Korean Drama - The Legend

The Legend

Rating: 8.5/10

The Cast:

Bae Yong Joon as Lord Hwanwoong/Dam Deok
Lee Ji Ah as Sae-oh/Suzini
Moon So Ri as Kajin/Gi Ha
Oh Kwang Rok as Hyeonko
Choi Min Soo as Daejangro
Yoon Tae Young as Yeon Ho Gae
Kim Ho Young as young Ho Gae
Park Sang Won as Yeon Garyo
Park Sung Woong as Jumuchi
Lee Philip as Cheoro
Park Jung Hak as General Go Woo Cheung
Jang Hang Sun as Heuk Gae (Julno chief)

About the Drama:

"The Legend" starring Bae Yong Joon in the leading role,this Korean blockbuster retells the saga of King Kwanggaet'o of the ancient state Goguryeo and is awash with big battle scenes, and abit of The Lord of The Rings-like visual effects.

The story also adds mythical elements of the Four Symbols depicted in fantasy form as the four guardians who serve the king of Jyushin. The addition of fantasy to a Korean historical drama makes this series unique and distinguishes itself from its predecessors in Korean television series. The characters also speak in a modernized Korean language which marks a departure from a typical historical drama.

It is also one of the most expensive Korean production ever, at 43 billion won (S$60.27 million). Kwanggaet'o's reign marked a high point in Korean dynastic history, and the drama follows his rise to power, military conquests and romantic encounters. "The Legend" is also a continuation of the drama about King Jumong who was the founder of Goguryeo.

In "The Legend", the story starts with 2000 years ago before the founding of Goguryeo. The god's son, Lord Hwanwoong, was sent from the heavens to make the world a better place.


There was tribe that respected the tiger and controlled fire called the Ho-jok (Tiger Tribe), who ruled the world. They eliminated and assimilated all tribes except the tribe that respected the bear, called the Ung-jok (Bear Tribe). The Tiger Tribe and the Bear Tribe fought, and Hwang-woong could not bear to see so many people getting killed. He brought the three gods of nature; Poong-Baek (백호, the White Tiger), Woonsa (청룡, the Azure Dragon), and Woosa (현무, the Black Tortoise).

Kajin is the leader of the Tiger Tribe, she was wounded while being attacked another tribe, and was dying while Lord Hwang-woong healed her. This convinced Kajin not to be against Hwang-woong. Lord Hwanwoong removed the power of fire from Kajin, sealed the power into an artifact called the Heart of Jujak (주작, the Vermillion Bird). He fell in love with Sae-oh and gave her the phoenix necklace along with the power of the phoenix (initially belonging to Kajin).

After Kajin recovered, the Tiger tribe did not listen to Kajin and decided to attack the Bear Tribe. Kajin then killed her tribe's council with her own blade, escapes and heads towards the Bear Tribe, wanting to be Lord Hwang-woong's woman.

However, Kajin becomes jealous after Sae-oh had given birth to Lord Hwanwoong's son. She takes the baby and throws him off a cliff. Sae-oh, thinking that her son had died, is overcome with grief and turns into the black phoenix to destroy the world.

Lord Hwan-woong had to kill her to stop her. After that, Lord Hwan-woong returns to the Heavens and prophecise that 2000 years later, the true Joo Shin King will come to Earth. With the help of the four gods, he will rebuild the kingdom of Joo Shin.

The story then starts from the birth of the great king two thousand years later. The trouble begins when two boys are born on the same night to the same royal family.

Dam Deok the bright mature one, who is brought up by a cautious father and taught to hide his abilities and does not know that he is born during the sighting the of the Jyusin star initially. He had grown up to be a pleasant young man, but in his heart he always suffered because of Hogae's mother who had committed suicide, causing Ho Gae to believe that Dam Deok had killed her. He was later found to be the destined King of Jushin.

As the 19th king of Goguryeo, he was initially despised by the leaders of the four tribes that form his parliament due to influence from Ho Gae's father who was the chancellor of the parliament. However, he proves himself to be an excellent fighter and a schemer who can win battles without a single casualty on his side.

Dam Deok's cousin, Ho Gae who is encouraged by his ambitious mother to show off and prove he is the true monarch to everyone. He grows up as the heart-throb of the kingdom and is widely accepted as monarch-to-be as everyone knows that he was born on the night of the sighting of Jyusin star. When they were kids, Ho Gae was very open and pleasant towards Dam Deok, but after his mother's death, he resolved to take revenge and proving that he is the rightful Joo Shin King. He also hated Dam Deok as the woman he loved, Gi Ha only has eyes for Dam Deok. He had won many battles as early as his teens, and grew to be a powerful warrior.

Enter the world of two orphaned, long lost sisters who might both be reincarnations of the Phoenix. One sister, Gi Ha, was adopted by an evil cult, raised and sent to the palace as a priestess since young as a bait to hook the future king (who was thought to be Ho Gae). She met Damdeok by chance one night in the royal library and began to have a crush on him. Their relationship was fine, until the day that Damdeok's father faked his death as an assassination by Gi Ha to prevent any harm on Damdeok. She changed after that and became vicous and cold-blooded, especially after seeing Dam Deok being close with Suzini. Suzini is the other sister and she grew up on the streets.

At the end of the series, he realizes that the task of the King of Joo Shin was to answer the gods whether humans needed their help to continue surviving. He answers by unsummoning (through breaking the Cheongung/천궁: literally Heavenly Bow) the heavenly artifacts of heaven to avoid killing more people, especially Kiha who was then about to release her power which would consume the world again and of the Four Gods. The answer he told the gods was that he should return the powers and that humans could carry on by themselves. Having said that, he returned to the heavens, leaving behind his lover Sujini and son (who was bore by Kiha) on earth.

Comments:

Lee Ji Ah, I like her most, her style as Sae-oh reminds me of final fantasy characters, looks totally beautiful and mythical. As Suzini, she is like the female version of Legolas from the Lord of the Ring. She looks so cool fighting battles alongside Dam Deok with her bows and arrows. Her character was very funny as she likes drinking and gambling and was not like the typical female heroine.

I kept hoping that Dam Deok would like her and they would be together in the end. I was also quite irritated with Ho Gae's character towards the end as he was blinded by his love for Gi Ha and just following whatever she wants.

I did not really like the ending and was hoping that there could be more scenes of Dam Deok and Suzini towards the end. I totally did not understand the ending actually. It was only after reading some of the synopsis written that I finally understand what is going on. LOL.