Thank you, @mistyisles, for the weecap! This SJK drama ending seems it was trying to force the connection between Do-jun and Hyun-woo. Since Hyun-woo was once the 'action man' for Seung-jun, I'm assuming that he has done worse things for the family. He may not have intended for Do-jun's death to be unsolved but there was still no action done against his crimes. And he's free to work with Miracle Investment! Oh, well ...

I even like the idea of someone who allowed himself to be complicit in a murder being sent back in time as that person and having to live their life...But I think that would have been much more impactful as the premise, not the last-minute reveal.

Very well said @mistyisles. This is probably the only gripe I have with the finale as well (if we exclude the ToD redux). That we needed to have some connection with Hyun-woo's timeline outside of the last minute reveal though it definitely serves shock value in a drama finale.

I saw a lot of complaints about Do-joon's death (esp. since it differed from the novel) with the main one being "what was the whole point of the show?!" but as a regular reader of a lot of Chinese transmigration novels, that was the least surprising part to me. I was waiting for us to switch timelines all along but more build-up for it would have been desirable.

All-in-all I still think this was an excellent show with stellar performances. There's a reason it beat its own ratings with each episode - it knew how to tell a gripping story and keep its audience entranced. It is also a good compendium of Korean history as reflected through its chaebol groups.

I'm glad I stayed along for the ride and thanks for the recaps @mistyisles!

Well, that was an interesting ending for sure, even though I need some time to be certain of how I feel about it.

I think my problem with that ending came back to the setup of each protagonist we got. As Jin Do-jun, his fight was all about letting someone with the right capability to get the management right of a company. His fight was always against the primogeniture rule. Which was why it was so satisfying to see him thwarting the Jin family's plans to get in his way. That was the equivalent of underdog victory among the Chaebols.

Meanwhile as Yoon Hyun-woo, his fight was all about getting ordinary people like him the recognition they deserved after dedicating their lives to the company. If the writer decided to jump back to Hyun-woo's life in the end, that should be what the fight was about. I understood the idea of this magical reincarnation/time-travel setup to be about Hyun-woo and Do-jun righting the wrong they inadvertently caused in each other's lives. But by eps 16, it was hard to distinguish between Hyun-woo and Do-jun. I couldn't pinpoint where Do-jun end and Hyun-woo begin, or vice versa. In the end, it felt like Hyun-woo abandoned his own fight to fight for Do-jun's battle instead. And that was thematically problematic.

That's why even when Jin family eventually stepped down from Soonyang's management, it felt like empty victory. We didn't see any major differences it made on the lives of ordinary people. Yes, Hyun-woo was lucky to get recognized by company like Miracle, but what about the others? I know this drama probably just wanted to criticize the broken Chaebol system in Korea, which frankly, they did a good job portraying. But the fact that this tale chose to have 2 different leads with vastly different background meant that it should eventually deal with that too. What would really change for people in the lower pyramid if this system was abolished? If there's no change, then what is the point of having Hyun-woo's struggle as the motivation for this "revenge" tale?

Maybe that's why while I'm not as mad with this ending as I was with many other k-drama's unfortunate final moments, this was the one that left me unsettled. And I don't think making your viewers felt anxious was supposed to be the goal of this final eps.

Even with the different schedule of having 3 episodes instead of 2 per week I kept craving for more but now I can't bring myself to watch the final episode. I saw some snippets and got turned off once I realized they ruined the message I thought the drama was building throughout the episodes from 2 to 15.
I thought Hyun-woo was sent back to the past to take revenge on those who killed him as well as Do-joon and teach him a lesson that you don't need to be a murderer to become a head of the company. So why after Do-joon finally achieved his dream and proved himself as the only one who could succeed Yang-cheol, we get a complete shift of tone that felt completely flat because it wasn't given the necessary time?
Out of the blue, Hyun-woo turns out to be involved in Do-joon's murder and travelled to the past to repent for what he did. I feel like we have two different dramas one from episodes 2 to 15 and the last episode stands alone as I can't wrap my mind around the sudden shift.
This is the first drama to leave me that mad I am okay with any kind of endings as long as it makes sense but why bother portray Do-joon as a genius taking advantage of his future knowledge when everything stayed the same as the first time line? and who on earth forgets being an accomplice to a crime and remembers everything else?
As you said, perhaps the message of betraying oneself through blind loyalty to the wrong person is a great lesson but you can't shove it suddenly in our face after raising our expectations of watching the good guy defeating the baddies and achieving his dream.
BTW I think even if we decide to go by Hyun-woo taking part in Do-joon's murder, making him go back and then saving his life and changing the future I believe would make more sense than just living the same life without anything changed.

I was expecting RR to end with a BAM but got a gentle SWOOSH instead. Show utterly failed to highlight 1) Miracle's goal of abolishing chaebol's tradition of passing down management rights, and 2) involvement of HW in DJ's death. @mistyisles was right that they should have sprinkled these elements/hints earlier throughout the show to make the finale much more impactful. Another thing I won't stop complaining about RR is that my viewing experience was seriously ruined by one or both of the dumb love line and the FL miscast. I won't ever watch another show starred by Shin Hyung-Bin. She's the weakest link in the ensemble cast, and it's jarring to see her ever-exhausting look destroy the character and whatever mood the show was trying to convey with her. Other than these issues, RR was amazing in telling a riveting account of a man's revenge on the background of South Korea's miraculous economic growth and the rise of its infamous chaebol family.

It's official. I'll remember 2022 as the year of disappointing endings (of the kdrama variety) headlined by 2521, Adamas, and now, Reborn Rich.
Happy New Year beanies~

So Reborn Rich was either a drama about the universe performing a grand act of karmic justice to tell the male lead something he already knew and had recorded evidence of

or

A drama about the universe performing a grand act of karmic justice so that Koreans can realise that corporations didn't need to have inherited management rights.

Either way - what was even the point of that?

Argh, that ending totally blindsided me.

I had to watch the final episode again to better appreciate it because my mind couldn't accept the idea that Hyun-woo survived a point-blank shot to the head and kinda stalled at that point, so my first pass through the episode was mostly a blur.

I also couldn't get past the idea that people didn't see how Hyun-woo looked just like Do-jun. When Episode 14 showed us that split-screen of Do-jun and Hyun-woo across the street from each other, I figured that the "people-can't-see-they're-the-same-guy" thing was just an in-show reality that we'll just have to accept. And I would have been fine with that . . . except Ha In-seok recognized him at the hearing. How is it that a man who suffers from alcohol-induced dementia can see what everyone else doesn't see? (lolsob) Granted, it's been 20 years, but wouldn't you at least do a double-take?

Also, who in the world has the presence of mind to record a phone call after they've witnessed a horrific accident? Not once throughout the show have we seen anyone record a phone call with a cellphone while using said phone. Is that a standard phone feature in Korea? How would Hyun-woo, as a contractor/laborer, even think of doing that? And why does Director Kim not hang up the phone after speaking to Hyun-woo, and why does Young-ki say who he is at that point in the convo? It would have been far more believable if Director Kim had been the one to address him by name.

These gripes aside, I enjoyed the series immensely and completely agree with mistyisles about liking the idea of the ending but not quite the execution of it.

Side thought: if there was no body-switching or time-traveling involved at all (which seems to be what Hyun-woo concluded) and the real Do-jun managed to do everything that we saw, he must have been a truly amazing genius. What a waste that the Jin family was so dysfunctional that they would rather eliminate that caliber of talent from the family line.

@mistyisles Thank you for the recap and you are much nicer than the writers deserve for this ending. We have spent the entire series with JDJ and Grandpa Jin and this was a major letdown.. I have been watching K drama's for a long time and I have been forced to believe some pretty unbelievable things but they decided to get " real " in this fantasy drama in the last episode? Like no way.. This ending is worse than Scarlett heart Ryeo, 25/21, Love Alarm, Boys over Flowers, and King Eternal Monarch to me..

Yes, that is how upset I am...THis was disrespectful to the fans..

Shout out to Lee Sung Min for excellent acting, he deserves all the DAESANGS.. and Shout out to SJK who did an excellent job in this drama and congrats on his new relationship..

As for the writer Kim Tae-Hee and Jung Dae-Yoon... I will probably be staying away from your dramas in the future.. and I think your mean people and you did us dirty on Christmas..

Oh that final episode haha. There were moments when I just had to laugh because wow.

But going back a bit, it was interesting to me just how big of a presence Chairman Jin was; once he was gone, the drama actually felt a little different (kinda basic?). He really brought a big, dynamic energy to things as well as he very clearly had everything & everyone in control.

Oh the entitlement! The Soonyang folks are so gross which made their constant losses to Do Jun so satisfying but it was always hard to watch the loyal employees be discarded or berated after they spent decades serving that family. As if they should be grateful for being labled embezzelers or killed because they once received a paycheck from them.

Poor driver guy. Dude must have PTSD and survivor's guilt so it's no wonder he would end up being an alcoholic. Oh the Soonyang family is so toxic!

The finale was weird to me though I'll give them points for taking me by surprise. I was not expecting Hyeon Woo to have survived nor for him to remember everything from both lives. I wasn't expecting him to get involved in Miracle again nor was I expecting Se Hyeon to have left the business in the first place. (Though I am kinda wondering how well the company will do now that it will be just a normal company on an equal playing field without the future knowledge).

And now for the things that made me laugh. The way Young Ki confessed/incriminated himself on that phone call haha. Not only did he mention Seong Jun but he mentions he's Chairman Jin's eldest son. I could totally see Chairman Jin just rolling his eyes while also being disgusted about the whole situation but particularly how Young Ki's so lacking. I also chuckled at the fact that Hyeon Woo wanted to ask Min Young out but figured it would be too weird or wrong to do so. I just had to laugh at how absolutely shameless Chang Je is; I hope he lost his career along with the family losing the company, reputation, and prestige.

How did Hyeon Woo not suffer any consequences for sitting on that evidence for 20 years? I guess it's a gray area since Chang Je prevented the case from being investigated in the first place?
Not sure why Do Jun even chose to wait for a truck that was apparently having issues to move rather than just go around but okay.

It's nice that the theory of Min Young's determination to bring down Soonyang was due to Do Jun's death was confirmed.

Interesting how full circle the slush fund ended up being and how it ended up bringing forth the truth about the Soonyang family.

The end credits made me want to rewatch the series all over again but at the same time, I was left feeling like "what did I just watch? What was that finale? How am I supposed to feel right now?"

For me, the ending was slightly anticlimactic, but I could see what they were trying to do and appreciated the aim.

Things I liked:
Having HW’s initiation to Soonyang being the murder of DJ was an excellent move – that tied up all the questions about why HW never knew DJ, and also why HW got involved with Soonyang in the first place. I genuinely loved the cliffhanger at the end of ep15!

I liked HW’s decision to enter the world of Miracle and finish off the destruction of the conglomerate from there – it felt fitting for him to re-enter the place where he really “lived”, and I sensed that was the “happy ending” HW/DJ wanted (not so much the destruction of Soonyang itself, but the ability to work with the Miracle team again and know they had changed the power of the conglomerates forever).

I liked HW’s decision not to go forward in his relationship with MY. Their relationship was never the strong point of this drama and it would have been hugely difficult for her to get her head round – and accept – why HW knew all about her past with DJ. Kinder to her to leave it as it was, and I think neither of them would have regretted that decision.

Things I didn’t like:
I had almost 0 investment in HW throughout the drama, so being asked to care about him in episode 16 was hard. Episode 16 took too long to confirm my suspicion that HW had retained DJ’s memories – which basically made them one and the same person – and until I had that confirmation, I couldn’t settle into HW’s story.

“It wasn’t time travel or soul swapping but repentance”. What? Not things that can be equally compared, for me. 1 and 2 are explanations for why HW/DJ experienced what he did; 3 is a motivation. 3 is not a means, so it doesn’t explain anything. Lazy, drama.

The use of the word “repentance”. Please, Korean speakers, did they translate that correctly? If so, it made no sense. Repentance from what? Poverty? Being born into a conglomerate? HW and DJ had no agency there, so how could they repent from that?? If they had gone for “atonement”, that would make more sense – both characters were trying to put right what was wrong (for atonement can occur on our own behalf or on behalf of others). There were elements of what happened in the drama that reminded me of Ian McEwan’s masterpiece Atonement, so I would be happy to go with that, but repentance, no.

So, the last episode fell somewhat flat, but then my expectations from eps 1-15 were sky high! However, I thoroughly enjoyed this drama, for the incredible ensemble cast (really, SJK didn’t do much other than walking through each scene with his mug of coffee, but the people he was interacting with made it crackle!) and the deft integration of recent Korean history with the story of Soonyang which allowed us many “Aha!” moments in advance and the pleasure of anticipating how the story would play out. It deserved its ratings, and has a big thumbs up from me.

This was an ending. I think other beanies have summarized why the ending was an issue. That being said, while this was billed as a vehicle for SJK to soar, it was in fact Lee Sung Min who STOLE the show. He was truly spectacular and if for that reason alone, I will count this a well done drama. However, here is hoping in 2023 we have better endings.

Unfortunately, this ending was bad. But I still enjoyed getting there, so overall I had a blast.

I actually don't mind the ending. I feel like a happy ending for JDJ/HW where JDJ takes over the company would have been too pat. (Maybe I would have believed it if he was left alone and friendless as a result, but that might have been a worse ending.) I've always believed that JDJ's attraction to Min Young was HW's attraction to her more than anything, so I understand why that would continue when he returns to his original body.

As for his complicity in JDJ's accident, his main complicity seems to be cover up. He didn't know what was intended going in. I could see the prosecution giving him immunity for that if he testifies against Soonyang folks.

every story that involves time travel will eventually have some questionable rules and logic, but I'm still laughing at HW being involved in DJ's death and not remembering THIS part of his own life when he was living as DJ. he remembered a lot of details about everything else, but this really important - and clearly traumatic - experience that shaped his loyalty/work ethic as a sooyang employee. yeah......

I understand why they would use SJK to play both characters but I still think when both HW and DJ existed in the same reality, having the same actor to play both is confusing as hell. especially bcs we never met DJ before HW being reborn as him so we could clearly see HW acting like DJ and maybe even morfing into a third personality as the time went on.

reborn rich probably had the worst developed romance ever lol its not a big issue because romance was never the main point, although I would say that by the end it had a direct impact into the plot, with prosecutor girl wanting to take sooyang down bcs of her dead lover. I never felt the love, the chemistry, never really undestood why these two people liked each other. DJ always used the girl to achieve his goals, she knew that and still loved him? and how was their relationship never seen as a conflict of interest? (only once that was brought up). I agree with another beanie who said that DJ love for her was more HW's attraction from his precious life to her. but my main issue is that DJ always looked manipulative towards her and I was like girl, WAKE UP! there's absolutely no sparks between the two actors, it was a dry romance, one of the worst I have seen lol

the cast had amazing actors and I understand that some acting of the chaebol characters was exaggerated to show how ridiculous and out of reality they actually are. the rest was just too one tone and bland. I think this + LSM insane talent and charisma, made the grandfather role the biggest driving force of this drama. the moment LSM was not on screen anymore, everything felt way more basic and cheap. he gave weight to this story, heart and energy. what a great performance from a great actor. nothing surprising, but still amazing to see. he's def the biggest contender for big awards.

I absolutely love SJK. I think he's a charming actor, that he can play diff genres really well and has this boyish look that doesnt look out of character for older characteees either. however, I still think he was not giving much from the writing to work here. he did the minimum. the only memorable scene for me was him watching his grandpa video. when I first read this drama's sinopsis I thought we would get some "nice guy" SJK acting, which is one of my favorite SJK's. but the drama never really went there. I thought HW would got a bit crazy in ep 16, but it also never happened.

overall, I never expected a happy ending for DJ. but I also didn't expect this ending lol

Hum... I'm not really disapointed by the end but more by its execution. It was rushed. I thought Do-Jun/Hyun-Woo would have learnt his lesson, this family is dangerous and they love truck accident...

I'm not sure they needed Song Joon-Ki for this drama, his character was too young for him. Thinking they need an experimented one to act with Lee Sung-Min is wrong, Kim Kang-Hoon proved it.

I liked this drama but don't understand the keen interest for it, LSM was great but the rest was pretty normal.

1. Hyun-Woo was an unwitting accomplice to Do-Jun's murder; he was just a patsy, therefore he bears no responsibility for the murder. Helping to cover it up, yes, however.
2. The phone call at the very end I felt was coming from Min-Young...
3. Sounds like the original ending of the novel would have been more to my liking.
4. All in all, it was a riveting show.

Reborn Rich DID NOT stick the landing. It ended with a whimper instead of a bang, and the ending casts a pall on the entire story. The finale felt rushed and haphazard, and muddled the show's premise and purpose.

I was both surprised and disappointed that the writer, who wrote such a tightly plotted show up to now, pulled out a bunch of cheap tropes in the last act. I dislike the use of deus ex machina as a plot device. It is lazy writing, and the final episode was riddled with deus ex machinas. I was incredulous at Hyunwoo's survival. The guy got shot in the back of the head close up by a trained hitman, fell 30 feet into the sea, and then was up and walking the next day with nary a scratch. X-Men who? Then it just so happens that he forgot about Dojoon due to PSTD, but magically remembers in time to recall he conveniently captured the recording of DJ's death two decades ago? Like...what? Never mind the whole doppelganger bit about DJ and HW having the same face.

At the end, I don't know what Reborn Rich is about. What are the messages it's trying to convey? Is it trying to convey anything? Unlike other Beanies who were trying to read into the sociopolitical aspect of RR, I don't think this show has any sociopolitical messages. Succession it is not. It is a...checks notes...repentance story, apparently. I don't know how it became a repentance story last minute, because we did not spend any time on Hyunwoo's guilt over abetting in DJ's murder. RR is not a satisfying revenge story either. It's just a rich family makjang. The show derailed after the grandpa's death. Like I said before, they should've renamed this show The Chairman and focused on grandpa entirely.

The best thing about the show was the acting, led by Lee Sungmin, who was in a class of his own. His posthumous video alone should win him some acting awards. All of the actors playing the siblings were fantastic, plus the eldest grandson and his Machiavellian wife. There were a lot of complaints about Shin Hyunbin, which I mostly agree with, but I thought that she was very watchable at the end. She suits the role of a fully matured prosecutor. Song Joongki was just...there in this show. He had two expressions: blank stare and smirk. You could've swapped in another actor and it wouldn't have affected the show.

I think i'm one of the few who love the ending? There is no way he will peacefully take chairman position after all he did to provoke Soonyang family. Their position is basically threaten by him make no sense he can has a happy life in that suffocating family. Sooner or slowwr, he will face the consequences.

I refuse to think it's all a dream since what HW did as DH is the result of his action in the past as DJ. He does enjoy Soonyang's money as HW to feed his family to cover up DJ's murder.

Now it make sense why he as high schooler graduate working in large company and good position. Now we know the reason behind all those HW flash back frequently throughtout the show. Might be the execution doesn't make sense. But for korean drama standard i will late it go.

After all the hype around this drama I decided to check it out and was pretty disappointed. This probably sits just above DoTS for me near the bottom of both SJK and SHB's repetoire. While I knew this woud be a makjang going into it (I mean let's set expectations) the ending felt not even within reach of this genre. He suddenly has a recording esp of the dad, he's not punished for being an "accomplice" - not to mention totally skipping over the fact that my brain would be mental soup coming back from inhabiting someone else's body.

Also, it made it just so wildly confusing throughout the entire drama that no one comments on the fact that Do Jun and Hyun Woo look similar (I get that it has to be the same actor for the storyline but even on the gravestone the memorial picture is him).

All around I think the concept was interesting but I walked away feeling, like you said, the execution was poor. I'm not sure entirely what I was supposed to walk away from this drama feeling or understanding (other than the overused trope of taking down a chaebol family).

That is a very shitty ending.

They should’ve just followed the original ending. Instead, the writers felt the need to change the drama again and again, until the original story felt unrecognisable.

I should’ve known that the writers would do this. It’s like they hate the original story so much and was just forced on this project.

I am surprised by the reactions expecting a happy ending for Do Joon. I did not read the webtoon so it must be because of that, but I think this show pretty much made it clear that Do Joon wont survive. They were emphasizing this at every turn, i.e. the outcome will not change, they even had DJ mention this several times. My hubby and I liked the ending, although I agree HYW's story was resolved too fast in the last episode. I also missed LSM in these episodes. I hope someone will come to translate correctly the HYW monologue later as I also don't think "repentance" is the right word. Atonement or Redemption maybe?

okay, i was/still am confused about the Alchemy of Souls Mu Deok/Naksu/Bu Yeon characters and who is whom and when and how... and now this. yet AGAIN, i'm confused about the Hyun Woo/Do Joon characters and who is whom and when and how....

i have a headache. i'm just too old to follow these stories....

it was engaging until the end, where it got too much for my old brain. i enjoyed Lee Sung Min's stellar performance most of all, of course! he made it worth the watch, after his character died i didn't care much about how it was going to turn out, i just realized.

This could have been a magnificent drama but I think the production team, like us audience, have too much fun in the corporate-cum-family feud that they forget to plot the ending as early as they should.

Imagine their cutting one round of corporate maneuver, tying the story back to HW around the Ep 13 or 14 mark when the Magic Project slush fund was first mentioned, and planting the ‘atonement’ theme for HW - we won’t be seeing the many disappointing comments around. (Thanks to @jingbee for bringing up atonement which would very nicely bookend the story.)

The ending if better paced and be given more time to thrash out is not bad actually. Why producing a good - which does not have to equate a happily ever after - ending is so hard?! Little Women’s ending is a good showcase of how it could be done. It is all about pacing and probability!

Nonetheless, it is still a highly watchable show just on the strengths of acting. Actors playing the Jin family and staff are all standout. Not sure if anyone has foreseen Lee Sung-min stealing the show completely and convincingly!! Also, as a fan of Kim Nam-hee, I’m very pleased that he aced again his role as the eldest Jin grandson.

So the ending had its problems (such as being completely implausible). But my real problem was that I never understood why the viewers should root for DJ/HW. Sure, he was less horrible than the rest of the family, but that's a very low threshold. He was also, with the exception of the first episode, one of the least interesting character. The eldest grandson was far more interesting than him (evil, but interesting evil).

Surviving a POINT BLANK SHOT in the back of head and falling in water aside, i feel the ending a little rushed. I guess it is interesting it keeps us kinda guessing and the premise reminds me of a chinese drama where the MC went "back in time" when she was in a coma.... and that was a dumpster fire.

Putting aside the confusion about 'the same face' on two completely different characters in the time-slip, plus an ending that tried so hard NOT to follow the original by having a happy outcome (perhaps to make this less k-drama-like and give it more gravitas?) I did find enjoyment on a different level. When I first started watching K-dramas in 2015, I saw a few from the 60's and 70's era like 'Sandglass' & 'Giant so that I could learn more about Korea's backstory than what the Sagueks offered.
Those movies like "Born Rich" did too, allowed us to see the visual steps that South Korea took to get on it's feet as a democracy after the war...for example the country's urgent economic repair that necessitated the rise of huge corporations, boosted by government legislation to become the great pillars of their economy on which they could build a solid financial infrastructure. This changed the landscape of their culture for good as well as bad in areas like real estate development, journalism, construction, law and politics. And so for me, watching 'Born Rich' became a great visual buffet of Korea's history. It almost felt like I was watching America's "Forrest Gump" movie, because Dojun & Hyun-woo's life interesected with so many recognizable milestones, events and famous people in Korean history. It was great to get the background stories of what went on, not just in the boardrooms over the years, but also how life changed for ordinary people. For example after the IMF crisis, we got to see how tragically it affected Hyn Woo's parents, or then something more uplifting, but also nation-building, as Korea's team getting to the semi-finals of the World Cup. I know the plot revolved around the Family's predictable disintegration as they fought for their place as head of Soonyang Corporation, but the back and forth gambits between siblings got predictable since we knew that Do-jun would always outwit and outplay his siblings no matter how close it got. However, the most powerful force in this movie for me was the dual-sided magnetism Lee Sung-min exuded as the Grandfather who was a role-model for his children's greed and corruption. He trusted no one, and so did they. Until Do-jun crept into his heart. There's was a beautifully crafted relationship, and the only one I cared about.

Since the beginning of this show, I got caught up in the buzz. Its high ratings and comments drew me in.

Struggled to watch the finale though. All of it was boring and bland.

The drama's only highlight was Lee Sung Min and his stellar acting as Chairman Jin! Wow. I haven't watched him in any major drama roles before. Need to go watch Misaeng sometime.

I watched the last episode of RR right when it aired but it has taken me THIS LONG to post a comment about it, because truly, it has taken me this much time to comes to term with it. Where do I even begin.....as many folks on here have noted...the series definitely had a tectonic shift in the last episode. In everything - in terms of logic, flow, being true to all the previous episodes, etc. I am so grateful someone tried to give an explanation that I can live it, which is as goes: that after being an unsuspecting pawn in Do-jun's murder, HW had suppressed those memories out of guilt and dedicated to living for the chairman who gave him the opportunity to work at Soonyang. And it literally took almost dying, being in the "in-between" stage to bring back those memories. We will assume everything we saw of Do-Jun in episodes 2-15 as a skewed, altered-reality in HW's mind (ie, he combined his desire to have been born into a rich family, to showcase his "talents" and get into a position of power with whatever little titbits he must have picked up about D-jun during his life at Soonyang, despite his mind trying to block everything about him). That is the only way I can stop pulling out my hair otherwise from trying to figure out the logic behind "time travel" (K-drama makers...please do not use time travel as your plot device to change the larger history - it never works!). Now, about what happens after HW wakes up and realizes his role in everything. Again, the series could have handled this much better. I agree with someone else who had pointed out how ridiculous it was that HW could have recorded that call immediately after the accident (instead they could have shown that it was recorded by someone else in the room at the time - some other minion - who could have eventually handed it to HW at some point). Also, I agree that they should have shown HW not only revealing dirty secrets of Soonyang, but dirt on a lot of other companies, which he would have gathered during his time as a Soonyang minion (and yes - if he was that good of a "fixer" for Soonyang, I am sure Do-jun's murder was not the only bad act he might have committed). The show should have ended with montage of several chaebol companies getting drawn into the scandal and lots and lots of them having to change their management right, the headline of which HW would be reading in a newspaper in prison and saying he's finally happy and found peace with his fate. Heck, they could have even shown him apologizing to the prosecutor, because again he might have heard that they used to date or something. Not this bizarre meet up afterwards and definitely not him going back to Miracle Investment. Seriously....can K-universities start offering a REQUIRED course on "how to write a strong last episode" for all drama writers? Why do so many of them bomb at the very last episode? This is truly mind-boggling to me! If they are so burnout by the end for good ideas, they really should ask for...