My Dearest (2023) Episode 6

Episode 6 of My Dearest starts with Jang-hyun entering the enemy camp. He reminisces about his words to Gil-chae and the promise to find her. Ryang-eum enters the enemy camp with Jang-hyun. They sit around chatting with the intruders about the Jin army when they notice Khan’s flag. Ryang-eum tells Jang-hyun that Khan must also be wherever the flag is.

They intend to get close to Khan using Ryang-eum’s song. True to their instincts, Khan sends the general to bring Ryang-eum to his tent upon hearing the song. He is pretending to limp and Jang-hyun supports him. They confirm that Khan is around, and it is not a rumor. 

The general doubts Jang-hyun and Ryang-eum’s intentions and although Khan has approved them as his personal entertainers, he arrests them and tortures the truth of how they met out of Ryang-eum.

We learn that Ryang-eum and Jang-hyun met when they were younger. Ryang-eum suffered an animal attack and Jang-hyun saved him. Ryang-eum cares deeply for Jang-hyun, which is the advantage the barbarians use to get the truth by torturing Jang-hyun. Leaning that Ryang-eum is telling the truth, the general let them go. They fully assimilate into the enemy camp. 

Elsewhere, Gil-chae arrives at Ganghwa Island. Jang-hyun sends a secret letter to the crown prince confirming that Khan is camped at Tancheon. 

A new envoy arrives at Tancheon and Jang-hyun notices that they are severely frisking the new arrivals. All the Qing soldiers are now camped under the fortress. They are eating and drinking getting as if getting ready for the final war. Jang-hyun sends word to the king of Joseon that the Qing army is ready and capable of fighting a battle that they cannot lose. 

Left with no options, the King of Joseon decides to request a peace negotiation to prevent any further harm. Khan issues an order to accept those who defect and surrender and to keep them safe. Those who still refuse to surrender will be subjugated. The officials are offended by Khan’s issuing an order and they refuse to accept the surrender and make peace with Khan. The order is for the Joseons to acknowledge Khan as their king and to send the crown prince as a hostage. The King of Joseon is also to leave the fortress.

Things are getting worse at the Namhan fortress; the soldiers fall to their deaths due to cold and hunger. The king no longer hears the sound of chicken since they have exhausted their stock to serve the King. Khan refuses to receive any more envoys until the King leaves the fortress and attends the diplomatic mission.

Trouble unfolds at the Tancheon Qing army camp. Ryang-eum asks that they leave since Khan is not accepting any more diplomatic envoys. It seems that suddenly Jang-hyun cares about the fate of the country, and he refuses to leave. The Qing army starts pressuring the King of Joseon to leave the fortress in anger and firing culverins. Jang-hyun deciphers that it might be because problems are arising in the Qing’s home country.

Jang-hyun and Ryang-eum witness the general killing the red sash, a plague inspector in anger. They later realize that smallpox was spreading in the camp. Jang-hyun sends Ryang-eum to alert the crown prince and he is left behind to investigate whether or not Khan is infected.

Ryang-eum is worried since Jang-hyun is at risk given he’s never had smallpox before. Jang-hyun’s message gets to the Crown Prince, who warns them that Khan will most likely not wait for the surrender. He will do whatever it takes to pressure His Majesty to leave the fortress. He asks the crown prince to act in haste to prevent a bloodbath.

The crown prince tries to beseech the King to trust the intruders but he refuses. He is not willing to undergo the humiliation suffered by Emperor Huizong. The crown prince tries to persuade the King, worried that the intruders would invade Ganghwa Island like they had threatened, leading to a bloodbath and a massacre of the Joseon people seeking refuge there. The King is convinced that the intruders will not risk fighting over water; hence the island is safe.

News reaches Khan that the King refuses the leave the fortress. Khan is determined to do whatever it takes as Jang-hyun predicted, and he orders a ship be sent to Ganghwa Island. 

Gil-chae overhears a boy telling his parents that some people who are all bald are arriving at the Island. Instantly, she realizes that the boy might be talking about the Qing men. She rushes towards the shore and confirms that the men arriving are the intruders. She returns to the cave where hundreds of people seek refuge and wakes Madam Bag-doo, Eun-ae, and Jong-jong up.

They are almost too late but they manage to leave the cave just in time. The intruders chase after them but Gil-chae manages to lead them away from the rest of the people and they avoid the pursuit. The intruders kill men and women without discriminating. Terrified of being captured and violated, women jump off cliffs to keep their chastity.

Three generations commit suicide in total, including officials of the royal courts, the servants, and the common people.The crown prince’s son and his wife were actually on the Island.

The mother entrusts the son to a loyal guard who is to take him off the island. Madam Bag-doo is weary and almost gives up but Gil-chae refuses to leave her behind. They arrive at the shore and find people fighting for the only boat available but the soldiers do not allow them to board. The boat is preserved for the son of the crown prince.

Gil-chae sees an opportunity to board the boat when an arrow shoots the guard off his horse. She rushes to the guard and promises to keep the baby safe and take him to the boat. She runs with the baby at hand, risking being shot with arrows and being captured.

Fortunately, the soldiers arrive in time to help her and she manages to get to the bat with the baby. The soldiers allow them to board because Bang-doo can feed the baby. A woman gets through the guards and almost pulls Jong-jong off the boat but Gil-chae fights her off. As they head into the water, Gil-chae is devastated by what she did to the poor woman. Regardless, she has saved them, and Eun-ae embraces her in gratitude. 

The soldiers sent to capture the island arrive back at the camp. One of them is sent to quarantine for smallpox and Jang-hyun notices he has the dagger Jang-hyun gave to Gil-chae. He realizes that the Qing army invaded the island, and seeing the dagger sets him off.

He confronts the soldier, who coughs blood and splatters on Jang-hyun’s face. He is crushed by the thoughts that he made Gil-chae promise to go to the Island since it was the safest place in Joseon. He feels guilty and even more dejected when the soldier tells him that he took the knife from a woman who is most likely dead. 

He volunteers to go to the Island near Ganghwa with the Qing army to pursue survivors. Gil-chae’s group is near where the Qing army is searching. The soldiers trick them to follow the route most likely followed by the intruders to buy themselves time to save the royal baby. 

Jang-hyun starts to get dizzy and cough blood, most likely infected. The Qing soldiers hear a baby crying, and Jang-hyun volunteers to check it out. He sees Gil-chae and the others hiding and he tries to help them by lying to the general that it was only a cat.

Unfortunately, Bang-doo’s baby cries again, which forces Jang-hyun to fight the general and save their lives. Gil-chae takes the opportunity to run away and as she runs, she notices that the man fighting the general looks like Jang-hyun. She, however, keeps running. The rest of the Qing army arrives and they try to run after them but Jang-hyun kills them instantly. He vows that no one will get past him to get to the women running away. 

Gil-chae suddenly stops running as the image of the man She saw flashes in her mind. She remembers Jang-hyun’s promise to find her. She asks Eun-ae, Jong-jong, and Bang-doo to keep running and returns to Jang-hyun. The fierce battle is still ongoing and Jang-hyun kills most of the soldiers who came to the island. At the end of the episode, he starts to get dizzier and one intruder soldier is still standing. 

The Episode Review

The series holds you with a string and keeps pulling you in deeper and deeper. It eludes the emotions of joy, sadness, compassion, anger, and despair as you watch the actors fight for survivors and the hopelessness of the Joseon people. Seeing the officials do nothing but keep kneeling before their King, crying in frustrating. 

It is understandable that they are in what looks like a hopeless situation with no choices, but they can’t lose hope to this extent. At this point, it seems that their defeat is inevitable, which is gut-wrenching. 

Jang-hyun and Gil-chae provide a ray of hope, making one pray that their efforts to stay alive are not in vain. The actors are doing a great job bringing their characters to life. It makes the viewers ride on the characters’ emotions, which is a wild roller coaster.