When last we left Prince and the Rebel, a lot of people died meaningless deaths.
And also Banjong thinks he deserves Worradej
Kosol thinks Prince/Worradej should tell Banjong he’s been rejected. Prince/Worradej doesn’t know how, since Worradej once confessed to Banjong. But that confession was before Banjong failed to stand up for Worradej and poisoned him because others demanded it. Then again, Worradej was okay with it. Maybe they were a good match.
Kosol thinks they only need to say that hearts can change. Prince/Worradej wants to know if Kosol’s heart can change. He says it never will.
And here’s Pandao to make the situation better by flirting with Kosol in front of Prince/Worradej.
Jade is up late in case Prince/Worradej comes home, which Not-King doesn’t like. He gets Jade to lie down, knowing that if he talks, Jade will fall asleep. Not-King pours his heart out about how he’s never loved anyone, and Jade is out.
The next day, during shooting lessons, Prince/Worradej tries to tell Banjong they don’t love him.
And Banjong fakes a seizure to stop them
Pandao and I are both appalled. But she thinks Kosol eating a piece of her food to stop her from hand-feeding him is a sign of true love. Banjong thinks success is within their grasp.
These two are not currently their best selves.
Thankfully, Somdet’s army’s arrival interrupts this nonsense. Time to switch back to the “violent warfare” part of the show.
None of the roles Prince/Worradej came up with for them matters, as the plan is basically to divide and conquer. They lure Somdet’s army into different locations so our guys can ambush them in smaller groups.
Kosol faces Somdet, but after arguing about leadership, Somdet escapes. Banjong shoots bad guys like he once did Worradej. Pandao and Prince/Worradej protect those who can’t fight, with the help of a man-eating tiger.
Prince/Worradej wanders off
Somdet’s soldiers find them, but Banjong comes to the rescue by shooting them. Does that cancel out one of Banjong’s attempts to kill them?
Then Banjong gets slashed in the back, and Kosol rescues them. So maybe not.
Elsewhere, Not-King joined the fight, looking like one of Somdet’s army. I’m not sure why that’s a good idea. He and Jade think they can take down Somdet, with Not-King confronting him while Jade shoots him from around a corner.
But Jade doesn’t shoot. I think he’s afraid of hitting Not-King? And gets knocked out. Somehow, despite not having any power in this situation, Not-King trades himself for Jade’s life.
So Kosol chases after his brother. Somdet and his army hide by standing around in the woods, but Not-King dropped his helmet as a clue. Also, he has a noisemaker to use while gagged. Then the gag comes off, and he laughs loudly.
Somdet is ready to stab him and–
Jade sits, looking sad, near an empty hammock
Is Not-King dead? Nope. He’s fine. He and Jade hug. I like these two together.
Somdet’s men wouldn’t let him kill Not-King, so they abandoned him in the road. I dunno. It’s what happened.
Not-King wants to know if Jade was worried and wants to tell him about how he knew his brother would save him. Kosol watches. It’s a sweet moment.
Less sweet is watching Prince/Worradej take care of Banjong. Besides the big cut on his back, Banjong lost his glasses and is now helpless. He needs Prince/Worradej’s help with bathing and gets the BL wipe down.
Prince/Worradej is confused when they want to kiss Banjong, and feels that these are Worradej’s feelings left in their body. They fight the urge.
This is how Kosol finds them, and he’s furious. He dumps water all over Banjong. Prince/Worradej is furious with Kosol, and decides to stay with Banjong for the night. They don’t want Kosol to manhandle them and be violent, then justify it with their love.
This is fair, I just wish someone better than Banjong were the cause.
Kosol has a heart-to-heart with a reasonable character
The man-eating tiger. Jade and Not-King overhear it, and Not-King points out that since Kosol is not a tiger, he can have a conversation with Prince/Worradej. And if that doesn’t work, he can’t force them, because that won’t win anyone’s heart.
Later, Jade is impressed by what Not-King said to his brother. Since he fell asleep the other night, he doesn’t know that Not-King has never been in love, just read a lot.
Jade also hasn’t been in love, so Not-King feels that’s another similarity between them. Jade can’t get over the immense class difference. Not-King feels he’s not a desirable partner, but Jade says he likes being with him.
Not-King wants a promise that if they are old and single, they will stay friends forever… Huh? So if they marry, they won’t be friends? Jade also looks confused, but does the pinky swear.
Back to Banjong
Banjong invites Prince/Worradej to sleep with him, and Prince/Worradej again feels Worradej’s own desire fighting theirs. Prince/Worradej reminds themselves that they have a man already. So they didn’t give up on Kosol yet.
Prince/Worradej and Kosol do some solo nighttime brooding over their situation.
The next day, Prince/Worradej puts Pandao in charge of her brother’s care. They tell Pandao they’re with Kosol and don’t want to hurt Banjong by leading him on. Also, they know Pandao likes Kosol.
Prince/Worradej says cooking food for someone who doesn’t appreciate it isn’t worth it. She should cook for someone who does. Aww, she looks sad, not like someone who’d lead a mob to kill Worradej.
So Pandao is the one to tell Banjong Prince/Worradej is gone, and why. Banjong takes it surprisingly well.
Prince/Worradej and Kosol find each other in the forest. Prince/Worradej is surprised when Kosol doesn’t force them on a horse. Kosol asks if this isn’t what they want, and takes their hand.
They ride the horse through greenscreen. Kosol apologizes for all the times they hurt them or made them unhappy. Prince/Worradej is impressed that Kosol will let go of his pride and admit he’s wrong. Kosol doesn’t want them hurt, and is willing to do whatever they can for them
Kosol’s reward is a kiss.
And for Banjong, Kosol has some repaired glasses
Banjong says he won’t stand between Kosol and Prince/Worradej again.
Now it’s time for a festival. It’s an updated Loy Krathong, designed by Prince/Worradej to be non-polluting. People will bring water from their homes to the river. I feel like there’s a problem there, too? But I don’t know much about river environments.
Everyone needs to make their own water jugs. This doesn’t lead to yet another Ghost copycat, but to Prince/Worradej and Kosol smearing clay on each other’s hands and sweet kisses. It’s different.
Also, Somdet knows about the festival.
But we don’t see him there this episode. Instead, we see Banjong avoid Prince/Worradej and Kosol. They find him by the river where he once poisoned Worradej. Kosol wants Banjong to face the truth, and Prince/Worradej tells him it’s okay to cry. He does. So hard that even Prince/Worradej finds it a bit much.
Banjong regrets not accepting Worradej’s earlier confession. But Prince/Worradej says that time has changed them into someone else, so don’t regret not being with them.
Kosol wants them to be friends again, but Banjong needs a moment. But he comes with them, and lights one of those lanterns with his sister while Kosol and Prince/Worradej light their own.
This show has a habit of just … dropping things
Unimportant stuff like Prince/Worradej’s whole plan involving tanks and mages and whatever. Or why did Somdet let Jade live to tell everyone that Not-King was captured? And important stuff like how Worradej was wrongfully accused, bullied, didn’t even actually kill anyone, and then poisoned by the man he loved. All by a group fighting for everyone’s equal rights.
Even if Worradej accepted his fate, I find it hard to imagine Prince accepting it. They stand up for the oppressed, no matter their social background. So is the fact that he’s fine with Banjong all to do with Worradej’s feelings? I think that’s very cool, and could have been something for Prince/Worradej to wrestle with over the last few episodes.
And what if we’d seen more of a bond of brotherhood between Banjong and Kosol? Instead of them constantly fighting over Prince/Worradej.
Instead, we get some exaggerated comedy so Prince/Worradej and Kosol can grow as people. Then Banjong and Pandao change their minds in about ten seconds. It keeps it light, but doesn’t work for me.
The battle was also weak, but it felt like the result of a low budget. I’m more bothered by the tonal shifts between the comedy and people being shot to death.
It’s interesting to me how sex is a non-issue here. Prince/Worradej has no qualms about kissing or having sex with anyone they want. So it makes their choice of commitment and relationship that much more about love. It’s romantic in an interesting way.
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