A Comprehensive Look at The Queen Who Crowns 2025
Dive Into the Regal world of 'The Queen Who Crowns'
Explore every aspect of ‘The Queen Who Crowns’ in this comprehensive review. Dive into character insights, strengths, and weaknesses. If you haven’t seen the drama yet and are looking for a spoiler-free review, check out the link below.
Spoiler Alert
Please be advised that this review contains significant spoilers about the plot and characters of ‘The Queen Who Crowns’. If you have not yet watched the drama, we recommend viewing it first to avoid any spoilers.
Series Details
General Information
Air Dates: January 6 – February 10, 2025
Episodes: 14
Where to Watch: Viki
Genre: Historical Drama
Starring: Cha Joo Young and Lee Hyun Wook
The Story
After encouraging her husband, the prince, to stage a coup against his own brother, a powerful woman rises to the throne as queen. But the partnership she once shared with her lover becomes strained as he tries to establish his political power while she continues to focus on furthering her family’s influence. And as they fight their way through political rivals, concubines, and government policies, they will each remain determined to do what’s best for the country and its people.
Meeting the stars: Cha Joo Young and Lee Hyun Wook
Cha Joo Young as Queen Won Gyeong
Queen Won Gyeong was the daughter of a noble family. She fell in love with prince Bang Won when he came to stay with her family. The couple dreamed of establishing a new, better dynasty. And when she saw an opening, she helped the prince stage a coup, killing his brother in the process, and stealing the throne. Once King Tae Jong was seated on the throne, the couple officially married.
But life in the palace was full of obstacles and struggles that soon put a strain on their relationship. With political opposition on all sides and her husbands need to fill his bed with other women, they soon entered a power struggle of their own. And Queen Won Gyeong’s focus shifts from her husband to the strength of her family’s influence and her determination to make sure it is her son who will inherit the throne.
Queen Wong Gyeong is dignified and politically savvy. It is often said throughout the drama that if she had been a man, it would have been her who ruled the people. But her husband was often more jealous than appreciative. Cha Joo Young had the poise to carry off this role convincingly, and while I didn’t always like her character, I certainly respected her performance.
Lee Hyun Wook as King Tae Jong
King Tae Jong was a prince who was never meant to be King. And if he had never met Won Gyeong, he would have been happy with his role. But as her dreams alongside her, he begin to see a new destiny taking shape for him and his country. And when he confesses that he is afraid, on the night of the coup, Won Gyeong encourages him and sends him out to face possible death.
But in the adrenaline heated moment, Bang Won takes the coup a step further by actually killing his own brother, even though Won Gyeong rushes to try to stop him. And in that moment, the future King breakes all ties with his own family and his father’s heart in one fell swoop.
But as the King gains power, his greed only continues to incease. He no longer wants a partner who can help him create this new world. He wants subjects who will obey his every command. In the course of time, he brings in two concubines, who both give him princes. But his feelings and expectations for each woman are vastly different. His love for the queen soon becomes more of grudging obsession, as they battle over power and influence.
King Tae Jong is selfish and power-hungry. And although he began his battle to be King with an idealistic dream of creating a better world for his people, in the end he is overcome by his own greed. Lee Hyun Wook is a great actor and I think he portrayed this royal role well. He didn’t have a lot of emotional range, but he played the volatile and obsessive King well.
Supporting characters
Park Ji Il as Min Je
Min Je is Tae Jong’s father, the first King of the Joseon period. He abdicated the throne in his old age and handed it down to his oldest son, as tradition dictates. But when Tae Jong kills his brother and steals the throne, Min Je vows revenge on him and all those who supported him.
Lee Shi A as Yeong Sil
Yeong Sil was one of Won Gyeong’s trusted maids before she was caught having an affair with the King. But when she shows up at the palace with a young boy who is the son of the King, she is made a concubine. Her presence not only makes the Queen feel betrayed but also threatens the security of her son becoming the next King.
Lee Yi Dam as Chae Ryeong
Chae Ryeong is a trusted palace maid. But when the Queen refuses the King’s visit to her bed, Chae Ryeong is offered as a replacement. And while at first Chae Ryeong is guilty and apologetic to the Queen, she eventually sees it as her own ticket to a life of luxury.
3 things i loved about ‘The Queen Who Crowns’
1.
Bonus Epidodes:
I always enjoy when a series gives us a couple “bonus episodes”. In this case, we get a look back at how the royal couple initially fell in love. And how the characters who would later play a part in their tumultuous marriage and reign were there in the periphery the whole time.
2.
True Story:
It’s great when drama merges with history and we learn a bit along the way. In this case, it was fascinating for me to see the precarious start to the long-lasting Joseon Dynasty. It is amazing that such a charismatic and strategic queen is invisible in the annals of history, and that makes this story even more interesting.
3.
Queen Mother:
In most cases, I found the Queen’s practical, efficient attitude to be cold and off-putting. But I respected her efforts as the Queen Mother to include all the Princes in her care. Obviously, she was partial toward her own sons. But that didn’t stop her from including all of them in the training process and ultimately seeing that her oldest son did not have what it takes to be King.
3 things i didn’t love about ‘The Queen Who Crowns’
1.
“Romance”:
While this drama has a few sweet flashbacks to the King and Queen falling in love, I would not say this drama is a romance. In fact, what starts as a cute love story evenutally becomes a toxic obsession that is not at all romantic.
2.
Brothers:
If the Queen’s family had not spent their time at court trying to accumulate more and more wealth for themselves, the King and Queen would have been able to focus on each other and the dynasty they hoped to build together. I especially hated her sniveling brothers and their endless greed and disregard for the people it effected.
3.
Sexual Focus:
The intense sexual energy at the beginning of this drama seemed unnecessary and over the top. I guess they needed us to see the King as an insatiable cad with no respect for his wife. But they really pushed the explicit scenes too hard, in my opinion.
The Conclusion of 'The Queen Who Crowns'
The Ending
‘The Queen Who Crowns’ ends on a bittersweet note as the once regal queen faces her own mortality. But first, she is instrumental in making sure that it is her second son, not the oldest, as tradition dictates, who will be the heir. And the Crown Prince willingly concedes his position, promising his father he will continue to support his younger brother as King, and they will not repeat the painful histoy of Tae Jong and his own brother. We also see the Queen bring Chae Ryeong back to the palace, saying it is her rightful place as the mother of a Prince.
Once the King names an heir, the royal couple prepare to live a quiet life in the country. And they prepare to make a trip back to Won Gyeong’s hometown, where they met. But the Queen becomes extremely ill. So the former King and his son prepare to bring the Queen back to the palace to die amid the pomp she deserves. But Won Gyeong decides that her death, much like her life, will be on her terms. So she has her son take her to a quiet hillside. And as he performs the same masked dance the King and Queen had performed together at their coronation, the Queen draws her final breath.
My Personal Thoughts and Ratings
‘The Queen Who Crowns’ is a historical drama based on the true story of a Queen from the beginning of the Joseon Era. The fact that there is very little written about this infuential and dynamic woman is reason enough to watch the series, particularly if you are a history fan. The cast is outstanding and the characters are emotionally complex and realistic.
While this drama doesn’t have much violence for a historical drama, it does have a surprising amount of sexually explicit scenes, especially at the beginning. The realistic tone of the drama can feel slow moving and make the characters completely unlikable at times. I give ‘The Queen Who Crowns’ an 8 out of 10 ramen.
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