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Character Chart: Shorthand Character Chart
How to Watch: Live Stream, Viki
Airing Time:May 6th, 22:50 Seoul
Recap Countdown: KKEUT
GRAND PRINCE LIVE RECAP EPISODE 20 FINAL
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#1
OPENING
SG is on the ground kneeling. The sword is to her neck. Hwi tells the brother not to touch her and his brother is already out of his position. Let her go! But the brother guard wants them to bring the King. SG pushes the brother guard away and tries to escape, but she is slashed for her efforts and falls to the ground.
Hwi and the others yell, attack! Everyone charges.
Hwi and KT kneel over SG and scream her name interchangeably. Then we cut to HWi running with SG on his back. He tells KT to bring the doctor, hurry! KT runs off to do his duty. JH runs with him.
The doctor tells them that she bled too much and the wound is too deep so she won’t come back. But Hwi tells the doctor that she is stronger than any other woman or a man or animal. She is strong so just save her!
SG wakes up and holds Hwi’s hand, they tell her to save her her energy. But she really wants to do something, she uses her blood and tries to write Hwi’s name on his hand. JH tells him that she wrote his name. Hwi is touched and says that she learned how to write already. But SG’s hand falls and she closes her eyes.
Everyone cries over her and screams her name. Everyone is seriously balling.
Afterward Hwi and JH sit outside. Hwi says he didn’t do much for her. She saved his life many times and followed him for 3 years and suffered so much. When the good times come, I wanted to repay her. JH says she wanted to feed her something better than burnt rice. She wanted to give her nice clothing and nice flowery shoes. And she wanted to make jewelry for her. Hwi says that she just suffered. JH looks at Hwi and says SG was a poor girl, she died looking at you only. She only gave to us.
They both cry together. Hwi is held warmly by JH as they both cry.
SG is inside, KT is looking at her. He gives her a kiss on the forehead and tells her that she is stupid in Jerchen. He holds her hand tightly and starts crying.
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#2
PALACE
The little Prince is reunited with his mother and grandmother. He says that his uncle and his pretty auntie took good care of him.
Meanwhile, Kang is in his secluded room. He chuckles, but then grows solemn.
But the brother-guard and the other bad guys are still on the loose. They reunite and talk about saving Kang and planning for the future. The spit in half. One group will rescue the wife and the other group will rescue the King. They get into the Palace and meet the spy maid. She tells them where the Kang is and where NG is. They will decide what to do with them in the morning.
Kang is rescued. The guard tells him that they are sorry for being so late. kang wants to know what they are doing so the guard explains their plans to them. kang is incredulous, you want me to hide out? But the guard tells him to think about his future. Kang questions, now I am in a position where I have to think about my life?
Across the palace, NG is trapped in her room. But she runs out when she hears fighting sounds. The brother is fighting with the guards, but the brothers team is outnumbered. He dies by the son-guards hands and NG witnesses this. She screams, but the maid pulls her away.
The guards run after NG, it looks like she has dissapeared somewhere in the palace.
meanwhile, Kang is trying to escape by secret passage. But he isn’t sure about leaving. He thinks he can’t go out. If they die, they need to die in the palace. Without Eun-sung, the little boy and mother are nothing. The guard tells im that they can’t trust anyone there. Kang tells him that he never trusted anyone.
NG runs up to him and tells him that her brother was killed by the island guard. he tells her to leave, he will get revenge for her brother. he tells them that this isn’t a war, it is a cue, if they kill Hwi then everything will be fine. But NG says she is pregnant, without him, the baby has no meaning. You have to be here. Kang tells her that he will repay her.
NG tells him that when she made her oath to him, she was trying to get his love. Not to share power with him. She just wanted to be his woman. He tells her that she made him confident with her passion. He thanks he for that. Until we meet again, take care. he leaves with NG saying, my lord…my lord….
Kang walks out and tells his guard that he will wait at the Kings office. Bring Eun-sung. If I ask him formally, then he won’t refuse it, he is like that. Kang takes his guards sword, sighs, and leaves.
The spy maid tells the Queen that they need to get far away from the palace. She wonders if she should leave the King like this? Shouldn’t she be with him? Should I leave him lonely? The maids try to get her to leave and basically pull her away.
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#3
Kang walks to the palace and sits on the Kings chair.
The guards tell Hwi that the King escaped. Then the other guard shows up, KT charges him, but this guy drops to the ground defenseless. He tells them that Kang wants to see Hwi. KT doesn’t want him to go there. But Hwi wants to go there to meet him. JH goes to tell the Grand Queen what is going on.
The Grand Queen says that she wanted to tell Kang to just leave and live quietly, but my son really wants to see blood. JH basically tells her that, if she wants to see both of them live, don’t be angry at him. He is standing on a cliff. The Queen thinks she should have told him that she loves him, now she regrets that.
Hwi shows up at the political palace and goes inside. It is a showdown between brothers again. Hwi walks up to where Kang is sitting he tells him to come down, it isn’t his seat anymore and it never was. kang tells him that he willbe there tomorrow without him, and he will meet the officials. Hwi tells him that it all ended now. You can’t take your position back, it isn’t about him, or his mother, it is about the little King, you don’t have the peoples love.
Kang says he can correct it all and make Korea strong and all the people rich and happy. Hwi says that the people are not stupid, they put their lives on the line to take you down today. they are not here to be rich or get a high position. They came for the cue with nothing, the country gave them nothing, but the people can sacrifice for the country. You didnt’ become the King in the right way. Now I know.
kang says this is why he couldnt’ get love also. He wants to take her because he just wanted to talk all the love from Hwi. He wanted it all entirely for him, then it would be proof that he is a worthy man. Hwi tells him he already has a wife. Kang tells him that he married with that heart, he thought, if he became King then everything would be his, he believed it.
Hwi tells him to come back to their family as his brother. You will be out from your position and get punished. But after your punishment ends, you can live. Not as King, but your family will be next to you.
Kang tears up and says that they should do all those things in the next life. We shouldnt’ make these choices at all in the next life. Please kill me. Life in humiliation is not for me. I will ask for your forgiveness by dying, not as a living sentence.
Hwi tells him that he never thinks about his family members. What about our mother?
Kang takes a deep breath and grabs the sword. The Queen walks closer to the political palace.
Kang asks Hwi if he can do it. Hwi says a long life will be Kang’s punishment. Kang walks down the steps and tells him that he is bad enough to kill his own brother many many times. Kang attacks and swings his sword at Hwi. Hwi defends himself, but he doesn’t attack Kang.
They fall outside the doors and keep fighting. They fight in front of the Queen and everyone. The bad guy kills the King unexpectedly. he falls to the ground in Hwi’s arms. The guard is sliced as well.
Bad Guard – He asked me to kill him, because you won’t be able to do it.
Flashback of Kang telling the guard to do this for him. The guard doesn’t want to do it, but Kang tells him that he is his only person. He doesn’t want to die by anyone else. You do it. The guard cries at the responsibility.
The guard dies.
The Queen cries over her son. He says Mo-mo-mother….
Kang holds his neck and tells them all not to cry. He tells Hwi not to cry….my brother..…all the people I loved are all here…..you shouldn’t cry…..no one …..don’t cry for me.
But they are all crying.
…..when I let everything go, I feel so free…..I feel relaxed….
He dies.
Hwi and the Queen wail over Kang.
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#4
JH closes Kangs eyes and tells him to be loved when he is born again.
Hwi is still crying and shaking Kang.
The camera cuts to several shots of the palace until fading into Hwi looking over the stream. He looks much better. JH walks up to him and tells him that she will take SG to her house and do her funeral. Hwi thanks her, as a prince, he can’t do a funeral for her.
Hwi wonders why his brother wanted to be King so much and hurt all his family members. He was difficult to understand. JH says he was a bad guy, but he looked at her with sad eyes and she felt like he cried in her heart. He tells her not to blame herself, it isn’t her fault. Hwi says being born in the palace is not a blessing, but a curse because he was so close to the highest position and became greedy. His family member also (Uncle), they drew all this blood.
JH holds Hwi’s hand.
COMMERCIAL BREAK
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#5
NG’S HOUSE
NG finds out that her King died. She falls to the ground. She says that he wanted to meet her again. When they meet again, he said to be careful until they meet again. The maid says that she thinks he thought about his last moments and asked his guard to kill him. NG thinks that he never thought about her, she trusted him and hoped on the same bought, he should have taken care of her, they should have died together.
The maid tells her to get away, this house isn’t safe anymore. She doesnt’ know where to go, she can’t stay anywhere. The maid tells her to think about her kid. If they find her then she will be dead. He is a threat. The little King is a threat. You guys tried to kill him many times. You need to leave and protect your own child.
NG cries.
PALACE
The Queen tells the scholars that it is good that they got the position back but she lost Kang in front of her eyes and almost lost Hwi. She shouldn’t have done this as a woman and suffered like this. She will have Eun-sung be the guard until he is old enough. The palace says this doenst’ normally happen, usually the Queen does all of the politics. The Queen says that too many things happened to her, she wants to relax, do you think I will survive many more years for the little King? Eun-sung is the best, he fought for the country, survived with the Jurchens, and put the little King back as King.
Hwi speaks and says that he knows what they worry about. All their motives where for Joseon. They betrayed the little King, he knows who did what. But his brother died and took everyones sins. He will forgive them for the country and make Korea into one. Please help me.
Afterward, KT bows to Hwi, he is leaving. Hwi doesnt’ want him to leave. But KT just apologizes and says that he thinks about SG when he looks at him and he hates himself for not being able to protect her. Missing SG is bigger than serving Hwi, so he won’t be able to serve him well. When time passes, and the pain goes away, he will serve him again. He will be back again. Hwi tells him to promise. KT smiles and bows his head, he tells Hwi to be strong and live well. He leaves out the gates, Hwi wathes him.
Hwi asks JH if she wants him to live in her parents place. JH says she doesnt’ like the marriage clothing because it reminds her of all that happened. She also doesn’t like their house for the same reasons. They already slept togehter so….
Hwi tells her not to say those things in broad daylight! JH just continues, she wants to live with her parents because they have been through a lot. But if he wants to seperate…
Hwi takes her hand and walk reluctantly into her parents house. They bow to her parents. The parents want to know if he will be uncomfortable living there. Ahn says he should, he made their daughter suffer a lot. SU wants her to be quiet about that. Hwi says he knows how much they worried, he will show them how happy they will be under their roof. Ahn says she willbe sure to watch how they act. JH says she will live outside if they don’t treat them well. They all start to laugh.
JH shows Hwi his room. It isn’t as big as the palace, but it is nice right? He says he won’t stay here. She asks him where he will stay. He says he will live in her room. they spent too much time seperate. She says people will mock them. He says that he doenst’ care what they think. She tells him that he has an important position helping the King, he needs to do his work. He says, when the King grows up then I will come out of the palace and spend all my time with you. She understands and says that he has an important job, wherever he goes, seh will be with him.
10 YEARS LATER
The little King is bigger now. He asks how long they will have to listen to the Jurchens. They made a big mistake with everything Kang did. That is why they are letting these Jurchen’s do these things, but they can’t stand it anymore.
The King says that they need to fight them. Hwi says he made a peace deal before, he can do it again. But if you want to invade them, then we can as well.
Afterward, SU and Hwi talk about the King showing up against Hwi. Hwi smiles. SU wonders how he can jsut smile. But Hwi says this might be a good time. You said you want to retire, maybe your wish will be realized soon.
Hwi meets with the two queens. The young queen doesnt’ want him to leave. But Hwi thinks the little King is smart and strong like his father and uncle, so he doenst’ need any help anymore. The Grand Queen thinks the little King will be swayed by the older people once Hwi leaves. Hwi says the little King can start his work by firing his father in law first. Then people wont argue with him anymore if the great scholar is fired. The queens wonder if the great scholar will agree with this. They thinks so.
Hwi meets with the little King and tells him the plans. The little King wants him to stay around with him. But Hwi says he isn’t the King, the little King is the King. Hwi has a pretty wife and he wants to spend more time with her. Hwi picked his own wife, well actually he thinks that she picked him….it is a little difficult. The little King wants to pick his own wife as well. Hwi tells him that the funny thing is that the little King is like him and his brothers, all together.
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#6
PARTY
There is a big party at JH’s house. KD and DS talk about love love things. KD got married first. It took KD ten years to pass his test.
Two kids run outside and meet a little girl. They tell her that anyone can come in, there are many things to eat. KT walks up to them and asks them a question. Is this SU’s house and Eun-sung and Ja-hyun? They say that this is their parents. The little girl says she is looking for her aunt, she heard that her aunt lives there.
It looks like this kid might be NG’s kid because we cut to NG coughing and looking miserable. YG passes by her and says that her revenge might have been realized because this women went to the bottom. YG didnt’ become a noble, but she knows that she is an important person regardless.
The little girl sits with Hwi and JH, she gives JH something. Hwi asks her name. The girl says her name is Lee So-ha. Her mother brought her there. Are you really my uncle and aunt? JH gets up and runs outside. But NG is nowhere to be seen.
Hwi goes outside and sees KT. He tells him that he thought he was dead. KT says the world is big, he had a lot of places to go. Hwi is upset and says that it was 10 years, you should have contacted me! KT is nonchalant and says he is eating. they ask each other if they forgot everything. His sadness settled down but he couldn’t forget her. KT says it is good to see Hwi again.f
NG goes to kangs grave and puts flowers on it. She tells him that she sent their So-ha to Ja-hyun. She will raise her better than me. What about you, are you a King nicely over there? Or are you lonely over there also and looking at this world? She says she misses him, she misses him. The flowers dry up.
JH picks the flowers up. She is there with Hwi and the daughter. The daughter lays new flowers for her father and grandly bows to him. hwi talks to his brother and says that So-ha is there. She is pretty like your wife and healthy like you. We will raise her well as your daughter and we will love her a lot.
The daughter asks them how her father was. Hwi tells her that he was the handsomest of their brothers. JH says she needs to grow up a little bit more, then her uncle will tell her about him more.
they get home. Emo is there, it is JH’s cousin. She comes there often to learn painting. She doesnt’ want to be the kings wife. She told her parents, but they don’t listen to her at all. The grand queen will pick who will be the Kings wife. JH says this is out of her authority. Why not get married to the King, he is handsome and strong and smart. JH laughs about their family line.
Hwi meets with the little King and says, if he doenst’ want to then he needs to tell his grandmother and mother. They are talking about picking his wife and all those things. he says he will not meet anyone or date anyone, he just wants to see who is on the list and pick them. He wants to pick someone strong that can ride horses with him and all those things.
All the ladies go to teh palace. JH asks the Grand maid to please look after these ladies. The Grand maid says she can do it, she even controlled someone like SG. The head maid teaches the girls, but the cousin is just like JH was. The maid scolds her and tells her that maids are better than her. Practice, practice, don’t give up. The little girl doesnt’ want to be Queen though.
Hwi tells the little King that he should just look at them and not make trouble. He says not to worry, this isnot the first time he will be in disguise. The little King sees the cousin and smiles. She sees him too and runs away. Sh grabs his arm and tells him not to sneak peak at ladies, who are you? The little King runs away and JH and Hwi sigh.
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#7
JH and Hwi draw on the top of a large rock on the mountain. JH has something on her face. Hwi thinks she is pretty. They say they haven’t done this in a long time. Hwi has a lot of time now that he stopped politics. JH thinks the King will call him a lot of times regardless. They consider going to the countryside. He has done everything he can do for the country. Now he wants to live togehter and paint together. JH thinks the sea will be nice, they can paint and catch fish.
Hwi wonders if the kids will like the sea.
JH thinks the kids will be happy regardless of where they are.
They kiss, but Hwi gets something on her dress. She is all like, oh no you didn’t! they chase each other a little, he grabs her laughing and spins her around.
THE END
Thank you for recapping this show with us!
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COMMENTS
That was a very very drawn out ending. Kang’s emotions were too much, I get it, he is the super hurt son. Hwi cried a lot, he is a very feeling Prince. The Queen cried a lot, she is a very feeling mother. JH was steadfast, which was nice. NG just kind of faded away. I don’t think NG got what was coming to her or that YG got her revenge. I also didn’t care that much about her talking to Kang at the end. I mean, whose story is this? Kang and NG’s? That’s kind of what it started to feel like toward the end.
I’m still bummed about SG and KT as well. Did they really have to kill her off? Couldn’t KT and SG just go to China and get some special treatment and then come back after 10 years with a kid of their own?
Our duo didn’t get their wedding, they just started living together? I can understand why they didn’t want a marriage (I guess). But I would think the wedding would be more of a gift to the viewers. Preparing for the wedding could have been the entire last 30 minutes. At least they had a chance to paint together at the end.
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Aww…thanks V. Loveeee that it was a happy ending afterall. The story plots were straight forward and not very heavy on politics like the princess man, but still it was very enjoyable. Hope that YSY gets nominated for awards (and hopefully) wins them since his acting was very convincing (I’d prefer he cries less though;D) but anyway he deserves it.
Again, thanks for your hardwork. This is the first time I’ve tuned in on your recaps. Hopefully will tune in again if some other drama interest me:)
Thank you for live recapping this show with us dinanesta!
Thank you so much for this recap. It’s a great story between siblings with different views of life and it’s still happening even in this computer age. Love all the actors, they gave all their best to satisfy us viewers. Been enjoying your site coz other sites don’t have their subs instantly or on the day it was out. What I’ve been doing was reading your recap on other gadget while watching raw dramas on the other…lols…
You’re welcome MommyBelle28, so happy you can read and watch at the same time! I loved all the actors performances, too. They all did a really good job. I feel like they had to drink so much water with all the crying they did 🙂
@V, I live-watched on TV Chosun, and one of the advertisers was Woongjin water filters. Perhaps that’s how everyone stayed hydrated! 😉
Lol! 🙂
Thank you so much for recapping the whole series! I like that RSG and KD didn’t end up with Gi Teuk or JH’s brother as most people expected because their feelings are clear throughout the drama. Roo Shi Gae was too far gone on Hwi for years even seeing how steadfast and in love he was with a Hyun and Kkeut Dan was never going to be a concubine.
Frankly, I would rather have wrapped up the politics and NG and Kang drama in 5 minutes could have just watched a whole last episode of the OTP and their married life to be honest! The HwiHyun couple are certainly one of my favourite drama OTPs.
OMG, I definitely could have watched an entire last episode only focused on their married life.
Thanks for recapping GRAND PRINCE, @V! It has been great fun to see how much I guessed correctly as I live-watched the raw episodes. 😉
I was satisfied and relieved with the resolution. Characters continued to behave consistently all the way to the end. Because of that, I feared that it could have ended on a more dire note, and duly steeled my heart. To me, it was within the realm of possibility that Kang and Hwi could have ended up killing each other. It never occurred to me that Kang would pull a fast one. I did get the sense that Queen Dowager’s verbal nuclear option cut him so deeply that he knew there was no redemption in the present lifetime for what he had done.
It was no big surprise that Ru Shi-gae did not survive, although it was not the heroic death in battle that any self-respecting Jurchen Warrior Princess(TM) would have wanted. We already knew that there was no place in the world for half-breeds like her. (Damn! I didn’t realize she was writing Hwi’s name on his hand in her own blood.) Still, I was saddened by the unrequitedness that continued for a decade for Gi-teuk, with no end in sight. I was glad he returned to Hwi.
The ending scene on the hilltop overlooking a river valley was lovely. It reminded me of the Joseon timeline in SAIMDANG, LIGHT’S DIARY. Yang Se-jong portrayed a fictional royal who was a painter like Hwi. And just like YSY, he looked the part and was quite fetching in hanbok.
Speaking of which, I was very pleased with the performances by this excellent cast. Many were entirely new to me, and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for them in the future. GRAND PRINCE was Yoon Si-yoon’s follow-up to his sageuk debut in MIRROR OF THE WITCH / SECRET HEALER. I thought he did a dandy job, and look forward to more historical roles for him.
FYI, HanCinema has a comprehensive extended cast list.
Again, many thanks for recapping, V!