Just to set us for finale episode tonight.
1. Going back
Mago1 asked him to go on an errand to pick a flower from the House of the Full Moon, she gave him two instructions.
One: When you go around the tree, you’ll see the entrance for the House of the Full Moon. When you come back, go the other way around the tree.
Two: You can’t eat or drink anything when you go there. If you do, you won’t be able to come back.
He followed #2. But didn’t he retrace his steps going back?
lol. Is he up to his Harvard tricks? Or does he have a lousy direction?
2. Doublespeak again?
MG1: Thank you for bringing (the flowers) back.
CS: I now understand why you sent me there. I realized what kind of heart I should have while I’m waiting for her.
MG1: Be happy for now. Man Wol is back.
I think he has to send her off to the afterlife, but he’ll wait for her to be reincarnated again.
I think he’s realized a few things from his trip to the past. For instance:
His time waiting for her will be nothing when compared to the 1300 years Manwol and the combined 770 years the others 3 ghosts have spent waiting. In the scheme of things, he’s had it lucky.
Also, in whatever century, Manwol will like him and choose him. Even if she doesn’t recognize him,
she’ll still end up liking him.
3. Bellhop letting go of his enemy = Manwol letting go of Capt Firefly
Bellhop: It’s really unfair. It was already hard enough seeing him do everything I wanted to do. I can’t ever forgive him.
MW: How could you forgive someone that put a whole in your chest? Just go and listen. He probably didn’t come to brag to you that he’s been living well after killing you. He probably came to give excuses on how it was hard for him too. But it isn’t all that bad to hear him out. It helps your heart rest a little.
Manwol was prepared to listen to the Captain’s excuses.
Bellhop: Was it like that for you, too?
MW: Yeah. That’s why I could see him leaving in his last moments.
Remember what I wrote on Capt Firefly. She saw him as a pathetic firefly who got trapped because of his curse, and couldn’t even carry himself over to the afterlife on his own.
Bellhop: I thought you couldn’t remember the whole firefly incident.
MW: Is it really time for you to be talking about my memories right now?
lol. I think she lied. She could remember everything but letting go of her bad memories was the best course of action. She was pretending to have amnesia.
MW: If you’re going to stay here crouched like this, I’m going to tell him to leave. I guess Yuna did something useless.
She stood up to leave but the Bellhop grabbed her hemline.
MW: Naturally, it will make him feel better for the rest of his life. (she meant forgiveness) Even so, you met because Yuna is the one who brought him here. The girl you like is trying to do everything for you.
Here, I like that she’s imparting her newfound “wisdom” to the Bellhop. She was saying that, although the Captain benefited emotionally from her forgiveness, she was forgiving him in part because Chansung wanted her to do so. Chansung was the one who brought the Captain to her, just like Yuna was the one who brought Bellhop’s enemy to him. Both Chansung and Yuna were concerned about them and wanted to help them.
4. Letting go
Chansung and the Housekeeper talked about letting
Housekeeper: When the boss leaves and Del Luna disappears, are you worried that I might wander and become an evil ghost?
Chansung: So you know.
He didn’t want them to turn into wandering, vengeful ghosts.
Housekeeper: I just found out. It seems that the Boss is no longer bound to the Moon Spirit tree. Now, she can leave for the afterlife. The one that binds her here now is probably you.
Chansung: Are you worried that I might be another Moon Spirit tree for her?
Housekeeper: I can’t help but thing about what MaGo Sin told the bride at the time we held the ghost wedding ceremony. “You need a stronger will to let go than to hold on.”
I think now Chansung needed to rethink what MaGo2 told him about being cool and uncool.
According to MaGo2, “It’s cool when you’re taking her side. And being in the way (obstruction) is uncool. The role of being cool like holding her, consoling her…anyone would want to do that role. The role of holding her back and hanging on to her and becoming uncool is something only a good person can do.”
To be cool means to take her side and give in to her demands. To be uncool is to obstruct and restrain her (i.e., gambling, buying too many horses and cars, shopping, cursing Mira, killing Capt Firefly)
However, sometimes it’s good to be uncool. Sometimes it’s good to be cool, that is, to give in to what she wants and needs.
5. The 99th Manager
I’ll explain this for now…
MW: When I was first bound to the tree spirit, there was a large full moon floating just like this one. The wine I had drunk was placed in my hand again then. Gu Chansung, shall I drink this again now?
No. She should drink more of that carbonated water.
Here, the Viki subs totally doesn’t make sense. lol. Whoever subbed this segment should redo it or, better yet, rewatch the show. What’s the use of knowing a language when comprehension is still abysmal? Sigh.
This is what Viki said.
CS: Because you will go back to the time when I met you, I wanted to stay with you and suggested you drink it. If I had done that, I might even have imagined the picture of you encountering the 86th human manager.
Screenshots!
NOOOOOOOooo.
Fortunately, the Kissasian subber got it right.
CS: When I went back in time and met you, I wanted to take the drink you offered me to stay with you there. If I had done that, I would have become your 85th passerby and I may have drawn a portrait of you.
Remember: he ended up taking a photograph of her instead and the rest of the employees.
CS: (continuing) I had this thought as I hung a picture we took together: That I will be your last manager, the 99th one. I won’t let you spend meaningless time with the 100th one. So don’t drink that.
MW: (smiling at him): I knew you would tell me that.
Did you get what he said?
This is what he means:
He knows that she wants the two of them to be together in his lifetime. She doesn’t want to leave him because she’s scared of what will happen to him when she’s gone.
That’s why she’s thinking of drinking the potion. FOR HIM. She wants to be with him in HIS lifetime.
However, if she drinks the potion, then she’ll be stuck in this place all over again. She’s deliberately binding herself to him, but in doing so, he’ll turn into another moon spirit tree that didn’t let her go free.
Sooner or later, he’ll reach the end of his life and die. BUT when his death happens, she’ll still be stuck here, in this lifetime, and unable to go to the afterworld because she drank the potion.
And that’s what he doesn’t want to happen to her. Chansung doesn’t want her stuck with a 100th manager, a 101th manager, a 102nd manager…Those will become meaningless time for her because the person whom she loves — HIM — is already dead.
Do you see how romantic that is?
He’s letting her go first, so she won’t feel the pain of waiting for him and missing him. Of course, it’ll be harder for HIM because he’s the one left behind. But that’s fine with him.
Now, do you also see the contrast between him and the Captain?
First, the Captain thoughtlessly dragged Manwol into his mess when he *romantically* tied the wine bottle to the tree. He should have let her go after they said their goodbyes without making her heart waver.
From Episode 8
He said, “If a good drinking buddy disappears, you’ll miss him.” He wanted HER to miss HIM.
His words wormed their way in her head. They made a “romantic” impression. She looked at the other wine bottle in her hand.
The following day when she saw his wine bottle hanging from the tree, she felt compelled to meet him one last time. And the rest is history…1300 years of history. lol.
In comparison, Chansung told her to get rid of the drink. They both watched her throw out the contents and release the wine bottle.
Second, Capt. Firefly didn’t want to face his own painful and miserable death. He didn’t want to handle his share of accountability for the deaths of the people so he committed suicide and blamed his death on Manwol.
In comparison, Chansung is fulfilling what he said he would in Episode 12. He said he’d handle his share of pain so she should go without being scared of leaving him.
He’s doing what he said in Episode 12:
CS: Perhaps the flowers that bloomed in your tree just like how the first leaf, they might be falling for me. They might pile up and become very heavy and painful. I will handle them as my share. So don’t be scared when you leave me. This, to the weak human that I am, who is now doing his best with all of his might, is love.
For him, to love is to have Manwol’s best interests at heart even if it means he’d die of a broken heart.
lol. You can even tell the difference between their goodbyes. Capt Firefly is crying crocodile tears while Chansung tells her his answer calmly.
Then after she’s poured out all the contents of the bottle and thrown it away, she thanked him.
MW: Thank you Gu Chansung.
Her smiled said it all. She’s released from her 1300-year-old hell.
But what I like best about this moment is that, despite the different expressions of love, they all meant the same thing.
You see, the ACTION of pouring out the liquid and throwing away the bottle signified that they were letting go of each other. He wasn’t going to hold her back from moving on to her death and the afterworld. Letting go = love.
But the ACTION of extending her hand and holding hands together signaled that they were really NOT letting go of each other. Holding on = love
Then to top it all, the WORDS “saranghae” and “saranghamnida” have different nuances. For me, when she addresses him informally, the 1300+ age difference between them is erased. They’re meeting as equals, and she loves him dearly, gratefully, fondly.
But when he addresses her formally, he’s expressing profound love and enduring devotion for her.
It’s the same love but with subtle differences. Kinda like the Magos.
**************
Okay, I’m still sleepy so I’m going back to bed. I’ll edit this tomorrow morning. After coffee and croissant. Goodnight.
Lovely @packmule3! Gave the explanations I had not yet got around to thinking about! What a wonderful last section on the difference in saying ‘I love you’. The nuances are lost to us who do not know enough of Korean.
About the walking around the tree and back … my subs said to return the way he had gone, so he did follow instructions, from my understanding of it. I’ll have to re-watch later.
Catch ya again!
I forgot to say that their I Love You to each other felt more to me than any other times I’ve seen people say it in a drama. 😍
I watched at kissasian too so MG did say to the other way around when you back. 😄 That’s probably the only thing he didn’t learn in Harvard 😂
On the depth of CS’ devotion, this whole episode was full of scenes about that but I especially liked the one early on where CS has just been given the medicine an is in MW’s room and remembers her. He doesn’t recall sexy steamy scenes, or even scenes when they’re holding hands or snuggling. As we’ve discussed before, the fact that he’s being chaste here with his remembrances is not a sign that he isn’t interested in or doesn’t care about her; on the contrary, it shows the complete opposite. CS is a man truly, deeply in love: he’s remembering everything about his beloved, when she is cheerful or pouty or silly or serious, memories of all sorts of random scenarios that are triggered by the simplest of things. Anything and everything about her puts a smile on his face and turns him into a puppy. It hit me hard because I could relate as a man who, too, had done that spontaneous trip down memory lane kind of thing before.
Also thank you for clearing up the Viki subs, though I got the gist of it I was really confused by the wording.
As an aside, speaking of remembering things, MW got jealous of herself when CS was recounting when he traveled back in time and met a beautiful woman lol
@The Scholar-gentry Yes! I was thinking the same thing and laughing. Actually she was in danger of being jealous of herself in both times. 200 years earlier she hadn’t gotten to know him well yet, but already she said she liked him and thought it was too bad he had a ‘lover’. In the present she wanted to kill him or beat him into a pulp in jealousy over herself.
You know, reading you and speaking to my husband … it gets me thinking that the more romantic soul in a couple is the man. I’m thinking pragmatic thoughts but my husband is off on his tangent, LOL. And what you say, confirms it somewhat. 😁
Reminds me of the funny in Healer where he too in his Bong Soo persona was jealous of himself as Healer. Too cute!
Oh. Return the way he had gone?
Hmmm.. I wonder if there’s a deliberate ambiguity here that even subbers got confused.
You subs said to “return the way he had gone.” Viki said the opposite. “Go the other way around the tree.”
And look at the tree. It moved orientation too. He should have been facing the back of the tree, because he went behind the tree. But when he came of the 200-year old portal, he was facing the front of the tree again. Lol.
I don’t know Korean either but I was recalling some family members who address their spouses in formal French. It’s called “vouvoyer.” And it’s not because my relatives are from a different generation. (They are, but…)
They don’t use “tu” or “toi” to their wives but “vous” as a sign of respect and chivalry. 😈
Chivalry is such a quaint and antiquated idea among the kids today, so hearing my uncle, for instance, call his wife “vous” when he probably wants to wring her neck is kinda sweet.
In English, we would find it weird if our husbands start addressing as “thou,” but in other languages, there’s something about being formal that suggest a special relationship. Lol. At the very least, you know that you’re NOT just a “booty call.” 😂
I love that scene too when CS was remembering MW. He got her little quirks spot on!
There were so many things I wanted to include in the Quick Takes last night, but I was groggy with sleep. Thanks for bringing this scene up.
Yes. Discussing jealousy is one thing we can do, post-mortem. You can take the lead on that since you have the male perspective. He’s more the “aggrieved” party here in this kdrama than Manwol.
@packmule3… I rewatched and see what you mean… however:
MG: “Once you go around the tree, you’ll see the entrance to MW Lodge. You can return the opposite way.”
Strangely, I immediately took it to mean, retrace your steps… but it could also mean go back by the other way … however she did not use the imperative in my subs … it was ‘can’ instead of ‘must’.
There could be deliberate ambiguity.
= = =
I noticed also in the conversation before this that MG really wanted him to go but pretended it didn’t matter to her.
MG: You have to stop by Man Wol Lodge. You have to go there. In the garden of Man Wol Lodge, you’ll find a medicinal flower that shines under the moonlight. You can bring that to me. It’s not a big deal.
CS: You can go there yourself. Why are you asking me to do it?
MG: Because I thought you might like it. If you go there, you can get a good look at the old Man Wol Lodge.
CS: Then will I get to meet Ms Jang Man Wol of that time?
MG: Probably. If you don’t want to do it, then forget it.
CS: I’ll do it. (MG smirked to herself but made her face look neutral when she looked up) I’ll go.
The reason according to CS, for MG’s getting CS to go could be tied to what MG of 200 years earlier said .. (which MG was that who was jumping around like a kid? The poor or poverty inducing MG?) to do with MW forgetting.
According to your subs CS attributes MG’s reasons to him getting to know his heart …:
MG1: Thank you for bringing (the flowers) back.
CS: I now understand why you sent me there. I realized what kind of heart I should have while I’m waiting for her.
MG1: Be happy for now. Man Wol is back.
My subs:
MG: Thank you for bringing this back for me.
CS: I can see why you sent me there. You helped me realize how I should feel while waiting for her.
MG: For now, you should be happy. MW has come back.
While it might suggest that he has to wait for MW to return reincarnated, I wondered if it might also have to do with how he feels knowing that his part in their past would be forgotten. In reality, once everyone passed into the Afterlife, he’d be the only one with the memory of the present time. This is obvious from Mi Ra and Det Park who had forgotten MW.
Even when MW reincarnated and met CS again, only he would remember her. She might like him all over again, but afresh, without the memories of the present.
True, you’re right. Going back to see MaGo and being told by MaGo6 that he was going to be forgotten is a reminder of this whole “reincarnation” business. In Episode 14? 13? 12? he declared loud and clear that he believed in reincarnation. When that scene occurred, I wondered where the writer was going with it. lol. It was kinda obvious that this whole drama was about reincarnation so yes, I expected the male lead to believe in reincarnations.
But the thing is he has a photograph now, an actual record of their encounter. If she reincarnates (in that same body), then he has tangible proof to show her that their paths once crossed. She might not remember, but he would. Should he happen to meet her in the future, like the ghostly man crossing the street, he already has something to show.
I also think that his meeting with the hanbok Manwol foreshadowed his response/decision to let go of Manwol. I was half-asleep when I wrote my Quick Takes but yes, I wanted to say that, too. Hanbok Manwol offered him a drink and to stay with her but he said no because he was waiting for somebody in the future whom he needs to send off. Present-day Manwol offered to drink the potion so she could stay with him, but he said now because he needed to send her off.
So he’s being consistent, focused, and true to his life mission, which is to send her off.
You used to learn a lot from Harvard. The university was way different during twenty, thirty years ago. Back then, different ideas were allowed to be explored, heard, published, debated, rehashed and re-formulated. That’s how students engage with each other, tolerate different perspectives, and widen their worldview.
Nowadays, no. Their students are kinda like fangirls but, instead of screaming for “oppas,” they scream for certain causes, ideologies and slogans.
The students engage in a group-think and have become a hysterical bunch of entitled and self-righteous elites. If it weren’t for family connections, lol, I’d stop hiring and recruiting their grads. Like a factory producing disposable chopsticks, the school is churning out the same mental midgets.
My 10 cents.
@GB and @packmule3 It may or may not surprise you guys, but according to studies, men are actually more romantic than women – more willing to endure and fix a failing relationship, more likely to consider their SO the person they trust most, more willing to marry for love. From my experience and seeing that of people I know, I’m inclined to agree there is truth in these studies. When I discuss this with my female friends they think it’s bogus at first, but after thinking it over they always end up agreeing. (Personally, the historian and anthropologist in me believes this is less due to anything inherent to men and women, and more a consequence of how many cultures are, but that’d be a discussion for another day.)
When people think “romantic” they think of stuff like flowers and fancy restaurants and grand gestures, but that’s like those fangirls (and fanboys) swooning over CM or getting thirsty about wanting to see CM and MW bang each other silly – only seeing the physical, external side of things. “Romantic” also means devotion, patience, kindness, and, well, having strong feelings that affect your behavior and worldview.
To me, YJG has really hit it out of the ballpark as an actor in these last few episodes in portraying an otherwise calm and collected man who’s heads over heels in love. As a usually calm and collected man myself, I’ve been there too (twice!). Everyone’s focusing on IU’s great acting (and rightfully so), but that kid’s really talented too despite being so young.
Lastly, reincarnation romance is such a cliche trope in Asian media, but here’s one time I do hope to see it if we don’t get an ending where they can stay together normally.
Actually, this all reminds me of a comical Chinese short ghost story from the 1700s: a young husband and wife are deeply in love. She dies from illness, and he stays by her coffin day and night to grieve. An evil ghost lady takes advantage and tries to attack him; he calls his wife to help and she gets out of the coffin and tells the evil ghost lady she’s being rude and to fuck off. After, she tells her husband he really needs to get a grip on himself or else more evil ghosts will attack him, but he is fated to die soon, so why doesn’t he just die so they can be reborn together as a couple who lives to old age? He agrees, she gets back in the coffin, and he dies a year later.
CS still has that flower in his heart. It’s a ticket to *something*.