Discussion of the Bromance between GM and CY

author: _Misty_

Well, it's one of the elements I loved in Faith. Its evolution was awesome: from a completely unbalanced relationship, to a partnership and then finally to the King-subject relationship, with friendship involved.

They both need each other, even though it may look like it's Gongnim the most needy one. I think that's not true.
Yes, at the beginning Gongnim is a lonely King, he has no power, no supporters, and a lot of people ready to treat him as a puppet King. He needs to find out who is loyal and who isn't. As much as I hated him for ordering not to let Eun Soo to go home, I understand his point of view. He knows Young gave his word, so he needs to understand if the Wudalchi is really loyal to him: which is the most important, his word or his King?So, after he has his answer, he does everything in his power not to lose the only loyal subject he has, even if it means chaining him to the Palace when Young wants to leave. But Gongnim can't afford him to leave.

Yet, as the show progresses, the relationship begins to be more balanced. The turning point is in ep.8: the King realizes Young is really loyal and this is the motivation he needed to stop thinking about himself as pathetic and grow some spine to strike back on his enemies. He now has his Queen backing him up and his Wudalchi. And this is where the partnership starts: they work together to secure the throne and in the meanwhile their friendship develops. Sometimes it's shaken (like when Young steals the Seal), but it's quickly restored as well

Watching them around ep.20, we find out Young needs the King as much as the King needs him. At first he needs the King to send Eun Soo back to her world. Then he needs him because Young is basically someone who protects. It's his inner nature, the very core of his being.
When Young comes back after the Queen's kidnapping and finds Gongnim in that pathetic state, he asks "Has your heart crumbled already? Then I have no reason to be here."

This means two things: the first is that Gongnim has to be worth of Young's loyalty. If he wants Young to stay, he needs to be the King Young chosed.
Then, it means that Young is there for his King and friend, to protect him, to support him. But if that man already lost hope, then protecting him loses its meaning and Gongnim becomes just another worthless King in a long list. And Young won't serve yet another puppet. The problem is that Young wants Gongnim to be a worthy King. He needs him to be, because it gives a sense to his position, to his fighting. So yes, they need each other, they are linked. If one falls, so does the other.

Then we have the last evolution when Gongnim actually becomes the King. In ep.21 he insists he needs the full support of his counsellors to attack the Yuan Embassy. Young would just attack based on the Queen's kidnapping and Eun Soo's poisoning, but Gongnim knows it would be a mistake. He has no proofs that Deuk Heung is the one behind what happened and he also wants to avoid bloodshed. More over, he wants to stop hiding behind Young's back, he needs to stand up on his own. He knows Young is a valuable person, but he's a Wudalchi, not a counsellor. To actually rule the country he needs his counsellor's approval, otherwise he'll be just a tyrant backed up by military power.
This is where their relationship has its final evolution: now they are King and Subject, even though their friendship remains.
This is how I see it: the bromance is an evolving one and one wouldn't be who he is without the other. Thanks to Young, Gongnim learns to be a King. Thanks to Gongnim, Young regains faith in his country and a sense to his warrior life. He's finally able to chose the King he wants to support. And he can chose him because he's the one who brought that man to be the King he wants.