Recap Korean Drama The Heavenly Idol 2023 Episode 12 (Ep Final)

Episode 12 of The Heavenly Idol starts with the Evil one sipping some wine in his house when Lord Redrin shows up. He is shocked to see she doesn’t look well but she doesn’t respond to his questions. Instead, she grabs him by the neck and siphons his powers. She then heads to Hongwoodaedae and orders the master to collect as many souls as she can.

Elsewhere, the master of the Afterlife meets with Pontifex and informs him that Hongwoodaedae is collecting souls by using celebrities. She asks if he is interested in helping them stop Lord Redrin. She believes that he carries a piece of Lord Redrin’s soul and they should separate him from that part of Lord Redrin’s soul to weaken her. The only problem is that should he agree, those who have been supportive of him will no longer trust or love him. Pontifex says he can’t give up on the people who have faith in him and the master warns that he shouldn’t let his personal feelings lead him.

Outside, Kim Dal and Gam-jae wait for Pontifex. Kim Dal is curious about what Pontifex could be discussing with the master of Afterlife. Pontifex arrives but refuses to divulge any details to her. They go back to Eart and head to the dorm. They are surprised to find the real Yeon-woo who is acting like a little brat once again. The other members are shocked to see two Yeon-woo. Pontifex grabs a slipper and starts beating the real Yeon-woo asking him why he ruined the country in the other realms. Everyone is too shocked to help him.

Suddenly, the real Yeon-woo transforms into a middle-aged man named Ardor. Pontifex is able to recognize him immediately. He grabs him and pulls him into the bedroom to question him alongside Gam-jae and Kim Dal. Ardor confesses that Lord Redrin had found out that he was envious of Pontifex so she made a deal with him. She sent him to Earth to be his alter ego and get everyone to hate him. Unfortunately, the plan didn’t go as planned when Wild Animal become a washed-up group and he was unable to become an actor.  Pontifex realizes that Lord Redrin wanted to weaken his powers by having people lose faith in him.

The members ask what is going on and Pontifex explains. They are more curious to find out if he will leave the group and ask him to stay. Pontifex, Kim Dal and Gam-jae kick out the impostor who continues to beg for mercy. Kim Dal is shocked she fell for a scam artist like him but Pontifex tells her she didn’t know. He also has a new plan to infiltrate Hongwoodaedae by pretending to still be Ardor. Kim Dal asks him to give up on that plan as it is dangerous. Pontifex senses her worries that he might go back to the other realm or die.

He apologizes for leaving her behind the first time but Kim Dal points out that they are bound to separate and it makes her feel agitated.  She asks him not to take any risks and stay by her side. He gives her his most cherished possession, a bracelet he got after he became a pontifex.  The bracelet is symbolize their relationship and reassure her.  She changes her mind and decides to help him to go back to being Yeon-woo. Pontifex observes another man gifting his girlfriend a handbag as a gift and keeps that in mind.

He goes back to the dorm and asks Cash to give him a crash course in being Yeon-woo. His aim is to get Hongwoodaedae to reach out to him while thinking he is Ardor. After watching  Wild Animal’s interview, Lord Redrin orders the Hongwoodaedae master to bring Ardor to her.

Meanwhile, Sun-ja runs into Woo-sil and pretends she doesn’t remember the deal they made when drunk. However, her assistant urges her to reconsider giving Woo-sil another chance.

Later that evening, Pontifex gifts Kim Dal a handbag as a present. He asks her to define their relationship and she agrees they are officially dating. She asks him what has been keeping him distracted these past these days but he doesnt tell her. Instead, he thanks her for being there for him when he found out about Lord Redrin’s betrayal. He kisses her and assures her that he will find a solution to deal with Lord Redrin and get back to her.

On the other hand, the Evil one is still reeling from Lord Redrins betrayal. He goes to Pontifex who tells him he should face the fact that both of them meant nothing to Lord Redrin. The Evil One is unable to come to terms with this. He goes to Hongwoodaedae in search of Lord Redrin after learning that she told Pontifex about their plan to kill him and take his power.

He remembers how she approached him and gave him a ring with the promise that they will be together once the mission is done. Upon getting to Hongwoodaedae, he is denied a chance to meet Lord Redrin and the master orders her devotee to kill him.  She mocks him that he was fooled by Lord Redrin and she had no plans to be together. He was simply a tool she used and is ready to discard. He takes off the ring she gave him and regains enough power to kill the devotees and goes looking for Lord Redrin.

Pontifex is also kidnapped and taken to Hongwoodaedae where Lord Redrin discovers he is not Ardor. Gam-jae informs Kim Dal that Pontifex was taken to Hongwoodaedae and they go there to rescue him.  Kim Dal learns that Pontifex knew how to destroy Lord Redrin but refused to cooperate because of his feelings for her.

They enter a room in Hongwoodaedae and find the contracts signed using the holy relic. They start brainstorming on how to destroy them. Kim Dal suggests they destroy the holy relic when they find it but Gam-jae cautions her that that may lead to unknown consequences. They hear Lord Redrin talking to Pontifex and Gam-jae leaves to help him. Kim Dal finds the holy relic and against Gam-jae’s warning, decides to make a contract written with a holy relic.

She exchanges her pure soul for the destruction of the holy relic. Once the contract is written the holy relic dissipates and she also disappears from the room and memories of her are wiped from the people who knew her.

In the other room, Gam-jae tries to help Pontifex as Lord Redrin siphons his power but is overwhelmed. She tells him that she impregnated a married couple with a part of her soul so she can create him, the perfect pontifex. She is now taking her powers and slowly killing him so she can be powerful.  At the same moment, Kim Dal’s contract goes into effect and she loses her powers. She fails to get Pontifex’s power and once the Evil One finds her she runs and hides in a church after killing the Hongwoodaedae master and siphoning her powers.

At the church, the Evil One finds her and she tells him she will never regret what she did to him. She manipulates him into thinking that he deserves it because he failed to kill Pontifex and thus they couldn’t be together. He kneels and asks to be given another chance to prove himself to her. She asks for the ring she gave him and uses her power to lock him inside it.

Once Pontifex wakes up, he is unable to remember Kim Dal. He tells Gam-jae that he has to stop Lord Redrin and heads to the church. At the church, Lord Redrin tries to trick Pontifex into thinking she did everything to stop the Evil One. Fortunately, Pontifex doesn’t believe her.  She stabs him and starts siphoning his powers again. This time she manages to take it but as no one believes in her anymore, she loses her deity status and becomes weak.

Later, Gam-jae and the master of the Afterlife bring back Pontifex from the edge of life and death. The Afterlife master gives him another chance to live as Yeon-woo and asks him to help her get rid of the residual black magic that remained after the Evil One was captured. She also informs him that they captured Lord Redrin and in a twist of events, she was not a deity but a seaweed spirit obsessed with gaining a deity’s power.

How Does Heavenly Idol End?

Pontifex returns as Yeon-woo and Wild Animal achieve the success they always dreamed of with Gam-jae as their manager. Sadly, Kim Dal is unable to remember the price she paid to save Pontifex even though they work together. Nonetheless, the master of the Afterlife is hopeful that they will remember and reunite.

She is proven right when one day, Pontifex heals Kim Dal and sees the bracelet he gave her. Their past memories start coming back and Pontifex begs her to remember as he came back for her. The show ends with their memories restored and them gazing lovingly at each other while smiling.

Episode Review

This has been a great show and we have now come to the end for this one. Thankfully, it was a happy ending that saw our main leads back together. This episode did a good job of wrapping up everyone’s story, and even Sun-ja and Woo-sil got a happy ending and found love in each other again!

It is sad that Lord Redrin took the love the Evil One had for her and twisted it into something so dark and filthy. The Evil One was duped and he fell for it. We’ll have more to say in our full season review but in the meantime, what did you guys think of the finale?