Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramun (2023) Episode 2

Arthdal Chronicles The Sword of Aramun (아라문의 검: 아스달 연대기) is the newest season of the historical fantasy Kdrama under the same name directed by Kim Kwang-shik. The show brings back the old cast along with many new faces including, Jang Dong-gun, Lee Joon-gi, Shin Sae-kyeong, Kim Ok-bin, Shin Joo-hwan, and Park Hae-joon alongside other cast members.

Arthdal Chronicles season 2 brings us to eight years after Tagon was crowned King and now a much-awaited war is soon to arrive. While Tagon and Eunseom prepare for a battle to bring in a new dynasty, political wars continue behind the scenes as rebellion, bloodshed and revenge await in the dark. Who will become the ruler of Arthdal and what does the new dynasty behold?

The show will have 12 episodes and be broadcast on tvN on the Saturday-Sunday slot at 9:20 PM KST time slot previously occupied by The Uncanny Counter season 2. Arthdal Chronicles season 2 episode 2 has a run time of 74 minutes.

Arthdal Chronicles Season 2 Episode 2 Recap

Arthdal Chronicles The Sword of Aramun episode 2 begins with a quick recap of the previous episode and brings us to the battlefield where Eunseom and Saya are ready to face each other with their armies. The two sides begin their move and Saya is confident that he won’t have to have Mubaek take part in the war.

 

However, he is soon left stunned when the Arthdal cavalry face trouble due to the knots tied in the grass which leave their horses tripping and the men falling off. The Ago soldiers also move forward and are able to face the Arthdal army without much trouble and suppress them with ease.

But the Ago soldiers don’t stop here, their own cavalry arrives and arrows rain on the Arthdal soldiers causing huge damage to them. Seeing this, Saya sends Mubaek into the battlefield and the latter shows his expertise by turning the tide around and rendering the Ago soldiers to retreat.

Eunseom, however, is resistant to giving up this easily and gets on Daoyu to take Saya down. Mubaek sees this and rushes behind Eunseom, but their horses are unable to catch up with Eunseom and they understand that it is none other than Kanmoreu who is carrying Eunseom.

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Eunseom reaches within the range where he can fire an arrow at Saya when Mubaek interceeds and leaves him fallen on the ground. However, with Kanmoreu at his beck and call, Eunseom is able to escape the horsemen surrounding him to fall off their horses. He then leads their horses back to his camp while the Ago cavalry once again arrive and rain arrows on the soldiers who have just fallen off their horses.

With this, the battle comes to an end and while the Arthdal army suffers a huge loss of soldiers and horses, the Ago Union stands to celebrate their win. Back in Arthdal, Nunbyeol has entered the palace while Tagon and the others look forward to news from the battlefield.

They then begin to discuss the affairs of the state and Tagon is presented with the issue of the Grand Temple offering food three times a day to the slaves which has their owners being unsatisfied. Tagon also notices the bracelet given by the temple on his ministers’ wrist which makes him uneasy.

 

Elsewhere, Saya is dissatisfied with the result of the battle and his anger is directed at Eunseom who gave him this loss. Chaeeun hears the ruckus in his tent and arrives to see his bleeding hand. She tries to question him when Saya tells her that the Inaishingi is none other than Eunseom.

Chaeeun is unable to believe this while Saya’s anger towards Eunseom only gets worse. He then storms out of his tent when Mubaek finds him and reminds him of the agreement that he had made with Tanya. He asks Saya to not forget the promise and even if Eunseom is the Inaishingi, he should not fight him.

Saya once again storms from there while Mubaek comes across a little girl whom he thinks of as a war orphan and asks the soldiers to have her fed. The next day, two Neanthals are on their way to meet Eunseom when they come across two Shahiti children which raises their doubts.

Back in Arthdal, Tangon frees Yangcha from his punishment and promises to let him meet his mother when the war ends. Meanwhile, Taealha is looking into the iron sword made by Yeolson and captures him to find out the secret through torture. The news soon reaches Tagon and Tanya.

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Tagon rushes to free him on the basis that he is Tanya’s father and this would create revolt among the people. However, Taealha is not so easily convinced as she threatens to take away Yeolson’s life if she has to. Right then Tanya arrives and promises to spread a revolt among the people who will then be after Arok’s life if any harm comes to her father.

She tells Taealha to let go of her father and she will make sure to hold Arok’s sacred ceremony with Tagon’s permission and very soon. Tanya promises Taealha that her father will not reveal any secrets to the King following which the latter agrees on the basis that her people take up some important position.

Tagon agrees to this and also gives Yeolson the position of a minister to take him away as soon as possible. Following his departure, Tanya confronts Taealha to have been played with which is why the news of her father reached her so soon. Tanya understands that the secret of the iron has already been revealed which is why this game was played.

 

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Taealha soon leaves and finds out that it won’t be long until her men get the right proportions to make iron. Elsewhere, Yeolson promises his loyalty to Tagon and is assured that his technology will not be stolen by others as long he promises it to the King. He later meets Tanya and is happy to know that he will be made a minister which surprises Tanya.

He tells her his wish to have power of his own and scolds Tanya when she speaks of the teachings of Wahan. He tells her that Arthdal is dangerous for the Wahan people as Eunseom has become the Insaishingi. Tanya is surprised that he knows of this and he tells her that Eunseom sent someone to him days back who was killed by the soldiers while one escaped with a fatal injury.

 

Tanya tells him that Eunseom is only doing this for the promise he made to the Wahan tribesmen when Yeolsom tells her that Eunseom is now an enemy and they are at war. Elsewhere, Eunseom is also surprised by the turn of events as the man whom he sent to Yeolsom tells him that he does not need to save Wahan anymore on his dying breath.

The next day, Saya tells Mubaek that he has understood that Eunseom is Tagon’s enemy and not his following so he asks Mubaek to arrange for a meeting between the two brothers. Elsewhere, Tanya is unable to accept the changes in Yeolsom when she finds Tagon waiting for her.

He confronts her for using the bracelet during times of war and fear as a means to make people anxious but doubts that it brings any treasure to the temple. He then comes to the main point and tells Tanya about the complaints made in his council about feeding slaves three times a day.

He tells Tanya that the temple will no longer be serving food for the slaves as this will cause issues among the people in the future. Tanya is not ready to accept this and brings up the topic of food scarcity in the city due to the war. She promises to give him 10 jars filled with gold along with grains for his use in exchange for letting her take care of the matter regarding the slaves.

Tagon is dumbstruck by this and Tanya reminds him of his words, “A King rules with fear while a High Priestess shows mercy” when ruling the hearts of the people. She tells him that she too has ways of invoking fear to rule the people.

 

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Arthdal Chronicles Season 2 Episode 2 Ending

Elsewhere, Mubaek arrives to meet Eunseom and asks him to meet Saya alone and tells him that Saya is his twin brother. Soon, according to Mubaek’s request, the two brothers leave behind their armour and sword to meet each other alone. Mubaek tells them that he will arrive later after the two have familiarised themselves with each other.

 

However, what he doesn’t know is that Saya has other plans as he tells his subordinate to kill Eunseom when they are having their discussion. As Saya leaves he is seen by Chaeeun who notices a child following him, rendering her to follow the two. But soon she comes across the two Neathals who were in the woods and the three make their way to where the two brothers are to meet.

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Finally, the two brothers meet and recognise the person that they have seen in their dreams all this time. Eunseom doesn’t take too long before asking Saya to join the Ago Union and work with him. He tells Saya that he is aware of his ambitions towards Tagon, however, his impatient may have put him off just now.

Eunseom then tells Saya that he knows his real name which their mother had been calling out in her dreams for years together. This perks Saya’s curiosity, however, before Eunseom can tell him his real name, a Shahiti enters the hut and speaks of his order to kill Saya.

Saya recognises the Shahiti and tells Eunseom to be careful and a brawl soon breaks out as Eunseom fights the Shahiti. However, even after giving the Shahiti a fatal wound, the boy stands up to burn the place down and kill the two. Right then, Mubaek arrives and saves Saya following which he goes back to save Eunseom.

However, he sees the child he had saved before and tries to get her out from there only to be given a fatal wound by the Shahiti. Meanwhile, Chaeeun arrives to see Saya on the ground and takes him away with the two Neanthals while Mubaek saves Eunseom and brings him out.

Unfortunately, Mubaek does not survive the wound on his neck while Arthdal soldiers arrive on the scene and mistake the unconscious Eunseom to be Saya.

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Arthdal Chronicles Season 2 Episode 2 Review

Arthdal Chronicles The Sword of Aramoon episode 2 has brought another treat to us as it shows the true maturity and changes attained by the characters in the past eight years. Wahan tribesmen have probably changed the most as even the simple-minded Yeolsom showed his greed for power in this episode.

Meanwhile, Tanya shows Tagon the power that she has collected in the past eight years in her own way while Eunseom shows Saya the threat that he really is. However, we also see Tagon’s fear or anger that he has towards Tanya whose bracelets are seen everywhere.

Altogether, there is a lot happening in Arthdal now and it is sure to get more intricate in the following episodes. However, I am sad that we will not be seeing more of Mubaek henceforth which is quite saddening.