Captivating the King follows Kang Hee-soo as she sets out to take revenge on Yi In, the man she once loved. All episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
The Qing Dynasty invades Joseon and demands that the nation cut ties with the Ming. After failing to defeat the Qing in war, Joseon is forced to heed their demands and declare the Qing their ally.
The Qing then take the King’s younger brother, Yi In, also known as Crown Prince Jinhan, hostage, as the King does not have a son yet.
Yi In takes this opportunity to befriend Prince Rui, the Qing Emperor’s brother, allowing him to negotiate on behalf of Joseon for the nation’s benefit.
During this time, the King falls ill, giving rise to a succession crisis. The Queen Dowager’s family wants Yi In to succeed the King.
On the other hand, the Queen’s family wants the Prince Royal, who was born in Yi In’s absence, to ascend the throne.
By the time Yi In returns, the Queen’s family has poisoned the King against his brother and spread rumors about Yi In joining hands with Prince Rui to claim the throne.
At a time when everyone regards him with suspicion, Yi In comes across a baduk player who fiercely defends him. This baduk player has never lost a game.
Yi In, an exceptional baduk player himself, wishes to play baduk with him, and he soon gets an opportunity to do so.
It is revealed that the baduk player is Kang Hee-soo, the daughter of Yi In’s master, Kang Hang-soon. She disguises herself as a man and plays baduk to make money.
She uses that money to pay ransom for the hostages taken by the Qing. When they play, Yi In mistakenly believes that he is going to lose to Hee-soo and concedes defeat.
Hee-soo asks that Yi In give her his beloved nickname, Mongwoo, as her prize. While Yi In acknowledges Mongwoo as his friend, Hee-soo falls in love with him.
Meanwhile, the King decides to send a spy to Ming. Kang Hang-soon is given this task, and he chooses Chu Dal-ha to take the King’s message to Ming.
Someone sells Chu Dal-ha out to the Qing, resulting in his capture. To prevent another war, Kang Hang-soon takes responsibility and is sent to Qing as a prisoner.
Soon after, the King is poisoned, and he dies in front of Yi In. The King’s last wish is that Yi In punish his murderers and see that his son ascends the throne.
However, Yi In tells the court officials that his brother asked him to succeed him. Yi In gets Court Lady Dong, the only other person present at the time of the King’s death, to lie to the court officials.
The Queen’s brother, Kim Jong-bae, tries to prove that Jinhan is a traitor, as his right-hand man, Yoo Hyun-bo, leads him to believe that he was involved with Chu Dal-ha.
Hyun-bo then betrays Jong-bae and sides with Yi In, allowing Yi In to execute Jong-bae for treason and ascend the throne.
In return, Hyun-bo demands that the witness whom Jong-bae was trying to get to testify against Yi In, which includes Hee-soo and her friend Hongjang, be punished.
Hee-soo begs Yi In to spare her friend, but to no avail. They are sentenced to hard labor, and Hongjang loses her life on their journey out of the capital.
After Hongjang’s death, Hee-soo tries to escape and is injured in the process. However, she survives and vows to get revenge on Yi In.
Three years later, Yi In creates a new post: gidaeryeong, an official appointed only to play baduk with him.
Hee-soo returns as Mongwoo and becomes the gidaeryeong after defeating every other baduk player who applies for the post.
Yi In is surprised to see his Mongwoo alive because he was told that Mongwoo died while escaping three years ago.
He suspects that Mongwoo has returned to take revenge, but he still allows him to become the gidaeryeong.
Yi In also summons Jong-bae’s son, Kim Myung-ha, who was in love with Hee-soo, back to the capital and appoints him as the Sixth Royal Secretary.
Myung-ha is one of the very few people who know about Hee-soo disguising herself as a man. As he still has feelings for Hee-soo, he gets convinced to join hands with her.
Similar to everyone else at the court, Hee-soo also devises schemes to achieve her aims. She manages to become Grand Prince Munseong’s baduk teacher.
Grand Prince Munseong is Yi In’s nephew and Myung-ha’s cousin, and Hee-soo intends to make him the King as Yi In’s brother had intended after killing Yi In.
Yi In is quite fond of Mongwoo, which results in Yi In’s uncle, Park Jong-hwan, trying to get Hee-soo dismissed, but he fails every single time.
One night, Hee-soo gets drunk. It is Yi In who finds her and takes her to Hang-soon’s house, where he discovers that Mongwoo is a woman in a man’s garb.
Yi In now understands why he was developing feelings for Mongwoo and ends up sleeping with Hee-soo. Despite everything, Hee-soo reciprocates his feelings.
Hee-soo still continues devising schemes. She substitutes Princess Jangryeong, Yi In’s niece, with a court maid when Prince Rui asks for her hand in marriage.
She also manages to get Prince Munseong appointed as Yi In’s heir, much to Jong-hwan and the Queen Dowager’s dismay.
Yi In is aware of Hee-soo’s schemes, but he does not punish or stop her, as her schemes align with his wishes.
Hee-soo has been planning her revenge with Chu Dal-ha for years now, and she decides to move forward with the plan when she comes to believe that Yi In plans to exile Prince Munseong.
However, when the time comes, her feelings for Yi In do not allow her to let him die, and she takes the attack that was meant for him.
It turns out that Yi In knew about Hee-soo’s plan to kill him, but he still went to meet her. Yi In is not the power-hungry man she thought he was.
He only ascended the throne to protect Prince Munseong, who was too young at the time of Yi In’s brother’s death, and to punish his brother’s murderers.
Additionally, Yi In finds out that Hee-soo is his master’s daughter. He reveals to her that her father is alive and that he is spying on the Qing for Yi In.
Now that Chu Dal-ha has been arrested for attempting to assassinate him, Yi In finally gets the opportunity to avenge his brother’s death.
Ending explained:
Exposing Park Jong-hwan’s crimes
Yi In had suspected that his mother and uncle were behind his brother’s murder, but he did not have the evidence to prove it three years ago.
When Chu Dal-ha identifies one of Jong-hwan’s men as the man who reported him to the Qing, Yi In’s suspicions are confirmed.
However, Jong-hwan has the man killed, which leads to Yi In giving him a choice to either confess his crimes or be publicly interrogated.
Jong-hwan refuses to confess to his crimes. Instead, he decides to kill Yi In. It turns out that Court Lady Dong spied on Yi In’s brother for Jong-hwan and had poisoned him on his orders.
Now, Jong-hwan asks her to poison Yi In in a similar fashion. However, Court Lady Dong loves Yi In, so she can neither kill him nor let herself be used against him.
As a result, Court Lady Dong ends up taking her own life. Additionally, Jong-hwan and Hyun-bo, who have been working together, try to get Myung-ha involved in their treasonous plan.
Myung-ha, who now knows the truth about what happened three years ago, reports this to Hee-soo and pretends to side with Jong-hwan and Hyun-bo.
When Jong-hwan comes to know about Court Lady Dong’s death, he makes it clear to Hyun-bo that if Myung-ha were to turn against them, he would put the blame on Hyun-bo.
Hyun-bo tries to flee, but he is caught by Yi In’s guards and Myung-ha. He is then forced to testify against Jong-hwan, which leads to Yi In sentencing his own uncle to death.
Parting with Hee-soo
Prince Rui sends a letter with the Qing envoy. He asks Yi In to appoint Jung Je-pyo, who is loyal to Prince Rui, as a court official.
Additionally, he wants Yi In to send his gidaeryeong to Beijing, as he wishes to play baduk with him.
Yi In has no intention of sending Hee-soo to Beijing. He also refuses to marry Hee-soo or make her a concubine, aware that she would not want that.
When Hee-soo learns about Prince Rui’s demand, she urges Inspector General Je-nam, an official Yi In trusts, to persuade Yi In to agree to Prince Rui’s demand for the sake of peace.
Finally, she herself tries to convince Yi In by pointing out that going to Beijing is an opportunity to reunite with her father and spy on Prince Rui.
Eventually, Yi In reluctantly gives in. However, he is unwilling to send Hee-soo without protection, so he decides to send Chu Dal-ha with her.
Hee-soo and Yi In reunite
For colluding with Jong-hwan, Hyun-bo is exiled from the capital, and Chu Dal-ha is sentenced to three years of hard labor for attempting to assassinate Yi In.
When Yi In pardons Chu Dal-ha’s punishment so that he can accompany Hee-soo, Chu Dal-ha decides to take his revenge first. He finally kills Hyun-bo for his involvement in Hongjang’s death.
Yi In and Hee-soo spend a day together without Hee-soo disguising herself as Mongwoo. The next day, Hee-soo leaves for Beijing.
Yi In spends the next nine months rooting out corruption from the court and being a just ruler, winning the hearts of his subjects.
Nine months after Hee-soo’s departure, Yi In receives the news of Prince Rui’s sudden death. As a result, the court maid who had gone to Qing in Princess Jangryeong’s place returns.
She informs Yi In that since his rule won the hearts of his people, Prince Rui began to fear him. The Qing will no longer be meddling in Joseon’s affairs.
Yi In also gets rid of Jung Je-pyo. He hands him over to the Qing as a criminal who committed treason with Prince Rui.
Hee-soo also returns to Joseon but refrains from informing Yi In, as she plans to leave the capital again.
However, Myung-ha tells Yi In about her return, and Yi In stops her from leaving. He plays baduk with her, and she finally reveals her real name to him.
The two of them still love each other, and the show ends with Yi In telling her that he intends to spend the rest of his life with her, bringing a smile to Hee-soo’s face.