We approach this week episode seeing Blue Dragon Guardian, Cheoreo sending Hwachun leader, Dae Jang Ryo flying with his spear infused with the sacred symbol. And the terrible truth which we viewers all know has finally been acknowledged by all the watching Goguyreo lords/ministers including Lord Yeon himself, that Damdeok is the true Jyushin king.

We then see Damdeok doing negotiations with a Shilla messenger. It appears that Shilla wants to ally itself with Goguyreo because of Baekje/Japanese alliance and the fact that the latter is setting up a base in nearby Kaya state which would be a threat to Shilla. Damdeok agrees to the alliance and this is quite true since it was reflected in the history annals.

Black Water village people and Julno tribe chief starts lamenting about Damdeok doing practically everything! From riding horses, fighting with Hwachun, never once getting a good sleep or having a peaceful meal. And now negotiating with Silla! This part was funny, don’t know why.

We then see Sujini sneaking to the royal winery and stealing a few bottles of wine. She is stopped by the Julno tribe chief who wants to take her as his adopted daughter and then marry her off to Damdeok to be the Goguyreo queen. But she doesn’t know that and decides to go along after learning about the Julno tribe having lots of wine. Heuk Gae then goes before Damdeok and tries to promote his adopted daughter to Damdeok which was really funny.

Scene of Jumochi and men who were having a feast celebrating the adoption of Sujini by Julno tribe chief. Jumochi compliments Sujini about her wearing a dress after prompting by her, I believe this her first time trying to look feminine in appearance. Love can really change people. Meanwhile, Hyun Go brings Heuk Gae to one corner saying that this adoption and then marrying off Sujini to Damdeok wouldn’t do.

Saryang tells Kiha that Dae Jang Ryo has moved to another base and awaiting her arrival, that’s a good wrap to cover his whereabouts. We see Kiha with a worried look on her face as she feels her baby in tummy.

Damdeok finishes reading and is just about the put out the fire when he thinks about the past where he asked Kiha to lit the lamps with her hands. Then another recap of Damdeok and Kiha in the Oracle temple in the last episode, another great link and foreshadowing of what is to come next.

Sujini meanwhile learns that her adoption is to marry her off to Damdeok eventually and is peeved at that. On the other side, Hyun Go starts his explanation to Heuk Gae that Sujini could be the Jujak owner because they found her in the house where keeper of the Jujak was reported to be in. They further iterated that they saw the Jujak mark on baby Sujini’s forehead. Sujini could be walking down the same path as her predecessor, Sae Oh who eventually manifested into the Black Jujak that wreaked havoc on the world until Hwanwoong killed her.

At this moment, Sujini appears and finally understands why her teacher had kept her from using her ability to set things on fire from young. Hyun Go states that is why he has been always keeping a close eye on her and would not hesistate to kill her if she show signs of going amok. Sujini gets emotional as she realises that she might never be able to get married to Damdeok.

Sujini is trying to drown her sorrows at her usual spot. She runs off to hide after seeing Damdeok appearing. Damdeok smells wine and asks her to quit hiding. They start to talk like good buddies and Sujini is enjoying it as Damdeok puts his arm around her.

The next day in council, all the Goguyreo lords/ministers who had opposed Damdeok had been present to seek forgiveness for their disloyalty to him. Lord Yeon tells Damdeok that he believes he is the Jyushin king and not Ho Gae since the day Hyun Mu sacred symbol responded to him at Dae Ja castle.

Damdek storms to the council asking everyone what their ideal king should be. Should the Jyushin be one that holds all four sacred symbols? Or should he be one that owns vast pieces of territory just like Jyushin 2000 years ago? He argues that if we go to war, that would just leave seeds of revenge, and this would go on and on with no end in sight. But Heuk Gae argues that does Damdeok mean that we should not not go to war ever?

Damdeok reasons that by using weapons, salt, etc as bait, they can make peace and rule over the states easily without resorting to bloodshed. He already had Baekje and Silla under control, and if they had given him time before going off on their own without trusting him they would not be killing innocent ppl right now.

Hyun Go visits Cheoro who is lying under a tree because its his favorite hobby, passing to him the Blue Dragon sacred symbol. He rejects the offer saying that while the sacred symbol was in his heart, he would see images of Sae-Oh whom he is in love with. But now he has no need for it since he can see her (Sujini) in real life now. Great scene here because it ties up all the loose ends on why Cheoreo had a certain attachment to Sujini.

Damdeok sends Jumochi and selected men to Ho Gae’s camp and bring Ho Gae a message to retreat. Jumochi reaches Ho Gae’s camp very quickly and the general in command can’t accept that Damdeok has ordered them to retreat or else they would be termed as rebels. We then see Ho Gae ravaging another Koran tribe once again. He has really lost his soul. He finally manages to extract information on the exact possible location of Ba Son’s brother however.

Saryang visits Dae Jang Ryo with the latest happenings who has now made a cave his temporary base. From their conversation, we lear that Hwachun has totally been eliminated from Gooknae castle and Kiha has acknowledged she is part of Hwachun to Damdeok. He is biding his time until the Baek Ho symbol has been awakened. He orders Saryang to stay by Kiha’s side. If it’s a girl, she would be the successor to Kiha. If it’s a boy, Saryang should dig out the heart and store it for him.

Heuk Gae and Hyun Go questions Damdeok’s no action on Kiha remaining as High Priestess. Damdeok maintains that he won’t lay a finger on her. Upon further asking, he finally understands what they want to know, if he still harbours any love for Kiha. We don’t get a definite answer from Damdeok but Sujini is taking all of these in while eavesdropping outside.

Damdeok tells Lord Yeon of his plan to meet up with the Koran tribes and then offer them a deal to link up and then strike the rebel, Ho Gae’s army. Lord Yeon is stunned to learn of this.

Sujini is drowning her sorrows again but Cheoreo is beside her as a listener. I wouldn’t mind if they end up together but that would not happen of course.

Saryang meets up with Kiha, telling him of the latest happenings. Kiha makes known to him that she would safeguard her unborn child to the end until Dae Jang Ryo eventually dies. Sujini and Cheoreo meanwhile turns up uninvited and seeks an attendance with her.

Sujini questions whether the heart of Jujak was snatched from Hae family in Baeje. Saryang nods his head as Kiha wonders what was that all about. Sujini then explains that belonged to that family and Saryang is shocked. She speaks of Hwachun killing her family and destroying her home. Kiha starts wondering about the words family, home. Sujini speaks of revenge and rushes towards Kiha with a knife. Saryang comes to the rescue and fight with her. Cheoreo takes on Saryang and with this diversion, Sujini rushes towards Kiha again. And we end the episode with Sujini and Kiha locking horns! What an ending!