We’re approaching the endgame. The final episode of The King: Eternal Monarch is almost upon us. Over the last 15 episodes, the series – a complex transdimensional, time travel, adventure romance – has done quite an impressive job tying up almost all of its plot threads. There are, however, still a few loose ends that need addressing.
Spoilers abound.
What is up with that surveillance video from the future?
In Episode 9, as Lee Gon is looking through a series of surveillance videos on Jo Young’s laptop, he comes across one in which Tae Eul is dressed differently from when she was actually in the Kingdom of Corea.
In the video, we see Tae Eul walk past a young boy with a yo-yo. The young boy then looks up and directly into the camera. The date on the video tells us that it was taken on May 27, 2022.
Why does Jo Young have surveillance of Tae Eul from the future?
Who is the strange little boy with the yo-yo?
We’re 15 episodes in and we’re still no closer to ascertaining the identity of the scruffy kid with the yo-yo that keeps showing up and speaking in riddles.
There are times in which he appears to be observing events as they unfold. There are times in which he directly intervenes and changes the course of history. Like when he frees Tae Eul from captivity and gives her a knife to help her escape. When she asks him who he is, he simply responds by saying that he’s “trying to restore the balance.”
Is he some sort of deity? Does the red string on his yo-yo symbolise the red thread of fate?
What’s up with the bouquet of blue flowers?
In episode 10, during the funeral of Prince Buyeong, the episode suddenly cuts to the Republic of Korea where we see Lee Gon show up to give Tae-Eul a bouquet of flowers. She knows there’s something different about him but doesn’t let on. He tells her he loves her deeply and walks away, leaving her sobbing uncontrollably on the ground.
Later, in Episode 12, when Tae Eul sees the jacket that Lee Gon was wearing and asks him about its significance, he tells her that it’s what he’ll wear at “the most glorious moment.” He adds: “For example, when I’m holding flowers in my hand.” We realise then that for the Lee Gon of this timeline, the moment in which he gives Tae Eul the blue bouquet hasn’t yet happened.
Which Lee Gon, from which timeline, shows up to give Tae Eul her bouquet of flowers? Why do the flowers disappear – Back to the Future style – in Episode 15?
Where does Park Moon-sik, chief detective of Violent Crimes Squad Three, keep disappearing to?
At various points throughout the series, Chief Park disappears from time-to-time and asks different members of his Violent Crimes Squad to serve as his alibi. When they ask him about his whereabouts, he simply replies: “Solitude.”
Where is he going? Was he swapped? Is he a Lee Lim spy? Is he having an affair?
What transpired between Tae Eul and Luna?
Towards the end of Episode 15, Tae-Eul frees Luna from her restraints and tasks her with protecting her father and family in her absence.
What did she promise Luna? Or did Tae Eul give Luna exactly what she’s always wanted by allowing her to be part of a family?
What sort of time travel is taking place in this series?
From what we’ve seen so far, we know that the time travel in The King: Eternal Monarch doesn’t exist within a single continuum. This isn’t like Bill and Ted or Harry Potter, where the experiences in those characters’ futures were always a part of their stories. This is made clear in Episode 14, when Lee Gon travels through time implanting different memories in those around him.
What’s unclear, however, is whether these characters can only change some things in their past, or everything about their past. The former would mean that there are certain fixed points in their history that cannot be altered. (Think Terminator and the inevitability that is the rise of Skynet.) While the latter would lead to an infinity of alternate timelines. (Think Back to the Future, or J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, or X-Men: Days of Future Past.)
Why is this important? Because it could determine whether or not Lee Gon and Tae Eul have a happy ending.
How did Nari become so rich?
Can owning a bubble tea franchise really make you rich enough to afford a fleet of sport coupés? Where do I sign up?
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