I’m not discussing law. I’m merely talking about Himalayan Pink Salt so please take whatever I write here with a grain of …lol… salt.  

I understand where y’all coming from when you say that context matters. It should.

I keep going back to the idea of justice and what it means to me…what it means for MW* and for the room 13 guest. And I think the idea of mercy needs to encompass the idea of empathy: crimes don’t happen in the void… the context matters. I wanted the gods to give them both a chance to atone so the resolution for 13 felt plain wrong.

— @Charlie

i’m a bit dissatisfied with how the Ghost Escapee end up..being ceased to nothingness..the perpetrators are at best been punished with death..sometimes i feel death is not the harshest punishment people should get especially whom ruined others without a care & remorse..

–Papai

There should be balance between too much and too little punishment.  An excessive punishment is just as bad as a lenient punishment. Both extremes erode the people’s confidence in justice being served.

However, I remembered last year’s kdrama “Ms. Hammurabi” made a show of putting the statue on the lead male’s desk.

The reason that courthouses often have this blindfolded woman holding a scale in one hand and sword in the other is to demonstrate and remind us that Lady Justice represents…lol…justice.

The blindfold signifies that justice is blind. Lady Justice cannot be biased and may not differentiate people according to race, gender, salt preference, religion, educational attainment, health, family background, personal history, economic status, and sad stories. The scale symbolizes equality and the sword symbolizes the swiftness of justice (because justice delayed is justice denied).

In this kdrama, Lady Justice is similar to Ma Go #4.

BTW, how many are more of these Ma Gos are we going to get? After Ma Go #4, I want Ma Go #5 to appear with a Mambo #5 background music to brighten the mood. So far, all these sisters are depressing.

One possible way to understand Ma Go #4’s swift action is to view her like a judge following the sentencing guidelines. The judge is restricted from considering a lot of the defendant’s background information, social standing, and even good deeds. The focus of the sentencing judge is on the crime, not the defendant or criminal.

Take for instance, pilfering salt.

If the offense is the same, i.e., stealing salt, then under the sentencing guidelines, all these salt-stealers will receive the same punishment, i.e., being pickled in brine.

Regardless of whether the thief stole the Costco brand or Hmart brand of Himalayan pink salt, or whether one thief endured the hardship of walking 100 miles without shoes, and another thief stole from her neighbor’s pantry,

the judge presiding over the salt-stealer’s sentencing would order him pickled in saltwater.

Trivia: That’s where the expression “One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb” came from. Centuries ago, the punishment for stealing livestock, be it a big sheep or a small lamb, was execution by hanging. Since the punishment was the same for big and small sheep, it was more logical to steal the big sheep. You might as well be hanged for stealing a sheep as a lamb. 

Nowadays, the idiomatic expression simply means to go all the way. Don’t half-ass on a job. Give it all you got.

Anyway, where was I?

Ma Go #4 cannot overlook the crime and commute the sentence of the Ghost Escapee because of her special circumstances. No matter how the Ghost Escapee’s story moved us, the fact is she killed three people (not counting herself) and she attempted to kill the fourth one.

Should Ma Go #4 show leniency, then she would have to do the same with the other criminals awaiting punishment. She’ll have to go on a case-by-case basis and give special consideration to the their circumstances, race, gender, religion, educational attainment, health, family background, personal history, economic status, sad stories and salt intake.

Do you see the problem now?

Justice won’t be blind anymore. It would be like Himalayan pink salt suddenly losing its saltiness and tasting sweet instead.

The Ghost Escapee had been giving the chance to get rid of her grudge. And I love that double-meaning here.

The housekeeper said, “If a human sees the guest in Room 13, the person will go MAD.” She meant that human would become mad (or deranged) at the sight of the spirit in Room 13, but also that the spirit herself would become mad (or enraged) at the sight of a human. It’s because the spirit had once been a victim of an a spycam that went viral online. She had been “looked at” countless of times so hiding in the wardrobe, away from prying eyes, became her only refuge, and gouging out the eyes of the men was her revenge.