Synopsis

Falling into the past, (Lee Ji Eun, known as IU) takes on the role of Hae Soo/Go Ha Jin and falls in love with 2 of the 8 princes of Goryeo in “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” (“Moon Lovers”). This story is full of angst, betrayal, greed, friendship, and above all else, love. “Moon Lovers” is the story of how one woman changes the history of Goryeo. This series introduced me to all the Korean tropes, and be prepared with tissues everyone because this story has all of the emotions: happiness, sadness, passion, hatred, and above all else – love. It is impossible not to fall in love with this story. It is such an epic romance.   

The Eclipse

What she anticipates as a sullen day of drinking alone at a park changes her life forever. Go Ha Jin is upset as she drinks and speaks with someone who appears to be a backpacker (Kim Sung Kyun) or traveler recounting to him her recent experience of being cheated on. She asks, “Have you ever wanted to sleep for a hundred or thousand years?” She then speaks of how she had hoped that other people around her would change by changing herself. The traveler responds, “Your life cannot change just because you want it to. Maybe if you died and came back from the dead?” Suddenly, a little boy falls into the lake at the park; Ha-Jin jumps into the water to save the boy. After saving the little boy, she reaches for the rescue boat, and there is a sudden solar eclipse.  She looks shocked and cannot grab the rescue boat, it is as if something is pulling her from underneath the water, she floats down to the deepest parts of the lake. At that moment, in some far-off land, our male lead, Wang So (Lee Joon Gi) rides across the horizon on a horse as the same eclipse occurs.

The eclipse is a significant symbol in “Moon Lovers” because it occurs when Go Ha Jin is transported back in time from 21st Century South Korea into the Goryeo Dynasty.  Eclipses often symbolize change and growth. Some cultures believe the Sun was in a fight with its lover, the Moon. In some cultures, the hot female Sun and cold male Moon were married. The Sun ruled the day, and the sleepy Moon ruled the night. Seeking companionship, the Moon was drawn to his bride and they came together—thus, a solar eclipse.

The Princes of Goryeo

(In order of Appearance)

4th Prince - Wang So - (Lee Joon Gi) - Wolf Dog - Wears a mask to cover a scar on his face.

10th Prince Wang Eun - (Byun Baekhyun) - If you follow our YouTube Channel, you know he has a special place in my heart because of this series.

14th Prince - Wang Jung - (Ji Soo) - Likes to fight with the villagers

3rd Prince - Wang Yo - (Hong Jong Hyun)

13th Prince - Baek-A - (Nam Joo hyuk) - Likes to draw the villagers, Brother to Wang Wook’s wife

8th Prince - Wang Wook - (Kang Ha Neul) - Married to Hae Soo’s cousin

9th Prince - Wang Won - (Yoon Sun Woo)

Crown Prince - Wang Mu - (Kim San Ho)

How do we get to meet this delectable selection of actors? In the bath! That’s right, we are introduced to 6 of the 8 princes in their bathhouse. It is a gigantic pool of water with two sections – one inside closer to the house; one outside further from the house. It is in the outside section where Go Ha Jin appears the water, scaring Wang Eun and alerting the other princes to her presence. Go Ha Jin in is led out of the bathhouse by a helpful servant who calls her Hae Soo. Thus begins the crazy tale of Hae Soo and how she captivates the hearts of the princes and helps save Goryeo from what seems like a tragic fate.

Hae Soo

Hae Soo is Wang Wook’s wife’s younger cousin. She came to live with them to help with his wife who is battling a terminal illness. While she is living in the palace, she helps both Wang Wook and Wang So find out who they are as a person through her charming and bubbly personality. Along with the help of Astronomer Choi Ji Mong (Kim Sung Kyun) – who has memories from the park that day – Hae Soo lives her life to help prevent the past from repeating itself from what she remembers in her 21st century history books.

Hae Soo has a sense of justice, which often puts her in awful situations. She starts fighting with Wang Eun and gives him a black eye because she caught him spying on her hand servant, Chae Ryung. Wang So grabs her hand as she pulls it back to smack him again and leads her away, asking her what power does she have to strike a future king. She maintains that sense of justice saying that Prince Eun should apologize for spying and Prince So should apologize for almost running her over the other day with his horse. Wang So tells her that if he apologizes, he will have to kill her.

Prince So v Prince Wook - “She belongs to me.”

Hae Soo is trying to get back to her world and she has the genius idea that if she came in through the water maybe she can leave through the same water, the prince’s bathing pool. She goes into the bathing pool, but at the same time, Wang So is conversing with Choi Ji Mong. Ji Mong suggests a bath, so Prince So gets into the bath. Prince So has a set of scars on his face that he hides with a mask. When he was younger, his mother used him as a bargaining chip to try to convince the King not to get married again, so Queen Yoo (Evil mother) held a blade to his throat. She tells the King to choose either his marriage or his son, and in the scuffle, young So is struck several times with the blade, leaving permanent scars.  So takes off his mask in the bath and Hae Soo pops up out of the water, surprising him. He threatens to kill her if she tells anyone what she saw. When he leaves, a hairpin with a butterfly falls out of his robe and Hae Soo picks it up.

On the night of a festival, there is an attempt on the King’s life and Hae Soo sees Prince So run through the village. She rushes after him looking to return his hairpin, but is held captive instead by one of the assassins. He tells the assassin to kill her because she means nothing to him, but Prince Wook uses his dagger and strikes the assassin down. At the death of the assassin, Prince So becomes angry and again threatens to kill Hae Soo, but Prince Wook tells him to release her. But So says, “I don’t want to” pulling Hae Soo closer. Ya’ll the music kicks in and the jealousy between the two men is palpable. Wook has feelings for Hae Soo at this point, and Sol…well…we don’t know. He may want to kill her, but it is obvious that he doesn’t want to release her to Wook. Clearly, the two men have an unfinished argument going on.  Eventually, So does release Hae Soo and she cries in the arms of Prince Wook. This begins the battle between Prince Wook and Prince So for Hae Soo’s attention. Initially, Prince So only goes after Hae Soo because it annoys Prince Wook. But after he gets to know Hae Soo’s positive outlook on life, he begins to want to be around her and protect her, ultimately falling in love with her.

Hae Soo tries to sneak the hairpin into Prince So’s bed chambers using her servant, Chae Ryung. She is discovered by none other than Princess Yeon Hwa, Prince Wook’s sister and apparent enemy to Hae Soo. After witnessing Chae Ryung getting beaten, Hae Soo offers to take her place since she told Chae Ryung to place the hairpin there in the first place. After Princess Yeon Hwa gets in several smacks with a stripped branch, Prince So grabs her arm and says “She belongs to me.” All the other princes are watching as this happens. Yeon Hwa – who has feelings for Prince So – is stunned. Prince Wook tells Prince So that nothing at the palace belongs to him and that he should know his place.

Prince Wook confesses his love to Hae Soo through a poem; however, she can’t read it and it is read to her by her cousin, his wife Lady Hae, and his brother, Prince Baek-A, the 13th Prince. She is also told that she will go to the palace to give Queen Yoo her handmade soaps. This backfires horribly as she attracts the attention of the King, who wants to meet her after she punches Wang Eun. While she is at the palace, she is asked about the King's greatness and gives a “textbook answer.”

Why I love Baekhyun in this drama!

He is so innocent! EXO’s Baekhyun plays the 10th prince, Wang Eun. His first interaction with Hae Soo is at the bathing pool when she first appears, and then Hae Soo catches him spying on Chae Ryung and they have a tussle. Prince So breaks it up, but not before Hae Soo gives Wang Eun a black eye. This causes Wang Eun to admit his feelings for Hae Soo and he begins to pursue her. But Hae Soo only sees him as a little brother. At one of the ceremonies with the King – when all the other princes are standing at attention – Wang Eun leans his head on his brother’s shoulder and falls asleep. He is the human emoji in Hae Soo’s poem - \^o^/ (the excited happy face) - when she can't write a poem. He tries to cheer her up with a puppet show. He doesn’t want to be in the rain ritual. He doesn’t want to get married. He is just adorable. His facial expressions are so innocent. He makes puppets with towels. He refuses to let his wife die alone. We all need a Baekhyun.

Rain Ritual – “A person cannot move the Heavens; you just need to make it look that way.”  

It is decided that a rain ritual is to be carried out to alleviate the drought. Each prince puts his name in a jar and the King “chooses” who will carry out the ritual. It is revealed that the King and Ji Mong (the astronomer) planned for it to be Prince So. The one who brings rain is supposed to be praised, but the townspeople are afraid of Prince So’s masked face. Hae Soo uses makeup to hide his scars and Prince So faithfully performs the ritual until it rains. He asks Hae Soo if she is scared of him because of his scar, but she responds that she knows he is a good person. It is a very touching moment between the two. The way he tells her, “If it is you, I can put my life in your hands” and “I am yours,” makes my K-drama heart burst. It is intimate and sweet. Unfortunately, Hae Soo has no idea what she started by helping Prince So with the rain.

The Poison

During the Chrysanthemum Festival, Queen Yoo and Princess Yeon Haw plot to have Hae Soo unknowingly deliver poisoned tea to the Crown Prince. Prince So willingly drinks the poisoned tea instead of the Crown Prince.  He receives the antidote and lives, but Yeon Hwa pretends to drink the poison. Hae Soo is arrested for serving poison to the Crown Prince and is sentenced to hanging. Prince Wook finds the witness and threatens to kill her until it is revealed that his sister is part of the plan. He is stuck. He also feels like he cannot protect Hae Soo any longer. Prince Wook meets with Court Lady Oh (Woo Hee Jin) to ask her to save Hae Soo because she is like a daughter to her. Court Lady Oh tells Wook that he will regret his cowardice. On the day of Hae Soo’s hanging Prince So shows up to fight the guards and protect Hae Soo. Hae Soo goes and kneels in front of the palace to plead for Lady Oh’s life. Prince Wook tries to go to her, but he is stopped by his mother and sister. Prince Baek-A goes and tries to talk some sense into her, but she insists on being stubborn. Prince Wook comes into the rain to talk to her, and then stops and turns around. Even though they are all ordered to abandon Hae Soo, Prince So covers her with his sleeve when it starts to rain, and Prince Baek-A and Prince Jung kneel with her outside. It is such an amazing moment to see how much love these princes have for Hae Soo.

King Jeongjong (Prince Yo) is the worst!

Yeon Hwa finds out that Prince Eun is hiding in the Damiwon. King Jeongjong wants Prince Eun killed so he raids the Damiwon and kills everyone in his path. Prince Eun is supposed to run away with Hae Soo to keep him safe, but he refuses and goes with his wife who is trying to hold back the guards. They both die. Prince So and Prince Baek-A leave for military duties for 2 years. During this time, King Jeongjong loses his mind over the death of his brother and thinks that everyone wants the throne.

Prince So and Hae Soo reunite after 2 years apart. Prince So is shot with an arrow trying to save Hae Soo from being shot by King Jeongjong. Prince Baek-A knows where he is and sends Hae Soo there to help take care of him since she is knowledgeable in medicinal herbs. She tells him she wishes he had not returned to the palace, but he responds with a passionate kiss and viewers see them in undergarments lying together in the same space.

With the help of Princess Yeon Hwa, Prince So overthrows the palace and becomes King Gwangjong. But he realizes that the throne is lonely.  He is treated as a thief who stole the crown and as murderer who killed his brother. I love that he and Hae Soo talk about marriage. But the doctor tells Hae Soo that her frustrations of her heart have become an illness of her body and cannot guarantee her how long she will live due to heart palpitations.

Marriage to Prince Jung

Hae Soo meets Jung at the Prayer Tree and he tells her that there is no way she could become Queen because she does not have the family backing or support to help the king. When So proposes, she tells him that she cannot marry him. She says she cannot be tied down by palace rules and etiquette and can only provide him with comfort. He tells her she cannot leave the palace and that she is his only queen. Yet, So marries Yeon Hwa after being told that is what is best by Wook and others. Seriously! Yeon Hwa! Eww…that’s your half-sister dude! After the wedding, So accuses Prince Jung of treason (since he questioned his right to be king), strips him of his titles, and exiles him to his hometown.

Hae Soo’s heart palpitations get worse after the death of Chae Ryung and she sends word to Jung through Baek-A. She feels she can no longer live with the stress of being at the palace. She tells So that she wants to leave the palace and he responds by telling her that she is not allowed to leave him.

After it seems that everyone has left him, So goes to sleep with Yeon Hwa to make an heir and frames Wook for treason by killing a hawk that Wook was supposed to present to him. Prince Won acts cowardly and blames Wook as well. Yeon Hwa refuses to get involved to help her brother even though he may lose his life. Instead, it is Hae Soo who comes to Wook’s aid, which infuriates So. So banishes Wook to his hometown and refuses to let him leave. The group of So’s supporters is getting smaller and smaller. Yeon Hwa blames Hae Soo for everything with Wook and she has a flashback to when King Yo told her he started everything by allowing Prince So to sit in the chair.

Prince Jung comes to the palace with a decree, signed by the former King Jeongjong, that states that Prince Jung has permission to marry Hae Soo. We also learn that Prince Jung has loved Hae Soo since she tried to save him in the beginning of the series. Prince Jung tells So that Hae Soo wishes to go through with the marriage. The King rushes to Hae Soo to confront her, but she admits that she wants the marriage. It is a crime to go against the wishes of a king, but more importantly, she fears that if she does not leave now, she will only hate. 

Wook, after being advised by his sister, tells So about his previous relationship with Hae Soo. Even though Hae Soo said she was interested in someone else, she never said who it was, and So is enraged that it was Wook. So tells Hae Soo that she will never see him again. *He will regret that.*

After some time, So spies on the “happy couple” and gets discouraged when sees Jung lovingly picking Hae Soo up and bringing her into the house out of the cold. He does not realize they do not sleep in the same bed, that Hae Soo envisions So in her life with Jung, nor that she is pregnant. The King declares he does not want to hear anything about Jung and Hae Soo. The child is born healthy but is declared a stillborn to protect Hae Soo and to prevent the King from finding out. After the birth of the baby, Hae Soo is weak and dying. Hae Soo writes to So and asks him to visit. Jung arranges for singers to come from Songak to sing to Hae Soo to comfort her and they sing the same song she once sang to the princes. Hae Soo passes away in Jung’s arms. So gets word that Hae Soo has passed away and that she sent him letters. So arrives and tries to take Hae Soo’s ashes, but Jung does not want him to have them. Baek Ah realizes that Jung loved Hae Soo, as well. He says that Hae Soo spent her life caught in the middle of the brothers and, therefore, they should not complicate her death. King Gwangjong stands at the prayer tower with her ashes.

Time lapse  

So goes to Hae Soo’s tree on the anniversary of her death. While there, he runs into a girl who bumps into him and then pretends to hurt her head just like Hae Soo did when they met. Jung tries to hide the girl, but So notices the hair pin that he gave to Hae Soo in the child’s hair. He demands Jung to leave the child. The King realizes that the child is Hae Soo’s, but I do not think that he knows the child is his. Ji Mong meets with So and tells him that he does not think Hae Soo was of this world and that he needs to forget about her. As he walks away from the palace, there is another solar eclipse.

Go Ha Jin wakes up in the midst of the eclipse in her 21st century apartment. She goes to work at her makeup counter where she finds an interesting exhibit on soaps and makeups from the Goryeo period. The presenter is none other than Ji Mong! Go Ha Jin does not remember much of her life in Goryeo until she converses with him, and she begins to have flashbacks. She walks into a museum with Goryeo exhibits and there is a portrait of So. He is no longer remembered as a bloody monarch, but as a good and wise king. There is another portrait of So standing at the palace. She says that she is sorry for leaving him alone, and she hears a voice call to her and say that he will find her, “My Soo.” 

Tearjerker

Yall have tissues…I’m not lying when I tell you there are some real tear jerker moments in “Moon Lovers.”  When Prince So visits Hae Soo in prison, she is bruised and weak. When he speaks to her, she tells him her feelings will not change, but the inner monologue is that her feelings are already swaying. He tells her not to die because he is not dead and she belongs to him. When Prince So cries to Hae Soo after killing his older brother, Prince Yo, it is a heartfelt moment. When a dying Prince Eun, who has been shot in the stomach with an arrow, he asks So to kill him. The ensuing montage of scenes from Prince Eun and Hae Soo is gut-wrenching. When Hae Soo turns down So’s proposal, yet you see her in bridal garb the same day as So’s wedding. When Jung is prohibited from seeing his mother before she dies. When Chae Ryung is beaten to death for her putting silver in the king’s bath water, the brutal scene spares no detail. When Woo Hee commits suicide to protest the treatment of her people.

Court Lady Oh – OMG, I love her strength. She loves Hae Soo like the child she lost. She was once in love with the King before he was the king. She chooses to become a Court Lady to watch after him but becomes pregnant with his child. Queen Yoo sends her some tea which causes a miscarriage. She loves Hae Soo at asks her to leave and go home with her. When Hae Soo is threatened with hanging, she admits her wrongdoings to the King and admits she tried to poison the Crown Prince. She is dying of stomach cancer and refuses to let Queen Yoo kill her “second child,” Hae Soo. Lady Oh tells her she wants to protect her and that she has no regrets. The sound of a gong goes off when Lady Hae Soo is hung and you see her white shoes dangling. The King falls backward as he knows he will miss her. Right before Lady Oh was hanged, Queen Yo declares that she has won. Lady Oh contrarily says, even if only one man thinks of me when I am gone, I have won. On his deathbed, the King dreams of Lady Oh, holding flowers and walking towards him.

And finally, when Hae Soo dies. She is weak and her face is pale as she turns to Jung and asks him to protect her daughter. Then you hear the same sad song that plays when Lady Oh is hung. Jung asks if Hae Soo will remember him. She tells him that she is going to forget him and everything there. The acting is masterful. IU’s tears make you feel the moment. 

Final verdict: MUST WATCH   

“Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo” is a MUST WATCH.  It is an epic historical romance that you will never forget. It leaves you with both an immense sense of joy, as well as heartache and despair. I truly felt connected to this story, like I knew the characters. I was invested in their story. “Moon Lovers” has so many Korean tropes – betrayal, a love triangle, a wintry romantic scene, an evil mother (and I mean EVIL), and the story of how a man becomes a King – to name a few. “Moon Lovers” is filled with romantic scenes throughout the whole series that are amazingly charming. Another factor that makes this series so amazing is the OST. The soundtrack is so powerful that you can listen to the music and instantly be transported back to the emotion of the story. “Say Yes” (Loco and Punch), “For You” (Chen, Baekhyun, Xiumin of Exo), and “My Love” (Lee Hi) are just a few of the amazing songs on this OST. “Moon Lovers” is also a series that is so emotionally draining that, once you watch it, it is hard to watch it again. There is so much heartache and turmoil in this series that sometimes I just had to take a pause and regain some happiness to get through it. And I was left with one burning question – does So know that the child is his?! All in all, this series is on everyone’s must watch for a reason, and like so many others, I am dying for a second season.

So there it is, our review of “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.”  What did you think?!  Thank you for joining us on this journey. 

Have a favorite K-drama you think we should review?  Comment down below!!  We look forward to seeing you back again soon!

Up next, “Marry My Husband”