Nowadays, there are so many different ways to “explain” that I get confused. There used to be just your regular explanation to clarify things. But then came people came up with the term “mansplaining” for when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing way. Then, there’s now “whitesplaining” for those times when a white person like me explains something to non-white person in a condescending way. I’m told that there’s gaysplaining, blacksplaining, straightsplaining, womansplaining, blondsplaining, clownsplaining, dogsplaining, catsplaining, and so on. You get the idea.

For the purposes of this blog, I’m going to invent a word and make it trendy:  “bitchesplaining.” This is when I explain something while y’all sip a margarita, get a foot massage, rock in your porch swing, dream of Lee MinHo, or hide from your boss at work. (Yeah, I know some of you do that, too. Tsk tsk tsk.)

Whatever it is, bitchesplaining means being in your serene zone with me. No condescension included — maybe just a smidgen. 

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This is my understanding of the events.

After the night of the treason, Lee Gon went out the portal in Korea and saw that it was December 20, 1994.

He ran back inside the portal to return to Corea. When he saw his 8-year-old self was in mourning, he was able to confirm that he was stuck in 1994 in both worlds.

He re-entered the portal to return to Korea. He checked the date and saw that two days had gone by. It was December 22, 1994.

1 hour in that No Man’s Land is about 2.5 days in the real world. He crossed it twice.

Lee Gon realized, “The time axis can only be formed when the Manpasikjeok become whole. With only half of it, I can only move laterally.”

That’s just a fancy way of saying:

When the flute is whole = time travel possible
When the flute is halved = time moves in linear time.

I’m not sure if this is a subber’s interpretation, but I think the better word for lateral is LINEAR or in a straight line.

I already showed you what linear means, right? In a story, linear means to start at the beginning, then move to the middle, and to reach the end the story. Our human life mostly follows a linear time: we have a past, present, and future. (However, the passage of seasons is cyclical: spring, summer, fall and winter.) Mathematicians are known to have a linear mindset. They think in a sequential and logical manner. Artists are said to have a non-linear, creative mindset.

Lee Gon quickly calculated that he needed to travel 25 years to get to 2020, which is roughly five months in that No Man’s Land.

one minute in NMLand = an hour in the real world
one day in NMLand = 2 months in the real world
2 days in NMLand = 4 months in the real world
6 days in NMLand = 12 months or 1 year in the real world

December 22, 1994 to April 1, 2020 (I’m using April Fool’s Day as the end date) is 25 years, 3 months and 10 days

6 days x 25 = 150 days or 5 months in NMLand

He needed to spend 5 months in NMLand in order to travel from 1994 to 2020. We got that, thanks to @JT7.

In real time, he’d only be missing in both Corea and Korea for weeks. He ordered Lee Seungheon to leave after the 49-day memorial service (that’s equal to 20 hours in NMLand).

When he returned to the palace, his Secretary Mo told him that Lee Seungheon was getting ready to leave.

Nonetheless, the enormity of the situation would have paralyzed other people. To be trapped in limbo for 5 months?? Ugh. People go bonkers in this covid self-isolation.

He tried to salvage the situation by alerting the police to search for these people:

Lee SeongJae. Date of birth: February 27, 1951.
Lee Eunho. Date of birth: October 23, 1952.
Lee Jihun. Date of birth: October 28, 1987.
Song Jeonghye. Date of birth: August 8, 1965.

Weird fact: Lee Lim is only a year older than his half-brother. Lee Gon’s dad is 13 years older than his mom.

Lee Gon found out that it was too late to save anybody since Lee JiHun had already been found dead at Lake Paldang that very morning. He knew that another time loop had begun. He was unable to stop Lee Lim from murdering the three Lees.

That’s why he was at standing at the grass wasteland in the next scene.

He went to the last known address of Song Jeonghye. He was hoping to catch her there. He remembered TaeEul saying that they should’ve gotten there sooner. But there was nothing there.

He also remembered what TaeEul said about holding his hand and living only for that day.

Since his flute was slowly disintegrating, and the future was going to be uncertain, he decided to become part of her memories.

He did it twice.

Once, in 1994.  He visited TaeEul after his unsuccessful search for Song Jeonghye’s location.

That white ribbon on the right side of TaeEul’s hair is a ribbon worn during a funeral to indicate that a female family member died. Lee Gon learned that the child was still in mourning. She lost her mother around the same time he lost his father. He would have remembered what TaeEul revealed to him at the church in Episode 12. “When I was five, my parents ran the Taekwondo center together. My mom was a really popular instructor. But she died of cancer. I’m still wearing my mother’s black belt.”

LG: Jeong TaeEul
TE: Who are you? How do you know my name?
LG: You’re actually five years old. I’m from a different time. I ended up in 1994, so I have to travel through 26 years. I’ll be there soon. I am on my way to you.
TE: I think I know who you are.
LG: You know who I am?
TE: You’re a kidnapper.
LG: Your personality hasn’t changed in the past 30 years, Lieutenant Jeong TaeEul.

In 1994:

In 2019:

He patted her hair before he left.

This, too, he did in 2020, while saying, “You turned out great, Jeong TaeEul.”

To be honest, I would have felt uncomfortable watching this interaction between young TaeEul and Adult Lee Gon. I tend to look with suspicion at any man showing an interest in a young child. What mitigated the scene was TaeEul’s revelation that her mom died when she was five and that she’s worn her mother black belt. He knew that the belt would be TaeEul’s treasured keepsake from her mother. Thus, when he traveled back in time, and met her as a child, it felt right that he was the one who passed on her mother’s belt to her. He knew what the belt would mean to the child when she grew up.

Of course, I also understood what the writer was trying to say there: Lee Gon and TaeEul were fated from the beginning.

The second time they met was on Election Day 2016.

December 22, 1994 to April 13, 2016 is roughly 21 years, 22 days.
6 x 21 = 126 days in NoMan’s Land or about 4 months.

When he dropped by this time, he’d already endured 4 months inside NMLand. He still had about a month to go through till he could come out and join TaeEul in her current time. But he couldn’t resist searching for her. He saw that they were all eating together. He called her friends one by one: Nari, Eunsub and ShinJae. Both Nari and Eunsub cut off the call. It was ShinJae who figured out that they were all getting calls from the same number.

SJ: By the way, are you getting a call from this number?
ES: Yes. It looked like a spam call, so I forwarded it to voice mail.
Nari: Isn’t it the murder game? Usually the one who answers first dies or is the culprit.
SJ: Then, I’ll die.

Is this a foreshadowing? He either dies in the end, or he’s the one to blame should Lee Gon’s plan to extricate them all from the eternal loop goes awry.

Or is this a prediction come true? In Episode 7, Lee Gon was irritated that TaeEul saved SJ’s number on his cellphone. She brushed off his obvious jealousy, saying, “There are five people who will help you regardless of anything in this world. And SinJae is one of the most trustworthy people.” So, TaeEul’s trust in Sinjae proved valid when SinJae answered the phone, despite the “curse” on the first responder.

LG: Kang Sinjae?
SJ: Who’s this?
LG: Someone who needs your help. I’d appreciate it if you could pass it to Lieutenant Jeong on your left. (But TaeEul spotted him outside)
SJ: (referring to the caller) He’s asking for you.

But TaeEul didn’t take the call. Instead, she excused herself from the table and went outside to confront LG.

TE: You know me, don’t you?
LG: (nodding)
TE: Aren’t you that man whom I met when I was little? My mom’s taekwondo belt…That was you, wasn’t it?
LG: You remember that?
TE: Who are you? You’re wearing the exact same clothes as that day. Also, your voice and face are the same.
LG: You got me this outfit as a gift. And this face is my gift for you.

TE: What a crazy nutjob. Sorry, my bad. (tying her hair back) Sir, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to check your ID.

Lee Gon put a hair tie around her wrist. Then he continued the conversation as if it was perfectly normal for him to be handing TaeEul a hair tie.

LG: I shouldn’t give you a heads-up, but I don’t have ID. And I’ve told you numerous times, I’m not crazy.

Here, he WAS reluctant to give her any indication or advance warning of their future encounter because it might affect the timeline. But he couldn’t resist it. He was telling her that he didn’t have an ID and he wasn’t crazy.

TE: (still stunned) How did you know I was looking for a hair tie?
LG: Because I like it when you do that.

Meaning, he liked it when she put her hair up in a ponytail. Lee Gon was so used to people being neatly groomed when they come have an audience with him that TaeEul presented an aberration. Besides, he has this obsession for the curve of her neck. Remind me to write about the neck kiss….

LG: (continuing) I’m happy to see all five of you in one place. Those who’d help me no matter what happens.
TE: How did you know I was Jeong TaeEul? I heard you asked for me.
LG: I was prepared for this moment when you don’t recognize me. But it still makes me sad.

He meant that he expected her to treat him like a stranger when he traveled back time to meet her. But being emotionally prepared to be a stranger didn’t make him immune to feeling brokenhearted. He was an outsider in her little circle of friends when all along, he was languishing in that No Man’s Land for YEARS because he was trying to get back to her side.

Honestly speaking, I don’t know which condition is sadder and frightening: to be the person left with all the memories, like Lee Gon, or to be person whose memories will be erased, like TaeEul.

LG: (continuing) That’s why I’m here. To part of your memories of today. At the moment, we’re passing through different points in time. So, until I get back, please don’t get tired of waiting and hang in there.

High romance alert!!

I thought that line was more romantic than confessing, “I love you.” On one level, we could interpret his action as an act of desperation. He wanted to make himself relevant by appearing in her past, and leaving a memory in her mind. He didn’t want to be forgotten.

But on another level, I see this gesture as act of love. He knew that, in the present time, she would be lonely from all that waiting. He knew that she would distraught because of all that uncertainty. So he simply showed up.

Of course, he didn’t know if his reappearance in the PAST would make any difference to her PRESENT. But on the off chance that his reappearance might give her hope and consolation in some unclear, distant future, he decided to leave his No Man’s Land for a moment and show up by her side.

And that for me, my friends, is romance! When you can’t guarantee the success or when you don’t even know the outcome, yet you still stake your whole life on it, that’s romance. As Oscar Wilde would say, “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.”

And take note. We as viewers are also partaking in this ROMANCE when we wait for the finale without strings attached.

LG: We’ll meet again in Gwanghwamun. I’ll be wearing a jacket with a lot of buttons. And I’ll be there with Maximus. Can you try to be a little friendlier to me when we meet again? And make some more time for me. We don’t have much time.

When he said that they didn’t have much time, he was right. Between Monday, Sept 30, 2019 to April 2020, they only had eight months to spend together. TaeEul said the same thing, too.

Back in Episode 8. “Things that are bound to happen are taking place even at this moment. I was struck with a sad premonition that this will be short-lived, but I decided to love my fate that chose me.”

TE: Why will we meet again?
LG: Because that’s our destiny. I can’t come and see you at every point in time because the cracks in the Manpasikjeok are deepening. I should get going. Whenever I’m with you, I forget to keep count. Bye.

His flute was disintegrating. And his flute’s other half – the half that the dead Lee Lim possessed – already disappeared and was replaced by the new Lee Lim’s flute.

BTW, I believe that’s the reason the blue flowers Lee Gon gave here in Episode 10 also disappeared. As the past is slowly being erased, and replaced with new memories from the new timeline, things that belonged to that past are slowly erased, too.

What I particularly found creative about these new implanted memories of TaeEul is that they were associated with phone calls. This tied in nicely with their phone conversation in Episode 7.

LG: Is it you?
TE: Hang up.
LG: Don’t hang up. I always wanted to try this.
TE: What’s this?
LG: Just a normal daily life with you. Call you. Chat on the phone. Ask you what you did today. And tell you that I missed you a lot.
TE: (hanging up) Me too.

Her new memories were activated by Lee Gon’s phone calls. He was leaving a message in the past that she was going retrieve in the present. It’s like a message in a bottle and the bottle is adrift in a big ocean known as time.

Take for instance her childhood memory of Lee Gon’s visit. She recalled that memory when her friend from Forensics made her listen to Lee Gon’s phone message in 1994.

Without any help from Yoyo Kid, a voiceover, or a math calculation, TaeEul figured out where he was. He was back in 1994.

TE: I have new memories. I remember everything. When I was five, he came to see me. He was over there… Wait, 1994. The coup took place in 1994. He went back to that night. Then, he came to the Republic of Korea that night. He’s in the past now.

Then, she remembered her Lee Gon’s visit on Election Day, when she was spotted the phone booth in the bamboo grove. She was wondering how far he had gone and whether he was almost there, when she suddenly had this instant recall of their encounter. Then, she was shocked to see the words appear on the ledge of the phonebooth, “2016. 4. 13. Wait for me just a little bit more. I’m almost there.”

Of course, the story would like us to believe that they were both there inside the phonebooth at the same time. And sure, why not?

Those are the two times Lee Gon showed up in her past to make her remember him. He also reappeared before Yeong at the regatta to give him instructions. Lee Gon hadn’t been there at the stands during the 2019 regatta, but Yeong suddenly found his memory changed.

In his new memory, he was given a new set of order.

JY: Why are you here? You should be at the start line. You didn’t get changed.
LG: I’m sure I did.

Lee Gon was talking about his Lee Gon 2.0. The young Lee Gon that he saved was now present in the world as himself. That Lee Gon (Let’s call him LG 2.0) was about to begin a rowing competition, and meet Luna for the first time.

LG: (changing topic) Yeong, do you have the access card to the racetracks? Don’t ask why. (leaving jacket on bench) Don’t touch this. Just leave it here. It’s the King’s order. And you must remember what I’m going to tell you now.
JY: What’s going on?
LG: You’ll eventually end up in a place called the Republic of Korea. You’ll be left alone there, and I need you to locate Song Jeonghye. I think that’s what you wanted to talk to me about over a drink.
JY: Who’s Song Jeonghye?
LG: Even if I explain, you won’t understand now. But you’ll come to figure it out. When that moment comes, reach out to Detective Kang for help. You won’t trust Lieutenant Jeong TaeEul then.
JY: Lieutenant Jeong TaeEul? Did you meet her?
LG: (thinking) I’m on my way to meet her. So you must not stop me now. This is the King’s order, too. If I miss each moment by even a second, I can’t meet her. Go wait at the finish line. I’ll win today.

“If I miss each moment by even a second, I can’t meet her.”

What did he mean by that? To me, he meant that he was on his way to meet TaeEul, AND – this is important now – so was his younger/newer self, his Lee Gon 2.0.

Both of them were on their way to meet TaeEul. If either one of them were to miss their fated encounter with her, even by a second, then it would have a big impact on the other’s timeline. Lee Gon had to facilitate Lee Gon 2.0’s meeting with Luna so history can repeat itself.

Remember in Episode 1 when Lee Gon wondered where his Savior was? It was after he chased after the White Rabbit/Luna. He told Yeong, “Every time something like this happens, it feels like that person is there. When it happened 25 years ago, and today as well.”

Finally, I can understand him. When he said that he could feel the presence of “that person” aka his Savior, he meant that he could feel HIMSELF intervening in the situation. He didn’t know this all back then, but he’d always been conscious of his own involvement. He could feel himself assisting and enabling his young self to meet his fate.

In my First Impressions, I pointed out the reflections of Lee Gon here, Episode 1. I said that he was “non-stop repeating his history.” That’s why he was seeing multiple reflections of himself. That was symbolic.

Same with Jo Yeong, Episode 1.

And thanks to Welmaris, she pointed out that there was another incident of multiple reflections. When Lee Gon went to visit the museums, he saw multiple reflections of himself on the glass covered exhibit.

And you know what? After Lee Gon’s scene, we were shown Yeong’s multiple reflections.

Lee Gon and Yeong are fated to be together through this time-loop.

Back in Episode 1, Yeong laconically said, “It’s been 25 years. Your savior must have aged a lot. Do you think you can recognize the face?”

This is ironic. We know now that Lee Gon the Savior didn’t actually age a lot in the No Man’s Land.

Lee Gon said, “I’m not sure. We might have already met unknowingly. But why hasn’t my Savior ever come to see me even just once?”

The reasons that the “Savior” didn’t even come to see him were:

a) Lee Gon was caught in NMLand in the time trap, and
b) it wouldn’t have been traumatizing, and life-changing for the child to be visited by his future self. He wouldn’t be able to use math and science to explain such a supernatural phenomenon.

Yeong said, “Because you’ve grown up well. You don’t need anyone’s help now.”

Why do I find this ironic? We know that Lee Gon the Savior actually did need help. TaeEul added five people on his contact list. He called them, “Those who’d help me no matter what happens.”

Now, that Lee Gon had set up the stage so Lee Gon 2.0 would be curious enough to chase Luna, not only after the regatta, but also at the racetrack. Lee Gon needed his younger/newer version to discover the portal and meet TaeEul.

In Lee Gon’s version of his meeting with TaeEul at Gwanghamun Square, TaeEul brusquely ordered him to get down from his horse. She warned him about the penalty if Maximus pooped in a public square, and asked for his identification card. He was stunned to see her, and he approached her to look at her badge.

TE: What the hell do you think you’re doing right now?
LG: I’ve finally met you, Lieutenant Jeong TaeEul.

Then to her shock, he grabbed to hug her. She pushed him away and arrested him. That was Lee Gon’s version of their encounter. And that was how TaeEul remembered it, too.

But when TaeEul stabbed, she suddenly acquired a new vision of her past. This was her NEW past now. The encounter that she previously had, was superimposed with a new one.

And TaeEul now urged her previous self to hug Lee Gon, “Hold him, Jeong TaeEul. Hold him in your arms.”

TE: You really came to Gwanhwamun. And you’re wearing a jacket with a lot of buttons.
LG: (looked down at his coat, then at her) This is strange. You seem to know me.

Of course, this Lee Gon 2.0 would find TaeEul’s greeting weird. As far as this Lee Gon 2.0 was concerned, it was his first time visiting this parallel world. TaeEul’s comment made no sense to him because it appeared as if TaeEul knew that he was coming when he himself had no idea that he’d end up in this parallel world.

TE: Let’s skip that. If I don’t do this now, I’ll probably regret it later.

And she hugged him.

If you noticed, the arms of Lee Gon 2.0 were at his side. He didn’t understand what was going on…yet.

That’s how we can tell that this wasn’t the real Lee Gon, but Lee Gon 2.0. This Lee Gon didn’t hug her back.

Now, this Lee Gon 2.0 wouldn’t know that the “original” Lee Gon had gone back in time in 2016 to tell TaeEul to be kinder to him. “We’ll meet again in Gwanghwamun. I’ll be wearing a jacket with a lot of buttons. And I’ll be there with Maximus. Can you try to be a little friendlier to me when we meet again? And make some more time for me. We don’t have much time.”

But in TaeEul’s new and revised past, she hugged this Lee Gon 2.0. She hugged him because she’d been told to be friendlier to him when they met again. And she hugged him because deep inside, she sensed that she would regret it later. It was just like in Episode 8, when she realized that she had to embrace her fate.

That’s when she narrated, “When it’s fate, there are no coincidences. It is inevitable by nature. But when you realize its meaning, it’s always too late.”

This voiceover could have three interpretations.

One, it could be TaeEul’s thoughts, right there and then, as she met Lee Gon in the square. She already sensed that something inexplicable and mystical was happening. She accepted this Lee Gon 2.0 more quickly because he appeared to her as a stranger when she was 5, and then he appeared to her again when she was 26, and told her to wait for him.

Two, it could be TaeEul’s thoughts as she laid on the ground bleeding. She’d just been stabbed by Luna. Looking back now, she realized that she wasted too much time pushing away Lee Gon in the beginning. She was telling younger/newer version not to waste time before it was too late again.

Or three, this could TaeEul’s voiceover in the “nebulous” future, reflecting on all the time loops that she and Lee Gon had gone through and observing with wisdom that she should have trusted and embraced her fate from the beginning.

Do you see what I mean? This disembodied voice could have been speaking from three different times: from the past, from the present, or from the future.

So, when or how does this Lee Gon 2.0 become one with the current Lee Gon? I don’t know. All I know is that when he was in the hospital bed with TaeEul, he admitted that he remembered everything.

TE: I was happy that you came to see me when I was five and when I was 27.
LG: I was happy that you hugged me when you saw me at Gwanghwamun.
TE: I thought you were crazy both times you came.

She was talking about when he visited her at 5 and 27.

LG: I thought my two visits would have been endearing. I didn’t think you’d ask for my ID again.

On the other hand, he (incorrectly) assumed that she wouldn’t give him a hard time about his ID when they met in 2019 since he made such a favorable impression on her when he visited her in 1994 and 2016.

TE: (slowly) Do you remember what happened between us after that?

She was asking if their revised memories are similar.

LG: (blinking)

In a voiceover, TaeEul explained how her old memories have been superimposed on by new memories.

TE: Unlike the first time, I believed half of his claims about being the king of the Kingdom, understood the concept of parallel worlds a bit faster, and went to his world a little earlier. I still bought flower seeds and scattered them, and decided to embrace my fate a little earlier. But what was bound to happen happened anyway. And ironically, the tragedy came earlier as well.

Everything repeated exactly just like in the previous loop. She even bought him the same jacket. She tried it on for him, and she accidentally slipped a hair tie in the pocket. He would fish it out of the same pocket and hand it to her in April 2016.

LG: Fate did not change. Is there no way for us to change fate?
TE: I’m sure there isn’t. There’s no way that fate can be broken so easily. The larger the fate, the more you need to walk to reach your destination. We just haven’t reached our destination yet.

LG: Get some sleep.
TE: No.

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Next up. (Bitches)plaining Episode 15. lol.