Tanya’s tears fell after seeing Moongtae kill the tribe leaders. While Hae Mihol recognizes the eyes of a king in Tagon’s.

Hae Mihol accosts Taealha to ask her if Tagon promised to protect the secret of the bronze and she confirms he did. Hae Mihol says that Tagon changed and Taealha claps back and asks him who would not change after what happened. She blames him and Asa Ron for ruining everything and that she pities Tagon whose heart has been broken.

Taealha tells Tanya to behead Asa Mot and everyone involved and cut the feet of their families. Tanya declines but Taealha threatens to kill the Wahans. She also tells Tanya that she will be saving thousand more people from dying if she follows her orders. They will now have to rule with fear.

Saya swears to assist Tagon and tells him that he’s been waiting for this for all those years he was locked up in the tower. (Seriously. Saya’s character is twisted and scary. Will it be him against Eunseom in the end? Is it really good twin vs bad twin?)

Tanya wants to go back to Iark along with the Wahans reasoning that she’s done enough. Of course Taealha doesn’t let her. Tanya blames them of the change in Moongtae but Taealha tells her that he only learned his lesson quick. Taealha also asks her if her people would even want to go back to Iark.

Saya talks Tanya out of leaving and reminds her why she joined them in the first place. He tells her that wanting to save her people, no matter how honorable, is a form of greed. She took down Asa Ron and obtained power to fulfill her own greed. He tells her not be a coward and take responsibility for her own actions. (Which makes sense although the way he said it is soooo twisted I cringed.) Saya continues to tell her to get more power then go up against Tagon since the union now trusts her. She asks him to call the Wahans. (Saya thought he succeeded in convincing her.)

Tanya listens to her people’s stories and seeing them happy seems bittersweet. She brings up going back to Iark and tells them she was ordered to have innocent people killed and argues that’s not what they were taught. It triggers Moongtae and he tells everyone that each are on their own and declares he will follow whatever Tagon orders him. He leaves.

Tanya goes to the room of fire to pray but Saya arrives. He gives her a backhug. (Normally I would be excited but even Tanya looked disgusted with him.) He tells her about the dreams he had about her and that he wants to be someone special to her as well. He asks her to trust him and follow him, at least for now. Saya gives her a necklace which only reminded her of Eunseom.

Tanya addresses Arthdal citizens and relays Airuju’s decisions about the trial. She didn’t follow exactly as Taealha ordered her. She tells the people that Airuju’s decision was to lock up Asa Sakan and have everyone else be torn into pieces. Saya and Taealha was so surprised and the people were in uproar. But she adds that she suggested to Airuju to behead some and cut the feet of the others so that they can continue to serve the gods. (This way it would seem as if she actually talked to the god herself.) The people celebrates her, thanks her and praises her for saving their lives. Taealha and Tagon was surprised with the people’s response. (She is a threat to them now. Tagon is a tyrant so naturally the people will look for someone with compassion to lead them.)

Back in her room, Tanya looks back and realizes that Taealha might be right. Does she like power? Tagon, Saya and Taealha arrives in her room and the latter starts with asking her what she was thinking. Tanya tells her that she’s learning, since she has no power and no land to call her own. She tells Tagon that she decided to claim the hearts of the people as her land. (Oooops! After Tagon had failed so miserably, he’s not gonna take that lying down.) Tagon tells her that he also stands on the hears of the people just in a different name. And he appreciates the balance between them – he who instills fear and Tanya the merciful high priestess. On their way out, Tagon tells Yangcha to guard Tanya.

Mugwang’s death saddens the Daekan warriors specially Mubaek. Word also spread that Mugwang was punished because he was disrespectful to Tanya. Mubaek sees Tanya in the room of fire and informs her that her curse came true. He asks her to perform ollimsani (ritual to guide the spirit to the gods) to undo her curse and she agrees.

Before leaving, Mubaek tells her about three babies being born at the same time – the bell, mirror and sword who will end the world. He also reveals that he believes she’s the bell, Saya the mirror and Eunseom the sword. Since their birth, fear turned to anger, then sadness and then to cruelty. He lost hope until he saw Kanmoreu (a mystical horse who used to belong to Aramun Haesulla) and the byeoldaya. Since then he’s been acting as if possessed and did not see what’s going on with his brother, Mugwang. He believes that the three together will bring a new and better world and asks Tanya if she can make it happen. (Saya heard all this and I wonder what he makes of it.)

Saya gives the order to engrave Tagon’s achievements into the walls of the great shrine. One of his achievements is suppressing the Ago tribe by making them doubt their own. Ago tribe used to be three separate clans that Inaishingi brought together but now they sell each other as slaves because of Tagon.

Ipsaeng shares this story to Eunseom who thinks differently. Eunseom thinks that instead of selling each other, they could have released slaves of other clans and the other clans do the same because they’re grateful. His ideas were shot down by Ipsaeng right away because they don’t seem realistic. (He does sound naive.) Ipsaeng repeats his mantra – the people who betray lives and the betrayed dies. (He said this many times already and done it to Eunseom many times too but they’re still together. I’m getting a feeling he might be Inaishingi.)

As they were about to get sold off, Myo Clan of Ago Tribe arrives and saves them. Back in Myo clan’s fortress, Eunseom witnesses their waterfall dance which reminds him of Tanya. Mirusol (the woman who led the rescue) tells them to leave after eating which surprises Eunseom. He even tells Ipsaeng that he’s wrong because there are people willing to help others and calls him the bad guy. Ipsaeng is still not convinced and tells him not to trust anyone from Ago tribe even himself. I’m afraid to say this but this time Ipsaeng was right because Myo clan decides to trade them for the chief’s daughter.

Ipsaeng reveals that he’s the direct heir of Tae clan and shows a mark on his chest. (Wow. Is it really true? If it is then I knew it!) He offers to go to Tae clan and release the Myo chief’s daughter himself. He even tells them that he will leave his beloved friend behind, Eunseom, as proof that he will do as promised. (Eunseom’s reaction was gold. He obviously didn’t believe him.) Eunseom still chose to believe him though. Because he wants it to end. He gives the Momo tribe’s token to him that surprised Ipsaeng. He says if he doesn’t return it means everything he learned was a lie and that he’s a dead man anyway who wouldn’t have a use for the token.

Ipsaeng leaves and succeeds in running away. He laughs at them for believing him but then he starts crying thinking about Eunseom. Back in Myo clan’s camp, Eunseom dreams about Moongtae killing the tribe leaders. Then he was dragged out by the Myo clan because Ipsaeng did not return. Eunseom fights them off the tells them that they all have the same sin – weakness – and that they should get punished together. But then, Ipsaeng came back and reveals that he can’t save the chief’s daughter. He tells his story that the current leader, his uncle, killed his parents and sold him off as slave. When Eunseom asked him why he came back, he tells him that he’s gotten weak because of him. (Awwww, bromance!) But then, true to his own colors, Ipsaeng started spewing lies again telling Myo clan that Eunseom is Inaishingi. (I’m officially in love with this guy. His possibilities are endless!) Left with no choice, Eunseom goes along with Ipsaeng’s lead. Ipsaeng guides him into telling the tribe about his earlier idea of having the Ago tribe save other clans’ slaves without asking for anything in return and even using the Momo tribe’s god as reference that whoever doesn’t follow will die a painful death. An elder of the Myo clan says he was lying but Eunseom remembers the waterfall dance and executes it perfectly.

Momo tribe crosses paths with the Daekan Warriors again who informed them that Eunseom had fallen inside the Ago tribe’s territory. Myo clans council decides to perform the judgment of the waterfall (they will drop Eunseom from the top of the waterfall and if he survives meaning he’s telling the truth). Xabara seeks an audience with the Myo clan’s chief but finds out that he’s already performing the judgment of the waterfall. Xabara hurries downstream and helps Eunseom.

The story is getting better but I’m surprised the ratings are dropping in South Korea. I hope to see more of this drama. Fighting Arthdal Chronicles!

The Daekan warriors are still on Eunseom’s trail.

In Arthdal, a wild bull suddenly came to the market and attacks Harim but Nunbyeol (the only female Neanthal alive) fought it off – unintentionally showing her strength in public. Harim blocked Nunbyeol’s powers in order for people not to notice. However, since she’s still growing, the blocks seem to have been removed. Harim tells Chaeeun to prepare to block them again.

Tagon enjoys his power and his new title as god. Hae Mihol greets him and pretends to have been on his side all along. He believes he’s irreplaceable because he’s the only one who knows the secret of the Bronze. He kneels before him revealing that he knows Tagon wants to be King and he can help him since he knows how Kingdoms work having grown up in one. He also warns Tagon that going to the White Peak mountain is dangerous because Asa Ron will not back down easily. He dismissed these concerns because he already took care of them way in advance.

Mubaek and his troops were sent to White Peak mountain to keep tabs on Asa Ron. All of White Mountain are heavily guarded. Tagon addresses his army that their last hurdle is to finish gohamsani without a hitch. He reveals to them that he doesn’t like killing. (Yet justifies them!) He also confirmed he has a son with Taealha that surprised the warriors.(Taealha is too young to be Saya’s mother.)

Saya introduces himself to everyone as Tagon’s son and assists Tanya with her duties. The Wahan’s are surprised that he looked exactly like Eunseom. He takes Tanya’s hand around town in pretense that it’s proper custom. (But it’s not! LOL. He just wanted to hold her hand.)

Asa Ron mobilizes Children of Shahati and the Black Tongue. (Asa Ron still have cards to play.)

Taealha shows Tagon their new flag and tell her vision of unifying the entire continent, countries named after them, and people will sing songs about them. She declares she will wield a sword again to make their dreams into a reality. Tagon says he doesn’t want to be a tyrant that’s why he chose the long and hard road to reach their goals. He says he was able to avoid bloodbath within the union because Taealha didn’t betray him. (They celebrate their freedom too soon.)

Eunseom and Ipsaeng runs from a wild bear. Eunseom attacks the bear to save Ipsaeng but he betrays him again by cutting him and leaving him behind. (Gosh, Ipsaeng really is a pain in the ass. He’s a survivor who only lives for himself and he’s trying to convince Eunseom to be the same.) As he was about to get eaten by the bear, the Neanthals arrived and the wild bear stopped (It was scared of them even thought they were just standing there.) Eunseom recognizes them as Neanthals and thanked them. He introduces himself as igutu showing his blood and Rottip smells him. (LOL.) He recognizes him as Asa Hon and Ragaz’s son but he doesn’t tell him thinking it’s meaningless so they just leave. Eunseom seemed sad. (He’s always been the outcast. I think he’s still longing to be accepted. The Wahan’s were good to him but still treated him differently.)

The Daekan warriors find Ipsaeng and catches him but Eunseom was nearby and heard what happened. Ipsaeng agrees to lead the warriors to Olmadae. Xabara finds Goldu in the forest and had him executed for enslaving Sateunik and causing his death. She asks his minions to tell her what they know about Eunseom.

Eunseom saves Ipsaeng (Again!) The warriors gave them a chase but they couldn’t go any further because they fell inside Ago Tribe’s territory. Ipsaeng asks Eunseom why he kept saving him even after everything he did. (He enumerated them all. At least he knows what he did. Why do I have a feeling he didn’t lie about being the son of Ago tribe’s chief?) Eunseom answers him and tells him he needed him as his subordinate because he needed power to save his people. Being brought up by Wahans who believe they’re all equal, he doesn’t know how to get a subordinate so he just treated Ipsaeng well but he realized now that’s not working. Ipsaeng asks him who he’s fighting with and was surprised by Eunseom’s answer. He wants to fight with Arthdal itself. Ipsaeng calls him a nutjob. (LOL.) They take a small boat downstream but fell asleep. They wake up and find themselves in the middle of the stream and the Ago tribe in front of them.

Asa Ron comes back from White Peak mountain and continues his preparations of gohamsani. (And for whatever plot he’s cooking.) Taealha prepares her gifts while Tanya prepares to host the ritual. Yeolseon tells Tagon the possibility of using iron instead of bronze. Tagon agrees to test it even though he’s not confident since Hae Tribe hasn’t figured it out.

Tagon visits his father’s grave. On his way, he remembers his past when his father attempted to kill him. It was his father, Sanung’s idea to make him Aramun Haesulla and tells Tagon to never let anyone find out the color of his blood. Sanung killed Tagon’s friend including his family because he saw his blood. Since then Tagon killed everyone who saw it right away to protect that person’s family. He swore to become Aramun Haesulla so that their deaths will not be in vain. He decides to annihilate an entire species, his own kind, just to keep this promise. In tears, Tagon asks for Sanung’s blessing. Asa Ron surprises him with his sudden arrival. They talk about how Tagon killed his own father but then the Union leaders arrived and heard everything. Asa Ron says that Tanya is fake and Taealha is his accomplice that’s why they’ll be dead by morning.

Black Tongue (as assassin of the Children of Shahiti attacked Tagon from behind with a poisoned knife. Everyone was surprised to see his purple blood and they were scared of him. He says it would have been nice to have known that all his efforts will be in vain, since he tried to hard (To avoid spilling innocent blood.) He’s sorry to everyone who died because of him and tells everyone there that he didn’t want to sit on a bloody throne. They brought this on themselves. He decides to kill them all.

A bloodbath is coming. I felt sad that Tagon failed the way he did. I imagined him succeeding because he sincerely wanted to avoid spilling innocent blood. I wonder what happens next.