Perfect Crown Ending Explained: The romantic political Korean drama 21세기 대군 부인 is directed by Park Joon-hwa, which features IU in the role of Hui-ju and Byeon Woo-seok as Grand Prince I-an alongside Noh Sang-hyun, Gong Seung-yeon, Yoo Su-bin, Lee Yeon and others. The plot revolves around the lives of Hui-ju and I-an and their entanglement in the conspiracies of the palace, assassinations, and betrayals which happen when the royal family rules the destiny of people. With everything getting disclosed in the end, I-an must make the decision regarding his country’s future in the presence of his wife.
Perfect Crown Ending Explained
Why Did Yun Yi-rang Turn Against Her Father?
Yi-rang appears mostly as an antagonist character throughout the Perfect Crown series. She is always at loggerheads with Hui-ju, engages in politics at the palace, and works to hinder I-an from rising to prominence. However, as the plot develops, it becomes apparent that Yi-rang is a victim of the harsh royal world as well as her father’s desires. Her whole existence is defined by her father’s political aspirations. She once aspired to become a pianist and enjoy liberty, but Sung-won coerced her into becoming the crown princess just to enhance their influence within the palace.
Initially, Yi-rang complied with him since she thought that securing the throne also meant saving her son, Yi-yoon. Even after the demise of the former king, she continues to believe that whatever sacrifices she had been putting up with were for the sake of her son’s future. However, gradually, she begins to understand the extent to which Sung-won is ready to go in order to achieve his goal. The attempted poisoning, political manoeuvring, and ultimately the explosion at the council hall cause her to realise that her father cares neither for her son nor for the throne, but just for power. It is when Sung-won demands the death of I-an publicly that Yi-rang finally gets the picture.
The moment when Yi-rang realises she needs to stop protecting her father and save her son is after the explosion that almost takes I-an’s life and shocks Yi-yoon. At this stage, Yi-rang realises that her continued support for her father will ruin her son’s future. Rather than perpetuating the culture of corruption in the country, Yi-rang decides to confess her crimes to I-an and gives him all the evidence he needs to prosecute Sung-won. More importantly, she is ready to face any punishment for her criminal acts. For Yi-rang, this moment becomes the most tragic aspect of the drama.
Who Was Truly Behind the Palace Fire?
In the K-drama Perfect Crown, it can be seen that Prince I-an remains under constant threat because he poses a threat to the existing equilibrium, which many people are interested in maintaining. These threats begin after the first attempt made to sabotage the brakes of Hui-ju’s car, followed by another attempt made to murder him on the day of his marriage to Hui-ju with poisoned drinks. Later, the explosion inside the council hall further proves that someone powerful is determined to eliminate him before he can gain complete control over the throne.
In the beginning, most of the suspicion falls on the shoulders of Queen Mother Yi-rang due to her enmity towards I-an and the desire to protect the interests of her son, Yi-yoon. However, it is later revealed that Sung-won was the real person behind all the plots and conspiracies that happened around I-an. To Sung-won, I-an was a threat since the prince was not prepared to accept any control from the royal families or the nobles. The latter knew that with time, everything about the current monarchy system would fall apart once I-an succeeded in his quest for power.
The Perfect Crown finale delivers a shocking revelation when it becomes clear that Prime Minister Min Jeong-woo was also involved in the explosion. Although Sung-won had the necessary political influence and means to pull off such a heinous act, he could only do so with the tacit support of Jeong-woo, who felt that I-an’s plan to overthrow the monarchy would plunge Korea into chaos. The desire to preserve the dynasty and his love for Hui-ju eventually led him to do things that were morally indefensible. The series ultimately illustrates how the monarchy enabled people to commit acts of depravity under the guise of preserving their position.
What Happened to Min Jeong-woo in the End of Perfect Crown?
Perhaps one of the most tragic aspects of the ending of Perfect Crown is the fall of Min Jeong-woo, since he starts off as a man who truly appears loyal to Hui-ju and to I-an. He always seemed cool-headed, intelligent, and reliable as prime minister; however, beneath all that appeared the emotionally conflicted person that he really was. Jeong-woo had long been in love with Hui-ju, and he despised how she gradually drifted away from him towards I-an. On another note, his obsession with keeping the crown secure grew more and more intense.
He is now outed in the climax through the cabinet meeting where Hui-ju plays the recording Yi-rang secretly made of their conversation. This is when his pretence as the benevolent prime minister falls apart. It is only during his clash with I-an that Jeong-woo lets all the resentment he had kept bottled up inside come out. He tells her that he took away everything from him, including his Hui-ju, not just his political power over the country’s future but all of it.
With such words, it makes it clear that his actions were never only about protecting the crown. Jeong-woo’s obsession, jealousy, and hatred for I-an had taken complete hold of him. Rather than accepting Hui-ju’s feelings for I-an, he became angry and possessive of her. For both Hui-ju and I-an, this act of betrayal is very heart-wrenching because Jeong-woo used to be a person they absolutely trusted. By the finale of Perfect Crown, Jeong-woo is in prison and loses everything that was important to him: his power and influence, his image, as well as all his dear friends.
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Was I-an Successful in Ending the Monarchy?
Certainly, I-an successfully brings an end to the monarchy, but the thing that makes his decision effective is the method he uses to achieve that. Unlike the noblemen who continuously tried to manipulate the royal power for their selfish interests, I-an does not try to impose his ideology on the country. Having officially become a monarch himself, he publicly declares his plan to abolish the monarchy since he realises that the institution does not work in favour of ordinary citizens anymore.
There is considerable opposition to his decision on the part of people such as Jeong-woo and members of the government, as well as conservatives who fear that they will lose their status as a result of its loss. Despite becoming the ruler, I-an continues to experience the same pressure regarding the need to retain the very institution, just like his predecessors did. Instead of utilising his royal status to make the decision unilaterally, however, he gives the destiny of the monarchy into the hands of the common people.
In Episode 12 of Perfect Crown, the people eventually vote in favour of abolishing the monarchy, thus bringing to an end the long years of reign by the monarchs. For I-an, this marks the point of liberation, not humiliation, since he can now live his life without being a prince forced into certain duties and under the control of the palace. He can now finally live as himself, as Lee Wan, a man by the side of his wife. This brings his character development full circle, because his greatest triumph lay not in taking over the throne, but rather, in breaking free from the system.
Did Choi Hyeon and Do Hye-jeong End Up Together?
Yes, Choi Hyeon and Hye-jeong do eventually come together at the end of Perfect Crown, making their story one of the best parts of the drama. Where there is a rather convoluted romantic storyline between Hui-ju and I-an, full of politics and social pressures, there is only natural development of feelings between Choi Hyeon and Hye-jeong amid all the chaos of the palace.
This relationship only grows stronger during the contract marriage controversy and the issue of succession, where they end up spending a lot of time working towards protecting I-an and Hui-ju. Most of these scenes appear less stressful as opposed to the political battles occurring within the palace and include more tender emotional moments. In particular, Hye-jeong starts opening up to Choi Hyeon while he is clearly worried about her well-being.
The development of their relationship starts to be clear to everyone surrounding them, even before they realise it themselves. Their relationship officially starts in the finale when they share a romantic moment of kissing each other.
Do I-an and Hui-ju Get Their Happy Ending?
At the end of Perfect Crown, I-an and Hui-ju have the serene life they dreamt of throughout the series. The two finally succeed in breaking away from the oppressive royal system, which ruled their lives through constant schemes, assassinations, scandals, and heartbreaks. When the people vote to remove the royal family from power, I-an is finally released from his role as a prince and then as the king of the nation. It was truly touching to see I-an asking Hui-ju to refer to him not as a king but just simply as “Lee Wan”.
It then skips forward three years to see how happy everyone is without the pressure of the royal crown. Hui-ju goes back to work at Castle Beauty and enjoys her job wholeheartedly because it is the one she truly loves, not the one she has to endure in order to survive. On the other hand, I-an turns out to be unexpectedly good at adapting to the normal world, although he is still extremely loyal to Hui-ju. In a humorous yet touching turn of events, he intends to formally ask her to marry him once more because he wishes to get married like an average couple.
It was wonderfully emphasised in the Perfect Crown Episode 12 ending that freedom, love, and equality became far more valuable than anything else in life. Both Hui-ju and I-an attended a sports event organised by the Castle Group, where both of them wore jersey costumes, thus becoming just a part of an average group of people rather than royalty. Once the public started cheering for Hui-ju and I-an to kiss, he did not resist and kissed Hui-ju. The play concluded not with the victory of politics but with something very simple and natural.
