Eileen Sun is one of the leading protagonists in Netflix’s action crime drama, The Brothers Sun. Michelle Yeoh plays the character in the show.
Eileen Sun, or Mama Sun, is the mother of Charles and Bruce Sun, and the wife of Big Sun, the leader of the criminal society — or Triad — called the Jade Dragons.
Even though it’s Big Sun who heads the Triad, she has been known by the older members of the society as the real brains and an even better and more competent leader than her husband.
The Rolodex
The Triads live and die by secrecy. No single Triad head knows about the other Triad head’s identity. If the identity of a Triad head, or Ghost, is exposed, they will be hunted down and killed instantly.
To ensure her son’s safety, Eileen Sun did what nobody else previously was able to achieve. She uncovered the identities of each Triad and made a list out of it. This made her the prime target of everyone in Taiwan.
It also made the Jade Dragons untouchable as she now holds unrivaled power. However, it was only good as long as she was out of everyone’s reach.
So she had to migrate to LA to go into hiding and protect her younger son Bruce. Her older son Charles remained in Taipei, groomed to be the fiercest soldier of the Jade Dragons.
A sacrificial mother
For years and years since their migration to LA, Eileen raised Bruce while making numerous sacrifices. Leaving an empire of wealth in Taipei, she led a modest life with Bruce in LA.
She also sacrificed her dreams and aspirations back in Taipei. She had always wanted to take over the operations and lead the Jade Dragons.
However, all societies, including her own, are patriarchal.
As a woman of intellect and strategic brilliance, she hasn’t gotten her due and has always been treated as a lesser being by her husband, the Big Sun, who believes she’s a spoilt brat.
An aspiring king
When the Boxers begin cutting off the heads of the Triads, and danger approaches her family once again, she decides to step out of the shadows.
Eileen has wanted to get to the top and she can take over that spot now that Big Sun is in a coma.
Her aspirations to take over the empire that her misogynist husband has always held dearer than anyone or anything else, go beyond her own Triad’s apex.
Eileen manages to deal the Boxers a significant blow as well as curry favor from the Triad heads, whom she helps protect themselves.
Later, she uses this fact to draw their attention to her capabilities as the supreme leader. She asks them all to vote for her as the new Dragon Head, defying her husband who wanted Charles to be the boss of all bosses.
Before she is elected as the Dragon Head, though, the meeting is interrupted by an attack from the Boxers.
After most of the Triad heads are either arrested or dead, she ensures that Big Sun remains hospitalized and weakened.
She then heads to Taipei, to lead the Jade Dragons and pursue her dreams with the freedom she now enjoys. She intends to reshape the Triad in her image and make it more organized and more legitimate.
Also Read: Boxers vs the Triads in The Brothers Sun explained