The King: Eternal Monarch

April 17, 2020

Korean Emperor Lee Gon (Lee Min-ho) crosses through a dimensional portal into the parallel Republic of Korea. He meets detective Jung Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun), whose ID he has carried since childhood as the only clue to the portal's existence.

April 17, 2020

Tae-eul's world — the Republic of Korea, its police force, its ordinary streets — is established alongside the Emperor's world in the parallel Korean Empire. The Seongbuk forest area marks the portal.

April 24, 2020

The Korean Empire's palace world — Gyeongbokgung as its centre — and the political conspiracy surrounding the portal are established.

May 1, 2020

Lee Lim (Lee Jung-jin), who stole half the magical flute that controls the portal, is identified as the drama's central antagonist.

May 8, 2020

Extended sequences at the Seongbuk forest portal location. The drama's dimensional travel sequences at their most visually elaborate.

May 8, 2020

The relationship between the emperor and the detective at its most developed. Both worlds are in danger from Lee Lim.

May 15, 2020

Characters in the two parallel worlds — some identical, some radically different — are examined in counterpoint.

May 15, 2020

Gyeongbokgung Palace as the target of Lee Lim's conspiracy. The Emperor's home world in genuine danger.

May 22, 2020

The drama introduces a time-manipulation element alongside the parallel world conceit. Its plotting reaches maximum complexity.

May 29, 2020

Lee Gon and Tae-eul's alliance across both worlds against Lee Lim and his operatives.

May 29, 2020

A major sacrifice changes the drama's direction.

June 5, 2020

The drama's climactic dimensional sequence — all timelines and worlds converging.

June 12, 2020

The finale. A high-concept fantasy romance whose ambition occasionally exceeded its execution but whose love story delivered the emotional satisfaction the premise promised. Lee Min-ho's best performance since Boys Over Flowers.