Netflix Original 2020
Kingdom 2 (South Korean Drama Review & Summary)
Kingdom 2 poster
- Genre: Horror, Historical Costume Drama Fiction
- Release Date: 13 March 2020
- Origin: South Korea, Netflix Original
- Kdrama: 6 Episodes
- Links:
Cast
- Ju Ji-Hoon – Lee Chang
- Bae Doo-Na – Seo-Bi
- Ryoo Seung-Ryong – Cho Hak-Joo
- Kim Hye-Jun – Queen
- Kim Sang-Ho – Moo-Young
- Kim Sung-Kyu – Young-Shin
- Heo Jun-Ho – An Hyun
- Jun Suk-Ho – Jo Beom-Pal
- Park Byung-Eun – Min Chi-Rok
Episode 1
Hoards of zombies were approaching. Half of the preparation they made had been abandoned as it was daylight. The people did not expect that the zombies will come a-running.
Anyway Seo-Bi realised that it was not the sunlight that scares the undead into hiding but it was the temperature. They don’t like hot weather. As it had turned into winter, they were everywhere 24/7.
Thr zombies are more ferocious. They were able to break down the wooden fence of the Crown Prince tower so they had to have an emergency getaway which became perilous as zombies ran so fast and were able to catch up with them.
Fortunately, Lord An was able to remember a sort of tunnel that would bring them to a fortified building/castle.
But unfortunately, their best fighter, Lord An’s bodyguard got bitten and was man enough to sacrificed himself so that the zombies could not follow the Lord An, the Crown Prince and the rest.
Apparently the tunnel was used during the Japanese invasion where so many Korean died.
Inside their current hide-out, Lord An and one of his trusted men were inspecting the state of the food supply. They only have enough for 5 days so Lord An agreed to the rationing but no one must get starved.
Lord An was talking with one of his best guards about the difference of the zombies today to those of three years ago, Aigoo, Lord An apparently was complicit to the zombification of people to fight the Japanese. Apparently, the earlier zombies were monsters who dine on flesh. The new ones drink and eat flesh and more agile and can withstand daylight.
The guard asked Lord An if he had any regret cooperating with Cho Hak Joo?
Lord An said definitely nothing. He would do it again to save Songyu and Gyeungong.
This conversation was overheard by Moo-Young, who reported it to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince will not have any of it. He told off Moo Young for mentioning such things.
Moo Young was annoyed and disappointed with the prince. He said that he seemed not trusted anymore when he readily left his pregnant wife and family to go with the prince wherever he wanted to go.
Speaking of pregnant women, Min Chi Rok, an investigating official found bodies of women and their newly born babies, who had been strangled near the private properties of the Cho Hak Joo.
They found this curious.
The queen was still pretending to be pregnant but her shaman had said that she will have a prince soon so it was time to prepare the ceremonial table.
When the shamen asked why the queen would not tell her father that she was faking her pregnancy, the queen said that she doesn’t want her father to hold it against her and make her more of a puppet as she was already.
Meanwhile, Seo Bi and Beom Pai, the magistrate, ended up at the HQ of Cho Hak Joo. It turned out that Beom Pai was the nephew of Cho Hak Joo and who gave him the job at Donghae.
Before the Crown Prince and his lot could settle in their new place, their food granary was set alight and burnt all their only source of food.
The person tasked by Lord An confessed after someone was almost beheaded for not vigilant at his job. The official said that he sneaked in to get a bit more rice so his child would not starve. But he knocked his lamp and started the fire.
Episode 2
The Crown Prince and his posse arrived at Munyeong barracks and they got promptly arrested but not before the Crown Prince was set up to confront his zombie father/king, who was starving for flesh and blood.
Lord An knew what was about to happen so he tried to rescue the prince by telling everyone that the king had been dead for quite a while but he had now brought back to live and turned into a monster. Lord An got the attention of everyone and when Hak Su commended that Lord An be shot as he walked towards the room where the prince was, no one would do his bidding at first so he shot someone. Fearing for their lives from Hak Su the soldiers from Five Armies started shooting and raining arrows at Lord An.
Poor Lord An though still managed to get into the locked room and saw the prince holding the head of the king.
The Prince was in shock having killed his own father. He was even more upset when Lord An also died in his arms after telling him something.
Hak Su ordered to prepare the Prisoner to be taken to Hanyang.
Meanwhile, Min Chi Rok found more dead women with their babies at the Haewan Cho Clan mansion. They are puzzling that the babies seemed to be all girls. They began to put two and two together that someone wanted a baby boy.
They began to suspect the queen. Then they heard the bell signaling the death of the king. Min Chi Rok and the Minister said that they need to uncover the mysteries of the babies before the queen gives birth.
Seo Bi was helped by Beom-Pal to see the prince in his cell. The prince whispered something to her.
Yeong Shin convinced his fellow prisoner that it was time to revenge Lord An and kill Hak-ju.
They then started their mission but there were just too many soldiers. They were eventually rounded up and would have been beheaded had a zombie not interrupted.
The zombie was Lord An.
What Lord An dying word to the Prince was to turn him into a monster, that is the only way the Prince can survive.
In turn, the Prince secretly messaged this to Seo Bi, who did the deed.
Lord An was scarily impressive as a zombie and against all odds got to Hak Ju and bit his cheeks.
Meanwhile, the queen went into her fake labour.
Episode 3
How the zombification started? Apparently it was planned by Hak-Ju which he advised Lord An about it.
Lord An did not want to have anything to do about it at first because he thought to make his dead soldiers who gave their lives protecting the country into ravenous walking dead was too much of an abomination.
Hak-Ju said that it was that or using the sick Sumang people. They have to do something or else the Japanese will kill them all as they only have 500 soldiers left against thousands of Japanese.
Against his better nature, Lord An complied. The soldier started killing the Sumang people and then given the Resurrection Plant treatment to bring them back to life as the undead.
The Crown Prince with some men went to bring food to their former HQ and when they returned Mynyeong, Hak Ju was gone and some soldiers were dead.
He was told that the culprit was Moo Young. Moo Young was the spy all along.
He was spying for the Haewan Cho Clan because of his pregnant wife. He wanted them to keep her safe.
He later found out that he made the biggest mistake not only to the Crown Prince but to his wife as well when he heard that the Queen was faking a pregnancy and had gathered a number of pregnant women in her court.
The weak Hok Ju who was being looked after by Seo Bi, who was duped into going with them because they told her that the Prince was to follow them, was left alone with his nephew Beom Pal.
Hok Ju ordered him to get the soldiers, who arrived immediately and shoot Moo Young almost fatally.
They quickly took Hak-Ju with them. Beom Pal apologized to Seo Bi for his part but he told her to go with them otherwise they will kill her.
Anyway, Mee Young told Seo Bi to find out at all cost what was happening with the pregnant women being housed by the queen.
What was happening was that, Moo-Young own’s wife was in the process of giving birth as he was dying in the arms of Prince Lee Chang.
Moo Young apologized to the Prince and told him about his wife and the queen and that Seo Bi will explain what happened.
The prince was sobbing his heart out as Moo Young gave birth to a bouncy baby boy, which the queen took as her all.
Moo Young’s son is the new King.
Episode 4
Traditional medicine was not doing anything for Hak Ju so Seo Bi tried to find a more radical cure. She deducted that water seemed to have a peculiar effect on the zombies.
With the help of Beom Pal, Seo Bi carried the weakend Hak-Ju into tha tin bath brimming with water. They then started to submerge Hak Ju. Seo Bi observed the long thin wriggly worms coming out from that rotting \ombie bite on the cheek of Hak Ju.
Seo Bi collected the worms and then she and Beom Pal helped Hak Juk get out of the bath.
The Queen was quite happy with her new ‘baby Boy’ and had it officially announced.
Meanwhile, Prince Chang finds women who were heavily pregnant that were being buried near the Haean Cho Clan manor. And then they found another woman who was still alive but in a pretty bad way.
Yeong Shin went to get Seo Bi to look after the woman. Seo Bi said that she had just given birth. The woman said that they took her baby boy.
Prince Chang said the woman was Moo Young’s wife.
.Hak-Ju was almost recovered from hs zombie bite and was on his way to see the ministers when he overheard them questioning whether the Queen did indeed gave birth because they found all these dead woman with heir dead newly born daughters at the border of Haewon Cho Clan manor.
Hak Ju was incandescent with rage and ordered that the family of those who doubted should all be put to death.
Despite this Hak Ju went to the Queen palace.
After the father and daughter had a drink of tea, Hk Ju had Seo Bi examine the queen’s pulse.
Seo Bi concluded that the queen did not give birth to the baby.
Hak Ju was raging and said he loved his country will not have a commoner becoming its king.
He then stood up and said he will finish off the baby. He then suddenly throwing blood and collapsed dead on the floor. He had been poisoned by his jubilant daughter.
Episode 5
The death of Hak Ju further alienated the people from the Queen so it was fairly easy for Prince Chang to claim back the throne.
But it was easier said than done. The Queen refuses to abdicate. She laughed at them and said that if she cannot have the throne then no one else can.
Her hidden agenda was immediately revealed that she had been keeping zombies in the dungeons in case her plans go pear shape.
The queen’s lady-in-waiting went to the dungeon when she heard that the queen was not under attack by the Crown Prince and his men.
The zombies were voracious, they immediately feasted on the lady who let them out of their tether. They then started multiplying as their victims turned immediately to zombies..
Before long, the Crown Prince and the soldiers were battling it out with hoards of the monsters which were coming now from everywhere.
Episode 6
It was almost a hopeless battle against the zombies. The soldiers encouraged the prince to get away and leave them to fight it out with the zombies.
Prince Chang refused to leave his people.
Meanwhile, the zombies were almost through to the throne room where the queen was still stung at the throne with her baby.
The zombies got to the queen, who dropped the baby during her struggle.
Seo Bi rescued the baby, who had a bite mark on his hand.
To get away, she covered herself and the baby with a burning blanket. Apparently zombies are not partial to fire.
This episode is absolutely thrilling. Wow.
Seo Bi was aghast to have found out that the baby had been bitten.
While Prince Chang and the soldiers have all congregated in the frozen garden pond. They tricked the zombies to follow them and then the soldier started to shoot at the frozen pond to break the ice.
In the last 14 minutes of this series got rather stupid. Everyone was a moron including Prince Chang.
How could he let the baby be the king? His reason was that he was not worthy because he committed both regicide (killed a king) and patricide (killed his father). Well if that was his reason then he should have told them to behead him instead of behaving like a diva who wanted to be cajoled into becoming the king.
Unfortunately, the people with him are all as stupid as him.
They had forgotten the sacrifices of the late king himself who told Prince Chang to live at all costs and rule one day! They have forgotten Lord An who sacrificed himself several times to save Prince Chang. Seriously stupid.
And the most disappointing character is Seo Bi. How could Seo Bi not say anything that the baby was bogus? She knew from the start that Prince Chang was a good leader, very tactical and yet she dismissed that. They could have just given the baby to his real mother because she was not dead.
And the rest of the officials should have said you are what we need right now.
Nope, I am not continuing to watch this anymore because it has gone stupid. I felt let down. I enjoyed and got stressed with all the zombie attacks and political machinations that were thrown at the Crown Prince, so I had expected some sort of a respite where he gets some sort of reward =, which viewers like me who avidly watched his adventures would appreciate. I would have been delighted that at least he got the throne but would continue to fight the fight.
At the end, it was said that the zombie virus was being spread by the Chinese, (like the corona virus?!!!?. They had to find that merchant from China.
But first, they found the woman who owns bell chiming zombies.
And then, Seo Bi was wrong, the baby was not completely rid of his zombie worms because the worm had started moving to his head and into Season 3!!!
I love this drama and then not so much in the end!
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