In my 15 years of watching kdramas I’ve seen some terrible endings but Mr. Queen has perhaps the worst and most unsatisfynig ending in the history of kdramaland. The series has been well-written and stellar throughout most of its run, developing its love story and characters well, but the final episode has ruined all of that which is even a bigger pity because the acting was sublime.

So Yong hasn’t been present aka being in charge of her body’s actions and reactions for 99% of the story. It’s been all Bong Hwan. Cheoljong didn’t fall in love with So Yong but Bong Hwan in her body. He literally admitted this to BH. That it was his temper, his character traits, including the bad ones, that made him fall in love with Bong Hwan in an epic love confession. Not once did he mention about her body, her beauty or her zither playing skills. So Yong “fell in love” with Cheoljong because of one meeting in their childhood and her father’s wishes that she should become a queen.

What I really appreciated about Mr. Queen was how they basically said “fuck the whole childhood love/love at first sight/first love trope” even with Hwa Jin and Cheoljong when he admitted that he liked her not because of the childhood meeting but because she became his friend later so it wasn’t a case of mistaken identities that developed his feelings for her. Thus, the only reason why Cheoljong could have had feelings for the real So Yong disappears (the spinoff actually suggests that they actually met again and that it was a love at first sight which makes it even worse). The fact that So Yong and Cheoljong have their happy ending in the very same place where he confessed his love for Bong Hwan is adding an insult to the injury.

And now, the final episode has ruined all of that development. BH accused Byeong In that he didn’t recognize that the Queen was no longer the So Yong he knew despite the fact that he claimed he loved her that much. So what about Cheoljong now? Wouldn’t it be illogical and hypocratical not to expect the same from him - that he should recognize that the Queen is no longer the same person? Even if for some reason (read: lazy writing and trying to having the cake and eating it too) So Yong adopted BH’s mannerism, there should still be major differences.

What about Bong Hwan and the trauma he is going to get after this? Previously, he used to be a person who couldn’t commit, who didn’t love anyone nor cared about anyone but himself. He fell in love with Cheoljong so much that he was willing to risk his life and sacrifice everything even though he knew that history had CH as the losing side. So losing that sort of connection after accepting his feelings, himself in female body and building a new life in the Joseon Era with a new family consisting of his friends and Cheoljong will most likely be devastating. Furthermore, he was expecting a child, a child he grew to love and that was also ripped away from him.

So Yong has commited suicide from her own will, she tried to escape her life and given up on herself, even though her circumstances were tragic,now she suddenly gains everything she ever wanted while Bong Hwan is left with nothing except for his job.What's the point of such plot?

In the end, such an ending is an utter narrative disaster and problematic in all sort of ways and that’s coming from me who rarely calls something problematic because nowadays the word “problematic” has become a synonym for what are basically normal and natural human flaws and imperfections. Overall, Mr. Queen was poised to become amazing but ended up an epic failure for the ages because of the final episode.