Lee Jin-wook and Kwon Nara’s Bulgasal: Immortal Souls aired its finale episode on February 6, leaving many crying but some confused.
The fantasy historical drama spanned a timeline of 1,000 years, going back and forth multiple times to the 600-year, present, and even future timeline.
Bulgasal’s episode 16, the finale, tied up all loose ends. We finally know how it all started – with Dan Hwal’s (Lee Jin-wook) insane obsession with the love of his (immortal) life and Bulgasal better half, Sang-un (Kwon Na-ra).
The last episode takes viewers back to 1,000 years, where we see a couple warn their young daughter with her little brother in hand to run away. Sang-un’s love for humans rises when she saves the siblings (past reincarnation of Si-ho and Do-yoon) from trouble.
On the other hand, Hwal, in his jealousy, seems to believe that she would eventually leave him to be with them. As the only two Bulgasals alive, it’s safe to say that they both love each other limitlessly.
Despite Sang-un reiterating she won’t, she decides to live with the kids to protect them. She promises to return to Hwal. Hwal is filled with jealousy, rage, and vengeful desires a decade later as Sang-un has still not returned.
Meanwhile, Eul-tae (Lee Joon) murders his brother, and when Do-yoon sees him doing the deed, he shoots an arrow at him.
With Do-yoon on-the-verge of dying, Sang-un unleashes her Bulgasal eyes, making her the target of the villagers and forcing them to leave the village. Oh, they also plan on killing Sang-un, which brings upon Hwal’s wrath as he slaughters everyone.
From then on, the trio Si-ho, the King and Do-yoon, attempt to kill Bulgasal Hwal. Bulgasal Sang-un can’t seem to take it and stabs herself to put an end to the misery – as Bulgasal’s are in pairs, if one dies, so does the other.
Hwal curses the trio (Si-ho, the King, Eul-tae’s father and Do-yoon), and that’s the precise moment where we realize Hwal was behind the immortal curse of his loved ones.
In the middle, we have Eul-tae helping Hwal only to steal his powerful soul, which ends with Hwal’s death and the once-Bulgasal being reborn as a human.
In the present time, Eul-tae, Hwal, and Sang-un get in a fight at the same mountain the pair once lived at, and shockingly, Hwal is forced to drink Eul-tae’s blood and becomes the human blood-thirsty vicious Bulgasal he left behind centuries ago.
Knowing the chaos he can wreak, Hwal stabs himself in his heart, stopping the curse once and for all. It leads Si-ho and Do-yoon to be devastated, but a dying Sang-un makes them promise to live a better life.
Considering Bulgasals weren’t supposed to reincarnate, the ending came off as a surprise when we saw Sang-un and Hwal reincarnated yet again after half a century.
The new Sang-un receives a postcard of a place with the address, (the same place where they lived before).
What were the chances of new Sang-un meeting new Hwal? Many. They both arrive at the place together, feeling unknown energy. After a fall, Hwal’s scar on the hand seems to give him deja vu, and he asks, “Have we met before?”
All this while, we all thought Hwal was the hero, the victim to the continuous cycle of curse and torture.
It turned out to be the other way around – Hwal’s crazy obsession with Sang-un is what led him to the slaughter and the curse he inflicted upon people, not knowing he’ll fall in love with the future reincarnations.
Some things remain loose, though. What’s with Eul-tae’s dark-hole concept? He stole Hwal’s soul and left him dying, but had a gaping dark hole that he couldn’t get rid of.
Another loose end remains of Eul-tae and Sang-un’s soul-pain connection. The soul transfers between the duo and Hwal remain confusing. Then there’s also the question of how Sang-un and Hwal were able to reincarnate again.
All in all, Bulgasal: Immortal Souls provided fans with an immense Greek tragedy love story of ill-fated lovers. So even if there were some loose ends, the half-happy-half-sad ending is worth the time!
About Bulgasal: Immortal Souls
Bulgasal: Immortal Souls is a South Korean fantasy-historical series starring Lee Jin-wook, Kwon Nara, Lee Joon, Gong Seung-yeon, Jung Jin-young, Park Myung-shin and Kim Woo-seok. It is led by director Jang Young-woo, and the screenplay by husband-wife duo Kwon So-ra and Seo Jae-won.
Bulgasal is a mythical creature who is cursed with immortality and needs human blood to become more powerful. The story focuses on two Bulasals – Dan Hwal and Sang-un – and their love story filled with heartbreak, curse, ill-dated deaths and reincarnations across the 1,000 year timeline.
News Source: Bulgasal / tvN
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