The My Country recap for November 2, 2019, features the passing of a sister, Ihwaru's new madam, and the revealing of the golden vase thief.
After getting stabbed in the chest by one of Nam Jeon’s palace guards, Seo Yeon passes away in Seo Hwi’s arms. Rage starts to overtake Hwi as he registers what just happened. He peacefully lays Yeon down before picking up the guards sword and runs off.
He heads to town and gets on the first horse he spots charging straight for Nam Jeon’s house. Before he could attack him, pain takes over his body and he collapses from his wound. Nam Jeon reveals that the dagger used to stab him was poisoned. Nam Jeon rubs salt on the wound by blaming him for his sister's death for breaking his promise.
Lord Nam picks up Hwi’s sword as he brags about all the enemies he’s trampled on in the past. He reminds Hwi of the time in the past when he turned away Hwi’s father’s body even with Hwi begging him to help bury him. He asks him who will bury Yeon this time if Hwi dies. As he raises the sword to strike Hwi, a voice tells him to stop. Bang-won appears and threatens to kill Lord Nam if he doesn’t drop the sword.
Lord Nam questions why Bang-won would risk his life to save Hwi and he responds with, “He is my man. He protected me, so now I must protect him.” Knowing he has been outranked, Lord Nam lowers his sword. Bang-won makes it clear that if Lord Nam was to ever lay a finger on Hwi he’ll shred him to pieces.
Bang-won remembers the past when Hwi’s father was testing him back when he was young. He decided that Bang-won wasn’t good enough to be his student, but Bang-won proved himself by showing character. He asks Hwi’s dad if he will be his first student, but the man told him no his son is his first student.
Hwi’s friends arrive at Lord Nam’s house to check if he’s alive. Chi-do tells Bang-won that they’ll watch over him and take him with them. Bang-won tells them to make sure he recovers. Moon-bok is worried about how bad Hwi’s stab wound has worsened. He determined that the poison was venom from a deadly pit viper.
Hui-jae was still with Yeon’s body when Seon-ho gets to them. He can’t believe his eyes as he collapses from grief. Hui-jae comforts him by letting him know that Yeon waited for him until her last breath.
Hui-jae gets back to the hideout in time to ask Moon-bok how the surgery went on Hwi. He tells her that it’s up to him now if he’ll survive. She stays by his said patiently waiting for him to wake up. In the middle of the night, Hwi wakes up suddenly still trying to grab his sword to fight. He’s delirious from all the pain physically and mentally. His body is too weak to succeed getting up and he screams as a last resort. Hui-jae tries to calm him down by suggesting they send Yeon off properly before getting revenge. That next morning they build a pyre to burn Yeon’s body. Seon-ho watches from a distance as Hwi scatter Yeon’s ashes.
Queen Sindeok sees a royal physician for an illness she’s been hiding but learns that she doesn’t have much time left. She hosts a tea party of the royal ministers, but no one attends other than Lord Nam. She demands Lord Nam gather the ministers by using their weaknesses against them. However, Lord Nam tells her the only way Bang-seok will get the throne is if she kneels to Bang-won. This will show the King and people that she’s willing to do anything to save her son. This will give Bang-seok time to grow up and regain power.
The queen visits Bang-won on the anniversary of his mother’s death to pay respect. She refers to Bang-won’s mother as a queen, but he points out that it was her fault his mother was never honored as a queen since she died before the new country was founded. She claims to have asked the King to make Bang-won one of the founding contributors and promises to be a good mother in the future. He responds by asking her if a good mother would try to assassinate her son. She realizes she’s in no position to convince him of anything so she kneels pleading for a chance. He gives her an offer to depose of Bang-seok instead of killing him if she admits her wrongdoings in front of the people and step down as queen. She’s shocked by his willingness to kill her son even after shes begged him for mercy. He points out that she’s only concerned about Bang-seok, but he’s willing to do anything to create a strong foundation for the kingdom.
Back at Ihwaru, Lady Seo is on her deathbed. She gently consoles Hui-jae with happy stories of meeting her mother in the afterlife and letting her know her daughter has grown up to be a fine woman. Lady Seo hands her a letter for Hui-jae to read out loud. The official document names her as the new head of Ihwaru and asks the employees to support her as they work to protect Ihwaru. Before she could finish reading, Lady Seo passes away.
Seon-ho finds himself turning to drugs to deal with his grief over Yeon’s death. Sung-rok tosses Seon-ho’s sword at him in disappointment. The next day Seon-ho faces his father with an embroidery made by Yeon tied to the scabbard of his sword. He announces that he will rise to the top of the world and look down on his father as he dies a meaningless death. Lord Nam is impressed that his son has finally overcome his mother’s low bloodline.
Hwi goes to the beach where they scattered Yeon’s ashes. As he walks into the water with the thought of ending his pain, he suddenly stops. A butterfly lands on his shoulder and he nods at it before saying, “Okay, Yeon. I’ll stay a little longer. Just a little longer.”
We step six years later to 1398 where the first strife of the Princes takes place. Bang-won’s private army has been disbanded, but Lord Nam informs his followers to stay on guard. He’s pushing for the King to abdicate the throne to Bang-seok and plans to dethrone King Taejo.
Bang-won and Lord Nam are summoned by the king. The king has heard rumors of Lord Nam’s nickname “king in a gat” due to his large following of powerful people. Lord Nam throws attention onto Bang-won by bringing up rumors of him being the next king. King Taejo warns them that he’s not planning on dying and any talk of abdication will bring death to that person's entire family.
Lord Nam starts having concerns when his shipments of golden vases keep getting stolen. Seon-ho teams up with his father to figure out who’s behind it. Seon-ho declares that it’s important he kills whoever is behind this to ensure their plan to dethrone the king is successful.
Bang-won calls out Seon-ho for becoming just like his father Nam Jeon. They trample everyone in their way on their quest for power regardless of a best friend or his sister. Seon-ho responds that he and Bang-won are a lot alike since they’re both planning to kill their fathers and take their power. Bang-won explains that he would never kill his father to which Seon-ho declares maybe they are different.
Later that night, a group of slave traders lock several women in a shed at the docks alongside gold vases. Hwi appears and tells them that they’re all about to die before he kills them instantly. He let the women escape as he tries to take the vases. Someone enters the dark shed and they start to fight. After a while, they start to recognize the other persons fighting style that hints at who their opponent might be. Hwi cuts Seon-ho’s torso giving him enough time to escape with the crate of vases.
Lord Nam starts to panic as he learns the Minister of Military Affairs was killed during the attack that also got the gold vases stolen. The vases were important for a blood ceremony pledging allegiance to the royal family.
Lord Nam receives a box with a single gold vase and a letter with instructions to come to the bamboo grove this afternoon. With no other option to catch the culprit, he goes with several guards. As he approaches the location, several armed men forced him to enter alone. The man turns around to be no one other than Hwi as Lord Nam’s jaw drops in disbelief thinking he was dead.