One reason I gave this kdrama a whopping A- as final grade is because I LOVED how the ending paralleled the beginning.  (I dinged it because I expected the honeymoon in Granada and 2.5 children.)

It’s rare in kdramas nowadays to see a script come full circle and end the story where it began. To me it demonstrates that a writer wielded control over her content, character and plot when she can match her outcome to her goal. And the writer of “Memories of the Alhambra” hit her target.

Whether or not the greater public liked the ending or her style, I have to applaud the writer’s genius.

It begins when Jinwoo leaves his hostel and walks through the medieval streets of Granada. To me, the splitscreen here and the camera’s focus on his footsteps indicate that we’re following him as he embarks on his adventure. We’re Tinkerbell to his Peter Pan.

He narrates, “Most people come to Granada for Alhambra Palace, but I came here to see something else. Something more magical than the Alhambra.”

We soon learn that he’s trying out this new game program. He thinks this Augmented Reality game is magic (but we know that FAITH is the real mystical treasure).

He enters an empty street with buildings closed for the night. He stops in a deserted empty plaza in front a fountain with a victory column. 🙂 I’ll explain the significance of this column in a bit. For now, just know that this kind of architectural structure is built to commemorate a victory. The statues on top of victory columns are often famous personages linked to a battle or revolution.

Then, Jinwoo hears explosions, and in the far distance, he sees the fortified city on a hill (I’m assuming it’s Alhambra) lit up as if it’s being bombarded. Without warning, a boulder streaks across space and hits the building beside him. He crouches as dust and rocks fall around him. Then, he moves to feel a white rock that landed near him. He’s amazed at how authentic it looks.

He hears the neighing of a horse and he looks up to see a cloud of smoke.

He sees a slow-moving horse with a knight astride it. He lets go of the rock he’s touching and stands up to meet the knight. He’s dumbfounded but he doesn’t see the arrows on the knight’s back.

He only sees the knight’s armor, the mail coif on the head (but he’s missing his helmet…which kinda tells me that he lost his fight), the horse’s armor, the knight’s shoes, his bloodied face and wide-open eyes.

The sound of explosion scares the horse and it rears, unseating its rider. The knight easily topples to the ground because he’s dead all along.

Here we have already four points of parallelism to the ending so I’ll stop here and go over them. 🙂

1. The empty church = empty plaza

In Episode 16, Jinwoo asks for the servers to be turned on again for an hour between 6am and 7am. He says he has unfinished business to do.

In Granada, he was searching for this magical technology to begin a gaming craze all around the globe. Here in Seoul, he’s searching an end to this infernal technology he let loose and destroyed many lives.

Visually, both places, the plaza and the church, look alike because they’re empty and deserted. But SYMBOLICALLY, the two places can’t be anymore different. The plaza is empty because it’s “waiting” to be filled with the magic of technology to become bustling with activity.

In contrast, the church only looks empty BUT it’s already filled with that mystical “magic” of faith, hope and love. It’s only waiting to be discovered, embraced and lived by the faithful.

2. The crucifix = victory column

Do you see it the similarities? Do you want me to explain? 🙂

Just picture the empty street as the church aisle, and the beautiful buildings on the street as the beautiful stained-glass windows in the church. You come to the end of the street and you see the fountain with the victory column. In church, the end of the aisle is the altar and there’s a crucifix behind it.

See how everything is paralleled? This is how cinematography, when done with careful attention, can communicate and enhance the message of the kdrama. (rolling my eyes at that try-hard “Mr. Sunshine.”)

The statue on top of the column is an unheard hero (well he could be fictionalized for the kdrama for all we know). That Nazrid warrior is vaunted for his bravery in battle. Judging from the sword, he must have been killed many men in battle and he was victorious or wouldn’t be on that column.

In contrast that defenseless and naked person on the cross is God. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day.

When that warrior jumps off that column and strikes the ground with the sword, breaking the cobblestones, Jinwoo falls down to ground, terrified.

The Lord on the cross doesn’t come down and Jinwoo doesn’t kneel in front of him. He doesn’t “fear” God in the way that a child fears a terrible evil monster leaping out of the dark to smite him down.

But he fears God as a man who’s terrible deeds. That’s why he makes the sign of the cross in Episode 15. He’s praying that the good Lord will forgive his sins and end his misery.  And that’s why he looks at the crucifix when he enters the church and he looks at it again after stabbing NPC HS. He beseeches the Lord to be kind and merciful to him.

3. The thunder and pile of sand = explosion and the rock

In Episode 16, as soon as the servers are turned on, the thunder and lightning begin. Outside the church, the storm rages.

For me, however, the sound of the thunder and the burst of lightning recall to the mind the distant explosions in Granada in Episode 1. Back then, the city on the hill is being attacked, but now, the thunderstorm and lightning gathering around the church signal the attack on Jinwoo.

Sure enough, with the sound of thunder, NPC HS appears. Jinwoo meets him in the middle of the aisle and stabs him. NPC HS disintegrates and turns into a pile of sand.

To me, NPC HS is like that boulder that comes out of nowhere and smashes the wall. Because of their great difference in level, NPC HS no longer poses a threat to user Zinu. And when he disintegrated, he didn’t become a white rock. NPC HS is pulverized like salt.

From white rock to white sand….

4. The dead knight of Castille = NPC Emma

A lot of “critics” missed the relevance of the dead knight so I’ll give them two explanations (I’ll give the third one later).

First, the dead knight is THE harbinger of death. The “harbinger of death” is a trope found in tragedies. There’s always that doomsayer predicting death and destruction. And it isn’t any different in this kdrama. The knight that Jinwoo sees is straight out of the Book of Revelation in the bible… except his horse isn’t white.

“And I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hell followed close behind him.” -Revelation 6: 8

The knight foretells death both in AR mode and real life. In the game mode, he’s like a warning for players to expect death at any moment while playing the game. The knight is like a “parental guidance” issued to say that game is rated: “Mature Audience Only. Contains violent battle simulation.” It isn’t Super Mario.

In real life, the dead knight is forewarning of death to Jinwoo. And it came true, didn’t it? In less than 24 hours, his enemy HyunSuk is dead.

Second, NPC Emma parallels the dead knight.

Throughout the show, the strains of guitar music, “Memories of the Alhambra” signals that death is coming.

In Episode 16, Jinwoo hears the guitar playing and knows that NPC Emma is waiting for him at the altar. He escaped death yesterday when he pulled away from her, but he now comes to finish his task. NPC Emma is dressed in red but for all purposes, she’s the knight described in the Book of Revelation.

Her name is “Death” and “hell” follows after her as soon as she resets the game which means the end of him.

I’ll have to stop here and continue later. But do you understand me now when I say this kdrama is awesome and this writer did an admirable job?

The Jesus-on-the-donkey should come next.

Links:

Memories of the Alhambra: Final Grade

Memories of the Alhambra: Q&A on Marco and Open Endings

Memories of the Alhambra: Oli’s Bugs and Dungeons

Memories of the Alhambra: Phoenix’s Happy Ending and Game Explanation

Memories of the Alhambra: Goyangi’s Instance Dungeon and Odysseus