S01E01 A Luncheon with the Emperor
In the present, mysterious skeletal remains are found on Ehwa Palace grounds with a necklace worth 2.2 million dollars thought to be a gift of the Emperor to the Empress. Jumping back one year earlier,...
The Last Empress
S01E17: Who Killed the Grand Empress Dowager?
The Grand Empress Dowager is found dead, and an investigation of her murder begins. The police question each member of the Imperial Family, but none of them confess to the crime. Meanwhile, while clutching on to an envelope given by the Grand Empress Dowager, Ms. Hong tells Sunny of her last words.
Overview
In an alternate-reality South Korea, where a constitutional monarchical system prevails, Oh Sunny, a musical actress, becomes the empress of the country. Thus begins a dispute for power in the royal palace. Nothing is what it seems, and Oh Sunny is ready to fight until the end to uncover a mysterious homicide within the royal palace, fighting to protect those she loves the most and obtain happiness.
Episodes
S01E02 The Emperor’s Day Off
After saving the Emperor's life, Sunny safely returns home. The assailant is apprehended, and the Emperor and the Empress Dowager learn that he is the brother of Kang Joon Sung, an Imperial guard who went...
S01E03 A Hit-and-Run
The Emperor hits and kills Wang Shik's mother with his car. With Wang Shik just behind him, the Emperor loads her body and escapes. Yu Ra convinces him to trust her and tells him to...
S01E04 The Yellow Truck
Yu Ra confesses to the hit-and-run accident and tries to stage her death, but the Emperor and his guards rescue her just in time. In the aftermath of securing his alibi, Sunny stands in the...
S01E05 The Empress Dowager Underestimates Ms. Min
As the Imperial Family gathers to celebrate the Grand Empress Dowager's World Peace Award, Oh Sunny appears on behalf of the Empress Dowager's request to put on a show. But really, she's there to be...
S01E06 The Emperor Starts to Court Oh Sunny
With substantial evidence of the hit-and-run accident in her hands, the Empress Dowager reclaims her power over the Emperor and blackmails him to marry Oh Sunny. Cornered and not wanting Ms. Min to go to...
S01E07 Wedding Preparations
Transformed and well-trained, Na Wang Shik, who is now Chun Woo Bin, gets one step closer to fulfilling his revenge. The Emperor hires him as an Imperial Guard. Preparations for the wedding of the century...
S01E08 The Wedding
As the nation watches the extravagant wedding, the elevated platform Sunny stands on breaks and sets on fire. Just as the situation gets dire, the new Imperial guard, Woo Bin, saves her. Meanwhile, the Empress...
S01E09 Tell Me It’s Not True
Without knowing Yu Ra's devious ways, Wang Shik contacts her to meet face to face. When he approaches her, he gets a glimpse of Ma Pil and decides to abort for Yu Ra's sake. Later,...
S01E10 Wang Shik’s Rage
After finding out the people involved, Wang Shik returns to Bichido and swears to kill Pil Joo, the Emperor, and Yu Ra. He also tries to abandon Dong Shik, Yo Ra's son, but doesn't have...
S01E11 Betrayal in the Palace
The Grand Empress Dowager overhears Yu Ra and the Emperor talking and learns of their secret. She forbids their love and demands Yu Ra to leave the palace. Later, the Empress tries her best to...
S01E12 Pil Joo Finds Wang Shik
Knowing how the Empress must feel, the Grand Empress Dowager spends the day with her and invites her father to the palace. Pil Joo searches through Woo Bin's quarters and finds out that he is...
S01E13 The Empress Finds Out About the Emperor and Yu Ra
When the Empress sees the Emperor and Ms. Min together kissing on a cruise ship, she realizes she had been a fool but decides to hear him out. The Empress Dowager tracks down the Prince...
S01E14 The Prince is in Town
After talking to the Prince over the phone in after seven years, the Emperor starts to worry. Knowing that the presence of the Prince is a direct threat to his position, the Emperor confronts the...
S01E15 Wang Shik Betrays the Empress
While trying to catch the Emperor in the act, the Empress gets entangled in a predicament of her own, putting her loyalty to the Emperor in question. Wang Shik betrays her, and with the Emperor's...
S01E16 The Grand Empress Dowager’s Downfall
Trying to uncover the truth behind the death of late Empress So Hyun, Sunny discovers that Ari is the Emperor's daughter and Kang Hee, the nanny, is her mother. Wang Shik plays both sides and...
S01E17 Who Killed the Grand Empress Dowager?
The Grand Empress Dowager is found dead, and an investigation of her murder begins. The police question each member of the Imperial Family, but none of them confess to the crime. Meanwhile, while clutching on...
S01E18 The Empress is Arrested for Murder
Ms. Hong takes the envelope given by the Grand Empress Dowager containing evidence of the Imperial Family's corruption to the Prime Minister, but it never reaches him. The autopsy of the Grand Empress Dowager reveals...
S01E19 Baek Ho Enlightens the Empress
Trying to clear her name, the Empress returns to the palace to retrieve a recording device she had hidden in the Emperor's chamber. She barely escapes the Emperor and slips away with the help of...
S01E20 Ms. Hong’s Confession
Without knowing the authorities were tapping the phones, the Empress makes a call to her family and gets caught. But before she makes it into the police station, Ms. Hong confesses to the murder. Later,...
S01E21 The Empress Returns to the Palace
While the Emperor tries to restore his name to the people, Sunny appears boldly before him and forgives him publicly and asks to start again. Reluctantly, without an option, the Emperor and Empress are once...
S01E22 The Empress Goes Live
Prince Yoon gives Baek Ho the late Empress So Hyun's diary to help uncover the truth. The Empress starts to broadcast a live show and causes an uproar within the palace. Meanwhile, Wang Shik saves...
S01E23 Wang Shik Saves His Brother
When Woo Bin arrives at the hospital, Baek Ho tells the Empress that Woo Bin is Wang Shik and that his true identity must stay a secret. Luckily, a contact within the hospital assists in...
S01E24 Yu Ra’s Demise
Wang Shik learns from So Jin that a court lady had tried the food made by the Empress for the Grand Empress Dowager before her death and is now missing. With this new information, Wang...
S01E25 The Prince Returns
When the Emperor tells the Empress Dowager that he had taken care of Yu Ra without her consent, she smiles and embraces him. She then tells him of her decision to dethrone the Crowned Prince....
S01E26 Where Is My Mother’s Corpse?
Wang Shik begins to taunt the Emperor and Yu Ra and lets them know that he is alive and looking for his mother's corpse. The Empress discovers that the diary of the late Empress So...
S01E27 Yu Ra’s Cry for Mercy
The Emperor brings back Yu Ra and forces her to make false statements accusing the Empress Dowager of murdering the Grand Empress Dowager. Sunny also confronts the Empress Dowager with Cheong Dan, the court lady...
S01E28 Wang Shik Mourns at His Mother’s Side
Wang Shik calls the Emperor again threatening to know where his mother's body is, and Woo Bin persuades the Emperor to make a deal with Yu Ra. Woo Bin releases Yu Ra from the hospital...
S01E29 The Emperor’s Jealousy
Wang Shik recovers his mother's body and gives her a proper goodbye. He promises her that he will punish those who are responsible for her death. Sunny stays close by and consoles Wang Shik, and...
S01E30 An Antique Clock
Prince Yoon charges into the Emperor's chamber and yells in disgust of the incident that took Sunny's mother's life to save the Emperor. After learning this fact, the Empress Dowager shows no guilt or remorse...
S01E31 The Scandal
The Empress recovers from the Empress Dowager's attempt to kill her, but it leaves her family outraged and wanting revenge. Sunny learns that Prince Yoon is helping to reveal Empress So Hyun's death, and Prince...
S01E32 Prince Yoon Lights the Powder Keg
The hospital director kills himself to stop the truth from coming out, Prince Yoon publishes the second part of his novel depicting the death of Empress So Hyun, and Sunny finds out that the blood...
S01E33 Peanut Butter Cookies
Chief Chun proclaims his desire for the Empress in front of the Emperor, but the Empress rebukes his words for his sake. The Empress Dowager swaps cookies made by the Empress with ones with peanuts...
S01E34 Yu Ra’s Escape
After calling the Empress Dowager, Chief Joo helps Yu Ra escape from Sunil Mental Hospital. Yu Ra promises the Empress Dowager to give her Na Wang Shik and informs her of his little brother. Meanwhile,...
S01E35 The Emperor Abandons the Empress
As the Emperor reads from Vincent Lee's book, the Empress Dowager screams for him to stop. Soon after, Chief Byun enters the room and demands to know the truth behind her daughter's death. The Crown...
S01E36 Yu Ra Teams Up with the Empress Dowager
Yu Ra intends to keep her promise to the Empress Dowager and fetches Dong Shik to the palace hoping to lure in Wang Shik. The Emperor finishes reading Vincent Lee's book and tracks down Prince...
S01E37 Princess Ari is Promised to Become the Empress Regnant
Princess Ari jumps up and down in joy after being told by Kang Hee that she will be the empress regnant very soon. Princess Ari keeps her joy in secret but ends up narrating to...
S01E38 Woo Bin Runs Away With the Empress
The Empress Dowager orders Woo Bin to run away with the Empress in the middle of the night. Woo Bin tells the Empress of this, but she decides to play along with the Empress Dowager's...
S01E39 The Empress Regains Control of the Palace
When the Emperor is about to pull the trigger, Woo Bin promises to bring him Wang Shik. The Empress blackmails the Empress Dowager and regains command of the palace workers, and later, she uses her...
S01E40 The Prime Minister Loses His Edge
To ensure the promise of Princess Ari becoming the empress regnant, Kang Hee gives her recorded testimony of seeing Emperor Lee Hyuk of killing Empress So Hyun to the Prime Minister. However, the Empress gets...
S01E41 Gifts From the Emperor
Woo Bin reveals his true identity to Yu Ra, but he doesn't kill her. He takes her to Kang Joo Seung to help him remember the past. The Emperor, who is now free from his...
S01E42 Joo Seung Starts to Remember
Joo Seung remembers the day he was supposed to meet Yu Ra and explains it to her in detail. Princess So Jin asks Woo Bin desperately to get back together, and later, begs the Empress...
S01E43 An Investigation of Prince Yoon’s Attacker
All the evidence found in the investigation of Prince Yoon's attacker points to the Emperor. However, the Empress suspects it was Kang Hee. But with Princess Ari as her alibi, she can't prove it. She...
S01E44 A Trap for Kang Hee
The Empress and the Emperor set up a trap for Kang Hee. With so much on the line, Kang Hee takes the bait. When she couldn't look any guiltier of being Prince Yoon's attacker and...
S01E45 Wang Shik Starts His Revenge
To save Dong Shik and the rest of the imperial guards' lives, Wang Shik withdraws his gun and submits to the Emperor's wishes. However, when taken away by the Emperor's guards, they release him in...
S01E46 The Emperor Returns to the Palace
The Empress Dowager is shocked to hear of the Emperor's return unscathed. When she talks to him, she tells him to divorce the Empress immediately, but the Emperor tells her he'll resolve the problem his...
S01E47 Michelle Arrives at the Palace
Michelle, the former empress under Emperor Lee Jeong's rule 30 years ago, arrives at the palace to appoint the legal proxy for the Crown Princess, stunning everyone. Making things even more shocking is her aid,...
S01E48 Sunny Is Appointed as the Crown Prince
The Emperor regrets getting mad at the Empress and begs her not to leave him as she sleeps. Michelle announces Empress Oh Sunny to be the Crown Princess' proxy and tells her about the conversation...
S01E49 Michelle Reinstates Hyuk As the Emperor
The Emperor and Prince Yoon catch Kang Hee red-handed admitting to killing Joo Seung, but she reveals that it was the Empress Dowager's decree. Prince Yoon surprises the Empress Dowager in her chamber and accuses...
S01E50 The Emperor’s 10-Year Anniversary Celebration
Knowing that Sunny planned to reveal everything during his 10-year-anniversary as the emperor, he asks her for her forgiveness one last time before he locks her up. On the day of the celebration, Yu Ra...
S01E51 The Emperor’s Vengeance
Sunny recuperates from the blast with Hyuk at her side. When she wakes, he tells her that it was Na Wang Shik who was behind the attack. Later, at a press conference held at the...
S01E52 The Fall of the Imperial Family
With the Emperor dead, the Empress Dowager rushes to make her escape from the palace. As she is about to leave, Kang Hee confronts her. Unaware of the police and media waiting outside the door,...
Cast
Jang Na-ra
Oh Ssu-Ni
Choi Jin-hyuk
Na Wang-shik
Shin Sung-rok
Lee Hyuk
Lee Elijah
Min Yoo-ra
Shin Eun-kyung
Empress Dowager Kang
Oh Seung-yun
Yi-Yoon
Oh Ah-Rin
A-Ri
Park Won-sook
Grand Empress Dowager Jo
Lee Hee-jin
Princess Soo-jin
Shin Go-eun
Queen So-Heon
Yoon Da-hoon
Oh Geum-Mo
Stephanie Lee
Oh Hel-Ro
