Okay, time for wild theory.

What if Sang-un and Hwal were actually two sides of the same being? The painting depicted a horde of monsters being watched over by two god-like beings where one was in woman form and the other in a man form, where one looked out of the picture and the other showed his back. What if this picture showed a being whose duty was to maintain "balance" in the world, which then manifested in a dichotomy between them.

Presumably, 1.000 years ago, something went wrong between them. Maybe past Hwal going on monstrous rampage was the start of the problem, or maybe him wanting to be mortal was the root of everything, or maybe past Hwal did fall in love with his other side like Eul-tae said which was probably something forbidden (even though I tend to take Eul-tae's words with a sack of salt since he was such an inveterate liar). In any case, if my balancing theory was right, past Hwal taking Eul-tae's soul definitely threw a wrench to the state of the world. Especially when the half-Bulgasal left in his stead didn't have any intention (or even knowledge?) to fulfill the Bulgasal's original duty.

I was even more convinced of this theory because of the stabbing Sang-un did in the last scene. If she wanted to kill him, she should stab through his heart, which I reckon would be relatively easy to do since Hwal has his guard all down. But the first thing Sang-un instinctively did after she regained her memory was to give Hwal the exact same wound as hers in his shoulder. The mirrored picture they made was pretty chilling.

I would really like for this whole confusion to be a case of unreliable narrator at play. That would be an interesting twist if Sang-un isn't the only one not remembering the past properly. There would be high possibility that certain character's action in the past might not be as cruel as it seemed if viewed with the complete background information.

P.S. For all Eul-tae's talk about Hwal's supposedly one-sided love towards Sang-un, I couldn't help thinking that he sounded awfully like someone who was in a one-sided love himself. (Or is that just Lee Joon's overflowing chemistry with Lee Jin-wook?) How high is the possibility of his grudge towards the woman Bulgasal actually being fueled mostly by jealousy?

@missvictrix Thank you for another recap! The show keeps getting better and better. I am so happy that I decided to watch this drama. The breadcrumbs that we have been given so far have made me realize that there is still so much that we don't know. How much of what Eul-tae has told Hwal is true and how much of it is fiction? Also, what is going to happen between Hwal and Sang-un once they regain their memories?

After watching these episodes, I was more frustrated than excited, but this recap made me appreciate the story more.

To me, it felt like the episodes went nowhere, despite the supremely high stakes. We just circled back to the beginning, with the scar suggesting Sang-eon is who Hwal thought she was (although clearly his knowledge is incomplete), Sang-eon is questioning Hwal's true nature again, and the meaning and mythology around the twins is still very unclear. I also am confused about Ok Eul-tae. Am I supposed to see him as evil? Or is he the injured party whose brother (if that's who Hwal was) and father broke his heart? I can't tell what's actually in the writing and what's Lee Joon just playing him in a nuanced, sympathetic way.

But in your reading, it seems that all of this is likely deliberate and building to an assured conclusion. I hope that's true as I was starting to fear that the writers themselves aren't going to satisfactorily resolve this.

I thought this week was pretty slow, except for when Eul-tae showed up to move along the plot. Unfortunately, that was just for a few minutes each episode.

I do like the relationship between Si-ho and Do-yoon, even if narratively, I think Do-yoon should have died.

I find the romance so forced, but the latest wrench may grind it to a stop.

The memory of an evil Hwal had me excited for a minute, but then I thought about it, and I'm sure it's not what it seems. I think the Bulgasal were nonviolent beings but when Eul-tae lied and said Red Bulgasal killed his brother, the villagers captured her and Hwal went on a rampage. He got hurt, was dying, and took Eul-tae's soul to save Red Bulgasal's life. It was all for love but turned into a 1000 year curse. Blech.

We know the Detective was Eul-tae's dad. I have a feeling Do-yoon and Si-ho's past lives lived in that village too, and they have all been in each other's lives in some form for a 1000 years.

Thank you for the awesome recap Miss Victrix! No matter what else happens, or how awful the ending, I'm just grateful beyond measure that Do-Yoon survived (*for now, at least). Plus, Eul-Tae has my sympathy vote for most-misunderstood monster. Why am I rooting for him?

Great recap and analysis @missvictrix.
I’m addicted to this show and also strangely get the weird romance between Hwal and Sang-un BUT in the past.
The current pair seem off somehow and I wonder if the choice make the characters that way is because they both have a lot of missing information/memories and are confused about everything. Both Hwal and Sang-un have been reactive rather than proactive. They run from one situation to another without much prep or thought. It’s understandable to me if I think about how they have no reliable information. They are given bits of information in emotionally charged situations and not enough time to process anything. The closest these characters came to seem real was when they were in the bathroom talking about how they have memories and don’t know what’s happened and deciding to trust their memories. They seemed like people who were connected by a common issue. I also liked their open discussion about Sang-Un’s feelings for Hwal.

The past Hwal and Sanyo-Un though show a lot of chemistry and connection. I would love to explore their story in more depth than the show is currently doing. I like the theories other beanies have about the Bulgasals being twin souls that had a purpose and something happened between than and caused all this havoc.
Eul-Tae’s obsession to be accepted by Hwal and hatred to Sang-un is interesting. He’s like a jealous and desperate lover for sure. Especially in the scene where he was begging Hwal to choose him. I’m looking forward to the next four episodes so we can untangle this messy emotional knots.

On a superficial note, Hwal has gotten hotter. Those jewel toned shirts! 🤦🏽‍♀️😍

No no no no no! I started watching this fully prepared for a train wreck, but now it's starting to look more and more like SOMETHING ABSOLUTELY AAAWSOME, but I'm refusing to believe it because it's a fantasy K-drama, which in 90% of cases have a shitty ending, so I should not get my hopes up now!! Don't do this, Show, if you're going to disappoint in the last hour!!!
Also:
1. I'm with @missvictrix on the Airhead-Hotness pairing, totally eating it up. They discussing her liking him was totally out-of-a-left-field adorable in a weird K-drama way.
2. Still totally smitten by the choice of the aestethics of the main house, whoever is responsible of that is my hero.
3. I particularly appreciate that there are random old bloodstains everywhere, from Hwal's clothes to most of the house walls - props to the attention to detail :DDD
4. Hwal in shirts is weird, but still hot. But I think I slightly prefer the blood-stained hoodies.

My theory is Ok Eul Tae feeds on distrust, hatred between Sang Eon and Hawl. They are the original good bulgasal and if they end up destroying each other then Ok Eul Tae becomes invincible. On the other hand, the more Sang Eon and Hawl trust and love each other, the more Ok Eul Tae’s power erode. Loved ep 12. SangHawl couple fighting!

Can someone please tell the producers to fire whoever is styling Kwon Nara's character here. I appreciate that they are trying to maybe show "homely", "poor", no-fuss type of style (that suits a character always on the run), but that "housedress" she was wearing was so hideous. LOL!. Anyway, am still not a fan of the romance part, but glad that the story progressed a bit now.

I was alert, but felt uneasy during EP 12 whereas EP 11 was mostly boring until the parts with Hwal and Eul Tae. The odd episodes seem weaker to me. They're sort of a build-up to the next episode. EP 12 was good. Anywho.

ALL THIS BACK AND FORTH. OMG THE MYSTERY. First it was Sang Eon who was the 'evil' one then now it's Hwal according to that one flashback. We can't rely on just words from Eul Tae AND Hwal and Sang Eon. Even the flashbacks are hard to trust because they only show a peek of the past which can be interpreted differently once the whole situation is revealed.

I kept waiting to see if Sang Eon's wound would heal on its own. I remembered she had a flash of power before, but the drama didn't get into it more until now. Only gave us another crumb.

I freaking laughed out loud at Eul Tae's "Don't Go" to Hwal after all his threats. It was the absurdity of the moment that got me.

A random thought that's been lingering in my mind before this week was if we could trust the words of Shaman Hye Suk. She has given some mysterious lines, but I wonder if she's holding back information or her past self was not innocent. Her plea to Hwal to stay alive and saying he was her only family was heartbreaking though.

Can't believe there's only 4 episodes left! I'm more excited, but also wary about the next episode...

I think the prophecy is about Hwal, the 1000 years old Hwal not sang eon.. if he gains his memory everyone will die. It seems like 1000 years ago Hwal and sang eon were the primary bulgasal and people hunted them because of the lies of ok eul tae and to save his love plus to get the revenge he connected eul tae and sang eon..hehe sounds quite plausible. And about his wife, I think he distancing himself from her because in he blamed himself for his children and wife's death and misery, just to save her from misery again he is keeping his distance, after all she was not only his wife but his only childhood friend also.

Twelve episodes. More than twelve hours and this drama is still only about one question. What happened 600 or 1000 years ago? Who cares??? Every episode is the exact same. Crazy Bulgasal talks in riddles, Hwal gets stabbed and/or threatens someone, Sang-un acts crazy, someone gets kidnapped. It had potential but almost all the characters are superficial, the reason people prefer the villain is because he is the only one with some layers. The relationships between them don't evolve, even if they have some charm as a misfit family. The romance came out of nowhere, at this point I agree with those wanting a past explanation for the way the leads feel toward each other. In the next episode many will get kidnapped at the same time, though we all know nothing much will happen besides a little stabbing.

So, here's my theory....Hwal and Sang Eun were soul mate/original Bulgasal pair. They lived watching over a world of monsters but then human took over. They were living in hiding not harmng humans. Then Ok Eul Tae kills his brother and it was witnessed by two humans, my guess those two were incarnations of Si Ho and Do Yoon. He tries to kill them and Sang Un stops him. He grows curious and discovers the world of Bulgasal. He lies to his father and they all go hunt for Sang Un. Hwal enraged kills the humans who tries to harm Sang Un breaching their moral code and Sang Un misunderstands him. She tries to curse him to death. But if he dies so does Sang Un. In order to save Sang Un, he takes Eul Tae's soul and turns him into Bulgasal so she doesn't perish. But with Eul Tae's soul, he inherits his bad karma along with the curse. Sang Un follows him to fulfil the curse so that the Bulgasal's can die and disappear from human world. But Hwal has no memory of it and ends up killing Sang Un stretching their ill fate. And 1000 years pass this way.

Ok, so this is what I know:
1. For one to die, both must die (that is OK Eul-tae and Hwal)
2. Everything that happens to Sang-eon in the way of physical damage also happens to Ok Eul-tae.
Surely this means that if one perishes, they all do.

Even before she stabbed Hwal, I was getting more and more suspicious of Sang-eon. Candy is this life, but not so sure about her in the past.

Same with Ok Eul-tae becoming more and more sympathetic. Maybe he was not the big bad in his previous life.

Maybe it's not just the acting. Maybe it's deliberate.

Anyway I can see them all going up in a puff of smoke at the end.