Sun Ho’s Treachery
After an action-packed episode, My Country: The New Age slows down slightly for a more subdued slice of drama, one that works on advancing the characters much more than the plot itself. Face to face, the episode picks up where it left off with Hwa and Sun-Ho looking set to fight until the General plunges his sword into Sun-Ho’s belly. Convinced they schemed together, the General fights Hwa before our protagonist fights him off and presumably kills him. In the aftermath of the chaos, Hwa pleads with the doctor to save Sun-Ho. Reluctantly, he eventually agrees to patch him up. Meanwhile Hee-Jae continues her quest in protecting Lady Kang while thinking about Hwa. Their journey sees them head deep into the forest while the fragments of the advanced party head out to the river with an injured Sun-Ho. Sensing an ambush, they hide under the boat as they approach the dock and manage to gain the upper-hand. Capturing one of the injured soldiers, they ask him who ordered the attack. With blood oozing from his mouth he utters one name – Nam Jeon. He also ordered Sun-Ho to be killed first. With the sword of Yi Seong-Gye in hand, the General awakens and it turns out he’s not actually dead. Hot on Hwa’s trail, he finds the fleeing soldiers and prepares to attack. Inside, Sun-Ho awakens where he and Hwa talk about the war. Hwa asks if Yeon is still alive but before he can get an answer, flaming arrows are fired into the room. Eventually he does reply and tells him his sister is dead. However it happens to be a lie, one designed to protect Hwa which we see via a flashback. After telling Sun-Ho if they cross paths again they’ll be enemies, Hwa outsmarts the general and manages to leave unscathed. While Sun-Ho and the General join hands, Nam Jeon turns his back on his son. This acts as the catalyst for a new alliance to form as Sun-Ho and the General decide to thrive in darkness. Despite managing to make it to temporary safety, Hwa has difficulty letting go of what Sun-Ho told him about Yeon while Hee-Jae runs into issues as 8-10 soldiers grow closer to their hideout in the woods. Tasked with looking after Bang-Seok, Hee-Jae hides with him outside in the woods. As it happens, the men are on their side and they catch wind that the Goryeo Capital has fallen. Meanwhile Nam-Jeon comes up with an idea of forging a new country and despite being warned to watch his mouth, it’s an idea the new General is keen to explore. As he leaves, Cheon-Ga antagonizes him before speaking to his Father about his role in this new world order. Continuing to mourn for Yeon, Hwa heads home and weeps for his sister while trouble brews in the capital as the officers talk about the advanced party ambush. As they discuss the lack of evidence, Sun-Ho arrives and offers a list of escaped soldiers. Feigning happiness for his son, Nam Jeon tells him he’s happy to see him but Sun-Ho sees through the bluff. While they embrace, we see a flashback of Sun-Ho’s childhood, followed by Sun-Ho promising that Hwa will come for him. In the middle of the night Hwa does just that, sneaking into Nam-Jeon’s chambers. He thanks him for saving Sun-Ho before getting some much-needed answers. The Death Squad wasn’t for Hwa, it was for the others. Unsheathing his blade, Hwa prepares to stab him until Yeon arrives and serves up tea. Unfortunately, she doesn’t recognise him. As she leaves, we flash back in time to see Yeon suffering from severe memory loss when she awakened. It turns out Nam-Jeon is keeping her as a hostage and in exchange for her living a life of luxury and nobility, Hwa’s told to offer up his life for Nam-Jeon. Afterward, Yeon confronts Hwa and asks if they’ve met before. He lies, telling her they haven’t before asking if Nam treats her well. She replies he does, putting Hwa’s mind at rest for now. Back home, he opens the letter hidden in the armour and reveals secret writing. Before we can read what it says however, we cut to the next day with Hwa confronting Sun-Ho about his part in this treachery before smacking him across the mouth when he threatens Yeon. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Hwa is given a mission – gain Bang-Sok’s trust before killing him. If he doesn’t, Yeon will suffer a terrible fate. With Hwa forced to work with Nam-Jeon and plenty of drama stuffed into this 80 minute episode, My Country: The New Age does well to counteract the quick pace of its previous episode with a much more methodically paced slice of drama. With many questions left hanging over this one and Sun Ho’s true nature finally revealed to his friend, their bitter rivalry looks set to only grow from here.
