The Queen Who Crowns – K-drama Episode 3 Recap & Review

Episode 3

Episode 3 of The Queen Who Crowns begins with Won-gyeong saving the king and taking a hit on her back in his stead. The king orders Taesangwang’s arrest. King Bang-won later questions the queen about her intelligence, but she explains it to be a coincidence as we later learn that private intelligence is not encouraged and tolerated in the kingdom.

The king also discovers that the private army of his father had been the sympathizing forces behind the recent attack. The issue now is that members of this private army are also part of the kingdom’s central army. The king ascertains that, after killing him, the Gabyeolcho (private army) intends to take possession of the palace. He then meets with his father, who reiterates how Bang-won would never be deserving of the throne.

Elsewhere, the queen and her brother discuss the importance of keeping their intelligence network intact and not revealing it to the king.

At the official court, to gain legitimacy over his act of filial piety, the king orders discussions to depose the queen. The queen knows the king is afraid of her authority increasing after the recent attack, so he’s trying to suppress her influence in advance. However, she isn’t concerned about the threat to her position.

She then discusses how the attack might be connected to a larger scheme of rebellion, especially involving the king’s only surviving older brother, the Sangwang. The idea is for the Gabyeolcho to take possession of the palace and put Sangwang on the throne of the kingdom.

Elsewhere, we find that this is exactly what former King Tae-jo has in mind. The only issue is that Sangwang does not want to become the next king—at least, not yet.

Now, Chae-ryeong tries to convince the queen that she’s on her side, but the queen notices the differences in Chae-ryeong since her rank changed. We also find that Chae-ryeong is now trying to conceive as many royal sons as possible to gain the king’s favour.

Later, as the queen notices the youngest prince and Yeong-sil’s son improving in their studies, we also find how the king has been treating Yeong-sil’s son differently from the queen’s children. The king later discovers the queen’s private intelligence. Won-gyeong takes this opportunity to convey her thoughts about Sangwang, but since the king does not want to kill another brother, he threatens her to stay out of the issue and repeatedly emphasizes that he will take care of it himself.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Tae-jo’s private army meet and decide to show Sangwang the secret royal order they had signed to help Sangwang make a decision. They then hand it over to Yeong-sil’s maid to deliver it to Sangwang’s palace. While this is happening, Pan-su, the queen’s point of contact for their nationwide intelligence network, informs her about the Gabyeolcho’s meeting.

At night, the king visits Chae-ryeong. In the middle of the night, he wakes up with a start. Here, they make an agreement: Chae-ryeong would completely turn against the queen and provide the king with intelligence, and in return, the king promises to give her “himself.”

Soon, we discover that an envoy from Min has halted the discussions to depose the queen. Meanwhile, the court officials suggest the king seek the queen’s help to serve as a bridge for the upcoming talks with the envoy from Ming, whose sole purpose is to gain tribute. However, if the king supports the current government of Ming and they lose to a different ruler during their ongoing war, it would create further issues for the nation. The king, therefore, asks the queen to persuade Tae-jo. However, the talks fall apart as the episode ends.


The Episode Review

With this episode, palace politics is in full throttle, with Tae-jo planning a secret rebellion to depose the current king. The only issue is that the show stumbles in execution and dialogue, making some scenes laughable. For example, the ending sequence where Tae-jo calls the king and, as Bang-won asks what he could do for Tae-jo, Tae-jo replies, “die.” The show clearly intended this to be a melodramatic ending, but the dialogues are such that one cannot help but laugh.

Moreover, the current plot has many references to events before Bang-won’s coronation as king. For global audiences, these gaps make it somewhat difficult to connect with the story in depth. Fortunately, the upcoming prequel to The Queen Who Crowns might provide more answers to the ongoing palace politics.

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  • Episode Rating
    (3.5)
3.5

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