Parallel worlds are a headache. Seriously. You walk through a bamboo forest, see some floating balloons, and suddenly you’re in a version of Seoul where everyone drives on the wrong side of the road and there’s a King instead of a President. That is the basic pitch for The King Eternal Monarch Korean drama, and honestly, it’s a lot to take in. When it first dropped in 2020, people were expecting the next Goblin. It had Lee Min-ho. It had Kim Go-eun. It had the legendary writer Kim Eun-sook.
The hype was massive.
But then the show actually aired, and things got... complicated. Most viewers tuned in for a simple romance but ended up needing a degree in theoretical physics to keep track of who was a doppelgänger and who was a time traveler. Even now, years after the finale, fans are still arguing on Reddit about that ending. Did it actually make sense? Sorta.
Why The King Eternal Monarch Korean drama split the fandom in half
If you ask a K-drama fan about this show, you’ll get one of two reactions. They’ll either tell you it’s a misunderstood masterpiece of sci-fi storytelling or they’ll complain about the product placement for fried chicken. There is no middle ground.
The story follows Lee Gon, the Emperor of the Kingdom of Corea. He’s haunted by a bloody coup from his childhood where his traitorous uncle, Lee Lim, murdered his father. Decades later, Lee Gon finds a portal to the Republic of Korea—our world. Here, he meets Detective Jeong Tae-eul, a woman whose ID card he’s been holding onto since he was eight years old.
It sounds like a standard "fate" trope, but Kim Eun-sook decided to go full Christopher Nolan with it.
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The plot doesn't just stay in one timeline. It jumps between 1994 and 2019, while simultaneously balancing two different universes. In one world, someone is a billionaire; in the other, they’re a struggling student. It’s a lot of work for the audience. Critics at the time, including reviewers from The Drama Corner, pointed out that the writing felt "all over the place" because the rules of the fantasy world seemed to change whenever it was convenient for the plot.
The "Male Savior" controversy and Lee Gon’s character
Let’s talk about Lee Min-ho. This was his big comeback after military service. He played the part of a King with a lot of gravity, but some viewers found the "King on a white horse" imagery a bit dated. There’s a famous scene where he charges into our world on a horse named Maximus to save Tae-eul, shouting, "Protect her! She is the future Queen of the Kingdom of Corea!"
It’s peak K-drama. It’s also incredibly cheesy.
Some fans loved the grand scale of it. Others felt it stripped Kim Go-eun’s character—a literal police detective—of her agency. Why does she need a guy on a horse to save her? Well, because the show is called The King, I guess. But honestly, the chemistry between the two leads is what kept people watching even when the plot holes started getting as big as the portals themselves.
The real MVP: Woo Do-hwan and the double-role magic
If there’s one thing everyone agrees on, it’s that Woo Do-hwan carried this show on his back. Playing two characters is hard. Playing two characters who have to pretend to be each other is an Olympic-level feat.
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- Jo Yeong: The stoic, "unbreakable sword" bodyguard to the King. He’s all suits and sharp glares.
- Jo Eun-seob: The chaotic, hilarious civil service worker in the Republic of Korea with a thick Busan accent.
The scenes where these two meet are the best parts of the drama. You’ve got the bromance with Lee Gon on one side and the pure comedy of the doppelgängers on the other. It provided much-needed levity when the main plot about the "Manpasikjeok" (the magic flute) got too heavy.
What most people missed about the "Manpasikjeok"
The flute isn't just a teleportation device. It represents the balance of the universe. In the drama, the flute was split into two pieces during the coup. One piece stayed with Lee Gon, and the other went with Lee Lim.
This is why Lee Lim didn't age. He stayed 40-ish for twenty-five years because he was hiding in the "void" between worlds where time doesn't flow normally. It’s a cool concept, but the show didn't always explain the math clearly. You basically have to accept that the flute is a god-tier artifact that can rewrite history.
The ending that left everyone confused
The finale of The King Eternal Monarch Korean drama is polarizing. To save both worlds, Lee Gon has to go back to 1994 and stop the coup from ever happening.
Here’s the catch: if he succeeds, he never meets Tae-eul.
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The show tries to have its cake and eat it too. They end up in a "time-traveling date" situation where they spend their weekends visiting different eras and universes together. Some fans find this romantic. Others find it tragic. They can't ever really have a "normal" life or a family because they don't belong in the same world. It’s a bittersweet loop that avoids the traditional "wedding and babies" ending of most rom-coms.
Practical takeaways for your next rewatch
If you’re planning to dive back into this world (or watch it for the first time), here is how to actually enjoy it without getting a migraine:
- Watch the backgrounds. Many of the "clues" about which world you're in are hidden in the signs, the cars, and the architecture.
- Ignore the PPL. Yes, the characters eat a lot of specific chicken and drink a lot of specific coffee. Just roll with it. High-budget fantasy needs funding.
- Focus on the side characters. The story of Kang Shin-jae (played by Kim Kyung-nam) is actually one of the most heartbreaking and well-written arcs in the show. He’s a man who literally doesn't belong anywhere.
- Accept the "Destiny" logic. If you try to apply hard sci-fi rules to a Kim Eun-sook script, you’re going to have a bad time. It’s a fairy tale first, a physics lesson second.
The show might be flawed, but its ambition is undeniable. It tried to do something massive on a TV budget, and while it didn't always stick the landing, it remains one of the most visually stunning dramas in recent memory. If you want a story about a King who literally crosses dimensions for the woman he loves, this is the one.
Next step for you: Go back and watch Episode 1 again. Now that you know who the "mysterious savior" is from the final episodes, the opening scene hits completely differently. Pay close attention to the red lanyard.