Cruel Palace Episode 1

Cruel Palace: War of Flowers can be see at DramaFever.

It is the Second Manchu Invasion of Korea and King Injo (played by the always dependable Lee Duk Hwa) has no choice but to surrender to the Qing forces. They further humiliate him by making the king walk like a regular human being all the way to Sam Jun Do where his sons are already being held by the enemy. 

Those sons are Crown Prince So Hyun (played by the tasty Jung Sung Woon - why haven't I met you before?), second son/future king Bong Rim (played by Kim Joo Young of Vampire Prosecutor) and third son In Pyung. The emperor himself, Hong Taiji, is there and has the defeated King Injo elaborately bow to him nine times. Also as part of the treaty, Injo must send his two eldest sons to China.

The royal family is allowed to return to their palace. Among the entourage we are introduced to So Hyun's wife, Crown Princess Min Hoe Bin, and their baby son.

Elsewhere, Commander-in-Chief Kim Ja Jeom (played by Jung Sung Mo) is lounging around with a half-naked woman when he's interrupted by a messenger who bears the terrible tidings of the king's surrender. Ja Jeom can't believe the king would have given up as they still have 30,000 men in their Korean army. To make sure no one else hears about the surrender, Ja Jeom kills the messenger.

Qing soldiers attack a village and I have major War of Arrows flashbacks. Acupuncturist Lee Hyung Ik (played by Son Byung Ho) rushes to warn one house to hurry up and flee as the barbarians are coming. The lady of the house quickly packs up her jewels but her daughter, Yam Jun (played by Kim Hyun Joo), doesn't seem too worried at all. She mulls over the idea that maybe it would benefit her to be carried off by the Qing. (I yell at the screen for Ma to leave her useless daughter behind.)

Too late - the soldiers have broken through the doors. Hyung Ik scrambles over a wall, leaving Ma behind. A soldier tries to drag her away but at least she fights back. He draws his wicked-looking sword and is about to stick it through Ma when Yam Jun finally gets her lazy ass in motion and thrusts a dagger into the man's throat. His blood sprays all over her. Ick.

At the palace, the princess is trying to get the depressed king to eat something. Kim Ja Jeom races up and begs for the king to fight back against the enemy. Enraged that Ja Jeom didn't use his men to come rescue their king, Injo goes out to give Ja Jeom a beating as only Lee Duk Hwa can give.

That evening in the village, Yam Jun needs to somehow get rid of the body of the dead Manchurian. Ma is useless so Yam Jun must seek the help of Nam Hyuk (played by Jun Tae Soo). I find it odd that no one seems to be acting like their village was just attacked that day. Perhaps this isn't the first time the Manchus have come a knocking and everyone is just used to all the rape and pillage.

Anyway, Nam Hyuk helps Yam Jun bury the body. Uh-oh, he's giving her one of those long, slow motion stares. Thwarted love alert!

King Injo has orderd Kim Ja Jeom to be beheaded but Prime Minister Kim Ryu is able to convince the king to rescind the order. Instead, Ja Jeom is exiled to a rocky and deserted island.

The Great Omniscient Voiceover tells us just how terrible things are for the Koreans because of the Qing.

The time has come for the princes to be sent away. The princess will be accompanying So Hyun but she has to leave her baby behind. 

[This is where the infamous breast-feeding scene comes in that has shocked so many viewers to which I respond, Why do you think women have breasts in the first place? Get over it.]

Yam Jun tries to see Nam Hyuk again but is run off by his mother. At least this allows the show to tells us that Yam Jun is the daughter of a concubine while Nam Hyuk is the son of a traitor. Hyuk (who so far has had only two or three lines in this entire episode) finds Yam Jun saying a prayer for the anonymous soldier she killed and buried.

And the episode ends there with no cliffhanger whatsoever.