Yona of the Dawn

Episode 18

This episode, Hak learns the joys of being hit on against his will! Well, not really. After their meetings last week, Jeaha decides that he really wants Hak as a member of the pirate crew, but his offer gets slightly misconstrued by the Thunder Beast, who labels the Green Dragon as a pervert. Given that Jeaha isn't as smooth as he likes to think he is – something he revisits later when stepping on a loose roof tile lands him in Gija's lap – and that most of his meetings with Hak have involved brothels, Hak's misunderstanding is fairly believable. In any event, it's one of the more humorous moments in this episode of Yona of the Dawn, and given how serious the story is getting, the laughs really are needed.

Jeaha has already made his wish to stay far away from his supposed master as he can very clear, contending that just because he's descended from the original Green Dragon that doesn't mean that he has to live his ancestor's life. In his mind, he's his own person with his own wants and plans, so going with Yona and the other dragons is just an annoyance to be avoided. He refers to his home village as “stifling,” indicating that the pomp and circumstance surrounding being the Green Dragon gave him very little freedom, and that unlike Gija and Sinha, he refused to accept it. That he would eventually become a pirate makes a certain amount of sense, although ultimately it is his urge to recruit one of Yona's party that puts him into her hands. This makes his involuntary reaction to her presence much more upsetting than either Sinha's or Gija's first meetings with the princess. When Jeaha involuntarily genuflects, you really feel that he's being subdued into something against his will. Yona accepts that he doesn't want to join her, but he's clearly perturbed by his physical reaction to her, as well as the fact that Gija just accepts the bond between them. He also calls Gija a “puppet dragon,” implying that even Gija's attraction to Yona is a result of the master/dragon bond. This is definitely making Gija do some thinking of his own, and I'm interested to see how he ends up feeling about, well, his feelings.

In the meantime, Yona is about to get the chance to prove herself again, and we get to see her show the determination that has been absent for a few episodes. While walking around Awa Port, she and the others (but not poor Sinha, who has been left behind) see officials attacking a shop. They reluctantly leave, deciding that they can't do anything, but when they come back they see that tragedy has befallen the shop owners. Yona once again feels her responsibility as King Il's daughter, but more importantly realizes her own helplessness in the face of violence and cruelty. She determines to go to the pirates who seem to be the only ones fighting back against Kumji and his officials, and while all of her teammates pass Captain Gigan's test, Yona is unable to vocalize what it is that she can do. Gigan devises the next episode's plot, and more importantly, we see that Yona is, although still unsure, willing to prove herself in order to do what's right for her people...and her conscience.

That's what's so interesting about looking at Yona versus Su-won as leaders: both of them are trying to do what they think is best for the kingdom according to their consciences. Granted, right now Su-won has more resources at his disposal, but the difference in their priorities seem more like two halves of a whole solution rather than opposing views. Granted, had he never forced her out of the palace, she might never have realized her own strength, and given that he killed her father, there really isn't much hope of a reconciliation. But I suspect that their abilities and priorities are complimentary, making their estrangement – and Su-won's actions – more tragic.

But now we must wait a week to see Yona prove to Gigan – and more importantly, to herself – what it is that she can do...and to find what the hell that is that Jeaha is wearing under his robe.

Rating: A-

Rebecca Silverman is ANN's senior manga critic.