Revenant (2023) K Drama Episode 12

The final episode of Revenant season 1 starts with Hae-sang regretting finding Hyangi’s body. He tries to call San-yeong back but is unable to reach her.

Elsewhere, Se-mi takes Gyeong-mun back to the cafe after she is discharged from the hospital. Gyeong-mun is still a bit weak and Se-mi feels they should head home. San-yeong arrives and warmly embraces her mom. 

Gyeong-mun is caught off-guard by San-yeong’s appearance as she now knows she is possessed. San-yeong tells her that everything is done and she is okay. Se-mi asks why she left and never showed up at the hospital, prompting San-yeong to explain that she had things to take care of. 

Hae-sang and Hong-sae arrive at the cafe and notice changes in the shadow. San-yeong tells them that it means that everything is over and she hopes she can get back to a normal life. Hae-sang is wary but agrees, telling her that they still need to seal the spirit. Hong-sae gives her the last object (the broken hairpin found near Hyangi’s body) but she has no visions.

They drive Gyeong-mun and San-yeong home and make plans to call each other the next day. Hong-sae doubts whether the evil spirit is gone and asks Hae-sang’s opinion. Unfortunately, Hae-sang is unable to answer him as he gets a call informing him of Byung-hee’s death. He rushes to the morgue and Chi-won admits he was the one who let Hyangi into the hospital room.

Hae-sang starts looking for the evil spirit at the morgue, hoping Hyangi will be there and give him some answers. He feels his grandmother owed everyone an apology and it was unfair for her to die before sincerely apologizing. He is also worried about Chi-won’s guilt and wonders if he will be able to cope. 

Meanwhile, Hong-sae talks to the lead detective and realizes they are looking into San-yeong as a suspect. The police are not sure if Byung-hee committed suicide or was thrown off.  He tells Hae-sang this much and they decide they need to figure out what they missed before sealing the evil spirit. 

What happens to Gyeong-mun?

The following morning, Gyeong-mun wakes up to find San-yeong has prepared breakfast but is acting strange. She realizes the young woman standing before her is not her real daughter. She asks what she did to San-yeong and Hyangi explains that San-yeong is locked inside a mirror where she will die a slow painful death.

Hyangi takes offense to the fact that Gyeong-mun wants to save San-yeong and is reminded that her own parents wanted to sacrifice her. She then orders  Gyeong-mun to wait for Hae-sang at Hwawonjae and kill him.

What is happening to San-yeong in the mirror?

San-yeong is trapped in an alternate universe in the mirror. She is alone and running away from a ghost. She spends most of the time trying to stay alive and hiding from the black ghost.

What is Hyangi up to?

After leaving the house, Hyangi spends the day trying to collect different poisons such as cyanide, antifreeze and pesticides. She spots Hong-sae following her and realizes they are on to her. Hong-sae asks her why she is looking into poisons when she is a ghost and can easily kill humans without being seen. Hyangi tells him that he won’t be able to save anyone even if she told him her plans.

Once again, Hyangi is hurt that Hong-sae asks about San-yeong’s fate and she refuses to tell him where San-yeong is. She only says that it is futile to save her. 

Does Hae-sang manage to complete the sealing ritual?

Hae-sang sets off the next day to start the sealing ritual. He starts by visiting the rooftop where the first victim linked to San-yeong killed himself (the conman) and performs the ritual. He then visits Hwawonjae and is attacked by Gyeong-mun. He is slightly hurt but Gyeong-mun begs for forgiveness, explaining she was ordered by Hyangi. Hyangi promised she would save San-yeong if Gyeong-mun kills Hae-sang for her. 

After hearing what Hyangi did to San-yeong, Hae-sang figures out that Hyangi and San-yeong switched places. San-yeong is the spirit and Hyangi is in human form. He can’t continue with the sealing ritual until her frees San-yeong. Otherwise, San-yeong will die. He realizes he needs to find the real last object and Gyeong-mun begs him to save her daughter.

Do they find the last object?

Hae-sang and Hong-sae are already onto Hyangi and start working on a different plan to save San-yeong. Hong-sae reviews the CCTV footage of Byung-hee’s death and discovers she left them a clue during her last moments. She tried to cut off her own finger to send a message that the last object is Hyangi’s missing finger. Even in her death, Byung -hee refused to die alone. This was the only thing she did right throughout this series. 

Hong-sae and Hae-sang start tearing the house apart looking for the finger. Unfortunately, they are unable to find it. Elsewhere, Gyeong-mun returns home and tells Hyangi what the two are after. Hyangi poisons Gyeong-mun and uses her phone to send an SOS message to Hong-sae. 

However, Hae-sang notices that something is off after reading the message. He opts to stay behind while Hong-sae rushes to save Gyeong-mun. He finds Gyeong-mun barely alive but due to quick medical help, she makes it alive. 

In the meantime, Hae-sang hides and waits for Hyangi to show up and get the finger. Once she retrieves it, he takes it from her. 

What happens after finding the last object?

As expected, Hyangi doesn’t go down without a fight. As Choi Manwol once warned Byung-hee, Hyangi is resilient and wishes to live. Hae-sang grabs the finger from her hands and tells her it is time to go back to where she belongs. However, Hyangi takes a light lamp and hits herself on the head multiple times. She is determined to kill San-yeong’s body if he burns the finger. The finger needs to be burned because fire is a purifying method. 

Hae-sang backs down and Hyangi uses this opportunity to attack and stab him.  She remains adamant that she wants to live. She figures since San-yeong was depressed and had suicidal thoughts, she doesn’t deserve to live. According to her, this is the opportune time to start anew. 

However, San-Yeong makes a breakthrough and realizes the ghost she has been running from is herself. She has been slowly suffocating herself with her depressed thoughts but she is choosing to live. She overpowers Hyangi and sets the finger on fire. 

What happens after Hyangi is exorcised?

San-yeong chooses to live and makes a bucket list before she loses her sight. She, Gyeong-mun and Se-mi try to do everything on the bucket list and live a fulfilled life. Gyeong-mun is still anxious about ghosts and even suffers from an anxiety attack. 

San-yeong decides it is better not to tell her about her illness until she gets better. 

What happens to Hong-sae & Hae-sang?

Hong-sae returns to his job but he still keeps in touch with San-yeong. He informs her that Byung-hee’s case was ruled as a suicide so she is officially off the hook.

Hae-sang meanwhile, returns to his job as a folklore professor. He continues to see ghosts but he seems much happier now. He also donated all his family money to the poor as an atonement for his family’s sins. 

How does Revenant end?

The show ends with Hae-sang meeting with San-yeong and taking her to see a firework festival.

It is a special fireworks festival that sends ghosts off to a better place using human wishes. San-yeong can still see ghosts and enjoys witnessing the wandering ghosts getting their peaceful rest. Hae-sang says he hopes she will also find her happiness too and San-yeong starts losing her sight. 

The Episode Review

The Revenant has delivered in every episode. From top-notch writing, intense acting and perfect delivery, they left no crumbs behind!

Ultimately, everyone got closure but we had hoped San-yeong got a better ending. It was sad to see her lose her eyesight in the end. Out of all people in the series, she needed a break but life keeps hitting her with more lemons.

Hae-sang also got a good ending and can finally be at peace. He shouldn’t blame himself for his grandparent’s mistake and he has done enough to atone for their sins. We can only hope he finds happiness after all the loss he has suffered.