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From Wikipedia: “100 Days My Prince” is a 2018 South Korean television series starring Do Kyung-soo of EXO and Nam Ji-hyun. It aired on tvN starting from September 10 to October 30, 2018. It is the eighth highest-rated Korean drama in cable television in history.
In the rating history of tvN dramas, this drama ranks 4th, after “Goblin” (20.5%), “Reply 1988” (19.6%) and “Mr. Sunshine” (18.1%). It beat “Signal” (13.4%), which was previously at the 4th spot.
This drama was also broadcast in Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Chile.
How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.
I followed this structure all throughout, except for Episode 16 (Finale) where I included all the spoilers. Reason — people who have not watched this drama want to know if it has a “happy ending” or a “sad ending” before they invest their time in watching it.
Episode 1
Lee Yul, the young son of Prince Neungseon, bullies a slave who’s playing with him. But he’s stopped by Yoon Yi-seo, the young daughter of the former Commander of the Royal Guards. In retaliation later on, Yul leads Yi-seo to a secluded hut owned by a mean looking man, who brandishes an ax as he walks towards them. As Yi-seo falls to the ground, Yul and his friend Dong-joo run for their lives.
Minister Kim Cha-eon tries to persuade Prince Neungseon to take the throne from his brother. But Prince Neungseon hesitates when Minister Kim Cha-eon says that he must abandon his wife.
Minister Kim Cha-eon launches his rebellion, and one of his targets is the former Commander of the Royal Guards; Yi-seo and his brother Sok-ha escape, but they’re chased by Minister Kim Cha-eon’s men.
Years later ...
Yul is now the Crown Prince, who’s cold towards Crown Princess So-hye (Minister Kim Cha-eon’s daughter) and curt towards everyone — the court ministers, the royal tutors, and the palace staff. Scolded by his father, the King, who blames his rebellious attitude for the lack of rain, he orders all the single men and women in the country to get married.
Yi-seo (now known as Hong-shim) has grown up in the care of a man who works as a beacon keeper in Songjoo, a faraway village. Every month, she secretly goes to Hanyang to search for her brother.
With his bodyguard Dong-joo, Crown Prince Yul goes out of the palace at night to meet a lady physician who used to work for the Royal Infirmary.
Episode 2
| Ep. 1 recap: As a young child, Yul falls in love with Yi-seo, who inspires him to love reading books. Under a cherry tree, he promises Yi-seo that he will someday marry her. Minister Kim Cha-eon kills Yi-seo’s father and Yul’s mother. An assassin kills the lady physician. Along with Dong-joo, Crown Prince Yul searches for the assassin; he sees Hong-sim under a cherry tree and recognizes her as Yi-seo. |
Crown Prince Yul holds a banquet for his birthday, with a specific request for gifts from the well-wishers as part of his plan to identify who killed the lady physician.
Yul finds out that Je-yoon has taken the journals from the Royal Infirmary. After confronting Je-yoon and reading the journals, he visits Crown Princess So-hye in her quarters.
The King sends Yul to officiate at a rain ritual outside of the palace, but in the woods, he and his entourage are attacked by masked men.
In Songjoo, Hong-shim refuses to become the concubine of Master Park, an an influential nobleman; she’s brought to the magistrate’s office where she is ordered flogged 100 times.
Episode 3
| Ep. 2 recap: Yul finds out that Crown Princess So-hye is pregnant, despite their lack of physical relations. Minister Kim Cha-eon also finds out about the pregnancy. Dong-joo sacrifices himself in order to save Yul. Hong-shim’s adoptive father finds Yul in the woods and nurses him back to health. But Yul suffers from amnesia. In order to save Hong-shim from being flogged, her adoptive father tells the magistrate that Yul is Won-deuk, the man Hong-shim is engaged to marry. |
In the palace, the soldier who survived the attack on Yul’s entourage dies; the King decides to leave the palace with a few escorts and investigate by himself what happened to Yul. But along the way, he and his escorts are stopped and surrounded by masked men.
Minister Kim Cha-eon’s assassin, Moo-yeon, loiters at the bridge, remembering how he and his sister got separated from each other sixteen years ago.
Episode 4
| Ep. 3 recap: After Hong-shim pleads with him at the water mill, Yul (Won-deuk) finally agrees to get married. Moo-yeon is Hong-shim’s brother Sok-ha. Hong-shim and Won-deuk are captured by bandits. |
In the capital, Je- Yoon finds out from Minister Kim Cha-eon’s son that Crown Prince Yul has been missing for the past several days. Later on, he tracks down a fletcher in a remote house.
To earn money to pay off the debts that Yul has incurred and to prevent her adoptive father and herself from being sold off as slaves, Hong-shim establishes the “Solution Agency, which will accept any kind of work in exchange for money. She sends Yul to do the jobs that the villagers offer to the agency.
To reassure the King, Minister Kim Cha-eon tells him that he will personally go to Mount Chunsoo to look for Crown Prince Yul. On the way, he meets Master Park, the magistrate, and other noblemen, but he tells them that the royal guards are on the mountain for a military exercise.
Along with Gu-dol (husband of Hong-shim’s best friend), Yul gets a job delivering water to the royal guards on the mountain.
Episode 5
| Ep. 4 recap: Moo-yeon kills the fletcher. Minister Kim Cha-eon tells Crown Princess So-hye to keep quiet about her pregnancy. On the mountain, Yul has flashbacks of the attack and then collapses. Hong-shim recounts to Yul the promise that a young boy made to her under a cherry tree sixteen years ago. |
Minister Kim Cha-eon finds Dong-joo’s body on the riverbank, but he reports to the palace that it is Crown Prince Yul’s body.
Je-yoon becomes skeptical when someone confesses to killing the lady physician. Later that night, he meets Hong-shim on the bridge again.
At the birthday celebration of Master Park, both Hong-shim and Yul find jobs. But when Master Park becomes flirty with Hong-sim, Yul intervenes and ridicules his poem. Enraged, Master Park orders that Yul and Hong-sim be beaten in the magistrate’s office.
Episode 6
| Ep. 5 recap: Master Park’s birthday celebration is disrupted when he and the magistrate find out that Minister Kim Cha-eon has found Crown Prince Yul’s body. Se-joon receives from a royal guard a letter that Crown Prince Yul wrote before he left for the rain ritual. Hong-shim uses Yul’s ability to read and write to earn money by copying cheap romance novels. |
In the market, Yul confronts the loan shark for threatening to sell Hong-shim as a slave. But the loan shark brings out a knife and threatens Yul back. Meanwhile, as she looks for Yul, Hong-shim passes by Moo-yeon.
In the palace, only a few ministers are allowed to see Crown Prince Yul’s body, and Eunuch Yang, who has been asked to identify the body, breaks down as he sees the decomposed body.
Minister Kim Cha-eon pressures Crown Princess So-hye to reveal the name of the man who got her pregnant; meanwhile, the Queen orders her attendant to sneak into Crown Princess So-hye’s quarters.
To Hong-shim’s delight, Yul begins helping people by reading and explaining their various documents. But this service and Hong-shim’s recommendation for another way of fulfilling the village’s tribute requirements get them into trouble with Master Park and the magistrate.
Hong-shim’s Solution Agency gets another job, and she dresses Yul up as a nobleman. But while Yul is doing the job, Hong-shim is kidnapped by several men who claimed that her house is built on Master Park’s land.
Episode 7
| Ep. 6 recap: Hong-shim and Moo-yeon are reunited. Minister Kim Cha-eon slashes Eunuch Yang’s throat and leaves the knife to make it appear like a suicide. Tied up to a tree, Hong-shim shouts at Yul to run away from the men who kidnapped her. |
When someone shoots an arrow at Master Park and the magistrate, Yul is arrested and ordered flogged. Hong-shim and the villagers rush to the magistrate’s office to vouch for Yul and plead for mercy.
Petitions pour in from the Confucian scholars, asking that the Queen and Prince Seoyeon be deposed for using a talisman against Crown Princess So-hye.
Master Park becomes impatient with the proceedings and takes a sword, aiming it at Hong-shim’s neck. He orders Yul to prove that he can’t use a bow and arrow. Yul takes the bow and arrow, but instead of shooting at a target, he turns and shoots at Master Park.
Episode 8
| Ep. 7 recap: Je-yoon offers to work for Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon. The Royal Inspector rushes into the magistrate’s office and arrests the magistrate for his corrupt acts listed in the book that he got from Hong-shim. Yul buys a pair of shoes and then meets Hong-shim in the barley field. But from a hilltop, Moo-yeon shoots an arrow at Yul. |
To Hong-shim’s surprise, Yul tells her that he knows that she came from a noble family; he also says that he wants to consummate their marriage.
In the palace, the Queen and her allies try to come up with plans to counter the political impact of Crown Princess So-hye’s pregnancy. When she pleads in front of the main hall to be executed so that Prince Soyeon could be saved, the King ignores her and leaves the palace.
The village official finds a government record where Won-deuk’s personal details are recorded. Later, while Hong Shim’s friends help her, her father, and Yul repair the house, the loan shark appears and grabs Hong-shim, threatening to sell her off as a slave.
Moo-yeon orders his men to go back to Hanyang; he secretly meets Hong-shim and gives her ten days to work things out before they leave together.
Despite opposition, the King appoints Je-yoon as the new magistrate of Songjoo Village.
Episode 9
| Ep. 8 recap:
The village official, the loan shark, and Hong-shim’s friends surprise Won-deuk (Yul) with a birthday party. Moo-yeon deceives Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon by saying that he killed Crown Prince Yul. Later, as he talks with Crown Princess So-hye, he’s shot with an arrow. In exchange for the King’s plea that the Queen and Prince Soyeon be spared, Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon asks the King to seal a blank piece of paper. Rejected by his brother Minister Jung (the Queen’s ally), Je-yoon shifts his allegiance to Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon. Yul finally finds out that he isn’t Won-deuk. |
Ye-joon arrives in Songjoo Village; he meets Hong-shim and remembers her as the woman he met on the bridge in Hanyang. Meanwhile, Yul sneaks into the records room of the magistrate’s office.
Ye-joon tries to win Master Park’s favor (as Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon told him to), but as a result, the villagers begin to resent him.
To help himself regain his memories, Yul goes with the Songjoo villagers who will bring the tributes to Hanyang. Later, as he wanders around the palace, he recognizes an officer of the royal guards.
Episode 10
| Ep. 9 recap:
The son of Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon is shocked to see Yul in the palace. Moo-yeon attacks Yul in the woods; Yul overcomes him and asks if he knows who he is. One of the Queen’s allies changes his allegiance and warns Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon that the Queen will soon spread the rumor that Crown Princess So-hye committed adultery. |
Je-yoon’s brother, Minister Jung (an ally of the Queen), asks Prince Seowon if he’s in love with Crown Princess So-hye. But Prince Soyeon cautions him, saying that he’s not interested in becoming the next Crown Prince.
Hong-shim’s father tells her that Won-deuk (Yul) may have decided to keep his identity and may want to leave with them and her brother.
Yul remembers that, in the woods, Moo-yeon didn’t tell him his real identity but warned him that people will die if his real identity is exposed.
After he hires Hong Shim’s Solution Agency for a job, Je-yoon becomes flabbergasted when he finds out that Won-deuk (Yul) is Hong-shim’s husband. Later, while he’s talking with Hong-shim about the result of the job, Ae-wol, the gisaeng from Hanyang, arrives.
Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon finds out who’s spreading the rumor that Crown Prince Yul is alive. Meanwhile, the King orders Minister Jung to kill Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon.
Episode 11
| Ep. 10 recap:
Je-yoon hires Hong-shim to steal Master Park’s beloved dog. Later, he and Master Park turn Yul into an archery target. After Ae-wol tells him about the rumors of Crown Prince Yul being alive, Ye-joon studies Won-deuk’s handwriting and compares it with his memories of his meeting with Crown Prince Yul. On their way to Songjoo Village, Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon and his bodyguard are attacked by assassins. |
Hong-shim and Yul meet a shaman along the way, who foretells what the future holds for them. Meanwhile, in Hanyang, one of Moo-yeon’s friends takes him out of Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s house.
Despite opposition from some of the ministers and from Crown Princess So-hye, the King appoints Prince Soyeon as the new Crown Prince.
Hong-shim, her father, and Yul begin making their preparations to leave Songjoo Village, but Je-yoon becomes suspicious that Won-deuk (Yul) might actually be the Crown Prince.
Hong-shim and Yul go to the public market to see the entertainers who have gathered for the Dano holiday celebrations.
Episode 12
| Ep. 11 recap:
With the gisaeng’s help, Je-yoon gets a sketch of Won-deuk (Yul). In the palace, Officer Kwon of the royal guards confirms to him that the man in the sketch is Crown Prince Yul. A man dressed in black kidnaps Hong-shim. Meanwhile, as his men surround Yul, Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon tells him that he is the Crown Prince. |
Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon assures Crown Princess So-hye that Yul has lost his memories; he also handpicks the eunuchs and court ladies who will serve Yul.
Fearing retribution over the way they mistreated Yul, Je-yoon and Master Park beg for Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s forgiveness. Later, Je-yoon tries to see Yul, but the eunuchs block him.
Still hoping that Prince Soyeon would be installed as the Crown Prince, the Queen plans to embarrass Yul before the Ming ambassador and his entourage.
Episode 13
| Ep. 12 recap:
Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon has poisoned Yul’s mind that it was the Queen who ordered the attack on him during the rain ritual. Je-yoon cautions Yul that if he tries to seek out Hong-shim, she and the other villagers will become Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s targets. Je-yoon helps Hong-shim in her plans to leave with her brother by giving her new identification papers and by reuniting her with her adoptive father. Yul leaves the palace by himself and rides to Songjoo village, but Hong-shim hides from him. |
Preparations continue for the visit of the Ming ambassador and his entourage, and the Queen is delighted to know that Yul has lost his memories.
Moo-yeon sneaks into the palace to try and see Crown Princess So-hye. Meanwhile, Hong-shim’s friends and the village official find out that Won-deuk is actually Crown Prince Yul.
Not knowing what happened to Moo-yeon, Hong-shim decides to go to Hanyang to look for him; she and her father stay in Je-yoon’s house.
While the Ming ambassador is testing Yul’s ability to assume the role of Crown Prince, the ambassador’s son, Jinlin, disappears in the marketplace.
Episode 14
| Ep. 13 recap:
The Queen ordered the kidnapping of Jinlin, who turns out to be a woman. With Hong-shim’s help, Je-yoon rescues Jinlin and later brings her back to the palace. Yul finds out that Je-yoon has feelings for Hong-shim. Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon secretly meets the Ming ambassador and tells him about an impending war. While trying to decode the one-word puzzle that he gave to Je-yoon, Yul regains memories of his childhood. He goes to the bridge where he meets Hong-shim. |
Despite being warned by her court attendant, Crown Princess So-hye secretly meets Moo-yeon. Later on, she gets a letter from Moo-yeon, who gives her three days to think about eloping with him.
After their meeting at the bridge, Hong-shim secretly follows Moo-yeon to see where he’s staying. But one of Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s men accosts her.
Despite questioning where Je-yoon’s loyalties really lie, Yul appoints him as his librarian. Vice-Premier Kim, however, disapproves of the appointment.
To escape from Master Park’s ridiculous demand for lots of firewood, Hong-shim’s friends go to Hanyang hoping to somehow see Yul. They accidentally meet in Hanyang the village official, and they all end up staying in Je-yoon’s house.
Yul finds out that he has been keeping a journal about his life in the palace. But he doesn’t remember where he hid the journal.
Episode 15
| Ep. 14 recap:
Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon warns Crown Princess So-hye that he will kill her, her baby, and Moo-yeon. Yul reunites with his faithful Eunuch Yang, who tells him about Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s duplicity. To deceive Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon, Je-yoon burns down the Crown Prince’s library. Through the journal, Yul remembers finding out that Crown Princess So-hye is carrying another man’s child. Hong-shim goes inside the house where she saw Moo-yeon, but she ends up face to face with Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon. |
After visiting the place where he was ambushed during the rain ritual, Yul goes to Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s house. While he’s searching the room, Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon arrives.
After Moo-yeon reveals to her that he has been working for Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon, Hong-shim asks for Je-yoon’s help in getting into the palace and meeting Yul.
Yul orders Officer Kwon of the royal guards to take Crown Princess So-hye out of the palace and to kill her.
Je-yoon finds out why Master Park has been demanding firewood from the villagers. But as Yul confronts Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon, war breaks out between Ming and the Jurchens, with Joseon caught in the middle.
Episode 16, Finale (with spoilers)
| Ep. 15 recap:
As Moo-yeon and Crown Princess So-hye escape, Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s men catch up with them and kill Moo-yeon. Hong-shim sneaks into Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s house, intending to kill him. Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon tells Yul that he must go to the battlefield himself because Hong-shim is one of those who have been captured during the fighting. |
Despite Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon’s treacherous plans, Yul kills him.
Unable to bear with the guilt that it was Moo-yeon who tried to kill Yul on several occasions, Hong-shim says goodbye to Yul.
Finding out that Vice-Premier Kim Cha-eon is dead, Prince Soyeon helps Crown Princess So-hye to escape from the palace.
Yul leads the Joseon soldiers in their battles against the Jurchens.
Six months later ...
Hong-shim’s status as a noblewoman has been restored, but, as Yi-seo, she continues to live in Songjoo village, accepting jobs for her Solution Agency.
Because it hasn’t rained in three months and Yul hasn’t remarried despite the numerous noblewomen that the King has presented to him, the king orders that all single men and women in the kingdom must get married before the end of the month.
Je-yoon takes the King’s order as his opportunity and goes to Songjoo village to propose to Yi-seo (Hong-shim). But Yul finds out about it and also rushes to the village.
Historical backgrounders and other information
1. In Eps. 1 and 2, the King, Crown Prince Yul, and the ministers engage in rituals meant to bring rain during times of drought.
The Joseon Dynasty had two kinds of rain rituals (“giuje”) — those organized by the state and those organized by civilians. An interesting ritual is the “Lizard Boy” (“Seokcheok-dongja”) ritual where a lizard, representing a dragon, is exposed to the heat, in the belief that the Heavenly Dragon will send rain.
Even today, some government offices hold the rain rituals in times of drought.
For more information about the rain rituals, please read “Come Rain or Shine” (Gwangju News) and “Dragon Pond and the Ritual to Call for Rain” (Jeju Island).
2. In Ep. 7, a royal secret inspector (“Amhaeng-eosa”) saves Yul and Hong-shim from the corrupt magistrate and Master Park.From “Amhaeng-eosa - secret royal inspector in Joseon Kingdom” (The Korea Times):
“They were undercover officials directly appointed by the king and were sent to local provinces to punish corrupt officials and comfort the sufferings of people while traveling incognito. The amhaeng-eosa system was one of the most excellent inspection systems in the world, the likes of which is very unique and hard to find in other countries.”
Hong-shim found out that the man sleeping in his father’s room was a secret royal inspector because the man was holding a “yuchuk.” This was a brazen ruler that secret royal inspectors used for several purposes; for example, to make sure that the measurement system for taxation was correctly followed.
When the secret royal inspector later on barged into the magistrate’s office, he showed his “mapae” or medallion with carvings of horses. The “mapae” was the badge of the secret royal inspectors, and the number of horses carved on it indicated the number of horses that they could requisition from the royal stables in pursuit of their assignment. The secret royal inspectors also used the “mapae” to summon soldiers.
The book “Corea, The Hermit Kingdom” (1888) by William Elliott Griffis states several interesting things about the secret royal inspectors. They were called “The Messengers on the Dark Path,” and to prevent them from abusing their powers, they were secretly monitored by a “yashi” or “Night Messenger.” Griffis states:
“An E-sa, or commissioner, who is to be sent to a distant province to ascertain the popular feeling, or to report the conduct of certain officers, is also called ‘The Messenger on the Dark Path.’ He receives sealed orders from the king, which he must not open till beyond the city walls. Then, without even going to his own house, he must set out for his destination, the government providing his expenses. He bears the seal of his commission, a silver plate having the figure of a horse engraved on it. In some cases he has the power of life and death in his hands.
“Yet, even the Messenger of the Dark Path is not free from espionage, for after him forthwith follows his ‘double’ the yashi or Night Messenger, who reports on the conduct of the royal inspector and also on the affairs of each province through which he passes. The whereabouts of these emissaries are rarely discoverable by the people, as they travel in strict disguise, and unknown.
“This system corresponds almost exactly to that of the ometsuke (eye-appliers), for many centuries in use in Japan, but abolished by the Mikado’s government at the revolution of 1868. It was by means of these E-sa or spies that many of the Corean Christians of rank were marked for destruction. The system, though abominable in free countries, is yet an excellent medium between the throne and the subject, and serves as a wholesome check on official rapine and cruelty.”
Lessons in photography from “100 Days My Prince”
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| Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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| Short siding |
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| Natural frame |
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| Foreground and background blur |
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| Cool colors |
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| High angle shot |
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| Balance and symmetry |
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| High angle shot, partial frame |
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| Shallow depth of field |
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| Rule of Thirds |
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| Focal center of attention, background blur |
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| Low angle shot, balance and symmetry |
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| Low angle shot, Dutch angle or Dutch tilt |
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