The ratings favorite "Empress Ki" has something unusual for a weekday kdrama. It has three very strong female characters. Many kdramas have a strong female lead or a leading female character that starts out insecure but becomes stronger as the drama progresses. For every sympathetic female character there is usually also a female villain or a woman who stands in her way.
But Empress Ki has three strong female roles. All three women interact with the emperor and their relation to him will inevitably shape the history of the Yuan Dynasty.
There's Sungnyang, who will later be Empress Ki, played by Ha Ji Won, the Empress Dowager, played by Kim Seo Hyung, and the first empress played by Baek Jin Hee.
Each of these women is a force to be reckoned with.
Sungnyang fights like a man and has shown herself to be stronger than many men, having dragged her king to safety over the long march to the Yuan palace. She's shrewd enough to pretend to carry out a plot and secretly be plotting against those who involved her. She's the force behind Ta Hwan's transformation into a forceful Emperor Huizong.
But the Empress Dowager, Ta Hwan's stepmother, is not shy either. She is one of the few royals that the villainous El Temur respects or fears. When El Temur is ready to kill Ta Hwan, the Empress Dowager arrives in time to save him. She is only accompanied by a few soldiers and might easily lose in a physical fight, but the power of her fury forces El Temur to back down. When he is ready to destroy the Buddha she is praying to, she physically intervenes and he backs down.
And there is El Temur's daughter, Empress Danashri. Although she is young, she is as ruthless as he is, willing to poison another woman who bears the emperor's child. The Empress Dowager hates Empress Danashri for her ties to El Temur and will do everything in her power to prevent the throne being inherited by a child of hers.
Empress Danashri already hates Sungnyang for betraying her but does not yet realize that she should be considered a rival. She pays her respects to the Empress Dowager and curses her behind her back.
The Empress Dowager does not yet know who Sungnyang is and there's no telling whether she will support Ta Hwan's love for a maid.
At first Sungnyang just wants to go home, to Korea and her king, but slowly she begins to ally herself with Ta Hwan in their shared hatred of El Temur.
As the men engage in endless warfare to claim land and tribute, the women battle for power within the royal courtyards. And each of these women has a host of weapons to fight with.
