THE ROYAL FAMILY KNEW YONA WAS THE “RED DRAGON”
Given the High Priest Ik-soo’s ability to communicate with the gods, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that another high priest would inform the Royal Family that then Prince Il’s daughter was Hiryuu reincarnated. If so, then the priest’s claims would have likely been bolstered by Lady Kashi, Yona’s mother, who somehow knew that her daughter would “be surrounded by white, blue, green, and yellow guardians”(Ch. 161). I believe the late King Joo-Nam chose his second son to rule to ensure Yona took the throne after his son because the Royal family new Yona was King Hiryuu reborn.
I don’t think Yu–Hon would have believed Yona was the King of legend and would have eventually come to the conclusion that his father made a mistake in choosing his younger brother, who was leading their Kingdom to ruin and who’s spoiled daughter seemed no better. In the end, like his son would eventually come to do, Yu–Hon must have plotted against the crown in a bid to save Kouka. It’s possible Yu-Hon orchestrated the attack on the royal family by rebel forces that resulted in the death of the Queen. His brother must have found this out somehow and had him killed in an accident, as killing his much-loved brother would cause scandal among his generals and the people, especially given that Yu–Hon was considered the rightful ruler between the two.
General Yu-Hon and Su-Won Parallels
Although Yu-Hon is dead long before the start of the series, he is brought up often as a comparison to his son, Su-Won, who seems to take after his father in many respects. Like his son, Yu–Hon was intelligent and pragmatic, and based on his actions against the priesthood, held little to no real value in the Legend of the Dragons. In fact, his son actively sought to distance himself from religious ideologies when he took the throne, stating during his coronation that “he does not want divine power but the strength of the people; he will stop anything that gets in his way, this including the heavens” (Ch. 11). Both father and son denounce the Kingdom’s religion, treating the legends as unimportant at best, or at worst a threat to the Kingdom.
The two also seem to share an aptitude for ruthlessness when they deem it necessary, especially where the kingdom is concerned. As a General, Yu-Hon used merciless and inhumane tactics during times of war to intimidate Kouka’s enemies into submission – a prime example being the beheading of Xing POW’s and dropping their severed heads at the royal family’s doorstep (chap. 132). He was a key figure in much the expansion of territory that marked his father’s rule and made a name for himself as a war hero in that time. Similarly, while murdering King Il might have been for a personal vendetta as much as for his country, Su–Won was willing to kill his two closest friends after the fact in spite of his own feelings for the sake of his country. Given how much of Su-Won’s character and ideology seems to come from his father, its safe to say that if Su-Won was willing to betray his family for the good of Kouka than in all likelihood so would his father.
Yu–Hon Suppressing the Priesthood
Towards the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Iksoo, a high priest living in exile. From him, we learn that the priests were banished from the castle under the orders of Emperor Joo-Nam’s son, Yu-Hon. He had the priest’s temple within the castle destroyed and arrested many people in the process, believing that having them was problematic to the King’s authority. (Ch. 12) At the time the priesthood had a significant amount of power, as it was believed they spoke the words of God. If they were to predict the resurrection of the King Hiryuu, wouldn’t the current royal family see that as a way to control their monarchy in the future?
The Late King Il was, by many accounts, the polar opposite of his brother. He was a quiet and seemingly naive man, who advocated peace and non-violence and gave away territory in order to avoid war with other nations. Being the second son, it is likely he that he was never taught how to rule in the way his brother was (if at all), and so didn’t completely understand how detrimental his rigid ideology impacted Kouka and her subjects.
King Il also seemed to place a high value on his kingdom’s legends and beliefs. This is shown in chapter 154, where we learn that, while Yu-Hon was able to suppress the priesthood and destroyed the castle temple, he was unable to do the same to the King Hiryuu’s Shrine (which was hidden beneath the throne room). Yona states that her father would bring her to visit the shrine often, but when she tried to show Su-Won the shrine, her father stopped them and harshly scolded Su-Won for trying to enter. He was uncharacteristically upset by Su-Won’s attempt to view the shrine – as if his nephew did not belong in that place of worship. (Looking back on his character, it’s possible that his hatred of violence and extreme pacifism were apart of his religious beliefs, as a way to respect King Hiryuu’s love for humanity, though that is mostly speculation.)
In light of this, King Il’s general dislike of Su-Won begins to make more sense. For all that he looks nothing like his father, Su-Won is like Yu-Hon in all the ways that matter, and King Il would have been keenly aware of that. If he believed that Yona was Hiryuu, than the King would have seen his nephew as a threat to her, because Su-Won would never believe in her divine right based on the legends, especially if the two were married like Yona wanted.
The last generation of the royal family must have known Yona was King Hiryuu resurrected and, for whatever reason, chose to keep it a secret. They then took steps they believed would ensure Yona would rule Kouka when she came of age. Yu-Hon rebelled against this arrangement believing it would lead his country to ruin. Yu-hon’s rebellion resulted in the deaths of Queen Kashi, himself, and later King Il at the hands of Su-Won in revenge, without any of them informing their children of the reason behind all of the bloodshed. Ultimately, this clash of beliefs leads us to where Yona’s story begins – one that seems to be a retelling of the Dragon King, who loved in spite of human hatred and betrayal. (Chap 43)
