Episode 4

Season	Episode
Season 1	4

Air date

January 25, 2019

Writer

Kim Eun-hee

Director

Kim Seong-hun

Episode guide
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Episode 3	Episode 5

Episode 4 is the fourth episode of Season 1 of Kingdom.

Synopsis[]

On his way to seek Lord Ahn Hyeon’s help, Prince Chang encounters a group of stranded survivors and leads them to Jiyulheon, following Seo-bi’s advice.

Plot[]

Crown Prince Chang and Mu-yeong arrive at the Dongnae docks, only to find that the evacuation ship has already departed, leaving behind a large crowd of stranded refugees. Chang suggests they retreat to the barracks, but a guard tells him that the officials dismantled the wall to repair their ship. On Seo-bi's advice, they decide to take shelter in Jiyulheon. On the way up the mountain, they notice hundreds of infected laying in cracks in the rock, and the crowd panics. The Prince sends the crowd head while he assists with wagons loaded with the old and infirm. Once the first refugees reach the clinic, Yeong-sin tells them to bar the gate before the sun sets and returns to help Chang and Mu-yeong.

Meanwhile, the wagon is stuck in a large crack. Mu-yeong tries to convince him to leave; however, the Prince refuses to abandon the people because he insists he is not like the greedy Haewon Cho clan. As the infected start to converge on their position, Yeong-sin arrives and help the wagon, then grabs a fallen guard's gun and thereupon showing his weaponry prowess when he saves Chang. They reach the clinic and Chang orders the elderly and children to hide in the shed, while everyone else prepares to defend the clinic with the gates barricaded.

On the escape vessel, Magistrate Cho Beom-pal and his men started hearing noises from the hold not knowing that an elderly noblewoman has smuggled the body of her infected son on board. When they go to investigate, he leaps out and attacks the passengers.

Dawn breaks, relieving the refugees in Jiyulheon as the infected return to their hiding places. The refugees thank the Crown Prince for saving them, and he orders Mu-yeong to prepare some food for them. However, he is shocked to find out how little food there is available, then giving his cured meat to Mu-yeong to distribute among the people, impressing Yeong-sin. A fog starts to roll in. Yeong-sin overhears that Chang is heading for Sangju to find Lord Ahn Hyeon and volunteers to guide him. Mu-yeong, however, does not trust him, being incredibly suspicious of him due to his superior marksmanship which is unlike a peasant to possess. Before Yeong-sin can answer, they hear banging on the front gate. It is a detachment of the Royal Army, with a warrant for the Crown Prince's arrest for defying the King's previous orders and killing Cho Beom-il. Mu-yeong offers to talk to their leader.

Unfortunately, Cho Hak-ju - having learned of his son's death - has furiously ordred Chang to be killed; the Royal Army begins shooting arrows into Jiyulheon, killing many of the refugees. Mu-yeong rescues the prince, and they take refuge behind the main building with other refugees. The Prince laments in the deaths of the people and Yeong-sin urges him to fight to save the rest of them. Using the fog to their advantage, Yeong-sin shoots a few soldiers who entered inside of the gate, triggering the rest of the army to enter. Chang and Mu-yeong kill additional soldiers and escape into the woods with the rest of the army chasing them. Mu-yeong uses the fog to distract them with their own whistle, signifying an enemy is nearby, and successfully getting them lost before returning to the Crown Prince. With Yeong-sin's instructions, the refugees make way for Yangsan before nightfall while he and Seo-bi reunite with Chang and Mu-yeong, as they head for Sangju to recruit Lord Ahn Hyeong.

In Hanyang, Chief Scholar Kim Sun learns that the signal fires have been lit in the south. The other ministers misinterpret the fire signals are another Japanese invasion and want to rally the troops. Sun's insistence to speak with the king causes a brief rift between Hak-ju and his daughter, Queen Cho, when Hak-ju allows them to see the King for what he currently is without her permission. Hak-ju tells them the fire signals are lit due to request of support from a strange disease and admits that even though the King has "lost his mind," he is still alive and is king. Sun is then accused of the rebellion against the kingdom, providing proof of the contract having been signed by him and other co-conspirators, and tortured for information before being sentenced to death. Afterwards, Hak-ju visits the Queen, who is angry with him for not discussing his plans with her beforehand. She is shown her brother Beom-il's head, and her father vows to kill the Crown Prince, his followers, and anyone who gets in his way. The Queen promises that she will produce a son who will replace Beom-il, and inherit the throne.