Akatsuki no Yona - Vol. 32 Ch. 186 - What Must Be Faced
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I totally don't like how "suddenly" Soo-won is sick and may die... it would be too neat for Yona to became the queen then. Like erasing Soo-won, who is hindrance now and the author doesn't have any better idea how she should resolve this matter. Just... no.
Well, there's still idea of Yoon sharing his knowledge about medical herbs and them being able to save Soo-won thanks to it
But still.
BUT MAN, IT LOOKS SO PRETTY NOW. THE ART. SO SUBLIME.
And thank you for new chapter!
Well, there's still idea of Yoon sharing his knowledge about medical herbs and them being able to save Soo-won thanks to it
But still.
BUT MAN, IT LOOKS SO PRETTY NOW. THE ART. SO SUBLIME.
And thank you for new chapter!
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All this talk of how Yona's father never stopped mentioning King Hiryuu makes me wonder how he saw Yona as....I mean, in Soo Won's memories, he seemed to be kinda obsessed about it, although he's a regular caring father in Yona's.
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It's the obvious plot fix. Your setup involves the main antagonist doing something really horrible, but you want him to be sympathetic, but what he did is fundamentally too horrible to forgive, but you don't want to (have the guts) to have the heroine take revenge . . . just have him conveniently die. His status as an antagonist or not never needs to be resolved--or, if you do have him forgiven, at least he doesn't hang around inconveniently being a reminder that he killed her father.
It's a cop-out, but considering how he's been handled throughout it's practically the only solution.
It's a cop-out, but considering how he's been handled throughout it's practically the only solution.
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Ugh I really wanted a revenge type of arc but I’m guessing everything is going to be forgiven once Soo Won is on his death bed. Hopefully the author surprises us!
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@Purplelibraryguy She doesn't want to exact any revenge because she hasn't got a better alternative for the country. Only a person with zero sense of responsibility would take revenge and say screw the whole country. She has witnessed with her own eyes her father, King Il, caused immeasurable suffering in the country, while Soo-Won has worked hard to fix King Il's failures. I agree with your opinion on Yona not forgiving Soo-Won, it's a personal matter she should stick to (and unfortunately it has been difficult for her due to loving Soo-Won previously), but I don't agree on any haphazard revenge. If Soo-Won had been a terrible ruler, then the revenge wouldn't have been irresponsible. However, Soo-Won is in fact a good ruler who replaced a terrible ruler. If Yona had disposed of him, she should have been damn sure she could do better in his stead to lead the country.
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@Kaarme He's certainly a clever and active ruler. And he's an excellent battlefield tactician. I'm not sure he's actually a good king, as in someone ruling in a way that's good for the country. For someone as clever as he is, he seems not to have any kind of apparatus for keeping the central government informed of what the hell is going on in the provinces, let alone the near abroad, resulting in his getting blindsided repeatedly by crises. Whatever his faults, King Il managed to last a fair number of years in the job without the kingdom falling or seeming to be in particularly grave danger; since Soo-Won took over, there have been at least two occasions that I recall, maybe three, where the kingdom would have fallen if a group of crazy, powerful independents hadn't happened to be on the scene. And generally, this has happened because of major problems building up that Soo-Won remained completely unaware of. Admittedly, some of his problems were festering since King Il's reign, but far from all.
Further, his expansionist policy strikes me as unsustainable, and one which he is engaging in less because it's inherently a good idea than because he is emotionally committed to his late father's policy being right. His rulership style seems to involve never telling anyone what's going on. The most loyal people end up largely directionless and confused, while the least loyal pursue their own agendas. Since he's so brilliant, all this often ends up with his people doing what he wants without having realized what it was that he wanted, which is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn't build up a government or set a direction. He is in some ways too fascinated by his own brilliance to do a good job; rather than the right thing, he always does the clever thing.
Finally, he has a major inherent weakness whatever his personal qualities simply because as a usurper he lacks legitimacy, and gives challengers the idea that if he can get away with it, why not them? That has already led to a major episode of treason which nearly toppled the kingdom.
So that brings us back to revenge. If we set revenge aside, as a matter of pure policy she should kill Soo-Won, and as quickly as possible. She is the rightful heir of the last legitimate king, and the kingdom won't be stable until she is on the throne and usurpation is seen to be punished. But revenge itself--seeing it as questionable, or something to be potentially set aside for the good of the state, is a very modern idea. Taking revenge for the killing of her father, and for regicide, would be seen as extremely legitimate--more than personal, for almost any non-modern setting it's practically a principle of statecraft. Failing to do it wouldn't be seen as benevolent, but rather as both weak and immoral--breaking faith with the dead and, more specifically, with your revered ancestors. What kind of filial piety is it not to exact retribution for your father's murder, just because you personally happen to like the guy? And because of the way Soo-Won has failed to organize the state around him, I'd say she could whack him and move into the power vacuum pretty easily. Everyone except that cunning advisor guy would come around pretty readily to seeing her as the one in charge--the legitimate heir, that most of them know and like, with the legendary dragons and the almost-legendary Thunder Beast, revered by most of the soldiers, backing her, and with nobody else that I know of having a particularly great claim. Next after her would be the leaders of the different elemental provinces and none of them would accept any of the others as the boss.
Overall, it seems very likely she would (and will) be a better ruler than Soo-Won. She is a team-builder. She inspires loyalty, and then lets her loyal people use their talents. She is focused on building rather than manipulation. She is neither weak like her father, nor dangerously aggressive like Soo-Won (not that Soo-Won has an aggressive personality, but his policies are aggressive and IMO very likely to be dangerous).
Of course it's all moot since he apparently is going to so-conveniently croak without the mangaka having to dirty the heroine's hands.
Further, his expansionist policy strikes me as unsustainable, and one which he is engaging in less because it's inherently a good idea than because he is emotionally committed to his late father's policy being right. His rulership style seems to involve never telling anyone what's going on. The most loyal people end up largely directionless and confused, while the least loyal pursue their own agendas. Since he's so brilliant, all this often ends up with his people doing what he wants without having realized what it was that he wanted, which is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn't build up a government or set a direction. He is in some ways too fascinated by his own brilliance to do a good job; rather than the right thing, he always does the clever thing.
Finally, he has a major inherent weakness whatever his personal qualities simply because as a usurper he lacks legitimacy, and gives challengers the idea that if he can get away with it, why not them? That has already led to a major episode of treason which nearly toppled the kingdom.
So that brings us back to revenge. If we set revenge aside, as a matter of pure policy she should kill Soo-Won, and as quickly as possible. She is the rightful heir of the last legitimate king, and the kingdom won't be stable until she is on the throne and usurpation is seen to be punished. But revenge itself--seeing it as questionable, or something to be potentially set aside for the good of the state, is a very modern idea. Taking revenge for the killing of her father, and for regicide, would be seen as extremely legitimate--more than personal, for almost any non-modern setting it's practically a principle of statecraft. Failing to do it wouldn't be seen as benevolent, but rather as both weak and immoral--breaking faith with the dead and, more specifically, with your revered ancestors. What kind of filial piety is it not to exact retribution for your father's murder, just because you personally happen to like the guy? And because of the way Soo-Won has failed to organize the state around him, I'd say she could whack him and move into the power vacuum pretty easily. Everyone except that cunning advisor guy would come around pretty readily to seeing her as the one in charge--the legitimate heir, that most of them know and like, with the legendary dragons and the almost-legendary Thunder Beast, revered by most of the soldiers, backing her, and with nobody else that I know of having a particularly great claim. Next after her would be the leaders of the different elemental provinces and none of them would accept any of the others as the boss.
Overall, it seems very likely she would (and will) be a better ruler than Soo-Won. She is a team-builder. She inspires loyalty, and then lets her loyal people use their talents. She is focused on building rather than manipulation. She is neither weak like her father, nor dangerously aggressive like Soo-Won (not that Soo-Won has an aggressive personality, but his policies are aggressive and IMO very likely to be dangerous).
Of course it's all moot since he apparently is going to so-conveniently croak without the mangaka having to dirty the heroine's hands.
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@Purplelibraryguy You can't seriously think Yona's ready for the throne? She's most definitely not. She's a whole lot better than she was as the old pampered princess who knew absolutely nothing, but she's still indecisive, lacks perspective, and long-term visions. She' also still lacking connections and charisma. Let's not forget that as a woman she would need to work twice as hard as a man simply to convince the geezers that she's any good. That's just how it is. The dragons would be all of little use here. They aren't any governors.
Nearly all of the grand problems Soo-Won had to solve were King Il's legacy. They just hadn't festered quite long enough but ruptured when the king changed. The other countries have their own plans and schedules as well, nor do they know everything going on in Kouka. One of the worst things King Il did was to allow his own country to fell into depravity and suffer from a deep division. The major tribes were practically warring with each other or cooperating with outside powers. Aside from the Wind tribe, who was being destroyed by the Fire tribe, the rest didn't really give a shit about the royal rule. And why would they have when King Il didn't give a damn about what's going on outside of the capital. As long as the capital was flourishing, King Il was happy.
You might be correct about Soo-Won's weaknesses, but so far his actions have produced desired results nonetheless. Also, his expansionism, so far, has only included areas that used to be a part of Kouka but which King Il let go when neighbours pressured him. Since King Il only cared about the capital, he readily handed over regions far from the capital. It looks like he has plans of going beyond that, but honestly dealing with the Kai empire would be good for everyone. It'd remain to be seen whether he would try to annex the place or just leave it be once he purged the current, utterly corrupt rulers. At least he spared Xing, even though it was Xing that attacked first this time.
Nearly all of the grand problems Soo-Won had to solve were King Il's legacy. They just hadn't festered quite long enough but ruptured when the king changed. The other countries have their own plans and schedules as well, nor do they know everything going on in Kouka. One of the worst things King Il did was to allow his own country to fell into depravity and suffer from a deep division. The major tribes were practically warring with each other or cooperating with outside powers. Aside from the Wind tribe, who was being destroyed by the Fire tribe, the rest didn't really give a shit about the royal rule. And why would they have when King Il didn't give a damn about what's going on outside of the capital. As long as the capital was flourishing, King Il was happy.
You might be correct about Soo-Won's weaknesses, but so far his actions have produced desired results nonetheless. Also, his expansionism, so far, has only included areas that used to be a part of Kouka but which King Il let go when neighbours pressured him. Since King Il only cared about the capital, he readily handed over regions far from the capital. It looks like he has plans of going beyond that, but honestly dealing with the Kai empire would be good for everyone. It'd remain to be seen whether he would try to annex the place or just leave it be once he purged the current, utterly corrupt rulers. At least he spared Xing, even though it was Xing that attacked first this time.
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@Kaarme There are points you make that I should take seriously, but it's hard when you say in a tone associated with straight faces that Yona lacks charisma. Every province she goes to, everyone she meets ends up her friend and/or ally. She's dripping with the stuff. She's not as impressive as Soo-Won, but she leaves people much more disposed to be helpful to her--that's charisma.
As to connections . . . OK, she would have the Earth tribe sewn up before she started because Thunder Beast. If he said she should be the one, they'd back him unconditionally. They're not a very political bunch, they seem to operate almost entirely by personal loyalty and family connections; they'd be like a rock for her. The Water tribe would back her because she saved their buttskis in multiple ways and because their heir is a close friend and admirer. The Fire tribe would back her because the current head respects her and his brother worships the ground she walks on. The common people would be for her because she's the legitimate heir, the subject of song and story and prophecy, and beloved in many places for her exploits helping the people--it's like friggin' Robin Hood was also known to be the rightful heir to the throne. I can't remember if she's done much in Air tribe territory, but three out of four plus the commons is better than most monarchs can count on.
And everyone would be wary of crossing her because her Four Dragons are incredibly dangerous and the stories make them able to win battles all by themselves. It would be a big mistake to consider the Dragons a minor political factor--for instance, they make her practically invulnerable at the palace intrigue level. Nobody's going to suborn her palace guards and take over (which is basically what happened with King Il) because those four plus Hak could wipe out every other armed man in the palace. They also constitute a powerful commando force loyal only to her, fast moving and high impact; any political oppenent would have to be wary of that. And their mere existence grants her huge popular legitimacy (and takes it away from anyone who opposes her), because there's all the popular stories about prophecies.
Importantly, as far as I can tell in Kouka there is nobody else. She's the only heir. Everyone else with any kind of pedigree is associated mainly with one of the four tribes, and the other three would never go for one promoting itself over the rest. They'd all back Yona just to stop each other. Maybe the advisor guy could make a play, but he doesn't have the bloodline and nobody trusts him; I don't think he could pull it off. Basically, if Soo-Won disappeared there wouldn't be a power vacuum, there'd be her as the only viable option. Once in power it would be hard to push her out for the same reason--some critical mass of opponents would have to agree on how to replace her, and they got nothing. If she really, really sucked they might come up with a way around that, but very likely she would not.
Soo-Won's problems . . . some were King Il's legacy, some weren't. Consider the water tribe: The problems there were not King Il's legacy, they seem to have arisen almost entirely under Soo-Won's watch and he completely neglected the whole issue. A foreign power built a drug-dealing cartel that made a quarter of his kingdom grind practically to a halt, and he had no idea it was even happening. This is different from King Il's neglect how? And really, produced desired results? Imagine he'd succeeded in having Yona killed back at the beginning. The kingdom would by now have fallen from treachery and been invaded (maybe by two or even three different forces); it would be a morass of civil war and resistance to invasion. Most of the "desired results" were dependent on Yona and co.'s actions. And looking at the map, I see a basic problem with Soo-Won's plans for expansion. The original kingdom has a river border with Xing. If Soo-Won's policy is to try to conquer all of Xing, even just long enough to knock off a ruler or two, it's a stupid idea because Xing is much larger and more powerful. More likely he's just trying for a buffer zone, but the buffer zone is across the river and makes up one portion of an area of fairly undifferentiated plains. It is indefensible as hell, where the line of the river is at least fairly defensible. It's also inhabited by people who won't help when Xing counterattacks.
King Il's mistake wasn't preferring peace over war, nor was it being satisfied with the natural, fairly organic borders of Kouka, which are also the borders of its traditional tribal groups. That part is excellent common sense. War is destructive. It kills and causes suffering, it drains the economy and the treasury. Il's mistake was thinking that as long as he had peace he could neglect defence, not to mention just being a very self-indulgent ruler domestically, apparently paying little attention to the economy or the state of the people. But if he'd used peace to gain the prosperity that peace gives you, and used that prosperity to keep the army strong, peace would have been the boon he vaguely wanted it to be. The country needed a more dynamic ruler than Il, and Soo-Won is that, but the country does not need Soo-Won's aggressive policies, which are misguided.
As to connections . . . OK, she would have the Earth tribe sewn up before she started because Thunder Beast. If he said she should be the one, they'd back him unconditionally. They're not a very political bunch, they seem to operate almost entirely by personal loyalty and family connections; they'd be like a rock for her. The Water tribe would back her because she saved their buttskis in multiple ways and because their heir is a close friend and admirer. The Fire tribe would back her because the current head respects her and his brother worships the ground she walks on. The common people would be for her because she's the legitimate heir, the subject of song and story and prophecy, and beloved in many places for her exploits helping the people--it's like friggin' Robin Hood was also known to be the rightful heir to the throne. I can't remember if she's done much in Air tribe territory, but three out of four plus the commons is better than most monarchs can count on.
And everyone would be wary of crossing her because her Four Dragons are incredibly dangerous and the stories make them able to win battles all by themselves. It would be a big mistake to consider the Dragons a minor political factor--for instance, they make her practically invulnerable at the palace intrigue level. Nobody's going to suborn her palace guards and take over (which is basically what happened with King Il) because those four plus Hak could wipe out every other armed man in the palace. They also constitute a powerful commando force loyal only to her, fast moving and high impact; any political oppenent would have to be wary of that. And their mere existence grants her huge popular legitimacy (and takes it away from anyone who opposes her), because there's all the popular stories about prophecies.
Importantly, as far as I can tell in Kouka there is nobody else. She's the only heir. Everyone else with any kind of pedigree is associated mainly with one of the four tribes, and the other three would never go for one promoting itself over the rest. They'd all back Yona just to stop each other. Maybe the advisor guy could make a play, but he doesn't have the bloodline and nobody trusts him; I don't think he could pull it off. Basically, if Soo-Won disappeared there wouldn't be a power vacuum, there'd be her as the only viable option. Once in power it would be hard to push her out for the same reason--some critical mass of opponents would have to agree on how to replace her, and they got nothing. If she really, really sucked they might come up with a way around that, but very likely she would not.
Soo-Won's problems . . . some were King Il's legacy, some weren't. Consider the water tribe: The problems there were not King Il's legacy, they seem to have arisen almost entirely under Soo-Won's watch and he completely neglected the whole issue. A foreign power built a drug-dealing cartel that made a quarter of his kingdom grind practically to a halt, and he had no idea it was even happening. This is different from King Il's neglect how? And really, produced desired results? Imagine he'd succeeded in having Yona killed back at the beginning. The kingdom would by now have fallen from treachery and been invaded (maybe by two or even three different forces); it would be a morass of civil war and resistance to invasion. Most of the "desired results" were dependent on Yona and co.'s actions. And looking at the map, I see a basic problem with Soo-Won's plans for expansion. The original kingdom has a river border with Xing. If Soo-Won's policy is to try to conquer all of Xing, even just long enough to knock off a ruler or two, it's a stupid idea because Xing is much larger and more powerful. More likely he's just trying for a buffer zone, but the buffer zone is across the river and makes up one portion of an area of fairly undifferentiated plains. It is indefensible as hell, where the line of the river is at least fairly defensible. It's also inhabited by people who won't help when Xing counterattacks.
King Il's mistake wasn't preferring peace over war, nor was it being satisfied with the natural, fairly organic borders of Kouka, which are also the borders of its traditional tribal groups. That part is excellent common sense. War is destructive. It kills and causes suffering, it drains the economy and the treasury. Il's mistake was thinking that as long as he had peace he could neglect defence, not to mention just being a very self-indulgent ruler domestically, apparently paying little attention to the economy or the state of the people. But if he'd used peace to gain the prosperity that peace gives you, and used that prosperity to keep the army strong, peace would have been the boon he vaguely wanted it to be. The country needed a more dynamic ruler than Il, and Soo-Won is that, but the country does not need Soo-Won's aggressive policies, which are misguided.
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@Purplelibraryguy You are right about Yona having certain kind of charisma, I neglected that side. However, her charisma is kind of on the idol side, which is natural since she's pretty, with an unusual hair colour and known to be a princess with no bad reputation. She's also very down to earth and likable (and surrounded by bishounen). This might work to a good degree, but it's not necessarily perfectly what a royal ruler needs. Though I have no doubt a few more years and growing up with a suitable character would give her a good amount of regal bearing.
She's lacking all kind of connections with officials, bureaucrats, merchants, officers, the sort of people that make a kingdom run from day to day. But once again, if given a chance, time would fix that. However, it would also require her to possess someone like Kye-Sook, a very smart and capable advisor. Presently, she hasn't got anyone like that, not that I could remember anyway.
Soo-Won was right there as well when Yona was solving the slave trade case and the drug case, just arriving a bit later, which is natural since he has a kingdom to run. It's obvious he was planning to solve those cases, which with 100% certainty had already begun during King Il's reign, but were left untouched due to the foreign policy element, which was the king's responsibility. However, King Il was unwilling to do anything that might have annoyed the neighbouring countries, so the foreigner-driven slave and drug businesses prospered.
The Xing case is solved already. Of course thanks to Yona who settled the things with the two princesses and exposed the creepy priest Kobi (or whatever was his name). Kai is the current issue, which needs to be dealth with. They were also operating the slave and drug trades. There're also some internal troubles in Kai if memory serves. If Soo-Won, and Kouka, has the resources to deal with Kai, they should do it. It would be like the British and the Americans wanting get rid of the nazis in Germany. They could establish a better government there and then leave the place. Like you said, it would be a lot of headache to try to rule the place directly.
King Il believed that as long as he happily accepted all foreign demands, everybody would leave Kouka in peace. It was an absurd, and costly, way of thinking. The only thing that saved Kouka somewhat from foreign incursions would be the relative independence of the major tribes. They wouldn't simply sit on their hands if armies marches over the borders, even if King Il had decided to ignore a whole war. The neighbouring countries would have known that as well. Under Soo-Won's rule, without Yona, there would have been more blood shed, but other than that, who knows what would have happened. Unlike King Il, Soo-Won paid attention to military matters and once again brought the major tribes around the same table, able to be mobilised as needed.
She's lacking all kind of connections with officials, bureaucrats, merchants, officers, the sort of people that make a kingdom run from day to day. But once again, if given a chance, time would fix that. However, it would also require her to possess someone like Kye-Sook, a very smart and capable advisor. Presently, she hasn't got anyone like that, not that I could remember anyway.
Soo-Won was right there as well when Yona was solving the slave trade case and the drug case, just arriving a bit later, which is natural since he has a kingdom to run. It's obvious he was planning to solve those cases, which with 100% certainty had already begun during King Il's reign, but were left untouched due to the foreign policy element, which was the king's responsibility. However, King Il was unwilling to do anything that might have annoyed the neighbouring countries, so the foreigner-driven slave and drug businesses prospered.
The Xing case is solved already. Of course thanks to Yona who settled the things with the two princesses and exposed the creepy priest Kobi (or whatever was his name). Kai is the current issue, which needs to be dealth with. They were also operating the slave and drug trades. There're also some internal troubles in Kai if memory serves. If Soo-Won, and Kouka, has the resources to deal with Kai, they should do it. It would be like the British and the Americans wanting get rid of the nazis in Germany. They could establish a better government there and then leave the place. Like you said, it would be a lot of headache to try to rule the place directly.
King Il believed that as long as he happily accepted all foreign demands, everybody would leave Kouka in peace. It was an absurd, and costly, way of thinking. The only thing that saved Kouka somewhat from foreign incursions would be the relative independence of the major tribes. They wouldn't simply sit on their hands if armies marches over the borders, even if King Il had decided to ignore a whole war. The neighbouring countries would have known that as well. Under Soo-Won's rule, without Yona, there would have been more blood shed, but other than that, who knows what would have happened. Unlike King Il, Soo-Won paid attention to military matters and once again brought the major tribes around the same table, able to be mobilised as needed.
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