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

[zloves97]

6 minutes ago, 122am said:

Caught up with the last 2 episodes when I got back from my appointments. 

I think I'll need to re-watch the last two eps and then the whole drama again.

It's definitely my favourite Korean drama from start to end. There isn't a strand of the plot that I don't agree with. It could be a mark of great storytelling.

Sure, some things didn't make sense to the viewer, or each person's opinion may be different towards the handling of the story. When I discussed the last few eps with a couple of my friends, they commented that the reunion between the rooftop scene and when KS came back was too short (ep 14). 

However, I chose to trust the writer that this is the outcome that she wanted to present to each and every person who is watching the drama faithfully. 

Aside: I think DH does not belong in the last episode. It will be unrealistic for him to attempt a 'senior / old age' role. The ending parts were vague because they were zooming far into the future. But I felt it was well-handled overall, with a lot of respect given from the production team to the audience, to keep the integrity of the storyline.

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Regarding KS and ET's ending, it was unexpected (to me) that she will have a sudden death. 

But upon reaching the end, I realized that the writer wants us to understand that even with 100% deep and pure love, no deceit, no cheating, no lying, no change of heart between two people who deeply love each other, there will still be a departure. 

I'm also happy that she didn't opt for cheesy happy endings. It was complex, it was a little unacceptable, but it is Life. KES treated every audience member with respect by portraying Life in a drama parallel. A little sadness, a little happiness, a little complex, but when you think about it, it was so beautiful.

Can I talk about the title for a while?

Official Title - Guardian: The Lonely and Great God

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When I first saw the title, I was really puzzled. Why such a long title? Audience ultimately shortened it to "Goblin" or "도깨비". That will be easier for everyone. 

However, after 16 eps and we have finally reached the end of the story, I understood a little about what the whole story is trying to share.

In life, every human being is ultimately lonely. We have our own thoughts, our own opinions, and we always seek out companionship by wanting to share our thoughts. This could be stemmed from the innate loneliness we feel when faced with our emotions and thoughts. A person feels good when he finds a friend who has something common with him, a common opinion or thought or hobby.

KS as a character is forever lonely. He remembers everyone, but ultimately no one remembers him, because they all die in the end. Because of his Goblin status, he guides and helps people in need. Since his warrior days, he is a sacrifice. Every action, every battle, was a sacrifice. Because of his unique nature, he achieved his immortality. He is great, but is greatness really so great? Is power really so empowering?

Any kind of success in life requires sacrifice. To achieve greatness, you have to give up so much. Time, friends, personal hobbies. To an extent, you may even give up your 'good nature'. That is because, you may meet bad people. To deal with them, you may need to do some bad things. Case in point: KS breaking the hand of the hooligan on the bike.

In KS's case, he sacrifices his freedom. He has to endure being friendless, being the only one on earth. 

To become a Great God, he has to be Lonely.

That itself, is what you must do, to achieve greatness. 

I think the writer KES understands this. As a 'writer god', she knows personally what a person needs to do to reach a level where no one has reached before. At least, she strives to get there in her career. GY, as an actor, understands this all too well. In his personal time, he chooses to stay at home. In interviews, he laments that he can't hold the hand of a person he loves and just walk on the beach. In fact, he had never done it before. And I'm sure the director understands this element of the drama too, as he has achieved success in his life too.

However, after embracing the sacrifice, you get something in return. Especially, if your intention of achieving greatness is not for yourself, but for others. 

In the Chinese translation of the title, the title literally translates to 'Goblin: the Lonely and Sparkling God'. 'Sparkling' and 'Shining' is a recurring theme in the show. 'Every moment with you shined'. ET is constantly described as 'sparkling'. By embracing loneliness, as a deity, KS will experience every transient moment and impermanence of life. His time is lonely and there is no one to share it with, but every sparkling moment spent with his lover and his friends is deeply cherished.

The ending, too, is lonely and 'sparkling'. GR and Sunny lived in loneliness for a lifetime and finally had a sparkling future ahead of them. ET found the love of her life, but at the most crucial (and lonely) moment, she chose a 'sparkling' action to be a sacrifice to save more children. 

KS, the lonely and sparkling and great god. Goblin, the lonely and sparkling and great drama.

I'll remember this show forever, I think. As an Asian drama, I think it broke all expectations. I've not seen anything better. Every single team member did their best. I could feel it as a viewer of the end result.

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Now that the ending is upon us, I am looking forward to:

- Behind the scenes pics and footage

- Phuket trip 

- and more importantly, pics of crew and cast reunion dinner TODAY!  

Though it may be unrealistic to ship GY and KGE... I find myself secretly doing it. I hope I find another drama good enough for me to participate in forum discussions  I came to this forum out of desperation and reading all your contributions made me so happy. I'm happy to find a cyber-world where we can discuss something in common. Thank you! 

 

you may want to join the thread  

 

[ceressi]

While reading back all your post from last night while listening to all Goblin OST from my spotify playlist..

I just realized these past 8 weeks i don't know any other new song other than Goblin OST.. I just listen to Goblin OST only.. 

 

 

[122am]

3 minutes ago, Zuellene Casela said:

you may want to join the thread  

 

 

YES! I am about to go there now! Thanks for the tip 

[Miky88]

I'm a bit sad the subbing teams didn't translate all the death notes and those small detailes that make a big difference...Hope Viki at least did it as i consider them the best followed by VIU as close to the original meaning...Sadly i find DF quite lacking in this aspect...

 

I'll have to go watch again but how long did Shin actually wait for Eun Tak?

as Sunny died of old age,at 68 if i understood well from other comments and after 30 years passed again...

 

[shynaz]

5 minutes ago, ucylucy said:

Goblin just breaking records left and right! Here's another one!!

 

Congratulations ..I love so much when hear many happines and good news today..Its so lovely..

Then this thread will become active again when party time,awards time,phuket time and wow I love this thread..

I just second round to buy perfume bodyshop..ops

[NRGchick]

@122am Your post just about got me crying again. Especially when you made parallels of the Goblin's life and the one of the writer, actor and even the PD. 

With great success, you become more alone. Who can you trust your deepest secrets to? Who can you share your joy and sorrow intimately? 

I can see this in the more popular actors, actresses and music idols. You may have millions in love with you, but in the end when you are done with your job, there is no one to share what you have experienced on an intimate basis. 

This is why I think celebrities treasure the one that they find - their partners may not be truly their soulmates (not with divorces rising) but at least at that brief moment, someone is there with them. 

Goblin is lucky (why am I thinking of a fictional character as real?) as he found that one person who knows what he is, who he is and loves unconditionally and he will get to love this person over and over. 

(OK, Beautiful life just started playing on my playlist ) 

 

[realistic2280]

Towards the end, there was this star hairpin on the teenager... can someone remind me what is its significance again?  I saw it earlier...  but cant recall why, who gave it to whom earlier....

wonders, whose child is that girl?

[ryudian]

and where is my Deokhwa? did he become the CEO or what? ughhh whyyyy

[shynaz]

one hour before episode 15...Still waiting to watch...

For information who follow this drama in ohkchanel..it will be goblin marathon for cny in 29 January

 

[gutibear]

I am glad I decided to watch subs before I say something about the ending. Like most people, my immediate response after I watched it live, without subs was disappointment with how my beloved ShinTak couple love ending. It should have been better, ET should have lived and KS should have never been left alone, and they should have lived happily ever after as mortal. I didn’t understand why KS chose to be lost in ‘limbo’ (as some of you mentioned), why did he come back as Immortal and not as a human? The answer is so simple and I read some of you explained it perfectly here. But then, I refused to accept because I was greedy. I was greedy because I love all characters in this series and I want all of them to have happy ending as I wanted them to be.

But then after I watched the last two episodes with subs, I questioned myself. What does happily ever after means for an Immortal Goblin? I remember @packmule3 post about time that KS’s time as immortal is different to us mortals. Thinking more, I guess 200 years of waiting is nothing to our Goblin especially when he know that his waiting will end and that he will be reunited with his first and only bride…not only once but three times. I was depressed because I was thinking how cruel it was for KS, he must be so lonely. Why does the Deity keeps punish him? It’s so unfair. But then again, I don’t think KS sees his immortality as a punishment anymore. Because with his immortality he can live with ET for three more life times. What happen after that? Well I want to believe that the Deity will finally say that it’s enough. Just like what KS said in eps 16. It gives me hope.

Having wrote that, I think it’s time for me to say goodbye to you all my beloved Immortals. The last two months has been so much fun and I enjoyed every posts you all wrote here. Let’s meet again in another life time thread.

To @packmule3 @bebebisous33 @maryofbethany @selenette @LyraYoo gonna miss your great analysis. To @naritul @itzibitzispider @jellybellymonster you know how to find me right? To @Ahpheng gonna miss your CS but I know how to find you, just wait! To @janeeta @hairuchii @shynaz and to all of you that I can’t mention here one by one. Gonna miss you all. Ohh, I feel empty already.

Until then. Please live a long long life and be happy. Wish you all a happy ending.

[Miky88]

12 minutes ago, realistic2280 said:

Towards the end, there was this star hairpin on the teenager... can someone remind me what is its significance again?  I saw it earlier...  but cant recall why, who gave it to whom earlier....

wonders, whose child is that girl?

She is the daughter of Shin's Second Man in comand...He brought it from Granny Samshin when she was telling him in ep 14 the story of what happened with the Goblin...

The meaning in the scene more than the object might be to value what we have and be kinder...as the friend couldn't share the joy as she didn't have a father and Samshin words about acting nicer

[realistic2280]

2 minutes ago, Miky88 said:

She is the daughter of Shin's Second Man in comand...He brought it from Granny Samshin when she was telling him in ep 14 the story of what happened with the Goblin...

Ah ya.... Thanks @Miky88 I remember now

[Guest ireumimolla]

Hi @naritul!! Thanks for mentioning me. I've mostly been a lurker due to obligations to real life, but I really enjoy reading all the posts on this thread whenever I have the time. Now we're nearly reaching 1000 pages!! DAEBAK.

After watching the raw episodes last night before going to bed, my initial reaction was:

Like I was really pissed off with the ending as we waited so long for Kim Shin-Euntak reunion, only have that short last bit at the end. What?!! Poor Kim Shin as well...

But thinking back, we did get a few clues that this sort of ending may happen. 'Sad love' was a phrase mentioned quite a few times throughout the drama. It was a phrase that applied to both the stories of KS/ET and WY/WS couples. And a number of people on this thread have also mentioned about the title of the drama 'The Great and Lonely God', which makes the ending fitting.

Being someone who loves watching rom-coms, of course I was hoping for more fluff after the KS-ET reunion, but one can't have everything in life, right? It's just that the ending seemed a little rushed. So I'm just going to rewatch all the KS-ET fluff/kiss scenes in Ep 15 after watching Ep 16 and pretend they all happened after the reincarnated Euntak met Kim Shin LOL. That's how I'm going to cope!

BTW I loved this shot. I was screaming for the zoomed out version because I knew the backdrop will look great. Thankfully they gave me the shot I wanted. 

Now I'm off to watch the episodes again with subs! This thread will hit 1000 pages when I visit again. 

[NRGchick]

Ahhh.. that gif of the kiss scene made me blush ...haha....

And reminded me that this is one of the best couple ever who has good kiss scenes. Usually the actress in K drama kissing scenes is quite passive but hey, our Dokkaebi shinbu is quite aggressive herself. 

[And I bet you, you can remember at least one actress who is like a dead fish when it comes to kissing. No names please because I don't want to bash any actress but you know what I mean]

[Dundee]

Thanks for all wonderful posts. Without all your wonderfull posts the ending would be less happier.  I'm still going to visit here, waiting for news of dvd uncut version . I think the latest preview scenes was not all aired in the drama. 

[yellowpeony]

If kim shin and eun tak together in second life, they will marry and have son and daughter and then grandchild, great grandchild, great-great grandchild.,, and kim shin will not alone anymore right? Eun tak will be a really good mother so she can give good explanation for their circumstances, and it is really worth for kim shin to wait eun tak again for her third and fourth life, and after that they can live happily in afterlife. With this kind of imagination i can accept why kim shin choose to life immortal. Aaahhh and eun tak always has the forever young and handsome husband 

Aaahhhh i miss deok hwa in final episode    i wanna see the mature deok hwa

[lyricalwax]

This is so surreal.. I can't believe it's over..

After watching these last 2 episodes, I realise that scenes from these episodes were in the vision from episode 1 when KS and ET first crossed paths in the rain:

The book KS is reading at the gravestones before he sees reincarnated ET

KS turning around to see reincarnated ET

The candle ET blows in front of the Christmas shop when she remembers KS

The dandelion blowing in the wind from episode 16 (and not the dandelion ET blows in episode 1)

It's perfect 

[ucylucy]

 

[realistic2280]

Happy 999th page! significant number as with Goblin's smashing record on Tvn...

While i didn't like the fact that Kim Shin was left alone in like 40 years, i guess now with ET's 2nd reincarnation, the chances of them having children will not be there as well.. or else Kim Shin will always bother their lives, haha... but again, 40 years is a short wait compared to Sunny's reincarnation previously from the Queen to Sunny in 2016/2017?

If there is a 17th episode, i guess, KS eventually will be granted mortal life to live together with ET and leave together when their time is up. I'm sure the Gods will be listening to soompi fans rant over the injustice of it, and grant their wishes... hehehe...

[ceressi]