The thread is now open for spoilers, comments, prayers for a happy ending (lol), and analyses of the final episode.
Thank you everyone for being such great models of Alice and for accompanying me down the rabbit hole. It’s been fun chasing the proverbial White Rabbit in Wonderland with you all.
Except that plagiarist Rosa Mae Aguilar (report her, will you?), a few lurkers, and wannabe posters, having you on the blog was a blast.
There’s another thread for the Finale’s Party.
I’m still waiting for the wedding.
credit: cloudywithachanceoffreedom’s tumblr
Let’s enjoy the show!
Thanks for the open thread @pkml3. Regardless of the ending, and our assorted reactions to it, 🤔 🥱 😐 😡 😬 😴 😵 🥴 😱 😳 🤯 😢 😖 🙃 😌 🤣 😁, over here, I know it’s going to be fun! 😂
Unfortunately, I don’t have the patience to re-watch the 5 previous episodes that I only saw once, except for some specific passages.
I will have difficulty judging this drama, because having got used to seeing it and analyzing it, it necessarily establishes a higher proximity than usual. This biases the judgement, otherwise it’s generally quite bad, except for the amazing methodological approach of the screenwriter concerning chronology and details.
I would have especially appreciated to see it with you together, as well as other commentators elsewhere on the internet. And to laugh a lot about the drama. Laughing and also getting angry regularly, but it’s fatal when you get a bit involved. But in the end, what I remember most is the warmth and fun with all the other spectators of the drama, whether they liked it or not, whether I share their opinions or not.
I think that rewatching TKEM again has made me realize a lot of things i didn’t realize the first time I watched it and I’ve got to say it is a great show it just needs attention which most viewers didn’t give it hence why they were confused. I’m normally used to this kind of genre so I didn’t find the drama complicated at all even when I saw comments about it being complicated I was quite surprised.
I just wished it did better locally but thanks to Netflix at least internationally fans loved.
Although I would have loved if it had more than 16 episodes because I would love to see Lee Gon’s face often.
So about the ending, from the trailer it’s obvious that Lee Gon stopped his uncle because we were able to see Ji hun (which the uncle killed in the first episode when he went to the other universe). So seeing Ji hun has proved that the uncle wasn’t successful this time around. Although I still feel Lee Gon either has full possession of the manpasijeok and is able to move to the other universe without any complications or he saved the day but the door to the parallel world closed hence he and Tae Eul are apart.
After 3 days I finally finished to rewatch TKEM and it’s indeed more enjoyable! Now I could clearly agree in the past discussion here that this drama has non-linear story. I had fun reading different theories here and there since my brain operates simply and could analyze with less complicated twists.
I enjoyed some girl power in this drama, TE for one with such strong character at the same time could be sentimental when it comes to her circle of friends and with LG. I’m looking for a reasonable good ending as LG always keep his promise to TE. There’s the probability that the portal will permanently be closed. I want to see how he would open at least one door of the universe, probably he would discover a portal in the space axis, or use his mathematical ability in order to meet TE.
@packmule3
I am so glad I stumbled onto this forum. While I only posted a few times I enjoyed reading all the thought provoking posts from others. This was my first K drama so I was reluctant to say much but what kept me coming back was the intelligence, commitment and respectful interactions amongst the group. Kudos to you and the veteran posters. I hope to be more of a participant the next time.
As for the ending whatever will be will be…
No turning back now. Enjoy the last episode everyone.
Oh I don’t want to say goodbye to this drama just yet. The anticipation is killing me though. Whatever the issues they’ve done a great job in keeping the drama unpredictable and exciting till the end I guess.
After inhaling all BTS videos of Ep 15 earlier, I am now watching ep 16 livetweets w/ spoilers because I have zero patience. 🤷🏾♀️ So much for wanting to savour the finale like a grown-up. And OMMO it has taken a cute turn. Hopefully, will remain cute.
My friend who just watched in Korea says it’s kinda a “Meh” ending. Whatever it means, my toes are curling waiting for 10.30pm!
I was satisfied with the ending. Not only did Lee Gon and Tae Eul had a happy ending but also Luna, Shinjae, Eunsob and Yeong. I thought Yeong would die and even cried when he got shot. But thankfully he survived. Shin jae was saved by Prince Buyeong, Luna and PM Koo seems to be “sister”, somehow PM Koo’s mother adopted Luna. I wish to have a Lee Gon who can bring me to unconventional dates. Imagine going back in time just to see a movie? Also love that Tae eul has her suitcases in the land in between. It’s a good wrap for me maybe because I’m a sucker for a good ending. Thank you to everyone in this blog esp. packmule. ❤
@packmule3, you are indeed a psychic! Expected of our Queen of Bitches 🙇♀️🙇♀️🙇♀️ 💞💞💞
Enjoy the party, girls!
P/S: Who has watched Mr. Sunshine will notice a similarity in one of the main couple’s scene at TKEM.😊
LOVED THE ENDING. May I nominate LG to be the Best Boyfriend of Eternity? Preparing MSD drinks alreaaaady!
Yaaay! Is this true! Can’t believe it😄😄😄 Did we really get a happy ending👏👏👏 Need to watch immediately 🤩
Yay I’m done with this drama and I kind of agree that it is a rather average and expected and ‘safe’ ending which would not receive much hate from the fans.
To be honest, really thanks to @packmule3 for your posts. Without your posts, my level of understanding for this drama would have halved and I would probably drop this drama midway as this drama requires too much brainpower to analyze the tiniest details which most of us would probably miss out.
While I agree that the storyline is refreshing (and confusing) and that the write is pretty skilled and creative in making everything come together, I am really annoyed at the flow of the story where they show us scenes happening in the future and then cut back to the ‘now’ (even across episodes) and that really confuses the shit out of me. I feel that if they could improve on the flow and timeline of airing certain scenes, it would have been a more enjoyable drama.
It had been a super long while since I had to do so much ‘homework’ (like reading up on time travel) while understanding a drama. Now that I look back, it had been a fun but really tiring journey =p
A lot of my friends have asked if they should start and binge the drama and I’m kind of half-half in my emotions of recommendation as they might just be as annoyed as I am while watching and zone out before everything comes into full circle. My personal rating for this drama will sadly be a 6/10.
Finally, I would like to thank all the commenters who help provide useful and important analysis for this drama. It had been really insightful and I hope I can be trained to be more sensitive to details while watching dramas in future.
Cheers everyone ^^
Couldn’t really complain about the ending. It was a happy ending for everyone 🙂
What was the scene about the yo-yo boy growing up? Can anyone share some insights?
Well, sorry for not being able to post for a long time (for a drama world) – I was bin watching My Mister and answer your questions, so only now I have tuned to Ep 16. It has a good ending, not straightforward. It has very strong similarities to Goblin in its story telling, which is good (since Goblin is so excellent) and bad (because it is nearly impossible to redo its magic). All in all, wrapped up. I don’t think its lived to expectations, because exactly it is impossible to repeat the Goblin’s magic, even for the same writer and same actress. It is somehow reminds me of Vagabond, which had its star power, but completely lost its story. Similarly, here the possibility of multiple worlds even further made the story difficult to comprehend. But I think it had beautiful moments, so..
Best scene would be where TE found leaves in their suitcase for when they end up to the beginning, typical LG! Smh
Like I said sudden outcomes and not endings. Where was the wedding shot from the spoiler? Not the outcome I anticipated at all. Great actors, interesting mysteries, lush sets and costumes; I am shockingly underwhelmed. However, the leads and second leads are first class actors with wonderful parts ahead of them I am sure. KES can easily transcend this with her next script but some of the PD staff should be sent to dungeon eternally and some of the doors in the universe should remained shut.
AHhhhh.. finally the end comes. I watched the last episode, and all I kept thinking is:
@WEnchanteur is going to have an apoplexy when he sees this. 🙂 WEnchanteur, I am not sure if you should watch it 🙂
For all intents and purposes its an ending, but personally not very happy with it, not because it wasn’t a happy one, but it was rather… unfocused and almost seem like directionless and “weightless”. I would’ve liked it if they just ended it with ep15 – somehow, for me it was more cohesive.
Ah, I really think the story had a lot of potential, I just wish it was tapped into much better and the production was done properly. No complaints with the actors, they were all great.
In any case, thank you packmule3 for sharing a lot of your reviews and having this blog as a place to house our discussions, its very much appreciated. I liked being here and reading everyone’s thoughts, it felt very positive in this community where everyone is so constructive and open. Consequently, I loved reading everyone’s comments and thoughts in this TKEM journey. Thank you everyone ^_^
Special thanks to WEnchanteur – I believe I’ve spent most of my time watching TKEM concentrating on the production, likely same as you, since most of your comments concentrated on those, so I really enjoyed your breakdowns and critiques. Thank you for spending the time writing them up.
Overall quite unsatisfied with the ending and thought it was pretty basic. LG killing LR in the forest right before he went into the portal made it way too easy. Episode was pretty filler (with most people getting happy endings) which is a stark contrast compared to previous episodes… Made it seem like they were rushing to wrap it up and I honestly thought it was pretty sloppy in a way.
Enjoyed reading your analyses everyone! I will be watching “It’s Okay to Not be Okay” next.
@Linlin, I’m with you on the fate boy growing up confusion. When he is half he is a kid, when he is whole he is an adult? But then the teenage bully and prisoner flashback plus the guy in uniform flashback won’t make sense. I’m just glad yoyoboy/fate/flute allowed LG JTE and JY to retain their memories
Oh, thank goodness there is a happy ending. I started a second viewing of TKEM through episode 10, and I realized I missed a lot of plot / character development. I was afraid I was going to have to decline to watch the remainder of the series, in order not to be disappointed. I’m all about escapism in my TV and movie watching. Cheers and stay safe, everyone! It’s the King’s order!
Just finished watching, and my first thought was the same as yours @Tomato101! I kept thinking this episode will give @WEnchanteur a heart attack!
After all the han, grief and mysteries that we had in the first 15 episodes, Ep 16 felt fluffy in contrast, as if I had accidentally turned the dial and was watching some other rom com. Plus in this episode, most of the info is spoon-fed to you so no deductions are needed! The ending felt so similar to CLOY: they can’t stay in each other’s world, so they settle for meeting over the weekends.
I guess we got our happy ending (except a royal wedding), plus they tied up most of the loose ends. I thought the bit where SJ was spared from the car accident because he offered to help LG with the bus routes was a nice touch. And I liked that with LL finally out of the picture, we see how the goodness in others can make a difference for those living lives of desperation (Hyeon Min & mum, Luna etc). The suitcases in the inter-dimensional portal was a cute touch, and trust LG to think of bringing leaves in case they end up in the Stone Age lol!
I do wish they had showed what happened to Ms Baek (the mum of the boy in the wheelchair) though. And @nrllee there wasn’t any reference to ginkgo trees AT ALL!
I do think it was a very safe ending. But whether KES intended it that way from the start or she had made to make necessary changes because of all the backlash, I honestly didn’t mind. All the characters delivered their roles well and I really love the overall look of the drama – the set, scenery, lighting, framing, colours, filters. It was visually appealing to me, very easy on the eye. I particularly enjoyed their time-travel dates.
And thank you to everyone here in BoD! You have made watching TKEM an even more enjoyable experience for me. To pm3, I guess I’ll be hanging out again here soon for Psycho But It’s Okay. I’m glad you’re picking up that drama.
@Tomato101 LOL. I thought of @WEnchanteur too because we wrote on the same thread just couple of hours from the EP. I agree with you. For someone who could think of LG as a mythomaniac conning four women together, @WEn should avoid ep 16 😛
How are you feeling now ? I remember reading in your comment that you weren’t well? ( I’m sorry if it wasn’t you. I just remember it that way.)
@JT7 did you notice the phone booth reference? Of course you did. ☺️☺️ I thought of you immediately in that part.
So many to think @WEnchanteur shouldn’t watch the Finale 😂😂
About the end, I didn’t quite enjoy it. As someone who struggled to understand this drama and all the mathematics and history and complicated character chartering, I felt cheated. I expected something much more mind blowing. You’re right @JT7, it’s so much like CLoY. I didn’t appreciate that either. If Lady Noh can survive in KOC inspite of being from ROK, surely TE can find a way to be the queen. I’m disappointed.
However, I shall be very much present at the Aloha party 😎 I shall reserve my opinions on the end and enjoy watching LG.
Thank you to everyone here. especially @Phoenix, @agdr03, @JT7 @welmaris and others for being wonderful wonderful people. I’m looking forward to it’s okay to not be okay with you guys next ! So glad @pm3 is picking it up !
I didn’t love 16, but at least it was a happy ending.
The most touching moment for me is when Min Hwa-Yeon runs after Hyeon-min after she discovers her real son (Shin-Jae) was in a coma for all those years.
Hyeon-min: (Walking away b/c he doesn’t have a mom)
Hwa-Yeon: Shin-Jae!! Shin-Jae!!
Hyeon-min: Mom
Hwa-Yeon: I’m sorry. I should of given you a hug. You’re also my son. I know it’s not your fault. I should of given you a hug first. I’m … I’m really sorry. Sorry.
Hyeon-min: Mom (w/ tears rolling down his eyes as he hugs her).
I hope I got the characters right. I get lost where people are and what universe they are in sometimes.
LOL I concur as soon as it ended I was like @WEchanteur should not watch this 🙂
So I like the drama as a whole would give it a 7 maybe 6.5 or so, had the ending ep 15 and 16 been better… that lost it a two whole points
The Finale felt like a waste of a precious episode, even more than 15… all that stuff was 30 minutes max, but they dragged out some parts for no reason. It is meh, Happy ending yes but I need more emotional and intellectual closure for all the stuff that happened that was just not revisited. Lee Rim needed a more epic ending. Why could TE suddenly shoot in NM Land? Sheer will? How did she pop out?
Yeah disappointed, I’d have preferred getting even more suspense thrown in actually and new stuff from other universes or something, a cliff hanger… anything
@Arihsi I agree I also felt cheated
And wedding pics was Prime Minister swearing in.. TE is supposed to be Daehan Jeguk’s Queen! There had to be way to introduce her to KOR with all the drama it could cause same as lady Noh was… I wanted some of that drama; that was a major loose thread that is blowing in the wind…
Sigh, Happy it’s done, I don’t think I can watch another ongoing drama though, way too much waiting…
Favourite episode is 11, and all the poems, which I’m now trying to learn, and this here place were we got to dissect together 🙂 Thanks @pm3 for hosting us 🙂
Oooh next one you are planning @pm3 is Psycho but I’m ok…? I will not survive 🙁 Why? I so don’t wanna do another week by week viewing, My weekends suffer LOL. Oh well I best buckle in and see how it goes, coz I love the chats here… sigh
@arihsi Yes I did! I thought that was another nice touch! Must have taken some effort from the production team to source the different phones + booths. And I felt the same way as you did. My brain got so used to rewatching and noting and analysing things in the previous episodes, that it went into shock when most of the info in this episode was just spoon-fed to us! LOL.
But overall I’d say I do like the show in its totality. And I enjoyed it so much more because there was this community here to discuss things with! Thanks so much everyone!
I just wanna say thank you to bitches teams you guys are the best!! I was not at loss at all while watching this drama because of you guys!! I appreciate you guys and im not able to show you guys how much im grateful towards you guys. Thank you again!!!!!!!!!!!! Saranghaeeeeeeeyoook
Hello, just watched the ending. I am personally not really satisfied with the ending. It feels a bit forced, like they r just tryin to give everyone a happy ending, which I am not complaining about, but wished certain things eg. What happened to the young Lee Gon and Jo Young growing up? Will they eventually merge with their adult self since it seems that the adult memories are not overridden? Then how did Tae Eul manage to escape the No Man’s Land?
BUT I just wanna thank @pm3 and other commenters cos reading all the comments here has been my fav pastime for the past 8 weeks. Really thank you!
@John L Yes that was a nice bit with SJ. To be honest the show showed a lot of focus on SJ. I guess he was the most tragic of all the KOC/ROK counterparts, and it was nice to see that the sacrifice and the decisions that LG made, made all the difference for him.
@JT7 @Arihsi @TD I wonder if there will be anyone else who thought the same, maybe we should keep a running tally 🙂 We care so much for WEnchanteur’s well being ^^
As for feeling cheated, there is some of that, but mostly that even with the last episode, they still created more questions than answers (like TD said, how did JTE just popout of the portal? why did the gun suddenly go off? what’s the significance of yoyo kid/ROK bully/KOC navy guy – why does the adult version have to be him???)
@Arihsi yes, I was not feeling very well, still under the weather. Thank you for asking! Maybe I can get some rest now that we’ve finally reached the end of TKEM – I don’t have to be up on nights wondering about all the little details that happened in the latest episode. 🙂
As this is a fantasy drama I’ll refrain myself from asking how will LG produce an heir to the throne from their current setup that TE can’t exist in KOC? If anyone has any idea though, kindly indulge me.
@WEnchanteur, I trust that with your appreciation of KGE you will find it enjoyable to watch her in this ep.
@Arihsi Ww are happy to have you and everyone here too😃 It make discussions much more interesting!
I just finished elp.16 too and it lwas a bit underwhelming. Seemed like fan service to me, but on the other side, I’m happy that we hot a happy ending for everyone and noone dies😄
One thing… I’d honestly would like to get my hands on the original script/find out what the original plan is. I felt that there were a lot of changes in the script after a certain point in the series, (my best guess mostly after ep6/7) just to rectify/catch up with the production problems. Somehow I don’t believe that what we’ve seen was what was originally planned, the story and script felt a little too loose and chaotic, esp at the end, to have been written by a long time script writer like KES. There were too many details there at was brought out in the beginning but was not explained or addressed in the end, as if they really realized there was no time left anymore to explore what was setup at the start.
I feel that the final episode is what most of us think it is, a forced, safe ending decided at the last minute… which i feel is not what it originally intended to be. Wonder if any of the original plan will ever be released. There really was so much potential for the story there, and I feel they unintentionally placed themselves in an awkward situation when they wasted airtime.
Still, its a good ride. 🙂
Anyone interested in the CCTV kiss? Can I say RAWR
I am happy that all the good guys lived, but I felt that the ending was underwhelming. While I am happy that LG and JTE get to spend time together in different worlds thanks to the magic flute, I kept thinking that such an arrangement would not be good for future babies…
My favorite scene was between Sin Jae (or rather Hyeon Min) and the real SJ’s mom.
I also liked the scene with little Luna and fish market mom.
I loved LG and TE’s reunion but didn’t totally like the ending…I mean it is happy, the found each other but why are they only meeting up on the weekends!? So what happened to her being queen? TE could be like Lady Noh though they will have to resolve TE leaving her family behind in ROK.
I am going back to the first episode and am trying to wrap my head around the purpose and use of the flute. LL said: “The Manpasikjeok was revealed only once every 20 years to wish peace upon the world.” But he didn’t continue that sentence to explain more because TE interrupted his storytelling.
Nonetheless, I am glad the characters whose lives were destroyed because of LL had their lives restored. Also a reminder that a little kindness and hope goes a long way. Prince Buyeong says to Kang Hyeon Min’s mum , “Your choices determine your destiny, but no one gets to choose their parents. So change this choice of yours for the choice you make will determine this boy’s fate.”
Lee Gon ends with,
“Just like that, we decided to love the fate that chose us. Just for today and only today. And forever.”
My verdict of the finale – lightweight for my taste. Given that the premise of the story has so much gravitas, I find the ending with mixed emotions.
I am happy that it was a happy ending and that the writer found an out to the unconventional circumstances of their love story. I am happy that the love story of our couple was given an adult treatment.
But the wrap up of other side stories was too convenient. That nobody died except for the villain? And I could not wrap my head around the notion that LG remained a King w/o an heir. KOC must be up in arms…
Suddenly my very promising & favorite sci-fi romance turned into something Disney-esque.
That is not to say that I will not miss TKEM. I bet I will enjoy rewatching it several times over. And I will miss the company of people here who made the viewing more pleasurable & memorable. Thanks @packmule3 for being a fine host here.
Looking forward to LMH’s & KGE’s next projects.
Just finished. I have questions but will suspend disbelief for now. The acting in this drama is top notch. I’m a sucker for happy endings.
Jeong Tae-Ri the actress who won grand prize was hilarious. I also can’t get enough of ES cutesy talk. And the leaves because we don’t know where we can end up.
High entertainment value but I feel like we missed out on something deeper and more complicated. Maybe if it were more than 16 eps.
Thank you for this blog @pmule3.
One thing that kept me wondering was the 17 items that TE listed from the beginning of the show, and the list continued on up till ep15. And there was no closure to that :(((
@Tomato101 I know right ? This doesn’t feel like the intended ending! Just like Game of Thrones! Too many things that were alluded to multiple times are still hanging in the air. I didn’t like the “weekend visit” scenario one bit. And remember those spoilers with both on horse back ? Those scenes never came. Even @pm3 thought TE might die early on. TE dying to save LG on the night of regicide might have at least resolved the zero to root issue.
Also, I remember when the 1950 style pics came in, many people said shooting is never chronological. But here it was! They did shoot the ending sequence last (including the one where LMH passes by TE as LJH and she breaks down crying) Apparently, those were shot back to back on the same day. Perhaps because like you say, they changed the original ending.
@Tomato101 Get well soon! And yes, like PM Koo says if it happens more than once it is a pattern… so a tally definitely should be done! @WEnchanteur’s eyes must be twitching with so much talk here!
Regarding yoyo kid, I wonder if they are showing the duality of Fate here. Assuming yoyo kid still represents Fate, then maybe adding in the ROK bully is to show that Fate isn’t just a single entity, but 2 (I can’t figure the navy guy though!). In this case, yoyo kid is shown to be good (helping TE escape etc), while the bully is bad, likewise, the fate of someone can go either way based on their choices between good and bad. The 2 characters wonder if they should break the yoyo string, or leave it be, and the scene immediately cuts to LG’s sword dripping red with blood. I take it to be that fate is wondering if they should intervene in the current scheme of things (ie LL’s death), or just let things be?
@TD: My guess regarding why the gun could go off in the inter dimensional space is that the time axis was activated. In Ep 14 we were told that only the space axis in interD space works when there is 1/2 the flute (so only crossings are possible, but time travel is not, and things in the InterD space remain “frozen” in time and suspended in the air). The time axis is only activated when both flute halves are used, or if the flute is whole, that allows for movement along the time axis (time travel, as well as time being able to “flow” in the interD space).
When LG & LL crossed together, the time axis was activated, so I think time started flowing, hence the seed could sprout. Before that it could not as time was frozen. I think it’s the same thing for the gun, initially it would not fire as time was frozen since there was only LL’s half of the flute being used. But the 1994 LL outside used the whole flute to open the portal, which means time flows again. Because time “unfreezes”, the gun starts to work.
Oh yes, could anyone explain who Seong Min is, I can’t seem to recall that character (the person Chief Park is helping)?
Maybe KES decided on this safe, convenient and fan service ending as a way to apologise for all the times she caused us stress theorising on her drama. Lol
Have watched Ep. 16.
Positives: We got a happy ending for (mostly) everyone and none of the good guys died. Lots of cute OTP moments as they wrap it up.
So LG was indirectly responsible for saving ROK SJ from having accident and coma-that was nice.
Negatives: Episode was underwhelming, and the OTP resolution was not satisfying for me since OTP can’t really be together becasue they cannot exist in each other’s worlds because of the dopplegangers. (Can’t be together in a different world because of the same reason, I suppose.) Not sure how LG going to resolve the heir situation since they killed Se-jin’s father in 1994, so no Se-jin.
Little bit sad that JY has to live with the memories of ES and his other ROK “siblings” while ES has no memories of anything. I was hoping for just 1 last reunion scene between those 2. Oh well, at least they are both alive and have happy lives.
Overall: The drama was OK. A big Thank You to @Packmule3 and everyone else here for all of your thoughts and analysis because it really made me enjoy the drama. I think I would have dropped this drama otherwise.
Regarding the YoYo kid: My take on it was that since YoYo was the spirit of the flute, he could take on any form he wished in order to “restore the balance”. So now we are shown how the spirit took on an adult/older kid form to help shape some events, like when TE rescued SJ from the bullies. The spirit stayed a kid when he helped TE escape from the warehouse.
For the second time, KES made it look like a happy ending. But I rather have this ending than a painful one.
I can’t help but to be sad for the couple (I know they are fictional characters, know I’m being too attached to the drama). I feel sad thinking that all their life they can’t settle due to responsibilities they have in their world and they might ruin the balance if they would settle. Tae Eul can’t be a queen since Luna exist in KOC. LG can’t stay in KOR because of JH.
(not related to my comment above but Luna should still have cancer right? since it is not something that could be affected by the actions of people or it was cured because of manpasijeok)
@Tomato101
Ah ah ah, thank you for care of me, it warms my heart.
I reassure you, I didn’t die of apoplexy.
I started the episode in sarcastic island mode, and I was very cool no matter what.
Then I did a check on all the elements I had predicted in a stupid and humorous post I did on episode 16, many parts of which turned out to be correct. Already, incredible, and not disappointing if you like irony.
Yes, planned elements have taken place! Like boring scenes with Shin-Jay and his mother, and many others…
But I wasn’t even close!
I hadn’t anticipated the return of horribly useless and painful characters such as the old prince or the king’s mother in ROK.
Most importantly, I made a huge mistake. I had already detected that the fantasy and science fiction elements had been deliberately hidden for a long time to prevent the viewer from detecting plot-holes. This had become obvious in episodes 14 and 15, since here I had already noticed serious inconsistencies.
I should have guessed that the whole thing would blow up like an atomic bomb in episode 16.
Absolutely nothing makes sense about the logic of the SF process, or even just fantasy. For once, you don’t have to dig too deep, because it’s happening to you in your face like a white truck of destiny.
My biggest regret: I only had one glass of whisky before watching the episode.
I should have drunk 3 bottles to totally destroy my brain, and enjoy some romantic scenes and outrageous fan service.
I could go on saying a lot of very nasty things, but maybe I’ll do it in another commentary on which I’ll put a warning so as not to hurt the fans and that they avoid reading.
I laughed a lot, though. It’s a pity that the writer bothered to build something coherent (but unfortunately useless) in the first part, only to be scattered in the fuzzy and cosmic space of the worst script and logic absurdities.
It’s really one of the worst dramas of all time! LOL!!!
Looks like we’re all still waiting for a wedding :(((
I still don’t understand the purpose of Shinjae. There’s no way to justify that amount of screentime especially at the beginning when he didn’t even do anything important until the end. My guess is that the drama was supposed to be longer, but the low ratings led them to cut a lot of things, and Shinjae’s true story was one of the casualties. The drama is still the most interesting of this writer though and watching it and reading the discussions was a fun experience.
@Hen54,
Of course you don’t understand the purpose of Shin-Jay.
There isn’t one!!!
Oh, of course, you can go to college in philosophy class, and if you torture your mind enough, you might end up finding a use for this useless character that the screenwriter didn’t even foresee. Otherwise, a little poem by the screenwriter in voice-over would have been enough, I would have been delighted to sleep while Lady Noh recites it.
Just apply the same technique to the other characters. Randomly, the yo-yo kid. He doesn’t grow up because Euler’s number is relative to the constant of growth so blah blah, the flute is reunited, the original harmony restored, and he sees Tae Eul once he’s grown up, before or after, who cares? Anyway, with an infinite number of parallel worlds, there should be an infinite number of Lee Gon coming to mess up this famous palace room where the young king’s murder takes place. And among them, some of the more intelligent ones who figured out that finally… Even when the flute is cut in half, you can go back in time before the flute is cut in half. There is also an infinite number of Tae Eul foolishly stuck in the in-between world with Lee Lim, and another smarter part who came out of this world with Lee Gon to go back in time and avoid all this painful fiasco.
Note: all this still doesn’t explain the two different pairs of shoes, and the propsman has to be fired.
One thing I appreciate though: Shin-Jay will be able to live a love story with Luna, the Tae Eul clone, somewhere in one of the infinite parallel worlds. Wow, that’s so touching!
Now that I’ve read the other comments, I also thank the other commentators who were afraid for my health (mental health). But fortunately all is well. Already my mental health was already deficient, and that wasn’t going to make it deteriorate further in a major way. ^^
One loose end for me I guess would be that huge tree in the opening credits. I was hoping it would have the same significance as the weirwood tree in GoT’s Winterfell.
Loved the ending (would have loved them married rather than in a long-distance relationship, but well…), and all your comments along the run of this Drama.
Will miss you all, but we will meet together in another Drama (hopefully pretty soon!!!).
@GrowingBeautifully, @Nrllee and of course @Packmule3, see you later on another series!!!, and big hugs to @Barbrey whom I missed so much in this run.
@Wenchanteur, I’m glad that you replied. I’m not distressed about a happy ending, but it did seem rather frothy after the 1st half. I think I’ll have a drink along with you.
I agree with @Maximess’s post that the Jeong Tae-Ri actress sketch was great; so off the wall. Eun-Sup’s cheesy phone call to Nari and saying ‘What a Lunatic.’ LG and the leaves, in case they ended up in a prehistoric era. -As if those leaves would be helpful.😜
I really liked that the new PM is JG’s former secretary (or was she) and it seems that LG is letting people call him by his name, even children.
I liked how it was shown that kindness can change the world. (Prince Buyeong and Koo’s mom)
I liked the images of everything disintegrating with the change of history.
Lady Noh is still sticking talismans into LG’s pockets, but she won’t have the satisfaction of an heir unless LG and TE find a legit way for both of them to exist in the KoC.
There were resolutions in the original world – comatose Sinjae reunited with his mother and the Solitude of the police captain. But didn’t those things become irrelevant with the change of history?
I was worried that both child LG and JY might have died. I wonder how LG rescued JY and got him medical attention.
I wonder how TE got out of the Land Between worlds after she shot LR. It seems that somethings ended up on the cutting floor.
The actors did very well and they are to be congratulated. I’d like to see the whole thing re-edited and made consistent.
I’m grateful to @packmule3 for this forum and to all of the posters for their ideas and support to help each other with understanding all the aspects of the drama.
I am going somewhere for the next two days. I will comment later.
Hello everyone!
So, we got to the end without any trauma (for the most part). I love a good, light-hearted end, but I must confess that I was not expecting that from this particular drama. LG and JY’s fight was so good! Looked like a scene from a video game.
Did anyone understand what Court Lady Noh said about a shrine when LG and JTE were caught at the palace? What did she mean?
I’ll go to the optimistic side and say that they probably figure out a way to be together, have a heir and all that after their travels and the long distance relationship ❤️
Talk to you guys soon 🙃
@JT7 you’re kidding? Nothing whatsoever about gingkos? And the origins of the flute from the roots of the said tree? It was all a prop? 🙄. Just for aesthetics? Well I guess that’s what epics are. Spared no expense. Dollar signs dripping from every frame. Party time regardless. Where’s that life size cut out I have of LG…the one that says, “this face is my gift to you”? He’s coming with me to the party. 😂
When are they going to release the ending of the TKEM? I refuse to accept that episode 16 is the one. That’s not the series I’ve watched and loved. I feel betrayed and sad.
I’d rather take a heartbreaking ending with soul than this happy but souless one I just saw.
What a way to waste amazing characters, top-notch actors and an interesting story! I just can’t believe it 😭
LOL, I thought I’d hit the subscribe button to this thread, but it didn’t ‘work’ so I’m only here now after so many comments have dropped in, and am amused by the reactions which I’ve yet to read in detail. Some of the above are my thoughts here and there but magnified 10x LOL.
Yes, show did give us so much to anticipate. So many characters with promise, the hint of angst and more twists, so many clues and signs and we analysed the heck out of all of them to our great entertainment and with the hard work of brain cells. Then in the end it decided to go the safe and fluffy way. I feel that going the unsafe way would have required another 2 to 4 long episodes.
Well, we did say in different places and times, that show looked like it was biting off a lot more than it could chew. That is could end on a positive note, with a degree of logic, is better than many other endings we feared, where nothing made sense, and good characters fell out of character.
What weird joy I took away from this ending? The tying up of the loose end about what dear Chief Park was doing with Solitude and Loneliness. LOL. Of course, we wonder what the heck was the problem with him spending time with a sick granny of a friend and the little grandchild, that he should have kept it a secret from his wife. It would have been something I’d be proud of my husband for doing. There was no reason to hide it from the wife. Well that’s the motif of this production’s weakness, it does wonderful build ups to a mystery, but cannot offer the satisfactory reveal that the build ups promise.
I did still enjoy the show, while lamenting how much more praiseworthy it could have been. It was heartily entertaining to try to eke out the meanings of those clues and signs, knowing then, as we do now, that there were no guarantees that we’d ever know for sure if we were right. In the way of Romance: we had put our thoughts on the line without certainty they’d be addressed or if they’d help our understanding in any way. So if that is ‘romance’ in a non-inter-personal realm, then we lived romance in analysing this show with so much heart and mind. 😂 More later! 😏
@packmule3 big thanks to your blog, cant imagine how i can knowing how a beautiful this drama if its not because of your blog and many comment from the bitches here.
Looking forward to your analysis about last episode, anyway why JTE necklace didn’t disappear?
I’m agree with @WEnchanteur shin jae screen time is too much and such a waste.
The last episode genre suddenly turns romcom, jeong tae ra byte jokes really makes me burst out laughing, not to forget about leaves jokes !!
When LG tryin to fix JTE‘s shoelace makes me huaaaaa can you imagine a king doing that.
Can’t wait to see another masterpiece drama from KES and of course next project from Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun. Sadly Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun is not an actor that will come to variety show 🙁
I really enjoyed everyone’s comments @bitchesoverdramas. It has been a pleasure. Thank you @pmule3 you are sharp as a tack and funny too. Don’t worry about the plagiarist, as my grandmother used to say “Vengeance belongs to God because God can do it so much better.”
@Bliss To me, it looked like Old Court Lady was trying a mild form of blackmail with LG after having discovered the lady love he intends to keep hidden. She was implying she will keep it a secret provided LG built her a new shrine😝 I liked that with everything being reset, how her behavior towards LG’s girlfriend (TE) has also changed.
@juliette – Yes we can see what your friend means by a ‘meh’ ending. However I’m glad you liked it.
@Linlin – That’s a good question about ‘Fate/Yo Yo child and boy’ The fact that it’s played by a female actress who is made to look like a boy and that the child becomes a boy when older, continues to speak to us of the duality of everything. Now that the flute is whole, there is a free movement across time and space for ‘Fate’. Fate used to be stuck in a child’s body, but now can take an older form.
It’s also telling that Fate is still considering what to do about the yo-yo’s red string … whether it should break (or be cut?) That is open ended. We do not know how long that string will continue to allow LG and TE to travel across times and spaces, or whether it should be allowed or not.
If we go back to the legend of the flute, it was given to the King, and it’s purpose was not for frivolity but for the right rule over the worlds. It was an item that made a King, like a deity, to do much good for his country. However, it was ignored by Lee Gon’s father and the legend does not seem to have even been told to LG. It is now nothing more than a key and a lock to a gate between infinite worlds, to allow touristy travel for two. A waste of a perfectly good magic flute!
@StoneJack I’m glad you’re back for the ending. Yes, we noted the flaws before and watched hopefully. It was beautiful but flawed, and as you say, could not live up to expectations. I feel that it should have stuck to just one main analogy for its theme, … just the Looking Glass of Alice with the doppelgangers, just the figuring out of the world travel and offering the doppelgangers a better option than following LL, a clear message of Fate with suspense over the threat of a breaking red string, an all out battle between good and evil without having to worry about changing history or being lost in time. It would have been more than enough to satisfy.
@Iamastonished I’m glad I watched no spoilers. My disappointed is somewhat mitigated LOL. My guess is that there are many, many scenes on the editing room floor. The last week must have been a time of cutting and trimming to fit 70-80 minutes of show time that would still make sense.
@Tomato101 Yes, ‘weightless’ the thought that came to me was it lacked heft, weight, meat. It became fluff. And to your other comment – yes, I’d really like to know (maybe from an interview with KES) what the real story should have been. I feel it should have been a 20 episode thing with a lot more development. The backstory of LL with Buyeong’s family untouched. The arc for PM Koo and Luna was truncated. Until now, I’m not clear what it was that TE asked Luna to steal for her. Etc.
@Pikapika I’m glad you caught those flashes of Yo Yo. I only noticed the camera focusing on the good looking young soldier in the church at the funeral, but since nothing came of it, I thought it was just me trying to make more out of a face. I didn’t recognise him as the same guy who was the bully, etc. But I’m not beating myself up over it, since show didn’t give us a fair chance to notice it properly. I figure, show put in all those scenes, just in case it wanted to use them to beef up ‘Fate’s’ role, but couldn’t manage it. What Ep 16 should have done was to have totally eliminated those flashback scenes of Yo Yo as anyone else, and only kept that one of him as the bigger boy with the yo-yo. What was the point of confusing viewers in the very last episode. 🥴 🙄
@JT7 The reveberations of the CLOY ending also struck me when I saw where they were going with this one. All I can say is, it was the ending that TE outside the hospital had pleaded to have with LG. Just live for today with the travel back and forth, and supposedly be happy like that forever. For audiences who are a little more mature (like most of us!!!) this somehow rings hollow and not as true happiness at all. In our fan-fic world, I’d like to think that they finally settle in one place and time and stay put. Of course if they do so much walking through the portal, they are going to live practically eternally while their friends and family age!!! 😲 But show is smart not to go there. 🤪
I agree that the Flute had to be whole in order for the time of KOC to run through to ROK … at first TE couldn’t shoot, but when the whole flute opened up the portals and time flowed ‘through’ the portals to ROK and her plant in the pot started to sprout like magic, then only did everything start moving in No Man’s Land and she could shoot LL. I shudder at the thought if LG had failed to behead LL and if the flute had still been in half. TE would have had to deal with a murderous LL in NMLand for all eternity LOL.
@WEnchateur … will chat later… !
@packmule3 thank you for hosting us on your blog. This was an awesome platform to hear theories and to analyze TKEM with all you wonderful bitchesoverdramas!
I concur with most of you that for a series that made us reflect on poetry, scrutinize symbols, and research on mathematical theories (guilty as charged) just to understand the story more, ep. 16 was more fluff than I expected. Yes, I do think this wasn’t the original ending but maybe because of the pressure to wrap things up neatly plus with the clamor of most fans for a happy ending — this was the safest route to take. I’d take this any day over the season finale of GOT that had me scarred for life.
The somewhat CLOY ending for the OTP (weekend dating warriors) is a scenario that doesn’t make sense for a king that needs to produce an heir (oh the pressure from the royal court) and who is obviously “deeply in love” with TE. Oh well, maybe a spin-off fanfic where Luna doesn’t exist in the KOC so that there might be a chance for TE to become queen?
I’m excited to see all the wonderful ladies in the Aloha party for LG’s induction to the Best Drama Boyfriend Ceremony. Lemme put on my Gentle Monster shades as I borrow Eun-Sup’s Maserati. I’ll bring a trunk full of milktea from the Alley (for the non-drinkers) and soju with beer for our MSD. 🙂
After thinking about this show after the finale I honestly don’t even completely understand Lee Rim’s plan. He switched a lot of people and built an army… to do what? Have eternity and infinity? What does that even imply? And the whole thing with bringing Song Jeong Hye at the death memorial… what would be the point of this and the reveal with Republic of Korea? What would that even accomplish? Maybe it’s just me but I didn’t think that was explained well. In the end I didn’t really know what he wanted to achieve.
Why won’t they come to variety show?
I have been a silent observer till now, but wanted to drop in and give a big THANK YOU! to @packmule3 and everyone who’s contributed to this site. Am extremely grateful to have stumbled upon this blog — your insights were a beautiful accompaniment to the show. The endlessly fascinating theories and analyses raised over the past weeks helped me appreciate the drama even more. At the beginning, I found myself trying to wrap my head around the mathematics and connections to Alice In Wonderland that were put forward, before perusing Kim Sowol’s Azaleas anthology later. I enjoyed coming back to this blog between episodes to catch what I missed, and constantly marvelled at how you guys drew so much meaning from details like the gingko tree, LG’s affinity with the sea/lightning, certain words spoken (“yeogi”)…
As many have said (in @GB’s earlier comment), the ending was a mellow and somewhat underwhelming one, leaving us with questions still unresolved. The workings and rules of the Manpasikjeok (and corollary inter-dimensional travel) should have been uncovered, as that was the main premise of the show. In its bid to provide an overall pleasing, *palatable* conclusion for the main characters, Ep 16 detracted from the purpose of others like SJ, CLN, LL and his army (as @LunaSolace mentioned) whose stories now seem to have been quite fruitlessly fleshed out in the previous episodes.
That said, I feel that the last few lines, “I wish to be able to love tirelessly,” and “We decided to love the fate that chose us, just for today, only today, and forever,” encapsulate their choice to live fully in the present. To me, the lines also suggest that perhaps marriage isn’t everything in a love like that (although LG being a monarch and the repeated references to an heir sort of dilutes this message), and they are doing their best given this fate. ((Also, it was somewhat reminiscent of the ending of Queen for Seven Days ?!))
My TKEM journey, if you will, was very much shaped by this blog — the anticipation, excitement or disappointment I felt each week was amplified and it was quite gratifying to know that many of you shared the same feelings and thoughts. Love the community here. Take care everyone! x
@lunasolace : Lee Rim’s plan. At first I was intrigued by what he was trying to do… swopping people that are rich and powerful in both worlds with their doppelgängers so that he can control both worlds. I thought that was a very ingenious plan… however he didn’t show/didn’t have the chance to show how he use this control to his advantage and hence it fell a bit flat.
As for the death memorial, his purpose is to shock people and to show that he can control both worlds. Remember… you can rule by fear.
But at the end of the show, it just felt “Meh” like what someone said.
Thanks so much for all the wonderfully done and convincing analyses, as well as the accurate prediction of the nature of the ending in TKEM. It had been a great pleasure to be able to read the lovely, hilarious, rational and critical comments from everyone here, not to mention the fun vibes of the blog in general.
I have greatly enjoyed TKEM as a drama (warts and all), and the analyses here have amplified that enjoyment many fold, for which I am very grateful.
Many, many thanks again for all the effort, and just for being an amazing person in general. The same gratitude and appreciation to all the other analysts and commentators here. It had been an awesome journey. Thanks a “Tae-ra Byte”!
Last night I sat down to watch with my stomach in knots, anticipating a tragic but beautiful ending fitting the myth of the flute and the sword. I don’t mind that there was a happy ending, but, as @Growing Beautifully (GB) said it so well, the flute was not to be used for frivolity.
So many great ideas. Are any of you writing or posting a different ending anywhere?
I felt like the director/ editing team could have built up more to the final beheading line (I spit out the exact same words even before LMH finishes LG line “CHAMSU HAN DA”).
Like they could have worked out LG & LL somehow got into the 1994 ‘complete’ portal together and when LG slashes his first cut on LL to retrieve the flute, that is when things were set straight on course again hence, time in the ‘2020’ portal begin to flow/merge into its correct course to meet the 1994 ‘complete’ portal and the two LL can gradually meet to see how their final fate awaits (death behind those portal doors) before JTE fades out of the portal to return to the correct path of events too (Imma sadist … writing my own script).
I think the sword plays a major role in determining who’s the rightful owner of the flute too, LL was only interested in the flute and just tossed aside the ‘SaInGum’ while he is fleeing the palace – but LG picked it up and chased after LL and finally punished the betrayer with his heavenly sword too. It’s like they came as a package.
I’m appreciative of the happy ending though, as many as the loose ends it left us with – the real world is crazy too, that’s why we all escaping into Dramaland – like all our theories stuff never matter (XD), and why does Yeong can remember Eunsub, Eunbi & Kkabi but not the same with JTE?
as for LG, I am just happy that his two ‘ZERO’ play major parts in the succession of his fated heavenly quest to cut down evil! LL plan of switching people across the two universes will never come about since it’s disrupted the worlds too much that even YO-YO kid can’t stand it so he resets it all to ZERO. ^^
Thank you everyone who work hard and put in the effort to answer the greater internet seekers of their k-drama questions! Hope to see you all in the next drama!
@mychoiyoung, I’m with you on that open-mouthed CCTV kiss, which was playful and “hungry” at the same time!
That was a bittersweet ending! LG and JTE have found a way to be together (“Love on the Weekend” lol) and yet they’re not completely together in that they cannot partake of each other’s day-to-day life. The deadpan humour somewhat took the edge off though.
Overall, I still think TKEM is a good drama with an outstanding ensemble cast. Was I entertained? Absolutely! The romantic scenes were swoon-worthy and the poignant moments (which were aplenty) left me teary-eyed. Was I confounded? Sure, there were some head-scratching moments but that’s to be expected from a time-slip drama. And here’s the thing – the complexity didn’t take anything away from the enjoyment I felt in watching this show. From the get-go, I knew that I had to be a more involved viewer if I were to fully enjoy it, i.e., do my own research, which then led me to this blog (a good find indeed).
First of all, thank you for this blog. I found it around episode 4 when I got tired of seeing the constant negative reviews and complains of a slow drama. In BoD I found a haven for people who wanted to understand KES and TKEM as much as I did. So thanks @pm3 and everyone who contributed.
I’m not happy with the ending but I’ve slept on it and now I’m over it. It’s a big cop out to say they only meet on the weekends but it was as close to a happy ending we’d get with how late they left things.
I got disheartened from episode 13 when I realised there was little time left and knew we wouldn’t get elaborate answers to the many questions and seeds planted (pun unintended, lol). The drama didn’t fully explore the themes we were introduced to, hence why it fell flat at the end.
(I can’t believe I’d ever say thing about a Kdrama cos I find them long enough but) this drama could have done with a few extra episodes or earlier episodes should have moved faster. Like a few people have said, I’d love to see what KES originally had planned for this drama. And I wish she had stuck to it.
The acting was superb. Standouts for me were Woo Do Hwan and Kim Kyung Nam, hopefully they win awards for their efforts.
Overall a good drama made more pleasant by the people on here. I won’t let how I’ve felt in the last 2 weeks colour my judgement of the whole thing!
Can I write one here? I’m not good at writing stories. Nor did I follow the drama that well in terms of theorizing or noticing small details. But I request you to bear with me. You could call it a concept, not so much a fanfic.
Firstly, things that bothered me. I’m not even going to mention SJ or the detective team because I simply didn’t understand their point in the drama.
1) Zero to the root he’s trapped in??
2) the 17 incomplete rules
3) what’s the point of TE apart from being LG girlfriend? Where is she in the grand scheme of things?
4) the tree, the ring, the sword, the flute — what is the purpose? surely not picnic!
5) the eternity and wealth that attracted LL to achieve these objects. Where are they ? How is LG different by having possesion of the above?
6) what is this different parallel universe concept huh? He didn’t go to any of these in EP 1 and straight away found TE the original?
7) So by the picnics at the end, you get the feeling that they can’t control where they land in time. But that wasn’t the case earlier?? At that point, LG could precisely control the time where he went ?
8) the flower exchange. Ew. The earlier one was so poignant. Has that been resolved?
9) the absolutely breathtaking poems that were read throughout the series. What’s point? Did they lead anywhere?nope.
10) No weekend meets ! LG is a king with serious responsibilities !
11) the complete lack of mathematics or science. Why bother confusing the audience for 12+ ep if it’s fluff you’re going for.
Hello everyone!
I just had to rewatch it again because last night I watched it late at night and went
‘WTFish’!
I agree with all of you who said they were disappointed or dissatisfied with the easy ending. I was too, just like what @GB or @JT7 said..sorry I can’t remember who now..it was fluffy. I was thinking what the fluff and seeing candyclouds and merry go rounds superimposed on my screen 😡
All I could think was you (show) made me study the equations that @packmule3 explained so well and all contributors here who put in so much effort to explain the subtle details and nuances and the whole time travel and different dimensions bit and you trolled/tricked us all by showing in the end the multi security tv screens that we were just watching not a thriller or romantic or a SF but a MELODRAMA!! 🥴 and that we all overthought about it and in the end they just trapised into their many universes for short R & Rs!
I feel aggrieved.
Everyone acted well and I love Kim Go Eun and I have a much better appreciation for Lee Min Ho’s acting now. But I sure wish we had a more completed and layered ending.
I am pretty sure one of you commenters here would give a more solid ending! 👍👍
So having rewatched it I gathered that KES had to wrap everything up to suit the audience in general.
The OTP is forever dating. Everyone has a pretty good ending.
But the perverse me is questioning how come TE’s dad doesnt realise that TE and Luna both called or texted him from two different hand phone numbers since TE and Luna both existed in ROK?
@WEnchanteur I laughed outright when you wrote to fire the props man who had the wrong sneakers! But did you notice in the finale LG tied up TE’s laces and that sneaker looked pretty suspicious to me! Maybe TE did go into that fateful night in another universe time frame! Pff.
And about the many UNIVERSES…sighh I don’t know where to put my feelings on this. It becomes frivolous doesn’t it? One life here or the other there what does it matter but it does! My heart ached for Shin Jae who was left crying on the cold cement floor. For his unreciporated love and his extreme loneliness and those were his last thoughts before he evaporated right ? as well as Luna because they both expired upon LG wielding of the whole flute.
Ok I am happy that Shin Jae got his warm hug from his ROK mum acknowledging him as her son too and Luna got to have some family bonding with ROK dad. And the rest all got happy endings too in KOC and ROK especially JY who has to babysit his twin siblings Haha and ES who now has twins with Nari and is a NSI agent! And Luna is all grown up and healthy as a detective no less and likes Hyeon Min secretly yayy!
Oh yes what is that Seon Min that captain talked about was there a character in an earlier episode I missed too?
And that plum necklace didn’t evaporate like the rest of the other items..why? Cos fate boy/man decided to grant special status to TE I guess.
What the heck let me not nitpick but just go along for the ride.
“I have had many radiant moments with all of you here. There are all engraved deep in my heart”
Thank you for making me come out of lurking to write first time ever in any post and for making me laugh and comtemplate and nod my head in agreement many times with all the beautiful posts written here.I have learnt much about equations and poems and the warm penship found here.
Thank you @Packmule3 for this precious blog you have created. I hope to follow you all on in the next drama adventure!
Like what LG said the “most beautiful equation is the simplest one ” something like that and on that note I will be heading to the afterparty soon with my makgeolli and this time I would like to win my number 6 prize( just made that up) for popping the red balloon…spend some private time with Shin Jae my poor boy and have him nestle on my neck for abit😉
🌴🍹🦞🥥🍻🍒
I meant complexed and layered ending …geez the auto write on my hand phone and I took two over hrs 😬
@Arihsi I just read your post. Excellent yes please do an alternate ending to all the points you put forth that were not addressed or completed! They had such a great thing going but it all became meaningless in the end.
I miss my HAN moments 😢
@GB
I have a feeling I’m going to have a hard time and you went to get a whip. 😅
I am enlightened to read your opinions on the flaws concerning the meaning of the story, such as the frivolity of using the flute for tourism and denying one’s responsibilities as a sovereign.
I didn’t really get a chance to get into that kind of subject during the episode. It’s quite terrible because everything disappears from my memory, and I have no more motivation to go and watch this episode again.
There’s already so much to do, just in terms of the narration, the logic of the universe, and all the information gaps, the complete refusal of the drama to explain a little bit all this mess, and the lack of time.
But as it’s not really explainable, that’s good for the screenwriter!
So here we have a screenwriter in “God mode”. 💩
The previous episode, she tells you that Lee Gon will open all the doors of the universe, the next episode he does it.
No matter what it takes to make that happen!!
Note: I have nothing against the process itself. If something cool can happen, it’s normal for the writer to make it happen.
Yes, but, it must be done according to the logic of a story, of a universe with its rules! That’s where the difficulty resides.
Here, it’s a complete scam, the screenwriter just needs to sit her ass on her universe construction, which was already more and more shaky, and skillfully made hermetic. It wasn’t to make the viewer think, it was rather to tell him not to think too much.
Indeed, it’s better not to think to digest all that. 🤢
So anything can happen without any reason, if it meets the writer’s specifications, in what she feels makes sense for the message she wants to deliver. A message that is not delivered in a clear way. This can be a bit of a mess, everyone is free to choose a part of the drama or its opposite, and to explain it as they wish. 🙃
The writer wants a revolver to work in the in-between world? Okay, she’s growing a flower. Why is she doing that? Because it’s cool. It doesn’t make any sense, but it’s cool. For it to make sense, it would already have to be a complicated system, that there is a correlation between two different times, or that the future still exists, but why doesn’t it completely exist then? And what’s the point of setting up such a system when it’s torn to pieces anyway and rendered null and void by another cool event of the same type but incompatible, and which would require a different system?
No, that’s too complicated. Let’s just put it all under the rug and get it over with. We just throw out any cool thing, and forget how and why it happens.
The Lee Lim corpse that’s disintegrating? Yooooo, so cool! Why is that so cool? Magic bean indigestion. 🤮
Next, in terms of philosophical meaning, I’m very curious to hear an explanation about the link between a flower growing, a gun trigger, and a guy getting his skin pierced with a bullet. It could certainly be very nice. “A flower that grows in a place where nothing grows is more powerful than an unarmed guy who could get sprayed by a high-kick of teakwoondo anyway.” 🤪
I can’t manage long explanations for this period of time, therefore as and when I can, I’ll pop in with a thought!
If Tae Eul had stayed in ROK and simply waited, she too would have lost her memories of LG, in just the same way the flowers, Shin Jae, the stuffed lion key chain etc vanished. Even in KOC, her hair tie vanished. However, because she ‘wisely?’ dragged LL into the No Man’s Land to kill him if LG failed to stop him in 1994, her memories, her necklace and her gun were preserved. LG when he finally found her, was surprised that she remembered him. That’s because he did not know what she had done. And once again her reply to his question was ‘Just skip that!’ while she tip toed for a kisss LOL. Girl had her priorities.
Now for the hypothetical concept. It’s not a story/fanfic because well, stories can’t be told in a such a dry fashion. Also, expect ample plot holes (assuming there is a plot) and lots of mistakes. But if KES can be allowed to have creative license, I’m simply commenting on a forum. I wasted no precious resources and it’s fun:)
LG is stuck in a time loop (the drama doesn’t make this clear with just two timelines). Why is he stuck ? Because he wants to save TE. Why does TE need saving ? Well, because she accompanies LG to the night of regicide in each time travel. She dies saving child LG leaving the adult one in a loop. The child LG gets the card from TE herself. How else do you explain his deep love for her? She’s the woman who puts him before her own life, each time. And each time, adult LG witnesses as she does that leading to endless guilt. He wants to make sure he doesn’t make TE follow him to regicide. But there’s no way because the child LG actively seeks out his savior in each timeline. He keeps going back to save TE, not himself. In saving TE, he needs to sacrifice himself as child LG would then die, leading to annihilation of adult LG. Who then, would kill LL? This, he faces a real conundrum of accomplishing a lot in the small amount of time he can remain the past. In the final loop, a future LG visits TE with flowers to tell her not to follow him, not to come with him, not to save him and allow him to live his fate alone because that is the only way he’ll break the loop. Well, TE still follows him but without the ID card. The child LG is saved and LL is killed but as TE dies hidden in adult LG’s arms, she gives him her ID. The child LG doesn’t have the ID anymore and would not seek out TE. The adult LG returns to 2020 without TE. However, time and again he goes back to watch TE grow up (“because you existed somewhere for the last 25 years I was less lovely) Now there is no young LG looking for TE so no paradox. As a possessor of the flute, sword and ring, he doesn’t age. Ample and more risk to his life and political coups keep happening to acquire these objects. However, he can’t let go of these objects and return them to the gods because of his greed to keep viewing TE from afar. This time, he doesn’t try to make her fall for him. He hides when he sees her. However, TE retains the memories of past umpteen lifetimes and timelines falling for LG. So now SHE seeks him. She keeps waiting for a strange man on a horse that’d come meet her. She finds him through CCTV footages and catches him red handed to fall for him again. This time, she follows him to KOC with the permission of her father so that LG can return the coveted objects back to the gods. The portal closes and the world remain seperated. No time travel anymore. The king and queen rule their kingdom justly and kindly till the end of their time. The end.
Yes, but since the future still exists in a timeline, even though the two worlds are separated, if Tae Eul had stayed in QOK instead of time traveling, Lee Gon could come back and magically ROK’s Tae Eul disappears and her memories are assimilated by the original Tae Eul.
Anything can happen if you want it to happen! That’s how it works! When there’s a magic flute at the center of the story, you can’t deprive yourself to use it any way you want.
🎼 Fluiii tiii tooo tiititio fluititoo. ✨
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYsKV-VXFY4
And rather than get stuck in the in-between world, Tae Eul could simply go in 1994 with Lee Gon and kill Lee Lim directly when exiting the portal!
And by the way… Normally, it would take both pieces of flute to travel back in time… How is it that Lee Gon was able to do that, but Tae Eul didn’t?
Oh, I know… Who cares, lol!
There’s no need to bother explaining it. Otherwise, personally, I’ll throw out an impromptu amendment to the rule. “Yes, but you know, it’s possible, because it’s all about getting in the gate, not getting out.” 🧐
Less lonely not less lovely 🙄 I’m running after my toddler and I can’t copy paste on the blog anymore so the post isn’t coherent. I’d try to address how this might answer to some of my qualms with the original end in a seperate comment 🙈
What was even LL’s purpose? What did he want? If it was eternity then why did he have the dopplegangers? He wanted to beclaimed god but there’s nothing he did for that. Why was SJ even guven this much time when there was NOTHING to his story?
Unlike most of you I think the story ended the exact way KES had planned. KES usually has only about 6 to 8 epiosdes of plot. She tries to build up the excitement for it in the rest without any plot. In TKEM’s case she probably didn’t develop the intentions of her villain fully. Specially a villain who was shown evil but literally got NOTHING done at all. The murders, doppleganger, Tae Eul’s team, LJH’s mother. So many characters were used for nothing at all. So well I’m just disappointed in myself, for thinking this would be different and epic. Now I feel that maybe she never meant to make sense of the science either, it was just there to look cool and us as viewers just heavily dissected it, thinking it may be sth wonderful but it really served no purpose.
What was even LL’s purpose? What did he want? If it was eternity then why did he have the dopplegangers? He wanted to be claimed god but there’s nothing he did for that. Why was SJ even guven this much time when there was NOTHING to his story?
Unlike most of you I think the story ended the exact way KES had planned. KES usually has only about 6 to 8 epiosdes of plot. She tries to build up the excitement for it in the rest without any plot. In TKEM’s case she probably didn’t develop the intentions of her villain fully. Specially a villain who was shown evil but literally got NOTHING done at all. The murders, doppleganger, Tae Eul’s team, LJH’s mother. So many characters were used for nothing at all. So well I’m just disappointed in myself, for thinking this would be different and epic. Now I feel that maybe she never meant to make sense of the science either, it was just there to look cool and us as viewers just heavily dissected it, thinking it may be sth wonderful but it really served no purpose.
What was even LL’s purpose? What did he want? If it was eternity then why did he have the dopplegangers? He wanted to be claimed god but there’s nothing he did for that. Why was SJ even guven this much time when there was NOTHING to his story?
Unlike most of you I think the story ended the exact way KES had planned. KES usually has only about 6 to 8 episodes of plot. She tries to build up the excitement for it in the rest without any plot. In TKEM’s case she probably didn’t develop the intentions of her villain fully. Specially a villain who was shown evil but literally got NOTHING done at all. The murders, doppleganger, Tae Eul’s team, LJH’s mother. So many characters were used for nothing at all. So well I’m just disappointed in myself, for thinking this would be different and epic. Now I feel that maybe she never meant to make sense of the science either, it was just there to look cool and us as viewers just heavily dissected it, thinking it may be sth wonderful but it really served no purpose.
Ahhh @GB thank you for clearing that part yes I got that! And about TE’s plum necklace and gun too. Ahh I see now she was saved whole in that NMland!
But do you remember the stabbing scene in ep 14 where TE was stabbed by Luna and dad said he got a call from (Luna pretending to be TE) and that he beat up the bad guys as what he told TE in his call to TE and TE was surprised? That one confused me.
But no matter it all ended well anyways!
According to Netflix that’s what I read in the subtitles about that scene where ES the NSI agent was showing the pics in his hand phone and the colleague said they look like him. He’s married to Nari so it’s possible! 😁
Hehe I agree with you about the security room and seeing all the different scenes of ROC and definitely the best place to kiss too.. no cameras inside that room!!
The royal shrine can’t be completed correct?.. because TE cannot show herself to the KOC world as Luna is there. Therfore still no wedding and no Royal babies 😑 Now that is unforgiveable.
But…did it make sense in the end? Or was it like Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass… and we’re left somewhat bewildered after disappearing down that rabbit hole? I never could make sense of the Carrollian universe but to be honest I didn’t try very hard. 😂. Did the mathematics play any necessary part in the storytelling or was it just all there to make the plot sound loftier and acted as a semblance of cleverness on KES’s part? Or it was just thrown in there to make LG sound alluring and cryptic?
Why is it that this time, instead of young Lee Gon splitting the flute in half, one of Lee Lim’s guards came forward to execute young Lee Gon? That’s why the flute didn’t get cut in half.
I am rewatching episode 1’s treason scene and comparing it with episode 16’s, and I can’t see how or why that changed so drastically. It’s very important to explain this because that’s the catalyst for everything being different in the finale.
Okay so,
1) The zero to his root.
He’s trapped because of her. And only she can come up with some solution to free him. No ID card, no search for TE.
2) the incomplete 17 rules
Don’t ask me to not save you, don’t ask me let you go alone, let me help you, let me love you, let me be there for you.
3) TE would now have such a huge role to play. Not only would she be the one to save the king, but she’ll also make a sacrifice so that he is able to return what truly belongs to the gods.
4 and 5) The three objects make LG immortal. They don’t age him. He’s able to go see TE whenever he wants. Has control on time and place. The reason LL wanted the flute.
6) NO parallel universes complications. Only two parallel worlds.
7) the breathtaking poems all make sense as LG waits actually for 25 years as an adult. Alone. Without knowing if he’ll ever win her love again. For her, they make sense because she’ll make the ultimate sacrifice so that he doesn’t have to spend eternity alone.
8) they fulfill their responsibilities by choice.:) With love, but without the frolicking.
@Arihsi, what you propose makes much more sense in the context of the original theme of the drama.
I wonder what @packmule3 thinks of the ending.
@WEnchanteur and Everyone,
You’ve pretty much covered all that’s not right with the production aspects. So there’s no whip but I’ll take a whiskey with you. After thinking this through a bit more, I need a drink!! 🥃 🥃
LOL … Not only a guy who is unarmed, I add that he is in handcuffs! Dude can hardly defend himself, but TE stands there with gun trained on him.
At least show was consistent in that nothing mechanical/electronic will work in that No Man’s Land, until time inhabits that space.
There is no other connection between flower and bullet, except that time got connected between KOC and ROK (presumably when the red lighted portal was opened) and so the KOC lily could suddenly sprout in ROK and the gun could fire in No Man’s Land.
I felt Show made an error here. The corpse that should have disintegrated was the 2020 LL corpse and not the 1994 LL one. That totally didn’t make sense. It’s because 1994 LL died that there should have been no 2020 LL for TE to shoot. 😖
Yes this was what I complained about with ‘W Two Worlds’. The logic of the magic/SF/rules is deliberately obscure to the viewers, therefore Show can play god and keep changing the rules as it sees fit, continually confounding the viewer.
Keeping things unexplainable … why do I find it a offensive? Because of the contempt, perhaps, that is somewhere behind that… as if viewers will not understand so there’s no point explaining, or Show is going to keep changing the rules and we’re just going to have to like it or lump it. So we are to watch like good little viewers and not use our brains too much. 😠
I’m in 2 minds about the great Cheonjongo Escapade. It gives us a super intelligent, mathematically minded King with the bad habit of going it alone… so we root for him to save everyone in 1994, but he tries and fails. Then in his second try, he’s flummoxed because he has introduced change, by bringing JY with him, and has forgotten to take that into account. So out goes his scientific, 🤔 mathematical thinking, and flashbacks to how others like ES, had been brave without thinking about it, goes through his mind. He then goes in, liberal arts style, running after Jo Yeong without a plan. 🤪
Taken positively, it’s great and all that LG is adaptable and not a stick in the mud to only think linearly, and that he could just jump in and make his destiny on the spot.
Taken negatively, show takes the wind out of its own sails, because in the end, it was not LG’s great planning that won the day, but it was that JY took it upon himself to protect his King. That made it 2 instead of 1 who took on LL and goons, which made success possible. That was his great hero moment, and it worked only because help was forced upon him. 🙄 I will, however, give him that he kept his part of the deal as King in doing what was right by his people and restored balance according to the Sword. 😌
(Aside: I was going to say that ‘He was brave, and looked hot while killing goons’. Then it occurred that what bothers me about LG is that he had no fear. The adult LG maybe masked it all too well. He did not hesitate in all instances of going to battle. The way he went in each time, was foolhardy and even bloodthirsty! If he felt fear, I’d say he’s brave. TE is brave. LG just goes into dangerous situations like it’s a walk in the park, and he rather takes too easily to killing lots of people!
One weird thing about the walk and shoot scene in Cheonjongo, LG shoots straight ahead while walking forwards, then shoots to the side while still walking forwards, but he never turns his head to aim!!! Can we hit anything that way?) 😲 😬
I’m peeved by the message of the show. We started with the premise that KES has a message in her work, and it ties in with her worldview.
LG and TE agree that they make their own destiny by making choices. And they will walk their path until they reach their destination. But we find that their choice is back to nothing more than to embrace Fate which negates that choice. And the destination is no destination at all, except to hang out with each other. 😒
Taking it positively, they are not butting heads against Fate, not wasting their time or making their lives miserable trying to do something that they are fated not to do (like LL), but instead are accepting all the joys of the moment and (I guess?) living their lives to the full to the extent of that choice.
Negatively, all that production brought to bear spoke of gravitas, of something with depth and heft to be explored in 16 episodes. Some sage advice or message to keep us thinking long after show is done. But this idea, of living for the now, as in as much as it pleases them, smacks of an immature and insipid way of thinking. It seems somehow inadequate or unworthy of characters that were shown to us to be full of persistence and integrity, able to do a great deal more than to just be happy for themselves.
I recall at the end of the kdrama, Healer, it was said by the writer, that it was not meant to be a story about changing the world, but about how people in a situation did the best they could to protect their own people. So we see that twice, in this show. At least one time LG stood up to the Japanese Navy for his country. And this episode, he was prepared to risk the ultimate sacrifice, plus eternal loneliness to change the chaos that LL had created.
So that’s nice but what’s the message? Do whatever it takes to save your people, then you are free to date forever? (I’m guessing that if LG keeps going in and out of NMLand he’s also going to be young almost forever and be almost eternal.) I too wonder with other viewers, if the Fate destiny message above is the only message that KES wanted to give. What might have been if we had 20-24 episodes instead!
So, show does not lift up the grand legend in order to show how wisely the King wields the flute. As we noted, it becomes reduced to a great way to travel in time and space on dating touristy trips.
Show gave us so much on duality and parallels. So, are we to examine our own dualities or embrace our imperfections/incompleteness? Well, maybe. Rather it gives us the nurture argument where a LG who lacked a good upbringing became a tyrant, while Luna, after adoption into the Koo family, makes good in becoming a police officer. So we basically need a good family, except that Koo Seo Ryeong still ended up in jail, even as an Assemblywoman. 🙄
There’s a lack of something in the grand scheme or there is no grand scheme of things to get behind. Maybe that’s the message. It’s ALL nebulous. In the same way that Fate can be a little girl or a big boy. It all hangs on the yo-yo going up or down and on Fate deciding if the string might break or needs to be changed. We think we can decide but Fate can put a spoke in the wheel at any time on a whim.
So what’s the message? Live with it or lump it!
@Arihsi when you said
That triggered a thought in me that I put down in the next paragraph. However, the way it played out, TE did not actually need to do anything to be the zero. Another great fail in the show set up. It would never be TE who goes to LG, it is always he who comes to her. The place she is, is always ‘yeogi’.
A break in the story logic crops up here. This latest Child LG only knows of JY as his saviour. He might not even have seen LG in all that debacle, he does not get the ID Card. His memories are different from 2020 LG … but he is supposed to grow up and merge with the 2020 LG. By rights, Child LG’s memories should wipe out 2020 LG’s memories, so that the adult does not have the memories of TE!
Or …
I was saying in a post above that TE retained her memories because she had remained in No Man’s Land when history was being changed. However, JY and LG who were outside NMLand also retained their memories. So I’m wrong or the logic has an extra caveat ie those who executed the change in history will not forget. But this does not tie in with how since Child LG did not get cut in the throat, LG’s scar disappears. If the scar disappears, his memories should too.
@GB
Thank you for your explanation about the restarting time in between worlds. But then what happens to this world? And where is Tae Eul after that? Ah ah ah. Magic teleportation, you don’t know where or when. She should appear at the moment she traveled to the past. Logically in 1994. But no… She disappears, she arrives somewhere else. Did she merge with another Tae Eul again? No, how strange. Or maybe she…
Stop, now I’m getting lost.
This drama is fading from my memory at an accelerated rate.
I have a huge sense of relief.
So much so that I start laughing alone, for nothing.
Ah ahA Aah Aah Ah Aaah Aaah AH Ah ah!
Speaking of W. It’s my favorite drama, and the one I consider the best, but the best doesn’t mean perfect.
Criticism from viewers who liked the first part but were disappointed by the second part is legitimate.
Here too, the screenwriter hides things a bit too much, whereas it was remarkably explained in the first part.
As I’ve seen the drama many times, I had no problem with the whole logic of the second part. Easy, I was motivated because the drama was good. And there is never any problem with the first level reading in this drama, everything is clear about the action.
There are a few scenes that contain explanations, but this is much too fast and evasive. Besides, the screenwriter made the same mistake at the end of Memories of the Alhambra.
I thought for months about this principle:
– Is it better to keep things hidden to maintain a certain mystery at the end of the drama? Something that makes you want to see it again, or give it a certain aura.
– Or is it better to explain things a little too much than not enough?
That was an important question, because on my side, I tend to explain, it often generates very funny dialogues, because completely perched. I love stories like Liar Game (japan) or Death note, and in there everything is explained.
So I was wondering if I was making a mistake or not.
Today, I finally have the answer to this question! Yes, it’s better to explain and make the viewer trust the logic of the fantasy universe.
W would have been better in its second part, if scenes such as the one at the beginning of episode 3 had been used to clarify further. In addition, this kind of scene can also be a good scene, when there are, for example, montages or a bit of comedy.
I reviewed the movie Back to the Future #2.
It’s incredible the way the film guides the viewer, while having an attractive content. I analysed a series of scenes that clarify a (not so complicated) time travel situation.
At the last stage, Doc even ends up drawing a simplified diagram! And yet it’s not boring, even if we guessed before.
I was thinking about why I was disappointed about how Ep 16 played out. I think one main reason was because I had high hopes that KES could tie up loose ends, and explain the significance of all the symbols she had scattered in the show. The King’s ring. The ginkgo tree in the courtyard. The tree from which the flute came from. TE’s 17 rules. I think if they had spent a little time just tying these up, the fluffy happily ever after ending wouldn’t have felt so grating. Instead, they added more characters and bits that made everyone confused, like the part on Chief Park helping his friend’s family and the many faces of Fate.
Also, did you all notice the petals falling in NMland after LL was killed? I think they are azalea petals. I think this is KES’ nod to this poem:
Azaleas
When you turn away from seeing me and go,
gently, without a word, I shall send you away.
From Mount Yak in Yongbyon,
Azaleas I shall gather an armful and scatter them on your way.
Step after step away
On those flowers placed before you, press deep, step lightly, and go.
When you turn away from seeing me and go,
though I die, no, not a single tear shall fall.
However, the significance of the petals would have been lost on the audience because there was no mention of them! Imagine instead if they had inserted a scene before TE shot LL in NMland, showing Lady Noh standing in the garden where LG had left her, reading aloud this poem from the book. As Lady Noh reads, azalea petals start falling around her. This would help to link the significance of the petals falling in NMland, plus allow them to include one more of Kim Sowol’s poems, plus highlight the aspect of han both in the situation of Lady Noh having to let LG go to what may be his last battle, as well as TE’s situation of bravely fighting on even though she may end up being stuck in NMland for eternity with LL. And that last line “though I die, no, not a single tear shall fall”, would have lent poignancy to the single tear that TE sheds before she manages to shoot LL dead. Sigh, I wished they had included this.
Once again, so insightful @JT7! 😄 What a lovely thought about the Azaleas and the connection to han.
Yes, we are left with all the could have beens. That’s why fans can write such good fan fic. LOL, we have the advantage of seeing the pitfalls and knowing the plot holes we can fill.
I wish that it made a great difference to the history that she shot LL. But I don’t think it mattered in the end. *sigh*
@GB that’s why my “concept fanfic” available for your reading pleasure in earlier comments features TE as the primary savior in every timeline. Just in the final one, she BY CHOICE doesn’t carry her ID. She still saves child LG. And this is witnessed by adult LG in whose arms she then dies. She gives this LG her ID so he remembers her. But the loop in which he was trapped because the child LG kept seeking his savior by the ID card is broken. The new child LG doesn’t know TE, any savior or existence of any parallel universe. LG in my version is stuck because he tries to do it all. Kill LL and save TE. He isn’t that interested in saving himself. So TE zeros his root by removing herself from his future self memories. There is no merging. Two timelines run parallel.
Next, she makes the sacrifice of leaving the world as she knows aka ROK and going to KOC so that the flute is surrendered to the gods preventing any misuse and closing the doors forever.
@Carolstar The part about the stabbing in ep 14. I didn’t see TE being surprised, (I may re-watch to check), I saw her in pain and trying to sound normal.
She had called the police to backup her dad who was likely to accost hoodlums. I think he does that, thinking he can defend himself with his Taekwondo. Luna had told TE that she’d informed dad about the hoodlums.
TE’s first thought was not to call for help for herself (which she really should have!) but to get help for her dad. Knowing through dad’s report, that the police had arrived, she could ‘faint’ in peace LOL.
@nrllee About the show making sense. Not as much as we’d like. Maths was fun while it lasted (or only fun because we had it explained to us!) but it didn’t play any part in the endgame. In fact, I was saying that LG had to ditch his logical plan and go in with his gut in that last battle.
You can read all the comments about the things that should have been explained but weren’t … in other words, the show could have made so much more sense than it does.
@alexis Show does not give us a clear indication of why things changed in Cheonjongo. My guess was that the catalyst was simply LG himself returning to the past, and this time with JY. LG had asked himself, – when did things start to change – which means he himself had not anticipated how he would affect the past.
Although LG couldn’t know for sure that he would be able to get the whole flute, this time, it was probably just luck?
Ah @GB you expressed all that was simmering inside of me but I couldn’t explained them all as clearly as you did!
Thank You So Much! I feel better now. When you wrote “… we find that their choice is back to nothing more than to embrace Fate which negates that choice. And the destination is no destination at all, except to hang out with each other” and you wrote “Show does not lift up the grand legend in order to show how wisely the King wields the flute. As we noted, it becomes reduced to a great way to travel in time and space on dating touristy trips”
I was going Yayyy You Rock Girl!!👏👏
I agree to all you said, the show should have extended till 20 to 24 eps to fully give credit to the essense of the flute that started it all and give us more backend story to CLN and how KOC and ROK diverged in their histories.
We really got trolled didn’t we 🤔
@JT7 I just saw your post! I agree with you too! Thank you it would have been more poetic to have the Azaleas petals falling pre-explained too!
I for one was wondering what flowers they were and for the blue flowers were they really resurrection lilies?
You should have been the director and @GB the scriptwriter! This story would have become the Most Beautiful Answer! I sincerely mean it.
Thanks @Carolstar, you’re too kind. LOL. I’m not good at scriptwriting, but I can sometimes see the plot holes of other scripts, while missing those of my own LOL (if I ever chose to write, that is). 😄
@WEnchanteur
About the principle of revealing or hiding information to make a mystery. I feel that too much hiding of info is being manipulative. It is an ‘easy’ way to make a mystery or prolong it. It also seems artificial. Coming up with a scenario that naturally exudes mystery, as it were, and with its own logical rules that can be explained, is tougher. Ideally, enough information should be given to viewers, or at least should not be blocked, so that we can play along to figure out the mystery for ourselves. What I’m starting to abhor are the edits just at the point of a revelation … show cuts to something else, so that we are kept in the dark. That is unfair.
Question: are all mysteries just situations that we have not got all the information about yet? If yes, then show can hide some things, but in the natural course of discovery, information should be allowed to come to light.
By show’s hiding too much, I feel that viewers are often deprived of that element of great satisfaction, when they are able to decipher the solution from the clues. Instead of using the word, ‘guess’, I’d like to be able to say that I reason from the clues, that ‘X’ is the most likely solution.
You say about hiding or revealing ‘at the end of the drama’. If we are speaking of the end, I have to say, it’s very unfair to hide, or rather, to refuse to reveal a crucial piece of info when viewers have faithfully followed a series in order to find out. There is an unspoken rule of politeness, (a contract of sorts!) as it were, that if we go to the end with the mystery show on the journey it takes us, it will give us a resolution to the mystery. As for other unimportant secrets, that matters less. But if show breaks the ‘contract’ we lose trust in the show and all hell will break loose.
I enjoyed the ‘Back to the Future’ movies. Can’t say I remember much, but I had nothing to complain of!
@GB you must! Your thoughts are so well articulated and coherent. Not to mention detailed.
The more I read everyone here, the more upset I am about the ending. @Alxmar97 says it well. A sad but soulful end would have been much more preferable.
Also, now that I think about it, the OST also doesn’t match the story anymore ? Please don’t cry or orbit don’t make sense given the little role TE played at the end. And the invocation of the dead was just… There for no reason ? Such a beautiful haunting poem put to no use ?
I’d have weeped my eyeballs out along with LG if TE had indeed died and they had played please don’t cry. Or a rendition of the Invocation of the dead by Lady Noh. I’d have been most likely joined by @agdr03 as well. I’d have preferred to weep over feeling cheated and the ruined enjoyment of past episodes. Not to mention all the hard work put in by @pm3, @GB, @welmaris, @JT7 and the rest to explain the show. Pffft.
I rewatched episode 16 and I’m more pissed off.
They gave us “Matrix” for 15 episodes and then, boom, a Disney fairly tale.
What happened to King Arthur, to Alice in Wonderland, to all they symbolism you have planted throughout the story (the ring, the tree, the poems, etc). Even the sword. Did you notice LG could have used a kitchen knife and it would have been the same? There was nothing special about the sword in the end, besides the fact if was the one which LL killed the King.
I mean, at least throw in there a tiger sound effect when LG is in attack mode. Something 😭.
And also, the actors (whom I love cause they’re really really good) didn’t notice this ending did not fit the story? Come on, speak up!
They really had the chance of building something special (like really special) and they blew it.
I know my comment doesn’t add up anything substantive to the conversation but anger has taken over me. Sorry.
@GB thanks for the explanation. At least it wasn’t a complete waste of time. Some clever elements and all things considered a satisfying watch. Some loose ends and side plots/characters that went nowhere. Can’t please everyone. At least we got to meet the beauteous Maximus (his break out role) so that’s a plus. 🐴
@nrllee Come to think of him, I miss Max! We only got to see bits of him, or him looking tiny as LG rode back and forth across the NMLand. Poor dear was relegated to backdrop in the last episode. I wanted one more scene of TE’s dad, Na Ri and ES even, gathered around Max and having conversation in front of him. LOL.
Heh @Alxmar97, thanks for putting into one succinct post the things that show seemed to focus on with such great intent that we went all in looking for analogies and metaphors! They were like 🎆🎆🎆 fireworks – show made the go phoeoeeee 🤩 Boom! and then they fizzled out in sparks and lots of smoke. Well they were nothing much, not even red herrings (since red herrings tend towards misleading in some direction) since they pointed us everywhere which is nowhere. However we had fun with them and they were pretty props while they lasted!! 🙄
@GB Thanks to you for your amazing posts.
I’m just so so sad. I mean, didn’t the production notice people were throwing a bunch of theories based on those symbolic details? I’m sure they did cause it’d only take to check Twitter. How could they ignore US?
I just don’t get it. Did they really think this was a good ending? They didn’t even complete the 17 rules TE had for LG. This is borderline unprofessional.
I’ve never been so dissapointed with a TV show like I am today.
@Alxmar97 I understand how you feel. I’ve vented in rage before over shows LOL. I’m sad to say that there are more shows which disappoint by production failures and bad decisions, than should be the case, considering that so much money goes into them, and when they are supposed to be made by professionals.
You mentioned above the actors and what they might have done. My understanding of it is that they can only do more or less as directed and they may get the script, but they are not always privy to the changes made in it overnight. They are called in to play their roles in bits and pieces and do not know how the whole episode will play out until it goes through editing and post production. Hence, they work trusting that their parts will make it into the episode in some logical way, but they have not much control about that. Often enough, many parts that they filmed get cut so that hours of work crops up as a few seconds or minutes on the screen, or not at all.
I guess this show (like others) had to meet certain requirements in terms of being profitable and pleasing the influential. It may have started as a piece of work that was going to explore many dimensions of the tales you mentioned above and some of the characters as well. So many things were put in place to enable this. But when there was unhappiness with the show, the plug had to be pulled from some of those sub-plots and back stories.
The big mistake was as @StoneJack mentioned in another post elsewhere, that show was too ambitious. The reigning in of themes and motifs should have happened before going into production. Show was over indulgent in bringing up one thing after another from different times and cultures without a clear central image to unite them.
They were intriguing, but they were disparate, unfocused, and led nowhere in the end. It felt (and this is why we get angry) like click bait does. It was something to hook us in but not to be developed properly to aid the plot.
We do not know the truth behind why things turned out the way they did. So we lick our wounds and hope for a better, more responsibly made show to turn up. It’s been great, though, raging and squeeing together. 😂
I like your idea of what could have been with LL. He could have been such an interesting villain, if only they’d given him more personality. He could have been one of those, we love to hate but might have liked to redeem … not to mention that he looks hot to some ahjummas LOL. But flat and a mere plot device he was made to be. Poor Lee Lim!! 🤭 😝
Howdy! I watched it last night and yeah I have to agree with the sentiments here that the ending was not as good or exciting as it should have been. We were all anticipating and expecting a lot and yes there are questions of how does that logic flow but it’s finished so we can’t bring back time unless we borrow the flute and we get our own from here to rewrite the ending. I especially liked your ending @Arishi. 🙂
Did I replace you @packmule3 in being psychic? LOL. I said to @Fern hopefully it’s not a dud of an ending.
I won’t bother with the wrongs/ what if it was done this way but I will just take the happy ending even if it’s only on weekends. I would have preferred a more settled ending because how long can they keep doing those though? At some point I’d like to think the TE will get pregnant and so what happens to the royal heir then? LOL.
I’ll take the good kisses, the lightheartedness of LG and TE together and the good ending for the other characters too. I won’t forget Maximus though. He still charmed me. 🙂
I enjoyed the journey of this drama because of the people here who made sense of it for me. Thank you all. 🙂
I’ll hop on to the party now because it’s definitely fun there! 🙂
@Alxmar @GB @arihsi @nrllee: I was thinking about the various points you all raised that didn’t seem to be addressed. I wonder if this might be how things link up:
1. LG being trapped in the root symbol: There may be 2 meanings to this. Firstly, he is trapped in the never-ending cycle of trying to make things right because of what LL has done. Secondly, this trying to make things right traps him in a cycle of loneliness because he thinks he has to go about this mission alone. After all, he sees himself as “branded” with the scar that reminds him that this is the destiny he has to walk towards. Also, he has been given 2 things that further emphasise that he is the ONE for this mission: the 4 tiger sword, which only he can rightly wield as the king to make things right, as well as the flute, which only can be used by him or LL since ownership of the halves were claimed by the marking of their blood on the night of treason. Also, the phenomena of time-stops further exacerbate his loneliness, since he is the only one that is able to move during those periods of time to stop LL. Which might be another reason why he was crying during the time stop when he was at the church with TE.
(I thought about this loneliness bit because the show keeps mention/showing this aspect: how TE says LG must be lonely in her world when he first came, how TE says she was lonely with no identity in KOC, how LG says Lady Noh must be lonely keeping both his and her secret, how TE tells LL she does not want LG to be lonely.)
2. However, though LG keeps trying to do a ONE-man show, like in his first return to the night of treason, he later realizes that he is not alone. His 1994 self has 5 people that would help him: 2020 LG, JY, SJ, TE, Lady Noh. The show flashes scenes of these 5 in quick succession when LG thinks about why things are playing out differently when he does his second return to the night of treason.
3. TE is his zero the hero, because she does break him out of both cycles. Functionally, she helps kickstart the process of LG going back to the night of treason by getting him the jacket the shooter wears (I know this part is a chicken and egg problem, but I’m not going to go there), and she also helps in the investigation to hunt LL down. Emotionally, she breaks LG’s cycle of loneliness. LG mentions that she was with him during some of the time stops, and he also told her that because of her, he was less lonely for those 25 years. But I think the most significant way TE breaks LG’s cycle of loneliness is that she chooses to go with LL to open the portal during LG’s second return to the night of treason. By going with LL, it means TE is actually with LG as he crosses the interD space while heading back to 1994 KOC to what may be his last battle, though I guess LG might not be aware of that. She was not physically around during the battle, but she was also fighting alongside LG, just that she was in a different space.
4. I found it significant that it was TE who manages to shoot and kill the 2020 LL in the InterD space, before LG kills the 1994 LL in the bamboo forest. Of course, killing the 2020 LL doesn’t really affect the 1994 LL (like how the 1994 LL killing his 2020 LL self didn’t really affect the scheme of things), but it was as if TE, by killing the 2020 LL, was helping to end the terrible cycle of things at it’s endpoint, while LG, by killing the 1994 L, was ending the cycle at its beginning. LG was pondering about the shooter in an earlier episode, and said that the person was the beginning and the end of the problem. He was somewhat right, since the shooter was him, and he was there at the beginning and the end. However, he was not the only one at the end, he had TE helping to finish things off… it was half and half.
5. @Alxmar you talked about how the sword didn’t seem to have significance. You are right, functionally LG could have used the poker Lee Sang do used and bashed in LL’s head, heh… However, I think the sword’s function was more symbolic: LG uses the sword to kill LL, to fulfil its function of making things right and restoring balance.
Does this make sense? I don’t know if all this was KES’s actual intent, and if some of these got mangled because of production or poor narration/flow… I guess this is just my way of trying to console myself that those math talk and symbols were not random, and trying to put some steak into the cotton candy meal they served up for Ep 16. :p
Thanks for this @JT7. I’ll take it any day over what the show has failed to give us!!! Your points do make sense, and I do like especially your 4. You almost sound like @pkml3 in how you draw upon the different pieces of the show and put them together so that they make more sense LOL.😁 Have a cupcake and tea for your good work! 🧁 ☕
@agdr03, perhaps being a psychic is transmittable over the internet? 😉 I wanted a happy ending plus one that made sense of the themes raised. I like and needed @JT7’s satisfying bits of steak. 🥩 Steak over cotton candy!
I hope that you’ve had fun on Shallow Island, too, and are back home with your family none the wiser. 🤫😍🍹
I totally understand you @Fern with the steak and cotton candy. It would be interesting to know if KES had a different ending to the one showed. Maybe she’ll give an interview and she can give us an answer as to why it’s like that. But would she admit it though? 🤔 But still after all the science, maths and book themes, it should have been more meatier.
Off topic, I saw an Instagram post about our fate yo-yo boy/girl and he was with LG at the rowing competition. He was behind him. Interesting that he was everywhere. ☺️
So, we got our happy ending. But was it perfect? Definitely no but I’ll take it anytime of the day. It’s KES’ story & it’s hers to end.
I think the cast has done really well. I love the tenderness of JY & the young LG at the night of the treason. I also love that the action scenes were long continuous takes. Scenes like these are hard to film & kudos to the team for taking the harder route. Now, time to move on to the next.
Thanks packmule3 for this wonderful venue. Till the next one 🙂
I really like the points you raised @JT7. They all made sense! I salute you for writing such a detailed explanation. Bravo your post was like salve to my wounded heart.
I really felt LG’s eternal loneliness and sadness as he kept going in and out of portals and time frames always searching for TE and across all the different Universes as well. He endured alot more than TE. So am just glad she broke the cycle like you said.
On a side note, does anyone remember when TE and LG visited a timeline whereby LG is a tyrant according to the newspapers and LG said it could be because there was no TE and no CLN to nurture that LG that’s why he became a tyrant? I thought that would be the young LG 1994 that JY held in his arms who grew up not knowing about TE because there was no ID tag.
After all there are many TEs in the Universes as LG found out so there could be as many king LGs in the many Universes too. Thus the title The King Eternal Monarch rings true to form then.
PLOT-HOLES LIST
Here it is a matter of debate whether the plot-hole is potential or actual.
But as I’ve said elsewhere, it’s not the writer who solves the plot-hole, she doesn’t care and leaves it to the viewer, based on missing or contradictory information. So it’s of little value.
In order to understand this list of Plot-Holes, one must already push the analysis of the drama as far as possible from the very meagre information given and on which it is already difficult to rely. Indeed, to do this, one must already understand the previous facts about the logic of time travel, the flute, the inter-world, etc.. And already there, it is not won! Nearly impossible when one looks at the drama normally, as a simple spectator. And with great difficulty even when reviewing the scenes and putting things down flat. Do I need to insist on the fact that it’s pathetic?
See the free topic on episode 14-15, we all looked at the question. Plot-holes have already been detected, and it has been necessary to twist the situations to consider a valid resolution. It is not the writer who did it since she does not give any explanation. We’re the audience, and there was probably no official explanation behind it. I now think that for a long time, everything was already unbridled fantasy, without any real sense of science fiction, and anything can happen for the sake of a nice absurd tale.
One of the writer’s mistakes among so many others: not taking the content and its implications seriously. Not going through with the reflection on cause and effect relationships. This translates into superficial content that is not based on anything, and does not offer the audience the possibility of believing in what they see.
I was talking to someone about the fact that the scene where Tae Eul in episode 16 in the in-between world is excellent. Indeed, I think it could be one of the best scenes in the drama. And yet it didn’t achieve its goal, as far as I’m concerned, despite the aesthetics and the tremendous accumulation of symbolic correlations it contains.
I copy-paste here why.
This scene was never intended to be consistent with SF laws. It’s an aesthetic and cool scene, with a poetic or philosophical meaning. The writer is just saying “it has to happen that way because it has a good hit power”. I have nothing against that. But in this case, the script has to be solid to allow the audience to believe what they see, and there has to be enough evidence of what’s happening, why or how.
Here, the result: it becomes Disneyworld.
For this scene to stand, it was really necessary to work on the context, to define the rules of fantasy, and to include the inevitable events that lead to this scene. That’s the basis of a script!
To love a scene like that, you need a clear situation already.
At that moment, I was already asking myself other questions, alas:
– It takes two pieces of flutes to travel back in time, why does Lee Gon do it when Tae Eul didn’t travel with him all the way to the end?
– Time travel can only take place at the point where the flutes were cut off, not before. However, they arrive before the flute is broken. Nonsense. And if that was the case, we might as well go back a week and take the flute before anything else. We can even go and kill Lee Lim in his bed, we can even go and kill Lee Lim’s grandfather! Because Yoyo Kid said something? Good, he can say anything in this case, it happens.
– What’s the use of taking the risk of getting stuck in the in-between world, when if Tae Eul goes out in 1994 with Lee Lim:
1) she will be able to kill Lee Lim easily (it’s amazing that her beloved lover Lee Gon never told her about his adventures and the story of the objects which no longer works).
2) she is sure not to lose her memories.
– Why didn’t Lee Gon offer her to come, already, instead of giving her a tearful farewell? For a supposed genius, it was the obvious solution, the sure way for Tae Eul to be subjected to the same conditions as him, to keep her memory.
– Why did Lee Lim say that he and Tae Eul would get stuck in the in-between world, when Tae Eul would cease to exist. And where does he get this makeshift idea that they would stay there forever when they don’t have a flute? Lee Lim isn’t very smart either. If his old self takes the flute, the two previous flute pieces disappear, and this in-between world ceases to exist, since it is the passage between the two worlds that Lee Gon wants to close.
– As a proof, time starts again there, and the in-between world ends up self-destructing. The two worlds of the flute pieces merge at the end, and the red balloons invade the world of the pictures.
– And why do they stay in the in-between world so long after the flute has been retrieved by the other Lee Lim? Misplaced flashback? Wrong chronology of the narration? Quick answer: a rotten scene with Shin-Jay intercalated at the wrong time. Answer may be incomplete. How can there be cause and effect between the events of 1994 and this place from a temporal point of view already? It would have to be decided that they are “almost” at the same date, next to the exit of the portal (which we never see), and that the time differential corresponds to the fact that they are very slightly in the future.
– For some illogical reason, the pictures are destroyed, not the red balloons, while the whole dimension is collapsing. But it is also true, that we have no way of knowing what will become of this place, if it will be a strange world with time, or if it will disappear as it is supposed to because of the disappearance of the two pieces of flute.
– Why is the body of the other Lee Lim disintegrated? Note that even if it had been the Lee Lim of the past who dies and then the Lee Lim of the future who disintegrates, it would have been very bad too.
– How can Tae Eul survive this cataclysm? By what magical operation does she find herself elsewhere in another time? While theoretically, it is out of time and space, or at least at a point in time between 2020 and 1994 in the in-between world. More 1994 if we want to minimize the plot-hole. So the Tae Eul we see here is subject to the same temporal rules that affected Lee Gon on his first trip. If it wants to be itself again, with the wobbly process of merging memories, it must use a way to go back to the future. But anyway she could be destroyed, or be magically moved anywhere at any time, without us ever seeing anything or knowing how it works. There is absolutely no reason given for her to be back in her home world with her memory, having merged ROK’s Tae Eul with the one that was in the in-between world, which logically should have been destroyed, or evacuated anywhere else.
– And if the process of merging memories is systematic, why doesn’t Lee Gon merge with the old Lee Gon who went back in time to the beginning of the drama?
– And if he doesn’t merge, how would he replace him? Normally, he would have to come to the crime room, and see another Lee Gon, the one who was there at the beginning of the drama.
Other plot-holes identified :
– The systematic existence of dooplegangers with the same DNA is impossible. The two worlds have had too different chronologies for too long to allow the flow of encounters, births and deaths to give rise to this phenomenon. Especially since one of the worlds is cut in two as a result of a war, the other is not. And two different political and economic systems.
– The first saviour seen at the beginning of the drama cannot be there, once we know the rule of time travel. If he had a whole flute, he wouldn’t have come this way, he would have gone back in time long before. So he has half a flute. In that case, he needs the other half of the half-pipe, probably in the possession of someone else who isn’t here. The writer certainly left that out.
– What happens to the first savior? Logically, he will go into the future through the in-between world. Why once we get to the time of Lee Gon in the drama, his memories are not merged with him at that time? But maybe it’s a future point that will never appear because of later time travel? No, even then, it must happen because you can see Lee Gon for a long time at the end of the drama. So, he has reached that moment. Logically, the first savior must arrive fatally, and merge with Lee Gon at the end. Of course, this is totally obliterated. And if the first Savior’s flute disappears, he should experience the same fate as Tae Eul in the in-between scene, namely, being magically teleported to merge with himself. But does it all make sense when the writer never considered anything coherent at that level?
– In order for Lee Gon to save himself, he had to exist in a given future. So, as the hypothesis packmule3 did, the assassination attempt by Lee Lim failed. The child survives, when Lee Lim and his gang retreat as the palace guards arrive. And this child will become the First Savior. We can imagine a story in which Tae Eul died, and that’s why the First Savior goes back in time with her Id badge. So that the next Lee Gon can save her. Mais tous ces évènements intéressants ne seront jamais relatés, car la scénariste n’a peut être jamais imaginé tout cela.
– Episode 14, When Lee Gon leaves the palace after saving Lee Gon as a child, he goes into ROC.
But there, time is stopped! On top of that, for a very long time (several days or more).
Why such a long time?
My hypothesis is that the length of the timestop has not been reset, because it doesn’t depend on a moment in time, it’s an absolute datum. But in this case, it will have a plot-hole afterwards. Because Lee Lim and Lee Gon will regularly change worlds, as in episodes 1 to 14. But then the timestop would be much longer. And this has not been mentioned.
Why is there a timestop?
And yes, so far, I don’t remember seeing a character enter a world, and provoke timestop himself and live it. (although that is logical). It’s as if only the characters who are already there were undergoing timestop. As if the newcomer is kept in the in-between world until the timestop ends. You would have to review the episodes to see if you can see one character coming out of a portal while another is undergoing timestop.
When Lee Gon returns almost immediately to ROK, it doesn’t cause timestop! So that contradicts my previous assumption.
– Episode 14, During his first travel trip, how does Lee Gon know the process of “merging memories” before to take some decisions? In a context of rewriting the timeline, it’s better to have as little influence as possible (see the movie Primer). Going out to say hi to Tae Eul is the worst mistake to make. It risks altering the timeline, and accidentally make sure she won’t be there at the time of the first meeting on the esplanade, by butterfly effect.
– Episode 14, Why hasn’t Lee Lim 2 radically changed his plan? He has just got a precious piece of information, he has a double from the future (which he killed stupidly).
– If the flute gives access to an infinite number of parallel universes, it means that there must be other versions of Tae Eul and Lee Gon who have lived a similar story. Because why would there be a single flute in a single universe, that of drama? And in this case, how would the yoyo kid be an embodiment of a unique destiny, when it only corresponds to that of the two worlds of drama? And yes, before creating a multiverse, we must already ask ourselves this kind of question! And if we want to accept the idea that the flute is unique, get the message across at some point. Personally, I don’t believe it! There are lots of other magic flutes everywhere, lol! And regularly different couples of Lee Gon and Tae Eul cross each other in the in-between world of the multiverse. If they don’t pay attention, Lee Gon leaves with the other Lee Gon’s Tae Eul without paying attention. 🙂
We could classify as plot-hole any fantastic element or mystery that never had a clear explanation with that.
We can also find tons of unanswered scenes, comparable to plot-holes. Such as :
– Why Lee Lim leaves his umbrella at PM Koo’s mother’s house and we see him walking with his umbrella two seconds later?
– Who was the Lee Gon who offered a bouquet of flowers? Where did he come from? Where was he going? And especially when? This scene can be quite a scene used for its “cool” effect, for no reason, and then reused later to be “erased”, for no other reason.
I didn’t further analyze episode 16 after Lee Lim’s death. I was too tired from all this. I’m sure the sequel is riddled with inconsistencies with this wobbly time travel system. It can be a very good system, but you have to think hard to make it consistent when writing the script. And of course, make it believable for the audience, not just throw funny things like “A flower in an alternative future disappears, when it could have disappeared before, after, or never disappeared, or have disappeared since forever”. This in a future that we do not know if it has already been rewritten, if it is being rewritten, with what temporal link in this case with the cause, and if it is already rewritten until the end of time.
This means that this theme is essential, must be explained, and have enough time for it, probably as early as the second half of the drama.
@MsWhiteMoto, I agree with you that the actors did so very well. And that scene of JY and the young LG… 😢
I shall have to re-watch. Was there anything else about Lady Noh’s arrival in the KoC besides LG acknowledging that he knew of it from Kim Sowol’s poems? I would have liked to know what happened to her KoC double. Lady Noh had such an interesting character.
Just to follow a doubles tangent, if Sin-Jae ends up with Luna in KoC, would that mean that Tae-Eul might end up with his chaebol double in RoK? That would be weird. Haha. I just knew that JY’s mother had to be hiding twins.
Although I can see that many of you are disappointed, me and my girlfriends from Goblin time have agreed on this that, this drama has the most satisfying kdrama ending ever. For me it is on par with hong sisters’ you are beautiful, master’s sun and reply 1988 from Shin PD.
Still waiting for PM3’s post and explanation on the last 20 min of the finale though haha. I don’t think I understood everything. 🙂
Also I think KES is at peace with her heart now haha. Here the God is cynic, He is siding with the good, and always saying how bad deeds will make you fall. So the happy ending was not just a random decision to make audience happy, that’s what I feel. 🙂 I think it was quite deliberate and something she decided on from the start. 🙂
the God is not cynic*
GRRR! Mistake. Correction :
– Why did Lee Lim say that he and Tae Eul would get stuck in the in-between world, when this world would cease to exist.
When Lee Lim said that he and Tae-Eul would get stuck together forever in the in-between land, I had a flashback to a very old film ‘Huis Clos’, originally a play by Sartre.
Thanks Packmule3 for this blog which has enabled a lively and highly stimulating discussion on TKEM by many bitches all over the world. This experience is unique for me. I am not a regular K-drama watcher. But from those few that I watched previously, historical K-dramas have taught me other knowledge including the Japanese wabi-sabi concept (appreciation of imperfection beauty). The writers of K-drama pay attention to details. So really this time, in TKES I believe KES has been quite detailed. Initially we have learned many things from, mathematics, philosophy, science and the poetry of Kim Sowol. From the beginning I felt that this 16-episode drama is insufficient to have a decent ending.
Hence, and like many others here, episode 16 fell short of my expectation and is rather shallow.
@Arishi wrote “…LG faces a real conundrum of accomplishing a lot in such a short time…”
“conundrum” is a special word, since I first learnt about it in a nonsense poem, The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carrol.
Fit the Third
The Baker’s Tale
They roused him with muffins—they roused him with ice—
They roused him with mustard and cress—
They roused him with jam and judicious advice—
They set him conundrums to guess.
In the Hunting of the Snark, Lewis Carrol did not describe the Snark in detail. Even though the objective of the hunting party is to catch a snark, nobody knows what is a Snark? Readers can still enjoy the poem, the hunting journey word by word or line by line as is. Likewise, TKEM should be enjoyed episode by episode, through the superb acting of its actors and actress (especially our mathematician King LG), the cinematography, Kim Sowol poems, the nonsense product placement and the highly intellectual bitches’ discussion. The ending can be quite nonsense and a disappointment.
My 17 disappointments are :
1. LL was shown to pain a monument/temple . Is LL an expert in painting and mixed his own color. Is LL a chemist? However, at the end, we did not know what is this temple. This monument is the Saseongam Hermitage is located in Gurye.
https://www.flyhoneystars.com/2020/04/19/filming-location-the-king-eternal-monarch/
2. I hope to know more about CLN and PB in the end. I like these two characters. In the early episodes, they held very meaningful conversation with LG and each others. But they were completely silenced in episode 16.
3.
4.
5.
I will fill these as and when I recall them.
I get a lot of your opinions of Shin Jae’s character purpose. Lots of time spent on him, and in the end he didn’t partiicpate in the “action.
My opinion of Shin Jae’s character is symbolic. SJ = perseverance. His character emphasized the need to restore order between the two worlds as he was kidnapped 25 years ago, so the swapping of people began right after LL went to RoK. SJ represented what the good fight was for, to prevent further disruption of what happened to him: he was stripped of his identity, country, family, and went through 25 years of trying to make sense of his memories, and trying to reconcile what he remembers and what he knows. His character could have developed into a bad guy, but SJ preserved to be a good guy. Fate (high school) boy intervened in (Ep 6, 13:40), the bully scene. Fate tested SJ’s perseverance; SJ endured the beating (no idea why he had to be beaten up though). It was a combination of SJ’s inherent nature and the nurturing relationships of TE and her dad that he turned out to be a good guy. Episode 3, 23:16, introduced the line by TE’s dad that SJ should be someone who “stands on the edge of the wrong path” and he always leaned toward the good side rather than the bad side. This scene also reiterated perseverance.
Back to the police building scene right after TE reported the bullies, I noticed that when the kids and parents were exiting the police department scene, Ep 3, 15:14, I noticed that the only kid that did not have a parent or set of parents was the primary bully, and we got introduced to him in Ep 16 that he was the young adult version of Fate. This “introduction” of young adult Fate is strange to be. I dislike these reveals at the end of the show. I noticed him at LG’s commanding officer’s dad’s funeral, but at the same time, it was a split second of his face, so it was non-consequential. It’s weird to give significance to a slight character that spent less than a minute in an 18 hour length show.
Yes, I agree with you all that the characters should have been presented better. Splitting up certain scenes into a few parts is confusing to me. Case in point: the scene where TE and LG goes to LG’s RoK mom’s address in the country side. This scene was presented in 2 parts: opening scene of Ep 9, Ep 11 40:40. That’s 2.5 hours in between of other scenes, and it’s so much work for me to piece the two parts into one coherent scene. I think the entire scene should have been introduced in opening scene of Ep 9, and then, if need be, at later episodes, certain dialogue can be reiterated to add to that new scene.
@Fan of TKEM, I agree. Those scenes of Yoyo as the bully were so fleeting, I wondered 🤔 why the camera had been trained on the handsome young guy in uniform. So what if he was there at the funeral? No more association came of that. We poor viewers are supposed to hold that in our memories and to make something of that in Ep 16!!! I didn’t even recognise him as the bully of SJ, therefore I made no useful connections. 😖
The themes were interesting, the scenes had been shot to highlight those themes, but the execution in putting the show together, got Show shooting itself in it’s own proverbial foot. Such a pity. 😐
packmule3 reposting for vespertyne29
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This blog has been solid gold during this show. I love how smart all the Bitches are, especially Packmule3. The math would have been my downfall.
I think the two biggest questions I have are
(1) Since the mutli-person coordinated effort to kill Lee Lim was successful, and thus he never entered the Republic of Korea, what happened to King Ho’s RoK doppelganger (Lee Ji-hun’s father, Song Jeong-hye’s husband)? We see the very same scene of her back in the apartment, after having identified her husband’s body at the morgue, bruised face, washing dishes, and laughing that someone else had killed him so she didn’t have to. Although we didn’t actually SEE Lee Lim kill him in his episode 1 initial 1994 entry into RoK, we did see him run into him, and then we see him go to his house and kill his doppelganger in the wheelchair, and then – again, although we don’t see it, presumably kill Ji-hun (and we know that Ji-hun died as a child in the RoK Lee Rim entered). The doppelganger of King Ho seemed to be a pretty bad guy (wife-beater, loser), but it was interesting that he was killed (in a hit and run, IIRC) regardless of 1994 Lee Rim’s actions. Is that a Fate/yo-yo boy intervention? Because he was a Bad Guy, and so his death occurred despite Lee Lim’s absence?
And (2), the scene in which Lee Gon meets his mother’s doppelganger, Song Jeong-hye, in RoK. First we have the conversation between Lee Gon and Jo Yeong:
JY: And I got a call from Jo Eun-sup. He said he met Lee Lim, and Lee Lim mentioned the memorial mass of the late queen.
Song Jeong-hye will go to church soon. There’s always someone watching her.
LG: (looking over to where Song Jeong-hye and her bodyguard appear, apparently on their way to church). I think you’ve got the time wrong. (Why does LG say that about the time? JY just told him that SJH would “soon” be going to church, and that’s what we see. So what time is wrong here? Is this again Fate, just speeding things up so that SJH and LG meet at that point?)
Then SJH walks over to speak to LG, says he must be Lee Lim’s nephew, with the same face as her dead son, Ji-hun.
SJH: But Ji-hun died because of you. And it seems you will die because of me. Lee Lim said that’s why he kept me alive.
LG: Will you be OK? It’s my mother’s death anniversary soon. I believe he is planning on taking you there that day. If you go there, you can’t come back. I’ll help you.
SJH: Then will you come and save me? Come two days before the anniversary. I know the date, too.
Clearly at this point, both Lee Gon and Song Jeong-hye know what Lee Lim is planning to do at the late queen’s memorial service. He’s going to claim that he has eternal life and can resurrect the dead, kill Lee Gon, get his half of the Manpasikjeonk, take over the KoC, and begin his plans of world(s) dominion with the flute. SJH confirms that she is part of the plan.
Then, when she asks, “Then will you come and save me? Come two days before the anniversary. I know the date, too.” One possibility here is that, by listening to Lee Lim over the years, and most significantly since 2019, when Lee Gon began his crossings between the two worlds, SJH figured out that time stops when either Lee Gon or Lee Lim cross to the parallel world. Or maybe Lee Lim even told her about it, since she seems to have figured out his plans for taking her to KoC, and specifically to the late queen’s memorial service. So, when she asks Lee Gon to come two days prior to the anniversary date, does she know that if he comes, time will stop, and so she plans to take the poison just before the time freeze, so no one can give her an antidote?
If that’s the case, then how does she get the timing down (knowing exactly when to take the poison, so that she does so just before the time freeze? Is this Fate/yo-yo boy again, assisting in the timing of things? Or did she just take the poison and think that Lee Gon would come and kill Lee Lim, and thus prevent her from being saved?
Or was it just luck that she took the poison when she did?
I just feel as if there is significance to her asking Lee Gon to return to the RoK two days prior to the date of his mother’s memorial service, and also taking the poison on that day.
As far as the drama, since I just discovered Kdramas in July of 2018, I was able to binge Goblin fairly early on. I think it was my 4th drama. I watched every single episode at least twice during my first viewing, and gave up sleep, to finish that magical drama. It is, and has remained, my favorite Kdrama of all that I have now watched. It was so visually beautiful that I had to watch scenes over and over, once for the subtitles, and then just to appreciate how stunning the scenery, camerawork and editing were. It was magical, and my personal favorite scene, in terms of every single thing, possibly of any drama ever made, is the scene in Canada, with Eun-tak in the crosswalk enhanced by Goblin’s magical touch, the beautiful autumnal colors, and Gong Yoo’s lovely deep voice reading Kim In-yook’s The Physics of Love from Eun-tak’s textbook of poetry, and that red maple leaf falling on the page just after he finishes it. So perfect.
TKEM may not rise to Goblin level on my scale of favorite dramas ever – it took a lot more effort (which I enjoyed) to figure out the story, and the ending seemed overtly rosy to me – but I did love it. I loved the “timey-wimeyness” of the time travel (my love of Doctor Who predates RTD’s revamp of it in 2005, I’ve seen all of the Terminator films, and one of my top Asian dramas is the Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, which had a delicious time travel/body exchange storyline), and this drama really delivered on that, IMO. Also, I appreciated that the ending stayed true to the rules of the fantasy world of the drama. It was impossible for Lee Gon and Tae-eul to marry. Both had their own lives, families and friends in their respective worlds. In the KoC, TE has a very real doppelganger in Luna. There is no way TE could become a public figure, such as a queen, without the media delving deeply into her background. How could there be any logical explanation of her being the spitting image of – and having the same fingerprints/DNA as – another resident of the kingdom? And how bizarre for Luna and all her friends to constantly see the Queen of Corea appearing on TV and at events, looking exactly like Luna. Lee Gon would have had to try to fabricate an entire past for her, and while that might work for someone who was just a regular Jane or John Doe, I can’t see it working for a public entity like the queen of a country. (I can’t help but think of how mad the media went when Lady Diana Spencer was announced as being the future wife of Prince Charles, not to mention the public’s fascination/obsession with knowing every detail about her past and present life). The only two people with whom TE could ever be herself would be LG and JY, both of whom retain their memories of the past events in both worlds. (I think Court Lady Noh would have never met TE, since Lee Lim’s death in 1994 changed everything, so TE would not have come to the KoC for those two visits. And she hid her face from Lady Noh when she and Lee Gon accidentally ended up in present day Corea, although JY recognized her as TE).
Also, both LG and TE had their respective lives in their own world, and neither of them would have been happy to give it up to live in the other’s world. I’ve already noted the issues of identity for TE, but LG would have the same issues in RoK. He doesn’t exist there, but an adult – and apparently highly decorated military officer – with his same face, fingerprints, and DNA already exists there in Lee Ji-hun. So Lee Gon would have to live a life of obscurity, in which he would be miserable. Not to mention, it’s unlikely he would have willingly given up his responsibilities as king, which is perceived to be his by divine right. It’s his fate/destiny/God-mandated birthright to be King.
As far as heirs, while I suppose it is part of a king’s duty to produce them, it’s not as if there haven’t been kings who couldn’t/didn’t. However, that brings me to a last question. If Lee Gon has no offspring, who would inherit the throne? JY kills Prince Beyoeng’s son (and how is that explained, I wonder? Does Lee Gon try to protect PB, and make it seem as if his son were killed by the traitors, or do they include him in the list of traitors?) It’s hard to tell how old the son is in 1994. He looks young, but he could have been early 20s, and already married with the daughter who Lee Gon named as Crown Princess when PB died (PB’s granddaughter). If PB’s son was still unmarried and childless, then perhaps PB had another child (it looked as if he had another son or daughter in the photo in his office). So there would have been someone who satisfied the “birthright” aspect of inheriting the throne.
Anyway, I just wonder about these few loose ends I started this long comment with. Any responses would be appreciated and read with great interest.
And thanks again, to PM2 and all the other brilliant commenters, for making my viewing of this delightful drama richer and more enjoyable.
@agdr03, it sounds like drama production decided to play Where’s YoYo? (Waldo) with us viewers, but didn’t alert us to the game until the last episode. That made it an inside joke for them. Maybe they expect us to rewatch, and this is how they hope to motivate us.
@Welmaris, yeah, I was surprised that YoYo boy/girl was everywhere and I wouldn’t have made the connection that he/she are everywhere in the drama but we were shown that he/she is there as fate because of the yoyo string and his/her meaningful conversation with LL, Luna and Song Jeong-hye. Maybe the point of not showing us is because we understood what he/she symbolises.
@vespertyne29: I want to try answering your questions, because those were 2 questions that were bugging me too.
1. Regarding what/who caused Ji Hun’s father’s death:
I think what TE said after she woke up in the bamboo forest gives us a clue on what could have happened.
“For me only about a week had passed. The world seemed unchanged, yet some things had unfolded differently.”
We are then shown a scene of TE with the actress (which in the previous scheme of things, had killed her roommate because she overheard her conversations on the 2G phone). This round, the actress was arrested for killing another actress. I think the point of the scene was to show that with LL’s death, many wrongs have been put right, and the actions of others (PM Koo’s mum, Prince BY) could also change the course of things to go well. However, this world is still one that has evil/bad in it, and even with no LL around to wreck havoc, bad things still do happen, and ordinary people are still capable of evil deeds.
Ji Hun’s dad’s death was shown to be a hit and run, and perhaps, his death in the previous cycle with LL around might also have been a hit and run in which LL had no hand in. I realize the show did not specifically show us that LL killed him, so it could go either way. If it was a hit and run, LL was quick to use this to his advantage to manipulate SJH.
2. I think LG mentioning that JY got the time wrong, was just a passing observation as he saw SJH walking past at that point in time. I do not think SJH would be aware of the time stops, as whenever time freezes she would be frozen too. If you can recall, everyone around LG (JY, TE etc) were not aware of time freezing when a time stop occurred. So SJH did not plan for a time freeze to ensure that the poison would take effect. Also, if you think about it, time freezing means everything stops for everyone save LG/LL (and whoever is crossing together with them). This means the effect of the ingested poison on SJH would also be “frozen” then too. I think SJH probably would have died wether or not the time stop happened, she just gambled on taking the poison before LL took her over to KOC.
However, I do agree there is a significance in her asking LG to come to her 2 days before the memorial. Perhaps she knew that LL was going to bring her over to KOC 2 days before the memorial. In this way, she gives LG a clue on which DAY LL was going to cross over from ROK to KOC, bringing SJH with him.
Before LG meets with SJH, he is standing with JY near the house where SJH is now staying in (we know that JY has been tailing SJH and knows where she is currently being held.) LG has this conversation with JY:
JY: It’s that house. Lee Lim still hasn’t shown up yet.
LG: You must stand watch and find out Lee Lim’s route to his bamboo forest.
JY: I will. And I got a call from Jo Eun-sup. He said he met Lee Lim. And Lee Lim mentioned the memorial mass of the late queen.
In this conversation, we learn a few things:
– JY has located LL’s hideout in ROK.
– He will continue to watch and find out LL’s route to his portal.
– LL is currently in ROK since he met ES.
After that meeting with SJH, a whole series of events happen. We see that LL crosses back to KOC after the meeting with Nari, since he is later shown talking to PM Koo in the tunnel. His crossing back to KOC would have caused a time stop, which LG would have noticed, which would tell LG that LL has crossed back to KOC.
All LG now has to do would be to be on standby on the day SJH has mentioned (2 days before the memorial). The next time stop would occur when LL crosses over from KOC to ROK, to pick SJH and bring her to KOC for the memorial. When that time stop happens, LG then crosses to ROK with JY and SJ to catch LL. I am assuming that JY and SJ would be able to move since they are crossing together with LG, so when time freezes (as SJH dies), these 3 have almost 5 and half hours (as this is time stop 33, with a time freeze of 18769s) to make their way down to catch LL. JY should have figured out the route LL takes to his portal by then, so the 3 of them would head towards the route to try to intercept LL. And this is how they manage to catch LL then. SJH’s remark was significant because it sets the date for LL’s crossing, and hence allows for LG to capture LL.
All I can say is thank goodness @packmule3 offered us this forum to help us debate and figure out the nuances. I wouldn’t have noticed the older YoYo person until ep. 16. I wouldn’t have thought they were co-existing because the younger one said that there was only one of him/her. My major reaction was that the casting was a success because the older one’s face matched very well with the child’s, more so than most older/younger versions I’ve seen in dramas. It is such an interesting idea that the two Fates were working at odds with each other in both universes.
I like JT7’s answer to vespertyne29’s question about JiHun’s father’s death.
JT7 said:
“Ji Hun’s dad’s death was shown to be a hit and run, and perhaps, his death in the previous cycle with LL around might also have been a hit and run in which LL had no hand in. I realize the show did not specifically show us that LL killed him, so it could go either way. If it was a hit and run, LL was quick to use this to his advantage to manipulate SJH.”
If you recall, the dad was a drunkard, and a wife-beater. AND he was the one who bumped into Lee Lim and started arguing with Lee Lim.
Dad: You jerk, did you just hit me? (Lee Lim was reading the news and ignoring him) Yah! Yah!!! (he pulled at Lee Lim’s arm) Hey, what are you staring at. You jerk! (raising a fist then stopped) Hyung!
To me, even if Lee Lim wasn’t around, the dad was an accident waiting to happen. He was so intoxicated that he could have easily walked into oncoming traffic or started a brawl with a stranger or jumped off the bridge or something.
Similarly, SinJae’s car accident that got him into a coma wasn’t Lee Lim’s fault. Lee Lim just capitalized on the whole situation by switching comatose SinJae for Hyeonmin.
Same thing with Mrs. Baek. She invited those mean kids to her son’s birthday party. Those kids gifted her son with a soccer ball to taunt him because he was lame. It wasn’t Lee Lim’s fault that the kids gave the soccer ball. But Lee Lim exploited the occasion. Like the evil person that he was, he tempted Mrs. Baek to seek revenge on those kids. The accident which injured those kids was staged for her.
🙂
Btw, PM3, will there be no more post on the finale? :/ I have been waiting for more posts from you I guess haha.
A few more: on Lee Gon, comparing CLOY and TKEM, and my answers to GB’s poll, and so on. Why? Are you tired already? 😈
Noo, I have been waiting haha. 😄 And then I saw you are making posts about watching a new drama, then I got scared for a moment that you don’t write any more on KTE :D.
I have not watched CLOY, so I guess won’t understand much of it, but the rest two, would be waiting patiently. 🤩🤩
Nearsea, how much longer do you want me to write on TKEM postmortem?
Isn’t it like beating a dead horse (oh no, not Maximus)? What else do you want me to talk about? I actually went over my maximum number of posts, you know. I limited myself to 50. 😑
(frowning) You weren’t waiting for a kiss analysis, were you? 🤦♀️🤣🤪 Even if you didn’t watch CLOY, you’ll understand what I’m talking about when I write it up.
Be still my heart – a kiss analysis?! This sounds like statistics, so LG might be interested. 🤓💋
Would there be a heat factor, like 🔥, 🔥🔥, 🔥🔥🔥, 🌋? Will ‘chemistry’ come into play as a criterion? Analysis of camera angles? Preparation (lead up), placement of hands before and during, naturalness of the situation and action, eyes open or closed? How do you compare a beautifully tender kiss with a passionate, desperate kiss?
Fern asked, “How do you compare a beautifully tender kiss with a passionate, desperate kiss?”
Artistically. 😜
😂
Nearsea and I go a long way back. I like to tease each her. I don’t know if she remembers this but she was my designated “pest” for a while. Her task was to ask me the kind of questions that rabid fans (I was allergic to them) would typically post online. That way I would be prepared to deal with fangirls.
You could call it a “devil’s advocate” role but Nearsea was so far from being a spawn of the devil.
Artistically and with gifs! 😜
Is it happening? 🤔🙏
Omo! A kiss analysis? Please hop over to Shallow Island this once, will you? @packmule3 Also, I’d gladly read more posts on TKEM… as long as writing them sparks joy for you 🙂 I’ve already planned to reread all everything here somewhere down the line and it’s gonna be super handy with the “Ultimate Drama Guide” hehehe
@Packmule3, if you do a kiss analysis, I’d like to point out that there may be more to the beheading kiss. As the make-out session continues after LG kisses TE’s neck, the camera moves away from the couple on the bed. LG looks headless, as you can only see his back and shoulders…he lost his head to his queen!
@Welmaris, I thought it was TE that lost her head but really it’s LG. 😂
Ah, @agdr03, Dreamer and Welmaris, in our dreams. She’s taking the mickey.
@Fern, who took the Mickey? @pml3? 😂
She did say she’s already at 50 posts on TKEM so maybe it will only be in our dreams. 😆
Yes, that is how I interpreted her message at 6.58pm. Haha. 🤣 We are so gullible. Or hopeful.
Wait? What are we talking about here? 😂
The kiss analysis @packmule3 😂 We’re thinking maybe it won’t happen. 😁
I thought we already had one kiss analysis? The Ep10 post? I must admit, it was…click bait. 😂. Fell for it hook, line, sinker and clicked on it and read on…
‘You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
And when two lovers woo
They still say, I love you
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by
Moonlight and love songs
Are never out of date
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate
Woman needs man
And man must have his mate
That no one can deny
It’s still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.’
All credits to the owners.
@agdr03, Fern, Welmaris But to be fair, the Lee Gon appreciation post was such a treat in itself 😍 fingers crossed we get lucky again 🤞🏼
I agree @Dreamer that the LG appreciation post is 😍 but who knows maybe we can still have the kiss analysis even if it’s password protected. ☺️ Oh wait only @packmule3 knows. 😂
Yess to kiss analysis please 🙌
@Fern I love that poem ypu shared on kiss🥰
I wonder why some details were presented in a manner where we drew a certain conclusion but when we were given answers they weren’t as twisted as we imagined. For example I think many wondered whether Shin-Jae is a member of the royal family because they showed him crying along with Lee Gon in the scene where hes picked up by Lee Rim. Because of such scenes I guess people are not very happy with the conclusion.. not sure. The show is over now but I still keep thinking about it all the time.
I’m still hoping that to mirror ES’s 63 dreams, we’d get 63 posts. Also, I would argue that some of the TKEM posts that have added up to the current 50+ were open threads rather than analyses, and a few repostings of comments to create their own threads.
That said, I can only imagine how much work this blog adds to @packmule3’s already filled schedule. I gather from hints that there’s more to it than writing analyses: moderating by reading and deleting posts that don’t adhere to the principles of the blog, reading emails, etc. I’m grateful for whatever time, attention, and effort we get from @packmule3.
@Phoenix, those are the lyrics of “As Time Goes By” from the movie Casablanca.
https://youtu.be/d22CiKMPpaY
@Phoenix, it is the famous song ‘As Time Goes By’from the old film ‘Casablanca’. I thought it was reasonable appropriate.
@Dewdrop, I thought at time I viewed it, that Sin-Jae was already miserable. He could tell that something was up when his mom said to wait. When he saw the TV screen through the window of the shop with the boy ‘Lee Gon’ crying, I think it set him off. I thought, due to his outfit, that he was a member of the general public. I think he linked the two events in his mind as well, the way we might remember big tragic events on the news.
At Welmaris, a good wish! Wasn’t it also the 63 Building, of which the KoC had 63 and not just one, if you are to believe LG? (Lol. It’s exactly the sort of thing my husband would say to our kids who don’t know any better.) Yes, @packmule3 seems to have a real and very busy life on top of this blog. I am indeed grateful for it and for the smart posters it draws.
@Fern @Welmaris I didn’t know that! They are just so romantic 😍 I’ve watched Casablanca long back but didn’t remember the song. Thanks for sharing1🙂