Akatsuki no Yona (Yona of the Dawn): Season 1/ Episode 6 “Red Hair” – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Overview

As Soo-Won is crowned, and speaks on the future of Kouka, Yona meets the exiled priest.

Review (with Spoilers)

Considering Soo-Won’s intentions for Kouka, I do wonder how much he may end up actually getting accomplished. For with him needing to unite the clans, and fend off the northern and southern kingdoms, he has quite a bit of work to do. As for Yona, with her still in exile, with Hak, we are still left to wonder how her journey from princess to warrior will be. Especially in light of all that has happened.

For more on “Red Hair,” look below.

Topic 1: The Fire In Her Eyes (Part 2) – Yona, Gang Tae-Jun, and Hak

As Yona stares down Tae-Jun, Hak continues to deal with Tae-Jun’s men as poison courses through his veins. But, upon noticing Yona out of hiding, he goes to save her and his body falters. Thus nearly leading to his death, but Yona saves him. Issue is, in her trying to save him Hak and her fall off a cliff to the trees and rocks below.

Commentary

Something not mentioned in the summary is Tae-Jun’s look when he watches Yona fall. But I feel I must mention it here for, with the way he acts, it brings into question if he solely saw her as his means to become king. For after he sees her possible death, and shows Soo-Won the hair Yona cut off to get out of his grasp, it almost makes it seem like he did actually care for her. Now, whether it was because the fire in her eyes made him think of his clan, or because he loved her from the start, I can’t say. Either way, I would argue that perhaps becoming king wasn’t the sole reason for his interest in Yona.

Topic 2: The Coronation Ceremony – Soo-Won

The day has come for Soo-Won to be crowned king and all the clans have arrived [1]. However, even with the clans approval, much work is to be done. For if Soo-Won is going to make the sacrifices of his friends worth it, as well as make killing the former king justified, he has to do more than the status-kuo. Of which, it seems what he plans to do is bring respect back to Kouka and it seems the main way he may do so is reversing all King Il did. Meaning war is likely on the horizon in order to get back the lands King Il gave up for peace.

Commentary

With Soo-Won believing Hak and Yona dead, it means he has no reason to focus on them and can focus solely on being king. Hopefully meaning, in the near future, between him and Yona, we may end up seeing some action. Though, at the same time, with all the problems Soo-Won mentions he has to overcome, I wouldn’t mind seeing some politics as well. Also, I want to learn about what led Keishuk to side with Soo-Won and assist in the assassination. For while we know why Soo-Won killed King Il, as I said before: there remains so much information missing about the situation. Which I may eventually forget to care about, but that may be no time soon.

Topic 3: Down In The Valley – Yona, Yun, and Ik-Su

After the fall, we find Yona has minor injuries while Hak is seemingly knocked out. Leading to the question: who saved them? Well, it seemingly was a boy named Yun who is under the guardianship of Ik-Su, the priest Yona and Hak were supposed to find.

Commentary

Ik-Su seems like an interesting character, but from what it seems Yun is going to be the one who joins Yona’s clan. However, with Ik-Su’s inclusion we may perhaps learn why King Il betrayed his brother. After all, it was Soo-Won’s father who banished him, Ik-Su. Though considering how young Ik-Su looks, maybe it was his father and not him who was banned. It’s rather hard to tell.

Collected Quote(s)

“A heaven that only watches has no meaning for me. I do not want gods, but the power of people.”

—           Soo-Won – “Red Hair.” Akatsuki no Yona

Things To Note

Soo-Won notes that he will have the following issues when it comes to uniting the clans: Fire clan wants the throne, and have for a long time; The Earth Clan wants a powerful, and respectable master; The Water Clan maybe willing to see how things go, but could cause problems; and as for the Wind Clan? Well, once they learn the truth they can quickly become an issue. After all, they are all well trained by Mun-Deok and seem like a spirited bunch. Ones who, if they were to rebel, could hurt the kingdom enough to allow outsides to deal a crushing blow.