‘1899’ Episode 3: Recap And Ending, Explained – What Is Ling Yi’s Secret?

“1899” Episode 3 begins with an unsettling sound and Ling Yi in a box, drowning, but it’s a nightmare. This time, we discover the backstory of Ling Yi and what dark secrets she has. It seems like with each episode; we will get a different backstory for each character and learn what their secret is. Because everyone is running away from themselves, aren’t they?

“1899” again successfully starts the episode with a “spooky” and melancholy tone, and it stays till the end. We find out that Ada died with no signs of injury anywhere, so they suspect a case of heart attack, and oh well, how do we know that isn’t the case? Anyway, “1899” really knows how to keep us guessing with a cliffhanger each episode, and this episode isn’t any different. I sure was puzzled again!

Spoilers Ahead


Ling Yi’s Past

We see that Virginia Wilson comes up to Ling Yi and preaches about adapting to every situation and recommends prostitution. We get to know that Mrs. Wilson runs a brothel, and Ling Yi and her mother are her employees. She also talks to Ling Yi in her original language, Cantonese. I felt that it was a threat when Mrs. Wilson spoke Cantonese. After this happens, we see that Ling Yi agrees with Mrs. Wilson, and she “checks” her body. This was a very upsetting scene where we see Ling Yi stripping in front of Mrs.Wilson with an emotionless face, clearly uncomfortably. 

Further, we see Ling Yi’s mother asking her if she’s happy with herself now that she’s selling her body, and Ling Yi says she does not think it is bad because she has seen her mother do the same for money. Her mother is taken aback by her response and warns her about the outcomes of prostitution, and says she is advising because of her own experience. Anyway, Ling Yi had made up her mind, but we see a very ugly fight between the mother-daughter duo. Ling Yi runs away, crying, to the stern of the ship, where lifeboats are kept. It is very foggy, and she hides in a small box. There, we see Ling Yi’s past. She has visions, and they are obviously very dark. We see that Ling Yi is now on a boat, and it seems like she has murdered someone (obviously). Here, we see that Ling Yi imagines herself as the murdered person. In the vision, her mother throws the box into the ocean, and we see Ling Yi suffocating (the opening scene makes sense; it was a vision).

As she is suffocating and having a panic attack inside the box, we see that our knight in shining armor, Olek, wakes her up and gives her a jacket because he understands she is cold. If there’s one character I admire a lot in “1899,” it is Olek. Even though he does not understand Cantonese or Japanese, he is able to communicate perfectly with Ling Yi. He also comforts her a lot; it is rather wholesome to see how caring he is. Without fangirling a lot further, we see that it is Olek who helps her in hiding away; he says he knows a place and takes her to where the lifeboats are kept. There, we see another vision (another clue!). Ling Yi walks into the fog and sees a flashback where it is revealed that she poisoned her friend! Now the nightmares make sense, and it was actually her body that her mother threw in the ocean. Deep in regret, we then see Ling Yi running to her mother, where she accepts the appointment with Lucien that Mrs. Wilson had set up. Ling Yi performs a little, and then while she gets ready to take her clothes off, Lucien refuses to allow her to do so. He says he just wants to watch her perform and nothing else. She gets very shocked, and we see Lucien having an episode of epilepsy. 


Ada’s Family

Ada’s family is still unaware of the fact that she has died. Meanwhile, Maura disagrees with the doctor’s conclusion. She says Ada couldn’t have died of a heart attack because she looked perfectly normal and healthy when she met her a few days ago. However, the doctor stands his ground and taunts Maura with a dialogue, saying her argument was nonsensical and “this is why women should not study medicine” (how typical of him)! Anyway, Franz expresses concern for the little girl’s family, but Eyk says her death should be kept a secret from them for a while. Franz and I both agree that this was a stupid decision, and Eyk is really losing his mind now. Franz also feels he is not fit to be the Captain of Kerberos. 


Maura And Eyk Visits Prometheus Again

We see that later in “1899” Episode 3, Eyk shows Maura the piece of clothing he found on Prometheus. He explained that the ribbon was his dead daughter’s, and she died around two years ago. He also tells her that he sees and hears her. Here, Maura says that his mind is playing tricks on him and that the dead cannot return like this. She also shares that she had a miscarriage and lost everything, just like Eyk lost his family. She tries to comfort him, but he says he believes that the company that owns Prometheus is hiding something. Eyk informs us that three German ships were sold to a British investor, Henry Singleton. 

Do you also feel like it is the same Henry who is Maura’s brother? Anyway, Eyk feels like he would find more about Prometheus in its Captain’s logbook. He says he is going back, and Maura tags along. During their search, Eyk finds the passenger list but not the logbook. However, we see that he notices something and quickly hides the page from Maura. Why would he hide it from Maura? Was her name on the passengers’ list too? I think so, yes. There’s no other reason to hide the page from her. Until now, we thought they were together on this journey, but now I question their partnership.


Franz Forms A Mutiny 

Franz talks to a crew member about how frustrated he is with the Captain’s orders and how he wants to rebel. However, we see that he is sticking with Eyk’s orders. When Franz leaves, the crew member sends out a signal with a futuristic device. Is he communicating with people on land with this device? Maybe. Anyway, while Eyk and Maura are on their search for clues, Franz decides to return Ada’s body to her family. Her family is broken, and Krester seems to be the most affected. Upon seeing how upset Ada’s family is, Franz gives a rousing speech, and we now have a mutiny formed! More dead bodies start piling up, and Franz gives guns to the people who want to rebel. We see Tove (the lady who is pregnant) take a gun too. These passengers are angry and hungry for answers now.  

Later, we see that Angel looks very excited about the mutiny, but Ramiro wants to discuss how carefree Angel is about things like this. He admits that he has killed a priest and that it was all an act to save Angel; this explains what they are running away from. Near the end of “1899” Episode 3, we see that the passengers who formed a mutiny demand answers, and they want “the boy.” They believe he is the reason behind all the bad things that are happening on the ship. Daniel comes into the picture and tells Maura that he has already informed her of how these angry passengers won’t stay silent for a long time, and now it is too late for the Captain to give orders. Nobody will listen to Eyk anymore.


See more: ‘1899’ Episode 2: Recap And Ending, Explained – Does The Little Boy Reveal Anything New?


Tarushi Patali
Tarushi Patali
Tarushi is an English Literature graduate, who is currently doing master's in mass communication from Mumbai. She loves making lists and is an avid reader. Also, she likes judging people by their movie taste. In her leisure time you would find her digging random conspiracy pages on Reddit!


 

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