The King: Eternal Monarch – Episode 11 Recap & Review

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Time Stops

Following last week’s dramatic episode, The King: Eternal Monarch cranks up the tension again as we see more of Lee Gon’s journey toward understanding the time jumps and what that means for the fate of both Corea and Korea. With a lot more action this time around and a tight focus on progressing our main plot, we’re certainly gearing up toward the final act now and this is shaping up to be one of the better Korean dramas this year.

We begin episode 11 of The King: Eternal Monarch in Corea with the police chasing after Luna. After a truck hits her car, Luna is also struck as she’s brought before Lee Lim with an intriguing offer. She refuses to work with him though until he shows her Tae-Eul’s ID card and pictures of her doppelganger happy with her parents. He promises to give her a new life and tells her fortune has come knocking at her door, which is persuasion enough to have her jump onboard.

At the same time, Prince Buyeong’s funeral goes ahead and Lee Gon pays his respects along with everyone else. In the aftermath of this, Koo receives another package and this time she gets a series of photographs featuring Lee Lim in every shot, confirming that he’s actually alive.

Lee Gon and Ok-Nam continue to struggle with the ramifications of Prince Buyeong’s death. As we cut across to Tae-Eul, we see her reminiscing about Lee Gon’s kiss and telling her he loves her very much. In the aftermath of this, Tae-Eul decides to team up with Shin-Jae and look further into the murder case she’s been dealing with. As they begin to piece together the clues, Shin-Jae asks who Lee Lim is.

Lee-Gon meanwhile speaks to Seung-Heon at the palace and tells him he’s not to step foot inside again. The next in line to the throne will be Se-Ji and after dropping this bombshell, he speaks to the coroner and finds the ring on Prince Buyeong’s finger, which is obviously a taunt given it’s the same ring that was back in the throne room during the first episode. As he throws the ring in the air, time stops again and he realizes Lee Lim has switched worlds.

When time unfreezes, Lee Gon finds out from Secretary Mo that Koo has pulled the trigger and released incriminating details to the press. For now, he decides to sit and wait to see exactly where Koo is going with this. Instead, he ponders the security logs and deliberates on the Eosu Bookstore and just what Prince Buyeong was doing there. In order to try and get answers, he interrogates the two men he has captured but gets nowhere. As vengeance starts to consume him, he announces publicly that he’s going to behead Gi-Hwan to show he means business.

Back in Korea, Shin-Jae fights a strange man in the alleyway and as they duel it out, manages to note down the registration plate just before they get away. At the same time, Tae-Eul finds Koo’s doppelganger and finds out her name is actually Koo Eun-A. Unbeknownst to her, Luna happens to be watching from afar and this may explain the time jump earlier in the episode. As we soon see, she’s prepared for this and changes her hair and clothes to switch places with Tae-Eul.

Tae-Eul collapses in the dojo and when she awakens, finds herself tied up in Corea in a strange warehouse. Koo arrives in Korea and heads into the familiar cafe only to be stopped by Jo-Young who notices her. As the two lock eyes, Lee Gon starts to decipher the time jumps in his Corean palace and pieces the seconds together to realize that the time freezing is multiplying by prime numbers. Given the frequency of the time stops, there will come a moment where time stops completely across both worlds.

Lee-Gon finds who the owner of the Bookstore is and heads there with his men, ready to raid the place. Unfortunately he kills the owner in his wrath and as he looks at the body of the man on the floor, he realizes the doppelgangers are switching places and immediately asks for help.

the king eternal monarch episode 11

The boy holding the Yoyo helps Tae-Eul and tells her he’s trying to restore balance. He unties her from her binds and as he does, Tae-Eul fights her way through and manages to escape. Only, when Lee Lim finds out hat’s happened, he slices the informant across the face and demands she be brought before him dead or alive.

While fighting off the guards, Tae-Eul leaves a message for the King asking for his help given people are after her. Just after leaving the message, a truck ploughs through the phone booth, leaving her to scramble out the way. Unfortunately Lee Lim’s men close in around her and all hope looks lost. Thankfully, police rush to the scene first, along with Lee Gon on Maximus. A big skirmish ensues, as Lee Gon fights his way through Lee Lim’s men to get to Tae-Eul.

As the episode closes out, Lee Gon throws his arms around Tae-Eul and leaves us at TheReviewGeek agonizingly groaning at that cliffhanger finish after such an exciting 70 minutes of drama!

With lots to digest this time around, it does seem like a lot of the theories from before are starting to come to fruition now. Lee Gon from the end of the previous episode is different to the one we saw this episode and on top of that, we’re seeing a lot more jumps between worlds for characters making things a little more difficult to follow but also clearer that we’re gearing up for a big fight ahead, especially after that crazy 5 minute fight in the city. That’s before even mentioning Lee Gon shouting “For the future Queen of Corea!” moments before riding into battle.

The one element that holds this back from being a better series though is the editing. Rather than changing the hue of the scene slightly between Corea and Korea, we’re left with different looking characters which is fine…until they jump to alternate worlds and make things a lot more complicated. It’s not a deal breaker but it is something that makes this a lot more difficult to follow than it perhaps should be. Still, the second half to this drama has seriously stepped up its game – roll on tomorrow!

 

Published: 22 May 2020 at 22:40 pm on TheReviewGeek.com 

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20 thoughts on “The King: Eternal Monarch – Episode 11 Recap & Review”

  1. Pls what is the name of the song that played when prince buyeon died and lee gon was crying helplessly, pls who knows the song amd the name,

  3. I am an African American living in Georgia, United States. I love love love this movie and the story line. I have no problems following the scenes. Their acting captivates me more than American written movies. Lee Min Ho, the King is gorgeous and brings this character to life in all its royal grandeur.
    I love the plot and supporting characters too. My family, friends and I have watched it over and over again. I look forward to more episodes. The men are Hot in this Netflix series.

  4. Only good thing in this mess of a Kdrama is LMH. It hurts to watch him try to make this storyline credible. The directing is awful and lead female totally wrong for this part.

  5. Basically we didn’t watch all the episodes but the korean netizens reacts like they did not watch the drama ep 1 to ep 12 now what???for me it’s awesome drama for Lee MinHo…first ep 1 I get already what exactly that parallel Worlds mean so I’m not confused I’m just continue to watch it and rewatch…I love all the characters mostly the acting..I love them all..Woo DoWan good job..All good job guys…thanks the all staff and mostly the directors your great😍still watching and support you all😘keep it up…

  6. I agree with your comments on editing. I feel that there is too many characters do too much switching of parallel universes that as a viewer I get flustered that for me the series becomes a comprehension test. I suggest focus must be on max 4 characters, not on the entire menagerie. Still it is a series I enjoy and I am not surprised it is no 1 here in Netflix Philippines. Congratulations to its stars and series makers!

  7. Anybody know the name of the song playing in the coffee shop at about 18 minutes of this episode?

  9. The last 5 minutes of episode 11 was bad storytelling… I know this series is somewhat of a fantasy, but come on writers… take some time to come up with better scenes…

  11. I am a huge Lee Min-ho fan. Just watched Faith again (4th time!). He is the only reason I’m still watching this series. The first 4 episodes failed to clearly define and separate the two worlds and the Lee Lim appearances were so confusing. What does he want? I still do t know! He just keeps murdering people. Lt. Tae Eul’s running-through-shooting-scene with the boy King, his murdered Dad, was all presented so muddled it was impossible for me to follow. Why is grown King searching out Tae Ul in her world when all she did was race through with a gun years prior? And as for the female lead, if it’s the Director, shame on him; if it’s her interpretation of character, too bad for her. Her character has the appeal of a poisonous snake. She’s rude, hostile, flat, angry. What is the appeal to the King? To anyone? And suddenly with no character development or explanatory event or action, she’s in love? But she won’t leave her world because…she gets to carry a gun? Has friends? Huh? Then suddenly she’s kidnapped, she fights her way to King, cries hysterically, collapsed in his arms and the next day she’s…surprise! A bitch again? But the King masochistically keeps begging for more from this emotionally stunted woman? This is the major stumbling block in this show; this dynamic between them is NOT working.

  12. OMG King Lee Gon is not playing!!! Just finished the ep it’s 4am EST in the US. I like to rewatch the two previous then roll right into the new ep each week. Those flashbacks of the long walk between Tae Eul and Lee Gon are amazing. As an engineer, when he started the math calcs for time I was like hmmm 😉.  Loved the yo-yo kid who is there to restore balance and I am trying to get who he is. He said he has been to both worlds will have to rewatch.  Anyway loving the ride in on a white horse with Calvary to rescue the future queen. Thought she would have used Princess Diana code when calling the King. Gonna be interesting now since Luna and Tae Eul are in different worlds. Love that he loves her. Hope they get to live happily ever after.  ❤❤

  14. LMH is a very good actor in portraying his role as a king. It is not his fault for the low rating. The story line is so confusing with lacking continuity from one episode to another. For instance, episode 11 ends with the king holding Taeul after fighting all the bad guys. Yet they start episode 12 with something completely different, and only after 1/3 of the episode 12, the story continues with episode 11 ending.

  15. I’m loving this drama,but can someone explain to me what’s happening because I’m kinda of lost on some parts,like someone once mentioned that lady No is Taeul,I can’t get the pieces together,after every episode I’m questioning myself about something,this movie someone who can understand well and fast and can someone tell me why lady No asked Taeul about the 1950 war……another thing how did Taeuls ID ended up in Lee gons hands while Teul was in Korea…and howcome that novel which Lady No reads was written by her ,it was in Korea and leeGon brought it to Cores,,I have a lot of questions help me please or I’m just battling myself…I’m now on episode 12,can imagine watching a movie with some parts I don’t understand😂😂😂

  16. I love the plot , the dialogues and the acting skills of the main characters. I will not wonder why the ratings are low and I will not care about this. The King ‘ s plot provide me to think outside of the box where the viewer does not just follow the flow of the story . The story enables the viewer to process and digest . The low ratings in Korea I think is attributed to the general crowd’s ability to appreciate more a straight flow storylines that gives the heart flutters. The King gives the flutter and the complexity of the story is unique in itself . It may not attract the general crowd of viewership but I believe the loyal viewers of this drama who are glued represent a critical mass who just do not find enjoyment in watching but relies on cognition and emotion to appreciate the richness and complexity of the story. I just love it . To the team of the The King keep up the good work! International viewership will lead you in keeping your ratings up in Netflix. Always keep in mind your show sells in the global field.

  18. Love your racaps,; concise & with thoughtful opinions! I did enjoy the throwback sword fight on horseback this episode, was more badass than using guns. Editing is confusing be as you said with confusing scene- switching. I really want to know more about yo-yo boy!

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