Imagine that, at the end of the Harry Potter canon, Ron takes it upon himself to rid the world of everyone who’s had contact with Death Eaters (I believe that’s called vigilantism.) Imagine that Hermione is so blinded by her love for him that she is willing to go with him, even when the Ministry sends in their top Auror, Harry Potter, who begs them to stop, or at least compromise. Imagine that Ron threatens to kill Harry too, if he doesn’t join him in his quest for justice. Imagine that Harry (secretly in love with Hermione) has to kill them, tears streaming down his face.
Or!
Imagine that Black Beauty decided to end the tyranny of humans by kicking out and wounding as many men as possible. Imagine that, as a consequence, he was sent to a messy demise at a gluemaker’s factory.
Doesn’t make much sense, does it?
Well, that’s how I feel after Hong Gil Dong’s ending. Honestly.
I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. I wanted my time back. It was, as intended, an unforgettable shock - I will always remember HGD as the could-have-been drama.
I admit, things had felt a bit odd after 20 (and I think you’ll agree with me that pacing problems started around then too). It seemed that the Hong sisters dropped the ‘fusion’ out of fusion sageuk and went for the traditions in a big way.
I don’t mind that. (I don’t mind quite a lot, as long as it’s done properly - that’s why I hated the movie version of The Dark is Rising. Killed the book.)
What I do mind is an ending that doesn’t give what was promised at the start, that it started off cheerful and goofy and eventually descended into drawn-out melodrama and angst. It’s not about the beginning of episode 1. The moment Yeon died, I realized that the beginning of episode 1 was an idealization of HBD and what they did. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the series’ atmosphere and mood at 1-8, as compared to 19-24. They’re radically different, and I feel like it was a bait-and-switch tactic (more commonly used by rather unscrupulous stores to get customers to go there).
Some specific issues with the ending in particular:
- GD’s continual stubbornness: Hello. How many times did CH ask him to compromise? Didn’t GD himself recognize, as he said to CH in 23, that change cannot arrive in one day? So why all that melodramatic posturing and refusal to back down? He wasn’t asked to compromise his beliefs or vision for the future. He was asked to adapt it to the long term.
- All that dying: I ask you, did HBD’s total annihilation accomplish anything? Did YN and GD’s demise, besides depriving CH of a much needed moral compass, and even more needed friends, serve the purpose GD was fighting for? I get that ‘the legend lived on’. Sure. GD, however, failed to protect his people by voluntarily choosing to die (come on, he knew he was going to be killed in the end). Who will protect the people when he’s gone? CH’s hands are pretty much tied down by the nobility. Gom is 12, going on 13, and HM is an old man. Dreams aren’t going to prevent another Choi from taking advantage of poor people.
- Letting the HBD walk into their deaths: Just. What. Was. For the sake of his unbending knees, he let a band of the cleverest, loyalest, funniest followers die. I can’t match the smart, savvy, compassionate and down-to-earth GD from the beginning with this idealistic idiot. It was a stupid change in character. Flaws are flaws, but letting people die is another issue altogether.
- GD dies, but he lives on in the heart of the people. CH, on the other hand, lives, but he dies in the hearts of the people. Nice, Hong sisters. Speaking as a CH fan, why did you create one of the most thoughtful, likeable second leads in kdrama history, have him learn happiness and compassion, then force him into situations where he’s always the bad guy? If I hadn’t already died from the end, this would have killed me. CH’s character, all of them got the short end of the stick, honestly. But my poor gongja 
.
- This whole thing about CH vs. GD sucked. Yes, their worlds are incompatible, yes, we want a message of hope about GD will continue to look after the world even after he’s gone. But that makes this situation even worse - I hoped for a resolution, a way for the two worlds to compromise. I feel completely cheated. It would have been better, imo, if they’ve been able to work it out, because that matches the action with hope. Hope without action, as I’ve said earlier to flyingcrispi, is delusion.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve watched tons of Chinese historical/wuxia dramas where mostly everyone dies and the king is a tyrant - but the plots and atmospheres mostly squared with each other from beginning to end. I also love HGD to pieces, even after all this. But the end!
It made as much sense as… well. Let’s not go there. Lots of nonsensical things in this world.
What I mourn the most of all is my feel-good, stress-relieving drama that pulled me through 2 months of university applications.
My heart hurts so much.
Love,
Sevenses
P.S. Csubs are unusually late, as I suspect the subbers are as shocked as we are. Will recap when subs are out. In the meantime, check out iurgnotmis’s short and concise synopsis (she has a genius for keeping things short, a genius that eludes me, continually).
