Summary
Episode 12 continues to go down memory lane as Tae-sul has to uncover more of his past.
This recap of the Netflix K-Drama series Sisyphus: The Myth episode 12 contains significant spoilers.
After Tae-sul’s heroics and Tae-san’s love for his brother, episode 12 opens with Gang Seo-hae in the future. She’s climbing on top of derelict buildings and navigating through a broken city. She’s using a watch-compass to find her location. Suddenly, there’s a sand storm, so she needs to cover up. As she struggles to walk and feels disorientated, she hallucinates and sees her mother; she finds herself in quicksand, but luckily, her father, Gang Dong-gi, had been following her — he saves her with a rope. When things settle down, Gang Dong-gi expresses how scared he is for her, but Gang Seo-hae tells her father that she needs help to get to the uploader.
As they travel, Gang Seo-hae and her father are stopped by a man pointing a gun at them — Gang Seo-hae tells him that she’s trying to save Tae-sul. The man reveals himself to be Tae-sul’s driver and bodyguard.
With her father in the present
Sisyphus: The Myth episode 12 offers a sweet reunion in strange times; the present and the future mirror each other, just like Agnes said.
In the present day, Tae-sul and Gang Seo-hae hug it out. Gang Seo-hae then faces her father, Gang Dong-gi, for an emotional reunion. She warns her father about the war coming and describes her experiences from the future to the present. Gang Seo-hae tells her father she’s determined to change the future.
The business arrangement
After recent events, Tae-sul wants an explanation from Mr Park — with all the dramatics, it’s easy to forget that Mr Park is heavily involved.
Mr Park tells Tae-sul that Sigma tortured his brother, took the key, and found out where the safe was. And Agnes, who worked for the Control Bureau, took the opportunity to smuggle Tae-san out, along with the key. Mr Park describes it as a business deal but that afterwards, he stole Tae-san from Agnes and offered him a deal — to protect Tae-sul, for the key. Unfortunately, Tae-san got kidnapped by Sigma and was injected with the same chemical that Gang Seo-hae had to endure. Tae-sul offers Mr Park the code to fix the uploader but wonders how he can trust him. Gang Seo-hae tells Tae-sul to give it to him.
But in true Mr Park-style, he still points the gun at them both. Gang Seo-hae tells Mr Park that things have already changed in the timeline. For example, in her diary, it says she was meant to be shot and crippled by Hyeong-gi, but that never happened. She thinks Mr Park is too cowardly to change the future, as he knows what is to come.
Tae-sul hates having the choice
Sisyphus: The Myth episode 12 offers another connection in Tae-sul’s life — the possibility that he knew Sigma all this time. When speaking to Gang Seo-hae about this, he believes there’s a small chance that Sigma is bluffing. Later on, in a more intimate conversation, Tae-sul brings up that he hates having to make choices, especially with this growing realisation that it’s either choosing Gang Seo-hae or the world.
The save the girl or save the world theme keeps resurfacing — expect an emotional chapter to come.
The painting
Tae-sul and Gang Seo-hae look at the canvas painting of the city in the future that Sigma painted. Tae-sul looks into his past at old documents to see if there’s a link with Sigma. He looks at old school books, and Gang Seo-hae gets cutely jealous of girls who used to have a crush on Tae-sul. Tae-sul brings up the kiss they had on the beach, and Gang Seo-hae brushes it off, claiming they only did that because it was a “goodbye”. Tae-sul isn’t having it and goes in for the kiss, but then Gang Seo-hae notices something; she sees an old drawing in a school book that says, “Tae-sul fixing a falling plane”. Other drawings in this book mark key events in the future, but there’s no author.
Visiting an old school
Episode 12 sees Tae-sul having to revisit his youth and venture into his memory — it’s been a tolling few chapters, and remembering the past constantly must be exhausting for the characters.
Gang Seo-hae heads to Tae-sul’s old school with Tae-sul to check out the records. The school admin officer claims to be a massive fan of Tae-sul and gives him loads of attention. Gang Seo-hae is looking jealous as they both laugh together. When Tae-sul and Gang Seo-hae leave the office, we learn that the officer has someone trapped in one of the cabinets. The officer works for The Control Bureau, not the school.
Seo Won-ju and Tae-sul
And then we learn the truth about Sigma and Tae-sul.
While looking through the school records, Tae-sul sees “Seo Won-ju”. He states that this student from his past is Sigma. Flashbacks at school show Han Tae-sul sticking up for Seo Won-ju, who was being bullied by three boys. Scenes show that Seo Won-ju had a broken home. In his spare time, he drew things. He told Tae-sul that he could see into the future and knows one day that he will save the world. A young Tae-sul tells Seo Won-ju that he’s going to make a time machine when he’s older. Due to the abuse at home, Seo Won-ju used a science experiment he learnt off Tae-sul to hurt his abusive father, and it sent the house on fire — his grandmother and father died. At school, a young Tae-sul looked through Seo Won-ju’s drawings, and he could see that he predicted the house fire.
The ending
While walking home, Seo Won-ju confronts Tae-sul, and he’s frustrated about how Tae-sul can do the science experiment, but he’s not allowed. Tae-sul tells Seo Won-ju to stay away from him and hand himself in to the police. Seo Won-ju believes Tae-sul is like the other children, and he vows to kill everyone. In the present day, Gang Seo-hae and Tae-sul are attacked by the admin officer, but Gang Seo-hae fights her off with ease. It was a trap. Outside the school, Sigma is asking Tae-sul to come out and play in his own creepy manner.
Sisyphus: The Myth episode 12 continues to go down memory lane as Tae-sul has to uncover more of his past. There’s a strong theme whereby the lead character finds that the past is catching up to him.
Additional points
- Mr Park heads over to his house; he sees his present-day self beating up his wife, so he throws a rock at him.
