BASED ON THE KINGDOM OF THE GODS BY YLAB
What should we do?
We will make sure Your Royal Highness can get out of here.
Are you saying I should sacrifice everyone
just so that I can survive?
I cannot do that.
Your Royal Highness.
Someone has to get out of the palace...
and let the people know.
Fire. They are afraid of fire!
Are you watching this now, Father?
I did not...
let anyone steal the throne from me.
The rear garden isn't far from this building.
We cannot go to the main gate, but we may be able to escape that way.
There is no time to lose.
Let us escort you to the rear garden.
The rear garden...
How many bullets are left?
We can't take down all of them even if we use all the bullets that we have left.
It is not for them.
If we use ourselves as bait,
it may work.
Don't look down!
We should hurry.
All the palace gates are sealed off.
What on earth...
is happening inside the palace?
Both in Dongnae...
and Sangju,
we could not stop the plague.
This time, we will stop it.
We must stop it at all costs.
We must do it now. Shoot!
Get off me. Go away!
Stay away. Stay away, I said!
Don't come--
How come we're alive?
We were bitten by them too.
I do not know what happened either.
We greet you, Your Royal Highness.
You Royal Highness, are you all right?
What on earth happened inside the palace?
Summon all the soldiers at the fortress walls
back to the palace.
We must hurry.
Did you get all the bodies out of the reservoir?
Yes, sir.
Seo-bi...
The plague spread in the palace?
Who survived?
Did everyone die except for those who survived with Your Royal Highness?
Including Her Majesty...
and all the ministers?
Yes.
What is it?
The Prince's corpse is nowhere to be found.
We have to find him.
We must find him, no matter what.
There are palace guards who left the citadel.
Also, most of the magistrates in the countryside
are supporters of the Haewon Cho Clan.
If the Prince is alive,
those who support him will be sure to revolt sometime in the future.
The newborn Prince must be killed...
for Your Royal Highness to survive.
YEONGYEONG GATE
This place...
enshrines the portraits of the former kings...
from whom my royal blood is inherited.
Here, their portraits...
are kept on the throne just like when they were alive.
And we also perform ancestral rites here...
to honor them.
There were two shrines awaiting their owners.
One was for my father,
and the last one...
This one was for me.
Hence,
you shall get out of there at once.
Let me see the baby.
I said let me see him.
Was he bitten by the monsters?
He did get bitten, but this child is not a monster.
Please believe me.
This child did not catch the plague.
You mustn't kill him.
Your Royal Highness, I am sure you also wish to spare his life.
Your Royal Highness told me...
to keep this child safe.
Go to the Queen's Palace...
and keep an eye on the child.
The newborn Prince, Your Royal Highness?
There is something I must tell Your Royal Highness.
It is about the Queen and her newborn son.
The child is--
Mu-yeong's son...
I heard he was taken to the Queen's Palace.
So...
I'd like you to protect him.
Your Royal Highness said that no one else should be hurt.
So please spare this child's life.
The plague will be brought to an end.
When winter gives way to spring,
this nightmare...
will end as well.
No.
As long as this child is alive,
this catastrophe will not end.
HONGCHI GATE
THE CITADEL OF SANGJU
3 MONTHS LATER
JONGMYO SHRINE, 7 YEARS LATER
Begin!
Your Majesty.
It is now time to return.
I heard Your Majesty asked to see
the historians' records from seven years ago.
But were you not well aware of the fact...
that the historical records cannot be disclosed to anyone,
including the kings?
No one tells me what happened.
Seven years ago, both of my parents, as well as my only brother,
passed away due to the plague.
The plague also killed all of their court ladies.
But neither you nor Uncle...
As a matter of fact, no one tells me anything about them,
so whom should I ask?
The royal lecture will begin shortly.
Everything you see and hear will help this country thrive.
Your Majesty, the more you learn, the better you can lead
the royal court and look after the people of Joseon.
Escort His Majesty.
It seems that the King misses his parents more and more by the day.
He will be...
immensely shocked if he finds out
how his parents passed away.
We must make sure His Majesty never finds out.
HANYANG
Wait, halt!
Yeong-sin? It's you, right?
It's been a long time,
my lord.
I said you may talk casually to me.
Just consider me a friend.
You shouldn't drink more.
You've already had quite a bit.
I am only drinking this much
because it is with you.
Just talk to me casually, will you?
All right, I will.
I'm the Second State Councillor.
Look! This punk is being disrespectful to the Second State Councillor!
I'm glad you brought that up.
One of the highest-ranking officials is devouring his food so greedily.
How crude.
You're right.
How did I even obtain such a high position?
Even for the magistrate position in Dongnae, I only accepted it
because my uncle threatened that he'd turn me into a eunuch otherwise.
But I'm the Second State Councillor now.
There are so many responsibilities that come with the position.
I also have to look proper at all times.
In fact, I never even have time to drink like this.
Order is being restored in this country thanks to your hard work.
The people in Gyeongsang have managed...
to overcome the disaster as well.
I saw it with my own eyes.
Enough.
Come on. Must I discuss such serious matters even with you?
Let's just enjoy our wine.
His Majesty is doing well, right?
He is growing up well indeed.
Despite his young age,
he's already finished The Four Books and Three Classics.
I'm sure he'll grow up to be a sage-king. I have no doubt about it.
I'll do my best to assist him.
It was His Royal Highness's earnest wish, you know.
Can I trust you?
Are you sure that this child...
did not catch the disease?
Yes, Your Royal Highness.
The monsters bit his hands and feet. When I dipped them in water,
all the worms came out.
This child is free of the disease.
You must not spare his life.
The newborn Prince is the legitimate heir to the throne.
Sparing his life...
will bring utter chaos upon this kingdom.
Only one prince can succeed to the throne.
Please kill him at once.
You are right.
Between he and I,
one of us must die.
However,
which one of us truly deserves to die?
He's a prince and the sole legitimate heir to the throne,
whereas I am...
a beheader of my own father,
a bastard son who is guilty of high treason.
If you must choose one between the two of us,
and if I ask you which one of us this war-torn,
plague-ravaged country needs more,
whom will you choose?
This child...
is the only hope this kingdom has left.
Now that all the evildoers who were trying to use him
to seize power have been exterminated,
you should...
guide the Prince...
so that he can become a good king.
I firmly trust you...
as well as...
all the virtuous ministers who are loyal to you.
We cannot do this.
What if the Prince...
is not the former king's child?
This child,
the Prince...
is Father's child and my brother.
Please write that the brutal war killed Father...
and the Queen, whom I called my mother,
as well as me.
That's what I want you to write in the annals.
That is the last thing I can do...
as a descendant of the royal blood.
I wonder if His Royal Highness is doing well.
Yes, of course.
He has Seo-bi right by his side, so I'm sure he's doing well.
What is it?
It's a compilation of all her notes about the plague.
The plague broke out when the dead were revived
through the use of the resurrection plant.
The eggs of the worms on the plant seize control of the brain
and awaken the dead.
The dead who are resurrected
lose their power of reason, cannot feel pain,
and only go after the smell of human flesh and blood.
Those who get bitten by the resurrected
are also infected by the worms that enter the body,
but are not turned into monsters.
Instead, they gradually grow cold
before falling ill and eventually dying.
The disease started spreading at Jiyulheon in Dongnae.
Some cooked and ate the flesh of a person
who died after getting bitten by a plague victim.
They died after having convulsions and eventually turned into monsters.
After that, those who got bitten by these monsters
also turned into monsters.
However, not everyone who is bitten turns into a monster.
Even if you are bitten, plunging yourself into the water before you die
removes the worms from your body before they can reach your brain,
thus curing you of the disease.
In addition, newborns also do not catch the plague even if they are bitten
because their brains are not fully developed yet.
The worms thrive in cold temperatures, so they lie dormant in spring and summer.
In autumn and early winter, they are only inactive when the sun is up.
Then from the winter solstice to the first day of spring,
they stay active all day and night.
Nevertheless, there is one question I have not yet been able to solve.
I am certain that the worms like cold temperatures.
But for some reason, the heat made them thrive
and spread even more viciously.
RESURRECTION PLANT
There must be
a more profound secret behind the resurrection plant.
Seo-bi is still trying to determine what caused the disease?
The plague was eradicated seven years ago.
No, not completely.
The plant grows in other regions as well,
not just in Sangju.
Which region?
There is more than one.
Gyeongsang, the Three Provinces, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Hwanghae.
We found the resurrection plant all over the country.
RESURRECTION PLANT
I am sure this is the resurrection plant.
My lord.
This is the headman of a village nearby and his son.
These plants...
When did they start growing here?
Oh, those plants.
Well...
we planted them.
What do you mean?
You planted them?
Then where did you get these plants?
Well,
my son followed a merchant to China to earn money.
He got those plants near the Yalu River
when he was returning home from China.
We planted them, thinking we might be able to make money off them.
Is it true?
Yes, it is true.
I heard the plant can revive dead people,
so I was hoping to make money off it.
But no one believed me, so I just left them here.
Are you sure someone sold the resurrection plant to him?
Yes, I am sure.
He even knew exactly what to do to resurrect the dead using the plant.
The person who sold him the plant gave him all the instructions.
Who would sell such a scary plant?
His Royal Highness sent me to inform you about this matter.
I was also told to deliver this book to you
just in case there is another outbreak.
Where is...
His Royal Highness now?
He's gone to the Northern Region...
to track down that person.
HWANGHAE PROVINCE
HAMGYONG PROVINCE
-Where is it? -It's this place.
The furniture and appliances are still there, but the people are gone.
I found the resurrection plant.
"There must be...
a more profound secret behind the resurrection plant."