the five tribes. He is anxious as a lot of strange things have been happening and the palace has been quiet.

On the other hand, Bal-ki adorns his fancy robes and starts making plans with his entrusted man, Chang-heon. Not being a patient man, Bal-ki opts to head to the palace and capture the queen himself.

At the palace, Woo-so and Woo-do get anxious about the queen’s return. Woo-do draws his sword and threatens Eul Pa-so, but he calmly tells them that the Queen is at Yeon-woo’s fortress.

At the fortress, Queen Woo learns that the White Tigers are waiting in the forest. She refuses to stay locked inside the fortress, as she needs to get back to the palace. Yeon-woo gets scared after learning there is an ambush waiting for them. Still, he chooses the queen and disregards Yeon-jin’s concerns. His shaman assures him that the gods will protect him, and this gives him some confidence.

At the same time, Seol-joo gets a message that Yeon-woo is set to be the next king. For the past thirty years, she had been banned from stepping into the palace after being accused of inciting the former king.

With Yeon-woo becoming a king through a levirate marriage, her chance to return is finally here. The faithful have been waiting for Sa-bi’s prophecy to come true and they celebrate the joyful news with gusto. 

The Queen decides to leave the fortress, hoping that Eul Pa-so will take her side and come to their rescue when they reach the ferry dock. It was part of the message she sent him through the chess game. If Eul Pa-so fails to take her side and show up, they will die at the hands of the White Tigers.

The scene cuts to Eul Pa-so plotting his next move carefully. He weighs the pros and cons of every move and decides to save the queen. He believes they share the same dream for a new Goguryeo.

At sun dawn, the queen uses a distraction to lure the White Tigers in the opposite direction. Mu-gol sacrifices himself to successfully pull the ruse. He gives the Queen and the rest of the team, including Yeon-woo and Yeon-jin a chance to make it to the dock.

He later joins them after the White Tigers realise they were tricked. However, they quickly catch up with the Queen’s entourage and launch a heavy attack. 

Things start to look bleak for the queen as they near the dock with no sign of Eul Pa-so. Just when they are about to be cornered, Eul Pa-so and the palace soldiers show up and help them.

Another intense fight ensues, but the queen, and her team safely make it to the boat. Even though No-eum is injured, he remains steadfast in his quest for revenge. He doubles back and attacks the fortress. He takes Woo-soon’s body.

As the hour of Jinshi draws by, an anxious atmosphere erupts in the palace. The officials start demanding an explanation while the Woo elders worry about the fate of the queen.

Out of the blue, the queen makes a majestic entrance and informs everyone of the King’s death. The officials are understandably shocked and demand to know how the king died. However, Dae-bu raises the question of who will be the next king.

The queen introduces Yeon-woo and explains her intent to marry him. Some officials try to object, but she threatens to make them traitors.

Bal-ki makes a dramatic entrance, opposing the marriage and stating his rights to the throne. He is shocked when Eul Pa-so says that Gorguryeo’s laws recognise levirate marriages and Queen Woo has a right to choose her suitor. He draws out his sword and threatens to rebel.

Chang-heon advises him to leave the palace for the time being. On his way out, Bal-ki kills a soldier to prove his point to the officials and the queen.

Everyone starts discussing who they should side with in this upcoming war between the queen and Bal-ki. The queen tells her dad that Woo-soon was killed by the White Tigers and he tells her why he burned the lilies.

It turns out that the queen was fond of the lilies of the valley because the King planted them for her. He said it reminded him of the dress she wore the first time they met. Looking back, the King was a true romantic and loved his wife so much.

Woo-so takes Woo-soon’s death hard and tries to seek comfort from Woo-do. However, his brother is more concerned about survival than mourning his niece. The two have an argument when Woo-so brings up the girls’ sacrifices and Woo-do reveals he castrated himself to avoid a power struggle in the family. 

After leaving the palace, Bal-ki heads to the Crown Prince to seek his help. The Crown Prince kills Bal-ki’s soldiers for coming into his hide-out cave. Once Bal-ki informs him of Na-mu’s passing, the Crown Prince is overjoyed and insists on reclaiming the throne.

At the palace, Eul Pa-so calls for a meeting with a few trusted people to talk about strategy and try to prevent the war. The Queen orders Mo-chi to lock Yeon-woo and Yeon-jin in a room. The episode ends with Queen Woo taking the King’s seat at the meeting. 

The Episode Review

By taking the King’s seat at the war strategy meeting, Queen Woo is making it clear she is in charge. She is not going to sit back and let the men make decisions for her anymore. It is a power move on her part and we didn’t expect less. It is about time she takes control of her life to save herself and the people. 

As we come towards the end of the show, it is evident that a war is unavoidable. With Bal-ki and the Crown Prince joining forces, the Queen will have a hard time in this war. She needs to quickly reach out to the other tribes and get their support. Surprisingly, she has not reached out to Gye-su. Does she fear he will oppose this levirate marriage too?

It is also interesting to see that Eul Pa-so is playing on both sides. He wants to fight alongside the queen, but only because it serves his purpose to destroy the Go Family.

If Yeon-woo becomes the king, Seol-joo won’t let Eul Pa-so stay at the palace. He needs to pick a side quickly and find a way to survive.