The ambitious ending of Under the Queen’s Umbrella episode 2 is likely to be its chief talking point. It’s hard to properly talk about currently, with the context around the revelation yet to be fully revealed, but the hope will be that the sensitive topic is treated with the necessary respect. Aside from that, this instalment of the historical drama sets the stakes much more smoothly, smartly focusing more on the plot rather than the somewhat clustered crowd of characters.
Under the Queen’s Umbrella season 1, episode 2 recap
To begin, Consort Hwang receives a visit from Queen Dowager Cho (played by Chaerin), who slips in the idea of Prince Uiseong becoming Crown Prince amidst discussions on rotting roots, and the concubine’s Queen credentials. Elsewhere, Hwa-ryeong (played by Kim Hye-soo) is told by the deposed royal that she doesn’t believe Crown Prince Taein died from hyeolheogwol, given the royal physician said he had been cured of the disease. “It was as though they had foreseen the death of the Crown Prince,” Yoon adds, explaining the quickly unravelling events which saw King Lee Ho ultimately ascend to the throne. Outside the house, a mysterious character lingers.
After hearing that it’s the other Princes who are prepared for the taekhyeon (meaning they are primed to be the “wisest and worthiest” eligible to be chosen as the next Crown Prince), Hwa-ryeong is made aware her sons may be judged to be unworthy of succeeding, paving the way for a son of a concubine to take the coveted spot as heir to the throne. In a flashback, we see this exact process was executed to expel Queen Yoon, in addition to the former Grand Princes, to make way for King Lee Ho’s uninterrupted rise. Thus, Hwa-ryeong is told to prepare, or risk losing everything, including the lives of her sons, which happened to Yoon despite her quiet life. “The only reason I am still living is because I still have one son remaining that I must protect,” the deposed Queen explains, before bluntly stating she would have done anything to defend her late children should time have been able to be turned backwards.
While Queen Dowager Cho expresses her desire to have it be known to the King that the Queen kept the Crown Prince’s health condition a secret, the concubines begin to deploy the tips given to them through the book containing the secrets to Kinghood, in the hopes their sons can develop further. Additionally, Consort Hwang asks Uiseong to participate in the cohort selection, wanting him to prove himself as the first child of His Majesty. “Just enter the test and leave the rest to me,” the experienced concubine says, citing mulgwiwonju (the restoration of an item to its rightful owner) as incentive.
At the bedside of the Crown Prince, Hwa-ryeong asks Kwon to look into the records of Naeuiwon (the royal clinic) to discreetly find information on the medical treatment of the late Crown Prince Taein, as well as any other details on hyeolheogwol in general. At that point, the Queen’s son surprisingly wakes up, well enough to apologise to his mother for the worry caused. Reassuring the Crown Prince that he will recover, Hwa-ryeong tries to ensure there is minimal panic here.
The next day, the Grand Princes all gather around their mother, who is attempting to convince them to participate in the cohort selection under the guise of learning about their interests. Nevertheless, such a tactic is easily sniffed out by the Queen’s sons, meaning the royal quickly has to resort to trying to order her children to partake. This too is fruitless, until Prince Gyeseong offers a glimmer of hope, gladly obliging to the request to apply even when the three others fail to be persuaded into reconsidering their stances. Later on, Hwa-ryeong rues the obliviousness of the Grand Princes in not seeing their lives could imminently end up endangered, though refuses to clue them in on the illness of the Crown Prince.
As Hwa-ryeong becomes determined by the suggestion of having Lord Min Seung-yun evaluate the Grand Princes for their capability, Prince Uiseong again finds himself verbally scolded for how he speaks about the Queen. This time, the son of Consort Hwang is more ballsy, actively trying to get hit by calling the servants of the court “fools,” and “lowly.” Then Uiseong goes one step further, claiming he should be the Crown Prince, and that he would not keep the likes of Grand Prince Seongnam alive, “even as peasants,” if he were to ascend to the throne. Naturally, this leads to a physical threat, with the son of Consort Hwang warned if he was ever to become King, Grand Prince Seongnam would ensure his kingdom “lies in ruins.”
Next, Hwa-ryeong is informed the Grand Princes are “in danger of being classified as delinquents,” and lack the determination to become a cohort. So much so, Seongnam and Gyeseong are in danger of being expelled from Jonghak for their truancy, with the latter’s status particularly concerning for the Queen, given she relies on him the most aside from the Crown Prince. Here Hwa-ryeong also finds her previously reliable son has been pursuing something which, while remaining a secret from the audience, has a noticeable impact on the royal.
When the Queen is found crying in secret by Court Lady Shin, she is comforted, but the royal wants to know what to do now, to try and prevent Grand Prince Gyeseong from meeting his end. With Hwa-ryeong panicking, there appears to be no immediate solution in sight. Concurrently, applications are submitted for the cohort selection evaluation, which Grand Prince Muan surprisingly decides to get involved with.
Determined not to give up on Gyeseong, Hwa-ryeong refuses to dwell, wanting instead to get her reliable son to apply for the cohort selection, due to her worries about her other children who wish to leave the palace and get married. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince emotionally asks Grand Prince Seongnam to be “like a father” to Won Son, evidently making plans for his potential death. That, and the heir to the throne asks his younger brother to keep him company as cohort, warmly reminiscing about their time in Seochon together in youth, where their bond grew. As such, Grand Prince Seongnam applies for the cohort evaluation at the last minute, clearly affected by what his sibling said.
To her surprise, the Queen discovers all of her children ended up applying for the cohort selection, bringing both relief and happiness to the royal. Elsewhere, the King himself expresses his shock at seeing the large level of interest in the vacant role, admitting to his men that he wants to find someone who can encourage the Crown Prince to “twist, turn, and break outside the box from time to time.” Put more simply, His Majesty desires to find someone who differs from the heir to the throne.
That night, we watch Prince Uiseong coached for his upcoming examinations, with a new arithmetic tutor supplementing handy guides on what he needs to have memorised. Consort Hwang knows her son needs to make a big impression on the first two tests, hoping it can sway him into being selected for the role of cohort. Elsewhere, the Queen begins reading through a myriad of books used at Jonghak and Sigangwon so she can help the Grand Princes study.
After viewing the preparations of other Princes, we return to the Queen. She is relentlessly trying to condense materials to teach her sons with, understanding she needs to combat the scribes and private tutors hired by the concubines. Here, Hwa-ryeong is in a revelatory mood too, clarifying to Court Lady Shin that she was not selected to become royalty to keep maternal relatives of the late King “in check,” but rather because of her exceptional abilities. Confident, the Queen says she cannot sleep if she loses. Cynically, we discover at the end of this scene that Consort Go has been keeping tabs on Grand Prince Gyeseong, though this is actually down to her belief of a scribe being hired to tutor him.
The next day, Hwa-ryeong is told by the royal physician that no medical records exist anymore for Crown Prince Taein, except for one line about his death being caused by hyeolheogwol. Shocked, the Queen is suspicious, especially when it’s disclosed the vital information sought after was lost in a fire, and the physicians who survived the blaze left the palace, aside from Cho Guk-yeong, who is currently absent anyway. Sternly, Hwa-ryeong now desires to be made aware of the person that treated Taein, which is said to be Yoo Sang-uk, directly ordering his whereabouts to be found in spite of his missing status.
As the Queen shocks the Grand Princes with her sudden emotional investment in their education when they begin studying for their upcoming cohort selection exams, Hwa-ryeong reminds herself of the deposed royal’s words to her. She tells her sons one of them must become the cohort to the Crown Prince, ignoring their previous academic failures in favour of wanting them to turn their fortunes around. Grand Prince Seongnam notices his mother has changed, so quizzes her on this attitude shift, yet is only told the royal doesn’t wish to lose to the concubines who have been readying their children for success. Using marriage as a persuasion tool, Hwa-ryeong says her children should “feel free” to make her proud prior to their exiting of the palace, as they never know what will happen. “Therefore, I would like to be able to lay my hopes on you,” the Queen adds, expressing her longing for the Grand Princes to be on their best behaviour.
The ending
When his mother has finished speaking, Grand Prince Seongnam tells the Queen he is fine with what has been said, but wonders if she is giving false hope to his brothers, wanting them to avoid being hurt. “It may be more meaningful to accept things as they are and live to the best of one’s abilities,” he says, only to be rebuffed, with Hwa-ryeong replying that no “false hope” is being given, and that she has made this decision to protect the Grand Princes, for a reason she cannot share yet.
While the Crown Prince carries out his daily schedule without a hitch, a worried Hwa-ryeong goes to check on what’s happening with Gyeseong. Consort Go has also followed the Grand Prince in question to look into his ongoings, and Under the Queen’s Umbrella season 1, episode 2 ends with the revelation that Gyeseong is someone who privately dresses up as a woman, hiding this side of himself from the palace.
