Backlash and Scheming
Following the big reveal last episode, King Maker changes its focus to more politically charged drama this time rather than action. As everyone starts to deal with the ramifications of Chun-Joong’s actions, all of this leads to a dramatic finale that leaves things wide open with a shocking cliffhanger. Episode 7 of King Maker: The Change of Destiny begins with Bong-Ryeon stepping forward and forcing all eyes to turn to In-Kyu when she mentions him locking up Chun-Joong unlawfully. Given he’s Kyung-Choi’s son, one of the Kim-Moon family steps forward and mentions their old friendship. With In-Kyu put in his place, he vows to Bong-Ryeon in private that he won’t let her and Chun-Joong leave together, promising swift retribution. News of the new King being picked out reaches the village where the people excitedly chatter among themselves over what this means. Myung-Hak meanwhile deliberates over this too, smashing a cup on the floor in frustration. At the same time, an enraged Jo meets Bong-Ryeon who confirms that what Chun-Joong has said is true. She also felt the same aura of great strength and courage inside the boy. Dropping to her knees, Bong-Ryeon implores her to meet Chun-Joong and hear his reasoning first-hand. Chun-Joong is then brought before the King. However, he’s surrounded by elite royal guards (Seanjeonmugwan) meaning his next moves are crucial to his survival. Managing to navigate his way through his encounter, promising the King he has his best interests to heart, he leaves. Jae-Hwang and his Father plead before the Kim-Moon family that they had no part in Chun-Joong’s fortune telling before we cut back in time and see him tell his son to bide his time and wait for the opportune moment to strike. That opportune moment of course, being Chun-Joong’s reveal. Bong-Ryeon receives a letter from Chun-Joong not long after, prompting her to hurry off and meet him by the shore where they walk together and enjoy the luxury of one another’s company. However, a jealous and enraged In-Kyu starts to plot in the shadows given how he was humiliated earlier in the episode. The plan to exchange the confession for the painting goes horribly wrong when Double Rabid is captured and tortured by the untrusting guard we saw last episode. On the back of this, In-Kyu heads out with his men and stops Bong-Ryeon on the pathway. With Dan-Ah by her side, she’s taken back inside the palace. In the village, Chun-Joong is approached by a state police officer and forced before Ha-Jeon Lee. He makes Chun-Joong take up arms to fight but instead he throws his sword down and speaks to Ha-Jeon about the fake confession. He continues on, throwing shade at the Kim-Moon family and stirring up the rivalry between the two groups. As he ominously declares, the real winner is that who survives. He encourages him to use Jae-Hwang as a shield but in order for this prophecy to come true, he needs to get the confession and bring it back. “Instead of killing a fortune teller, why not use him?” Chun-Joong says slyly, and it’#s enough to convince the King’s relative. Of course, everything Chun Joong’s saying is false and just spewing words that the royal wants to hear. With Bong-Ryeon stuck and imprisoned at In-Kyu’s house, she and Dan-Ah work together to escape. Only, the guards have bigger fish to fry when assassins show up and start fighting In-Kyu and his men. Slipping away, he orders his men to follow in hot pursuit. At the same time, Chun-Joong receives a message to meet Heungseon-Gun and hurries up to do just that. Bong-Ryeon learns of this meeting too and realizes what this means for him and racesto catch up. On the cliffside, Chun-Joong convinces the Lord to destroy the Kim-Moon family and although he agrees, he has one person to destroy first. Chun-Joong. Holding a gun up to our protagonist, he bitterly regrets Chun-Joong’s fortune telling and prepares to fire. Bong-Ryeon hurries up just in time though and as the two try to save one another, they both end up shot in the process. Bong-Ryeon slips down the hill after being shot in the arm while Chun-Joong sports a nasty wound on his shoulder. As the episode closes out, Chun-Joong screams for Bong-Ryeon, desperate to save her as she slips down the rocks. With a big cliffhanger at the end and lots of talking points throughout, King Maker follows up from its previous exciting episode with an hour of drama that leans much closer to the political scheming side of things. Chun-Joong’s plan hits a snag when Double Rabid is captured and the various political figureheads continue to grapple with the gravity of Chun-Joong’s big reveal. So far though the show has done a great job capturing the mood and tone of this period of history with light bites of comedy for good measure. As a personal gripe, I’m not quite sure we needed three shots of the big reveal at the Kim Moon household, and this did feel like filler in what’s otherwise a decent episode. Quite whether Bong-Ryeon and Chun-Joong will survive whatever challenges the rest of the season throw at them remains to be seen. One thing’s for sure though – King Maker is really starting to settle into a good groove now which is a promising sign for the rest of the series to come. Published: 08 June 2020 at 1:41 pm on TheReviewGeek.com
