The wait for Kingdom season 2 ended on [Friday] March 13 after season 1 left many with a ridiculous cliffhanger.
It's hard to go into very good detail on how I felt so I will just keep it simple and splurge my feelings.
I didn't think the writers would top it with making things exciting but they really justified the wait. I appreciated how the further we watched, the more we got to know other characters through flashbacks. For example with Muyeon. He was a mole but not by his choice. The Haewan Cho Clan are just bad business and Cho Hakju's daughter is typically cunning. Using her brains rather than physical force.* It broke my heart seeing Muyeong die and it obviously hurt Prince Lee Chang when he learnt about this betrayal. Actually with any zombie theme, a lot of key characters will die. A lesson to learn as you follow the story.
I normally dislike flashbacks but when it fills in gaps in between scenes that's when I find it acceptable. For instance, Lord Ahn Yeon telling Prince Chang that when he dies he needs to be turned into a monster and Seo Bi uses the plant to infect him in order to prove a point about the plague. That was smart play.
There is one other thing that makes me frustrated quite a bit in general and that is the use of time jumps, especially when in the finale you go from three months after the big fight to seven years later with the second prince growing up. However in Kingdom, it transitions well and then it leaves us again with another cliffhanger. Season 3 where are you? It'll be a while methinks.
A part of me wished the little boy who would then grow up to become the new prince would have been reunited with his real mother i.e. Muyeong's wife but we don't know what happened. Presumably she died in the plague but it is never shown after she had been rescued by Prince Chang. I also wonder what happened to that nobleman who was trapped in the toilet cubicle while the infected were trying to bash the door. Did he actually hide in his poo (ugh) or did he let himself die?
The rollercoaster of emotions really hits you HARD. The biggest case of trauma would be in the finale. My heart was beating when Prince Chang and his men were luring the infected to the garden and then smashing the ice forming on the river, killing the zombies but also ridding the worms that were laid on the winning/heroic team. Something Seo Bi already learnt after putting Cho Hak Ju into the water.
I was all OMG when I saw the worm moving in the little prince's face while he slept. I just sensed something was missing even when Seo Bi bravely ridded most of the worms (how AMAZING was she with how she protected the little baby against the infected, whipping the burning blanket to cover herself as she escaped). There is no doubt while watching season 2 that I was so happy seeing Seo Bi get the justice she deserves in this season. Lord Ahn Yeon's backstory connecting to Cho Hak Ju with regards to defeating the Japanese soldiers, wow I didn't see that coming. Making use of the resurrection plant on sick commoners - much to the reluctance of Lord Ahn Yeon.
Prince Chang's decision to leave the palace and not kill the little prince as advised by the other councillors made me sad but I respected his choice. It was noble. Of course I knew it was not the end of him but it was reassuring to see him go on his own quest to find the person teaching others how to grow the resurrection plant, eventually meeting Jun Jihyun and then season 2 ending with another cliffhanger.
* I often sit and wonder if that is the stereotype in general back in the day and also present when we refer to any female who is visually stunning on the outside, incredibly pleasing with a great personality but go past the beauty you find something else.