Frozen Flower is set around the place during the Goryeo dynasty. And here movie’s fictional King established his own unit of highly skilled bodyguards known as the Kunryongwe. These guards are led by Hong Lim.
The movie centers on the love triangle that develops between the Queen, a Mongolian Yuan princess, and the King. Hong Lim is presented as being devoted and loyal to an extreme right from the beginning when he first appears as a young child in training to join the Kunryongwe.
He might not be the finest swordsman, but he always puts in the most practice. His loyalty quickly attracted the King’s attention, who loved having him as a close friend. The King and Hong Lim grow closer, and their relationship gets deeper.
The King is shown as a gay man who can’t give a child to his wife and a future King to his people. So the King tells Hong Lim to try to have a baby with her. Hong Lim follows his King’s orders but, in the process, falls in love with the Queen. Frozen Flower’s ending is heartbreaking to see and has so much behind it. So let’s talk about the Frozen Flower’s heartbreaking ending and the meaning behind it.
Frozen Flower Ending
Although Hong Lim is filled with self-doubt at his own treachery, the King begins to lose faith in Hong Lim. He does assure the King that his actions were motivated by misguided lust. Everybody tries to go back to life as it was, but this simply worsens matters. The inevitable is clearly taking shape, and the next incident is all that is needed to release the tension.
The King makes the decision to send Hong Lim to the border to get some fresh air. However, the Queen notifies Hong Lim that she is expecting a child. The King and his court of servants and guards catch Hong and Queen in the act as they gather in their usual spot, the library.
The King is furious and sentences Hong Lim to imprisonment and castration. With the aid of his friends, who are still with the guard, he succeeds in escaping the prison. The five of them look for safety in a historic temple. The Queen, who must now defend herself and her infant alone, is the King’s only leverage.
Upon realizing this, Hong Lim naturally leaves his friends behind in order to ride toward the Queen’s rescue. Midway, he sees the foolishness of going up against the emperor. Sadly, the King captures Hong’s friends and tortures them to get Hong’s location.
At the end of the Frozen Flower, the King tricks Hong Lim into coming to him by making him think that he killed the Queen. The two fight with hatred for each other. By the end of the fight, they both end up stabbing each other, and during this time, The King asks Hong Lim if he ever loved him. The two die, looking at each other.
Frozen Flower Ending Explained
Death is hardly the worst thing that happens to Hong Lim. Unlike what the King originally showed in the painting, a bow is not only controlled by the King. He now gets the opportunity to shoot with his own bow and the independence to make his own decisions.
In his final moments, Hong Lim is delighted with the knowledge that he will soon give birth to a kid who will continue his legacy. His final brief look and tears for the King, in my opinion, were both a farewell and an expression of gratefulness for everything the King had done for him—for the love, friendship, consideration, and generosity—as well as for helping him find a kind of independence in his relationship with the Queen and, most importantly, for sparing her and his unborn child.
It could also have been an apology towards the other for unfounded hatred that was supposedly the deciding factor in his intention to exact revenge, as well as regret over killing someone he had long admired. Unfortunately, the Queen witnesses her beloved’s death, and luckily he does too, but only after she has fought the controlling force to the very end.
The sub-chief had to quickly tie up the situation and inform everyone that the man was an assassin and had been killed. This relationship does not apply to the Queen. She is intelligent, though, and is aware of all royal politics. She is now the sole ruler of Goryeo and the untouchable princess of Yuan. Her maid companion is now gone, leaving her alone, but at least she has the satisfaction of being a mother.
She and Hong Lim were fearless because of the love that gave birth to this child. The King who had put the child’s safety in jeopardy is no longer there. She will remember that moment from their final encounter when Hong Lim advised her to be tough and start taking care of herself.
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