Queen Jiso (Kim Ji-soo) as regent, has been the ruler of Silla since the death of her father, King Beopheung, while keeping her son, Sammaekjong (Park Hyung-sik), hidden from enemies and assassins. As the young King comes of age, citizens, officials and Sammaekjong himself, have all grown impatient for her to cede power. However, the powerful nobles that tried to usurp the power continue to eye the throne, and Jiso fears the consequences of her ceding it. In order to break the power of the nobles, who have grown accustomed to their privileges under the bone rank system, Jiso plans to create a new elite group, the Hwarang, that will cut across the existing power factions, and to bind them to protect her son and the throne. As this new elite group of male youths bond and grow,[8][unreliable source?] they are unaware that within their number is their King, Sammaekjong, and Kim Sun-woo (Park Seo-joon), a commoner with a secret even he is not aware of.

Comments are closed.