Gu Family Book: Episode 21
by girlfriday
This hour is the bookend to Episodes 1 and 2, and even though it’s been a while since Wol-ryung and Seo-hwa have been at the center of this story, it turns out they can still wring our hearts, just like they did the first time. I’m not crying, I swear. I just have something in my eye.
SONG OF THE DAY
Yisabel – “My Eden” from the OST [ Download ]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
EPISODE 21 RECAP
Wol-ryung and Seo-hwa finally meet for the first time in twenty years. Seo-hwa’s voice shakes as she calls his name, and this time we hear Wol-ryung’s thoughts as he looks back at her curiously: “Who is she, that woman? How does it hurt just to look at her?”
A glimpse of her in the past flickers by, and then when she calls his name the same way, he’s taken aback. “Who are you? Do you know me?” And as they approach each other, a group of archers races through the woods.
But before they can exchange any more words, Kang-chi shows up and steps in between them. He tells Wol-ryung that he can’t kill any more people, and that he’s going to put a stop to it all. He runs at Wol-ryung and attacks.
Wol-ryung fights back and slams Kang-chi up against a tree by his throat. Kang-chi: “Stop! I know you’re in agony. I know that’s not your real face. And I also know that the only person who can stop it is me. I’ll stop it. I’ll stop you.”
Seo-hwa sheds a tear as she watches father and son come to blows. They fight, but it only takes a few seconds for Wol-ryung to gain the upper hand. He gets ready to strike, when Seo-hwa screams, “No, Wol-ryung!”
His hand freezes in mid-air, and he’s more surprised than anyone. Seo-hwa cries for him to stop: “He’s your son! Our son.” He looks back and forth between them, hesitating. Kang-chi uses that chance to fight back, but they just end up in another deadlock grip.
Suddenly the group of archers arrives behind Wol-ryung. They aim, but Kang-chi sees them first and swings around to protect him.
We cut straight to Jo Gwan-woong testing out his new rifle with an evil glint in his evil eye, and then when we get back to the gumiho family reunion, Wol-ryung is frozen in shock at Kang-chi, who’s got a back riddled with arrows from jumping into the way.
The archers get ready to attack a second time, and this time Wol-ryung zooms over there to suck the life right out of them. Seo-hwa rushes to Kang-chi’s side, and when they turn around to look for Wol-ryung, he’s gone.
Yeo-wool, Gon, and Tae-seo decide to make a run for it and find Kang-chi looking like a pincushion. Yeo-wool rushes to hug him, and then she holds him close as Gon yaaaanks out the arrows one by one. Yeesh, it’s worse coming out than going in.
But he gets through the pain, and then the blue lights come to work their magic, thank goodness. From a distance, Wol-ryung watches them and his gaze lingers on Seo-hwa. She can feel him nearby and looks up, but there’s no one there.
The group returns to the school, and Kang-chi brings his mother with him. Jo Gwan-woong gets a string of bad news: Wol-ryung has killed their men, they failed to kill Seo-hwa, and Kang-chi ran off with her.
He fumes, knowing that it means she’ll get taken straight to Lee Soon-shin. Sure enough, the admiral arrives at the school to meet her, and Seo-hwa sends Kang-chi out so the adults can talk.
Yeo-wool’s stomach growls from the day of running around and kicking ass, so she and the boys run to Teacher Gong, who makes them a chicken. Gon and Tae-seo watch as Kang-chi and Yeo-wool fight over giving each other the best piece, and finally Tae-seo just breaks it up by grabbing it for himself. Ha.
Gon grabs the other leg, leaving the lovebirds to fight over the rest. If you can’t get the girl, you might as well get the best chicken parts.
Seo-hwa tells Lee Soon-shin that war is inevitable, and he agrees—but his worry isn’t foreign enemies, but those who are working to derail this country from the inside, like Jo Gwan-woong.
She tells him that Jo Gwan-woong’s network of foreign backing is far wider than he knows, and offers to give him the full list. Ah, to cut off his money stream. She asks for a favor in exchange, which we don’t hear.
Tae-seo gets ready to head back to the Hundred Year Inn, and finds Kang-chi lost in thought over his tree homework. Kang-chi worries that maybe it’s too dangerous for Tae-seo to go back, and promises to come running if he needs help.
He shares his homework puzzle—to figure out what kind of house is made by cutting this tree—and Tae-seo says in order to make a house you have to cut the tree at its base first. With that he takes out his sword and slices the paper right at the trunk of the hanja, turning it into the character for “foundation,” that comes from “root.”
Tae-seo says that a person who doesn’t know his roots can’t say he knows himself, and suggests that maybe figuring out that answer is the point of his assignment. I like all the riddles he gets, but I wish they’d let him figure them out on his own.
Kang-chi makes a bed for his mother, and she takes his hand. She thanks him for growing up so well when she fell so short as a mother, and he just beams at the praise, so relieved that she thinks he’s a decent person.
She confesses now that she ran back to him twenty years ago. When she came to her senses she ran back to the Moonlight Garden where she had left him and searched endlessly for her way back, but the mountain wouldn’t reopen the way there. “There wasn’t one day you weren’t in my thoughts.”
They stand there holding each other’s hands lovingly, as he calls her mother one more time. Yeo-wool listens from the other side of the door with a smile. She sits outside with Gon and muses that it must be nice to have a mother, even if parents do kind of make your life miserable sometimes. Gon asks if Master Dam does that to her, and she says every time he’s mean to Kang-chi it makes her sad.
Gon understands how Master Dam feels though—if he knows that Yeo-wool or Kang-chi could die if they don’t avoid each other, it’d be weirder for him not to be overprotective. But Yeo-wool doesn’t care much about a future she doesn’t know yet: “If you change the present to match the future, living now has no meaning.” Wise words, my friend. Gon can’t help but smile at that.
Lee Soon-shin gets reports of multiple massacres all over the area, and so does Jo Gwan-woong. If they’re both surprised, then it can only be one culprit…
Wol-ryung sucks the life out of a man and throws him on the ground, and when we pan out, he’s surrounded by a sea of corpses. Whoa.
Both sides guess from his course that he’s headed straight for the Hundred Year Inn. Lee Soon-shin sends his men to clear out the area, and then as Wol-ryung kills his way through the village, we hear his inner thoughts pleading: “Someone stop me. My thirst won’t be quenched. I want to kill them all. Please, somebody stop me!”
Kang-chi sleeps in his mother’s lap, and she adoringly caresses his hair and pats him to sleep like a baby. Once he’s asleep, she takes out that dagger she kept all these years and the smile fades from her face.
Yeo-wool and Gon get some late-night practice in, and she takes issue with him going easy on her. He reminds her that she likes to win which is why he’s letting her, which just annoys her more.
So he stops holding back and they train for real. He still wins, of course, but she just takes it in stride and decides she’ll have to practice twice as much starting tomorrow. There’s a charged moment when he realizes he’s holding her hand, and awkwardly pulls away.
They stop when they see Seo-hwa, who’s come outside to watch them. She goes to see Master Dam next, and they exchange knowing nods. Oh, are you doing what I think you’re doing?
Yeo-wool comes in to check on sleeping Kang-chi, and then we see her conversation with Seo-hwa in flashback. She asks Yeo-wool to take care of Kang-chi, because she has to go stop Wol-ryung.
Mom says she can’t burden her son with a fate so cruel, and that this is the best that she can do for him. She says that seeing Yeo-wool with him gave her the courage, knowing that he’d be happy with her.
She takes Yeo-wool’s hand: “I hope that you can protect the love that I could not, because I was too foolish.”
Yeo-wool thinks it over, and then wakes Kang-chi. She decides to tell him the truth—that his mother went down to the village to stop Wol-ryung, and she thought he needed to know.
Meanwhile, the town is on high alert with people evacuating left and right. The officials urge Jo Gwan-woong to run away, but he refuses to be chased out, demon or not. He says that even Wol-ryung wouldn’t survive losing his head, which I’m sure is true, but how are you going to do that, exactly? Ah, he’s armed with his rifle—is he going to try shooting it off?
Seo-hwa’s old associates decide that this is a great diversion and make plans to steal back their precious map while everyone’s busy dealing with the demon. Tae-seo is spying on them, but gets found out before he can tell anyone.
Kang-chi runs out to ask Gon what’s really going on, and finally hears about Wol-ryung’s massacre spree, and his mother’s decision to try and stop him. Yeo-wool figures out that the inn is next, and Kang-chi gets ready to head out.
She asks him to wait for her to get her sword so they can go together. When she runs inside, Kang-chi asks Gon to look after her, intending to go without her.
She runs inside to grab her weapons, and Gon comes in to block her exit. He says that Kang-chi asked him to give her a message: “I’ll be back.” He reminds her that Kang-chi always keeps his word, and that this isn’t a fight for humans to get mixed up in.
She worries that he’ll need her if he loses his bracelet and hulks out, but Gon tells her that Kang-chi has learned how to control himself without her. She’s stunned: “Without me?” Gon says that Kang-chi might be much stronger than they know.
As Kang-chi races out of the school, he takes his bracelet off and takes a giant leap, flying down the hillside. Wut. Suddenly he’s taking flying leaps? Where was the episode when he learned how to do that? Show skips all the good stuff, grumble grumble.
Jo Gwan-woong is ready with a barricade, and Wol-ryung approaches through a thick fog, growling ominously. Jo Gwan-woong raises his rifle, and Minion lights the fuse…
Wol-ryung keeps coming closer and closer, when suddenly Seo-hwa steps out in front of him. She calls out his name and asks him to stop, but he just reaches out and chokes her with one hand.
She cries as she struggles to hold on, and when her tears drop onto his hand, it awakens something in him. Does he remember her?
But while this has been going on, Jo Gwan-woong has been aiming his gun at them, and the fuse has been lit this whole time. Wol-ryung looks up and sees the barrel aimed at Seo-hwa’s back.
He fires, and at the same time, Wol-ryung swings around to shield her, taking the shot in the back.
Kang-chi runs toward the inn, but finds Lee Soon-shin standing in the street, waiting for him.
Wol-ryung collapses into Seo-hwa’s arms, and she screams his name when she sees blood pouring out of his shoulder. She clamps her hands over the wound, crying his name… and it changes his eyes.
The red disappears, the black veins recede, and he looks into her eyes. Augh, the pain written all over his face—he remembers. A tear trickles down his cheek as he struggles to say it aloud: “S…Seo-hwa?”
Seo-hwa: “Do you remember me?” Wol-ryung: “I missed you.” Awwww. They embrace in a wash of tears, and then she thinks, “Let’s return now, to the Moonlight Garden.” A gust of wind blows through, and they linger there, holding onto each other for a little longer.
And then when the wind is gone, so are they.
Kang-chi tells Lee Soon-shin that he can’t let them go like this, but he’s told that this was his mother’s final choice, for his sake. And in flashback we see what her request was.
She kneels before Lee Soon-shin and asks him to help Kang-chi live whatever life he chooses, and begs him not to let Kang-chi see her go.
Kang-chi cries that it can’t be: “I just found her. I just got to look at her face as much I wanted. I just barely got to call her mother. I can’t let her go!” He breaks down in tears, and Lee Soon-shin hugs him while he cries, shedding a tear of his own. Aw, what a nice moment. I just really like it when these two share a scene.
In the morning, Jo Gwan-woong walks around listlessly, looking like he’s had his soul sucked out (er, not that he had one to begin with). He thinks back to the last day that Seo-hwa was here.
He had offered to take her back if she would come to him. She scoffs at him, and says that right there is his punishment—he has power and riches, and could have the whole world, but still not be satisfied.
She tells him that he’ll never satisfy that hollow thirst. “And in the end, you’ll never truly have anything. That is your punishment.” He roars in fury now, calling her name. It’s just so delightfully karmic that the one thing he really wanted was Seo-hwa’s heart, which he could never have.
Seo-hwa wakes up in the Moonlight Garden and smiles at the familiar cave. She heads outside and we see her wander around the same way she did twenty years ago.
Wol-ryung asks if she’s finally awake, and when she turns around, she sees him as he was before—the smiling, happy Wol-ryung. Aw, we’ve missed you! We see that it’s just her illusion because he’s still dressed in black and bleeding, and she asks if he’s okay.
He tells he can barely remember her name and her face—that’s the only thing he can hold onto right now. He urges her to go back before he loses that memory again. He turns to walk away from her.
She cries out to him: “I’m sorry, Wol-ryung! I was too young then, and my heart wasn’t big enough to accept your love. I’m sorry for the scars I gave you. I’m sorry I caused you pain.” His face twists in pain to hear her words.
And then she takes out the dagger, saying that she kept it all these years, hoping that if she could just see him again, she’d put everything back the way it was. “In your eternal life, I may have been just one shred of wind that blew past you, but remember this—you were everything to me.”
He realizes what she’s about to do and cries, “NO!” but she stabs herself in the heart before he can get to her, and falls into his arms. As he cries and pleads with her not to die, she becomes Young Seo-hwa in his eyes.
She says through tears, “I love you, Wol-ryung. And I’m sorry… that my love only amounts to this.” She reaches out to touch his cheek as they both cry, and then she smiles up at him so sweetly before closing her eyes.
He wails and wails for her not to go, clutching her close. The blue lights return to the garden and swirl around him as he cries holding her, and then we hear his thoughts in voiceover: “I didn’t hate you. I only missed you. I didn’t resent you. I only loved you with all my heart. I love you. I love you.”
As he cries and begs for her to open her eyes, she turns back into present-day Seo-hwa. The heavens open up and cry too, as if feeling his pain.
Soo-ryun receives Kang-chi’s answer to her homework assignment. She opens up the paper and written is just one character, for “mother.”
He trudges home in the rain and finds Yeo-wool waiting outside for him with an umbrella. Aw.
She gets up when she sees him, and she notes his bare wrist. Flashback to earlier in the evening, when Dad had told her that it was time now to let Kang-chi go. He said it was time that Kang-chi left in search of the Gu Family Book.
She walks over to him now to share her umbrella, and he tells her wearily that he’s back. She asks after Mom, and he just hugs her, and then says through tears that she’s gone. Yeo-wool pats his back and lets him cry on her shoulder.
She sheds tears too as Dad’s words ring in her ears: “Let Kang-chi go. You have to let him go so that he can leave comfortably.”
COMMENTS
Dad, are you seriously urging her to be a noble idiot? I was okay with Seo-hwa’s sacrifice, but if Yeo-wool pushes Kang-chi away “for his own good,” I’ll pitch a fit. So I guess the book quest was always going to be Kang-chi’s study abroad, to force the couple to separate in the eleventh hour. I can’t help but roll my eyes, not that that’s even the worst trope on the planet (really, there are worse) but because for this universe and this story, it feels like falling back on a rom-com drama crutch that you just don’t need. Is there no such thing as telling your girlfriend you’ll be right back after your hundred-day fast in the mountains, or whatever? It’s not like she won’t wait for you.
I liked the closing of Wol-ryung and Seo-hwa’s arc, even if it felt too short given how invested we were in their story from the beginning. it was nice to have Lee Yeon-hee back, because it really drove home Wol-ryung’s pain and his loss. The weaving back and forth between her seeing him as he was twenty years ago and him seeing her that way too—it played into the visceral connection we have in seeing those two characters together the way we remember them.
And even though she came around as a mother to Kang-chi late in the game, it’s really her relationship with Wol-ryung that was her emotional hook. So I appreciated having Lee Yeon-hee back, and also for letting them say their goodbye in the garden without Kang-chi. That felt right, that the focus wasn’t on him.
There were certainly some bumps in the road (like a lack of development for Demon Wol-ryung or that stretch of story time where they just remained frustratingly cryptic), but the big emotional beats for this couple were always done well. Between the first two episodes and this one, Wol-ryung and Seo-hwa’s story has that epic love and loss, and bittersweet tragedy, that makes it linger in your thoughts. I think what always struck a chord with me was the way they made such human mistakes, lived and suffered as a result of them, and then owned up to the choices they had made.
In that way Seo-hwa’s death didn’t feel like she was just being noble to save others, but that she was really paying the price for the mistakes she had made, and was doing everything in her power to right her wrongs, in a cosmic sense—and why the dagger in the heart of the one you love is that metaphor-turned-literal-weapon in the first place. They each took turns dying a different death in place of the other, and so this time when she saves him, she really does put everything back in its rightful place.
RELATED POSTS
- Gu Family Book: Episode 20
- Gu Family Book: Episode 19
- Gu Family Book: Episode 18
- Gu Family Book: Episode 17
- Gu Family Book: Episode 16
- Gu Family Book: Episode 15
- Gu Family Book: Episode 14
- Gu Family Book: Episode 13
- Gu Family Book: Episode 12
- Gu Family Book: Episode 11
- Gu Family Book: Episode 10
- Gu Family Book: Episode 9
- Gu Family Book: Episode 8
- Gu Family Book: Episode 7
- Gu Family Book: Episode 6
- Gu Family Book: Episode 5
- Gu Family Book: Episode 4
- Gu Family Book: Episode 3
- Gu Family Book: Episode 2
- Gu Family Book: Episode 1
Tags: featured, Gu Family Book, Lee Seung-gi, Suzy
![[Cast Away] A princess plays guess-the-father](https://d263ao8qih4miy.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/castaway_header1.png)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
51 Raine
June 17, 2013 at 11:06 PM
I watched this episode twice...and cried for like 30 minutes with hiccups and everything. This couple is so visceral, as you mentioned. Their story was so well rounded. I do wish we'd focused more on Wol-ryung's confusion when he was a demon and perhaps more on how Seo-hwa lived these past 20 years instead of last minute confessions.
One of my fav things about Kang-chi and Yeo-wool is that they are a solid couple. They don't need a break up. He can go alone. Or go with her. Or dad. Who needs a split?
Required fields are marked *
KDaddict
June 17, 2013 at 11:16 PM
Ya, we can have more of the parents' story and have an exciting 40 ep drama that spans 2 generations. Instead we get long dramas that drag on and on abt the worst mothers, or mother-in-laws on earth all the time. Go figure!
Required fields are marked *
52 dedew jjng
June 17, 2013 at 11:07 PM
So sad....T.T
Thanks db...
Required fields are marked *
53 noonkey
June 17, 2013 at 11:26 PM
I think the story will end with the death of JGW n KC embarking the journey of finding the GFB..with his motley crew,hopefully..it's "KangChi the Beginning" anyway..
Required fields are marked *
54 rani
June 17, 2013 at 11:28 PM
oh... i'm crying.... T__T
Required fields are marked *
55 jelly05
June 18, 2013 at 12:06 AM
oh my god..I'm only reading the recaps and I'm crying and my tears wont stop falling. Wul Ryung and Seo Hwa arc just gets me right thru the heart.
Required fields are marked *
56 becks
June 18, 2013 at 12:18 AM
lee seung gi is good in emotional scenes. in MGIAG, K2H, and now GFB, i cried waching all his heartbreaking scenes.
hopefully there would be a happy ending for kang chi, wol ryung. and yeo wol.
Required fields are marked *
57 athena
June 18, 2013 at 12:18 AM
That beautiful and magical Moonlight Garden. That reunion. That dying scene. I expected it but still... ugh... I feel the pain and the loss. It feels like I was stabbed through the heart as well. It's just a TV show but my whole day is heavy, dark and gloomy today simply because I still feel sad about that tragic ending of the Wol Ryung-Seo Hwa story. So sad and affected. Will probably watch episode 1-2 all over again and relive their short-lived happy moments.
Required fields are marked *
58 Inukikfan4ever
June 18, 2013 at 12:53 AM
*sigh* So I cried a lot in this episode. That scene was wonderful, yet tragic at the same time. It's like you could feel their pain. And after that scene, when the episode ended I felt kinda...indifferent. I realized I was a bit more invested in SH and WR's story then our main couple. They're just more interesting to me. I mean, I love YW and KC together, but their cuteness can't make up for the whole show. There's only so much the cute scenes can make up for. Does anybody get that? So when the episode ended, I was slightly depressed and I thought, I'm not even worried about KC and YW. However, they're gonna try and make a big deal out of Kang Chi leaving to find the Gu Family Book and leaving YW, when it doesn't have to be that difficult.
And then there's the whole, 'one of you will die' fate. Which I'm pretty sure isn't gonna be a major problem to them as YW already pointed out to Gon.
Anyway, I'm so tired of JGW. It's time for him to go. Though I wonder if they're gonna save him as the last issue to deal with, since I'm pretty sure he's gonna die. I wonder who's gonna be the lucky one to do it.
Required fields are marked *
KDaddict
June 18, 2013 at 1:37 AM
Last sentence: My vote goes first and foremost to CJ, or else secondly TS, for what Evil Lord did to CJ and to their family. But even more than that, I want him to die slowly.
Required fields are marked *
59 k-soup
June 18, 2013 at 2:01 AM
reading this just make my eyes water. I always liked Seo Hwa and Wool Ryung's tragic love story.. I consider it as the most important thing in Gu Family Book :(
Required fields are marked *
60 bettinagurl
June 18, 2013 at 2:10 AM
after this episode last night, i was too sad and depressed with what happened. GFS has been moving me through every part of the emotion spectrum. huhu.
Required fields are marked *
61 Cat
June 18, 2013 at 2:19 AM
I bit of me wants SH to be transformed into a gumiho for the afterlife so she can join WR (sighs) ...
Required fields are marked *
62 Lilly
June 18, 2013 at 2:19 AM
That first picture on the Comments Section where he is still in black. What a piece of art that is!
This drama has had some of the most beautiful visuals of any fantasy I have watched.
Ending in classical style with tragedy as the end result of humans mixing with mythological creatures a real heart breaker.
Have really loved their story.
Required fields are marked *
kumi
June 18, 2013 at 7:21 AM
Look at the very first pic right after the title. It seems like a black crow is standing next to Wol-ryung, pecking at his back. Just sayin'.
Required fields are marked *
63 dedew jjng
June 18, 2013 at 2:55 AM
so sad...T.T
thanks db for recap.....
Required fields are marked *
64 george
June 18, 2013 at 2:56 AM
Indeed!The one thing i loved about this episode is the Wol-ryung/Seo-hwa tragic love story has come to a full circle.I always felt that their story was an unfinished business and now i feel it's complete.At some some point in the scene where WR is shouting her(SH) name,i thought of fast-forwarding it(w/c is what i do if i want to go straight to where i want to watch,keke)coz i thought it was dragging on too long,but i'm glad i didn't coz what they did w/ the transitions of the both of them from 20 years ago to now and vice-versa was cool.I liked the idea of the emotions like remorse-but-don't-be-because-i-never-blamed-you being played in that scene.Now i'm the one who's commenting too long.keke.It's simply because one of the highlights of this drama,for me,is Wol-ryung and Seo-hwa's story.
Anyway....So now that it's down to three episodes are they gonna spend it searching for the book or the quest to become human?They better make it interesting.Oh well...
Thanks for the recap!
Required fields are marked *
65 asdfghjkl
June 18, 2013 at 3:48 AM
When reading the recaps and was reading the part where master Dam says to Yeo Wol that she has to let go for him to find the Book, that's the time everything makes sense.
The whole reason why the drama change its title late in the game as Kang Chi The Beginning because the story does not really evolve in finding the book but the process on which Kang Chi has to take before finding the book.
The lack of emphasis on the book is not the entire fault of the writer. Hehehe. Just saying
Required fields are marked *
66 Peridot
June 18, 2013 at 5:45 AM
"So I guess the book quest was always going to be Kang-chi’s study abroad, to force the couple to separate in the eleventh hour. I can’t help but roll my eyes, not that that’s even the worst trope on the planet (really, there are worse) but because for this universe and this story, it feels like falling back on a rom-com drama crutch that you just don’t need. Is there no such thing as telling your girlfriend you’ll be right back after your hundred-day fast in the mountains, or whatever? It’s not like she won’t wait for you." I couldn't have articulated my frustration with this new portion of the story than you girlfriday, so I'll just leave it to you :) Let's hope that the noble idiocy is just a trick and that it will be dropped as quickly as it was introduced!
I had three favorite scenes in this episode. The first was when Yeowool held Kangchi as Gon removed the arrows from his back. It was the simplest but most effective gesture of love and concern.
The second scene was when Kangchi cried in Lee Soonshin's arms. There was a similar scene earlier in the series. I just want that man to become like a father to Kangchi. I agree that these two are great together on screen.
And the third scene was Seohwa's death and her moment with Wollyung...enough said! But I'll say some more anyway, lol! I did think it was funny (but not necessarily in a good way) that Wollyung was struggling with Seohwa for her to remove her grip on the blade sticking in her chest. I was thinking "Wollyung, that is not a smart move. You are probably making diced meat out of her heart right now. I suggest you remove your hand and not make things worse than they already are." I also wondered at the curious lack of blood in the area of Seohwa's chest wound (but that may have been due to the constraints of time, what with the live-shoot schedule :) I shouldn't think about it too much.) The moment between the two was so magical and brought back memories of the earlier beauty of the show. I hope that there is much more to Wollyung's story. Will he return to being a guardian of the forest? Will he maintain some relationship with Kangchi? I hope so, because the latter is his son and to forsake that relationship would be a crime in my eyes.
While I had three favorite moments, there were other nice scenes, such as when Kanchi was resting on his mother's lap and she gently touched his hair.
Please show! End on a good note. And no noble idiocy in the last portion. If nothing else, at least heed these words from this humble supplicant!
Required fields are marked *
67 Lkyou
June 18, 2013 at 6:03 AM
I couldn't wait to watched the sub version so I read your recap and literally had tears rolling down. Sigh, at least now I know to have tissues near when I'm watching the subbed version.
After TWTWB, I thought it set the bars for 2013. Boy was I wrong. I think I'm liking TGFB more as far as story wise.
Required fields are marked *
68 umbanana
June 18, 2013 at 6:34 AM
First of all just want to say a HUGE BIG THANKS to JB and GF!
I've just finished (hopefully) my last exams in med school yesterday. Dramabeans recaps have quenched my thirst for kdramas in the last 4 months of hibernation/studying. I wouldn't have survived without you guys!
I'm actually just starting to watch the show now but I'm up to date with the recaps. I don't know how I'm going to watch this episode because just reading the recap made me bawl. Although I wanted a happy ending for the parents (I just want to see WR smile again like he did in the first eps) it felt right that SH died to put things back in the right place - because without WR's intervention, she'd have most likely died 20 years ago anyways so it's sort of like good ol' Fate coming back to let them know what's meant to happen will happen.
And that scene when Baby Gu came to Papa Gu's rescue got me too. I really can't wait to watch this episode (only 20 eps away) but also dreading it...
Just want to know what happens now - will Papa Gu and Baby Gu join forces to attack Evil Evil Evil Man? Or will Papa Gu forever stay in the mountains away from mankind (and turn into a rock/tree/sth mourning SH)?
Thanks again!!!
Required fields are marked *
69 liliino
June 18, 2013 at 7:09 AM
Thanks for this recap! I really liked this episode, the scene where Seo-Hwa dies was so sad, I almost feel crying. Wol Ryung finally remembers her but what's going to happen to him?
Required fields are marked *
70 Stephanie
June 18, 2013 at 7:09 AM
I wouldn't say "rightful place", more like she gave the audience a reason to root for her again.
Required fields are marked *
71 bangsstory
June 18, 2013 at 7:09 AM
I don't think I've cried enough for when she died in his arms. And when he got shot instead of her and remembered her. And when Kang chi cried that he didn't get to call her 'mother' enough number of times. I was just a wailing mess. And reading the recap made me cry again. I agree on the letting go part. After all, Kang chi always keeps his word right? Is it too difficult to wait until his 100 days is over right? I just wonder how things will be between father and son after this.
Required fields are marked *
shelly
June 18, 2013 at 11:22 AM
the 100 days waiting would work if the girl didn't already know he was a gumiho - or half one, in KC's case, i'd say. or so says kdrama logic.
but even in the first place, the 100 day wait wasn't to immediately become human and get a happy ever after, but only to find the directions to the actual gu family book.
i think - considering how it went for KC (all the similar and dissimilar choices he and his father made in their respective timelines), the gu family book is not even a real book, but a way of becoming.
maybe if seo-hwa had trusted and kept loving wol-ryung despite feeling betrayed by him (which justified her in taking her own bitter revenge against him and herself, in the end), they would have written their own gu family book together.
we'll never know, will we.
but as long as the immortal gu wol-ryung is alive, his faith in mankind (and especially in womankind) restored (cause she did prove worthy of his love in the end, even if she hurt him more in proving it), there is still hope.
choi jin-hyuk made wol-ryung the most memorable character of this story, and from all the dramas i've watched, he's the one i don't think i'll forget too soon. i can't wait to see him opposite lee min-ho in this autumn's drama "heirs" - it makes me anxious he gets another chance of showing how good an actor he can be for the right character. (i get it that lee min-ho's chara will probably win the day, cause hey - lee min-ho! right? but i can still fall for the bad guy if he only redeems himself in the end. it's only human nature :D)
choi jin-hyuk, fighting!
Required fields are marked *
72 kumi
June 18, 2013 at 7:35 AM
Those Magical Blue Lights! Not only did they heal the wounds from arrows on Kang-chi's back, but they also patched the holes on his jacket. Now I wonder if Yeo-wool has to continue her sewing lessons. :)
Required fields are marked *
KDaddict
June 18, 2013 at 7:40 AM
You r funny. But he could have more than 1 jacket. ;)
Required fields are marked *
kumi
June 18, 2013 at 10:11 AM
I think Chung-jo gave to him the second jacket (with a bird), but I haven't seen it on him.
Required fields are marked *
shelly
June 18, 2013 at 11:24 AM
or someone in that place has a needle and some red thread.
my money's on gon :p
Required fields are marked *
73 Mrs.Gu
June 18, 2013 at 7:39 AM
I haven't even watched the episode yet and I cried ( I read the recaps before watching the episodes ) somehow I knew SH would stab herself to save WH even though it was sad it seemed like the right ending for SH and WH love story. I think Daddy Gu and Baby Gu should get sometime together to get to know each other since Daddy Gu wasn't exactly in his right mind every time they've met. I was also glad that SH apologized to WR for the way she acted in the past. Maybe KC will live in the moonlight garden while he searches for the Gu Family Book. I don't really want WR or KC to be human even though the whole drama is about KC becoming human. Since SH killed herself I wonder if the prophecy or whatever about KC and YW is still there..... If KC and YW break up I'm going to go find the writer and go all gumiho on him.... ( how do you go all gumiho ?) anyways this is my ridiculous comment I know it's all over the place lol
Thanks for the recap!!!!!
Choi Jin Hyuk is the best !!!!!!!! ?
Required fields are marked *
74 Mrs.Gu
June 18, 2013 at 7:43 AM
I can't believe I forgot to add the most important part of my comment in the previous comment!!!!!!
I hope Daddy Gu and Baby Gu team up to go kick JGW's butt !!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for any spelling errors if there are any I'm using my iPhone
Required fields are marked *
kumi
June 18, 2013 at 7:51 AM
No, they should kick Jo in the face! Butt is too soft of a spot for that jerk.
Required fields are marked *
Mrs.Gu
June 18, 2013 at 8:05 AM
True didn't think bout that or they could kick him in the sensitive spot so when he falls over they can kick him in the face ?
Required fields are marked *
75 sophia
June 18, 2013 at 8:13 AM
So.Much.Crying.
So.Much. Pausing and rewinding.
It was nice that the mother-in-law gave YW a stamp of approval - super-sweet.
Is there no possibility that daddy gets the book, becomes human, dies saving KC or something and joins SH in the afterlife? Can't they haunt the moonlit garden together as spirits? (Yes, I'm grabbing at straws. I want them to be together! I want bags of butterflies!).
I cannot WAIT for JGW to get his punishment (it's so jarring to see the JGW actor's adorableness in the behind the scenes pics. disconnect.)
This quest for the book is annoying me though. Why can't KC just STAY as a well-adjusted half-gumiho/ half human? Seems like he's worked out the kinks and should be fine. Plus the healing comes in handy.
I'm also confused as to how KC gets the Gu FAMILY book without his FAMILY- meaning...I want the solution to involve YW/Gon/LSS/Master Dam/TS etc as his FAMILY. They've certainly earned it.
I will spit tacks if they send him off on some 2 year time lapse search.
WR and SH 4evah!
Required fields are marked *
Peridot
June 18, 2013 at 10:38 AM
I have long hoped that Kangchi would accept his gumiho side. But who knows where this show will go? I do not want the quest for the 'book' to parallel the requisite study abroad (or two to five year passage of time) of romantic comedies--girlfriday eloquently articulates this same point in the above recap. Let's just have a satisfying conclusion, even if that conclusion suggests that there is much more in store for Kangchi that will not be seen by viewers (after all, the revised title is Kangchi: the Beginning).
Required fields are marked *
76 SickleMist
June 18, 2013 at 8:57 AM
Oh my goodness this episode was beautiful in the most heart-wrenching way. Like some have said, this show has ended right here for me. I found myself unable to relate to KC and YW's romance, rather, I got hooked into the parents' romance even if it was only for the briefest 2 episodes.
My tears just flowed uncontrollably when he yelled out her name after she stabs herself. After all those years, his love for her was strong enough to actually hold back the curse,even after she betrays him. It's so selfless and unwavering that I cannot help but be touched . :(
I'm so glad Seohwa's gotten smarter though and I'm happy that she finally shows her guilt and her love towards WR through her death. Though heartbreaking, this was a beautiful end to their tragic story .
Real glad Lee Yeonhee cameo-ed here! Allows audience to better relate, don't cha think ? :)
Required fields are marked *
77 karla
June 18, 2013 at 9:01 AM
It's so sad! Omo. I'm more invested in seohwa and woke yung's story than with kangchi's
Required fields are marked *
78 Rach
June 18, 2013 at 9:41 AM
And tears start flooding my eyes again. Lee Seung Gi is seriously such a good actor. And that scene with Wol Ryung & Seo Hwa.. :'( *starts weeping again*
Required fields are marked *
79 SuziQ
June 18, 2013 at 9:51 AM
The best episode! I'm glad that I'm not the only one finding this was the most sad and heart wrenching. The beautiful background music added so much to the tragic mood. Get out the tissues! Couldn't stop crying....
I'm glad that Kang Chi is finally going on his quest for the Gu Family book.It seem like forever.. for some reason I think Kang Chi will become human at the cost of Wol Ryung's demise.I hope Wol Ryung and Seo Hwa can somehow reunite.
Required fields are marked *
80 Jackeline
June 18, 2013 at 10:10 AM
I love how symbolic it is that while SW was dying, WR saw her as the young SW, and after she died, we see him as the old WR.
Now after I've gotten that sentence out of the way, let me just continue bawling my eyes out as I rewatch that scene for the fifth time. I don't even know why I do this to myself.
Required fields are marked *
81 shelly
June 18, 2013 at 11:04 AM
i'm not crying either... just got something in my eye.
i didn't even see the kids in this ep - it's like they weren't there. and sadly, i didn't even miss them.
seo hwa's sacrifice was her redemption. the cycle began because of her - even if in the beginning she was an innocent victim (it wasn't her fault the perv fixed on her and wouldn't ever let go). she didn't trust wol-ryung the one time it really mattered, and everything unfolded from there. so her decision to turn him back to his original good self is just acknowledging her own guilt and finally doing something about it.
i can't help but wonder - what if she had an idea wol-ryung wasn't really dead-dead back then, and she'd still had the chance to undo it all from the start? i'm not sure she'd have done it... not with the kid kang-chi and her own pretty fresh desire for revenge. so for wol-ryung, twenty years later was soon enough even if becoming good again meant losing the woman he loved.
there are too few episodes to work on the father-son bonding, but we had some tight written plots in the past in this series, maybe we'll have a few more just in time for the big finale.
re: the gu family book - i don't think kang-chi's going anywhere. the other plots - the turtle ships, and kang-chi's family by proxy's story, and even the villain for the sake of being a villain - they're all wrapping up pretty fast (so what else is there for kang-chi to do but bond with dad and maybe get a little wiser on his own?)
i keep thinking back to the first eps concerning the gumiho baby (LOL) and i don't remember when he first thought he actually might be in love with YW. but he must have because they're now inseparable. (and if i were her dad, i'd ground her forever just because i could. seriously. help gumiho baby, do, but what the heck, the girl's mind completely became a woman's mind and less of a tomboy's. all dad's hard work of making her his almost-man heir, wasted. *sigh* - which reminds me, TS is going to die isn't he? cause he was supposedly YW's fiancee too. LOL)
ah, what the heck. i don't care. i want that bonding thing. mom's gone, what else can they do now? and maybe WR will become someone to watch over his half-human relatives LOL (i don't wish it on him, though.)
where is that monk when he's needed? they should fire him :D
what stays with me from this ep, though is - wol-ryung is alive and good again! YAY! (okay he just lost the love of his life, but if they had killed him and let her live, i'd have been going berserk over here and i wouldn't have been the only one, i bet.) showing us SH as he always saw her - that young pretty girl he fell in love with - was the best for me - he wasn't wrong to trust her, in the end. just it took her a long time and her life to be worthy of his trust. loved it.
but OMG wol-ryung is alive :D *still giddy about it*
Required fields are marked *
82 Rose
June 18, 2013 at 11:17 AM
This was a really good episode. I just love how the parents story was tied up. I was hoping the whole time that daddy gu would save her with some of his blood but that did not happen. All in all a well written and well acted scene.
Required fields are marked *
83 Jenni
June 18, 2013 at 1:15 PM
I'm kind of pissed that the old man pervert didn't die yet, but I'm guessing the writers MIGHT have kept him alive for a reason.
Remember when he flashes back to Seo Hwa telling him how he can try and try to get what he wants, but in the end he'll never be satisfied and he can't have it?
He is saved yet again, and has been given another chance to live, but he's still going to do those bad deeds. He's going to keep pushing at it, but really in the end, he'll devastate himself. I hope he still somewhat "redeems" himself or goes on a mad fit of frustration, just to let his character have more depth.
Required fields are marked *
ys
June 19, 2013 at 11:02 AM
Some depth, some layers would be nice for this one-dimensional, flat, comic-book villain. The way his character is written is uninteresting and the way the actor portrays him is uninteresting. What a waste.
Required fields are marked *
84 DarknessEyes
June 18, 2013 at 3:17 PM
Wait so does that mean that Wol-ryung is back to being a Gumiho now???
Required fields are marked *
85 MyLanh
June 18, 2013 at 4:26 PM
OMG I cried when WR swings around to shield SW, taking the shot in the back ! I thought he was going to die aaaaaah
But at the end SW stabs herself in the heart ... Ugh ...
Seeing WR shed tears breaks my heart ... *give a blow*
Alalalala poor Gumiho baby ! Well, such a sad story between your parents that I cried my eyes out ...
Required fields are marked *
86 diamond
June 18, 2013 at 4:45 PM
this episode is so sad i am really crying. I hope this show ends with taste!
Required fields are marked *
87 sparkle
June 18, 2013 at 6:34 PM
I cried with WR and SW when they reunited and she died. It's so sad when WR tried to take out the dagger from her chest but SW just held on stronger to the dagger, and will not let him take it out. She wanted to die so that she can save him and turn him back to the WR that he once was.
WR would rather be a demon, then kill her. SW would rather die, then let him live as a demon. They loved each other deeply during the short 80 days that they were together and they still continued to love and care for one another despite 20 years of seperation.
Endless love.... :'-(
Required fields are marked *
88 coby
June 18, 2013 at 9:59 PM
I cried even while I am playing pumpkins vs zombies. I cried when I replayed it. I cried telling my friend how I cried. I cried reading the recap!
Thanks for the recap GF!
Required fields are marked *
89 Shin Mi Rae
June 19, 2013 at 12:23 AM
I cried when I watched this episode. then I am crying again as I read the recaps. I love the Wolryung-Seo Hwa arc.
Can't wait for next week... btw, i am so proud of suzy... her take on Yeo Weol is a far cry from her Hyembot days... yey for her.
Required fields are marked *
90 sylvias
June 19, 2013 at 4:15 AM
Wow! I thought I am early. but looks like so many comments already. So I will just wait till I have some time to post my comments. It is so good so far so far. Looking at the blue lights, I believe wol ryung will heal seo hwa and they will in turn come and help their son.
Required fields are marked *
91 Abbie
June 19, 2013 at 10:43 AM
An excellent episode, and an excellent way to end the Seo-hwa/Wol-ryung story. I just feel for these two so much. More than any other characters in this show, they feel the most real. Their love is strong and epic. Nothing about it seems false. I cried this episode.
Now we finally get to the meat of the show, the whole purpose for the title. Kang-chi will seek out the Gu Family Book. Thank goodness. It's really about time. It kind of irritates me that we had to wait this long to get to it. And then that it is used to keep Kang-chi and Yeo-woo apart is just aggravating. She doesn't have to let him go. She can wait for him, and then they can live a long, happy life together. But, no. We need the angst of uncertainty. *sigh*
Whatever. I'll just go with it. Thanks for the recap, GF!
Required fields are marked *
92 mailahana
June 19, 2013 at 6:55 PM
@ivoire
Since you were not questioning at 22nd episode, I do missing you.
You've said:
"As I think through this drama, and dissect the
episodes, I try to understand why certain things happen,
and I try to fill out or rationalize the things that the
writers don’t tell us, such as when KC flew from the
Martial Arts School to somewhere in the village, and we
didn’t know (we were never told) that KC could fly (even
GF was surprised about that)".
My perspective is: I think as a gumiho KC has that skill. We can see at the first episode, WR can fly and jump in such a long distance. Yup, the writers didn't tell us the process he gain that fly ability, IMO they think we'll refer/anolagize KC to WR
as soon as we know he is Gumiho.
Required fields are marked *
93 shirleee
June 20, 2013 at 7:23 AM
ohmygod, seohwa and wol ryung - you kill me. that ending completed the hole in my heart that I had for you guys since ep2. that moment when wol ryung became himself again after he got shot = commence the crying.
Thank you GF for the recap!
Required fields are marked *
94 Lilian
June 21, 2013 at 9:33 PM
Maybe they should just do a prequel with Choi Kang Hyuk showing his life before Seohwa, and then Seohwa comes in. And we get to see more of himself. Should be interesting. I don't need a long drama. I would be happy with a special XD
Required fields are marked *
k-soup
June 22, 2013 at 10:57 PM
I second the motion! :)
Required fields are marked *
95 k-soup
June 22, 2013 at 10:56 PM
I just watched this episode. My heart aches for Wol Ryung. My tears
won't
just
stop!
gaah!
Required fields are marked *
96 exquisitemelody
June 24, 2013 at 2:07 PM
CRYING. CRYING. HOW ARE THEY SO BEAUTIFUL? I really only cared about the SH and WR storyline from the get-go, and this was a tragically beautiful ending. I couldn't have asked for a better one. I was a little confused at first because I forgot what the dagger was for, and I was like "wait, why is she killing herself?" I'm guessing it means that it would turn him back into not-a-demon?
I'm sad we didn't have more time with them to give us that extra "punch." I cried, but if they had more time together, I'd be crying a river.
I'm curious to see what happens with WR now. Get revenge on all the stupid people on SH's behalf? Please do. I want to see that.
Required fields are marked *
97 Kai
July 24, 2013 at 8:18 AM
This might be a stupid question or one that has already been answered but why did Wol Ryung not heal Seo wah with his blood, because I thought Gumiho's had healing power in their blood that could save a human only once. It's just been bugging me since watching this episode, I guess I'm just used to fairytale endings. :(
Required fields are marked *