iaria

+ Tae-eul/Gon ended up being a little too much for me for the first time. I was really thrown by the opening Tael-eul/Gon scene. Tae-eul breaking down weeping was so surprising and felt like such an extreme reaction that I assumed that there had to have been a massive time jump. Instead it seems to line up with everything else happening in the episode. The timeline of this show is weird but that'd be a couple weeks or a month at most, right? So I was left very '???' about it.

+ I did love Gon leaving Tae-eul a message in his phone search results. It was really sweet. Yeong leaving it alone until she could see it, also sweet. (Though why he didn't give it to her sooner?)

+ Did Gon really literally disappear from Tae-eul's embrace or was that the show being creative? If the latter, sigh, I guess we'll see how that scene ends in a different episode. If the former, though, that could be really interesting. Disappearance is new and indicates something has changed. It could be simply a further indication of how things are breaking down between the worlds but his voice-over indicated that he knew it was a possibility.

He voice-overs: There will come a moment when it seems I've disappeared. I don't want you to worry too much when that happens. It just means... I'm walking throught the frozen moments in time." 'frozen moments in time' could be about when time freezes, and perhaps in that moment Lim came through and Gon left while everything was frozen. But another, more intriguing possibility, is that the way that's stated makes me think the past. We know there's time travel in this series so...

Could this Gon be from the future? The way he was dressed was very different then he usually appears. He was also very serious and deeply sad, which easily could be about Bu-yeong's death, but could also be about something more. He just felt very different - more tired and weary. The way he said "I have to go back now" felt like more than just returning to Corea.

Him telling her with tears in his eyes: "I realised I never told you. I love you. I am deeply in love with you." and the very long kiss was very meaningful. I actually really loved this moment and the scene as a whole.

+ Tae-eul taking that step back from Gon - her remembering Yeong's words and her uncertainty about how to move forward or her sensing a difference in Gon?

+ Then there's the flowers he gave her which seemed strange. I found myself wondering why they would use fake flowers because that makes no sense. Then I wondered - could they be the 'impossible' flowers that Tae-eul planted in the in-between place? If this Gon is from the future giving one last goodbye to Tae-eul that's absolutely what they could be. The first flowers he gave her being the ones she planted would be kind of amazing and her flowers sprouting in the pot being the same could be what causes her to realise what this moment really was.

+ Why didn't Tae-eul question Gon's demeanour at the end, even to just ask him what was wrong. Because there was definitely something obviously wrong with him and she should have asked.

+ I was not a fan of how Tae-eul both started and ended the episode crying over Gon. And then did some crying for Shin-jae in the middle for something different. I am not happy about this direction for her character. What happened to her thinking her relationship with Gon would be short-lived and accepting what fate had in store for her? I need less her being sad and crying, and more her being active and determined!

+ So if I have this right - after realising that Lim has his own gate between worlds Gon sent out the notice of his location to use himself as bait in order to try and lure out Lim? And somehow beat his guards there on horseback? Possibly instead of being a drama king about the whole situation he should have sent guards in secretly, had the gathering observed and then had Lim picked up secretly. He was definitely acting emotionally instead of logically or tactically.

+ I get that Gon wouldn't want to send his royal guards after Lim's people in force and chance there being more people being caught in the crossfire but he certainly could have sent a couple of them to follow them from a distance. At the least there should have been some high energy scenes of the guards tracking Lim and his followers via CCTV and working to track down who they all were, showing them doing their jobs.

+ It doesn't make sense to me that one of Lim's men would attempted to assassinate the king and none of his royal guards shot back. They showed no initiative. Between this and Bu-yeong's murder I'm not super impressed with these guards.

+ Lim having a different gate makes a lot of sense. I wonder if they can find each other's gates in-between or if they'd just wander though that space forever? Lim also seems certain he could reach even more worlds with the whole flute which is intriguing. I'd love to see more worlds.

+ "It's the King's ring. It doesn't belong to us." Uh, then why the hell did Bu-yeong still have it?? Why didn't he give it to Gon, if not as a child then at any point as an adult, instead of keeping it hidden in his desk? I feel like there's the implication that Bu-yeong was also envious of Gon/wanted to be king, and perhaps that's why he kept the ring? But the episode also proved that he was also loyal to Gon so... idk.

+ Why did Lim leave the ring on Bu-yeong's finger? He clearly wanted it for himself so why leave it behind? What message is he leaving Gon?

+ Poor Gon. He not only lost his closest living family member but I feel like he feels guilty for it too since he made the choice to let Lim go. Plus the memory of his father's death haunting him and being unable to go to Ok-nam when she collapsed.

+ Poor Ok-nam! Lim is back and gunning for Gon, literally with Gon being shot at, and then Bu-yeong, who I assume is her closest friend/confidant, is murdered. No wonder she collapsed.

+ Was Bu-yeong still in his own home when he was killed or was he at the palace? Because if he was at the palace then holy crap, they need to seriously update their security! Yeong needs to get home immeadiately.

+ Yo-yo kid dismissing Lim so he could finish his book was great. I love how much that disconcerted Lim.

+ Eun-sup taking a bullet for Gon was great. He's been such a comedy relief character that it was great to see him being brave and I liked that Gon took it seriously.

+ Yeong and Eun-bi were fun. I loved his smile when she said he was cooler and then offence when she says he's a prick. I loved her suspicion of him.

+ I can't believe that Yeong left his gun somewhere accessible to a child, wtf Yeong! Eun-sup took a bullet for you/Gon!

+ I liked Yeong, gently for him, confronting Tae-eul about what her plans were for the future and her relationship with Gon. I liked him pointing out that Gon is the king and needs a queen. That's obvious of course but it's something Tae-eul, and Gon for that matter, have kind of been dancing around since they've gotten together.

+ I was disappointed that we didn't get more of Yeong and Tae-eul (and Shin-jae if he wants) working together to hunt down clues about Lim's plans. I guess I was expecting something more than we got. Them actively working together investigating and actually discovering some important information or leads together.

+ Luna having a terminal illness is interesting because it removes a main reason for her to kill Tae-eul - no point in taking over her life if she's going to be dead soon. Or it could give her even more reason if Lim can lure her with the idea he can save her life.

+ I liked the scene with Tae-eul and her team sitting on the steps. I loved Moon-shik remembering the last number for the license plate and that he immediately without question authorised Shin-jae's search into it. I have to say I am really impressed with him. It was a random vehicle during a dinner possibly months ago that Shin-jae looked at but didn't make a big deal about.

+ I'm curious about why there are so many red balloons in the in-between place now and I wonder what they mean. Why would Gon release so many? What experiment do they represent? Also the single red balloon that appears before Gon was weird.