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Memories of the Alhambra: Episode 16 (Final)

Our hero is almost at the end of his journey, his strength, and his sanity, but he’s not finished setting things right. There’s one last task to complete before he can rest, and this task might just be the one that breaks him for good. The game has been an enemy that he can’t confront or change, he could only endure, and for better or worse, it will all be over soon.

 
EPISODE 16 RECAP

Director Park rushes to the hotel room where Jin-woo and Professor Cha were last known to be. He finds Professor Cha dead where NPC Hyung-seok killed him, but Jin-woo is nowhere to be seen. He tells his assistant to call an ambulance, then sits by Professor Cha’s body and cries.

Later, while the police are investigating the scene, Director Park wearily takes a call from one of J.One’s board members asking if it’s true that Professor Cha is dead. He feels guilty for not telling Director Park sooner that last night, Professor Cha called him and told him to start up the game server.

A few minutes later he’d gotten a call from Jin-woo on Professor Cha’s phone, and he’d told Jin-woo that he’d shut the server off again as Professor Cha requested. Jin-woo had told him to start it again, because there was something he needed to finish. The board member tells Director Park that he did as Jin-woo instructed, so the server was up again between 6 and 7 in the morning.

At Hee-joo’s house, Se-joo doesn’t know who completed the quest that freed him from his year-long imprisonment in the game. He asks Hee-joo who it was, and he’s surprised to hear that it was Jin-woo, since he never even met him. JH thinks about how Jin-woo came to Granada on Se-joo’s request, and everything that’s happened since then, and she bursts into tears, alarming Se-joo.

After telling the board member to reopen the server, Jin-woo had returned to the church where he last saw Emma just as the server came back up again. NPC Hyung-seok had spawned near the pulpit, and Jin-woo had set aside his crutch and met Hyung-seok in the aisle, pulling out the Key to Heaven.

As Hyung-seok had swung his sword, Jin-woo had plunged the Key into Hyung-seok’s chest. The game informed Jin-woo that the bug in the game was being deleted, and Hyung-seok had dropped his weapon and slumped over Jin-woo’s arm.

When Director Park arrives at the church, Jin-woo’s discarded crutch is still there. He logs into the game himself (he’s played before, with nearly 150 log-ins), and he kneels in the aisle in front of a small pile of shimmering sand, all that was left behind when Jin-woo finally eliminated NPC Hyung-seok seventeen hours ago.

Director Park looks to his right, and in the next aisle over, there’s another, identical pile of sand. We see that Jin-woo had been attacked by assassins after deleting NPC Hyung-seok, and although he’d taken care of them easily, the game told him that his ally had appeared. Professor Cha had been made into an NPC, and after a minute’s hesitation, Jin-woo had used the Key of Heaven to delete him, too.

NPC Secretary Seo had also shown up, and Jin-woo had approached him, tears welling in his eyes at the thought of what he had to do. He’d given this last image of his friend a one-armed hug, and had had to force himself to stab him with the key. Jin-woo had held on tight as long as he could, crying, until Secretary Seo dissolved into sand.

Seeing the former identity of this last pile of sand causes Director Park to stagger, the weight of the losses, and of Jin-woo’s heartbreaking task, almost too much to bear. He takes a call from Hee-joo and tells her that he’s at the church, but he still hasn’t heard from Jin-woo.

After deleting the bugs, Jin-woo had heard the familiar sounds of the guitar, and Emma had reappeared on the dais. He’d gone to her and told her it was all over, and she’d said gently that he looked exhausted. She’d asked why he took the Key of Heaven from her, and Jin-woo had said, “I was afraid. I didn’t want to die.”

Emma had asked him to return the key, and Jin-woo had placed it in her outstretched hand, a tear rolling down his face.

In the present, something makes Director Park stop, and he turns around and approaches the pulpit. There’s a fourth pile of shimmering sand in front of the steps… oh please no. As he touches it, the game tells him that it’s the remains of Zinu, Jin-woo’s handle in the game. Director Park slumps, his phone falling from his hand, as Hee-joo begs him to say something.

He’s still sitting on the floor when Hee-joo arrives at the church, desperate to know what’s going on. He tells her not to come any closer, but she sees the sand, and she asks what it is in a fearful voice.

Before she gets an answer, their smart contacts alert them both that the game is being reset. The four piles of sand float into the air, swirl, then disappear, and all over the cities, the game NPCs also disappear. The church goes gray around Hee-joo and Director Park, while at the J.One building, everyone panics as the game deletes, then rebuilds itself.

The color returns, and some time later, Director Park writes an email to Jin-woo in the hopes that he will see it from wherever he is. He talks about Professor Cha’s funeral, and how the police investigation was closed since there was no evidence that his death was a murder. He says that the game’s self-reset deleted any lingering proof that it had anything to do with any deaths, and nobody but him knows why the reset happened. He says that he’s been wondering if he should start over again or stop now, and he asks what Jin-woo would do.

One day during a storm, Director Park goes to Hee-joo’s house to finally meet Se-joo. He finds him huddled in his closet, terrified of the thunder and stammering that it’s starting again. Director Park tells Se-joo gently that it’s real lightning and thunder, and that the bug no longer exists.

When he leaves, Se-joo follows him downstairs to ask if he knows Jin-woo. He tells Director Park that Jin-woo is probably dead, deleted by Emma after being stabbed with the Key of Heaven. He wails that he never would have called Jin-woo, or sent him the quest, if he’d known so many people would die. He sobs that he didn’t even know about Jin-woo and Hee-joo, which is why he told his sister everything, including that Emma probably killed Jin-woo.

Hee-joo is at the church, where she remembers telling Jin-woo that when the Key of Heaven and the Hand of Fatima come together, the gate will open and the palace will crumble. Se-joo had told her that he programmed Emma to kill game bugs with the Key of Heaven, and Hee-joo realizes that she’s the one who told Jin-woo to give Emma the Key, which may have led to his death.

She denies that it could be true, and she calls out for Jin-woo, demanding that he answer her. She falls to her knees, sobbing that he promised he’d come to her in the morning, over and over.

Director Park finds her there, unconscious, and takes her home. But when she wakes, she goes right back to the church, and she crouches to touch the spot where Jin-woo last stood. She goes back again and again as time passes, never giving up hope that she’ll see Jin-woo again.

Director Park continues emailing Jin-woo, but his emails are eventually reduced to simple, “What have you been doing? I miss you,” messages, and they all go unread. Hee-joo keeps visiting the church, but she never finds Jin-woo there.

One year later.

Yu-ra gets remarried, and although she claims to be very happy, her smile is empty as she poses for the reporters in her wedding dress. The press attributes her unhappy expression to having gone through a rough year after being found guilty for giving a false statement to the police, retiring from show business, and being arrested for drunk driving.

Not much is known about her groom other than that he’s a rich businessman with two children. Yu-ra yells at her manager and former boyfriend, furious that everyone is saying she’s marrying for money, but he’s all, Why throw a fit when it’s the truth?

Soo-jin has recovered from her suicide attempt, and she uses the money she inherited from Professor Cha to create a scholarship fund in his name. She gives a speech, only faltering a bit when she talks about how Professor Cha valued honor above all else. Afterward, Director Park asks her if she’s really donating everything, and she says that she doesn’t want to leave her son even one penny of Professor Cha’s money.

She asks about Jin-woo, and Director Park says he hasn’t heard from him. Soo-jin mentions the popular rumor that Jin-woo fled overseas to avoid standing trial, and Director Park says that he sincerely hopes it’s true, because it’s better than the alternative: “I’m worried that he might have been erased from this world, just like that.”

People from all over the city congregate at the park as a guild, manifest swords from their bare hands, and go to battle against the NPCs that suddenly appear in front of them. Non-players gather to watch what looks like a bunch of people flailing around for no reason, with expressions ranging from bewilderment to amusement.

Even a businessman in a suit encounters an NPC while he waits for the bus, and carries on a duel right there on the sidewalk. The ad on the bus is for J.One’s new AR game, titled Next, and a news anchorman reporting from the park tells us that the game was only released two weeks ago, in both Seoul and Granada, but it’s already changing the faces of the cities.

New players line up in Subway bathrooms to collect their level one Rusty Iron Swords, and eat Subway sandwiches to replenish their in-game health. The smart lenses needed to access the game sell so well that J.One stocks skyrocket to almost triple their original price. Companies partner with J.One so that their real-life products produce in-game benefits, and stores have trouble keeping certain drinks that double as health potions on the shelves.

But there are downsides to the game, too — people are getting hurt because players can’t adequately pay attention to their surroundings. J.One cooperates with the government to regulate gameplay, like limiting service areas and only allowing play time during certain hours of the day.

Hee-joo goes out to meet Director Park, getting shoulder-checked on the way by a man who’s obviously playing the game. She waits in a cafe, and when Director Park arrives, he tells her that he’s planning to retire in a month — he only hung around at J.One until now to take responsibility for the game.

He tells Hee-joo that she looks better and says that she ought to think about dating. He even offers to set her up with a few great guys, but she politely demurs. Director Park says gently that it’s time for them both to give up on Jin-woo, but Hee-joo doesn’t respond.

Director Park says that he actually wants to talk to her about Se-joo, and she tells him that Se-joo is much better and even leaves the house. J.One wants to set up a subsidiary company for Se-joo so that he can do research and game development, so Hee-joo goes home to tell the family and ask Se-joo what he wants to do.

Se-joo goes to the J.One building with Hee-joo, where he’s introduced to the programmers as the developer of Next. Se-joo is overwhelmed by their adulation, so Hee-joo has to prompt him to greet them, but when he does, they erupt in excited applause.

Yang-joo takes Se-joo and Hee-joo to his office, eager to talk to Se-joo one-on-one. Hee-joo leaves the two gamers alone and goes down the street for a cup of coffee, where she hears a couple of guys talking about seeing a player who used a gun — except that guns can’t be used until level 50, and the game is so new that the most advanced player is only level 25.

Yang-joo talks Se-joo’s ear off, yammering about the game and how freaked out he was when the game reset itself. He says that he would have deleted Emma if he’d known she could do that, but Se-joo says that there could be an “Indun” instance dungeon (a special area that creates a new copy for each group or player, so that multiple groups can play the dungeon at the same time yet not run into each other).

He explains that he programmed the game so that the master can create induns in times of danger. He first created this feature to confuse enemies, but it worked as a hiding place for him for a year. He was in an instance dungeon that he created at the train station — He was in the same place as other people, but they couldn’t see him, as if he were in a different dimension.

Yang-joo can’t wrap his mind around the idea of an instance dungeon in real life. Se-joo admits that he has a hard time believing it, too, but he thinks that since Jin-woo is now the “master” in the game, he could still be alive in an indun somewhere.

At the cafe, Hee-joo approaches the players and asks what they were talking about. One player says that he saw what he thought was an NPC, but he helped him, and that he didn’t have a user ID. She finds out where this player was seen and runs there, and as she runs, we see her telling Director Park that she won’t give up on Jin-woo. He’d said that Jin-woo was dead, deleted, but Hee-joo was confident that he will return.

As she nears the place where she hopes to find Jin-woo, Hee-joo puts in her smart lenses and logs into the game. She narrates: “I don’t care if the whole world doesn’t believe it, but I do. I believe that we will meet again.”

A player duels an NPC, and the NPC knocks his word from his hand and raises his arm to strike a killing blow. Shots rings out, and the NPC is killed. The player gets to his feet, but all he can see is a silhouette of a man holding a gun.

 
COMMENTS

But… but… I have so many questions! That was definitely Jin-woo, and I’m assuming that Se-joo’s explanation of an instance is how Jin-woo saved himself, the same way Se-joo did — by creating a special area that only he could access, and that wasn’t destroyed when the game reset. He’s still in the world, in a different dimension created by the game, but every now and then a player coincidentally enters the same instance and can see him. It’s a good explanation, and it makes logical sense within the rules of the game, and it also gives hope that maybe Jin-woo can create a quest for someone to save him, too. It certainly opens up the possibility of a second season (and I would love to see Hee-joo put to better use and become the hero who goes through the quest and saves him), though those can be hard to come by in Dramaland, so I won’t hold my breath. Instead, I’m choosing to believe that Hee-joo reached the place and found Jin-woo, and somehow was able to help him come back to the real world. I’m not as upset about this ending as some will be, because it’s not as open-ended as it could have been, and at least it leaves us with hope — if Se-joo could come back from this, then so can Jin-woo.

I read an interview with the writer where she explained how the game allowed people to be killed in reality, which basically supported my theory that it was their murderous intentions that glitched the game and caused in-game injuries to become real. But I feel as though, if your audience can’t learn through the show itself how the rules of your fantasy universe work, then something in the storytelling has gone wrong. We shouldn’t have to read an interview outside of the story itself to be able to understand what happens in the story, and while the clues allowed us to make a reasonable guess, the show itself never confirmed exactly how the bugs happened. While I still love this writer for her ability to create exciting worlds with wonderfully rich, emotionally engaging characters, she does have a tendency to write events that aren’t well explained or supported by her own lore, especially towards the finales. Which, when you are literally making up your own rules, shouldn’t be a problem — if you’re going to make something happen, just make up a plausible explanation to go along with it!

For example, Jin-woo being a bug that needed to be deleted makes no sense, because the bugs were NPC created after players that had been killed — but Jin-woo was alive when he faced Emma that final time. He wouldn’t have been a bug at all, but the show wants us to think he was, because he left behind the same pile of sand that the real bugs left. But even if Jin-woo was a bug that needed to be killed, then why wasn’t Se-joo a bug, too? Why did the game consider Jin-woo something to be deleted, yet Se-joo was allowed to escape? They were both players who had committed real violence in the game and killed someone, yet were still alive.

I have many, many more questions, but I’d rather focus on the positive, because as a whole this drama was very exciting and entertaining, as long as you don’t look for too long under the hood. One thing this writer does exceptionally well is her characters, who are forced to face the worst of humanity and themselves, and don’t always come out the other side intact. Sometimes, they do well just to survive with their sanity, and that was certainly Jin-woo’s biggest challenge. One of my favorite things about Memories of the Alhambra was how you could watch Jin-woo falling apart piece by piece as time went by, transforming from the confident predatory wolf into a broken man who simply wanted to set things right, who was hanging onto his sense of self with every ounce of energy he had left, until he just didn’t have anything left. Jin-woo wasn’t responsible for the game going wrong, but he knew that he was the only one who could fix it, and he was willing to do whatever needed to be done, even sacrifice himself, to put things back the way they should be.

All that said, my complaints are all issues that I’ve come to expect with this writer, yet I still find myself enjoying her work, because what she does right, she does very, very right. Her dramas are always unique and creative with a lot of suspense and action, incredibly layered and emotionally rich characters (for the most part — Hee-joo has already been talked to death so I’ll refrain), and a crack factor that’s through the roof. Memories of the Alhambra was no different, and in fact might just be my new favorite of her shows. As a gamer, I loved watching a drama about one of my favorite hobbies, and I loved the concept of the game and how it became this unthinking, yet still terrifying, entity that couldn’t be fought or reasoned with — Jin-woo had to play by its rules, even when its rules were deadly. I thoroughly enjoyed this drama even with its flaws and inconsistencies, and I’m very much looking forward to what this writer will think up next (pun intended).

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I'm sure there will be no season 2 or whatsoever.... the writer is suck on its ending i dont even want to re watch this again.

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Not gonna lie Rewatch value does go down

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Seriously, this is the most stupid drama plot ever. Games involving life and death? The game creator should live his entire life feeling guilty. The game he created caused people to die. And he being selfish by sending quest to save him.

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Regarding the ending, I imagine hundred of people out there will be smashing their pillows, monitors, or TV and cursing that they won't see SSJ's drama anymore... :) But it was quite predictable somehow learning from her last drama, "W", including with many issues left unanswered. Well, I didn't expect it, but this could happen.. and it HAPPENED, LoL.

Well, anyways, I don't have much thoughts as other Beanies. And my last thought is quite simple and short: "While Jin-woo is stuck in the AR Game, I'm stuck with Hyun Bin's dimples...."

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I WAS predicting it, I WAS expecting it, from episode TWO and I was still annoyed LMAO.

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LMAO, and I'm officially banning this writer, LoL. I KNEW she would MESSED IT, like W... HAHAHAHA. But yeah, HYUN BIN is the reason I watched this... while bearing the sorrow of seeing Park Shin-hye's character, LoL. Although some people said that her character is a "regular" person who suddenly her fate is interwind with Jin-woo, still... I don't like the character who's constantly crying and she doesn't do much throughout the series. To be honest, I love Shin-hye more in variety where she's truly an angel who's good at cook (yes, she was an angel to Seo-jin, Taecyeon, and Kwang-kyu, and I'll just forget Shin-hye played Hee-joo, LoL.

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It's okay Sic. You didn't expect Hyun Bin to be as yummy as your Melona bar, did you?

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I mean... no.
Because I hadn't a) even realised I'd seen in him anything before and b) the thing I had seen him in I detest with the utmost passion kekekeke

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I thought it would be happy w- two worlds

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Too bad, it's a NO, :))

even if Jin-woo doesn't trap in the AR game (for now), he has still go to the police for the questioning. I don't think the case is really closed... The cases with the police is still hanging till the end...

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@lollypip: By the way (and I didn't mention this in my first comment) I loved, loved, loved your Comment section at the end. Beautifully written and exactly how I feel about the drama. Thank you so much.

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I liked most of the finale, and even understood the ending more or less. Although my question is -- what about Marco? He started the bug by violating the rules of the Cafe. I assume he would be a bug as well, since he went around going after Seju as an NPC. Which also explains Seju's PTSD. Having someone of that level hunt you daily has got to be traumatizing.

As far as Seju not being considered a bug, I assume it's because he didn't die in game. I also believe that there's a chance that the healed portion of Zinu was considered a bug somehow, and maybe that was removed. However, since both of them are/have been masters of the game, that would explain why somewhere, a mostly out of phase Jinwoo is lurking. Why he hasn't just left the game remains to be seen. Perhaps he's there to prevent anyone from tainting the game again, since his high level would allow him to kill bugs quickly. The other thing, is that perhaps he's too traumatized to enter the real world, and face Heeju. More than likely he has a lot of guilt associated with the death of Dr. Cha and Mr. Seo. especially Mr. Seo, and has decided to take his place in the game.

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I loved the drama but I didn’t agree with the freeze point of the finale

See- ju not being the bug is because Emma is his noona

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I still can't understand when or where the spark happens between Heejoo and Zinu. When he fell off 6th floor? When he scolded her? When he used her as shield from Dr. Cha? The spark was so vague I can barely sense it. Even after all that, the kiss, the crying scene, I feel that the relationship between Minjoo and Zinu is so much understandable than the supposing OTP. I feel the bromance(s) between Zinu and City Hunter aka Secretary Seo or Yangju are waaaaaay better.

I feel that it could have been better if Heejoo actually plays the game herself. Maybe she can have a secret weapon, developed by Yangju, the guitar to have a standoff with Emma. Heejoo could save the world and save us all from frustration as well. Cus all she did was cry, running around in rain, brings umbrella, just, there. Why do I feel like without her it won't make much difference. She didn't harm much or help much in the quest or in Zinu life itself. All she did was bring him umbrella and cry for him. SIGH

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The romance was a glitch, a bug planted by other parties.

I still cannot understand why the writer wrote such an unlikable character like Hee Joo and make her sister everything we want to see in the female lead. The only explanation I have is that Min Joo was the original lead. Hee Joo and all those romantic nonsense were forced.

Hee Joo doesn't need to be the center of the story. We get that she is there to support Jin Woo but was there a need to make her so dumb and useless? The final salvo was Emma who stuck the knife into Jin Woo. It's like the writer saying - "You want romance? Yeah, I'll have the girl(NPC of Hee Joo) stab the guy!" Twisted.

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omg THISS!! I swear if Heejoo and Minjoo switch soul would have made the romance better.

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To be fair, she did save his life at least three times on the show. When she stopped the zombies from killing him in the dungeon by notifying the Alhambra, when she blocked zombie HS from killing him in the rain, and when she discovered he had fallen down several floors in the middle of the night. It’s also implied in the end that she will be the one to find him or free him in the game.

But I wasn’t crazy about their romance either. I think the first time he felt a spark was when he saw Emma in pretty clothes, playing the guitar. It wasn’t really her, but a fantasy version of her. And I think the first time she felt a spark was when he “hugged” her in the rain, looking all handsome and helpless. But he was only trying to block HS, not showing her affection.

They should have interacted more, to make the romance believable. Maybe have him tell her everything from the beginning, have something happen when she entered the game to talk to Emma, or try to find her brother’s notes about the game together, etc.

The bromance was the most heartfelt and heartbreaking relationship on the show. If she had been the one to be his ally, it would have been more interesting, but she would have died. Then he definitely would not have a happy ending.

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I was going to post a lengthy post on everything this drama could have been but wasn't. Since that takes too much space, perhaps it's better to consider Goethe's three questions for theater critics:

1. What is the artist/director/writer trying to do?
2. Is it done well?
3. Is it worth doing?

I'm stuck on the first question. None of the potential plotlines really deliver any lasting impression or sense of meaning. There are elements of the hero's quest, the ghost in the machine scenario, Frankenstein (without the morality), the action gamer fantasy (like Ready Player One), Cyberpunk without the punk, the psychological mystery with a potentially unreliable narrator, the crime thriller, the corporate dynasty melodrama, zombie/apocalyptic horror, and the travel romance. However, none of it really works because possible themes are left unexplored and the audience is left to insert meaning where the script offers none. Watching Jin-woo struggle is not the same as understanding who he is and the decisions he made. He is probably the most developed character, but he's still an enigma in the end. The game is not analyzed in any meaningful way, and concepts of guilt, murder, and responsibility are shallowly addressed at best. The science fiction/fantasy elements are also underwhelming with so little social commentary. Some of the acting was quite good, but this drama was far less than the sum of its parts.

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*claps* THIS. Everything you said. I wish I could upvote it more than once.

I too was going to write a long serious analysis on the show, the writer and what and where she goes wrong but got stuck at a similar point because I was trying to work out how on earth she failed to write the most basic of fantasy story formulas- the quest.
But I think you hit the nail on the head. She has too many formulas, and she doesn't have a strong enough grasp on basic storytelling (as was evident in her interviews) so her writing is but a veneer, and nothing has any lasting sense of meaning. It's pretty, but it has nothing of substance to it. The game itself is a good example of this. It's purely there as a plot device, not to exist outside of the plot in any capacity of its own, which it could, and probably should.
Even trope filled, cheesy and often cringey romcoms have a better grasp on their basic storytelling formula than she does. I think she needs to go away and practice that a lot more. But she won't.

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I think my answer for no 1 is
A renegade hero and murdurous intent
I’m pretty certain it is the intent to murder that causes the glitches or bugs

And how everyone is capable of killing someone and would do so in an environment without consequence (here it’s the game) jin woo walks that fine line- he mentioned he would like to kill HS if he wasn’t stopped, he definatelh enjoyed the battle with HS and went for broke with little restraint in killing him (his game character), recall the taunting both had before and during their fight.
And he have to spend 1 year in hell for this (needing to kill him again and again daily like it’s some sort of punishment)
It’s about redemption too - how others have to pay for his mistakes (eg secretary)

#2. Was it done well? It was set up very very WELL but it wasn’t followed through which was bad and sad

-#3 is it worth doing? I don’t know - what’s - lacking is the overall ending it just wasn’t as strong as the set up and it felt very .....casual.

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It makes sense to me. Jin Woo became a bug as soon as he killed Hyung Seok. Once he killed Hyung Seok, Jin Woo became permanently logged in to the game even without lenses and felt real pain from NPC attacks. Thus, Jin Woo had now crossed over from reality into the game. This is why NPCs were able to kill Secretary Seo in reality and NPC Hyung Seok kill Professor Cha because as Jin Woo's allies, they were no longer players; they existed inside the game.

Se Joo was a bug once he killed Marco. The reason Se Joo did not need to be deleted was because the game had been reset. In actuality, Jin Woo did not need to delete the individual bugs NPC Hyung Seok, NPC Professor Cha, and NPC Secretary Seo as long as Emma deleted him because once the game is reset, all the bugs are automatically deleted. NPC Marco is obviously a bug, but Jin Woo would never be able to delete him because only Se Joo can see NPC Marco.

Se Joo hid in an instance dungeon to avoid being killed by NPC Marco; Jin Woo is hiding in an instance dungeon to avoid being arrested by the police. Players would have to "Rescue Master!" by completing the quest. As long as J.One eliminated the player versus player feature from Next, there ought to be no more deaths.

I cared only about the game and, by extension, Se Joo. I teared up when all the J.One employees clapped for Se Joo. I felt so proud of him, and I loved when his noona said, "Because Se Joo is a genius." Anytime Jin Woo was not playing the game, the show dragged. The romance was unconvincing, so I'm not mad there was no reunion between Jin Woo and Hee Joo until the end. Yu Ra and Oppa were complete wastes of space. The "memories" in Memories of the Alhambra must mean "flashbacks."

A big thanks for recapping Flashbacks of the Alhambra, @LollyPip and @dramallama!

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Ditto he didn't need to be heroic to kill the three Emma could have done it.

Became a proper matyr by himself

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@panshel Interesting conjectures as to some of the logic.

You may be interested to see conjectures to questions raised in a few articles in another blog. The link to it is in my post below:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/01/memories-of-the-alhambra-episode-16-final/comment-page-2/#comment-3395353

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By contrast Korean Odyssey felt more cheerful than MOA

There was real hope

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While most of us will ban SJJ' future jobs from our watching list for some time, i am happy that everyone enjoy watching the dimples. And the owner of the dimples. ☺☺☺

What im scared the most is, we dont know how long will have to wait for HB's next project. 😭😭😭

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If someone knows of an interview link where the writer explained the finale i would appreciate it.

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not sure if this interview explained the finale but she kinda said something about it.

https://channels.vlive.tv/BF37FF/vtoday/0.9780052

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Much appreciated

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I am going to ask only one question.

The bug was created because 2 players exhibited killing intention towards each other. And now it has been deleted with the game being reset because, well, all those players and their associates got killed. (gonna ignore the loophole with Se-ju.)

What if two new players harboring killing intent towards each other do something untoward in Emma's presence again? Will the game get bugged again? Doesn't that make the game incomplete and still a national danger? How are they circulating it everywhere, knowing there is such a fatal drawback?

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I’m not really sure whether Emma is still around after the world reset. She deleted herself as well because she’s bugged to?

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If she is still around, then that tech guy who is Emma’s biggest fan will delete her. He said he would have deleted her if he had known she could reset everything. All their hard work for the past year, creating new weapons, NPCs, etc., was lost.

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Oh that would make sense. Somewhat. I guess we'll have to resolve it in our heads

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Drama got over so they don't have to concern themselves with technicality

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:( I'll forever dwell in uncertainty

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HALF DEATH

BOOKMARK THIS POST

WILL COME BACK & EXPLAIN IN POST 2

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Post 1 Why i dislike that end personally
Post 2 Jin-woo- NPC or User
Post 3 End Analysis - Critic & Audience Pov
Post 4 Writer's thought process

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Post 1 Personal Dislike Factor :

I didn’t deserve that Ending !

2 Months !! I gave my emotions my time to this drama. Watching the high & lows of the plot i was promised a payoff which i got cheated out of !!

I was left… feeling unsatisfied. I deserved better !!

At the end of the day I want to come out with smiles & popcorn, the satisfaction of watching something worthwhile !

It’s that Simple for me !!

Im very particular about the dramas i chose. Tonally if she had made it semi tragic or depressing instead of upbeat.

I would have gotten the memo either prepared myself for that tragic end or opted out of watching . Simple !

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Post 2 Half Death Scenario :

>Just before the episodes freeze point they showed Jinwoo glitching.

>I paused that part & noticed it was the gun not his hand.

>Towards the beginning of the episode we saw Npc dust of Jin-woo not his
physical body.

> Se-joo explanation of Instance Dungeon & the hopeful msg at episodes end
plus the happy music score

All these indicators show that Jin-woo is not an NPC obut a USER
The drama gave us the hint early on that when EMMA stabbed him she killed only the NPC part of him that would have come out if he died.

He escaped in the Instance Dungeon alive before the game reset and survived.

Most probably why it took a year was because it took that much time for game to launch & only then was he able to come out.

Sadly we will never be able to confirm it because the writer chose the freeze point before Heeju could meet Jin-woo. Keeping the mystery intact !

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Post 3 End Analysis :

From a Critics point of view that ending was Meh a Non starter if you please.

End didn’t fit the storyline of High & Lows Adventure come Adversity.

You do not end the story on such a sloppy note. Then hastily tack on a confusing message !

Either kill him off properly & give him a hero sendoff or let him live &
adjust to reality like Sejoo . Get back his life if you please.

As a member of an Audience viewpoint:

Jin-woo didn’t deserve for his defining moment to be the Game.

Everyone else got a chance to disconnect from the game and plan for a life away from the game …Yura ,se joo, Soo-jin Ceo Hoon even your dead NPC’s we’re relieved from the game.

Why does only Jin- woo get shortchanged !!! Does the guy of a successful IT company deserve to have his Identity be the Game & only the Game !

In her interview (thanks @ outofthisworld) writer said “ the drama was the the story of a man whose life was destroyed to a greater extent ”

What was the point of portraying his harrowing journey if you don’t let him triumph. It’s the same as him not doing anything. Might as well as let Hyunseok kill him in the beginning.

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Post 4 Why the writer wote it that way ?

We’ll never know but I can only speculate

1. After W - 2 worlds people would be expecting a similar end. She wanted to keep us on our toes so deliberately changed it to make it unpredictable.

2. She was going for a tragic end but was forced to change it mid way. The result was that sloppy mish mash.

3. She had some grander plans but was not able to convey it properly. This left the audience confused as to what she ultimately wanted to say.

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And Finally if that writer ever comes up with a drama

I going to opt out of watching it.

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It's a bittersweet ending but I like it :)

I liked the drama because of the character of Jin Woo and how Hyun Bin acted. The story was about him and it didn't bother me because it was interesting, exciting and touching.

I liked how they used Granada for this drama. It was not only an exotic place to start the drama, it was really a part of the drama.

My favourite characters after Jin Woo were Secratary Hoon and Min Joo. I liked the relationship they had with Jin Woo and they were fun. When he had to kill the bug, it was so sad :(

The women in the this drama didn't have a nice role... First wife : a cheater, second wife : a crazy liar, Hee-Joo : a cry baby. On paper Hee Joo was interesting. She took care of her family, she had different jobs, she was an emotional support for Jin Woo but on screen we couldn't see that. I will remember her crying with her perfect hair.

Se Joo was a typical teenager who had bad friends and caused a lot of troubles. But when Jin Woo passed one year to find him and sacrified himself for this game, he stayed in his room? Min Joo won the title of the most interesting sibling in the family !

Personaly, I don't want to see a game like that in my daily life. People are already not very respectful when they look their phone on the street, so gamers in the street? Non, thanks.

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I hope Se-jo is more involved after he is rescued. But I guess he’s still traumatized by Marco.

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He struck me as a frightened kid all along, lacking confidence and pushed against his will to go along with Marco, who was greedy and out to exploit his talent. SJ was not much of a fighter himself and it was terrifying to be stalked by a dead 'enemy' who was constantly out to shoot him. It was fortunate he recovered somewhat and was able to leave the house.

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To add to that, I think the trauma is still fresh to him if we’re going by the possibility that the time stop when he is inside instance dungeon. For us it’s a year ago. For him, perhaps, it’s just a few moments ago.

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Amen to that growing beautifully

It was good to see sejoo get recognition from the Developer team.

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I absolutely abhor walking along pavements with people slowing down because they are on their phones. The 'Next' game got people hurt by the players, didn't it, so it's a warning that AR games need to be played away from public places!

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Yeah, or getting off the bus or the train. Can they wait two seconds?

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And the irritating delay when they don't move out of the elevator or into one because they are not paying attention!!!

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I thought they'd wisen up & restrict gaming to a specific area

Or build a special centre for gamers

like how you have Disneyland

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I agree an amusement park for gamers would be the best.

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I’m ok abt the ending although it gives me some PTSD. Mainly revolving around the unanswered questions and the sheer potential of this being able to be completely epic but settled on being a rollercoaster rider though an enjoyable one most of the time. That being said, I always and always will give credit to dramas who try a different take on things and a creative premise. Without a doubt this beats any generic drama hands down and It was defiantly entertaining. Hyun Bin pretty much was a one major part of the equation because he made jin woo very human and I connected with him. It was also stellar acting and I also like his entourage of BFF esp secretory seo who made my heart hurt every time he appears. I don’t like the romance - it’s been talked to death so i’ll Leave it as that.

I like how the story started and even right up to the 3/4 of it, I thought it was great. I think I get what the writer wants to do and obviously she’s talented , very in fact. but either she’s artistically rebellious and just don’t care abt how she wants to tie the strings up (because she can do it her way or the High way) or she needs to push herself to get strong from beginning to the end/ if you make the rules why can’t you make more rules to make things work and end with a bang. It should be easier.

Honestly I see Streaks of sheer willfulness in her style - it’s like people with a lot of ideas, it comes naturally and in droves so they get bored quick and can let go of one great thing fast because they will always have another great thing or idea to work on. More so if they are forced to conform or compromise , I can totally see how she nonchalantly adds the female lead in and don’t care what it does as long as it doesn’t change her Story or whatever she had in mind. At some point, I think she was even done with jin woo (definitely in the last episode) these people leave little sympathy for their audience or their characters simply because the start is always much more pumping for them then the finish. I won’t be surprised if she had already another drama idea in mind while tieing up MOA - and I don’t doubt it would be another creative addictive crazy one that we will all swear never to watch and then end up succumbing again and be crazy over how it ended

Basically it’s about maturity as a writer
You may not like it but you need to owe the idea the hard work of completing it vs just starting it.
But what are the odds of this? She’s definatelh by default a cut above the rest without trying - Hopefully she wants to be great as greatness takes more than talent. You need to do the hard work that you don’t want to do.
If she gets there, we will have one epic drama

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I think she would do great in a team, she would bring novel ideas and general outlines and someone with better writing skills would flesh it out and polish.

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Yes she should absolutely team up

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That was the best ending she could think of I mean sgbhurdghhhhgfscjkkk. Okay, I'm alright it's just that I don't get why se jo is alive if jin who is in some Indun, like its very hard to comprehend because HE IS NOT A F!!KING NPC, get your sh!t together writer nim.
I swear this writer is like a drug, I cant stand the rubble she always leaves me in but I can't (or more accurately, I don't want to) quit. At the end of her dramas she always makes me wanna pull my hair out starting with nine (i'll never forgive you for his death, never) so its obvious that what we have is not an healthy relationship but I would always hate to love your ideas.

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I don't hate the ending.
But it just irritates me that there are sooo many questions left answer.
Don't get me wrong, I love this show and the concept of it is very interesting. The writer did a good job on creating such a rich world and depth of a character. I'm neutral on her works though so I guess I see things more objectively. There is so many things she could have done better regarding the plot, the character, and the rules of her world. When things happen and there is no explanation, it just feel like a lazy cheap plot twist. Writing fantasy and scifi is hard because it is hard to keep constant with all the rules you create for that world and when you can't keep up with it or explain it, it's like a needle in the audience's heart and mind, always wondering why it happen.
I was hoping that the finale would answer all if not most of the jarring twist in this series but it didn't and that really disappoints me.

Questions
1. When and why did the glitch happen? If it happen when Marco stab Se-Ju, then that is way before Jin Woo starts playing the game. If the glitch was already there and getting "kill" in the game will result in real death then WHY DIDNT JINWOO DIE WHEN HE WAS SLAY MANY TIMES IN THE BEGINNING? Or any new players that keep gettign slay by npc?
2. The first question could have been answer by maybe the "real death" only occur if it's during a duel between real player. Like when JinWoo duel the Cha guy and killed him. But then if it's only happen between duel between real players, then there is no way Jinwoo could be kill by any npc. Whats the difference between the npc in level 1 and level 3? npc when you're level 1 can't kill you? But NPC when you're higher level can? That makes no sense. The secretary shouldn't have died. I felt like his death was just there for plot twist and emotion pull.
3. Regarding npc that can kill you. If they all can kill you, wouldn't all of them be glitched? Why is only the 3 main one the "glitched" one. On that when Jinwoo deletes all the glitches....where is Marco? He didn't delete Marco.
4. Why is JinWoo a glitch except again just used for plot twist and emotion pull for his "death". It's irritating. Whatever makes him a glitch...I guess being involved or related to the other glitch game file...could make him a glitch...but wouldn't that make Se-Ju also a glitch for marco who I haven't seen "deleted"/
5. Why does Emma deleting Jin Woo, trigger the reset of the game? If anyone say he is the source of all the glitch....then no, wouldn't that be Se-Ju who may had created the first bug with Marco? So wouldn't it make more sense if she deleted Se-Ju to reset the game? Of course they wouldn't do that, it will break Hee-Ju. So Jin Woo being the bug MAKES NO SENSE.
5. On becoming the master and creating things. When Se Ju was the master, he is the creator, it makes sense that he knows how to "program" this game so he can create things instantly. When...

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5. On becoming the master and creating things. When Se Ju was the master, he is the creator, it makes sense that he knows how to "program" this game so he can create things instantly. When JinWoo becomes the master....seriously hold does a businessman like him know how to create anything in this game?
6. On to technology....its new, advance and cool yes. But the writer never explains how it works. How did Se-Ju create the game. Where was the original server before the server moved to J-One? What happen to the original server after J-One took over. How did the game or any file of it's creation get in J-One's hand without Se-Ju being there.
7. If the game is on a console/platform ie the contact lenses, then how did it still plays without it? Technically, where does it connect to? How did it register and connect to the server? If there is no platform or object to connect the player then how can the creator or that guy in J-one keep track of the player or level? In term of technology. It makes no sense. i guess you could just wrap it all up and said its "magic". But for a show about technology. It's annoying to see it not done logically.
8. If there was a bug then that bug will bound to happen again. Why in the world would they released the game again a year after it's reset is beyond. Someone somewhere will stab someone again with a real knife and cause another bug. It's beyond me that they are releasing a game they could barely control in the first place or understand how it work right out to the public shortly after all the tragedy. Do they never learn their lessons?

Characters
All the actors did an amazing job portraying their characters. The characters have depth and is interesting but....sometime....they dont make sense.
1. JinWoo - He is a savvy businessman, who is smart and confident. I understand that his confidence can be strip away as things are getting out of hand. But in dealing with the lawsuit and stuff....He is smarter than what he is doing. He blames the game for Cha's death...but technically he did "kill" the guy with his own hand. There is no evidence but he is a murderer all through and through. Towards the end, he acts like he is innocent and heroic and he is for trying fixing things but as for the incident...the truth is he killed Cha. The death was a result of his action no matter how much he want to blame the game. On dealing with the father and the ex wife....I thought he was smarter but nope he just let things get out of hand because he ignores them. It was a disappointment to see the "smart" side of him in the beginning just disappears.
2. Hee-Ju. Sigh. Can you do anything else other than cry cry and cry? I want to love her character, her character was supposed to be strong for having to deal with so many things in life alone....but all she does is cry. I expect a stronger Hee-Ju, someone who cry at times but can take things in her own hand to support Jin Woo, not just someone to let him borrow...

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2. Hee-Ju. Sigh. Can you do anything else other than cry cry and cry? I want to love her character, her character was supposed to be strong for having to deal with so many things in life alone....but all she does is cry. I expect a stronger Hee-Ju, someone who cry at times but can take things in her own hand to support Jin Woo, not just someone to let him borrow a car or being a flower pot.

Endings
The conclusion to most was alright.....it wasn't satisfying though.
What i mean is the "ending" of each character.
1. The professor Cha should have a worse ending than just getting kill by his son. He should have to face all the things he did. His death was too easy. It felt disappointing.
2. Hee-Ju annoying "friend" is still there, I don't see an apology or attitude change towards JinWoo. He was just there to create conflict, causes trouble and is still there. They should kill him off seriously.
3. The second ex wife....that ending for her was ok. But she deserve worse plus a slap in the face.

Sigh. Maybe you're right. I look under the hood for too long.
And with all un-answer questions, plot holes, and disappointing endings. It make the show a lot less enjoyable. I like the show and it's concept but as a drama itself, I don't think its the "great". It's good and enjoyable show, but it's not great. There are so many things it could have done better to make it great. But it didn't and its a disappointment.

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Totally agree with your last paragraph!

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@dramapanda
I'm not sure but I think some of your questions may be answered if you go to the blog that my comment has the link to. My comment below is:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/01/memories-of-the-alhambra-episode-16-final/comment-page-2/#comment-3395353

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Wow, thanks for the link that links to Bitches Over Dramas post that analyzed the ending spectacularly! So it was all about faith and now the last sentence makes sense.

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@linda-palapala Well, that blog takes apart dialogue and tries to get what is implied even if not said. I don't have the energy to do that, or to think if everything proposed/suggested is likely. It's a good, best guess from the one who is analysing, but we won't know if it is what the original writer did have as her logic, since she has never articulated it.

I'm generally a little careful that thoughts are not 'put' into heads as if they are canon, because we're all just guessing from our end. The explanations sound plausible and they may even hang together well, but we choose what to think. :-)

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Well it made a lot of sense to me and gave me a sense of satisfaction. As a favorite author said, not everybody gets your work but once it's out there it's up to the reader to interpret it however they wish, according to their own past.

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I'm watching MoA again with new eyes, and I love it. Binge-watching always works better for me. I might or might not totally agree with the "it's all about faith" when all is said and done. But it's fun to think about it.

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There was more "love" intensity and chemistry in that one hug between Secretary Seo and Jin-Woo than the entire series OTP romance fling.

Also, for entire 40 (40!) minutes of the last episode, our main hero didn't even appear once (once!) on screen, and no explanations (whatsoever!) was given for so many things, except a tidbit about instance dungeon (which we already kind of knew.) Just fixing the last 40 minutes of the episode, the whole series could've been saved, but no, the writer chose to default to tripe is-he-or-isn't-he-alive let's-show-everyone-especially-romantic-heroine-suffering why-did-they-even-include-that-scene time-skip kdrama trope. What an absolutely disappointing laughable ending (and a lot of other stuff in a series). Hyun Bin and Director and a smattering of plot originality carried this show.

In conclusion, I'll never see anything written by this writer ever again.

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Cold hard choices

1) give me the ending of both of them walking off in the sunset smiling at each other and marrying with puppies - insult to my brain considering the genre and how the story went from the start to the end. The romance factor is zero, period. I honestly don’t even think jin woo cared a lot for her other than someone who cared for him when he is in a super shitty place

2. Ending off with that (!) jin woo unknown unfaced and probably still in the game but NPC has no feelings or memory right? (!) —— just hurts my heart

I rather hurt my heart , as such pains can be addiction. For that I’m gratified and grateful we didn’t get one of those happy ever after for the sake of happily ever after ending.

That said- I’m very annoyed that we didn’t end with jin woo narration which has been consistent from beginning to the end , did they run out of Hyun Bin pay time? Well, they should have paid the overtime for it.

I would think this would tie it up very nicely
“And so ends my memories of the Alhambra. I don’t even know where I am or what I am. While I wait for another to start the quest once again”
Cue game screen: quest: Rescue master, from master

As it is with humans, someone is gonna glitch the game at some point - and so waits jin woo.

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Thanks @lollypip. I guess I also feel that I've generally enjoyed the show and was often happily surprised by the twists and flow of the game. I confess to having fallen asleep in the ending parts of the final episode, so it's good to know from the recap what I missed, or to confirm what I thought I gathered from the end.

I have a question ... if the new game is called 'Next', what was the name of the original game? It couldn't have been 'Memories of Alhambra' could it, since it was meant to be played in more than 1 location?

And the irony of the situation slowly dawned on me: the whole horrible year (or 2) happened just because Se Ju, called Jin Woo to meet up. For 2 whole years, in the process of trying to meet SJ, JW was shot and 'killed', daily killed his ex-friend, mourned the loss of more friends, had his spirit almost broken, fulfilled a quest to save Se Ju, lost health and job, was lonely and tired and had a terrible life ... but JW and SJ never set eyes on each other even once!!! What a horrible irony. 😒

I didn't think it worth my time, not did I have enough of it, to think through whether there was enough logic to spread around to explain everything without the logic contradicting itself. So huzzah for someone who actually bothers to 'explain' and conjecture from the clues in the show, what might be the likely reasons/logic for stuff.

If anyone is interested, click the link below. All credit to @packmule3. There are a few articles she's posted, attempting to make sense of this show.

http://bitchesoverdramas.com/2019/01/22/memories-of-the-alhambra-phoenixs-happy-ending-and-game-explanation/

😃

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Your comment had me LOLL so hard, especially this part : "but JW and SJ never set eyes on each other even once!!! What a horrible irony."
LOOL cos it's so true,and I nvr even thought abt it! good one, thanks -:D

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Once Se-Ju came out, I expected Jin-Woo to go confront him or even punch his face ; )
Dude, what did you code?

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Me too :)

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I wished there was triumph at the end of this journey to make sense of his losses

But its never coming right

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The original name is Memories of The Alhambra which is the name given to game developed by Se-jo that primarily based in Granada x Alhambra x etc. There is no name given to the game developed by J One that aims for a worldwide release up until Next. That’s if I recalled it correctly.

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@growingbeautifully,
Thanks so much for that link. It's very helpful, and leaves me feeling better about the ending. ;-)

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Hi @pakalanapikake I'm glad you've managed to watch the show (or read the recaps!) and that the link helped. Cheers!

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@growingbeautifully,
I finished watching the show and reading the recaps and comments. I kind of wish I'd been able to live-watch it when it aired, but who am I kidding? The stress of waiting for each week's installments would have blown what's left of my circuits -- and trying to remember details and developments from one week to the next... Aaarg!

I agree with you about the irony of Jin-woo's dedicated campaign to rescue a person he'd never even met -- and the way his life fell apart while he was doing so. But that reminds me of what Devo ["Are we not men?"] called their music: "the important sound of things falling apart." It makes impermanence sound downright sexy. Sometimes falling apart is the best thing that can happen. Although it's usually an unpleasant experience while it's happening. Jin-woo has already shown evidence of becoming / reverting to being a better person than he was at the start of the drama.

Thanks again!

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The show has been an enjoyable ride where the ending can be a whole lot better if the writer focused on what makes the show standout, Jin-woo and his journey. Perhaps like @lollypip and some beanies, I prefer to remember the positive sides of the drama because what the show has done right, it does it very right. Sometimes, the journey is much more important than its destination @ the ending.

The thread has been amazing as well. It is very varied, from the shit posts (other beanies pointed that out, I just recycled this term, let me know if you want to rephrase it @sicarius), abstastic comments, techie comments and we are amazed comments. The diversity made it fun to read and sometimes stressful. Lol.

Lastly, thanks for the amazing recaps @lollypip and @dramallama. Gonna miss them.

# Player Chukahae has logged out from the game

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I have so many unresolved feelings about this drama, but the ending got me so mad and irritated that I am just avoiding thinking about it at all.
Its such a loss that with such good storyline and actors for this show, they mess up during the last few eps. I never understand why writers cant sit and work thoroughly on their script from start to end rather than only focusing on the beginnings. Ugh!

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I think be became a bug because he was allies with people who became bugs. He kept saying that as allies their fates are connected.

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Well, both his allies died but he didn't!

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This series will occupy a place on the special shelf of dramas right next to Big: the shelf where I file shows that have some good parts but are ultimately misfires, especially when fantasy shows don't end up adding up. As LollyPip said, "I feel as though, if your audience can’t learn through the show itself how the rules of your fantasy universe work, then something in the storytelling has gone wrong." And that is NOT INCORRECT.

Thinking about the writer's previous work W, there was a similar "reality breaks" element to the story. But in W it brought up the very interesting question of do writers (and our imaginations) create worlds, or do they recount stories from worlds that they somehow sense through dreams and imagination? In W it was clear those worlds collided and broke into each other but random breaks in reality works much less well here. Again there's a bit of the idea of the creator being swallowed by his creation (Se-Joo and Marco being the first victims) but it doesn't play as well. This whole show's storyline resonates along the line of the anime Sword Art Online and I think if there had been a tech malfunction with the lenses it would have been better.

Overall though the show had many other problems: slow pacing, excessive product placement, underusing Park Shin-Hye, and just really not having enough meaty material. Like Yu-ra? She was nothing but an annoying side character, I'd rather she was completely cut out. But it would have been even slower.

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What happen to the mystery guy Jin-woo calls in the beginning? Acted by Park Hae-soo (Prison Playbook) o.o

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Detective A? He was just a detective to help Jin Woo during the earlier days. Once JinWoo figured that its the game he moved on to game world from real world.

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Just thought he might have a bigger role hahah he barely showed his face and was gone hahah

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You could say that of poor Park Hoon too. Reduced to a murderous ghost without expression or dialog after just a few episodes!

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Thank you @lollypip, because without your commentary, I would have remained in this mood,this feeling of having been cheated I keep feeling since I watched the finale, this feeling of having wasted my entire time watching this drama. I hated the finale because, I felt like the writer left me hanging, and there are so many things I still don't understand that I just feel like the entire experience of watching those 16 episodes was a waste. But, you just reminded me that I actually did enjoy it, for the action. I was really into Jin Woo character and couldn't wait to see what was coming next. Even tho the whole point of impatiently waiting for the following episode was to better understand it and it nvr happened, I did enjoy the action and well Hyun Bin. Sure, I'm disappointed, but I think thanks to this commentary, I'll try now to see the positive points from this drama. I usually know that a drama is good when I take away some kind of life lessons, a way for me to make this guilty pleasure (errr, addiction) worth the amount of time I spent watching those dramas. And as Lollypip mentionned, I think what I can take away from this is perseverance. Jin Woo really did not have any break at all and he really believe it could save the game and his company, what he suffered to build, and he did, that was basically his life purpose. So yeah, I guess this I can take that away from those 16 hours. And I was really glad I got to see Hyun Bin on my screen, he really is a good actor.

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Idle thought -- did Jin-woo stay in the game to hang out with alluring and assertive Emma, rather than go home to weepy Hee-ju?

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This made me explode with laughter 🤣

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Now, I am imagining Jin Woo and Emma playing dungeon games.

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So late to this game, but yes to what so many have said. I think Lollypip captured my feelings the best in her final comments though -- I would have liked to see a stronger link between the potential for season 2 (even if there ISNT a season 2 -- some hint that HJ will play the game and free JW). I didn't hate the ending though. I didn't love it, but it seemed more like a failed execution than a bad idea, to me. The same idea, done differently, would have been ok to me. It felt a little like they ran out of time, which they could have fixed by eliminating Yu-ra and Seong-bam (or whatever his name was. ugh still annoyed at him). Anyway. I will miss some parts of this show and I am glad I watched it. But the greatness it almost had ended up eluding it, and I'm sad for that.

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Please have a season 2 or another episode with a better ending.

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He stopped breathing after falling off the balcony. The med student had to resuscitate him. That was probably the point when he became a bug.

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me: this will have a good ending
*an hr later*
wait a damn minut-

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What a let down of the last episode! I wasn't looking for everything to be tied up neatly in a bow, but at least don't have such HUGE plot holes that you can't even concentrate on the episode. Honestly, the whole hr, I kept thinking "but why didn't she tell anyone about Jw dropping off the car". I even built a matrix model to lay out the actions of all the characters in the various timelines and concluded that JW dropped off the car around 6:00 am the morning of the day I am calling day 1; on Day 1 evening SJ shows up (without a passport and no money, but we'll let that slide for now!). Then, HJ calls Dir. Park to let him know about SJ returning, but does not say anything about getting her car back earlier that day!! I mean - yo two were literally talking the previous day about where JW might be (when he was at the church the first time). So, you see the car in front of your house, you run around a little looking for your BF, but then give up and just go back to lying in bed and crying all day???

And I guess the game had to wait until HJ was in the church with Dir. Park until it magically reset to give us that glorious CGI scene (this is after i gave the benefit of the doubt that maybe it took JW the whole hour from 6- 7am to kill all of the NPCs with the key to turn into dust, and the server got shut down before the game could dramatically shut down like that the previous day!).

And finally - WHY IS JW THE BUG, but not SJ or even at the very minimum MARCO?????It would have even been more compelling if JW went to Spain and found Sj and Marco (could even have a scene where JW is saving Sj from Marco), but then tried to stab him !! Imagine that plot line - that would have really set up some conflict and drama between JW and HJ and SJ, but at least that would have been logical with the rest of the "need to kill the bugs to reset the game" storyline that the writer wanted.

So many better options for the ending that were never explored......sad :(

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For those who feel being stabbed through the heart like JW after watching the ending. I urge you to re-watch ep 2. You will find great comfort in it, you can see the whole HuynBin/JW show there.
JW wickedness
JW Humor
JW Cockiness
JW bromance
JW bitterness
JW attractiveness – He looks great in smart casuals.
JW smiles
JW dimples, JW more dimples
He is so manipulative, but I all I can see is his smiles and dimples.
I would love to see more of JW prior to the Granada business. Someone said before that there weren’t many female staff in the office. Do you think things will get done if you have a boss like him walking around the office?
HJ was great in this ep.

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Possible final: Hee joo becomes a nun after go to church so many times 😁😁😁

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If I was HJ and there was no hope of JW coming back, I would become a nun too...because which man could ever compete with the perfection that is HB? Everyone else would always fall short ;)

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- this ending has risen to my list of most disappointing endings ever
- it seemed like the writer just got too smart for her own good and didn’t know how to properly end the story/wrap up things
- like they never explained how se joo got out of the dungeon, the bug, why does completing the quest = safe enough for se joo to leave, why can’t se joo just …..erase the bug if he’s the programmer…why did the game reset…
- why is woo jin considered a bug??? if he’s a bug doesn’t that mean se joo is a bug too???
- tbh I would have been fine with an ending where he joo sees jin woo and they run up to each other and embrace and cry lol (even that would have been a better ending than what we got)
- what about marco??? they didn’t have to “kill” off jin woo…so unnecessary. and they COULD have saved him with that dungeon loophole but they didn’t even give us a satisfactory reunion
- the last episode was also filled with so many unnecessary scenes like with the ex-wife
- kinda sad that the last time he joo saw woo jin was back at the outdoor mall like 4 episodes ago
- they tried to give us more screen time with the couple with that flashback in the beginning but no
- I was actually shipping this OTP but
- I think i’m just extra upset because i actually really liked this drama in the beginning and thought it had so much potential!!!! it made me a hyun bin fan when I was wasn’t before lol

ok end rant haha

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Well... *roll's eyes* that ending is one way of asking for season 2! *shrugs and look's a watch impatiently* Yeah, I won't hold my breath on it. *Moves on to collection pictures of Hyun Bin*

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Here's my attempt to put the capabilities of the Game on a solid theoretical foundation. It's simple, really.

1. The universe of MoA is already a simulation, as in for example - The Matrix. For those that think this is too far out, I'll just point out that there are serious physicists today who think that the best explanation for the universe we live in is that we are in fact a simulation. Conferences have been held to discuss this idea.
2. Se-Joo's break through was in finding a way to jailbreak life the simulation and access some bits of the underlying reality. For example like Neo in The Matrix, except through the Game. This explains how one teenager could create such complexity and sophistication; he was making calls to the underlying reality that already knew how to create and interact just like reality because it was! This explains how the game was able to interact with JW even when he was "logged out".
3. Emma is the Gate Keeper, the control between the Game and the underlying reality simulation. This explains how Emma gave the Game the ability to affect reality - e.g. kill players, hold SeJoo in stasis for a year in an "instance dungeon", hide him from others in reality, etc.

If think about it from this perspective, you'll find the game and its capabilities reasonable. As for all the other hard to explain parts of MoA, that's beyond this engineer.

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@hebang FlyingTool 100 points to you for a great effort and laying down the foundation! It might actually float our boat! 😄

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Yeah I considered the whole possibility of "they're all in the matrix already and don't know it" angle and it would basically have solved EVERYTHING but I knew she wouldn't do it. You know when W ended with stuff still unresolved she basically said that tying up those loose ends didn't interest her and clearly she got away with it because they let her make another show....

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Interesting perspective. Her setup is not that far-fetched. She just need to do a research beyond her comfort zone, like get some perspectives from engineering or physics perhaps?

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FUN OBSERVATIONS

BOOKMARK POST

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Emma The Serial Killer

Kind sweet Emma whose only flaw is her penchant for murder.

You despair at loosing your life in her hands. She looks concerned for you.

You tell her you are afraid . She reassures you it’s going to be all right.

And Really ! When she stabs you in the heart quite literally, you feel that everything is going to be just fine.

After all can our Angelic Emma really do you harm !

Beautiful soft compassionate yet ruthless when needed.
If there was an Assassin flick based on our Mercy killer cum peacekeeper id buy front row seats...

She’d also make one hell of a drama serial killer. 👂Writers are you listening …

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Some observations on Writer Song’s Male leads

Agree with @ Lollypip that one thing that writer does exceptionally well is her characters particularly her male leads

They are these cool confident alpha males yet they go through things which are not unknown to us. Like us they have weakness & vulnerabilities and just like us have weak moments where we do something foolish.

Take for example

W - two worlds there the male lead was depressed…suicidal he even jumped out of a bridge twice !!

In MOA our hero is burnt out…

In two of these dramas she used the male leads to highlight serious issues

…… Never knew you could start a dialogue like that through fantasy

It fun !

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Jin-woo-Hee ju Equation :

Yes her role is small. Yes the romance felt forced at times.

But a small role does not equate a weaker presence (both in their relationship & on the drama)

Their personal equation is of equals with mutual respect
& understanding.

She stood shoulder to shoulder with him nor was she in awe of him .
Their relationship was comfortable had warmth & an easy camaraderie which i personally liked .

Even though they had a little screen time together & weak writing
hyun bin convinced me his Jin-woo had deep feelings for Hee-ju
Like wise Park shin hye convinced me her Hee-ju was madly in
love with Jin-woo.

I know many people have just complaints regarding the size of her role. But I wouldn’t have any other actress paired opposite Hyun bin’s Jin-woo.Im glad she chose Hee-ju as her role . There was no one else who could have done Hee-ju better than her.

I really dig their Romance !

I’m also probably one of the very few people who didn’t mind Hee-ju’s crying. I didn’t even notice it. Like Jin-woo I accepted her tears & all.

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If it wasn't for the excessive number of beanie posts about her crying I wouldn't notice it either. As it was I kept waiting for her to cry and thinking where are all the tears people were talking about?? As it was she didn't cry any more than any other kdrama heroine.
And I quite agree with what you about the romance.

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Whenever i saw her crying on screen i became concious of it not because i minded but because back of my head thoughts

Like “Oh people are going to mention this today in the recap “ kept running .

Takes you out of it

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Epi 16

Here are some fun moments of the cast from Episode 16. They also thank us viewers for watching.

https://youtu.be/nYDmFvQVzb4

https://youtu.be/pWxnTsBs7X4

Poor Hyunseok ! 😢 I felt bad for him . Practically every episode he’s wearing the same suit with blood pouring from his ears his chest. Thats got to be hard.

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I have a really dark take on the show, which I'm pretty sure the writer didn't intend for but which I could not help but think of while I watched. The game world to me was like a modern war zone, where guerrilla warfare is the main arena of combat. Sometimes, people return from the war zone (e.g. Seju and Jin Woo the first time) but are forever changed and suffer permanent physical injury and/or immense psychological trauma. Others don't, and many times, their bodies are not recoverable. Families are left without closure, and some choose to move on (e.g. Professor Cha when his son died), or some choose to hold out hope against all odds (e.g. Heeju when Jin Woo "disappeared"). To me, when Jin Woo reappeared at the end and I heard that glitchy sound, I understood that he had become an NPC, and Heeju's running was her chasing another false lead. Watching this show as a commentary on the very real consequences of war, I didn't mind that the show didn't have a happy ending, and instead found it quite fitting.

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That another take I didn’t think think of.
Thanks for sharing

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I actually started enjoying the show the moment I stopped expecting it to make logical sense. Took me a few episodes before I finally stopped turning theories in my head.

An early theory of mine was that the lenses, because they enabled the player to perceive the game with all five senses, triggered synaptic messages to the brain, making it believe the hand was holding a heavy weapon, the gunshot was painful, etc.

And because the technology was a prototype and had not been tested exhaustively, Jin Woo didn't know it left a neurological imprint on his brain, which explains why he remained in the nightmarish sector of game even without the special lenses.

Meaning we blame all the logic-defying elements on the submerged-iceberg part of Jin Woo's brain.

Of course the theory shattered when it became apparent that his games sans lenses were still somehow linked to the server. This wasn't his beautiful mind; this was sorcery!

Since then I stopped looking for the flimsiest logic and just rolled with the magic.

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I have been wondering why Jinwoo is a bug and Secretary Seo was killed by NPCs when Cha and the old dude were killed by players.

My guess is that it all began at the cafe where the bug was. Jin-woo was most likely already affected by the bug when he first spoke to Emma. And of course Cha being at the cafe before, he was in the same situation.

Secretary Seo and old man got the bug too by allying Jin-woo. So all bugs can be killed by players or NPCS, which is why Seo died.

Seju should be a bug too but he escaped it by going to the third dimension before Jin-woo’s mission to kill all bugs.

What do you guys think?

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SJJ tried too hard to impress. Impressive, yes; the earlier episodes and of course the casts but viewers were loaded with too many questions and the drama was wrapped in too much mysteries. To put it simply; started off excellent with solid "research questions and framework" but then, the conclusion did not answer all the research questions.
I usually will not be bothered too much on logic because i know KDrama has no logic but this type of no-logic Logic is not very acceptable from my perspective.
Season 2? Thank you, even if you bring in Song Hye Ko if the writer is still SJJ.

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I really enjoyed this drama. I was on the edge of my seat many at times. I couldn't wait to see the next episode after watching the last. This drama was so so so super entertaining. I didn't read any recaps or read any of the comments before watching. I am soooo glad that I didn't read any of the comments. There are so many negative comments and comments pointing out this flaw and that flaw. If I watch after reading all the comments, I would never have enjoyed the series as much as I did. The lack of romance didn't bother me (I read the interview and understood why). The ending was acceptable (let's be honest, how many great dramas actually have endings that are not controversial?). I now really miss this drama that it's over. So sad.

Anyway, still want to say thank you for the recaps. Those helped me understand certain things I didn't, but from now forward, I will continue to watch the whole series before reading coz I don't want others (aka negative commentators) to ruin my entertainment.

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Sorry if we made you feel unwelcome. But you’re wrong about there only being negative comments there were a lot of people who felt positively like you about the drama .

Next drama if you do share your take you will be surprised by a lot of people flocking to your side.

There’s plenty of place to hold everyone’s viewpoint

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I'm okay with the ending, as it feels like there are multiple avenues along which a second season can be written. Heeju stepping up to bring back Jinwoo, Seju's redemption arc in helping his sis rescue his savior Jinwoo, more Jinwoo-Minjoo dynamics and finally for god's sake - address the un-debugged Marco NPC still roaming about in the game issue!

Mad props to Hyun Bin for carrying the show while he builds so many memorable connections and relationships with various characters from the beginning to the end. His affinity with Seo Biso will always be one of the prime highlights of the series. That farewell between them at the moment of debugging just had me bawling like a baby.

Thanks for recapping, @lollypipp

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