I have so many thoughts about the season 3 ending of potn and I figured you would enjoy them. 1. In-hun is alive. (It was a former servant's body they found in the well and Min was lying to Na-Kyum to get him to break. Also, while Min was pleading for his life he asked if Seungho wanted to know where he got In-hun's glasses from) 2. Min and gang killed Heena (You can see them put a bag and rope over her head when Na-Kyum is brought unconscious to Min, idk if anyone saw that. Rip queen, you were our only named female character) 3. Na-Kyum learned some tricks from his noonas (not Heena) because when he gave Seungho head that last time he surprised Seungho and it was good. 4) I also dont believe Seungho was intending to kill any of them (he left Jihwa alive) until he saw Na-Kyum all bloody and unconscious. Oh, and I love the growth Seungho had from first telling Na-Kyum he couldnt apologize due to their social standing after finding out he had been kidnapped the first time but how he would make it up to him to apologizing for not coming sooner to save him (with tears!) I just needed to get that out there because I am losing my mind how did I miss them the first read through
Thanks for your comments Anon!
First... I 150% agree with you that that Dry Twat Inhun is alive. Shit floats, and that one is a log...
Narratively, killing Inhun off at this point in this story wouldn’t make sense. Seungho and Nakyum are at a point in their interactions where they are in no doubt as to their feelings for each other.
This debacle with Min may or may not add pressure to those feelings. My guess is it will immediately strengthen it... but to provide grist and drama for another season, we will need a much more delicate emotional assault on the fortress of SeungKum’s love.
I think if and when we do see Jackass Inhun again, his current placement, whether as a ranked official in the government, or someone with less power and desperate in some way, will influence the nature of the drama.
Will it be Inhun or Daddy Yoon as the final boss in this story? Or maybe both battles must be fought simultaneously?
Regarding Seungho’s murderous intentions: I absolutely think Seungho meant to kill someone over Nakyum in that room. He went there prepared to do whatever, and murder was and is the least of his moral concerns.
This story started with a casual murder.
Jihwa escaped Seungho’s Sword for the sole reason that they were childhood friends, former lovers and Jihwa told him where Nakyum was.
But slicing off Jihwa’s topknot is as good as death for someone like Jihwa. Possibly worse in terms of prospects, but it is definitely Seungho being merciful.
In my chapter log for this episode E101 “Limb By Limb” wrote:
In Joseon Korea, a topknot signified manhood and adulthood. Regardless of age, the topknot symbolised you taking a man's part in your family, and all the privileges it afforded. It usually happened around the age a young man married, but it could be bestowed at any age. It is a symbol of the nobility to be sure, but it was a greater symbol of adult privilege and allowed your ancestors to recognise and bless you.
Seungho cutting Jihwa's topknot, cuts him off from all of that. It removes Jihwa publicly and no doubt privately from his family's respect and regard as an adult, the grace and protection of his ancestors and the privilege of nobility in a society that prized the male top-knot's symbolism almost above all others.
This story started with a casual murder.
With Seungho’s high state of agitation and emotional distress, the mere fact he was able to leave Jihwa alive, is a testament to his growth and the changes in him.
This is as merciful as Seungho was ever willing to be with anyone who stole Nakyum or had a hand in it. And while it was clear that Jihwa did not steal Nakyum, no fool, Seungho knew Jihwa was involved if he knew where to find Nakyum and his name was being used as a front.
So that’s why Seungho’s mercy left Jihwa breathing and without access to his privileged world.
But to have found Nakyum battered, bruised... sexual assaulted; in a situation he himself knew too well... naked and forced to endure the licentious whims of captors, it would have triggered every instinct in him. .. Everyone there had to get it, regardless the depths of their culpability.
Just to be sure, he crept up on them and heard all their doings. And Seungho is not normally a restrained, measured man, known for controlling his anger, no one was coming out of there besides he and Nakyum.
And that’s why I disagree with your assertion that he never went there to kill anyone.
He went there with his sword open... and that is a declaration for anyone trained to use one or defend against one.
With regards to the changes in Seungho, I assert in my log for E102 “Frozen Tracks of My Tears”:
Seungho's redemption is one of the best stories I've read... regardless of genre.
Because this is a tale about Seungho and his redemption. Hear me out!
While we get Seungho’s story in flashbacks and indirectly, Seungho is the only character without a real point of view. He is always viewed and described, filtered by and cast against the backdrop of others. We never really know what he’s thinking or feeling unless he directly tells someone.
But this story is ABOUT SEUNGHO. Everyone else in the story serves his character’s growth and arc of redemption.... we think of him as a rescuer, but Nakyum and he rescued each other. We think of him as wicked and debauched, and Nakyum as pure. But as we are seeing, and I have written from my earliest logs, Nakyum is just as broken and fractured as Seungho... just as lost when they met. Nakyum isn’t that pure, just because he was a virgin, and Seungho not that irredeemable, just because he lacks filters and restraints.
Final note... I do wonder about Heena. If she was dead, or sold off to somewhere else, or still unconscious under a sack somewhere? I think it would hurt Nakyum to know Heena was killed in this way, but he would unequivocally know Seungho was not involved... and Seungho would comfort him in his grief.
But, I’m still holding out a little hope for Heena... just like that jackass Lord who fell asleep in the snow, she may be knocked out somewhere unconscious and awaiting the descent of the authorities.
** fingers crossed even though she a damn busybody **
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me... I agree with much, and I’ve explained my disagreements. Do come and share with me again.,.. and feel free to disagree with me too! I love a respectful debate about plotting and metaphors.
