Yona 131
Well, I guess that's going to happen now, wow. I wouldn't have thought Yona would be willing to go back and meet Soo Woon after everything, but meeting and seeing Kouren had left such an impact it was the only thing left to do.
I liked how the chapter brought back up 2 pieces of information we touched upon in the past; the Kouka before King Il's reign was seen as formidable, but also incredibly barbaric by the smaller neighbouring nations and that Kouren might not be all that confident that she can win this war she's drumming up support for.
The first point was something that the series had been glossing over for a while now, which is understandable given how unpopular Il is presented by the Kouka populace and 4 out of the 5 generals weren't really that beaten up over his assassination and Soo Woon's usurping the throne. But as much as Soo-Woon is shown to be the better king and is doing the "correct" moves to restore the kingdom's position on the international stage and make it as fearsome as it once was, that doesn't change that those days are not looked to fondly by the people Kouka went to war with.
I always thought that Il's position made him the better person in comparison to his father and brother, and it says a lot that the hands down strongest clan in Kouka supported his ideals of peace. Sadly, he didn't have the political finesse necessary to both maintain Kouka's status as a regional power and also placate the power hungry factions (the fire clan), the military factions (the earth and sky clans) and not being able to deal with the issues of Kai weakening the country via human trafficking and Sai drug trade made him a failure as a king, even if his ideals were noble.
By contrast, Soo Woon's father was by all accounts a terrible man who seemed to want to murder everyone who opposed him, be it the religious in Kouka or the civilians in villages on the borders or just about anyone outside of the kingdoms natural borders. He was certainly good at doing it, which is why no one ever gave him shit for doing it, but a future under his rule would have been bleak.
It's natural then that while some might use his death as an excuse to bully Kouka a bit for some grandstanding, the countries that lost the most in those old wars would be preparing to fight back when the son of the man that murdered them in the hundreds suddenly assumes the throne. I don't know what telling Soo Woon about Tao's intentions to turn Xing into a vassal state of Kouka will do to defuse tensions when we seen how people follow Kouren, but we'll see.
As for Kouren herself, well ... charismatic, tall, beautiful and strong of character. She gives off a strong (more younger and handsome) Kan Soo Jin vibe, what's her talk of purity and how Xing's people are the chosen ones, becoming deities ... a lot of bravado, a lot of charisma, but lacking in substance or action.
Tao did mention she didn't think her sister could win the war she was trying to start, and from the looks of it, Tao is right. Kouren, outside of a miracle, doesn't have a path to victory.
Watching her try and actually enlist children into her army means that, aside from the moral problems with such an act, she doesn't have anywhere near enough men in her army to lead an assault against one of the most military powerful nations around her. Not only that, the fact that half of her generals had up and defected in opposition to her plans, and one of the ones who stuck by her is certainly insane, means she doesn't have enough seasoned vets by her side either.
What is she going to do, lead an army with half little boys, and 2 generals against Soo Woon, his 5 generals and his army of well trained soldiers?
I honestly didn't think that Yona would come around to the idea of meeting Soo Woon again, but I guess it is the only conceivable way to avert the tragedy that is about to happen. It took a lot of maturity and courage for her to decide that.
Hak's just sad to see agree to go along, since despite his pain, he still loves Yona too much to ever let his feelings get in the way of what she wants to do.
