My Country: The New Age (나의 나라, Naui Nara, meaning literally "My Country") is a 2019 South Korean series starring Yang Se-jong, Woo Do-hwan, Kim Seol-hyun and Jang Hyuk.
During the end of the Goryeo dynasty and the start of Joseon dynasty, Seo Hwi and Nam Seon-ho start out as friends but become enemies after a fight.
Contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Nam Jeon forces Seon-ho to practice archery when he's exhausted and his hand is bleeding.
- Action Prologue: In the prologue Hwi's soldiers join forces with Bang-won's to attack Nam Jeon.
- Adapted Out: Historically Seong-gye abdicated in favour of his oldest surviving son, Bang-gwa. Two years later Bang-gwa abdicated in favour of Bang-won. The series only mentions Bang-gwa briefly and portrays Seong-gye as handing the throne directly to Bang-won.
- All for Nothing: Seon-ho rebels against his father and kills his father's servants to save Yeon... and she gets killed right when she's about to escape.
- Annoying Arrows:
- Bang-won is shot in the chest twice and survives. In real life one arrow to the chest would probably be fatal, let alone two. Justified because he was shot as part of a staged assassination attempt that he orchestrated, so obviously he was never in any real danger.
- Seon-ho gets shot in the arm, pulls the arrow out, then fights off a group of soldiers.
- Archnemesis Dad:
- Nam Jeon for Seon-ho. After Yeon's death Seon-ho sets out to kill his father.
- Seong-gye for Bang-won. Seong-gye manipulates Bang-won while Bang-won grows increasingly angry with the situation and finally lashes out.
- Arrows on Fire: Hwi's soldiers set their arrows on fire before attacking Chwiwoldang.
- Awful Truth: Bang-won framed Hwi's father. When Hwi discovers this it sets in motion the events that lead to his and Seon-ho's deaths.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Hwi and Seon-ho fight back-to-back in episode one.
- Bastard Angst: Seon-ho wants to become an officer so people will stop seeing him as just a concubine's son.
- Bastard Bastard / Heroic Bastard: Seon-ho swings back and forth between both tropes depending on how much of an Anti-Hero he is at any given time.
- Bittersweet Ending / Downer Ending: Hwi and Seon-ho both die, but Hui-jae and Hwi's friends survive and can live in peace.
- Blood from the Mouth:
- Seol's illness makes her cough up blood.
- Blood spurts from Seon-ho's mouth when he's fatally injured.
- Cain and Abel: Bang-won goes from being the Cain to Bang-seok's Abel to being the Abel to Bang-gan's Cain.
- Cold-Blooded Torture:
- Seon-ho is tortured after being arrested.
- Nam Jeon is tortured when Seong-gye finds out about his part in the assassination plots.
- Combat Hand Fan: Bang-won uses a fan to block Bang-gan's attack.
- Convulsive Seizures: Yeon falls to the ground and convulses when she has seizures.
- Damsel out of Distress: Hui-jae's taken hostage by the man who killed her mother. While he's distracted she stabs him and shoves him away, giving Hwi the chance to shoot him.
- Death Faked for You: Seon-ho tells Hwi that Yeon is dead. She's still alive, though with Laser-Guided Amnesia.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- Hui-jae is willing to kill a child.
- Seon-ho kills a horse and no one does anything to stop him.
- Lampshaded in-universe: it's legal for General Jung to beat a commoner to death, but he'd be executed if anyone found out he was gambling. Seon-ho finds this darkly amusing.
- Determinator: Seon-ho is a dark example. Nothing will stop him passing the exam and becoming an officer. Nothing. Not even the fact he has to defeat Hwi to pass. Not even the fact he has to cheat and betray Hwi to defeat him.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Yeon and Seon-ho both die in Hwi's arms.
- Driven to Suicide: Hwi and Yeon's father killed himself rather than be executed.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Seon-ho starts drinking after Bang-won kills Nam Jeon, depriving Seon-ho of his revenge.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Hui-jae nicknames Seon-ho "Pancake".
- Evil Gloating: Nam Jeon indulges in this while trying to strangle Bang-won, telling him that he'll gain power over the crown prince and will become the real power behind the throne.
- Exact Eavesdropping: Yeon eavesdrops on Hui-jae confronting Seon-ho and learns Nam Jeon is holding her hostage.
- Eye Scream: One of Hwi's arrows hits a man in the eye.
- Faking the Dead: Hwi pretends to commit suicide. Seon-ho witnesses his apparent death and thinks he really is dead.
- Foregone Conclusion: Anyone familiar with early Joseon history knows that Bang-won becomes king.
- God Save Us from the Queen! / Wicked Stepmother: Queen Sindeok wants her son to be the next king, and to ensure he gets the throne she conspires to have his half-brother murdered.
- Gorgeous Period Dress: All over the place, on both men and women. Examples: Seon-ho's blue
◊ and Hui-jae's pink◊ costumes. - Groin Attack: Hui-jae kicks a guard in the groin.
- Harmful to Minors:
- Hwi and Yeon witnessed their father's death when they were children.
- Hui-jae was a child when she saw her mother killed in front of her.
- Seon-ho was a child when he failed to save his half-brother from drowning, and immediately afterwards his father told him he should have died instead.
- Historical Domain Character: Bang-won, Seong-gye, Queen Sindeok, and several other characters are based on real people.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Seong-gye deliberately sets Bang-won against Bang-seok. This leads directly to Bang-won's rebellion and Bang-seok's death.
- How We Got Here: The prologue takes place in 1398. The rest of episode one takes place in 1388.
- Human Pincushion: This is how Hwi dies.
- Human Shield: A criminal grabs Hui-jae and uses her as a shield so Hwi can't shoot him.
- Impaled Palm: Seon-ho stabs a man in the back of the hand.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
- A man gets impaled by a arrow through the chest in episode two.
- General Jung gets stabbed through the chest by Hwi.
- Yeon dies after being stabbed in the chest.
- Seong-rok dies by being stabbed several times, including through the chest.
- Seon-ho dies by being stabbed in the chest and stomach at least three times.
- Interrupted Suicide: Seon-ho is about to kill himself when Hwi interrupts.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Nam Jeon is a horrendous person, but he's right when he says Seon-ho chose to betray Hwi and can't blame the betrayal on Nam Jeon.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Yeon loses her memory after Hwi is taken away.
- Lonely at the Top: Bang-won's fate at the end. He gets the throne... at the cost of Hwi's life.
- Missing Mum: Seon-ho's mother hanged herself after he was taken away from her.
- Multishot: Hwi shoots two men at once.
- Mutual Kill: Tae-ryeong stabs Seon-ho. As Seon-ho's dying he picks up his sword and stabs Tae-ryeong.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Seon-ho says this to Bang-won.Seon-ho: You and I are alike. We both tried to harm our own fathers. You did what you could to give your father the throne and now you're trying to steal it. Actually, you put him on the throne to steal it away. It's what I plan to do as well.
- Ominous Korean Chanting: Shows up on the soundtrack occasionally, especially in episode nine when Nam Jeon barges into Bang-won's house.
- Once More, with Clarity: Episode eight ends with Hwi shooting Bang-won. Episode nine shows the events leading up to the attack and reveals it was staged by Hwi and Bang-won to trick Nam Jeon.
- Outliving One's Offspring:
- Nam Jeon outlived his legitimate son, who died as a child.
- Seong-gye outlives his son Bang-seok.
- Princeling Rivalry: Seong-gye deliberately starts one between his legitimate son Bang-won and his illegitimate son Bang-seok — though most of the rivalry is on Bang-won's side at first, since Bang-seok is just a child for half of the series.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Hui-jae gives Seon-ho a brief one in episode six.Hui-jae: You walk and trample all over others. I know where else I've seen that type of behaviour. You're just like your father. Like two peas in a pod.
- Royally Screwed Up: The Yi family. Seong-gye deliberately stirs up trouble between his sons. His oldest son is an alcoholic. His second son is a womaniser with fifteen illegitimate sons. His third son is incompetent. His fourth son is an alcoholic and womaniser. And then of course there's Bang-won, who Seong-gye goes out of his way to humiliate and who reacts predictably.
- Sadistic Choice: Seong-gye gives Seon-ho one: either he shoots a fleeing, unarmed man, or Seon-ho and his father will both be killed. Seon-ho shoots the man.
- Scars Are Forever:
- Bang-won has a scar above his eye that never fades.
- Hwi gains a scar under his eye early in the series and it stays for the rest of his life.
- Sibling Murder: Bang-won kills Bang-seok.
- Share the Male Pain: Hwi and Seon-ho wince in unison when Hui-jae kicks a guard between the legs.
- Slipknot Ponytail: Seong-gye fires an arrow at Bang-won's head. It doesn't hurt Bang-won but tears out his hair-pin, undoing his topknot and making his hair fall loose.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Hui-jae dresses as a man when she puts up posters around the city.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Hwi kills a man by throwing his sword at him.
- Undying Loyalty: Seong-rok for Seon-ho. Seong-rok follows Seon-ho everywhere, including to the Jurchen camp and in their attack on Bang-won.
- The Unfavorite:
- Seon-ho. His legitimate half-brother was the favourite but died as a child, so his father has no choice but to treat him as his heir but makes no secret of his disdain for Seon-ho.
- Bang-won. His father prefers his illegitimate half-brother Bang-seok.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Seon-ho, in more ways than one. Bang-won spares his life and Seon-ho repays him by killing his soldiers and trying to kill him.
- Use Your Head: Hui-jae headbutts Hwi when he complains about the mess she's got him into.
- Would Hurt a Child: Hui-jae is about to kill Bang-seok, who's just a child at the time, before his guards intervenes. Somewhat justified, Deliberate Values Dissonance-style, since she thought they were about to be captured and killed by enemy soldiers.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Seon-ho helps Yeon escape and she's reunited with Hwi. They're about to leave and go somewhere safe when they're attacked and Yeon is killed.
- Young Future Famous People: Yi Bang-won's young son is seen briefly. He isn't named, but he may be either the future King Sejong the Great, the future Grand Prince Yangnyeong, or the future Grand Prince Hyoryeong.
- You Should Have Died Instead:
- Nam Jeon tells Seon-ho he should have died instead of his half-brother.
- Seong-gye says this to Bang-won after Bang-seok's death.
