The Lonely Shining Goblin - Episode 15 Summary

As Eun Tak (played by Kim Go Eun) explores Quebec, she responds automatically when a handsome young man recognizes her: “You again.” The oddity of that exchange hits her moments later, so she whirls around… but he’s gone. Omo, it’s Canadian ghost oppa! Also, she can see ghosts again?! Her search for him leads her to the street vendor who recognizes the destiny necklace. She asks if Eun Tak is living happily with the man who commissioned the piece ten years ago. Speaking of whom, Shin is in his room holding the little maple leaf.

Next thing we know, Shin (played by Gong Yoo) pops in and out of the house traveling all over the globe save for one destination: where Eun Tak is. Reaper (played by Lee Dong Wook), who has stayed home during Shin’s globetrotting, tells him to go there then.

When Shin worries that he’ll just confuse her by showing up in Quebec, Reaper says he’s confusing him enough here. Pouting, Shin says it’s because his heart feels empty. Cut to: Shin emerging from a sarcophagus, and Reaper tells him to return that mummy back where he found it. Climbing back inside, Shin tells the mummy: “Let’s go. He’s really scary when he gets angry.” 

Now we’re caught up to the chance encounter in Quebec, where Shin exits through the red door and comes face to face with Eun Tak. He follows as she leads the way to food, though she stops and realizes that she never specified that she was traveling to Canada. He quickly says she made some mention about seeing autumn leaves, and that’s enough of an answer for her.

She treats him to coffee and a sandwich, and he asks if that’s enough. He means for him, noting that he secured an advertising deal for her. Coughing, Eun Tak explains that she didn’t bring much money for this last-minute trip, but asks what he likes anyway.

He replies meat, not believing her when she says she’s not much of a meat-eater because he know she loves it. “How did you know that?” she asks, suspicious. She wonders if he looked her up to see if her familial background would be good enough to date a chaebol. “Who said I’d go out with you? You’re not much of a catch!” she stresses defensively. Shin calmly says she still owes him a meat-centered meal, so she promises to call him later.

She stalks off but doesn’t get far before Shin offers to be her personal tour guide, adding that there’s not much here. So they start walking together, and Eun Tak asks if he’s been here before. He replies that he’s been here four times with his first love, but they’ve since broken up, and she immediately asks why. Shin explains that he was very far away for a long time, and the separation must’ve been hard on her because she’s forgotten all about him. Eun Tak says first loves never work out anyway, but he must’ve loved his ex-girlfriend very much. Still looking at her, Shin says he must have, considering it’s so hard for him to hold back now.

He says he wants to hold her hand and embrace her, though Eun Tak has no idea those sentiments are directed at her. He’s amused when she kicks at the autumn leaves, saying that he hasn’t forgotten his first love yet. Shin: “No, not for a single day nor moment.”

He tells her the same story she once told him about how your love comes true if you catch a falling autumn leaf with the person you love. She scoffs, saying that it didn’t come true since he’s walking with her now. She points out that men tend to talk about their exes in front of the woman they’re interested in, and that flare of jealousy reminds him of the younger Eun Tak.

She’s still hung up on that childish tale back in her hotel room, scoffing that only a high-schooler would say something like that, then sighs over how she can’t even remember what part of her memory she’s forgotten. Seeing Shin sitting on a bench outside, she decides to confront him and asks if they’ve met before, about ten years ago.

She swears this isn’t a pickup line when he doesn’t readily answer. She repeats herself when he asks if he likes her, then boldly amends her reply moments later with a “yes.” Since she’s single, she figures that she was meant to be unlucky in the love department in this lifetime.

She lets that thought sink in before excusing herself, only for her and Shin to call out to one another almost simultaneously. She timidly offers to treat him to an early dinner, and he smiles that he was about to do the same.

Now we finally see Shin’s vision of Eun Tak’s future play out in the present, as Eun Tak chats with Sunny on the phone. Shin leans against the doorway as he confirms in voiceover that this was the future he saw, where he was the man Eun Tak was waiting for.

Shin can’t hide his delight as he sits across from her, and Eun Tak scowls at his confirmation that he also visited this restaurant with his first love. He says it didn’t matter since she forgot all about it, which prompts Eun Tak to ask if Shin met up with that woman after they broke up.

Eun Tak says people are usually left disappointed when they reunite with their first loves because the reunion never lives up to their fantasies. He says she’s still pretty, which only gets her worked up, and she asks in annoyance about what he thinks of women who recently became beautiful—y’know, like her. He asks if they should see each other again tomorrow, not at all bothered by the fact that she’s flying out in the afternoon. He means to see her before she leaves, and again after that. She nods and hides her smile behind her menu.

As Sunny (played by Yoo In Na) reviews the CCTV footage of Reaper dropping by the old chicken shop, she sighs that she oddly wanted to head over there that day. 

She seeks out Deok Hwa (played by Yook Sung Jae) instead, and though he’s struck dumb by her beauty, he doesn’t recognize her. He still remembers the chicken shop in question since that place was often behind in rent, and is flabbergasted when he learns that Sunny is looking to get in touch with Reaper, not him.

At home, Reaper stops short when the incoming call is from Sunny (whose caller ID is still misspelled on his phone, aw).

After picking out her next outfit, Eun Tak peruses the brochure for ideas on where to go with Shin on their date. Her eyes fall upon an image of a hilltop cemetery, and a sudden memory momentarily superimposes onto the picture. But then she remembers how Shin led her away from the graves yesterday, which is followed by more rapid flashes into the past, including Shin’s own gravestone.

Eun Tak heads straight to the gravesite, where she’s soon joined by Shin. She wonders if this grave belongs to him, asking, “Are you a ghost?” She asks if that’s why she keeps seeing him, and he hones in on the idea that she can still see ghosts.

“Still?” she repeats. She demands to know how he knew that about her, and pauses for a few seconds before asking, “By any chance, is your name… Kim Shin? Did we come here together ten years ago?” But she still can’t remember, and demands to know who he is: “Why did I write down not to forget you? Why did I write down that I’m your bride?! You’re Kim Shin, aren’t you? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“I’m not,” Shin answers, and tells her to head back to the hotel.

The Lonely Shining Goblin - Episode 14 Summary

Shin (played by Gong Yoo) says his final goodbyes in Eun Tak’s (played by Kim Go Eun) arms, and the fire from his heart spreads until he’s nothing but fire and ash. He scatters into the wind before her eyes, and she collapses to the ground in tears. A strange sensation passes through Deok Hwa (played by Yook Sung Jae) in that moment, and Sunny (played by Yoo In Na) and Secretary Kim too. We also see Eun Tak’s friend the class president, and the ajusshi who was Shin’s second-in-command in Goryeo.

The writing in Shin’s diary starts to disappear, and even the scribble he added in Eun Tak’s book of poems—”It was first love”—starts to burn off the page. Eun Tak seems to sense that Shin is fading from every memory they shared, literally disappearing from the scene as she remembers it, so she scrambles to her bag to grab pen and paper. She frantically starts writing to herself:

“You have to remember. His name is Kim Shin. He’s tall and when he smiles he’s sad. He’ll come as the rain. He’ll come as the first snow. He’ll keep his promise. Remember. You have to remember. You are his bride.”Tears fall as she writes the last words, and she clutches the notebook close, sobbing and trying desperately to remember. Fade to black.

A butterfly lands in a vast snowy tundra, and a lone figure stands in the distance—it’s Shin, back to his original form as the Goryeo warrior. Butterfly-god says that Shin has been erased from the minds of everyone who knew him, and that this is a consideration from god. Samshin Granny narrates over the scene that his punishment was over now, and that he should close his eyes and rest at peace. “But there were tears in the goblin’s eyes,” she says.

Shin cries as he remembers Eun Tak and the moment he realized he’d make this choice. He says to the gods, “I will stay in this place. I will remain here and go as the rain. I will go as the wind. I will go as the first snow. For that one thing, I ask heaven’s permission.” Samshin Granny narrates that it was a childish choice. Butterfly-god answers him: “I was always with you in your life, but in this place, I am not here.” And butterfly-god leaves him too.

Back on Earth, Samshin Granny is back to her grandmother form as she tells this story, saying that the goblin was all alone, stuck between this life and the afterlife, between light and dark, his soul trapped forever in a place without god.

The person listening to the story is Shin’s second-in-command, who asks curiously what happened to the goblin. Granny supposes, “Memories will fade, and all that will be left is shining futility. He’ll walk in that futility and walk some more. And then what will happen? Where will he reach?” Just as she described, we see Shin trudging through the snow wearily, walking and walking with no end in sight.

Nine years later. Eun Tak is a radio PD, and her writer flips out when it suddenly starts to rain and she has to change the DJ’s opening monologue to suit the weather. Eun Tak takes it in stride, though she seems to be in a subdued mood. She ignores a text from her nasty cousin Kyung Mi asking to borrow some money. As she leaves work, Eun Tak stands outside without an umbrella and watches the rain come down, looking pained. And then a tear trickles down her face. Reaper (played by Lee Dong Wook) comes up right behind her in line at the coffee shop, but they don’t seem to recognize each other.

At home, Eun Tak remembers seeing Reaper at the age of 9, and wonders if the man in the coffee shop could be the same grim reaper. But she thinks she must be mistaken. She wonders about the destiny necklace she’s wearing, where it came from, and why she can’t remember.

Shin continues to walk in the snow, and he narrates, “In that desert / He was so lonely / He walked backwards at times / Just to see a set of footprints ahead of him.” The scene fades into that very poem in Eun Tak’s book, as she copies it down. She flips back to the page with the first love poem, and wonders how it only burned in that one spot.

She heads to the chicken shop and tells Sunny that she’s as pretty as ever. When Eun Tak asks for soju, Sunny wonders why she’s down when today’s radio show was great, but Eun Tak sighs that they have no advertisements, so she’ll probably be fired soon anyway. Sunny makes Eun Tak get her own drinks, and then her high school friend arrives. Eun Tak still just calls her “class president,” while Sunny greets her familiarly as Lawyer Kim. 

Class Prez asks if Eun Tak doesn’t want to go on a blind date with a cute chef who looks like a puppy when he smiles. Eun Tak says that’s not her type, but Class Prez says the chef is a fan of Eun Tak’s radio show. Sunny joins them and advises Eun Tak to grab the opportunity while she can, sighing at how she used to be the first love to so many men. Class Prez agrees that Eun Tak should date before she ends up like Sunny, and Sunny wonders if Eun Tak doesn’t have any other friends.

Eun Tak sighs as she notes that it’s raining outside and she’s got two friends to worry about her. She pours herself another drink and says in Shin’s manner of speech, “It’s a nice day.”

As Eun Tak stumbles home that night, two ghosts watch her pass—one of them is the girl who always used to follow her around. They wonder why she can’t see them when she’s the goblin’s bride, but they figure that since the goblin has never shown up, she’s more like a widow.

At home, Eun Tak’s depression worsens and she writhes in pain and chokes down sobs, wondering what she’s so sad about and why she’s always like this. 

The image of her sobbing fades into Shin walking in the snow, stumbling but forcing himself back up. And then we see that he’s clutching something in his hand: His contract with Eun Tak. At one point he just collapses in exhaustion, and the contract blows out of his hand. It starts to fly away, and he scrambles to his feet, falling over himself in desperation to retrieve it.

And down on Earth, it begins to snow. Eun Tak looks up at the sky sadly, and it’s almost as if she’s looking up at Shin, who’s now face-down in the snow, unable to walk another step. A tear falls as he shuts his eyes.

Eun Tak sits alone with a birthday cake, wondering to herself, “What have I forgotten? Whom have I forgotten?” She lights a candle, and in that moment, the sun shines on the contract and Shin opens his eyes…

Eun Tak: “What face and what promise have I forgotten that all that’s left is such deep sadness? Somebody, anybody… please, save me.” As she says the words, Shin snaps to attention, like he can hear her voice. He can hear her!

She blows out the candle, and a familiar smoke rises out of Shin’s fingertips. The contract begins to smoke and turn to ash, and then just like that, Shin appears at Eun Tak’s side. They reunite just the way they met ten years ago to the day, when Eun Tak blew out her birthday candles at 19.

His eyes full of emotion, Shin marches over to her and grabs her in a hug. Ohthankgod it’s still you and one of you remembers! Eun Tak bursts into tears in his arms.

They both cry for a long moment as he holds her, and then Eun Tak suddenly pulls away, apologizing for crying because she can’t control her mood swings. Then she realizes that this random guy hugged her out of nowhere and asks what he’s doing and if he knows her. She takes another look at him and assumes he’s an actor.

He sees that she became a radio PD from her station badge, and remarks proudly that she realized her dreams. She bristles at his use of banmal, and Shin takes it in stride, remembering butterfly-god’s words that he’d be erased from everyone who knew him. He says it’s okay if she was at peace. Not understanding a word, she just directs him to the drama department.

Eun Tak begins to walk away, but she turns back and asks how he got in here. Shin replies, “Someone called me."

The Lonely Shining Goblin - Episode 13 Summary

After learning that Reaper (played by Lee Dong Wook) is the reincarnation of the young king who betrayed him, Shin walks up the steps of the temple with purpose and greets him with a stranglehold. “General Kim Shin is here to see the king,” he announces. The coldness in his voice sends a chill up my spine. Shin (played by Gong Yoo) wonders if he was blinded by the 900 years that passed, and calls Reaper by name: “You are Wang Yeo.” That brings tears to Reaper’s eyes, and he asks, trembling, “In the end am I… that man… am I Wang Yeo? That young and foolish face is mine?”

Shin says that the battlefield was always hell, but they returned, enemies vanquished. He cries, “My soldiers, my young sister, my innocent family—they were slashed with swords and shot with arrows before me. On command! Because of one word spit out by a young and foolish king!”

Reaper breaks down in tears, asking again if that was really him, so heartbroken that it shakes Shin’s resolve. Shin begins to squeeze his hand around Reaper’s throat, but at the last second he wavers and drops his hand. He says that he remembers every minute of that moment every day of his life, then scoffs that Reaper must be living comfortably with no memory of it.

Thinking of that sneering young king saying that heaven would never be on Shin’s side, Shin throws back at Reaper, “Even though 900 years have passed, heaven is still on your side.” He walks off, leaving Reaper devastated. Reaper returns to the temple to ask at the altar what he did, why his memories have been wiped, and what choice he made. He wonders just how cowardly he was.

Eun Tak (played by Kim Go Eun) searches the empty house and paces back and forth in worry, and jumps to greet Shin when he finally returns. He tells her that he met Park Joong Hoon and Wang Yeo, and tells her to go pack a bag because they’re staying at Grandpa’s house. Shin wonders why she isn’t asking him anything, and realizes that she must’ve known who Reaper was. She admits that Park Joong Hoon told her as much, but she didn’t know his motives, and determined that if it was a fate Shin was meant to face, he would.

Deok Hwa (played by Yook Sung Jae) is confused when the goblin couple arrives at his house with bags. Eun Tak says that she’ll go stay with Sunny to keep an eye on her, volunteering Deok Hwa to drive her there. Deok Hwa asks if Shin and Reaper had a fight, and why Shin was the one to leave his own house. Eun Tak guesses that he’s being considerate, given that Reaper doesn’t have anywhere else to go. 

Sunny (played by Yoo In Na) shows up at Shin and Reaper’s house, though no one is there to answer the door. She thinks of Shin saying angrily that she was protecting that fool even in this life. Does she remember Reaper despite his attempt to wipe her memory?

By the time Reaper arrives, she’s gone, and he stands outside on the front stoop for a long time, unable to go inside. When he finally does, he finds the house cold and empty. Sunny seems to remember everything about Reaper and how she recovered the memory of her past life (when Eun Tak asks how, she answers, “sexily”), and Sunny says that this must be her fourth life, because she met her brother and her lover in this lifetime.

Eun Tak hopes that this is her first lifetime, because she’d like to be with Shin in her second, third, and fourth lives too. Sunny counters that Eun Tak might feel differently had she seen her stubborn oraboni in Goryeo, wondering with a sigh why he came back from war knowing he’d die. Up on the rooftop of Sunny’s building, Hoobae Reaper argues with landlady Samshin Granny over the utility bill, thinking it unfair. She agrees that fate is really unfair, talking to him but thinking of Sunny and Reaper. She wonders if they’ll have to pay the steep price of fate, then tells Hoobae to pay up in cash.

Shin drinks and drinks and drinks, thinking of the young king sending him to his death and banishing him from his homeland, and Reaper telling him sincerely that he doesn’t want for Shin to die.

The next day, Hoobae Reaper tells Reaper that someone may have run into his missing person, and we see that female reaper meet Park Joong Hoon again, after she’d touched Sunny’s hand.

She denies seeing herself in Sunny’s past, but Park Joong Hoon reminds her of the poisoned tonics she presented to the queen with her own hands, and says that his sins are her sins. He promises to keep her secret, if she keeps his.

Park Joong Hoon watches Sunny like a creeper while she works, and now that he’s made sure she is the queen, he declares that she’ll have to die by his hands in this lifetime too. But just as he says it, Reaper appears before him and lifts his hat just high enough to glare at him. 

Reaper still doesn’t know who he is, only recognizing the soul as the missing person who’d escaped from him twenty years ago. Reaper calls him a demon feeding off of human darkness to survive, and Park Joong Hoon argues that he only helped along the dark ambition that was already inside of people. We see that he was actually the demon whispering into people’s ears every time Eun Tak was in danger: when Eun Tak’s mother was hit by the car, when that bicyclist nearly caused the bus crash, when that murderer ex-husband was about to shove Eun Tak off the building.

Reaper strangles him and demands his name, but Park Joong Hoon just poofs over to the other side of the room and says knowing his name won’t do anything when Reaper doesn’t even know his own. He offers, “Shall I tell you? As always, you’re holding something lowly.”

They both turn to look at Sunny, who can’t see either of them. Park Joong Hoon says that even in this life, Reaper will hold tightly because it’s precious to him, and she’ll die. With that, he vanishes and appears in the street below, possessing and sucking the souls out of people and making them collapse. Even after that, Reaper can’t seem to put the pieces together and just wonders if that demon knows him. 

Shin sighs dejectedly as he thinks of all the times he and Reaper cooked their meals together, all the beers they shared, and all the times they laughed together. Reaper calls Deok Hwa in that moment, and Shin answers the call, though he doesn’t say a word. Reaper begins to speak, but then realizes what the silence must mean, and the screen splits to show both goblin and reaper sitting alone, not speaking but not hanging up. 

Eun Tak comes out of class to find Reaper waiting for her, and at his request she draws a picture of the goblin’s sword, given to him by the king. Reaper guesses by her lack of questions that she’s on Shin’s side, and he asks if she’ll take his side, just once.

He hands her the jade ring and asks her to return it to Sunny, since he doesn’t think it’s good for him to have that excuse to see her. He assumes that Sunny won’t remember him at all, and Eun Tak doesn’t say otherwise, but thinks to herself that Sunny seems to remember him just fine.

At the chicken shop, Eun Tak asks if Sunny is still waiting for her king, and Sunny sighs that she can’t anymore when the person who loves the king is a traitor’s sister. She says it’s confusing to have Sun’s memories blurring with her own, and she wonders if Wang Yeo was sad when she died, because all she saw was his back as he walked away.

Sunny muses, “He told me only to keep happy memories, but even that must’ve made me happy, for me to remember it all.” Eun Tak decides against giving her the ring and tucks it into her pocket. She reaches over tentatively and holds Sunny’s hand, making her smile.

Sunny goes to see Shin and asks him to let go of what’s past, but he points out that what is a past lifetime for her is his current life. He says, much like he did back in Goryeo, that he has nowhere else to go but forward.

Sunny says her answer is the same now as it was then, and she tells him to go if he must. He makes it clear that if he goes forth this time, it is not to forgive Yeo. The answer pains her, but she says she’ll be okay, and promises to truly become happy in this lifetime.

Reaper sits in his room staring at the sketch of the goblin’s sword, thinking about how Shin has lived 900 years with it stuck in his heart. All of a sudden, the sounds of wind chimes rattling puts Reaper on high alert, and he vanishes out of his room in a flash.

He reappears in his tea room, where the chimes are ringing, and finds two men in black sitting at the table, who introduce themselves as the Reaper Division Investigation Team. They’re here to investigate reaper misconduct, for outing his identity as a reaper to a human and using his powers for personal gain. Reaper only realizes now how many times he’s abused his memory-wiping ability and other powers, and readily admits to his sins.

He says he’ll accept whatever punishment he’s due, but the investigators tell him that grim reapers are human beings who committed grave sins, who endure 200 years of hell and then choose to erase their own memories. But as his punishment for breaking the rules, they tell Reaper that he will have to face his sins once again.bInstantly, Reaper is struck with a sharp pain, and he clutches his head in anguish. His memories come flooding back, and we flash back to Goryeo, just after Shin and Sun have been killed.

Park Joong Hoon reports of nothing but praise for the king among his people, but Wang Yeo overturns his dinner table in a rage, and this becomes his habit day after day, year after year. He remains just as angry as he becomes an adult, and then one day, Park Joong Hoon orders tonic instead of a dinner table, and the court lady’s eyes widen. Despite likely knowing what is in the tonic, the king drinks it without hesitation.

He spends his days drawing portraits of his dead queen like an obsessed maniac, drinking more and more tonic until he completes that final portrait that Shin has in his possession.

A court lady brings him Sun’s bloody clothes and the jade ring he forced on her finger the day she died, and he crumples into a sobbing mess. He wanders the streets like a madman, calling out for anyone who wants to wear this beautiful robe and this ring.

The one who answers is Samshin Granny. She asks him for the jade ring and says with a smile that she’ll have a use for it someday in the future, so he blankly tosses it to the ground at her feet. When no one claims the queen’s robes, he tosses them into a fire.

At the palace, the court lady brings him another bowl of tonic, and the king says, “My people, my lieges, my woman, even me—no one loved me. In the end I could not be loved.” He orders for more tonic to be brought, because he knows what’s inside and wants to end it all at once. The court lady falters, so he tells her that it’s a command.

In the present, Reaper gasps as he recovers his memories, and the investigator tells him that the biggest sin is to take your own life, and says that he will now remember his sins and the hell he lived through to pay for them. Reaper is taken off duty for the time being, until further notice. But! What about Eun Tak’s death notes?

They leave him alone, and Reaper breaks down crying, “I was Wang Yeo. I killed them all! I killed myself.”

Shin sits at the temple, asking the souls of those who died what he ought to do about Wang Yeo.

When he returns home, Shin flares up in anger to find Reaper standing in his room, gazing at the portrait of Sun. He snatches it out of Reaper’s hands and tells him not to lay his hands on it again, because he doesn’t have the right to cry in front of this painting.

But Reaper stops him in his tracks when he says that he gave Shin that sword, and that he killed everyone: “I was Wang Yeo.” Shin slams him into the wall and says that he did kill everyone: “You killed, and killed, and even killed yourself. Your woman, your loyal subjects, your Goryeo, even yourself—you could not protect a single one of them!”

Shin seethes as he says that he should’ve lived to the end, when Sun gave her life to protect his. Shin says that Sun knew her name would be the next out of Park Joong Hoon’s mouth, and so rather than see her king give up everything because of her, she chose to die as the sister of a traitor first, to protect him.

Reaper spills more tears, confronted with the truth. He cries that he put that ring on her finger so callously, and that it was passed between them in this lifetime too. “Please kill me,” he begs.

Shin lets out an incredulous laugh as a tear trickles down his face. “You’re throwing yourself away this time too? I think it’s enough for you to carry the sin for killing you,” Shin says.