🙂 I thought I was done reviewing Hotel del Luna but occasionally I get new comments which I think I should answer. Here’s one from @jun.

Just finished watching the series last night with my wife and we were flabbergasted and a bit disappointed with the ending.

Because of their preoccupation with death, the Hong sisters’ dramas should have a warning label on them. Their characters seem to come with a death wish or a death curse.  However, compared to the endings of the other dramas, like “Hwayugi,” “Big” (I only heard of the ending; I didn’t to watch it) and “Hong Gil Dong,” I think this drama is the most refined, fatalistic, and mystical.

The sisters already tried forcing one of these happy endings where the characters reunited and hugged each other.  Try watching “My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.” 🙂  The heroine, MiHo, died too but after an indeterminate number of years, she reappeared out of the blue because of an eclipse.

Ugh!

As you could imagine, the viewers were very happy of this forced reunion, but I sense that THAT kind of ending must have gone against the grain because the Hong sisters never repeated that last-minute save.

If you want a happy ending from the Hong sisters, and with all loose ends nicely tied with ribbons, try “Warm and Cozy.” I thought it was a gem, and @agdr03 and I chatted about it in soompi.

We were thinking not even a hug before Changsung sent off Manwol and why didn’t they show a scene in the future of them meeting up again?

From what I gathered from the post-filming interview, the sisters wrote the story up until Manwol’s death and crossover to the afterlife. That was “their” ending to the story.

To me, the after-death scenes was probably an addition designed by the director to put an open-ending or a positive spin to the Hong sisters’ end.

Remember now: the director has the “final say” on the finish product. The writers may write the script, but it’s the director who brings that script to life. His interpretation of the script, as well as his creative and technical decisions regarding the production, supersede those expressed by the writer(s), actors and the rest of the crew.

Admittedly we were confused if the scene in the park was real or just a dream. We did note Manwol turned around in the bridge and that she was quite happy. Surely the smile meant something. I actually read another blog and same as you the author said Manwol is back but your explanation is more detailed and more believable.

Thank you.  🙂

I do have a question for you. What made you say that Manwol died in her sleep?

I talked about that here:

and here:

To rehash things, when Manwol told Gu Chansung —

MW: Gu Chansung. I keep on getting sleepy. I’m falling asleep. I’m going to fall asleep and leave as if I were dreaming a dream. (And she leans on him.)
CS: I’ll stay by your side when you fall asleep. (and he carries her off to bed.)

this was a euphemism for death. She was telling him that she was growing weaker and her body was losing its energy. As the herbalist Mago told Chansung, her connection to the tree would finally be severed (Hallelujah! Free at last!!), and all the energy in the Hotel del Luna would be extinguished.

You know, this isn’t such a far-fetched idea: our physical bodies do the same thing when we’re dying. All our body systems and functions shut down, just like Hotel del Luna shut down its operations.

Thus, when Manwol said that she was going to leave as if she was dreaming a dream, she was telling him that she was going to enter a dream state (or coma, if you want). Falling asleep was how she was going to die. She was going to go peacefully, as if she was dreaming of a happy end.

And if you rewatch that scene, her departure in her sleep actually made perfect sense.

She should have died 1300+ years ago in that accident (or was it an ambush? I forgot now) when she was still a child. The young Chansung had chanced upon her dying body. He had met her back then, “embracing the flower that is dreaming of the moon.”

You can think of it this way: Chansung prolonged her life. He entered her life at that moment when she was already dying…or dreaming of death. And because he did so, he extended her life. He was at her side when her death was delayed. And now 1300+ years later, he was back at her side again when her life was finally ending. Her death could no longer be forestalled.

To me, it was poetic that she departed from this world – after enduring a long and hard 1300+ years – in a peaceful state.

lol. How would YOU want Manwol to die? In a heart attack? Fainting? Gasping for air? Bleeding from her mouth and nose? Stabbed to death? Poisoned? Blunt force trauma?

To me, the best way for Manwol to die was the same way she entered this life: in the presence of the person who was there with her in the beginning. She should have died 1300+ ago had Chansung not rescued her and given her an extension in life. Now Chansung was sending her off to rest, her final rest, for real.

And I like that he embraced her till death came to her. Literally and figuratively speaking, he was “embracing the flower that was dreaming of the moon,” that is, Manwol who was dreaming of death.

Would that mean the Manwol that Changsung sent off was already reincarnated?

No. 🙂 I think you forgot that you only reincarnate AFTER you’ve crossed into the afterlife.

That’s why the Captain Firefly had NOT reincarnated and had remained a firefly for a century. Manwol was waiting for him to be reincarnated but he never showed up because he trapped himself (or his soul) as a firefly when he cursed her at his death. Dumb Captain Firefly.

For reincarnation to begin, you have to crossover, cross the bridge, or go to the after-world where you shall be judged and punished or rewarded for your actions in life. AND THEN, you get reincarnated into a dog, cat, another person, goldfish or tapeworm, according to your previous actions.

So when Chansung sent off Manwol at the tunnel, Manwol was a dead spirit.

Think of it this way: from Ep 1 to midway of Ep 16, Manwol was alive. She died while sleeping in Chansung’s arms. She dreamt of their encounter 1300+ years ago.

Then, after she died, MaGo3 visited the hotel. Chansung asked for a last favor from her because he wasn’t able to have a “winter” date with Manwol. MaGo3 gave him his wish.

After that, she and Chansung went to the tunnel and he sent her off like he did with other guests, aka dead ghosts, at Hotel del Luna did.

I strongly agree that the Magos are trying to break the connection between Manwol and Changsung. Surely the Mago (I think she is Mago6) in the Joseon era is in contact with Mago3 in the present time. They are the most powerful of deities after all.The Magos don’t have an issue with Joseon Manwol but they do with the present day Manwol. Present day Manwol does not have a reason to reincarnate had Changsung chosen to stay with the Joseon Manwol.

I don’t know about that. Manwol would still have to wait for Chansung to show up and assist her in her transition to death. But it would mess her timeline if he stayed as a “man from the future.”

Also what is your take on the moon flower in Changsung heart?

To me, the “magic” of the moon flower ended with that last dream of Chansung and Manwol. They dreamt of their first encounter as children. THAT was the last REVELATION that the moon flower imparted to him: that he had been chosen to assist Manwol cross over to death because their fates were intertwined from the start.

But Manwol was no longer connected to the moon tree.

Likewise, Chansung was no longer connected to the moon flower,  after that last dream. The moon flower’s purpose was officially terminated after that last dream.

The Magos have been saying that Manwol is connected to the moon tree and that she should leave for the afterlife once all of the flowers have fallen. If that is the case then as long as Changsung is still alive then Manwol still has a connection to the moon tree and thus can still stay in the real world.

No. Remember this: the moon tree is a BAD thing. To be connected to it after death is a BAD thing. To be reunited because of it is a BAD thing.

When Manwol reappeared in his life, they were both unencumbered by moon flowers, moon trees, and moon beams. Their only connection should be love. lol. That was probably why Mago1 looked like a sourpuss in the library. Manwol and Chansung found the exception to her rule of reincarnation.

Anyway, this again is MY take on the drama. Others are free to make up their own theory that’ll make most sense to them.

Thanks for de-lurking here. Have fun in your next drama.