'Perfect Crown' Ending Explained & Finale Recap: Is The Monarchy Abolished? 

The finale of Perfect Crown ties up the whole show in a bow and wraps things up well, though I can’t help but feel like it was quite rushed, and the finale doesn’t really give us anything that was unexpected. It isn’t even that much fun either; it’s simply a happy conclusion. Do tell us how you felt about the show, and if it was disappointing or not. The finale sees some things change dramatically, but it also leaves some things unanswered. I’m going to attempt to answer those questions in this explainer. The ending of the show is very upbeat, but it comes with its issues, too. Not everyone gets the happy ending they desired at the beginning of the show, but that’s totally fine; they don’t deserve it. With that said, though, let’s jump straight into the ending of the show.

Spoiler Alert

What Does I-An Do After Becoming King? 

Perfect Crown’s final episode focuses on I-An’s wish to abolish the monarchy, and that’s the first thing he does as soon as he becomes king. However, as suspected, nobody else is happy about his decision. Immediately, Jeongwoo turns everyone against him and even messes with the castle budget, but why fret when Huiju is here? Huiju’s counterattack is to get Castle group to fund the Crown, and they go over even their annual budget, so the Crown simply declines the funding from the PM. But Jeongwoo isn’t done just yet; he also makes it so that Castle group is formally investigated about an apparent slush fund after that. Also quite funny to see Huiju having saved her sister-in-law’s contact as Gremlin. Anyway, this is all for us to realize that Huiju’s family actually cares about her, and a lot happens in this episode for their bond. Taeju promises to take his dad’s place and set the record straight, whereas Huiju also comes rushing to check on them, worried about her father, but it seems everything is taken care of. Instead of yelling at her about the problems she’s created, her dad and brother are trying their best to look out for her instead. This touches her, and she ends up calling her brother “oppa” for the first time. It’s certainly a sweet moment.

It appears I-An’s desire to get rid of the crown is to also aimed at getting rid of the sentiment that comes with the culture of inheriting something like the role of a king. When we compare I-An and Huiju, the biggest difference is their status and the privileges they get because of said status. That’s why Huiju made this plan in the first place, but I-An was born into privilege, and while one can argue that the life he lived wasn’t as pleasant as we expect it to be, it is still privileged like nobody else’s life in the country. I guess the point of the show is “say no to nepotism?” Nah, I’m just kidding, but it certainly emphasises the fact that you can’t inherently want to be a king (or queen, of course), or be good enough to be one. Truthfully, Huiju was truly genuine and smart enough to be the queen, but we never saw it happen, because there’s no reason for one in the 21st century. 

What Happens To Jeongwoo? 

Jeongwoo is the first to oppose the abolition of the Crown, but I-An focuses on the fact that it’s the nation’s choice, and over the years, the vote has been getting closer in number than ever before, which means the public desire is changing too. In the meantime, Jeongwoo has gone ahead and threatened Yi-Rang, saying he’ll make her son be remembered as a criminal by telling everyone that she went against a royal decree by getting rid of the late king’s edict. But instead of taking the threat at face value, Yi-Rang records the whole thing, knowing already what Jeongwoo was going to do. She then hands it over to Huiju, who hears her old friend talk about trying to kill her husband for no real reason except wanting some kind of power. Huiju straight up takes this to the council while they’re in a meeting, guess she could do that as the queen, and I-An is shocked to hear that his old friend tried to kill him. Finally, I-An confronts Jeongwoo alone in a room to know if he really did such a thing. It doesn’t really fully make sense that Jeongwoo did this because I-An didn’t stay away from Huiju. She was never Jeongwoo’s, and he didn’t even confess to her ever, so I don’t see why he would risk so much on the fact that Huiju might’ve come running to him after I-An’s death. He tells I-An that the whole thing is his fault, but I-An reminds him that he “stole” her when she wasn’t even Jeongwoo’s in the first place. We don’t see what happens after I-An leaves and Hyeon walks into the room with a whole entourage. The obvious answer is that Jeongwoo got arrested for his criminal activities, which there are many of. We can expect he was given a big punishment, but in Korean terms, that could be as little as 6 years, eh? Maybe in this fictional world, things are better. I do think he will reflect on his behaviour and realize it was all in vain, and he lost the role of Prime Minister, marking himself as a criminal in history. 

What Is I-An’s First Wish? 

As the 34th king of Korea, I-An has a long legacy to look back on, but being of royal blood has robbed him of the opportunity to have a normal life in many ways. When the referendum to abolish the monarchy is announced, it’s a ray of hope to I-An, and it has the public very engaged in the country’s political future. Before the results of the referendum can be announced, Huiju asks him what he’d like to do right after the monarchy is abolished, assuming it does happen. Instead of some grand statement about building his own life or future, he has a very simple request to make of her. He just wants his wife to call him by his actual name: Lee Wan. With a smile and a snuggle, Huiju promises to give him what he wants. Of course, she did call him by his name at least once before, when she was terrified he’d die in the fire, but this time will be different. After the results of the referendum are announced, I-An stamps the decree that abolishes the monarchy, reflecting on the positives and the negatives of what the monarchy has brought to Korea over the years. Finally, when he steps out of the palace as just a regular civilian, Huiju’s there waiting for him, and he runs right to her after she yells out his name- Wan. A happy couple, about to live a normal life, or so he wishes. 

What Happens After 3 Years? 

In Perfect Crown’s ending, 3 years have passed since the monarchy has been abolished, and Huiju finally returns from her extended sabbatical (though she doesn’t like to call it that) to her seat as CEO of Castle Beauty. But then she’s hit by a sudden new responsibility, as Taeju announces to her that he’s making her CEO of Castle Card as well, because he has to go on paternity leave now that Dayeong is pregnant. Meanwhile, back home, Hyeon is cooking, and I-An is “helping,” i.e. being useless and getting in Hyeon’s way. Apparently, he’s not going to work at the foundation he set up himself, so Hyeon accuses him of bumming around, which he takes offence to. When Huiju calls to say she’s going to be very busy and can’t make it for dinner, Hyeon initially laughs at his boss, but when he finds out Hyejung can’t make it, too, he’s stuck in the same position. Also, tell me why we needed to see the court lady gift them a special baby-making bed? Ah, probably another sponsor. It seems I-An is into flower arrangements, too. 3 years ago, Hyeon and Hyejung finally admitted their feelings for each other through a very public kiss, with the palace staff cheering them on. When I-An goes out with Hyeon for an obligatory Subway meal, he notices the ring on his finger, and Hyeon boasts about having just had his 3-year anniversary recently. When Hyeon starts asking about I-An’s “real” anniversary (because of the fake dating thing), he gets self-conscious about not even having a wedding band, so he starts obsessing over the idea of doing a new proposal, this time for real. When he brings it up in passing to Huiju though, she says “don’t bother,” and that makes him really upset. 

Later, while I-An is planning his surprise second proposal, Huiju overhears it. Back at home (still the fancy residence), I-An says he fell for her the first time they met on the archery range, and she told him her name back in school. Finally, he tells her how he’s been feeling about her after all these years (probably around the same time as Jeongwoo, no?). In the end, I-An even meets Yi-Rang in a musical instrument shop, this time trying to buy a violin. Apparently, young Yun has given up on the piano and cello and now wants to move on to the violin. I-An tells her that maybe he’s just not good at music, which offends her deeply. Guess she wants him to be good enough for the Korean standard, eh? Maybe they’ll be on Sky Castle season 2 (I’m just kidding, it doesn’t exist). He’s also going to a math academy in elementary school, so the kid can’t even meet his uncle for a meal (uff). Anyway, the show ends with I-An finally getting to wear a jersey because he couldn’t show his support to any particular team earlier. It’s just a sign that he can finally live a normal life without the burden of royalty. Finally, the couples don’t have to maintain decorum anymore, and though Hyeon and Hyejung are too shy for it, I-An and Huiju definitely show everybody what they’re capable of on the kiss cam. 

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