Tale of the Nine Tailed
1. All those little things done with great love can encompass the entire universe.
The day before Yeon and Ji Ah battle the Imoogi, they spent a day together eating ice cream and sharing a kiss, playing at the arcade, watching the day turn into night until the city lights shine and sparkle like the stars. They were running against time knowing the possible ending would mean death for either of them. Though, Yeon is more calculating and clever as he could see from miles away. A skill and power of a benevolent mountain spirit.
I am fascinated by this. How simple yet it means everything!
How the ordinary and the small things, those little acts of love that seem mundane can actually measure up to grand gestures! Time spent with a spouse, a partner, a lover or a friend and basking in his/her presence in the most simple of ways can mean the entire humanity and the universe put together. Go hug the person or the pet you love as often as you can! Tell them you love them. Go the extra mile for them. Listen and just be there. And forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.
Life is too short, too precious to be angry and indifferent.
2. Why we need to let go, especially of our attachments and the people we hold dear.
In episode 1, Yeon and Sunhoo met at the park as another kid was chasing after a balloon. Yeon, being a mountain spirit wielded the wind to bring back the balloon which Sunhoo witnessed. He then asked Yeon if he was an alien. It is here where Yeon first speak of these lines, "I'm saying that life is short so try your best in life...but know when to let go when something's too unbearable."
Wow. That packs a punch.
Relating this to the drama after seeing the entire season unfold and take a bow last Friday, I could not help but think if Yeon is saying this to comfort Sunho. Could it be that having seen too many human years pass him by, he too feels the pain of mortal men and women who get attached to their dreams and ambitions, to position and social class or status and even to the people they love that it destroyed them completely. It must have exhausted him to witness such internal and personal destruction that could only lead to the imbalance of society and the universe at large. Or is he, at this point in episode 1, thinking about the things and attachments that have burdened him for hundreds of years? For how long has he contemplated on the desires of his own heart?
With a finale that seemed to have rushed on a schedule, my questions were not answered. But, this I know, that letting go of things when it has become unbearable can be liberating. But I have to add, that discerning when to let go is the beginning of this freedom.
3. Life and death all but flow in one sweep of justice.
Now, we go to Rang.
Many could not understand Yeon's happy ending and, to this day, a few remain broken hearted at Rang's sacrifice. First of all, Yeon's choice to save Ji Ah is to save the world too. The Imoogi is so evil, he corrupted A Eum to go after Yeon to become the mountain spirit. For the second time around, Yeon is bent to correct this by saving Ji Ah and the world from evil. But Rang, being abandoned by his mother, has yet to grow up and understand what tough love means. It took him a while.
Sadly, the choices he made along the way immersed him further down to evil. Remember, Rang took the side of the Imoogi's cohorts to bring him back to life and deprive Yeon of his happily ever after. What Rang did not see at the time, is the pestilence and malice the Imoogi brings along in its wake. So, we had an amazing run in episodes 11-12 making Yeon the ultimate hero and Rang, the anti-hero we are all rooting for to change for the better. And with this, our own hopes for his redemption and happily ever after.
Rang's only redemption is death. His sacrifice was appraised worthy by the Judge of the Afterlife in exchange for Yeon's thus, the elder gumiho brother got his happy ending. Finally, Rang has learned how to love other than himself. This makes life meaningful and, according to the Fates of Korean myth and folklore, such a life is worth letting go of.
I don't think I will begin watching a new Kdrama (one that has been released this year) in the next few days until January 2021. TOTNT resonated with me on many levels. Some scenes, events and characters brought me delight as well as sorrow. For all its inventiveness, TOTNT affirms a personal belief I discovered during my wandering years. The people who brings me great joy are also the sources of my deepest pain.
This makes life worth living.
Rating: 4/5 One of the best of 2020
