Nine Puzzles episode 9’s ending makes me realize why the show decided to give us only 3 episodes this week rather than the 5 we expected. But I’m still confused why we got 6 episodes all at once, as if it’s a show that’s meant to be binged halfway and then the rest has to be savored. The show does seem quite filled with jargon and can get a little bit boring in places when it feels like there’s too much filler and no actual accessible information. In the 3 episodes released today, we get two new puzzle pieces, and uncover an old one as well, leaving us with only 2 empty places remaining at the end of episode 9. I do hope at least one of the victims is spared by the end of the show, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Now, I did say I was suspicious of Captain Yang after finishing part 1 of the show, but I didn’t mean that he was the killer; I just meant that he knows something that he isn’t letting on. Unfortunately, this is what gets him in grave danger, but who is he defending, and why? I think we have the answers. With that, let’s decode the ending of episode 9.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Yang Confess?
In episode 9, Jangho shows up at the police station with the stolen handkerchief. He doesn’t protest his arrest, and then goes on to claim that he is the killer himself, and that there will be no more murders after the last one. Hansaem can’t understand why Yang would turn himself in if he’s still got 3 people to kill. This confession seems very out of the blue, and none of the stuff going on makes any sense, but the more interesting thing is that Yang wants Hansaem to call the press if he wants to hear more details. He refuses to answer any further questions if the press isn’t called. Ena then tries to get something out of him, too. She brings up the fact that he was behind her on the night her uncle was killed, and she wonders what he was thinking, standing behind her. Yang, of course, doesn’t really have an answer and asks for the press again.
It’s revealed that Yang was orphaned after his dad died and his mother abandoned him 2 years later. Yang’s always been caring, and he still continues to help kids from the orphanage. It looks like his house is also filled with them. Ena suggests that they do a press simulation to get some information out of Yang, whereas Hansaem asks him if he remembers what he told them the first time they met. Yang’s always told his team to care about the victims first. Plus, it makes no sense that a police officer would just randomly become a serial killer, so who is he protecting and why? Seeing as the man is always with orphans, it makes it clear that he’s looking out for one of the kids he took care of, or maybe one of his close friends from back in the day, who was a bit younger than him.
Since there’s no real evidence against Yang, there’s no need to hold him at the station. He’s also got solid alibis for all the murders, so he can’t even pretend to be the murderer, which is why Hansaem lets him go. In the meantime, Ena goes to see Hwang In-Chan, her psychiatrist’s colleague. Hwang was Ena’s first psychiatrist, but she found him slightly uncomfortable, so she chose Lee instead. It looks like Ena and Hwang are somewhat friendly as well, but we already know that Ena is a bit wary of him, especially because she has profiled him and could sense that he might be in love with Lee in the last few episodes. She asks him about the story he always talks about, the orphan boy who Hwang saw darkness inside of, the boy who had killed his own father. Ena points out that psychiatrists rarely ever talk about their patients because of the confidentiality clauses, but Hwang mentions this orphan boy often, so she wonders if he’s talking about himself. He says he’s made a mistake by sharing that story.
Who Does Yang Jangho Save?
I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t make sense for Hwang to be in this story if he doesn’t have anything to do with the culprit. Either he is the boy himself, or he treated the boy and can’t reveal who he is now, or he’s an accomplice to the murderer. To be honest, it would be too obvious if he himself were the killer, so I think the last option is the most probable one. Also, while I want to trust Lee entirely, I have a feeling she’s got something to do with the serial killer as well, and I’ve got to assume it’s the same 3 options for her as well, that she might be the murderer herself.
Finally, at the end of Nine Puzzles episode 9, Yang drives off to some field in the middle of nowhere, and San follows him, as instructed by Hansaem. When they get there, Yang knocks San out, but Hansaem is already on his way there too. I think Yang was just trying to protect the rookie San from whatever information he would’ve gotten there, which would have only put his life at risk. Meanwhile, the person Yang is there to see is the mayor and an acquaintance of his. Yang finds a gun pointed at the mayor, so he runs towards him after pointing his own gun skyward and taking a shot so that the two people can hear him. The hunter, Kwon, ends up shooting Yang in the chest, though, thinking he’s the one who’s trying to attack him.
Before he dies, Yang says the words Shindonga and Seojin to Hansaem, after claiming that he, himself, is the reason this all started. He also tells him that all the victims were scum of the earth, but it was still his fault they were chosen to be killed. But if this person that Yang is protecting is so dear to him, then why would he end up killing Yang after all this? Before we know it, the press catches wind of what’s going on, possibly because Ena leaks it to them, and the puzzle pieces are revealed. Soon after, a new puzzle piece is delivered to the news channel, and it’s aired on the screen immediately. At this time, Hansaem is with the hunter Sangbeom Kwon, who is in a coma and is the next victim, and he sees no change, but the second the puzzle piece is revealed, Kwon starts to shake violently while in a coma and ends up flatlining as the episode ends. This puzzle piece reveals a wizard-like man standing over a bunch of kids, with something in his hand. Since all the puzzle pieces have something to do with kids, that’s the easiest connection we can make to the orphans. The second clue is that it connects to the apartment, so possibly something to do with the construction of that building. I personally think it’s more than one killer and that the orphans were mistreated because the mayor approved of something that would’ve done damage to the orphanage or the kids in some way.
