Oh good. Last night I thought I was going to have to go back to DramaFever's crappy player for this episode, but while I was sleeping, the gang over at Viki burned the midnight oil. Go, Shiny Crazy Team!
Wang So, still not sure about his sexuality, returns to Chunghae just to catch a glimpse of his blood brother, Gaebong. Yool is a quick change artist as it takes her only seconds to go from feminine to masculine garb. Afraid he'll try to kiss his bro again, So claims he has a cold and warns Gaebong to keep some space between them. Of course she doesn't.
They're admiring all the outfits Yool put together for the princes. So isn't happy with the one made up for Prince So and Gaebong tells him what all the other princes said about their absent brother. He's a loser, he's lazy, he lives off his wife's family and spends most of his time with the gisaengs. Wang So tries to build up Prince So in Gaebong's eyes.
Suddenly Wang So remembers he needs to get back to the business of finding his father's killers. He tells Gaebong he's going to be gone for awhile so don't expect to see him around. Back in prince mode, So goes to the gisaeng house to carouse with his mole, Cheong Ok. She's to cover for him and tell everyone the prince is passed out drunk so So can have the freedom to sneak around and do ninja stuff.
The head madam sends a report immediately to Yeo Won about the prince being passed out. I'm still not sure where Yeo Won fits in, whether she's good or bad, but she sure is super smart. She sends orders back that next time they are to make absolutely sure the prince is where he's supposed to be. Go into the room and see the actual body.
Furthermore, Yeo Won is told that the guy So has been hanging out with is actually Yool in disguise.
Wang So joins up with his black ninjas and is prepared to gear up when Eun Chan stops him. He fears the prince's identity has been revealed and the enemy will be looking for So. The prince insists on coming along on the mission as he wants to brush up on his ninja skills for the Tournament of Princes.
Meanwhile, Wang Shik Ryum and Bidam Wannabe #2 are plotting on leading the black ninjas into a trap at an abandoned temple. Wang Uk reports back to Yool with some good news. He's found a potential lead on where her mother might have been. She was once a nun at a temple that has now been abandoned. (How convenient.) Uk offers to take Yool there to search for more clues. She changes back into her Gaebong clothes so they can ride really slow horses to the temple.
In the room where the nun used to live, Yool finds a picture of a flying fish. She explains this is a guardian god to the Balhae people, so there is still a slim chance this nun was Yool's mother. Uk goes out of the room to go get some water when he's suddenly karate chopped by a red ninja.
Sinestro, member of the Legion of Doom, has arrived at the temple expecting to meet and pay the red ninjas to keep working for him. To his surprise, Sinestro's guards turn on him and a red ninja (BW) comes flying out of nowhere to slice Sinestro's throat and relieve the old man of his piece of the talisman. (Hmm, someone just brought up the interesting question of what if Bidam Wannabe #2 is Yool's long lost brother she's looking for. I must admit that would be a good twist.)
So's black ninjas come upon Sinestro's dead body and get into a fight with the red ninjas. (Where's Gaebong during all this? Doesn't she hear this noise? Isn't she wondering where Uk went?) Masked So and Masked BW face off against each other. Ages later Gaebong finally realizes something is going on outside and walks right out on So and BW. Now that she's in danger, Wang So must call off his duel and try to take Gaebong away to safety. BW is hot on their heels.
So and BW get into another fight. Gaebong just stands there, the perfect target. When he sees the red ninja going for her, So gets in the way and takes the sword blow instead. This causes him and Gaebong to fall together down a cliff. (Cuz it ain't a KDrama if there's no one falling off a cliff.) The fall causes So's mask to come off.
Wang Uk regains consciousness and starts looking for Yool. At the bottom of the cliff Gaebong is the first to wake up and realize her rescuer was So. Somehow (offscreen, of course) she has the strength to move the wounded So to a cave where she attempts first aid for his wound which includes putting spiderwebs on his cut arm. She chews up some rhododendron leaves for medicine and kisses the juice into So's mouth.
Eventually So wakes up and Gaebong gives him the third degree. Is he a member of the black ninjas everyone's talking about? Did he kill Sinestro? Who was the guy in red? So swears his blood brother to secrecy about everything she's witnessed today. Gaebong manages to find her horse again and somehow (offscreen, again) she gets So's weakened body up on the animal. Ah, but what So doesn't see is Yool's hand is shaking. All that rhododendron juice, while beneficial for him, was poisonous for her.
She gets him back to Chunghae where an anxious Wang Uk has been waiting for her. Because she begged him to, a disgruntled Uk must help his wounded brother off the horse. Gaebong goes inside to find some more medication. Uk growls at his brother to leave Gaebong alone while managing to reopen So's wound. The prince stalks off in disgust as So faints from blood loss. Eun Chan swoops in and carries his boss away. Inside, Yool faints herself from the poison and Baek Myo goes into crisis mode.
BW starts the rumor on the street that it was the black ninjas who killed Sinestro. He also tells Shik Ryum about wounding So's arm, making him unable to participate in the upcoming tournament.
Eun Chan returns So to his house where Yeo Won finds her husband passed out in the yard. At first she thinks he's dead drunk until she finds the blood. She takes him inside to nurse him and oops, Yeo Won finds the butterfly necklace on her husband. He starts muttering Gaebong's name which makes his wife super duper jealous. Elsewhere, Wang Uk sits next to Yool's bedside. She starts muttering So's name which makes Uk super duper jealous.
So wakes up and Yeo Won asks about the necklace. He explains it away as simply a good luck charm. He wonders why his wife isn't wondering how and why he's been wounded. For his benefit, Yeo Won acts like she's assumed he was injured while secretly practicing for the tournament. Privately she wonders if she should stop trying to put her brother Uk on the throne and throw all her kingmaking powers behind her brother So.
Black Manta and Bizarro come running to Shik Ryum after hearing about Sinestro's death. Shik Ryum pretends it was the black ninjas who made off with Sinestro's talisman. This is enough to convince the remaining Legion of Doom to hand over their pieces to Shik Ryum for safety.
The king and his advisor, Ji Mong, are discussing the upcoming tournament and everyone who's being so "helpful" to fund it. When he hears about Chunghae outfitting all the princes, the king gets upset. Ji Mong tries to remind his monarch that the trading company is the least of their worries but the king seems to be taking this all personal and swears vengeance. Is this personality change one of the side effects of the poison the king was exposed to? This is so unlike him.
Yool recovers from her poisoning (for now) to learn that the regular people have now turned against the black ninjas and consider the band nothing but thieves. Yool keeps the faith. Baek Myo is furious that Yool risked her life for that no-good So when the princess's health is already so frail. Yool asks Kang Myung to find out where So is.
BW is standing watch outside Chunghae when he sees Princess Yeo Won stopping by for a visit. Yool is outside to greet her visitor and I must say BW has this strange look on his face as he sees her. Does he recognize her as the person at the abandoned temple? Or does he recognize her as his long lost sister? Hmm.
Yeo Won starts asking Yool about this So guy who works for them. Yool is honest enough to say she sometimes dresses as a man for work and So thinks she's a male. Noticing a scratch on the merchant's hand, Yeo Won comes right out and asks if Yool as been to the abandoned temple. Again, Yool is honest and replies she went there with Wang Uk. Yeo Won thinks to herself that Yool was with So. Yool thinks to herself that the princess is trying to get her to spill the beans about So's involvement with the black ninjas.
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