The Impossible Heir (2024) K Drama Episode 12

The previous episode showed the beginning of Tae-oh’s (Lee Jae-wook) revenge plan against In-ah (Lee Jun-young). He used Gold H Investment, a paper company, to bring attention to Sung-ju and In-ah. They both meet up with the CEO of Gold H Investment but they meet the co-CEO, Han Tae-oh. Sung-ju and his mother Geum-seok completely took to Tae-oh and invited him to the family dinner as well. 

Irked by Tae-oh’s moves, In-ah played a dirty game. He sent Tae-oh’s stepfather to find Tae-oh’s mother. He ends up killing her, sending Tae-oh in a tailspin. Sung-ju and his mother prepare for an emergency press conference when the police come and arrest Geum-seok. As the clock keeps ticking, Sung-ju is not seen at the press conference, instead, In-ah ends up coming to the conference. Turns out, In-ah pulls yet another dirty move, but this time on Sung-ju and his mother. 

At the conference, he declares himself as the acting chairman and makes a promise to bring things back to where it belongs. At the funeral, Sung-ju comes to pay his respects. He tells him that they both lost their mothers and there is only one person responsible for it. At the end of the episode, In-ah walks into the office as the acting chairman and looks excited to reach where he wants to be finally. As he goes into the conference room, he is stopped by Prosecutor Ha Myung-jin and his team. They show him his arrest warrant for the murder of In-ju and Gi-jun.

The Impossible Heir Episode 12 Recap 

The episode starts with Tae-oh looking at his mother’s urn. Na Hye-won walks in and tells him not to lose hope at the sensitive stage of the plan. He had a mother who always prayed for his future and he must keep that in mind. She hands him a letter from his mother and walks away. In the letter, his mother tells him not to live in the past. 

There is no use for anger, rage, greed, or disappointment when it will only bring harm to Tae-oh. He needs to think about himself and to do that, he must bury all negative feelings with the letter. This leads to Tae-oh rethinking his life’s decisions and whether the rage-filled revenge is worth it all. He goes back to his old house and takes in the nature. He goes over all his reasons for being the person that he is today. 

We move to another scene where In-ah is the opposite of Tae-oh – he revels in the fact that tomorrow will be his day and Kangoh Group will be his. Tae-oh goes back to his house and takes down the intricate map of the Kang family as well as the people around him. He approaches the Chairman, who is still in the hospital, and promises to save Kangoh – making the Chairman drop a tear in his state. 

Kang Sung-ju and Geum-seok meet at the prison where the latter goes berserk and tells him to do anything to get back Kangoh. Frustrated at her state, Sung-ju lashes out at her. He tells her that they need to stop now, he is unhappy with the way things have been. Her greed became the reason for his misery. Hearing those shocking words, Geum-seok goes mute. He holds her hands and tells her to stop now.

People gather at the conference hall when Sung-ju and others receive a shocking piece of news – In-ah has been arrested. Sa-jin gets a call from his daughter and she tells him about her past as a drug user. He decides to take her side and take Tae-oh’s help. Tae-oh sells Kangoh Energy to him and asks him not to take In-ah’s side anymore. 

The scene changes to In-ah at the investigation office. Ha Myung-jin talks to him and In-ah tells him to be careful about the next move he makes since he has no evidence. Smirking at his gullible look, Myung-jin brings Gi-jun into the office. Shocked to see him alive, we are taken back to the incident. He gets saved by Sa-jin’s daughter who then calls Tae-oh. He walks in and talks about In-ah’s true personality. Feeling pain and betrayal at the current situation, Gi-jun decides to talk about the In-ju murder. Myung-jin also plays a recording from the night, shocking In-ah. 

There is chaos in the Kangoh Group as prosecutors walk in to take all evidence linking to him, causing all his employees to look worried at the outcome. At the prison, In-ah receives an official notice from his father, where his surname gets reverted to ‘Baek’ from ‘Kang’. Seeing this, In-ah laughs maniacally at his state.

Hui-ju calls Tae-oh home and when he walks in, the Chairman comes out in a wheelchair. Shocked to see him in this state, he rushes to him. The scene changes to the courtroom and In-ah looks indifferently while Tae-oh and Hye-won watch him. When asked for the last words, he goes into a dream state and expresses that he is glad to be with him but is sad to see the different roads they have taken. 

The next scene shows Tae-ho and In-ah meeting at the prison. Tae-ho tells him that he will not be forgiving him while In-ah quickly replies that there is no use in asking for forgiveness as it will not change anything. Tae-ho asks him why he did something so horrible, to which In-ah does not give a coherent reply. Tae-ho leaves him with a photo of the three of them and walks out. 

Hui-ju and Sung-ju share a cute sibling moment and Tae-oh goes to meet Hye-won. They spend time together at the pub where they share their feelings about the situation. Hye-won tells him that she feels envy at the fact that Tae-oh can achieve so much and live fiercely. They think back to the good times they had as young people.

The next scene had a heart-breaking revelation – In-ah kills himself in the prison itself. He kept the picture of the three of them with him as he breathed his last breath. The scene is set three years later and the Chairman’s dream comes true – the Royal Road project. 

Sung-ju creates a new company that helps with the global expansion of the Kangoh group and looks extremely happy with himself. He goes to the 151st floor and we see Tae-oh in the seat as the new Chairman of the company. They talk to each other like good acquaintances and keep a friendly conversation. 

We get to know that the Chairman gave him the chance he care for the company without caring for himself, which moved him. We also see Na Hye-won making her way to the top in politics and Wan enjoys his time off with the friendly thugs. The episode ends with Tae-oh looking at the fireworks from the 151st floor and thinking of the way he was at the age of 18, dreaming of being at the top. Now that he has achieved it all, he continues to dream for himself.

The Impossible Heir Episode 12 Review 

The drama finally comes to an end and there is so much to uncover here. It feels like a convenient ending for all the characters as the really bad ones get their time in jail while the ‘not-so-bad’ ones feel apologetic for their greed and decide to become better from that moment on. 

Lee Jae-wook and Lee Jun-young continue to show their skills as actors and while they did have a lot of ups and downs, their last conversation leaves the viewers feeling sad for the both of them. Lee Jun-young portrayed the complex emotions of Kang In-ah really well and even till the end, he showed the regret, shame, and anger that resides in him. 

Lee Jae-wook as Tae-oh is a complex character with certain values. While he lost his way in the middle, by the end, he became a loyal supporter of the Chairman. It is obvious they share a bond despite all the things that went down between them. We love the way he got what he wanted but lost the person with whom he wanted to achieve all his dreams. Hong Su-zu continues to show no emotions or have a character development as Na Hye-won. She does not look good as compared to the rest of her cast and it washes her out in all the scenes.