EPISODE RECAP
To understand how Taehyuk found Hyo-un face down in the river, we’re taken back to Hyo-un’s very beginning.
Dragons, as we learn, aren’t bred into existence. They spring up from areas of the earth like the mountain or the river. Hyo-un’s place of birth was the river. The river would normally be responsible for teaching Hyo-un how to live, how to harness his power, or how to understand his true self. However, upon Hyo-un’s birth, his river had met the end of its life and cast Hyo-un out. He was left wandering the land, completely unaware of himself.
He wandered aimlessly through the forest, unable to keep his form. In his amorphous state, he happens upon a small child. After mimicking the child’s form, he soon begins to believe that he too must be a child. Eventually, Hyo-un stumbles upon a village but isn’t welcomed by the villagers. Remember, this is a time of famine and suffering for a country that is living under a tyrannical king. So the residents were wary of Hyo-un. They come to regard him as an omen and treat him poorly.
When the villagers no longer give him food, he resorts to stealing and is beaten within an inch of his life. But this is all Hyo-un knows, so he tolerates it.
A famous shaman appears in the village and tells the villagers that they have angered the dragon spirit. That is until a famous shaman appears in their village. To placate the dragon, they must they must offer ten of their steed…. or one human being.
Considering him a throwaway, the villagers choose Hyo-un as the offering but never explain to the child what they’re doing. Instead of treating him as they always do, they instead start to feed him well, bathe and clean him, and dress him in nice clothes before taking him to a shrine. As he rests peacefully for the first time in his short life, he hopes that the villagers will continue to be as nice to him as they were today.
MY TAKEAWAYS
Oh, this episode is even worse in English.
I knew it was bad when I initially read the Korean version. But understanding it makes it hit so hard. On one hand, I can’t blame the villagers for being suspicious of a wandering naked child who couldn’t speak well coming into their village. They live in a world where they would absolutely associate poor crop harvests with a mysterious child. They were already suffering greatly from famine. It was not a good situation for anyone, no matter how you look at it.
But, for all intents and purposes, Hyo-un is a child. No matter how weary one may be, I don’t understand how anyone could physically harm a child to the point of near death.
Back in season one, when Taehyuk is reading about dragons and posits Hyo-un probably knows more than any of those books, Hyo-un tells him that he won’t be of much help because he doesn’t know anything himself. I always wondered what he meant by that. How could he not know about being a dragon? Now we know why. From his very beginning, he just had to figure everything about himself, about life and about the world by himself.
Ugh, baby Hyo-un. I just wanna hug him.
Read Dawn of the Dragon on Lezhin.
SERIES DETAILS
Original Title: 새벽, 구름, 강
Alternate Title: Dawn, Clouds, River
Author/Artist: Majeungji
English Publisher: Lezhin
Audience: NSFW
