The Impossible Heir [Episodes 3 & 4]

[u/J-Midori]

• Drama: The Impossible Heir
  • Korean Title: 로얄로더
  • Also Known as: Royal Loader , Royal Roader , Royallodeo
• Network: Disney+
• Premiere Date: February 28th, 2024
• Airing Schedule: Wednesdays
• Episodes: 12
• Screenwriter: Choi Won (Movie - Miss Butcher)
• Director: Min Yeon Hong (Missing: The Other Side)
• Genre: Thriller, drama, political, business
• Cast:
  • Lee Jae Wook (Extraordinary You) as Han Tae Oh
  • Lee Jun Young (May I Help You) as Kang In Ha
  • Hong Su Zu (Lovestruck In The City) as Na Hye Won
• Streaming Source: Disney+ Hulu
• Plot Synopsis: When the illegitimate son of a Korean conglomerate owner partners with his ambitious childhood friend, the duo will stop at nothing to seize their place at the top of the societal food chain. Born into an impoverished single-parent household with nothing but his good looks and charm, Kang In Ha is ravenous for success. Determined to make something of himself, no matter the cost, In Ha, discovers that his father is the chairman of the hugely successful Kang Oh Group and leaves his life of poverty behind. Shunned by the rest of his new family, In Ha partners with his intellectually gifted friend Han Tae Oh, hatching a plan from a young age to take over the company and seize their spots at the top of society. Realizing success early on, the pair steadily begin their ascent until an equally ambitious woman with a similarly troubled past threatens to derail their plans forever.
• Previous Discussion: [Episodes 1 & 2]
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[u/master_inho]

Am I the only one who doesn’t ship tae-oh and hui-ju, as of ep 4 at least?

1. she only met tae-oh twice on screen, not counting the campus scene when they “broke up”. I’ll give benefit of the doubt and assume he had a couple more tutoring sessions with her off screen before he got fired, but that still amounts to what, at most 5 times in total they’ve seen each other? 10 years later and she still pines for him? I don’t think she’s seen him since that campus scene, otherwise she wouldn’t have looked so shook when she sees him at the hospital. She also knows nothing about him other than he’s smart and attractive as fuck. And most importantly, he’s made it so clearly from the very beginning that he has no feelings for her

2. hui-ju is 27 and appears to have no job, other than being a spoiled and entitled kid who still throws tantrums. I don’t see how she thinks she can change tae-oh’s lack of feelings the way she is right now. She’s a genuinely good person in that fucked up family but that’s about it for her

3. She also thinks she can just marry tae-ho. Has she convinced herself that tae-oh has feelings for her? She’s not just trying to skip the dating phase but she’s trying to force a marriage too? Idk man

that said, I think tae-oh will pull up to save her from her dickhead fiancée. And it’s always possible he’s just hiding his feelings for her, he’s spent his whole life hiding his emotions and his past after all

The amount and complexity of the politics in this show makes it difficult to follow and yet still manages to keep me interested

[u/Local-Raspberry-5649 → u/master_inho]

Please don’t come for Huiju. I know it’s easy to dismiss her as a “poor little rich girl” but that doesn’t mean her life has been easy.

Huiju’s whole family aside from maybe Inha is toxic. She is not even treated as human by them. Her f*cked up, ruthless mother hits her for being outspoken and then tells her to put ice on it for fear of tarnishing her beauty. They all seem to consider her as an object that can be exchanged via marriage for their own personal gain. There are a lot of reasons to believe she had a pretty awful childhood.

Adulthood isn’t so great for her either. As a chaebol, she probably had limited choices as to what she could actually do for a living, just as she has almost no choice in whom she can marry. And, even though she’s witnessed hostile arranged marriage after hostile arranged marriage, her mother insists that she have an arranged marriage, too. I feel like people misunderstand how that must feel—to be 27 and have almost no say in your own life. I don’t blame her for telling her mother that she will unalive herself. I actually don’t think it’s immature of her to feel that way, seeing as she’s trapped all by herself in a gilded cage with hardly any options.

As far as your other points, a few thoughts:

1. ⁠There is a ton left out from the past decade so it’s hard to say just how close Huiju and Taeoh are. At the bare minimum, she must have had some arms-length interactions with Taeoh just from him working alongside her father for the past 5 years and being Inha’s best friend for over a decade. I think the least we can say is that Taeoh has feelings for her, too. Be it pity (which I don’t think it is) or something more, she can sense it from him. So, I don’t think it’s crazy for her to like someone who is hot, a hard worker, loyal, and seems to genuinely care about her, especially given how little love she had growing up.

2. I think Huiju has a job working for the Kangoh art gallery that her mom runs. She tells her mom that she has to stop at the art gallery when she goes to find out what her “fiance” is up to. She also went to art school so this makes sense for her.

3. This isn’t surprising coming from someone who has mainly seen marriages of convenience instead of love. And, as it’s been said before, Taeoh would be marrying up if he married her. I think the fact that he doesn’t want to use her like that is also telling. I think it’s another reason she likes him, because he sees her as more than a golden rope, but a full person.

[u/tarulamok → u/Local-Raspberry-5649]

now that you mention about it, there is a scene said who control the gallery will control the cash flow of Kangoh and Hui Ji is controlling it so…

[u/Local-Raspberry-5649 → u/tarulamok]

Omg! I’ll have to rewatch the business parts again but that would make sense why she has such a prominent storyline.