Previously, in episode 2 of Song of the Bandits, Seon-bok discussed a master plan with Lee Yoon to alleviate the overall condition of the settlers from Joseon. A similar scheme was employed by the Independent Army member Nam Hee-shin, who recruited the contract killer Eon-nyeni to orchestrate the plan. Both of them had planned to loot the railway construction money, 200,000 won, which was coming from the Hoeryong Bank Branch to the MyeongJeong office via the Gando Line. However, both parties were concerned about the Japanese Army posing a problem in their way, but putting all the worries aside, Lee Yoon and Eon-nyeni both pledged to carry out the task and get rid of all the obstacles on their way.
Spoilers Ahead
How did Sang-guk die?
Song of the Bandits Episode 3 opened with a scene from 16 years ago, revealing what the relationship between Hee-shin and Lee Yoon was. Lee had a crush on Hee-shin, unaware that Lee Gawang II was also trying to impress her. But Hee-shin seemed to be more attracted to Lee Yoon than Lee Gawang. Since Hee-shin’s relationship with Li Gawang was based solely on secretly collecting information from the Japanese military, it was only natural that Hee-shin was interested in Lee Yoon.
The scene shifted to the current timeline in the plot. We saw that Hee-shin was informed about her uncle, Sang-guk, who was the Independent Army leader previously shown in Song of the Bandits episode 2. Sang-guk went to dinner with Lee Gawang to discuss Hee-shin’s wedding. However, it was not the wedding that Lee Gawang had come to talk about. He had managed to extract information about Sang-guk’s real identity from the insurgent who was captured at the restaurant.
Gawang kept trying to force him to open his mouth and reveal who the insurgent had come to meet, but Sang-guk refused to answer him, resulting in his arrest and capture by the Japanese authorities. Lee Gawang brutally tortured Sang-guk, but Sang-guk, being a devoted freedom fighter, decided not to speak a word. However, when the torture inflicted on him crossed all the boundaries, Sang-guk mentioned the name “Gando Rail Line.” Lee Gawang swiftly untied his hands and kept on pushing him to reveal the names of all the insurgents, but in the nick of time, Sang-guk snatched the gun from an officer and shot himself to death. Sang-guk sacrificed himself to safeguard Hee-shin and all the other freedom fighters who were covertly working for their countrymen.
Did Eon-nyeni and Lee Yoon kill each other?
Hee-shin and Eon-nyeni embarked on their journey to MyeongJeong in order to perform the heist on the Gando Line. Upon their arrival at Mayeongjeong, Hee-shin instructed Eon-nyeni to proceed cautiously. They split, and while Hee-shin was welcomed by the Japanese authority to a hall to inaugurate the railway opening ceremony, Eon-nyeni went to meet a man to hire some men to carry out the heist.
At the same time, Lee Yoon and Seon-bok were also there, plotting their way to the rail line and waiting for an opportunity to perform the heist. However, in the midst of all this, Lee Yoon was confronted by Eon-nyeni. She was surprised to see him alive, as five years ago in that village; Lee Yoon was supposed to be killed at the hands of Choong-soo. As she had earlier spared his life, failing to fulfill her task, she had an incessant urge to kill him right now. To feed her desire, she pointed her gun at Lee, resulting in another lengthy fight that attracted the crowd and even the Japanese authorities.
The Japanese force, led by Superintendent Ooka, intervened to stop the brawl between them. He threatened Lee Yoon, Eon-nyeni, and Seon-bok with death if they didn’t surrender themselves. Therefore, Eon-nyeni took the initiative to surrender, resulting in the three of them being arrested and put behind bars. However, while they were imprisoned, they found a group of bandits who raided the prison, scaring off all the police officers. They were also aware of the train transporting the large sum of money all the way from Hoeryong to MyeongJeong via the Gando Line, and it seemed like someone had leaked the news, which spread like wildfire.
The bandits captured a man who seemed to be the one who spread the news. So, in order to punish him, the bandits brutally torment him, cutting his tongue off. However, as they were done torturing the man, they found Lee, Seon-bok, and Eon-nyeni were imprisoned and served as eyewitnesses to the brutality. The bandits asked them to pretend as if they hadn’t seen or heard anything. Though Lee was in the mood to pick a fight with the bandits, Eon-nyeni decided to take the lead. She said that in return for money, she would just forget the whole scenario that unfolded right before her eyes. Although we don’t know if she managed to make the bandits pay for her discretion, she managed to secure their release from prison. The Japanese consul ordered Superintendent Oka to release the captives to avoid further violence from bandits or insurgents among the settlers from Joseon. Superintendent Oka refused to follow the order, and showing his utmost devotion to his own country and the law, he hurried out of the consul’s office, telling the consul to go to hell.
Hee-shin was really disappointed by the way Eon-nyeni took matters into her own hands. Completely abandoning the plan to rob the train, she picked a fight with Lee Yoon, completely jeopardizing the original purpose of their coming to MyeongJeong. At the same time, Eon-nyeni not only ruined their plans but Lee and Seon-bok’s as well. However, after their release from prison, it seemed that the enmity between Lee and Eon-nyeni was finally resolved. Whether Eon-nyeni and Lee will work together for the greater good to alleviate the plight of the Joseon settlers in Gando is questionable, but we can assume that their union could work against the Japanese authorities that posed a major threat to their path. In the upcoming episodes, we can delve deeper into how things will unfold around them.
