WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Kingdom: Ashin of the North, now streaming on Netflix.
With pop culture saturated with so many zombie stories in the years since The Walking Dead rose to popularity, Netflix's Kingdom has been well-received due to its take on the Joseon period in Korea, weaving in politics à la Game of Thrones, as the undead have been weaponized to cause strife and a coup. However, Season 2 threw everything into disarray when it was revealed that a mysterious woman, who audiences now know to be Ashin, was orchestrating these events for personal gain. Thankfully, before the third season begins, Kingdom: Ashin of the North provides context for the archer's motivations via a tragic, harrowing backstory.
What Happened With Ashin's Family?
Ashin's family settled on the border of Korea and China, with her father, Ta-hab, leading a section of the Jurchen warriors considered outcasts by their own people and the Koreans. They became Seongjeoyain farmers, who sided with Korea and were given land by the state. But sadly, their governmental status has not been recognized. It's why Ta-hab, hoping to get more land and benefits, remains loyal to the Joseon crown.
Ashin doesn't like it because she can sense that her dad's a pawn. His intentions are good, though, as he's trying to help the village as a butcher, but with two other little girls wallowing in poverty and a sick, dying wife, he's running out of options. Ashin helps out, spending her time in the forbidden Pyesa-gun mountain land and hunting wild ginseng, where she comes across a stone mural about the resurrection plant that infects animals and can bring the dead back to life.
She wants to use it to heal her mom, but her dad rebukes her, making it clear they need to stay in line for the throne and stop wandering across borders, as there are Joseon soldiers and Jurchens who hate them and could attack. Ashin's further disenchanted by how Ta-hab is used as a spy by Chi-rok, a Joseon commander, to spread propaganda to the Jurchen armies to placate them. Chi-rok knows their armies are stronger because the Jurchen soldiers start training as children, so he doesn't want them joining any legion that wants to raid Korea.
What Happens to Ashin's Village?
Sadly, Chi-rok uses Ashin's village as a political tool since he can't afford to let war to break out. After one of Joseon's misfit clans, the Haewon Cho, kills 15 Jurchens from the Pajeowi area for trespassing, Chi-rok is scared of retaliation. He uses Ta-hab, having him tell his people that a tiger did it, but it gets out of hand as Ai-da-gan, leader of a band of murderous Jurchen, goes on a killing spree, taking out one Joseon village.
Chi-rok's death squad has to do damage control, killing rogue Jurchens who sneak over and anyone that could send word back that it wasn't a tiger. Ironically, they and some Jurchen spies end up being hunted by a zombie tiger, and after the melee, Chi-rok brokers an uneasy peace by lying and saying that the Jurchens who've been killed were taken out by Ta-hab's tribal warriors. As a result, the Jurchens slaughter Ashin's people, with her dad not realizing he was walking into a trap on his journey.
Luckily, Ashin isn't home when the genocide occurs because she's trying to find more of the resurrection flower, but she returns and discovers the place in flames, and friends and family hanged. This pushes her to visit Chi-rok, not knowing he's the villain of the story, where she pledges allegiance to the crown if they agree to someday kill the Jurchens. He accepts her offer, making her his new spy on the Pajeowi, but little does he know her time in the military camp will forever change the dynasty he's scheming so hard to protect.
How Does Ashin Become a Bloodthirsty Killer?
In the decade that passes, Ashin trains in the forest with her bow and arrow, perfecting her skill à la Hawkeye. She stays in the pig sty, tending to animals and whatnot as she's still an outcast. The men make fun of her for how she buried her own family, thinking she's insane, while some approach her and make her their sex object. These toxic soldiers instill fear into her, as she's got no place to go, plus if she kills them, the legion will murder her in return.
All this adds to her trauma, with the levees breaking on one Pajeowi run. She crosses the border and infiltrates the camp, only to find Ta-hab imprisoned. He's not dead as she thought, but his legs have been amputated and he's emaciated. She's stunned to hear the captors calling him "traitor," and when she tries to rescue him, all he can do is beg for death. Ashin soaks in one last sunrise with her dad before killing him out of mercy. She sneaks out, setting the camp on fire, but on her way back, she spots Chi-rok's royal guard with arrows that she recognized from seeing dead Pajeowi Jurchens when she was a kid scouring the forest for the flower.
Ashin realizes the tiger story was a lie her dad was told to say, and that her commander killed these people. She kills a guard and breaks into the library one night and reads Chi-rok's scrolls, in which he documented the conspiracy about framing Ashin's people. Knowing he took everything from her, Ashin becomes the ultimate assassin, killing Joseon soldiers in the darkness, then using the resurrection flower to turn them into zombies. The undead ravage the camp in her first step to breaking a throne that never cared for her clan despite their loyalty. However, Ashin also plans to use this army to go after the Jurchens that turned on their own, making it clear everyone's going to pay, no matter which nation they're from.
Kingdom: Ashin of the North is currently available to stream on Netflix, along with both seasons of Kingdom.