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

[pnaysurfer84]

Oh wow! @ucylucy, thanks for posting the ratings! 20%+!!! Yass! Way to go Goblin! 

P.s. Crying while watching tvN's YouTube clips of Goblin...

Edited January 21, 2017 by pnaysurfer84
Additional comments

[AQUARIANUNICORN]

preview of my blog post @ahjumnasdramas 

 

As far as the script goes, the writer had everything in mind from beginning to end. The cliche's are there in any romance drama, but somehow she wrote it naturally, and acted out perfectly.  Although some viewers beg to differ, I really did appreciate the ending. Everything does come full circle. I knew going in when I started to watch this drama, that God-Human relationships are bittersweet. Kim Shin is still a God, his punishment was over, made amends with Wang Yeo - that's why he was able to have his happy ending. Eun Tak is a human, she got her happy ending - though she can't live forever. Kim Shin witnessing everyone dying has never been his punishment, it seems like it is, but when we lose anything in our lives, we tell ourselves it's our punishment. It's not. It's the cycle of human life. Round and round.

I'm sure Kim Eun Sook thought about possibilities of Shin becoming human, or Eun Tak to somehow get immortality, but it wouldn't make sense. It would just raise more questions. At least this way, Kim Shin lived up to the show's title- The Great and Lonely God. Again, everything was perfect.

[Chi Le]

ET was born 1998, how can she 29 by this year? are we talking about the future 10 years?

[frankreich]

2 minutes ago, Chi Le said:

ET was born 1998, how can she 29 by this year?

It's set in the future. 9/10 years from now...

[dramoron]

K-netz reactions to Goblin finale

Article: "I'll wait 200 years for you" 'Goblin' Gong Yoo ♥ Kim Go Eun's happy ending

Source: Mydaily via Naver

1. [+22,110, -147] Still can't help but feel bad for the goblin... what sin did he commit that he has to endure watching her die in the future and being alone once again ㅠㅠ

2. [+16,144, -204] Because the weather's great... because it's not... because it's decent... but all my days watching 'Goblin' were the happiest...

3. [+11,539, -278] So glad both couples were reincarnated to meet again ㅎㅎ a happy ending!!

4. [+12,066, -528] They said that it's hard to be reincarnated with the same face so how did all three get reincarnated with the same face again..

5. [+2,906, -77] Can't believe it ended like that...

6. [+3,914, -427] Am I the only one who found the ending empty...

7. [+2,478, -91] Wait a second, I'm not ready to let the drama go yet. What happened to the screentime of the last episode...? Anyway, thank you for giving me the greatest drama of my life

8. [+2,284, -61] So what's the goblin's fate? If Ji Eun Tak is born again, does he have to get another kid and get married or what?

9. [+1,888, -36] The ending really has no difference between happy and sad..

10. [+2,027, -85] Yeah.. something really felt empty about the ending ㅜㅜ

11. [+1,958, -66] Felt pretty empty after the ending

12. [+1,753, -54] Should've just ended it with Ji Eun Tak becoming a goblin so the two of them live forever as goblins..

13. [+1,618, -48] I'm left with more questions of why than feeling happy over the ending... Even if Kim Go Eun died, it would've been better to give her the powers of a goblin's bride since she did a good deed... What was the point of giving him 9 years of pain, of 30 yeras of pain... the entire drama just felt like I was living out the torture of the goblin.
 

[selenette]

39 minutes ago, Chi Le said:

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

@Chi Le  They tried to change Yook Sungjae's bangs a bit--to resemble Lee Dong-wook's, but overall you're right he doesn't look older. They could've changed his wardrobe or something, though. 

Well their schedule was tight....

 

 

[miles99]

so did goblin's rating beat reply 1988? I sure hope so even though the ending is tragic and I'm really mad at it, they deserve the honor of having the all time highest cable rating 

[selenette]

4. [+69, -1] I feel like Gong Yoo's punishment is way too much for the severity of his sin. Even a serial killer wouldn't be punished like this ㅜ

 

I lol-ed at the serial killer part. Hopefully Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy etc are properly punished.

[dramoron]

 

[sebastian27]

Just finished rewatching the two episodes with sub.

still heart breaking. Still sad. Still feels so incomplete, unsolved. 

It would have been better if they hugged. Then show some montage of what their lives would have been like if they really stayed together while growing old. Even if goblin is immortal..

it was a good series. But the ending is still flat for me... 

[Amanda Soo]

I CRIED SO HARD. I can't believe we were all worried that they would kill off Sunny early and did not foresee the bombshell they exploded on us. 

It hurts so much because they fed us with so many happy montages of them before killing her off like seriously?? :'( 

I cried when I saw her in her wedding dress - felt like a mum marrying off my child -  and then I cried again when they said their vows to each other. So simple, so sure of their hearts, and so in love. 

I feel so traumatised now - brought back memories of Reply 1988 and seeing my jungpal get rejected by his first love :'( 

I know we got a happy ending - and I truly am happy with the ending - but my heart still hurts so bad for their separation. GOD WHY!!!! 

Can someone redo the entire ep 16 and get them married and happy after she gets reincarnated T.T

[Dundee]

25 minutes ago, Sarang21 said:

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.

 

I love your post, it seems the deity like to grant wishes in his own way, like the deity (the little boy lol) granted Sunny's statement that she decided her life and her memories after that the deity didn't erase her memories. 

Anyway i love the ending, this time goblin waiting his bride to come not for pulling the sword, but to be together with her. Though goblin waiting 1 life span alone was really sad. Like you said he could beg the deity to end his immortality, so he would't has to wait like that again in the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th life to be together with ET, just like Sunny and GR did.

Still i bawled my eyes out when ET's died and KS crying.

I just wish they can show us them holding hand together rather just stand and staring each other. 

 

 

[Maku]

I do not know if I liked the ending or not. It was a logic ending, considering the story and all. I cried my eyes out today, my eyes are really swollen it is the 1st time ever that this happened to me after watching a drama, the actors, the writer, the director the whole thing was amazing, I am already missing the drama.

One question, the special episodes are only bts and that or the can be epilogue?

[annnchan]

I just want to share a little bit and this might be a little bit different with major thought here (I don't know if someone already said something similar, haven't finish backreading ).

I like the idea of ET died for all that kids, and the first thing that I thought she is an ANGEL. A girl who fight with her own death, marked as missing soul, and it seems in her life deity never stand for her. But in her last time she sacrifice her life for others.

About KS, I wonder about his immortal status too. Did he became a goblin (again) because it is the door that he was looking for desperately?

Well in the end, I think 16 episode not enough to explain everything. I wish they have one more episode to make the story clearer. This happy ending not bad but lacking especially after made me crying like that ahahaha

Thanks for all of you who always here and made great analysis, I have a great time here with you all (I don't know if I'll be in this forum after this drama ). This is my first K-Drama that made me "crazy" like this (because I used to hate K-Drama, sorry #bow) 

Aaaah and for @packmule3 thank you for always tagging me in your post. I really enjoyed reading all your analysis 

 

PS : I'm sorry for my bad english ehehe

[millie10468]

So someone had an answer to the question of what happens after JET's 4th life. The proffered answer was that KS will live JET's remaining 3 lives with her and then after the last one, he'll ask the deity to allow him to go with her since he's no longer being punished. How's this theory? I personally love it since it makes sense and isn't as sad as the alternative.

Also, since JET's first life was the life of planting seeds, the seed she sowed was her selfless act of protecting those children. Her reward will be her memories for all 3 of her lives. I theorize this because even though GR and Sunny didn't drink the tea, they still reincarnated with no memories of their past life. It's possible JET wouldn't have had her memories if she wasn't being rewarded for the seeds she planted previously.

[Dundee]

1 hour ago, nearsea said:

But what about happens after the four lives? Shin is still a goblin, so that means at some point he has to bid ET farewell right? 

I have to say at this point that I hate open endings. Never in my mind I thought this drama would go that route, since the writer is same from heirs and Dots. Lol and now the very thing has happened.

 

Could it be after the 4th life the soul can go to heaven or hell  .

Even GR had the "end time" so i think Goblin had also. 

[faith2]

Even though it is a happu ending I would have nice with more scene with ET and GB at the end. 

[mrspotatohead]

@naritul thank you for tagging mee!! I'll always be lurking in this thread silently so see you again Enjoyed every gifs here

2 hours ago, algol said:

I don't think I will be able to watch dramas for a while. Since I got too attached to the characters, it was too upsetting for me. Anyone who has lost a loved one will know how painful it must be for Kim Shin. And no matter how many times you go through it, it actually never gets any easy. Doomed for eternity, with a heartache that will never end. Every time he meets his love, he will live in the fear of that heartache, the fear of her loss and  the fear of being left alone in this world full of strangers. And so his punishment never ended.     

Yesss omg, it's upsetting. However, I think his punishment truly ended because he stayed and chose to be brought back to be with JET, and after JET died, the curse of missing soul is lifted. So after JET is reincarnated, the opportunity to love her again seems to me makes his immortal life almost like a reward. He's still the lonely titular character of Guardian but for me the punishment (which has become the center conflict of the plot) has ended since now one can still live with the other hence it's a happy ending for me.  

[lorac529]

1 hour 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.

 

Well said!  I originally felt empty & sad watching without sub but i just finished watching sub in Chinese and i completely felt it wasn't an open ended ending but rather a full closure to KES story about life....i.e. the choices you make matters (sacrifice - ET being the angel, care for others - Secretary Kim telling DH), plus the fact that God is here (the scene where KS got the sandwich from the technician). 

Sorry i'm not good at constructing this coz it's already 3:30am here...but like you said, the ending is not happy or sad but rather quite inspirational and meaningful (full of hope actually).  

I sure hope that other chingus will feel much better after watching the subs too.
 

[Chi Le]

when i saw all the happy moment without sub, i knew something bad gonna happen... thats the way it is in kdrama. If its too happy, something really bad is coming

kdrama even its short, but the feeling is left in you for a long time. 

gong yoo and kge i do think they will work in the future in the movie. It feels much more nature their affection in the last episode. Cant believe the first part and the last part has been filmed at the same time (before filiming in korea)

lee dong wook, why are you so cute? I like him in running man before, i like him much more now. I really hope he can keep this image for sometimes. grim reader and sunny is still my favorite couple. Even though its very tragic, but they are very sweet when they are together. I wonder how goblin will change ldw and yia life, they are less popular than gong yoo and kim ge eun

now finish watching i got to ask, why goblin be punished like that? yes he killed lots of people but its war, and the king order him to do so.

congrats tvn on a continue successful year. its becoming a brand now. and all the sponsers, thank you for giving everything so beautiful. Thank you for all the actors and staffs for working hard in cold wearther.. Congrats to all of them on a success drama. 

Please kidnap them to do overs flowers