Who wins the war in Queen Woo? Episode 1 and episode 8 scene parallels explained

Queen Woo season 1 was released in two segments, where the first four episodes were aired on August 30, 2024, and the rest four episodes were released on September 12. The story focuses on the true historical account of how Woo-hee became the first and only female to sit on the throne twice and reign the Go Dynasty of Goguryeo from the historical 'Three Kingdoms of Korea.'

Part 1 episode 1 opens on a battlefield where soldiers are slashing one another while Queen Woo (Woo-hee) of the Go dynasty pulls her bow and slings arrows at her enemies. She takes out her bronze sword and slashes another soldier before winning the war against an unknown enemy.

Meanwhile, the last episode of the series (episode 8) ends with Queen Woo (Jeon Jong-seo) donning her royal warrior battlefield armor and declaring that she will fight alongside her people and win the war. The episode also disclosed that the two brothers of the late King Go Nam-mu (Ji Chang-wook), Woo-hee's husband, were the "unknown enemy" from the first episode.

The identical moment from the first episode, in which Woo-hee uses her sword to kill the final enemy soldier while her comrades celebrate their triumph, opened the show. Both scenes were clear portrayals of Woo-hee's victory despite being outnumbered by her enemy. Directed by Jeong Se-kyo and written by Lee Byung-hak, Queen Woo, delivered an enticing story.

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What is the true story behind Queen Woo?

The TVING period drama season 1 was centered around the occurrences within 24 hours of the king's death. King Nam-mu was assassinated in his bed-chamber and Queen Woo-hee had 24 hours to remarry one of his brothers and introduce a new monarch alongside her. Failing to do so, she would lose her kingdom to the Hae clan and the other four clans, who have been vying for the throne.

All eight episodes and the ending battle were the retelling of everything that happened in that 24-hour window. The king's death, Woo-hee escaping the Royal Palace to travel to one of King Nam-mu's brothers and convince them to marry her and return to Goguryeo, the clans conspiring to take over the throne, and more.

It is important to note that according to historical data, the Goguryeo dynasty had a tradition where after the king's death, the queen could marry the brother of the king to maintain her power. It is a custom which is uncommon in the Korean culture.

In 197 AD, Goguryeo ruled the Asian peninsula and about half of Manchuria (present-day Northeast China and certain areas of Russia). Along with the Liaodong Peninsula and Manchuria, Goguryeo ruled over the northern part of the peninsula. The southern peninsula was held by Baekje and Silla. Together, Silla, Goguryeo, and Baekje were known as the 'Three Kingdoms of Korea.'

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Queen Woo is available to stream on TVING's official website and Viu.