Despite its sci-fi-monster exterior, Gyeongseong Creature is simply a show about human endurance at the end of the day. A fictional account of Japan-occupied Korea, the show, starring Park Seo-Jun and Han Seo-Hee in leading roles, was split into two parts, one released at the end of 2023 and the second part released on January 5, 2024. While the first part of the series is all about the violence, the second, which is only 3 episodes long, is all about the feelings. Despite having a melancholic last episode, the end brings many unimaginable surprises, leaving us with the expectation of a second season. Let’s quickly dive into everything that happens in Gyeongseong Creature final episode.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens To Chae-Ok After Killing Ichiro?
At the end of Episode 9 of Gyeongseong Creature, Chae-Ok decides to kill Ichiro to put an end to all the madness happening in Onseong Hospital. Naive notion, if you ask me. She’s then taken to Lady Maeda, the real mastermind behind everything that’s gone down. Maeda used to be friends with Chae-Ok’s mother until she betrayed her. We don’t know how she betrayed Maeda, but as a Joseon person, she probably did something patriotic to tick Maeda off. This is why she incarcerated her at Onseong for torture, but Ichiro gave her something even better. Chae-Ok is then taken to the hospital to draw her mother out. Seishun has been aggressive, and there are no slaves left for her to kill. In the meantime, Tae-Sang gets word of Chae-Ok’s location and joins the rebellion to save her. The monster shows herself, and Kato uses Chae-Ok as a hostage so Seishun won’t hurt him.
Tae-Sang encounters Chae-Ok’s father in the hospital and tells him about Chae-Ok’s kidnapping. Her father is relieved to see Tae-Sang trying to save her and asks him to promise that he’ll look after his daughter. He can finally see a promising future for her, so whatever suicide mission Tae-Sang was on at the hospital will now be taken care of by Chae-Ok’s father. He plants the bombs across the hospital floor and lures the monster with a patriotic song. Possibly one that had a connection to them as a family. In the meantime, Tae-Sang saves Chae-Ok, and they start to run out of the hospital. Chae-Ok’s father tells his wife that it’s great to see her again after so many years, and they can finally be together, before all the bombs go off, ruining all the experimental evidence and anything that could be used later, or so he thinks. Unfortunately, Kato manages to save some Najin and anthrax serum before escaping into the basement, where he finds Myeong-Ja, who is about to give birth.
After Chae-Ok comes to terms with both her parents being dead (she’s an orphan like Tae-Sang now TT), they meet Sachimoto, who helps them escape. Tae-Sang thanks him for the guidance; however, he stops him from going with them, not wanting anybody else to die for his sake (oh boy). Sachimoto apologizes to Chae-Ok for not telling her the truth about her mother simply because he was a coward. They escape because of the commotion of it all and send word to Mrs. Nawol for some money to keep them afloat when they leave the country. Beom-O volunteers to take the briefcase to Tae-Sang safely to prove himself trustworthy after his blunder earlier. Tae-Sang has decided to leave Gyeongseong with Chae-Ok, seeing as he can’t imagine a life without her.
What Does Lady Maeda Want?
Unfortunately, Beom-O believes he has escaped the surveillance, but in fact, Maeda herself and a lot of her men are following him straight to Tae-Sang and Chae-Ok. Maeda’s main goal is obedience through friendship. As a Japanese person, anyone who betrays her in any way is a traitor to Japan. Tae-Sang declared a war against her when he chose to side with Chae-Ok, a mere Joseon girl, and not Maeda, the rich and gorgeous Japanese woman who nursed him back to health. This is Tae-Sang showing his rebellion against the Japanese, despite it really being a personal vendetta. Maeda is reminded of the betrayal by her friend Sieshun, possibly the reason she’s so focused on betrayal (even with her husband), and directs her men to kill the two traitors.
Tae-Sang and Chae-Ok fight to the best of their limits. Tae-Sang has a gun, while Chae-Ok uses her knife against the sword-wielding assassins. It’s a futile fight because they’re grossly outnumbered, but they keep going because there’s nothing else for them to live for. In the meantime, the monster makes it out of the hospital and follows the scent of her daughter to save her. Seishun only lost an arm in the blast (too bad for her husband, huh).
What Do The Cherry Blossoms Signify?
While the monster is fighting off all the swordsmen, Tae-Sang tries to take a terribly wounded Chae-Ok to safety. Seishun sees him as a threat too, and Chae-Ok knows it, so just when Seishun is about to attack Tae-Sang, Chae-Ok places herself in between them, getting pierced in the chest instead of Tae-Sang. Her dying wish is for her mother to stop the devastation and escape the pain of it all herself. Just before she dies, Chae-Ok tells Tae-Sang that the cherry blossoms are finally falling. This is to signify that Joseon will finally be independent, and Tae-Sang will get to see a free Gyeongseong very soon. The two of them dreamed of living in a free Joseon together; unfortunately, now Tae-Sang will have to do it alone.
What Happens To Maeda And The Baby?
Myeong-Ja gives birth, and Kato leaves her for dead, caring only for her special baby. The baby is born with the Najin inside of him, fascinating the madman. On the other hand, at Ishikawa’s funeral, Tae-Sang bids farewell to Maeda by bombing the place. Unfortunately for him, Maeda survives with severe burns. Tae-Sang has gone back to being the non-patriotic pawnshop owner. With no Chae-Ok, he has no choice but to distract himself. At the end of the episode, Kato meets a paralyzed Maeda, asking her to join him in his experiments since everything else is done for him. He leaves a glass of water for her, presumably with a Najin in it. She looks at the glass in a very deliberate way, making us believe that she will drink it because she has nothing left to lose.
Will Chae-Ok Come Back?
Just as we think everything is over, Chae-Ok and her mother drop into the waterbody, where Seishun says goodbye to her daughter. The monster’s tentacles form a cage around Chae-Ok before the Najin leaves its body and enters Chae-Ok’s mouth. In typical K-drama fashion, at the end of episode 10 of Gyeongseong Creature, Chae-Ok’s eyes open in the depths of the water. I suppose the Najin can be controlled, like we saw in Myeong-Ja, who didn’t have the anthrax serum. Without anthrax, the person remains humanoid and doesn’t turn into a hideous monster. Yet, Myeong-Ja was bloodthirsty, so how would Chae-Ok deal with the hunger inside of her?
What Is The Meaning Of The After-Credit Scene?
On a vintage television, we see Korea’s history play out, from its independence to the country’s many achievements in such a short period of time, right up until BTS’ global success. So, we can assume the after-credit scene is either in 2024 or just a few years earlier. A man with surgical scars on the back of his neck opens a window, showing a view of Seoul’s famous Namsan Tower, before a man calls him by the name Ho-Jae. When he turns around, he has the same face as Tae-Sang. This could only mean that Chae-Ok and Tae-Sang finally lived their dream together, and when Ho-Jae was born with the Najin inside of them, they removed it surgically, hence the scar on his neck. The show leaves us with an open end in the hopes of a modern-day “Seoul Creature,” possibly showing us the good and bad of modern-day life.
I suppose at the end of the day, Gyeongseong Creature’s big message is that humans are the biggest monsters. It doesn’t matter what war you’re fighting; if you’re inflicting pain on another human being, you’re the monster.
