Robert asked:

I was wondering how did sigma get his scar on the neck if seo hae was supposed to be dead in the past? She said that she was suppose to get shot in the hospital right?

Robert,

It’s okay to wonder how Sigma got the scar since he himself couldn’t remember anymore the details about the scar, and assumed that he got it from this incident.

I agree with @Viva that Seohae had read in her diary that she would be crippled after being shot at the hospital. Thus, to prepare for this eventuality, Seohae brought a vial of drug (stem cells therapy?) which would cure her had the past actually repeated itself. Thankfully, she didn’t need it because one of Mr. Park’s minions took the bullet meant for her this time around.

That’s how the “future” changed.

However, Seohae and Taesul’s meeting with the artist Seo Gilbok at his apartment on October 29 was still pre-determined. That’s why Seohae became dizzy; she was experiencing some sort of deja vu or time paradox. While they thought that it was ingenious of Taesul to trace the artist back through purchase of his painting, this encounter was actually nothing new. In a previous life cycle, they also discovered the identity and whereabouts of Sigma. It was in that previous life cycle that Seohae nicked Sigma on the shoulder and gave him the scar.

If you watch that scene carefully, nobody really shot at Seo Gilbok. But when he came running down the street, he was bleeding. (Remind me to post more on this later.)

The confusion I think comes from the diary entry. Here’s the diary entry:

Dear SeoHae,
Happy Birthday. By the time you read this, I’ll be dead. Don’t be surprised. What you’re looking at is from yourself. Listen carefully. There is something we must do. Take the uploader and go to the past. Save Han Tae Sul. If he lives, the war can be stopped. Only you can do this.

The diary entry was misleading.

She didn’t die on her birthday. She only meant that the (future) Seohae would find her old diary on (future) Seohae’s birthday. She warned (future) Seohae that she would be shot after her rescue from the hospital, and she would be crippled as a result.

In effect, Seohae’s birthday was special because the (future) Seohae was given a rescue mission by her past self on this date. Her birthday wasn’t her “death-day.”

We weren’t given the contents of the diary, but I’m assuming that the (future) Seohae was given heads-up on how to survive and endure a lot of things, to name a few:

the conference sniper on August 15
the World Cup Bridge jump on August 19
the shooting at the Kim Hanyoung’s residence on August 27
the reunion with Taesul at the Hannamdom market on September 15
the kidnapping at the amusement park on September 30
the rescue from torture in the basement of the Jaae Hospital on October 4

These dates were written on the back of photograph that Sigma brought back from the future. They were “records of attacks on Han Taesul.”

July 15th Plane accident
August 15th Conference sniper
August 19th World Cup Bridge chase
August 27th Banquet hall at Kim Hanyong’s residence
September 15th Sniper at Tool Shopping Center
September 30th Amusement Park
October 4 Ja-ae Hospital
Hope Nursery School in 2020

We all assumed that these dates were critical because they were opportune moments to KILL Taesul. We also assumed that Taesul and Seohae’s battles were part of one complex cat-and-mouse game Sigma planned for them, and that these dates were like “sudden deaths.” Meaning, if Team Taesul were eliminated on any of these dates, then the game terminated immediately, and Sigma won.

We assumed these because back in Episode 4, when Taesul asked Seohae why Sigma was trying to kill him, she answered, “I’m not sure but…it’s probably because you invented the damned uploader.”

But as the story progressed, we realized that Sigma did NOT want to kill Taesul since he wanted the uploader built.

I think that these attacks were meant to force Taesul’s hand. Sigma was pushing Taesul to invent the uploader despite Taesul’s better judgment saying no. Sigma plotted these “attacks” not to kill Taesul but to push Taesul and SeoHae together so Taesul would think that he had no choice but to create the uploader in order to save SeoHae. That’s why Sigma thought it was “romantic” when Taesul and SeoHae met on the bridge at the Hannamdong market. He was being sarcastic, of course. He wanted Taesul to fall for the girl.

And that’s why Sigma kept giving him the false choice, “save the girl or save the world.” Sigma would really want to see both girl and the world destroyed anyway.

Previously, I said that when Team Taesul acted “out-of-script” or did something during their liminal/transition/waiting periods, they were most effective in changing the course of history.

Take for instance, in Episode 7, when Seohae sought Mr. Park’s help to rescue Taesul from captivity. Seohae’s initiative resulted in an uneasy cooperation between Mr. Park and Team Taesul, which in turn resulted in Taesul meeting Alice Kim and finding a cure for Seohae. See that? Seohae’s “unscripted” choice to team up with Mr. Park directly produced a “better” outcome.

The other time when Team Taesul acted out-of-script and changed course was when they found Sigma’s artist studio in Episode 8.

Taesul: This is the right place. He drew the painting here. (sees the painting) Hang on. “Sigma.” Now I know what it means. Sisyphus. He is an eternal sinner in Greek mythology. He pushes a boulder up a mountain only to see it roll down. Then, he pushes it up the mountain again, and it rolls back down. Again and again. He receives eternal punishment forever.
Seohae: What was he punished for?

Sidenote: Her question has always bothered me because if Taesul was meant to be Sisyphus, then his punishment should have ended because his hyung already forgave him. Taesan said so in his letter in Episode 7, “If you’re still beating yourself up for what happened that day, don’t. Brothers fight all the time….Taesul, I hope you make a choice that you won’t regret. I believe the outcome will be good when good choices are accumulated…Live your life to the fullest with no regrets. And don’t look for me.” Further, in Episode 11, at the beach, Taesul apologized to his hyung and they reconciled with him. So I don’t get why Taesul had to be eternally punished when he’d been already absolved.

To me, if there was somebody who must be punished eternally, it should be Sigma for causing destruction. He made a better Sisyphus than Taesul.  Why? Because nobody cared enough for him to rescue him from his own endless cycle. Nobody released him from his eternal punishment. Nobody had forgiven him and let him go.

Before Taesul could answer Seohae’s question, Sigma arrived.

He wasn’t expecting them there when he opened his door so he closed it and fled. Taesul pursued him, but an illegal alien attacked him. Seohae rescued Taesul and pushed the illegal alien up against the wall. To me, this encounter was impromptu because:

a. it wasn’t included in the “record of attacks” on Taesul
b. the illegal alien hadn’t completed his facial transition
c. the illegal alien wasn’t fully briefed on what to do. He had to glance down to check whether he was in the right spot for the rock fall.

Because Taesul figured out the location of Sigma’s studio through the painting and his calculations, they were able to disrupt Sigma’s organized schedule.

In Episode 11, Sigma revealed that the meeting was unplanned.

Sigma: Han Taesul, it’s very nice to meet you.
Taesul: Likewise. (smiling) Why did you leave like that last time? I was disappointed.
Sigma: That wasn’t the day for us to meet.
Taesul: Then what about today? You arranged this meeting? Were you finally ready to meet me?
Sigma: (pausing) I came here to see Agnes. I did think you might come here, but you actually did.
Taesul: Had I known I would have put on better clothes.

What information could Taesul glean from this conversation? He learned that Sigma avoided surprised or unplanned encounters. And this tied in well with what we learned in Episode 13. The Control Bureau didn’t want to barge in the classroom because that would deviate from the past records, and create an “unplanned” encounter.

Also, from Sigma’s warning to Mr. Park, “But if you betray me one more time, I’ll send your wife and daughter to you, dead,” Taesul should have been clued in that Sigma has a continuing link to the future that made it possible for him to influence and control the present.

That’s how Sigma was able to have the body part of Seohae’s father

Sure enough, we find out in Episode 13 that Sigma’s doppelganger, the artist Seo Gilbok, was still alive in future.

To me, that’s the reason that Sigma knew everything. His doppelganger, the artist Seo Gilbok, lived in the future.

Bongseon: Sir. Don’t fight. You can’t beat Sigma. I saw your graves. Yours and that girl’s.
Taesul: I know.
Bongseon: Run away.
Taesul: This time, I won’t die. You know, there’s no problem that I can’t solve. (looks at Seohae)
Bongseon: Sigma knows everything. What will happen, even when and where it’ll take place.

Bongseon: (coughing) Do you really want to beat Sigma?
Taesul: Of course.
Bongseon: Even if you die? (gives him the can)
Taesul: What’s this?
Bongseon: Use it as a last resort. Open it when you have no other option.

Seohae, Mr. Park, Seojin, even Hyunki, all returned to the past because of their regrets. They needed to make amends or atone for something in the past. On the surface, Sigma had demonstrated no such regret to induce him to travel back to the past. For him and the other crowd at that swimming pool, the post-apocalypse was a better future.

To all appearances, his sole purpose for time travel was to ensure that the uploader is rebuilt so he could live in that post-apocalyptic world.

However, in Episode 13, we glimpsed Sigma’s regret during his conversation with the Control Bureau chief. He said, “Although I had already decided to take my own life, I was still scared. So I was just going to just give up if I came across even just one person who told me not to die. In hindsight, if anyone tried to talk me out of it, then maybe the world wouldn’t have fallen into pieces.”

To me, this confession revealed his undeclared, perhaps unconscious, motivation for the traveling back in time. As I said in an earlier post, Taesul was always shown love and devotion whether he realized it or not, whether he was looking for it or not, whether he deserved it or not. But Sigma had no such chance. While Sigma shouldn’t count on Taesul to give him some love or to talk him out of suicide, I think a little bit of kindness, forgiveness or empathy from Taesul can go a long way to change Sigma’s path of destruction.