Akatsuki no Yona Episode 3

Yona and Hak continue their trek through the mountains. Yona isn’t eating, she’s not used to walking long distances, and she’s getting weaker and weaker.

Us viewers were given backstory on Hak and how he became Yona’s bodyguard, and how Soo-won’s betrayal didn’t hurt just Yona, but also Hak too. It’s not hard to deduce that Hak has feelings for Yona, and whenever Yona would mention him, Hak would get angry at her and leave. King Il had asked for Hak to become Yona’s bodyguard, and at first he wasn’t up for it. He thought the royal family were a pain, he wanted a more relaxed life. It wasn’t until he saw a man harrassing Yona, wanting to court her against her wishes, that he stepped in and accepted being her bodyguard afterwards. His decision was made clear after the man was about to draw his sword, and King Il came and grabbed it by the blade, causing him to bleed. Hak saw that, even though the king didn’t like weapons, he was no cowardly king at all. He kept saying how being around the princess “makes him crazy”, only because of his feelings for her. And I’m a HUGE sucker for the childhood friends thing, so…c’mon Yona! Soo-won ain’t no good.

Speaking of childhood, we get a glimpse of one of the many time Yona, Soo-won, and Hak played together as children. Seeing this was a little bizarre, considering the events that happened in the last episode. It was winter, and Yona’s mother had just died. The children were outside, playing in the snow and having a snowball fight like anyone would. It was then that Yona caught a fever, and the boys staying by her side also caught her illness, so the three of them were bedridden. The boys got visits from their respective guardians, except for Yona, whose father was busy somewhere else. She was upset by this, but he came later in the night, cooked her favorite food for her, which actually tasted disgusting, but Yona happily ate it.

The children watch the sky together, saying they can still play together, sleep in the same room together and hold hands, and the most important part…just be together forever. Innocent wishes from children, ultimiately destroyed in the end.

Poor Yona is still a mess. She still can’t face reality with what happened, and she still holds the hair ornament that Soo-won had given her. Hak found it on the ground, and when Yona realized she had lost it, she went out to look for it. Without realizing, she had wandered into a snake nest, and of course Hak had to save her. Really, I think keeping the ornament is stupid because it’s by the man that ruined her life, but…yeah, I understand that this can be difficult to process. If it means it’ll let her continue living, Hak lets her keep it. The episode ends with Soo-won calling off the search for Yona and Hak, and says there’s something they must do.

I liked this episode. It was a nice change from the tragedy last week, and I loved seeing the backstory and flashbacks because they were crazy cute as children. Also, we know exactly how Yona feels about the events that transpired, the poor girl won’t stop crying. But we also got a look into Hak’s feelings about losing the king he respected, and being betrayed by a dear friend from childhood. It was a little sad, because we saw how much they cared about each other as children, the innocence of it all. Hak holds a grudge against Soo-won for destroying this bond they had and hurting Yona in so many ways. Plus, it was a little strange to see Soo-won as such a sweet child, because I started liking him, but then I remembered what he did. I wonder what really went wrong. This episode was more lighthearted, but more bittersweet. Next week should be interesting because the two will finally arrive at the Wind Clan’s home, Hak’s home. Can’t wait!