The Remarried Empress episode guide in one line: 10 episodes, four out, six to come. Disney+ put out episodes 1-4 together on the afternoon of November 3, 2026, Korea time, a day earlier than the announced November 4, and the remaining six arrive two at a time on Wednesdays: episodes 5-6 on November 11, 7-8 on November 18 and the finale pair on November 25 (Herald Corp, Wikipedia). It streams on Disney+ worldwide (Hulu in the US). Below: the dates in one table, what the first four episodes cover without spoiling the episode 4 ending, what the drama changes from the webtoon, what viewers are saying, and where to read once you run out of episodes.
The Remarried Empress Episode Guide: All 10 Dates
| Episodes | Release date (Korea time) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Tuesday, November 3, 2026 | Out |
| 5-6 | Wednesday, November 11, 2026 | Next |
| 7-8 | Wednesday, November 18, 2026 | |
| 9-10 (finale) | Wednesday, November 25, 2026 |
Every date in The Remarried Empress episode guide table is Korea time. The first four went up in the "late afternoon" as a "surprise reveal", a Disney+ spokesperson told Korea JoongAng Daily on press-conference day. We couldn't find a clock time from Disney+ for the Wednesday drops, so the table gives dates only.
The date moved because the festival crowd liked it. Episodes 1-3 screened in the On Screen section of the 31st Busan International Film Festival in October, the screenings sold out, and Yonhap gives the strong response to those three episodes as the reason for the earlier release. The main trailer passed 13 million views worldwide in its first 48 hours, according to Newsis.
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The Remarried Empress Episode Guide to Episodes 1-4 (Spoiler-Light)
The drama opens somewhere the webtoon never went. Yonhap's review of the first four episodes says it starts with a hunting-ground action scene that isn't in the original: an unidentified monster that tears through the ground and drags its prey under attacks Navier (Shin Min-a). The reviewer compares it to Tremors, the 1990 film known in Korea as '불가사리'. Sovieshu (Ju Ji-hoon) and Navier look out for each other, but the one who saves her is a white bird, not her husband.
That hunt is also where Rashta (Lee Se-young) enters. Sovieshu brings the runaway slave back from the hunting grounds and falls for her fast; the trailer cuts from him on horseback in the woods to her on the forest floor under the line "His Majesty has returned with some woman." The couple's missing heir is the pressure point. Korea JoongAng Daily's series explainer says it "strained their relationship", and one r/KDRAMA viewer noticed Sovieshu "repeatedly wishing for a child".
Sovieshu in the woods. Image via the official trailer (Disney+ UK on YouTube, about 0:26).
Navier, lonely at court, names the bird that keeps landing at her window "Queen" and starts trading secret letters with a stranger through it. Readers know who the bird is: Heinrey (Lee Jong-suk), the Western Kingdom's prince. The transformation that worried webtoon fans is handled around the edges, Yonhap says: feathers scatter into the water and a human shape appears in a bathtub, or clothes are left where Heinrey stood. Lee Jong-suk told Herald Corp the first bird-to-human scene had to be shot naked.
One r/KDRAMA viewer said the episode 4 cliffhanger makes the wait for episode 5 "an exercise in patience". We're not going to spoil it here.
What the Drama Changes From the Webtoon
It keeps four people at the center and lets the rest go. "Our adaptation zeroes in on the four central figures, streamlining their arcs into a 10-episode narrative," Shin Min-a said at the press conference (The Korea Herald). Yonhap's reviewer puts it more bluntly: the side characters of the long original are boldly cut and the relationships compressed around the core cast. Our character guide lays out how those four relate in the webtoon.
The tone sits between the two originals on purpose. Director Cho Su-won said the web novel is more serious and the webtoon "more bright and playful", and that he aimed for a middle ground (Yonhap). Writers Yeoh Gee-na and Hyun Choong-yeol, who wrote The Uncanny Counter, did the script.
Queen is computer-generated and built on its actor. Lee Jong-suk said the VFX team copied his gestures and gave the bird a brown head to match Heinrey's hair (Herald Corp, Korea JoongAng Daily).
The European court is real stone. According to Disney+, via The Korea Herald, the Eastern Empire's palace is Schleissheim Palace in Germany, the gardens where Navier and Heinrey get closer are the Kroměříž gardens in the Czech Republic, and the production hung Korean-language shop signs on old streets in Kutná Hora. The letters and books on screen are written in hangul too, which Yonhap's reviewer found awkward in a Western court.
One small detail for webtoon readers: the trailer's English subtitles render Navier's key line as "I accept this divorce." / "And I request an approval of my remarriage." That is word for word the line WEBTOON's English series page quotes in its blurb. Rashta gets her own line in the same trailer.
Two back-to-back shots. Image via the official trailer (Disney+ UK on YouTube, about 0:51 and 0:52).
What Viewers Are Saying After Episode 4
The split is the one the Korean press saw coming. Yonhap repeats a pre-release worry that the drama becomes Bridgerton if it's done well and the variety show Surprise if it isn't, and Ju Ji-hoon admitted he turned the role down several times because the world was hard to grasp.
In the r/KDRAMA Episodes 1-4 discussion thread, read on November 5, 2026:
"why is it SO BRIGHT? … in the forest scenes, it felt like they were just playing pretend" u/dietcokeisascam
Another reply said the outdoor shots look overexposed and the outfits "kind of polyester and low budget". A third found Sovieshu's turn too sudden because the couple is shown "loving" and "cuddly" right before he rescues Rashta. On the other side, one viewer said Shin Min-a "is killing it so far" with her micro expressions, and a viewer who never read the webtoon called it "kdrama Bridgerton vibes".
Our read: the lighting complaint matches at least one forest frame in the trailer, which looks washed out, and the abrupt Sovieshu turn is the price of cutting the original's large cast down to four people in 10 episodes. The drama is betting you'll forgive both for Shin Min-a and the bird.
Is There a Season 2?
No. Every report we checked calls it a 10-part series (Yonhap, The Korea Herald, Korea JoongAng Daily, Wikipedia's episode count), and as of November 5, 2026, Disney+ hasn't announced a second season. The other adaptation in the works is a TV anime from studio TROYCA, listed for 2027 on AniList and covered in our anime guide. For the cast and premiere news, see the Disney+ cast page.
Where to Read Once You Run Out of Episodes
The English webtoon is finished. On November 5, 2026, the WEBTOON series page showed COMPLETED, 569.1M views and 4.6M subscribers, plus an "Up to 88% off on the entire series" note. Our reading guide has where to start and what to skip.
In Korea, Naver is back on the series. A side story began on October 29 at 10 p.m. KST, covering Navier and Heinrey's married life, side characters and "IF" stories that replay key events from the original (Yonhap, Korea JoongAng Daily). Naver said the side story would also run on its global platform, but the English page still showed COMPLETED when we checked on November 5. Naver's Korean page also has free episodes raised from 10 to 24 until December 1.
If the drama is your first taste and you want more empresses, divorces and second husbands, our list of manhwa like The Remarried Empress picks up from there.
Our Take
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Watch it weekly instead of waiting to binge. Two episodes on a Wednesday is a good dose for a story built on letters and glances, and waiting until November 25 means three weeks of dodging episode 4 talk in threads like the one above. Hold the webtoon until after the finale if you haven't read it: the drama is already moving faster than the original, and reading ahead tells you exactly where Sovieshu's choice leads. If you have read it, start with episode 1 anyway; the new hunting-ground opening is the biggest change so far and it's in the first minutes.
How we checked this: on November 5, 2026 we read the Korean press reports and Yonhap's review of episodes 1-4, the r/KDRAMA episode thread, the WEBTOON and Naver series pages, and went through the official Disney+ UK trailer frame by frame. We haven't watched the episodes ourselves; episode details come from the review and viewer posts linked above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Remarried Empress K-drama have?
Ten. Episodes 1-4 came out together on November 3, 2026 (Korea time), then two more arrive every Wednesday until the finale pair on November 25.
When does The Remarried Empress episode 5 come out?
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 (Korea time), together with episode 6. Episodes 7-8 follow on November 18 and episodes 9-10 on November 25.
Is there a The Remarried Empress season 2?
No. As of November 5, 2026, Korean press reports describe it as a 10-part series and Disney+ hasn't announced a second season.
Where can I watch The Remarried Empress?
On Disney+ worldwide (Hulu in the US). It is rated for viewers aged 15 and older.
Related Reading
- The Remarried Empress Disney+ cast, plot and release
- The Remarried Empress webtoon review
- The Remarried Empress reading guide
- The Remarried Empress character guide
- Every manhwa K-drama adaptation in 2026
References
- Herald Corp, press conference report, November 3, 2026 (Korean). Release moved to November 3, episodes 1-4 then two each Wednesday; Queen's CG and brown head.
- Mediapen, November 3, 2026 (Korean). Same schedule, sold-out BIFF screenings, filming in Germany and the Czech Republic.
- Newsis, November 3, 2026 (Korean). Trailer at 13 million views in 48 hours.
- Yonhap, press conference, November 3, 2026 (Korean). Earlier release because of the BIFF response to episodes 1-3.
- Yonhap, review of episodes 1-4, November 4, 2026 (Korean). Hunting-ground opening, the white bird, hangul props.
- Yonhap English, November 3, 2026. Director Cho Su-won on tone.
- The Korea Herald, November 3, 2026. Filming locations, the four central characters.
- Korea JoongAng Daily, release-day report. "Late afternoon" surprise release.
- Korea JoongAng Daily, series explainer. World, credits, 15+ rating.
- Korea JoongAng Daily, side story announcement. Side story, free episodes to December 1.
- Yonhap, side story, October 29, 2026 (Korean).
- The Remarried Empress (TV series), Wikipedia. BIFF dates, Wednesday schedule, Disney+ and Hulu.
- The Remarried Empress on WEBTOON and 재혼 황후 on Naver Webtoon, checked November 5, 2026.
- r/KDRAMA, The Remarried Empress Episodes 1-4 thread, read November 5, 2026.
