[Drama 2016-2017] Guardian: The Lonely and Great Goblin 도깨비

[rnia93]

I'm so desperately in need for that dokkaebi novel! When will it be launch again? I so hope it will available in English too at the very least.. Maybe, just maybe.. We'll find the other thing we couldn't understand while watching so we could find satisfaction even if it is a bittersweet-kinda-happy ending... Or maybe she will write more about what happen after that ending.. 

[AddictedToDramas]

I feel like 'Park So Min' is till JET. To me, it's just JET with another name, if she has the ALL of JET's memories, she would most likely have the same personality? Yes, she may have grew up differently around diff people, but she grew up retaining her past life in her. 

I feel like the only reason why Sunny was different to the Queen's personality is bc she couldn't remember her past life. Memories shapes a personality, so Park So Min is technically still our beloved ET  

i still need to watch ep 15/16, but from what I've read, seems like nobody can decide whether this is a good ending or not lol I'll have to decide later after I watch it aha

you know what would have been cute? If they reunited again at the end, not at Quebec, but at the same place by the sea where they first met and JET/Park SO Min blows out her bday cake again, but this time instead of wishing for money, family (was it family :o) and a boyfriend, she wishes for Kim Shin and poof he's there  she runs to him and jumps on him and hugs him and gives him a smooch and they're both laughing as the camera pans out ^^

i would like to think that once ET reaches her 4th life, KS would beg the above to allow him to pass on. Nothing would be tying him down to earth anymore (first it was the sword preventing him from leaving and now it's ET), and now that he has no reason to stay on earth anymore, the above will probably let him go with ET  im a wishful thinker lmao 

and also, wasn't Sunny at her 4th stage in life? So I'm guessing the 'Sunny' we see at the end is a totally new person/life?  

[nearsea]

10 minutes ago, AddictedToDramas said:

i would like to think that once ET reaches her 4th life, KS would beg the above to allow him to pass on. Nothing would be tying him down to earth anymore (first it was the sword preventing him from leaving and now it's ET), and now that he has no reason to stay on earth anymore, the above will probably let him go with ET  im a wishful thinker lmao 

That doesn't sound bad either. After all it's the journey that matters not the destination. So what's important at the end is their memories together may be. I think I can deal with this too. Hmm, sigh, this is a bittersweet ending after all. I hope @packmule3 writes a super-happy post  which would lift up my mood again, and I can move on with a non-heavy heart. :| 

[Chi Le]

I think they forgot to make doek hwa older. He suppose to be 30 something but he still look like he was 10 years ago, and et looks older than him

[Nymeria289]

I hate open ends, that is exactly what happened here, imagine what you want. In my head, Eun Tak meets her Ahjusshi, they both live a long life and pass into afterlife together.

[ELlovelyz]

Rewatching the ending scene. I think I can accept the ending. But guys, that scene was really beautifully made. It's made me happy because EunTak is back yet crying because thinking Kim Shin will have to wait her reincarnation again and again till the 4th. I want to cry again OMG can't imagine how lonely Kim Shin will be again. Indeed just like the title "THE GREAT AND LONELY GOD"

PS: I can't move on..sorry guys..lol

[rosamundekingsley99_stv]

4 hours ago, pnaysurfer84 said:

And it ended with a SAD LOVE. well. I feel very empty maybe because it's an end to a good drama. I can't say I didn't like or liked the ending. I think their soul tie is a bit stronger now that there is no revenge involved. ET had to die. But I'm satisfied with what the 2 episodes showed. I felt the love with all the characters today. Maybe, this is the happy ending for the Goblin. In the end of it all, he already chose when he came back from limbo. He needed to pass on to the after life but he didn't. I'm not going to hunt down KES. I think this is as good as it gets, culturally. btw, I got the wedding I've been waiting for since they kept saying she was the Goblin's bride. That's all that mattered. And now to wait for subs!

 

I don't know that it was necessarily a sad ending because it came full circle.  I don't know that we understand what "eternity" actually is and this drama wrestled with all our cultural interpretations, longings, resentments and joys.

The key message probably is to live in the moment and to make sure that those you love know that you love them.  Don't get lost in the small petty things as the deities do and often times, human beings do, as we witnessed whenever the Grim Reaper sent people off.

Waiting is important even when we don't know what exactly we are waiting for and being comfortable with that lack of knowledge - that is maturity.

[selenette]

1 hour ago, Nymeria289 said:

Grim Reaper after reincarnation is a detective and said Sunny looked like a hostess at a bar from head to toe. But these two are fast, all the agony of previous lifetime, they didn't waste any time to sleep together this time around   

 

I was mortally afraid that they were cheating on their spouses or something, glad that isn't the case, @Nymeria289 . My stream was poisoned by Park Joong-hun back then so I could only read.

Also, Yeo's reincarnation is incredibly smooth. I mean Lee Dong-wook really gave that vibe in his reincarnated scenes. Sunny's reincarnation is just as bold. I wonder if both actors (Lee Dong-wook and Yoo In-na) could get reunited in a spy film or something.

 

Good news for my mental health (because I nearly ruined it again from distress):

I'm warming up to the ending. I'm trying to find a way in which all the characters could somehow reunite in the current timeline, that Shin isn't that lonely, etc. Like maybe Shin caused flowers to bloom in winter and Yeo's reincarnation came to investigate again and they met Sunny's reincarnation and Park So-min. My imagination keeps me awake.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2017 by selenette

[rosamundekingsley99_stv]

4 minutes ago, Nymeria289 said:

I hate open ends, that is exactly what happened here, imagine what you want. In my head, Eun Tak meets her Ahjusshi, they both live a long life and pass into afterlife together.

 

Given that this is a fantasy, I don't think that the writer intended for this to be an open ending.  All the past shadows, resentments, oracles - those all had to be cleared off the table before Eun Tak and the Goblin could have their moment of happy-ever-after, even if it were only for 80 years.

This time, they meet and they meet without the past hanging over them.  And if it is only happiness for this lifetime in the future, then that is enough.

We don't respect happiness when we feel it all the time - we only respect it when there are contrasts to it and we understand that the other feelings can be interpreted as happiness.

[Sarang21]

22 minutes ago, AddictedToDramas said:

I feel like 'Park So Min' is till JET. To me, it's just JET with another name, if she has the ALL of JET's memories, she would most likely have the same personality? Yes, she may have grew up differently around diff people, but she grew up retaining her past life in her. 

I feel like the only reason why Sunny was different to the Queen's personality is bc she couldn't remember her past life. Memories shapes a personality, so Park So Min is technically still our beloved ET  

i still need to watch ep 15/16, but from what I've read, seems like nobody can decide whether this is a good ending or not lol I'll have to decide later after I watch it aha

you know what would have been cute? If they reunited again at the end, not at Quebec, but at the same place by the sea where they first met and JET/Park SO Min blows out her bday cake again, but this time instead of wishing for money, family (was it family :o) and a boyfriend, she wishes for Kim Shin and poof he's there  she runs to him and jumps on him and hugs him and gives him a smooch and they're both laughing as the camera pans out ^^

i would like to think that once ET reaches her 4th life, KS would beg the above to allow him to pass on. Nothing would be tying him down to earth anymore (first it was the sword preventing him from leaving and now it's ET), and now that he has no reason to stay on earth anymore, the above will probably let him go with ET  im a wishful thinker lmao 

and also, wasn't Sunny at her 4th stage in life? So I'm guessing the 'Sunny' we see at the end is a totally new person/life?  

I agreed with you that PSM is still JET. Just born with a different name but her soul is still the same. That´s also why she came to Quebec and knew where to go to find KS.

If KS had died at that time. He probably would not have been reborned since, he had lived such a long life to be enough for 4 lifes. Et would have been reincarnated and lived alone without him. Now he gets to be together with her in all her life stages. And at the end he would beg the deity to end his immortality. They would then hold hand and go into the afterlife just like Sunny and GR did.

[brose_stv]

First of all, this drama is meant to be somewhat tragic and somber. Just take a look at the full title. He's an immortal after all. Yes, it's tragic that he will have to witness the death of his beloved again, but that was his choice when he declared to the almighty that he wanted to remain.

I liked the ending between the main couple. I'm fine with the writer sticking with the theme of death and reincarnation, considering that death and reincarnation were a major part of the drama ever since the first episode and that this drama is heavily steeped in East Asian philosophies and religions. Quite frankly, this entire drama is about death and reincarnation: the Eastern concept of death, not the Western concept of death. Death isn't seen as an end. Death is ethereal, not carved in stone. The ending, too, is not happy or sad, it's both. Personally, I thought the ending was beautiful and full of hope, and gave me a tingly mysterious feeling. I understand that some people may have wanted an ending that would've given them a warm fuzzy feeling, but when this drama is taken as a whole with respect given to the established universe, then the ending is quite appropriate and meaningful.

Lastly, to those who are disappointed in the ending, may I suggest waiting until the subs come out before setting your opinion in stone.

[ucylucy]

 

[millie10468]

I am also one of those who believe JET is JET at the end even if she has a different name. I have a couple of reasons for thinking this way:

The way she said "Found you" strikes me as someone who was actively looking for KS her whole life.

She has her memories and even though we don't know if she had them from birth or regained them at some point after her birth, the fact that she even looked for KS and didn't try to differentiate between her current life and her past life as the Goblin's bride sets her apart from Sunny, who really was Sunny but with Kim Sun's memories.

JET, whatever name she goes by, WANTS to be JET, the Goblin's bride. That fact alone wipes away any misgivings I might have had about the reincarnation thing.

Yes, she might have different characteristics and the personality might be a bit different in every life she lives. However, as long as she has  her memories of the promises she made to always come back to KS, he can work with that. His life will be made interesting as he learns about the new her in every life while she retains the core of her very first life as JET. After all, the life that wants to be with KS is JET. Once she, no matter what name she goes by, actually makes it/finds KS, she'll BE JET.

At least, this is how I choose to analyze that last scene and the future for ShinTak going forward. Her having her memories changes a very depressing end to a bittersweet one. We can delve into what makes a person really a person (is it memories? life experiences? What?) all we want but whichever way we look at it, as long as she has memories of JET and INTENDS to abide by those memories, then she is for all intent and purposes, Ji Eun Tak.

On an unrelated note, is it just me who's thinking that JET only saw ghosts once she was close to death and not because of the bride's mark like we thought?

[Nymeria289]

1 minute ago, selenette said:

 

I was mortally afraid that they were cheating on their spouses or something, glad that isn't the case, @Nymeria289 . My stream was poisoned by Park Joong-hun back then so I could only read.

Also, Yeo's reincarnation is incredibly smooth. I mean Lee Dong-wook really gave that vibe in his reincarnated scenes. Sunny's reincarnation is just as bold. I wonder if both actors (Lee Dong-wook and Yoo In-na) could get reunited in a spy film or something.

 

Good news for my mental health (because I nearly ruined it again from distress):

I'm warming up to the ending. I'm trying to find a way in which all the characters could somehow reunite in the current timeline, that Shin isn't that lonely, etc. 

I want Lee Dong Wook and Yoo Inna in something like "The Thomas Crown Affair"...........they'd be perfect for it 

My mental health is sort of okay, the ending was just open and I couldn't stand to see uri Goblin so lonely, it wasn't what I wanted but it is open to interpretations which means I could fill the rest in for myself the way I want

[rosamundekingsley99_stv]

10 minutes ago, nearsea said:

That doesn't sound bad either. After all it's the journey that matters not the destination. So what's important at the end is their memories together may be. I think I can deal with this too. Hmm, sigh, this is a bittersweet ending after all. I hope @packmule3 writes a super-happy post  which would lift up my mood again, and I can move on with a non-heavy heart. :| 

 

The Goblin has a duty to the world that he lives in - remember that he approached the king even though he knew that he would die and he would not succeed.  He is that kind of man - honor above all else and doing the right thing even if it hurts him.  And Ji Eun Tak knows that about him and accepts that about him -  many of the commentators on this bulletin board have observed that about the Goblin.  He is a man who can put up with a whole lot - he does not think that he can but obviously the deities think differently.

Remember when he was lying down on the sofa in the Grim Reaper's bedroom, with his hands behind his head, and he wondered if the deities had given him more credit than he was due about what he could handle.

We live in a world where we have fleeting moments of happiness and we need to appreciate those moments.  Goblin is about that and he accepts sadness and duty as his fate.

[rosamundekingsley99_stv]

7 minutes ago, brose_stv said:

First of all, this drama is meant to be somewhat tragic and somber. Just take a look at the full title. He's an immortal after all. Yes, it's tragic that he will have to witness the death of his beloved again, but that was his choice when he declared to the almighty that he wanted to remain.

I liked the ending between the main couple. I'm fine with the writer sticking with the theme of death and reincarnation, considering that death and reincarnation were a major part of the drama ever since the first episode and that this drama is heavily steeped in East Asian philosophies and religions. Quite frankly, this entire drama is about death and reincarnation: the Eastern concept of death, not the Western concept of death. Death isn't seen as an end. Death is ethereal, not carved in stone. The ending, too, is not happy or sad, it's both. Personally, I thought the ending was beautiful and full of hope, and gave me a tingly mysterious feeling. I understand that some people may have wanted an ending that would've given them a warm fuzzy feeling, but when this drama is taken as a whole with respect given to the established universe, then the ending is quite appropriate and meaningful.

Lastly, to those who are disappointed in the ending, may I suggest waiting until the subs come out before setting your opinion in stone.

 

@brose_stv very insightful and yes, I would agree with you about this.

[selenette]

7 minutes ago, Nymeria289 said:

I want Lee Dong Wook and Yoo Inna in something like "The Thomas Crown Affair"...........they'd be perfect for it 

My mental health is sort of okay, the ending was just open and I couldn't stand to see uri Goblin so lonely, it wasn't what I wanted but it is open to interpretations which means I could fill the rest in for myself the way I want

 

@Nymeria289  Yes, "The Thomas Crown Affair",  or "Mr & Mrs Smith" would be cool.

We got some sort of vague closure for WangSun, but yes... Shin hasn't met his friend and sister for what...decades?  I'd better stop here before I'm upset again. 

I hope and am sure he has lots of happy memories and then, in time, find eternal peace. 

 

EDIT

@brose_stv  Thanks so much for reminding us. I really have to see this from Korean cultural values.

Edited January 21, 2017 by selenette

[frankreich]

KS speaking Russian and wearing that coat and hat reminds me of the old Russian tour guide that we had during the Christmas holidays abroad. Haha

[000231846597]

On 2017/1/21 at 9:28 AM, 12blbl said:

 

Yeah you're right, after the angel became human ( he chose it so he can be together with the doctor), the doctor died ( i think it'truck of doom also if i'm not mistaken), and he ended up alone. Tragic. . It's similar with KS chose to stay so he can be with ET, but then ET died. But well i believe we got happy ending. Though i don't have a clue how to get there. I still think reincarnation is quite a stretch, but i'll take it anyway for happy ending. Lol

 

Oh the ending really resembles City of Angels in some way....

I always wonder why there's only one Dokkebi in the drama....I mean, according to Korean folktales there're different kinds of Dokkebi-s right? KS would not be so lonely and get some immortal friends....it would be fun to see different Dokkebi-s meeting up 

[vangsweetie637]

Hi Chingus! I am awake now

So i was thinking about that small clip of the ending I watched earlier and I know why it was so familiar to me. 

It reminded me of Faith ending. I had a hard time accepting that ending, but i had to tell myself so many things to finally accept it. 

I think after watching ep 15 and 16, I am going to be the same. Telling myself many things until i feel that i can finally accept it haha.

Alright. Off to watch episode 15 n 16.