#aeum

Sometimes the intro of a show will give us clues as to what the whole story is about. In the case of TOTNT, they gave us such major spoilers that I am so flabbergasted that I completely missed it all!

In Korean legends, there is a story called, “Red Flower for One Hundred Days”. The story began in a small seaside village (notice how the tree is located next to the sea) where there lived a man and a woman who were very much in love with each other and had planned to be married soon. Unfortunately, there was a grim customary in this village: a maiden must be sacrificed to the Imoogi that lived in sea in order to avoid a disaster from befalling on the village. On the year that the woman was suppose to be married, she was chosen to be the human sacrifice to the Imoogi. And so the man in a state of shocked, told the woman that he would go fight the Imoogi in the sea so that they could live happily ever after. Before leaving on his ship to face the Imoogi, the man told the woman that he would fly a white flag if he had defeated the Imoogi and a red flag if he had failed.

So from that day onwards, the maiden would wait by the shore every day and pray for his safe return. Exactly 100 days after the man left, she saw his ship approaching and as the ship came closer she saw a red flag. The maiden now having been stricken with grief had died even before the ship had even reached the shore. 

Upon reaching the shore, the man had immediately set off to find his maiden so that he could share with her his joyous news. Sadly when he found her, she had already died. He did not understand how this could’ve happen until he had seen that his white flag had been smeared with the blood of the Imoogi. And so with a heavy heart, the man had to bury his beloved. Later on, it was seen that red flowers that had blossom around her grave for a 100 days before withering away. And so legend says that the red flowers of the crape myrtle tree contained the maiden’s spirit who had waited for her fiancé for a 100 days. 

Analysis

So after reading that whole story, I finally understood the intro. Basically the intro was telling us the story of Lee Yeon and Ah Eum. Something of interest to note is the color chosen to represent the Gumiho. I mean they could’ve made the Gumiho like orange or something, but instead they chose to make him white. This could signify that Lee Yeon will win the final battle against the Imoogi. Remember that in the legend the color white signifies a win. Additionally, I think the whole sequence of the Gumiho dissolving and binding with the tree as indicative that Lee Yeon and Ji Ah will finally be together in the end. 

First and foremost, I would like to give my sincerest praise to the cast and crew of Tale of The Nine Tailed ! It is simply a wonderful and very thought provoking show! I strongly recommend it to everyone! 

Now, I’m going to forewarn you all that this post will be very LONG, but hey you might learn a thing or two and be able to draw your own theories and/or conclusions after reading this post! I had previously posted some of these connections/theories on my Twitter, but I figure hey why not post them on Tumblr too !

What Is An Imugi/Imoogi? What Is It’s Goal?

In Korean folklore, Imoogis are lesser dragons that look like big snakes or kind of like a basilisk from Harry Potter.

One of an Imugi/Imoogi’s main goal is obtain a “Yeouiju” or a celestial orb which allows it to become full fledged celestial dragons which can rule the skies. In the context of TOTNT, there is such a type of “Yeouiju” in the form of Lee Yeon’s fox bead. Therefore, I believe that the ultimate goal of the Imugi/Imoogi is get Lee Yeon’s fox bead.

Side note, I kind of think that the Imoogi not only wants to rule the skies, but the ground too. I wouldn't be surprised if he sought to do so by raising an army of zombies (maybe thats who Lee Yeon was seen fighting in the intro credits) ! 

Why be content with just ruling the skies when you can rule the entire world? Additionally, he could have further ambitions to not only rule the world, but to also rule all realms like the heavens and the Underworld. 

The Imoogi is very strategic into getting what he wants. By strategic I mean that he likes to use people as leverage or use their own weaknesses against them.

Therefore, I believe what happened originally during Ah Eum’s time is that the Imoogi had possessed her body in order to get Lee Yoon to hand over his fox bead. The Imoogi knew how much Lee Yoon had loved Ah Eum and would be willing to do anything for her. 

However like Voldemort, the Imoogi did not anticipate the power of love and sacrifice. Ah Eum had temporarily gained control of her body long enough to do either two things: ask Lee Yeon to kill her or run into Lee Yeon’s sword thereby killing herself. In either cases, she fulfilled her promise to Lee Yoon which was that she would always protect him.

Now jumping back to the present time, we know that original target of the Imoogi’s plan was Ji Ah. Why? Because his lame self wanted to do what he did in the past and use her again to get Lee Yeon to hand over the fox bead. However, this time around, Ji Ah had Lee Yeon’s fox bead inside of her which offered protection from full possession by the Imoogi. So then the Imoogi’s minion (tv station president) took the next best thing which was Ji Ah’s parents to be used as leverage at a later time so that Ji Ah would hand over the fox bead. 

However, things have now changed because Ji A gave away the fox bead to the fortune teller to save Lee Yeon. Now I have mixed feelings about this situation. On one side, I find it romantic that she’s willing to give up anything to save Lee Yeon. On the other side of it, I’m like girl why are you so stupid?! Lee Yeon literally gave up his mountain title in order to give Ah Eum/Ji Ah that fox bead.  It’s almost like Lee Yeon’s actions were met in vain. Plus, when Ji Ah said she doesn’t believe in destiny or that sort of stuff, it also got me riled up because it was a contradiction to the whole premise of her character in the first place. From the get go, the writer wrote that Ji Ah believes in the supernatural and mystical. So then why wouldn't she believe in fate and destiny?

Anyways back to more analysis. Without the protective effects of the fox bead, Ji Ah can once again be possessed by the Imoogi. 

What the fox bead had done for Ji Ah was that it protected Ji Ah from the effects of the Imoogi piece aka horcrux that was inside of her. The notion that the bead had offered protective effects can be seen when Lee Yeon first gave it to her where a protective shield was erected and this was again seen in ep4 when Ji Ah cried. Also, it was confirmed when Sato said how Lee Yeon’s fox bead was meant to protect all beings, but instead Lee Yeon chose to use it to protect only one person.

The Fortune Teller’s Message

Something of particular interest is what the fortune teller told Ji Ah about the bead. He told her that even without the fox bead or moon, her life is still “blessed”. I think what the fortune teller meant by this is that even without the protective effects of the bead, her life is still “blessed” because she will always have Lee Yeon by her side to protect her. 

What I think will happen next is that Lee Yeon will go back to the fortune teller to try and get his bead back. Meaning Ji Ah will probably confess to Lee Yeon later on just what exactly she gave up in order to get him back. And again the fortune teller will ask for something precious to Lee Yeon. There are a few things that are precious to Lee Yeon such as Ji Ah, Lee Rang, and Lee Yeon’s immortality. Now we know that Lee Yeon would never give up Ji Ah, so then this would bring about other two things into play: Lee Rang and Lee Yeon’s immortality. I think its more of a poetic justice if Lee Yeon trades Lee Rang in. However, I could also see Lee Yeon trading in his immortality since his dream has always been to become human. Who knows though! 

Only One Will Live: Imoogi Vs Ji Ah and Lee Yeon vs Ji Ah

In Harry Potter, there was a prophecy that “for neither can live, while the other survives”. This same message is conveyed when it comes to the Imoogi & Ji Ah and Lee Yeon & Ji Ah. 

We saw what had happened the first go around when the Imoogi had possessed Ah Eum. In the end, Ah Eum chose to sacrificed herself so that both the Imoogi and the piece of him inside of her would die. Thereby, she prevented the Imoogi from using her to get Lee Yeon’s fox bead. Now presently, the same situation is basically happening again. However, if Harry Potter managed to kill the piece of Voldemort in him and still survive then Ji Ah can essentially do the same. So, how you might ask? I think the solution greatly lies in getting the fox bead back in her. If Ji Ah can temporarily die in order to get rid of the Imoogi piece inside of her, then she can be revived by the protective qualities of the fox bead. 

Even if Ji Ah survives against the Imoogi, it might be at the cost of losing Lee Yeon. The fortune teller even told our couple this, “If you two keep hanging out, one of you will die”. This same message is again heard in ep 7 preview when Taluipa’s husband tells Lee Yeon, “You or the girl. One must die in the end.” So can there be a situation where the Imoogi is dead and both Ji Ah and Lee Yeon are alive? Yes and it comes in the form of the Lee Rang factor.

The Lee Rang Factor 

We all know that our little puppy, Lee Rang, may put up the facade that he hates his brother, but in reality, Lee Rang loves his brother a lot.

There was a clue dropped in ep.4 that hints in the end Lee Rang will be the one that saves both Lee Yeon and Ji Ah.

The hint was in Taluipa’s hand, the movie “A Better Tomorrow”. Briefly, the movie is about two brothers, Ho and Kit, who love each other a lot. However over the years, they began to develop great animosity and resentment towards each other mainly due to their differences in beliefs and professions. Ho was a criminal while Kit was an upstanding police officer. Eventually, Ho does see the error of his ways and seeks to atone for them. In the end, the two brother reconcile and Ho decides to  join his brother Kit on a path of righteousness. Similar to Ho, I think Lee Rang will do the same. Lee Rang will atone for his mistakes and thus sacrifice himself to save Lee Yeon and Ji Ah. 

What is Ji Ah?

Seems like everyone these days has been wondering what exactly Ji Ah is. Most people seem to think that she is part Imoogi. However, there has been a bunch of clues in the episodes that answers this question.

I believe Ah Eum/Ji Ah is Princess Bari, the first shaman goddess from Korean mythology.

Princess Bari was nicknamed the “Abandoned Princess” because she was the last and 7th daughter of a King who had no sons. Due to her gender, she did not receive any attention from her parents and was thus abandoned.

Eventually, her parents’ lives became endangered and in order to save them she had to travel to the Underworld to get the elixir of life. Such a tedious journey showed her deep commitment to the virtue of “filial piety” or one’s love and respect for one’s parents. She became a role model for many women during this time because she was willing to sacrifice herself for the very parents who had abandoned her. 

As a reward for her strong adherence to filial piety, the Gods made her the first shaman goddess who’s job was to help and guide spirits. 

In Ep 6, it was mentioned that the four mountain spirits had four gems that were suppose to be used to protect all of mankind. 

We know what two of them are: Lee Yeon’s fox bead and Sato’s moon mirror. The other two are still a great mystery. 

In Korean mythology, similar gems or treasures were mentioned in the Dangun creation myth. Hwanung was the son of Hwanin (Lord of Heaven) who had longed to live on Earth in the Baekdu Mountains. And so his father, Hwanin, allowed him to go down and gave him three treasures to help him rule/protect mankind. These treasures included a sword, mirror, and bell. 

These three items are similarly found in Japanese mythology. Like their Korean counterparts, the Imperial Regalia of Japan were also used to help rule/protect mankind. The only difference is that instead of a bell, the Imperial Regalia included a bead/jewel. 

Combining these two sets of information, I believe that the last two gems of the mountain spirits is probably a bell and sword. I do wonder if the Imoogi will try and obtain these items later on to try and further his quest for total world domination. This also leads me to wonder if Lee Yeon’s sword is one of the gems of the mountain spirits. Maybe one of the other mountain gods had ended up giving it to him.

What did I predict? I predicted that Lee Yeon and Ji Ah would get married and live happily forever just like Princess Bari and Mujangseung..... AND BOOM FROM THE LATEST FAN PIC...THERE’S A RING ON JI AH’S LEFT HAND !!

For reference, read my other post about it:

https://mindmeltonabun-blog.tumblr.com/post/633620923315077120/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-final-outcome-for-lee

I am now wondering just how much more they will follow the Princess Bari myth because if they follow it about 98% then that would mean we are going to get children for Lee Yeon and Ji Ah. If so, I WILL BE BEYOND ECSTATIC!!!!! HALF BABY FOXES RUNNING AROUND FTW!

Yep I am done!

Here’s just a really quick post on my thoughts and analysis! I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors as well as stuff that isn’t presented in an entirely cohesive manner! I am making this post after a long day of school work and classes !

Lee Yeon and Ji Ah

As predicted in a previous post, Ji Ah did indeed misunderstood Lee Yeon largely due to the fact she only saw a fraction instead of her past life. Obviously, Lee Yeon did love Ah Eum, but they had to sacrifice their love for the greater good aka saving a nation. Again, I am still sticking to my theory that the Imoogi wanted total world domination. 

My theory is that upon killing the Imoogi who was impersonating her father, the Imoogi’s essence went into Ah Eum. Ah Eum knew this would happen, but did not tell Lee Yeon. Maybe Ah Eum was able to be possessed by the Imoogi because she was human instead of some sort of a mystical being. 

So in order to prevent the Imoogi from jumping from person to person, Lee Yeon had to be the one who killed her. It’s similar to how Dumbledore told Snape that he must be the one to kill him.  Although I do wonder now if at first Lee Yeon meant to use Ah Eum, but later fell end up falling in love with her. I could also see that happening.  

So now lets talk about Ah Eum being the sacrifice. What if her father, the King, had exchanged his youngest daughter for the Imoogi’s help to make rain or something. For example, maybe the nation was suffering from famine due to a lack of crops. 

Additionally, the trade of a sacrificial virginal bride could be seen as very valuable to the Imoogi because it could be one of the pieces it needs to becoming a dragon. So either he needed a sacrificial bride or a fox’s bead or maybe both to become a dragon. 

CEO Station President

Throughout all of this, we know the CEO has been devoted follower of the Imoogi. However, I am left to question, what exactly is in it for him?

We know he was born probably during the time of the Goryeo dynasty and was branded on his forehead for crimes committed during “Myo Cheong’s Rebellion”. Upon doing further research on this, I found out that Myo Cheong was a Buddhist shaman who had was part of the royal court during King Injong’s reign. At this time in Korea, there were conflicts between two different beliefs systems: Buddhism and Confucianism. Myo Cheong tried to sway King Injong into moving Goreyo’s capital from Kaesong to Pyongyang because he phophesied that by in doing so, it would ensure their success against the Jurchens. At first, the King had believed in Myo Cheong. However, as time went on, the King joined the rest of the court in dismissing Myo Cheong’s ideas while portraying him as a crazy madman. This eventually lead Myo Cheong to form a rebellion against the King. The rebellion was short lived and it was later squashed by General Kim Bu Sik. So I think CEO guy is Myo Cheong.

I think the CEO had formed some sort of deal with the Imoogi. Maybe the CEO guy/Myo Cheong said he would help the Imoogi find a fox’s bead and/or bride in exchange for revenge against the very same royal court who had betrayed and humiliated him. After all in TOTNT its all about deals, trades, and debts. 

Lee Rang

So now that we have discussed the deals between the Imoogi and CEO, I would like to next examine the deal made between the CEO and Lee Rang.

The CEO guy had saved Lee Rang’s life which meant that Lee Rang would be forever indebted to him aka his personal puppet till the end of time. Wow that really does suck!! Part of me feels like the CEO guy already knew Lee Rang would be in this type of situation and therefore specifically sought him out in order to save his life. I mean how valuable is it to have a fox be indebted to you with it’s life. Furthermore, it’s not just any other fox, it’s a fox who’s brother was a Mountain God with a fox’s bead. See where I’m getting at yet? It’s all about the fox bead and leverage. See my other post if you don’t get where I’m coming from. 

Looking back on all of this, I am left to also wonder whether or not either the CEO or the Imoogi were the ones that were initially responsible for Lee Rang’s harsh and rough childhood. Maybe both the CEO and Imoogi knew little Lee Rang was defenseless because Lee Yeon had left for the Underworld to find Ah Eum and so they made the villagers burn down the mountains and sent Lee Rang’s now zombie mom to try and kill him. In turn, this lead to a whole cascade of events: Lee Rang hating humans --> Lee Yeon having to punish Lee Rang for killing humans --> Lee Rang hating his brother for stabbing him. 

Episode 8 Predictions

I think in episode 8, we will revisit Lee Yeon’s past internal conflicts. I believed in the past, Lee Yeon had tried to save both Lee Rang and Ah Eum since they were equally precious to him. However, in the end, he lost both of them. 

So in the Ep 8 preview, you can hear someone asking the question, “What are you most afraid of?”. Subsequently, this flashes to Lee Rang being surrounded and attacked by zombies while Ji Ah is in the car with her parents right before the accident occurs. 

In Han Christian Andersen’s, “The Little Mermaid”, mermaids are not immortal. Rather, they are just given 300 years to live after which they will turn into sea form and cease to exist. The only way mermaids can obtain a form of immortality is through a human’s unconditional love of them. And when Andersen’s mermaid lost her voice, she also lost the opportunity for the prince to unconditionally love her, thus she lost her chance at ever gaining immortality and was ultimately turned into sea foam. 

So when Ji Ah stated that she wanted her voice back, the prince, and not to be turned into sea foam, it was basically the writer’s way of telling us Ji Ah will end up being an immortal being! Got it?

The writer has been alluding to the fact that Ji Ah will become an immortal being since like Ep 2. And if you still haven’t gotten all of the writer’s many hints then see the following posts of mine:

Skip to “Ji Ah = Supernatural Being = Shaman Goddess” Section

https://mindmeltonabun-blog.tumblr.com/post/634191428978868224/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-more-analysis-and

Skip to “What is Ji Ah?” Section