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Well folks...here we are once again. I did say that I would not write another TOTNT post unless there was anything worth discussing in the finale. I know many of you may feel utterly devastated or somewhat confused by how TOTNT ended, but I hope my post will be able to comfort you somehow. Anyways, let’s put on our thinking caps one last time for TOTNT!

Lee Rang’s Death

One of the biggest complaints many have had is the death of Lee Rang. Many said that the writer did him dirty while others wished that Lee Yeon and Ji Ah would’ve died instead. However, when we looked at his character arc’s as a whole, his death was justified. We mustn’t forget that he murdered hundreds possibly thousands in wake of his anger. 

Yes, he did do some good towards the end of his life such as taking in Yuri and Kim Soo, but that shouldn’t discredit all the atrocious acts he had committed in the past. Saving the life of two people doesn’t make up for all of the lives he had taken. Additionally, it is noted that Lee Rang did also assist the Imoogi’s group to bring the Imoogi back to life which caused for a slew of horrible events to occur in the first place. 

In the end, it was Lee Rang’s turn to sacrifice for the one he loved. Everything in TOTNT is cyclic if you think about it. First Ah Eum died to save Lee Yeon then Lee Yeon died to save Ji Ah. Therefore, it was only logical that it was Lee Rang’s turn to die for the one he loved which was Lee Yeon. 

Everything in life isn’t all rainbows and sunshine, what matters is what you do despite being dealt a bad fate. Both Lee Yeon and Ah Eum/Ji Ah weren’t dealt with a particularly good fate, but yet they still remained good people. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Lee Rang. Yes, he was dealt with a bad fate with having been born with a mother who didn’t want him, but he was also lucky because he had been taken in by a brother who greatly cherished him. Instead of appreciating the time he shared with Lee Yeon and remaining a good person even after the events of Lee Yeon leaving for the Samcheon River, Lee Rang still decided to take a turn for the worst. 

Over and over again, Lee Rang had escaped the punishment he so rightly deserved. For example, even after killing those villagers, Lee Yeon spared his life. Lee Rang had been basically living off on borrowed time. In a way, Lee Rang was lucky that during that borrowed time he was able to resolve the misunderstanding he had with Lee Yeon as well as have a small family of his own. Finally, if there’s anything TOTNT has taught us, it’s that if something is the will of the afterlife judges, it will be carried out eventually. One can’t escape their punishment.

In my opinion, things could have gone a lot worse for Lee Rang in the end. Meaning he could have been reborn as a shrimp. Instead, the afterlife judges granted him reincarnation as a boy who had a mother who cared for him and granted him his last wish which was to meet his brother again. He got all of wishes fulfilled. Thus, it was a satisfying ending for Lee Rang. 

Update 12/07/2020: Does Lee Yeon Meeting Reincarnated Lee Rang Indicate Many Years Have Passed?

No, it doesn’t. The team probably wanted to use the same child actor (Joo Won Lee; DOB: 05/03/2011) as to imply that Lee Rang had been successfully reincarnated. Sure, they could’ve used someone who was a few months old, but how then would Lee Yeon recognize Lee Rang ? Remember that Lee Yeon only met Lee Rang when he was around 9 years old. There would be no way for Lee Yeon to recognize what a few months old Lee Rang could’ve looked like. Get it ? Again, Lee Yeon meeting reincarnated Lee Rang happened in 2021!

Why Does Lee Yeon Still Have His Gumiho Powers?           

Initially, when I first watched this I was beyond shocked, left confused, and was rethinking my opinion of Lee Yeon as a good person. However, once I watched it with subs and then did a little research into how Gumihos can become human, the ending scene made sense. Again, everyone should’ve taken Jo Bo Ah’s advice of looking up myths and see to how they pertain to whatever happened in TOTNT.

Anyways, in legends, Gumihos can become human in the following ways:

1)    Refrain from killing and eating humans for 1000 days

2)    The human who found out a Gumiho’s true nature, must tell no one of its secret for 10 years

3)    Over a period of 100 days (other versions say 1000 days or ~3 years), Kumiho must not be detected by the human they are married to.  If the Gumiho fails on this quest, they will lose any chance of becoming human and will be a Gumiho for 1000 years

4)    Gumiho must consume the livers of 1000 humans over 1000 years. If they do not do this by the end of 1000 years, the Gumiho will dissolve in foam/bubbles

In particular, the ending scenes was in reference to #3. When Lee Yeon had came back to life, he was still technically a Gumiho hence why he could enter the Office of the Afterlife. I know you might ask well why didn’t Taluipa or Shin Ju sense he was still a fox? Because at the same time Lee Yeon was human, but only during the day or nights when there wasn’t a full moon (read further below for an explanation). Additionally, Lee Yeon probably didn’t tell Shin Ju because he didn’t want there to be any possibility that information would get leaked to Ji Ah. Better safe than sorry was Lee Yeon’s personal philosophy!  

Although, Lee Yeon did come pretty close to being discovered as a Gumiho when he let it slip that he knew that their child would be a daughter. This all goes back to the intro in Ep 1 where it is said that Gumihos have the “ability to see miles ahead”. Luckily for Lee Yeon, he convincingly tricked Ji Ah and played it off as he was just saying weird things.

Until his 100 days were up, Lee Yeon had to keep his Gumiho nature hidden from the only person who mattered which was Ji Ah. Let’s be honest here, it’s really hard to trick Ji Ah so Lee Yeon had to be super careful around her. Usually in legends, Gumihos fall short of reaching the 100 days because they are discovered by their betrothed. During Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional phase of becoming human, a situation arose that could’ve have caused Ji Ah to discover that Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho aka Mr Samjae entering into Ji Ah’s life. 

This caused a problem because whatever misfortune befell on Ji Ah it would also inadvertently affect Lee Yeon too. Meaning that if Lee Yeon didn’t get rid of the Samjae, it could cause Ji Ah the misfortune of finding out Lee Yeon still was a Gumiho, thus ruining his plan of ever becoming human. 

The only way anyone could tell Lee Yeon was still a Gumiho was to have seen him during a full moon. This was in reference to how in legends, werewolves (also in the same canine family as a fox) can only undergo transformation into a wolf when there was a full moon (symbolistic of metamorphosis). So while in the transitional state of Gumiho and human, Lee Yeon was able to take advantage of there being a full moon to be able to transform into a Gumiho. Subsequently, Lee Yeon then used his Gumiho abilities to rid of Mr. Samjae Spirit. Thus, Lee Yeon eliminated a potential threat that could have caused Ji Ah to find out his Gumiho nature before the 3 months of remaining undetected was completed.

Flash forward approximately 3-4 years later after Lee Yeon’s face off with the Samjae, Lee Yeon is now seen as having been successful at becoming a full human as well as having daughter with Ji Ah as seen here in the following pictures (family picnic). My only complaint is that the production/editing team ended up deciding to not include the following scene. I do not know whether it was their decision or the writer’s to not include this. There could be numerous reasons why such as they had wanted to leave the possibility of there being a season 2 or there was limited time allotted for the length of ep 16 or the writer had wanted to leave an open ending. Whatever the reason, I do hope we will eventually show this to us. In doing so, they would give so many of us the proper closure we needed for TOTNT!

Side note, it looks like Lee Yeon and Ji Ah did end up introducing their daughter to her adoptive grandparents. Awww!

Updated 12/07/2020: Timeline of Samjae + Lee Yeon’s Transitional Period

There were also a bunch of questions concerning when exactly the whole scenes with Ji Ah and Lee Yeon had occurred. This occurred in 2021.

Samjae is believed to occur over a three-year period, and follows calculations based on the twelve zodiac signs. The first of the three years is known as deulsamjae (Kor. 들삼재, lit. entering the three calamities), the second, nuulsamjae (Kor. 누울삼재, lit. middle of calamities), and the third, nalsamjae (Kor. 날삼재, exiting the three calamities). The first year in this three-year cycle is supposed to be the most unfortunate. 

Source: https://folkency.nfm.go.kr/en/topic/detail/4151

So doing a little math, one will be able to see what years the Samjae entered (deulsamjae), remained (nuulsamjae), and then exited (nalsamjae). So the Samjae entered into Ji Ah’s life in 1994, 2003, 2012, and 2021. The cycle of every 9 years refers to the time period from one Deulsamjae year to the next (not every 9 years from her year of birth). For example, 1994 + 9 = 2003, 2003 + 9 = 2012, and 2012 + 9 = 2021.

What the show was trying to convey is that when Mr. Samjae came into Ji Ah’s life, it also coincided at the same time as Lee Yeon’s 3 months transitional period. Additionally, there were some who asked, “Aren't we to assume that many years have passed because Lee Yeon did say first root canal, first picnic, first snowfall, etc ?”. No, I took that scene as him mentioning things he either already did or will eventually experience.

Anyways, I really didn’t think I needed to point all of this out because I had assumed you all would’ve put on your thinking caps by now!

Last Remarks.

I hope that this post was able to resolve any confusion many of you may have had about the last episode. The writer did truly keep us on our toes until the very end. But with a little research into myths as well as analyzing everything as a whole, one should’ve been able to understand where the writer was coming from. Again, I want to give a big thanks to the cast, crew, and writer for all their hard work to give us TOTNT!

upgrading by recognizing your self worth!

- value and self worth go hand in hand with each other.

a wise woman once said “if you want to know what your self worth is like look at all the things you are tolerating in your life right now, this will show you what you think your value is, what your worth is and how you are undervaluing yourself.”

when you don’t know your value you will sell yourself short. ask yourself this question right now, where does your self worth come from and will your self worth change because of that if it were to disappear?

- your self worth should not be external, so it should not come from the opinion of others. the moment you allow that to happen what other people say about you becomes your reality. your self worth also shouldn’t be measured by your accomplishments or the things you are able to do. your self worth is not your physical appearance, how many followers you have, or how much money you make. you were worthy the day you were born, your self worth comes from your spirit it comes from connections to yourself. your self worth will show in the way you interact with people, the way you talk to yourself, and the way you treat yourself and other people. so make sure you are constantly reminding yourself just how amazing and precious you are.

- now your value. your value has to meet what you are settling for in life, so if you know you are amazing and have high value why are you settling for less? do not let other people bully you into having lower standards.

- do not lower your standards to make other people comfortable, when you leave room to do so people will take that opportunity to value you at ANY price and that’s what we don’t want when we know just how much we are worth. a wise woman also once said “louis vuitton does not go on sale. fendi does not go on sale. prada does not go on sale. why? because it costs what it costs.”

- boundaries and standards also show your value to others, when people come into your life and see no boundaries and standards they will treat you how you treat yourself. boundaries keep you safe don’t be afraid to make them. standards will also keep you happy if you obtain them.

There are so many deleted scenes that are just now coming to light after the ending of TOTNT and it has seriously caused me to become so frustrated! I can guarantee you there’s probably much more deleted scenes that we aren't aware of. Anyways, sorry I just had to make a small rant about the editing/production team of TOTNT! 

How Taluipa Came Back to Life...

Not sure in what way this scene of Taluipa was used for, but I’ve never seen her in this outfit before.

Yuri’s Recovery After Lee Rang Knocked Her Out...

Ji Ah Hanging Out With Her Boss and the Snail Bride...

I low key was curious to see how the relationship of the Snail Bride and Ji Ah’s boss would’ve gone because she was immortal while he wasn't.

Ji Ah’s Interaction With Her Parents...

I wonder why she was upset? 

Lee Yeon Immediately Coming Back Right After Lee Rang Died...

Maybe this scene was suppose to be an illusion? 

Lee Yeon Putting Azaleas On Lee Rang’s Grave...

Lee Yeon and Ji Ah’s Sweet Interactions After He Came Back...

Ji Ah Comforting Lee Yeon After He Watched Lee Rang’s Video...

Lee Yeon Hugging the Newly Reincarnated Lee Rang

Lee Yeon and Ji Ah with Their Daughter on a Family Picnic + Their Daughter With Her Adoptive Grandfather...

The one that I am the most bitter about !!

Just making a quick post for all of those who were curious about the string/rope that Shin Ju was holding !

Red String of Fate Legend

The Red String of Fate has been featured in many different asian cultures. The story is basically the same in each. In the Korean version, a young man meets an old lady (deity in disguise) who is seen tying two strings together. When questioned as to what she was doing, she replied that she was matchmaking. The man became curious and asked the old woman who he was fated for. She replied that his soulmate was a girl living on the other side of the mountain. 

So later on, the man sought out his destined soulmate, but became appalled by her. Subsequently, he threw a rock that struck her in the head and ran away. Years later when the man became a magistrate, he found himself a wife. And on the night of the wedding when the man and his new bride were alone, the man asked the woman why did she cover up her forehead with red makeup. She responded she had done so because she was trying to cover up a scar that she had received as a little girl after being struck by a rock. It was then that the man realized that she was the same little girl who the old lady said he was fated for. 

A difference between the Korean Version and the Chinese version of this story is the color of the threads and the reason why the man did not marry the girl. In the Chinese version, the threads that bind you to your destined lover is solely red and not a combination of red and blue like in the Korean version. 

Additionally in the Chinese version, the reason why the man did not want to marry his fated lover due to differences in social status. This was in stark contrast to the Korean version where the reason why the man did not want to marry the girl was due to his immaturity at the time he met his fated lover. Other notable differences is the location where the string is tied to. In Chinese legends, the strings are tied around both parties’s ankles. While in Japanese myths, the string is tied from the male’s tumblebug and the female’s pinky finger. In Korean versions, the string is tied between the pinky fingers of both parties. 

Regardless of whatever version, the concept is still the same. The string of fate is meant to keep two destined lovers connected regardless of whatever place, time, or circumstances. In the case of Lee Yeon and Ji Ah, that string allowed for Lee Yeon to connect to Ji Ah. Specifically, the string inscribed the character “pass through” on his hand. Thus, this allowed Lee Yeon to bypass whatever walls were between them and to communicate with Ji Ah while she was her in dream world. 

Unfortunately as TOTNT draws to an end, so shall these posts! This will probably be my last post concerning TOTNT unless there is something of great importance that happens in the finale that would warrant a discussion. Overall, everything in the series made sense if you actually did your fair share of research of mythology from around the world.  Anyways, I will try to make this post as short as possible for your sake and mine! 

Predictions Based on Ep 15 Preview

One Last Date

There’s not much to say about this portion except that Ji Ah and Lee Yeon just go on one last date before everything blows up!

Let’s Get Sato’s Moon Mirror

The Imoogi will go to get Sato’s Moon Mirror by killing him. Based on this scene, it looks like this will occur in a bathroom (notice the paper towel dispenser and mirror?). 

Hello Mother, It Has Been A Long Time

The Imoogi spirit has been inhabiting Bok Gil’s immortal body. Taluipa will be shocked to see that her dead son body was being used by the Imoogi. Out of anger, she will try to turn him into stone. However, since Terry now has the Moon Mirror, he will use it to deflect Taluipa’s Medusa stone turning power. This will cause her to turn into stone instead. 

After killing Taluipa, Terry will change Ji Ah’s death date to ensure that his other half can now live freely. Then Terry reunites with Ji Ah outside of the Office of the Afterlife to go over the next part of their plan.

Betrayed On All Sides

Lee Yeon not having been aware of what all has happened, will return to his apartment. It is there that he will see Ji Ah standing at the window. Ji Ah will turn around to reveal she’s once again taken over by the Imoogi. At that moment, Lee Rang, Shin Ju, and the Snail Bride will sneak attack Lee Yeon to get his body. Lee Yeon escapes by knocking them all out.

Final Showdown

Lee Yeon realizes the Terry Imoogi has betrayed him so Lee Yeon decides to head to the Office of the Afterlife to stop him once and for all. Lee Yeon will find that Taluipa has now been turned into stone at her desk (see Taluipa’s stone statue in red circle). 

As Lee Yeon is fighting Terry Imoogi, Ji Ah Imoogi arrives at the scene and blocks Lee Yeon from stabbing Terry Imoogi (see red arrow of Terry hiding behind Ji Ah Imoogi).

Ji Ah temporarily regains control of her body and tries to end her life with the CEO’s gun. Also, note the brown couch (red arrow) in the background of Ji Ah, showing that this occurs at the Office of the Afterlife. Ji Ah will fail at killing herself because either Terry Imoogi has stopped her or the Imoogi inside of her has gain back control.

Save Yuri or Save Lee Yeon

Lee Rang wakes up and immediately heads to the Office of the Afterlife where Yuri is there to stop him. Her eyes look pretty dead so my guess is that she’s probably being compelled by the Imoogi to block Lee Rang’s path to Lee Yeon.

Lee Rang is faced with an obstacle similar to what Lee Yeon had to face 600 years ago, which is who to save when both people are considered equally as precious. I think Lee Rang will probably knock Yuri out or maybe Shin Joo will if he tags along with Lee Rang to the office.

Lee Yeon’s Decision

Lee Yeon will decide to go through with his original plan of taking Ji Ah’s half into himself. Lee Rang arrives at that very moment and is faced with having to kill his brother. However, I don’t think Lee Rang will be mentally strong enough to do it. Possessed Lee Yeon will then stab Lee Rang. Following this, Lee Yeon will temporarily gain back control of his body long enough to get to the River Styx.

I’ll Chase You Like You Chased Me at the River Styx

This scene of Ji Ah running in the Office of the Afterlife seems like it happens right after Lee Yeon has taken the Imoogi piece out of her (notice that she no longer has scales on her face or neck). Ji Ah is probably running towards the River Styx to prevent Lee Yeon from jumping into it. This parallels to past when Lee Yeon was running to the River Styx to save Ah Eum’s soul.

Everyone Has Been A Puppet 

There are no coincidences in TOTNT. Every single character has been a puppet in King Yeomra’s grand scheme of finding his perfect replacement. From legends, it is told that King Yeomra was the first to have faced death. In doing so, Yeomra became the King of the Underworld. In Yeomra’s eyes, the candidate best suited to take over his position should also have to face a similar situation. Therefore, Lee Yeon will prove himself worthy by jumping into the River Styx.

Morals of the Story

1)    People who remain good despite experiencing tragedies in their lives will get rewarded 

2)    Bad people are given opportunities to change their terrible fate by doing good deeds

3)    Bad people who do not change their ways despite being given opportunities to do so will meet the ultimate punishment (being erased from existence entirely)

Final Outcomes for TOTNT Characters

Everyone will get a happy ending except the Imoogi! 

Lee Yeon becomes the next King Hades

Ji Ah becomes an immortal, takes over Taluipa’s job, and she has a kid with Lee Yeon

Taluipa gets brought back to life and decides to leave her job to focus on repairing her relationship with Hyun Ui Ong

Bok Gil may or may not come back to life. I’m just not sure if his soul will remain once the Imoogi leaves his body. Although it would be nice if in the end Hyun Ui Ong gets back both his wife and son.

Shin Joo and Yuri have a happily ever after and many fox babies

Lee Rang lives a long happy life being Kim Soo Oh’s father

Ji Ah’s two coworkers will date or get married and live after happily ever after

Snail Bride gets her husband back and they too live happily ever after