The Kingdom of the Winds

It’s a good thing that I saw ‘Jumong’ first because ‘The Kingdom of the Winds’ is the sequel to it. In this drama, King Jumong has already passed away whilst King Daeso is still alive. The drama is about the life of King Jumong's son, King Yuri and 3rd grandson, Muhyul, who later became King Daemusin of the Goguryeo Kingdom.

Coincidently, Song Il Gook, who played King Jumong in the drama of the same name, also plays Jumong's grandson Muhyul in this drama, ‘The Kingdom of the Winds.’ Of course I enjoyed both the dramas tremendously because Song Il Gook is one of my favorite actors.

The Kingdom Of The Winds drama is actually adapted from a manhwa (South Korean comics) by Kim Jin. The drama depicts Muhyul as a person who was born with a supposed curse that he would kill his parents, siblings, son and even destroy his own country. His father, King Yuri, feared that this prophecy would come true, but couldn't bring himself to kill his own son, so he asked his elder son Haemyeong to take the baby to Jolbon, to be raised as a commoner. The baby was named Muhyul for he no longer had a beating heart nor warm blood in his veins.

 

So Haemyung took Muhyul to his Chief Decorator friend, Hye-Ap who worked in King Jumong's grave. Twenty years have passed and Muhyul had become a grown up man who didn't know anything about his true identity.

The drama focuses on Muhyul and his nefarious fate. In an attempt to kill King Daeso of Buyeo, Haemyung, Muhyul and their followers failed, leading to Haemyung giving up his own life to appease the wrath of King Daeso. Upon hearing this, the traumatized Muhyul (who thought that Yuri was behind Haemyung's death) was determined to seek revenge. So he joined forces with The Black Shadows secret army of Buyeo, where he met Dojin, an assassin in that army who was once a prince of Buyeo. He also met Yeon, a Buyeo Princess who was a physician. Dojin, who had been raised with Yeon since they were children, noticed the growing feelings between Muhyul and Yeon, so he held a grudge against Muhyul.

Throughout the course of 36 episodes, Muhyul goes through many trials and tribulations to defy his nefarious fate, and eventually emerges as a powerful king.

The Kingdom of the Winds features wonderful cinematography and beautiful music score as well as lots of grand battle scenes, conspiracies, political intrigue, and assassination plots.

I was quite impressed that the thirty-something actor, could play a teenaged Muhyul so convincingly. Song Il Gook managed to capture the mannerisms of a young brat even down to the way he stood and walked! By the way did you know that the portrait of Princess Yeon in Episode 4 was actually drawn by Song Il Gook himself?

Every episode was so exciting that I didn’t want it to end. I want to know what happened to his son, Hodong, that he had with Princess Yeon, whether he became king or not and also if Muhyul had any children with his queen.

The Kingdom of the Winds won multiple KBS drama awards in 2008:-

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Best Couple Award Song Il Gook (Prince Moo Hyul) and Choi Jung Won (Princess Yeon)

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Top Excellence – Actor Song Il Gook   

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Mini Drama Excellence Award - Actor Jung Jin Young (King Yuri)

§ 2008 KBS Drama Awards: Mini Drama Excellence Award – Actress Choi Jung Won (Princess Yeon)

I would like to recommend this drama to all lovers of historical dramas. It’s an award winning drama, so it should be good. See you again with another drama to share with you.