The King Sends His Troops to Attack Hwal Bin Dang

7/30/2019 The King Sends His Troops to Attack Hwal Bin Dang

1/29

The king sends his troops to attack Hwal Bin Dang, and with no opportunity for

escape and surrounded on all sides, Hwal Bin Dang prepares for confrontation.

Soon, its all-out battle.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-009.jpg


2/29

Hearing that Chang Whe ordered the attack, Enok rushes to Gil Dong. Chang Whe

hears of Enoks departure with dismay, but believes that Gil Dong will send herback. Although this is exactly the scenario Chang Whe feared, both men love Enok

too much to let her stay in harms way.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-010.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-010.jpg


3/29

She tries to persuade Gil Dong to run away while he canhe was once on the

same side as Chang Whe. Why is he fighting when he knows hell die?

Gil Dong tells her that he must continueand because the king has left his side inthe fight for a better world, that puts them at odds.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-022.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-022.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-023.jpg


4/29

Chisu and Yong Jin convey a message to Hwal Bin Dang, and its clear that theydont relish the idea of fighting their former allies, either. They will certainly act inloyalty to their king, but they have both seen the world inside of Hwal Bin Dang

and felt wistful pangs themselves. They ask how long Hwal Bin Dang can hold

out, and the rebels answer that theyll fight till the end to protect the world theyvecreated. Within their stronghold, there are no nobles and no servants everyone is

equal.

Chisu tells Yong Jin, That place is a dream. A dream everyone wants to enter.

Chang Whes message (a demand to disband Hwal Bin Dang and surrender) doesnothing to alter Gil Dongs course. But he knows he cant hold on to Enok, and

therefore sends her back with a letter, telling her that shes the only one who candeliver his message safely to the king.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-027.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-026.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-027.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-026.jpg


5/29

Enok: Im thinking carefully about where it is I want to be.

Gil Dong: And?

Enok: I thought it over, and come this far. This is my place too. This is where Iwant to bewhere you are. So Ill be right back.

For him, this is goodbye, but he doesnt contradict Enoks belief that its just anerrand.

Although a fight between the king and Gil Dong was what Eun Hye had intended,

the swiftness of reality shocks her, and she realizes this isnt what she wanted at

all.

She tells Gil Dong of a bird shed had whose mate had died, which shed sent away

to its freedom. Shed thought that if she got rid of Gil Dong, into whom shedpoured so much attention and emotion, shed be freed too. But now she knows

thats not the case, and begs him to retreat and flee somewhere far its okay ifhe doesnt come to her. All she wants is to know hes safe.

Gil Dong: Im already in a faraway land, one thats completely different from this

one. What Im fighting for now, and my friends here, is not the kings world. Its atiny but decent place weve built thats what Im fighting for.

Eun Hye: That kind of place is a dream. A dream youll die for.

Gil Dong: No, the land we stand on now is that place. Because you cant comeover to our side, you cant see it, and believe its merely a dream. But for me its

reality, something Id happily die protecting.

As he turns to leave, Eun Hye calls out, Then protect it through the very end.

Dont die, and keep protecting it, so that I can know that youre still alive guarding

that place.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-038.jpg


6/29

Enok delivers the letter to Chang Whe, who doesnt intend to let her return to theHwal Bin Dang he plans to destroy. Chang Whe shows her the letterits blank.Gil Dong was actually sending her away.

Chang Whe: As a king protecting my country, I may have to kill him. But to kill

you along with him? Youre an irreplaceable person to me. I told you that it wasbecause of you that I became a real person. But you want me to kill you and keep

on living?

Enok tells him, The world I chose is Gil Dongs, so I will go there. Ive seen the

good person in you. I believe you will be a good king. She begs for him to let hergoand he does, defeatedly.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-045.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-046.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-045.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-046.jpg


7/29

Rushing back and launching herself into the fray, Enok comes face to face with

Chisu, and tells him the good person she saw in Chang Whe is dying Go backand protect him.

Across the battlefield, Gil Dong sees her arrival, and this time he (finally!) accepts

her choice to remain.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-051.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-047.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-048.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-051.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-047.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-048.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-051.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-047.jpghttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-048.jpg


8/29

That night, Enok tends to Gil Dongs wounds. She reminds them that theyre inthis together now: This is where I want to be. So dont stop me from fighting to

save it.

This time, he grabs her in a hug and thanks her for sticking with him.


9/29


10/29

The next day, we have a bit of a reprieve from the fightingHwal Bin Dang is

holding steady despite the siegeand Su Geun begs Mal Nyeo to marry him

formally. Just like Gil Dong and Enok, whove just married. Enok now wears thewedding hair ornament her grandfather had bought for her.


11/29

Mal Nyeo agrees to the wedding, and Su Geun rejoices.

Meanwhile, Enok excitedly shows Gil Dong a bud thats just sprouted out of the

ground. But as she cant remember what she planted there, she and Gil Dongcheerfully speculate about what it will grow to be.


12/29

Chang Whe comes to speak to Gil Dong and explains that he doesnt consider hisstance a betrayal of Gil Donghes (yes we know, for the hundredth time) just a

king protecting his people. He also says that he will remember Gil Dong years

from now (speaking with an assurance born of knowing the outcome will favorhimself) and what hed fought for.

Gil Dong adds that he shouldnt forget to fear him, eitherbecause even if he

dies and Hwal Bin Dang disappears, there may be a new Hong Gil Dong and a new

Hwal Bin Dang that will rise up to change the world.

Gil Dong: It may not come today, but someday that world will arrive. People willbelieve in that world and inch toward it. The world will change a hundred,

thousand times, gradually progressing toward that place.


13/29

Gearing up for more battle, the rebels send away a protesting Gom. Gil Dong steps

in and tells him to get out and survive. He must live on and see to it that their work

isnt forgotten, and keep the fight going: Do that for everyone, Gom. No, I mean

Leader Gom.

Yeon ushers Gom and Hae Myung out of the area, fighting off the soldiers who

patrol the area. But more soldiers keep arriving, poised to shoot the escaping pair.

Yeon plants himself in front of them and takes the arrows to the chest, and urges

Gom to run away.


14/29

Injured but not fallen, he continues to fight the oncoming soldiers, fueled by the

determination to protect Gom: This is for Goms world to come. Despite being

shot with numerous arrows, he continues fighting until finally he falls.


15/29

Back at Hwal Bin Dang, Su Geun and Mal Nyeo have their wedding ceremony,

with Gil Dong presiding. Enok puts freshly plucked flowers into Mal Nyeos hair

and the couple is married. The others chant for the newlyweds to kiss, and then for

Gil Dong and Enok to do likewise.

Its a brief interlude thats over all too soon as they gear up for more fighting.Feeling the intensity growing, Gil Dong knows that Chang Whe is anxious to

finish the fight quickly, and will be increasing his attacks. Hwal Bin Dang prepares

to continue holding ground, while the kings soldiers prepare to charge in.

And then the sequence that brings everything to a head:


16/29

First, the mood takes on an ethereal quality, helped in large part by this hauntingly

beautiful traditional Norwegian song Lr Meg Kjenne, as sung by SisselKyrkjeb. (The actual song starts around 40 seconds in.) [Download]

Original lyrics:

Lr meg kjenne dine veieog g dem trstig skritt for skritt

Jeg vet at hva jeg fikk i eie,

er borget godt gods, og alt er ditt.Men vil din sterke hnd meg lede,

jeg aldri feil p mlet ser,og for hvert hp som dr her nede,

fr jeg et hp i himlen mer

English translation:

Teach me to know your ways

and to walk them trustingly step by stepI know that what I own,

are borrowed goods, and everything is yours.But if your strong hand guides me,

I will never see the wrong goal,and for every hope that dies

down here,

I will receive a greater hope in heaven.
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-088.jpghttp://www.mediafire.com/?vqmzyow0tmzhttp://www.mediafire.com/?vqmzyow0tmzhttp://www.mediafire.com/?vqmzyow0tmzhttp://www.mediafire.com/?vqmzyow0tmzhttp://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm96/javabeans122/drama/2008/hong/hgd3/hong24-088.jpg


17/29

As Hwal Bin Dang prepares to move out, soldiers shoot a barrage of fire-tipped

arrows in. But rather than scatter or run, everyone stares, calmly transfixed, at the

fire flying in the sky. For a prolonged moment, it looks like the arrows are hanging

in the air, and they gaze at the sight almost peacefully.


18/29

Its like time pauses as everyone around Gil Dong and Enok fades into black and

white, and Enok remarks that the arrows look like shooting stars: Shall we make a

wish?

Gil Dong: In this situation?

Enok: It looks like theyre bidding us a nice farewell.

Gil Dong: Well be going together.

They hold hands as the arrows start descending toward them.


19/29


20/29

Then the arrows fall, landing everywhere.

Enok: Gil Dong.[in English] I love you.

Gil Dong: I know.

Enok: You know what that means?

Gil Dong: Dummy. I love you. I love you I love you


21/29

Alone in his palace, Chang Whe hears the report and sheds a tear. His soldiers

storm the burning headquarters.


22/29

We dont see any people, dead or otherwise, as the arrows land and set Hwal Bin

Dong on fire. But the next morning, everything is charred and eerily empty, but for

Mal Nyeos fallen flower and the lonely green plant, still alive in the ground.

Im thankful that they dont show us any bodies, because for one, it keeps theending (and implied deaths) on a metaphorical level, which spares me the trauma

of seeing the carnage. It also gives us our last image of them as whole, intact, and

nobly defending their ideals. Furthermore, we dont need to be reminded of death

thats not the point. (More on that later.) On another level, it helps some of themore denial-stricken among us cling to the belief that maybe, just maybe, some

people survived.


23/29


24/29

Chang Whe assures his men, and therefore his citizens, that Hwal Bin Dang has

been subdued. He will continue to do what he must to protect his country.


25/29

Not unlike the first time Gil Dong died, Hwal Bin Dang and Gil Dong may be

gone but the legend lives on.

Merchant Wang tells the other villagers that they must read Gil Dongs story andremember him so that he never dies. Watching from the sidelines, Hae Myung tells

Gom:

Hes alive. Through them, and through you, they all live on.


26/29

And some undisclosed number of years later, when Hae Myung is old(er) and

gray(er), he comes upon a young boy crying by himself. The boy is upset that

because of his poverty, hes unable to learn anything. Only the rich are educated.

Hae Myung asks, Do you want to be Hong Gil Dong too?

That gets the boys attention, and he follows the priest, asking about Hong GilDong.

Boy: Do you really know Hong Gil Dong? Is he really not dead, but still alive? Hae Myung: Of course. Hong Gil Dong is someone wholl live forever.

And then the scene transitions into modern-day Koreasubways, sidewalks,

cafes, city lights.


27/29

Hae Myung: Even in a hundred years, five hundred years, hell still be alive.

Boy: What will he be doing in such a far-off time?

Hae Myung: Even when much time passes and things look different on thesurface, the way people live will be similar. Like we have the noble and lower

classes in our world, that world will have its own strong and weak people.

Boy: What will Hong Gil Dong do there?

Hae Myung: Whats more important thanwhathell be doing is the fact thatthere will be someone watching and guiding the world to live properly. Dont

forget. The sword that looks the world in the face, takes stock of it, and changes itin any world, there will be a Hong Gil Dong.


28/29

THE END

Additionally

First, the knee-jerk reaction: disappointment that my expectations for a goofy,

giddily happy ending were thwarted. Im guessing that I was not alone in expectingthe series to come full circle and give us more of that opening sequence from

Episode 1, with the happy rebels cheerfully continuing to wreak their vigilante

brand of justice upon a corrupt hegemony. I feel a bit cheated out of it, eventhough such an ending wouldnt quite fit in with the way the plot has beendevelopingbecause then wed have to assume Chang Whe turned corrupt andignored his desire to become a good ruler, which goes against everything his

character has been built up to be all series long. (My interpretation of the opening

sequence (Gil Dongs hairstyle notwithstanding) is that it already happened and we

just didnt see exactly when the initial time-jump backward caught up with the

present.)

But as I think more about the series and get used to the resolution, I love the way

they wrapped things up. (And never underestimate the power of a well-chosenscore, because that last song? Is pretty killer.) The series actually had a meaning


29/29

beyond mere entertainmentyes, sometimes it was heavy-handed in its delivery,but at least there was some sort of depth there. Perhaps the Hong sisters take onegalitarianism is a little clumsy, therefore more propagandistic than needle-sharp

social commentary, but hey, theyre in good company apparently the original

writer of the bookHong Gil Dong Jeon was accused of pushing anti-governmentpropaganda.

I appreciated the surrealistic way the final battle was portrayed because, like I said,

death was never the point. Starting from a few episodes back, it became

increasingly obvious that Gil Dong was meant to transcend the present, and

therefore his present life. His existence held more purpose than his physical

lifetime, so its only fitting that we dont see a definitive death scene to give his

story a sense of finality its not meant to have.

Because it hardly matters in the big pictureandHong Gil Dong really is aboutthe big picturewhen hundreds of years later, whats important isnt how longGil Dong and Enok and everyone lived, but that their legacy continues. And that

the world they dreamed of and staked so much to bring about has (more or less)

come true, where people are judged equally, are not confined by the status of their

births, valued on meritocracy (again, more or lesssometimes less), and are ableto choose their leaders.

We might even infer that Gom carried on the legacyafter all, Gil Dongs last

words to him were Leader Gom, anointing him his successor. The ending of the

series, with the juxtaposition of the fallen flower and the sprouting bud, shows thatwith their last great stand, they ushered in the beginnings of a new era.

So, happy ending? Not completely. But satisfying? For me, it was.

Documents

The King Sends His Troops to Attack Hwal Bin Dang