Bon Appétit, Your Majesty: Will Yi Heon use the Mangunrok to save Ji-young from impending death? Speculations explored

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is no longer simply a palace drama about a modern chef lost in the wrong century. It has become a story of survival where affection collides with cruelty, and where every plate carries the weight of fate.

Ji-young has been dragged into suspicion after the young prince collapses from food, and the court quickly seizes the chance to accuse her. She was taken into custody, and the preview for episode 10 of Bon Appétit, Your Majesty shows her tortured and confined in a cage.

In this spiral of pain she turns to Yi Heon, asking about the Mangunrok, the book he has begun to compile in her honor at the beginning of Bon Appétit, Your Majesty. Her plea for the book is more than desperation; it connects her life to the artifact that once folded time in on itself.

Fans now speculate on whether the king will use it to rescue her from impending death, and what the price of such an act might be.

The Mangunrok and its paradox

The Mangunrok was first introduced as a cookbook Ji-young discovered in her own time. That fragile object was the trigger that pulled her into Joseon, binding her life to an era she never expected to touch. When Yi Heon later begins to write his own book and names it Mangunrok, Ji-young discovers that her copy has disappeared.

This disappearance is more than a narrative trick. Critics and viewers see it as a direct invocation of the bootstrap paradox. The book exists because Yi Heon writes it, yet he writes it because Ji-young once held it. The cycle devours itself, erasing the need for two versions and leaving only one. This paradox already demonstrates that the Mangunrok is not a simple artifact but an unstable knot of cause and effect.

That instability is now tied to Ji-young’s fate. If the Mangunrok can consume its own existence, can it also consume death? And if it can, will the act of saving her also consume Yi Heon in turn?

Ji-young’s torture and plea for the book

The palace has always punished difference with violence in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, and Ji-young’s resilience has placed a target on her back. After the poisoning scandal she becomes the convenient scapegoat.

The preview for episode 10 of Bon Appétit, Your Majesty shows her confined, suffering, and facing torture. In the midst of this ordeal she asks Yi Heon about the Mangunrok.

That request is not only a cry for survival. It's a moment of defiance, forcing the king to choose between the system that sustains his rule and the woman who has unsettled him. For Ji-young, the Mangunrok is a thread of hope. For Yi Heon, it's a mirror. By answering her, he admits that she matters more than the balance of the court. By denying her, he confirms his cruelty and secures the silence his enemies demand.

The possible cost of using the Mangunrok

Speculation thrives because no one believes the Mangunrok will act without cost in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty. Every bargain in Joseon carries a price, and this artifact has already erased itself once. If Yi Heon uses it now, what might it demand?

One possibility is that the book would consume him directly. By bending time to save Ji-young, he could erase his own existence. History remembers Yeonsan-gun as a tyrant, and some fans argue that the Mangunrok might resolve this contradiction by sparing Ji-young while removing the king who loved her.

Another theory imagines an exchange: a life for a life. Ji-young may survive only if someone else in the palace dies. This exchange could claim an adviser, a rival, or even a member of the royal family. The cost would reflect the cruel logic of Joseon politics, where mercy is rare and often lethal, as we hae repeatedly seen in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty.

A third speculation is that the Mangunrok would not kill but unseat him. By using it, Yi Heon could lose his throne. The paradox might strip him of the authority he has fought to preserve, leaving him alive but powerless. For a man who rules through fear, this would be worse than death.

Love as a dangerous ingredient

Yi Heon’s feelings for Ji-young have become impossible to hide at this moment in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty. He records her dishes in his own Mangunrok, turning food into testimony. His concern when she suffers has been noted across episodes, revealing cracks in his mask of cruelty.

But love inside the palace is more dangerous than poison. To protect her openly would expose him to courtiers who already seek his downfall. His affection is both his strength and his weakness. If he uses the Mangunrok, he risks declaring to the world that she matters more than power. If he does nothing, he keeps his throne but loses the only bond that reminded him of humanity.

This tension is why the story has captured so much attention. Every glance between them is heavy with risk, and every act of kindness carries the threat of betrayal. The Mangunrok has become the only shield he can raise without exposing his heart, but even that shield may shatter.

What the Mangunrok could mean for the story ahead

The Mangunrok is no longer just a book. It has become the axis of the narrative itself. Its paradox mirrors the uncertainty of Yi Heon’s reign and Ji-young’s survival. If he uses it, the story may tilt toward redemption, showing that even a man remembered as a tyrant can risk everything for love. If he refuses, the series may lean into tragedy, confirming that cruelty devours every hope of survival.

Fan speculations circling the Mangunrok

Fans of Bon Appétit, Your Majesty continue to explore every possibility. Some imagine that the Mangunrok will act as a resurrection tool, saving Ji-young outright and giving them a future together. Others warn that this solution would come at the highest cost, either erasing Yi Heon from existence or stripping him of power.

There are darker interpretations that the Mangunrok requires an exchange, sparing Ji-young while demanding another life in her place. This would keep with the ruthless balance of Joseon, where nothing survives without something else being consumed.

Finally, some readers and viewers see the Mangunrok less as a supernatural object and more as a symbol. For them, Yi Heon’s willingness to use it represents his true transformation. Even if the book never performs a visible miracle, it already measures how far he has drifted from tyranny and how much he is willing to sacrifice for her.

The shadow of Yeonsan-gun’s history

The historical figure behind Yi Heon, Yeonsan-gun, was remembered as one of Joseon’s most brutal rulers. His reign was marked by censorship, violence, and excess. In that context, the Mangunrok becomes even more striking. It suggests a rewriting of history itself.

If the drama allows Yi Heon to use the Mangunrok to save Ji-young, it reshapes his legacy (in fiction, of course). Instead of a tyrant destroyed by his cruelty, he becomes a man undone by love. If the drama follows history more closely, the Mangunrok may become another false hope, unable to prevent Ji-young’s death or his descent into infamy.

This tension between historical record and fictional speculation fuels the current debate. The Mangunrok is not only a paradox in the story but also a paradox in reception: it offers the chance to redeem a figure history has already condemned.

A banquet of fate waiting to be served in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty

The Mangunrok has already consumed itself once in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty. It may now consume more. Ji-young’s plea for the book has bound her survival to its pages, and Yi Heon’s decision will decide not only her fate but also the meaning of his reign.

If he chooses to use it, he steps willingly into the paradox and accepts the cost it will demand. If he refuses, he condemns her and proves that cruelty still rules his throne. Either way, the banquet in Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is ready, and the Mangunrok waits to be opened.