The Emperor ~ Owner Of The Mask ~ Save the Prince!

“The Emperor: Owner Of The Mask” is a Korean drama series released in 2017, with 40 episodes, categorized as historical fiction, costume and period, Sageuk, Political, Melodrama, and Romance; streaming free on KOCOWA+.

SUMMARY: The queen consort finally gave birth to a son. His father, the king, had high hopes his son would be a good and wise king. However, as soon as the child was born someone tried to poison him. The king managed to save his life, but from that day forward, he decided that nobody was allowed to see the face of the prince. The child would always wear a mask. It was the only way to protect him. Can’t see him. Can’t kill him. That was the logic.

♦ We Must Protect the Prince at All Costs

In “The Emperor: Owner Of The Mask”, during the Joseon Dynasty, a man sold his soul to the devil so that he could become king. “The Committee” was this group of people who were wicked enough to be called “the devil” and it seems the wanna-be king agreed that if he could have power, he would be loyal to them until he died. He waited years for a son to be born. His logic was that his son had not pledged loyalty to the secret society “Pyunsoo Group” (“The Committee”) and thus, he had a chance of being a good and wise king.

Finally, the queen consort bore a son, Crown Prince Lee Sun, and no sooner than he was born an attempt was made on his life. Someone tried to poison the crown prince. Someone? The king knew it was the wicked and cruel leader of “The Committee” so he went to him, got on his knees, and begged for the antidote. It was a trade. The antidote for full over the power of the country’s water supply (“The Water Guild”). The king gave in to his demands because first and foremost, he had to save his son. Who else was going to deliver the people? After he saved his son’s life, he took a drastic measure to protect him from “The Committee”. He made his son wear a mask and circulated a story that the crown prince’s face was disfigured because of an illness. The king also added an extra precaution. Anybody who saw the face of the crown prince was killed.

The Prince Wants to Know His Story

The crown prince grew up wearing a mask. When he tried to find out the story behind his mask he learned there was only one living person, a scholar, who knew the rest of his story. Determined to find out the truth he forced a eunuch to take his place while he slipped out of the palace. Walking on the streets was enchanting! There were so many wonderful things in the world that he had never seen. But then he had a moment similar to the Buddha. He became saddened and confused when he turned down a street and saw people suffering from dire poverty. Why were people in his kingdom living like this? Then he saw people buying buckets of water at an unreasonably high price. Forgetting that he was dressed like a commoner, he demanded to know why people did not have access to water. That’s when he found out about The Water Guild. But he needed to learn more.

Crown Prince Lee Sun encountered one person INSIDE the palace but he didn’t know she was the granddaughter of the wicked leader of “The Committee”. She saw his face but did not die because she promised not to tell anyone what she saw. The crown prince showed her mercy. He would encounter her later but their relationship would not be built on trust.

Crown Prince Lee Sun encountered two people OUTSIDE the palace.

• Han Ga-eun, the daughter of a high-ranking official, was beautiful inside and out. Although she was a noble lady, she was humble and kind to people of all classes, and by coincidence she was on her way to see the same person the crown prince wanted to see and offered to accompany him. Their friendship would grow into love.

• Lee Sun coincidentally had the same name as the crown prince, but he was a commoner. He and his father worked for The Water Guild. Not because they wanted to but because they had to survive.

Lee Sun’s father was accused of stealing a bucket of water. The accusation was true but his wife and baby would die without it. Even so, the people who were in charge of The Water Guild intended to chop off his hands for stealing. The crown prince intervened and believed all was well. But in secret the workers received an order from the leader of “The Committee” to kill the boy’s father. The leader wanted to show the crown prince who was the one who had authority and power over the people.  It wasn’t his father, the king, or him the crown prince.

Crown Prince Lee Sun, along with Lee Sun and Han Ga-eun, will form a trio. They are two people he knows he can trust. Led by the crown prince they would fight against the secret society Pyunsoo Group and reclaim the throne. You know what? Wearing a mask came in handy!

Main Characters:

• Crown Prince Lee Sun (played by Yoo Seung-Ho, “The Magician”, “The Deal”, “Moonshine”, “Memorist”, “I’m Not a Robot”, “Remember: War of Son”)
• Han Ga-Eun (played by Kim So-Hyun, “Serendipity’s Embrace”, “My Lovely Liar”, “River Where The Moon Rises”, “The Tale of Nokdu”, “Bring it on, Ghost”)
• Lee Sun (played by Kim Myung-Soo, “Dare to Love Me”, “Numbers”, “Royal Secret Agent”, “Angel’s Last Mission: Love”, “My Lovely Girl”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.3 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.9 out of 10 stars
• Dramabeans: 7.2 out of 10 stars
• Amazon customers rated the series: 4.6 out of 5 stars
• Google users shared a public rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Google users.

I found bits and pieces of this Korean drama on YouTube and since then I’ve been searching for it everywhere. Many fans of historical drama recommended it and the clips that I saw piqued my interest. After diligent searching (for forever and a day), I finally found it streaming free on KOCOWA+. HOORAY!! This series did not disappoint. No surprise that it won several awards in a wide range of categories: MBC Drama Awards, The Seoul Awards, and Korea Drama Awards.

As for the storyline? Evil people can think of so many horrible things to do to other people. When I was growing up old folks used to say “water is free”. They never lived in Joseon. Can you imagine living in a country where they controlled your access to water and you had to pay through the nose for it? Those kind of evil people need to captured and dropped in the middle of a desert with nothing! No clothes, no food, no water, NO NOTHING!!

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Ruler: Master of the Mask | Another Tale of Kings | Of Midnight Ravings

Korean Drama Review | Ruler: Master of the Mask | Kdrama Love

5 New Korean Dramas That You Can’t Afford To Miss – Feat. Ji Chang Wook, Joo Won, Yoo Seung Ho And More | Hello K-Pop (list dated May 2017)

TRAILER/TEASER:

Stream Lab. “The Emperor: Owner Of The Mask.” YouTube, 16 July 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgyc0OcPk7c.

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