Summary
My Royal Nemesis throws logic out of the window to deliver the happy ending that everyone wanted but was worried they might not get.
Okay, you can all relax. Despite some worry to the contrary, I was always confident that My Royal Nemesis would cap off Season 1 with a satisfyingly happy ending, and that’s precisely what we get in Episode 14. I never doubted it for a minute, honestly. If you, like most people, primarily bought into this K-Drama because of the romantic chemistry between the leads, you will be well satisfied by this finale, which delivers a romantic union in not just one timeline, but two.
And therein lies the problem. Giving the distinct vibe of a show conceived to run for 16 episodes instead of 14, there’s quite a lot here that seems to be happening on fast-forward, without anywhere near as much explanation as it probably warrants. The chemistry is there, and the emotional romantic highs are effective, but that comes at the expense of the transmigration mechanics and risks undermining some of the potential peril if you think about it too much.
Self-Sacrifice
As has already been explained, Seo-ri is faced with a predicament in this finale. She and Se-gye being together will always result in Se-gye’s death, in any timeline, unless Seo-ri can prevent the death of Prince Cheongheon in the past. This will, for reasons vaguely defined by the shaman, sever the chains of fate, allowing Se-gye to survive, but it will mean Seo-ri will never again be able to return to the present day.
In its early going, then, Episode 14 is about Seo-ri trying to save Prince Cheongheon from the evil machinations of King An-jeong, who, lest we forget, is the past incarnation of Mun-do. Annoyingly, the preview for this episode kind of gave away the fact that Seo-ri would do so by taking an arrow on his behalf.
This reworks the timeline. In the original version, Seo-ri had been swayed by An-jeong and allowed the murder to take place. Here, she’s willing to sacrifice herself to save Prince Cheongheon, but together they fall into the water. There’s a bit of an implication that Seo-ri has died, which makes things a bit needlessly confusing, but Seo-ri and Lee-hyeon both survive.
Se-gye Remembers
The big sacrifice moment in the past changing the timeline means that Seo-ri successfully saved Se-gye in the present day, and thus he wakes up… alone. Projecting her consciousness back to the past left Seo-ri’s present-day body comatose, so Se-gye is all distraught about it, and My Royal Nemesis very much indulges in this for a while, since it’s trying to make the audience believe we’re heading into the K-Trauma territory that everyone was dreading.
While he’s being all contemplative, he visits the museum and pores over the painting that Lee-hyeon had made for Seo-ri, which triggers his memories of his previous life and how he has always been fated to be with Seo-ri.
The Happy Ending
While the mechanics of it don’t make a great deal of sense to me, Seo-ri naturally returns to the present day and reunites with Se-gye. Her bravery and sacrifice in the past broke them free of what seemed like a predetermined destiny, saving Se-gye’s life and allowing them to finally be together.
Similarly, Dan-sim – the original version, before Seo-ri’s personality was transplanted into her body – ends up living out her days with Lee-hyeon. Both version of each character gets their respective happy endings, even though I thought the whole point was that Se-gye and Seo-ri kept falling in love with each other, even lifetimes apart. But don’t sweat the details!
This is the happiest possible climax at the expense of everything else, including logic and internal rules, and sometimes, that’s what you want. Certain shows are based around vibes, and this is one of them. The happy ending was all that ultimately mattered.
But What Did It All Mean?
Putting aside the logistics, My Royal Nemesis was ultimately a story about sacrifice, and having the bravery to endure pain – physical, emotional, whatever – for a greater, more meaningful objective. The key difference in Prince Cheongheon’s death and the moment in this episode when he was saved is that Seo-ri had decided to put him first at the expense of herself.
Se-gye also went through this arc, just in a different way. His initial depiction as a ruthless chaebol heir gave way to a man who found something more meaningful to devote his time and attention to. His reward for rejecting the worst version of himself was Seo-ri’s love, and Seo-ri’s love was ultimately strong enough to save his life across the ages.
It’s quite nice when you think about it. Just don’t think about it too much, or it all threatens to fall apart.
