A Netflix “special episode,” Kingdom: Ashin of the North fills in the background of the mysterious woman glimpsed at the end of Season 2, answering a lot of questions along the way. Who is she? What’s her connection to the resurrection plant? Why is she sowing the plant and creating zombies on purpose and does this standalone, feature length episode, work for both fans and non-fans of the main series?
Beginning before the events of Season 1 of Kingdom, Ashin of the North focuses on the North of the Joseon kingdom and the uneasy peace there between the local Joseon garrison and the neighbouring Pajeowi Jurchens.
When a ginseng hunting party of Pajeowi Jurchens is found slaughtered within the borders of Joseon, the local officials try and defuse tensions as quickly as possible. As the saying goes, “when 10,000 Jurchens gather, no army in the world can defeat them.“ Caught in the middle are young Ashin and her family, who are Seongjeoyain – Jurchen people who have made their home within Joseon, are loyal to the King, and are pretty much treated like dirt by everyone. Oh, and there’s an actual zombie tiger out there somewhere to be dealt with too.
Until Ashin of the North I’d had no experience with the world of Kingdom and had no idea what to expect. I knew this was a side story and presumed it would provide some backstory for one of the more mysterious heroes of the main series. How wrong I was.
From the tiny taste of Ashin from the end of Season 2, Ashin of the North creates a fully fledged villain/anti-hero for the series, giving her understandable, if not entirely relatable, reasons for making zombies instead of destroying them.
How is Ashin of the North Connected to Kingdom?
While Park Byung-eun returns as Min Chi-rok, links to the rest of the series are relatively thin apart from references to the Haewon Cho Clan.
As a young Ashin, Si-ah Kim does a fine job before handing over to Jun Ji-Hyun at the haflway point, although apart from one heart wrenching scene, she’s not given much to do here apart from standing around barely containing her simmering rage at the injustices done to her and her family.
While there’s no news on when Season 3 of the main show might appear, Ashin of the North sets up a compelling anti-hero who’s actively weaponising zombies against her enemies and won’t be dealt with easily. She’s not motivated by greed or a lust for power, she’s fully aware of how zombies work and isn’t going to slip up stupidly. She just wants revenge against everyone in Joseun and the Jurchen clan.
Is Ashin of the North Enjoyable for Those New to the Series?
For those who haven’t experienced Kingdom yet, imagine if Game Of Thrones had produced a feature on the Night King after his first appearance, instead of leaving his background mostly unexplored.
If you’re expecting zombie mayhem from the start, prepare for a lot more politicking, plotting, and historical drama as the film takes its time with Min Chi-rok’s efforts to prevent war and the hunt for that zombie tiger than an all out outbreak. The second half of the movie focuses on Ashin’s descent into darkness but when the zombies do turn up it manages to deliver something entirely unexpected. The zombie tiger also looks way better than the one in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead and is used far more effectively too.
Having never watched an episode of Kingdom, Ashin of the North did more than enough to whet my appetite, working as both an introduction to the universe, and as a standalone story in itself. I’m looking forward to catching up with the rest of the series.
Fans of the show should be intrigued by the appearance of Min Chi-rok, setting up an interesting conflict for any subsequent seasons. Non-fans can expect a good taster of what’s to come, although you might find yourself empathizing more with the “villain“ of the piece.
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