Island: Episode 11-12 (Final)

by solstices

Centuries of regret and resentment finally come to a close, amidst tragedy and sacrifice. Dedicated to the greater cause, our heroes devote themselves to protecting what they hold dear, no matter the cost.

 
EPISODES 11-12

Confronted with the full extent of Goong-tan’s brutality, Yeom-ji runs to Granny Geum, desperately urging her to escape while she still can. Instead, Granny remains as stoic as always — she’s known about Yeom-ji’s affiliation with Goong-tan all along. Even so, she’d taken Yeom-ji in so that the misguided child could have a place to call home.

Unfortunately, Granny’s love for Yeom-ji provides an easy avenue for Goong-tan to exploit. Using Yeom-ji as bait to lure Granny to his lair, Goong-tan demands to know the locations of the remaining dol hareubang in exchange for sparing Yeom-ji’s life.

Thankfully, Yo-han arrives in time before Goong-tan can do anything more than toss Yeom-ji aside like a ragdoll. He’s here to protect Mi-ho, and to avenge his brother.

Easily overpowering Yo-han, Goong-tan points out that the God whom Yo-han devotes his life to has never once rescued him — not when he was a child, and not when his brother was turned into a demon. They’re cruel words, but Yo-han isn’t fazed by Goong-tan’s nonsense. The same can’t be said for his sheer strength, though, and Yo-han goes flying too.

Pesky priest out of the way, Goong-tan forces Granny to reveal the locations of the last remaining dol hareubang, but then he goes back on his word. Declaring that Granny ought to pay for her sin of turning a blind eye to his suffering, he drives his dagger into her chest.

Meanwhile, Mi-ho is making good progress. In her latest bout of training, she even manages to levitate some pebbles. But Ban is decidedly less enthused, and he interrupts her routine — he doesn’t want Mi-ho’s consciousness to disappear once Won-jung returns.

When the skies cloud over and they both realize something is amiss, Ban seals Mi-ho inside the cave with a force field to keep her safe. It’s so he doesnt get distracted trying to protect her while fighting Goong-tan, but by the time he reaches the underground lair, both Yo-han and Granny are already on their dying breaths.

Later, Granny’s spirit visits Ban in a vision, at the same time that Won-jung appears before Mi-ho. Both reveal the same piece of information: there’s a magic pearl inside Mi-ho. Back when Ban stabbed Won-jung, a tiny fragment entered his body. And in order to create a barrier, Mi-ho needs to take it back — but that’s also the only thing suppressing Ban’s demon blood.

Mi-ho asks what will happen if she creates the barrier on her own, and Won-jung replies that the incomplete pearl will draw from her soul to fill in the gap — meaning she will lose her life. But keeping Ban alive is more than enough for Mi-ho. The same goes for Ban, who’s ready to give up his humanity in order to save Mi-ho, even if it means becoming a demon.

Phew, Yo-han’s still alive, though he’s on life support. In the meantime, Mi-ho is cornered by a hulking, monstrous demon (they really went all in with their CGI budget here, huh). Before it can reach her, though, it’s obliterated by a gunshot. Butler Jang is here to save the day, complete with hero backlighting and self-crafted silver bullets infused with holy water.

Mi-ho’s shooting training finally, finally pays off, and the pair take on the demon horde. Sigh, I wish they did more with Mi-ho’s sharpshooter prowess, but better late than never, I guess?

Apparently, Yo-han’s powers extend to regenerative healing, because he arrives just in time to slice a demon in half before it can rip Mi-ho to shreds. A flashback shows him pulling off his earrings, allowing the full extent of his holy powers to course through his veins — LOL, his incongruous bad boy look was plot-relevant after all!

While Yo-han holds Goong-tan off, Ban goes to Mi-ho, who’s in the midst of her barrier ritual. Tenderly wrapping her in a gentle embrace, he takes her hand — and pulls it up to his eye. Mi-ho immediately realizes what he’s trying to do, and she struggles to push him away. But Ban quiets her protests with an earnest, weary plea — all these centuries of fighting have left him exhausted. He just wants to rest now.

The fragment returns to its rightful owner, and Ban walks away as his demon blood takes over. While Mi-ho struggles to contain her grief and complete the barrier, the brothers engage in one final battle. Their swords clash, and one pierces right through the other, shattering its weaker counterpart. Goong-tan has won, and he’s impaled Ban on his sword.

But Ban isn’t dead just yet. With the last bit of his strength, he stabs Goong-tan with his broken sword — just as they started as a pair, so too shall they end it together.

At long last, Mi-ho completes the barrier. The demon markings recede from the brothers’ faces, and they disintegrate amidst a wave of light. Wearing a look of perverse satisfaction that Ban is following him into hell, Goong-tan leaves us with one last smile. On the other hand, Ban has forlornly resigned himself to his fate — though his nostalgic flashback sequence of Mi-ho suggests he isn’t without regrets.

Just when you think our tale has finally come to a close, the show throws us one last curveball. The White Cloak Cult finally shows up again, after sitting on their haunches for most of the show. Leveraging on the cult’s past rescue of Yeom-ji, a henchman mind-controls her to retrieve a dagger that one of the monks hid before being massacred by the brothers.

Meanwhile, Yo-han’s back to his exorcism duties in the Vatican City. Yet all these miles away, the demons still taunt him about the people he hadn’t been able to save — namely Soo-ryun, his brother, and Ban. Back in Seoul, Mi-ho isn’t faring much better; she’s now the company president, but the events on Jeju Island have left an indelible mark on her psyche.

Normalcy certainly isn’t in the books for these two, because both of them feel the energy shift upon the dagger’s retrieval. This ominous premonition is confirmed by the rattling of Ban’s dagger, which Mi-ho keeps displayed in her office. With a phone call to Yo-han, Mi-ho is sure of what she must do — it’s time to save the world again.

And so, Part 2 of Island concludes with the doors wide open for a possible Part 3. Though honestly, I don’t know if I want a continuation; I’d much rather have had a cohesive finale. A lot of the setup in previous episodes finally paid off today, such as the fragmented magic pearl explaining why Ban got weaker the more he was around Mi-ho.

The problem is that these payoffs ought to feel satisfying, like an “Aha!” moment, but many of them fell flat because they were introduced so late. If you leave your audience wondering for that long, we start to fill in the gaps ourselves — and sometimes, what we come up with is preferable to what the drama actually has to offer.

The show had a lot going for it at first — an intriguing fantasy world, imbued with magic and symbolism. A particularly poignant moment this week was when Mi-ho faltered before creating the barrier, weighed down by the memories of the people she’d lost along the way, and was reassured by Granny’s spirit. I liked how her ability to see these visions came alongside her spiritual progress, mirroring how she gradually opened her mind to the other realm.

But the ending didn’t feel earned. We were all rooting for our main couple to overcome the odds stacked against them — she was what allowed him to retain the last bit of his humanity, both literally and figuratively, so surely they could devise a way out? But one half died yet again. And Goong-tan never got a proper resolution — given his final acts, a redemption arc was unlikely, but was emotional closure really too much to ask for?

The show centered on the theme of grief, with Ban grieving his humanity, Goong-tan grieving the agency that was robbed from him, Mi-ho grieving her friends, and Yo-han grieving his brother. As Won-jung recounted the tale of Aṅgulimāla, we were primed for redemption arcs. Unfortunately, a large chunk of character development occurred offscreen, encumbered by pacing issues.

The show could have expanded upon these themes more, but instead it felt like they were mainly avenues for plot development. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when characters’ emotions drive the story in organic ways, but here it feels like a device for plot events to occur. And honestly, quite a fair bit of conflict could have been avoided with proper communication!

Though I suppose I can’t fault the show too much — it was billed as an action drama after all, and it certainly delivered in that aspect. I just think it’s a shame to set up such a rich world populated with an array of dynamic characters and compelling actors (Cha Eun-woo improved so much, I’m impressed!), only to have them swept about by the whims of the plot.

 
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