MY THEORY ON WHY HARU BECAME AN AMNESIAC AND THEN RETURNED TO HIS OLD SELF IN THE SPAN OF TWO DAYS:

Warning: it’s going to be a long one…

The number one reason Haru disappeared is because his time as an extra who was going around unnoticed by the writer was up. It’s clear that the reason he was so easily able to change the stage is because the writer was simply never conscious of his existence – and so she couldn’t control for the events he caused. Anything DanOh and DoHwa did in shadow was reset, because the writer had set their actions down in stone. As the writer was conscious of their existence and could hence control them, nothing DO and DH did could change what was bound to happen.

But as Haru started getting more and more noticed by the characters around him, eventually the writer had to notice him too. I think the main catalysts to this were when BK suggested him as a member of the soccer team (his name was physically written down on paper) and NJ saw him as a potential candidate for A3. As a result of his sudden involvement, the writer realized there was a character in their midst she hadn’t accounted for. He was always there, but he’d resided in the writer’s subconscious instead of her conscious. He kept his name since the writer assumed that’s what he was always called (not realizing that was a name given by someone else). He lost his memories because the writer gave him a new identity of her own bidding. Before, he was a free spirit who determined his own actions and his own personality. He never had lines of his own because he was never really a character of the Secret manhwa.

When the writer noticed his presence, he moved from the subconscious to the conscious. Since he was never originally part of ‘Secret’, he entered as a new character, with a brand new concept, and brand new memories. Just as Jinmichae said, Haru went from an extra with no name, to an extra with a name but who was now under the control of the writer.

It makes complete sense that he lost his memories, because he essentially went from a non-character to a character that now has a role in the storyline.

The memory loss was not necessary for the purposes of the story. Indeed, that’s why Haru regained his memories in the span of a day, because amnesiac Haru wasn’t moving the narrative forward in any way. The ultimate goal of all of this was to make him a proper character of the Secret manhwa. The drama screenwriters (not the manhwa writer) had him lose his memory in order to show us how the manhwa world worked. I think it’s pretty sick that they’re keeping in line with the logic, and I hope they continue to do so.

And not going to lie, even though it wasn’t a narrative requirement, it did add some well-timed conflict in the show. Although it was heartbreaking to see Danoh suffer like that, it gave us all some insight into the depth of her feelings for Haru, and provided the necessary space for BK’s transition into a self-aware character. It was a nice segway into what I presume is Act II (the one where all the shit goes down).

Many people might ask how Haru ended up in Secret in the first place if he was never a character.

I think he travelled in through the portal (as many of us do). Unlike Danoh, who was purposefully recycled for the writer’s new manhwa, Haru might be more of a runaway ‘fugitive’.

I’m not sure yet how he ended up losing his memories of his previous life. I can imagine Danoh did because she was intentionally revamped by the writer for her new manhwa, so she was updated with a new concept and personality (and lost her memories that way)

Which brings me to question how Jinmichae still remembers everything from his past (which may explain how he’s so all-knowing), since if the writer recycles her characters, they should then lose knowledge of their previous lives – unless there’s another explanation.

We still need to see how Haru got his scar back, but regardless of how he got it, the scar is integral to his identity. Goryeo Haru, Puppy Haru from Episodes 1-6, and new Haru who just regained his memories are all the same person – and his scar is an indicator of that. Danoh was right, jerk Haru wasn’t the real Haru – he was simply a mirror of the stage persona the writer had given him. When he became his old self, he regained his scar.

It is interesting that despite being fully integrated into the Secret manhwa, Haru’s past still haunts him, while Danoh remains oblivious to it. I really hope it’s not the result of the drama screenwriter prioritizing Haru’s role over Danoh’s, where she gets relegated to someone who’s kept in the dark until the penultimate hour (because I’m sick and tired of kdramas that have girls sit out on all the action, and also BECAUSE THIS SHOULD BE DANOH’S STORY FIRST AND FOREMOST).

I’m guessing Haru is more strongly attached to their past because everything that went wrong was his fault. Since the entire Goryeo plotline seems more like Haru’s narrative than Danoh’s, I hope the story wraps that up first and then focuses on Danoh’s journey of survival. I know they’re not mutually exclusive, but to have the ‘Flower manhwa’ storyline take over the plot would be to move away from Danoh’s fight, which I would SO not be down for.

Lol I started this planning on only talking about Haru and his amnesia, but clearly got carried away. I remember someone asking on the fanwall if Haru was going to disappear again, and I think it’s safe to say he won’t. His chances of disappearing are just as high as any of the other extras, since he’s a properly documented character now. It’s going to be so much harder for our adorable OTP to spend more time together, since now they’ll both have their own stage arcs. Since Haru is now BK’s lackey, it means he’ll have to see (and maybe even accompany) Danoh and BK as a couple even more than before. That all makes for some juicy conflict, but also a lot of angst. Let’s see if it ends up being the good kind.