I'm going to be straight with you all. I was on Allkpop and there was an article about this drama and the reason that I clicked on it was because it said that Block B sang the first OST for it. I am not ashamed of that. After watching the teaser though it was a good example of come for the music and stay for the actors. I couldn't stay for the story though because I had no idea what was happening in the trailer.
After some further investigation, I decided I should do some researching on the history of it and I have found that the subject matter of the drama is incredibly interesting! This drama focuses on the tragic story of Crown Prince Sado played by Lee Je Hoon. In the drama though he goes by the name Lee Sun because the name Sado was posthumously given to him. I also found out that Sado mean Prince of Mournful Thoughts. So after all of that, I guess I should get my tissues ready?
The back story is that this time in Joseon history was not a happy time. There was a lot of political strife between the Norons and the Sorons and if you have watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal you know a little about them and how much they disliked each other. King Yeongjo, Sado's father, was a Noron and was able to gain the throne after his older brother the king died which caused the Sorons to accuse him of murder. Not only was Yeongjo's assent to the throne controversial, he was also the second son to his father through a secondary concubine.
Because of all of these things, when Sado was born, Yeongjo wanted to raise Sado to be such a great king that no one could ever question his legitimacy to the throne. His father was incredibly harsh in teaching Sado how to be the best that he could be which caused Yeongjo to come to look upon Sado with disdain because he never felt Sado was good enough. This would make anyone crazy; wanting the love of your father and only receiving barely masked disgust.
Sado's behavior eventually started to become erratic, he would escape the palace, have violent outbursts, and even tried to kill himself. He eventually started killing people in the palace when they upset him. Court rules stated that Yeongjo couldn't kill his own son so he thought of another way to do the deed. Yeongjo issued a royal decree that ordered the crown prince to get in a wooden rice chest which was then sealed. Crown Prince Sado died eight days later.
Woo! That was a lot of information! Isn't it interesting though? I think it is incredibly interesting! That isn't even the best part either! There is great debate among historians as to whether Sado was in fact crazy or if he was framed and killed for political reasons!
After finding all that information out, I really hope that this drama takes a kind of Hamlet story form where you aren't sure if the main character is crazy or just incredibly smart. Sure, the two story lines are very different, but I am hopping that the writers don't only focus on one side of Sado's story. I want to be able to make my own conclusions based on the content that is brought forth.
From the two episodes that I have watched so far, I am really liking how Sado is being portrayed. From history we know that he has anger issues and you can see that under the character's surface. Sado is bored and unimpressed with how his life is going. He does things that are illegal for fun and when he is out in the city he attacks a police officer and it almost looks like he would have killed him had his friend not pulled him away. I am really excited (and scared/sad) to watch him spiral into the monster that he will eventually become.
~ Alora
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