Song of the Bandits has a rather tragic ending. The entire series was about thrills and excitement, but the ending was about heartbreak, which was a disorienting pivot. In many ways, we understood why it was necessary for Hee Sin and Lee Yoon to separate. They were independence activists, and seeing the individual paths that they had chosen for themselves, they could not be together if they hoped to do the best for their country. We also saw that Gwang Il and Hee Sin were getting married, and he had just started saying his vows. It was a surprise to us that she chose to go ahead with this alliance, but it makes sense considering her commitment to independence. Either way, the last episode of Song of the Bandits left a few loose ends, which means that the makers are prepared for a second season of the show.
The dominant question on everybody’s minds must be about the fate of Lee Yoon and Hee Sin’s relationship. But we have other doubts that we would like to start with. First of all, when Lee Yoon was leaving, everyone kept telling him that things would be alright in his absence for a while. That instantly makes us think that they won’t be, and something is about to go down. However, in one of the final shots of the last episode, we saw the entire gang preparing for something, which could mean that they are alright and are just on their next mission. This could be based on the intel that Hee Sin and Lee Yoon have about the people in Gando being killed. That makes us wonder whether Hee Sin walked into a trap.
We know that Gwang Il is a defeated man, having lost his station with the Japanese and his ability to fight as well. The general idea is that he should be reforming himself now, but we suspect otherwise. We believe that he is trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the Japanese by finding out the person who stole the funds. We did not see in Song of the Bandits season 1 how he figured out that Hee Sin was the culprit. But it couldn’t have been impossible if he knew the right people to speak with. Perhaps when he went to meet her, it was to lay a trap that would confirm his suspicions, which would mean that the documents that he had must be fake.
The Chinese and Japanese are planning nothing of that sort, and it is a trap for the bandits to be captured. Once that happens, the credit will go to Gwang Il, who will get back his former glory with the Japanese. This could be how Song of the Bandits season 2 begins. That would also mean that Hee Sin knows that Gwang Il is aware of her true identity. Yet we saw her in the chapel with him, ready to get married. Perhaps he blackmails her with something, or maybe she agrees because she knows that no matter what, this is how she can keep gaining information to free the bandits in captivity.
We say this specifically because Hee Sin had said that she wanted to quit her job with the government. It implied that she wanted to live a life with Lee Yoon and join his way of resistance. But if he ends up captive, she will be left with limited means to help him, and Gwang Il would be one of them. This makes us predict one more scene in Song of the Bandits season 2. What if Lee Yoon ends up breaking out of prison in time and rescues Hee Sin from her unwanted marriage? After all, we never heard her say ‘I do’ in the wedding scene. That would be the ultimate slap in the face of Gwang Il and would certainly drive him to madness. In the snippets of the past that we saw during the ball, it looked like both Gwang Il and Lee Yoon had been in love with Hee Sin, except that Gwang Il did not know that this was the woman that Lee Yoon loved. Or it could be that Gwang Il indeed liked someone else, but when he saw Hee Sin, he fell in love with her. Seeing how she is an independence activist, we would like to know how their match came about, to begin with, and what must have gone on behind the scenes. This love triangle might become clearer in Song of the Bandits season 2.
But moving on from love, the other loose end is Eon Nyeoni. She was looking for the murderer of her parents, and she apparently investigated who it could be before letting go of the whole matter. We could have accepted that she doesn’t want to pursue the matter, but since the writers have teased us with the backstory, it has become another reason for us to believe that we will get Song of the Bandits season 2. We have a sneaking suspicion that Nyeoni’s culprit is going to be someone from the gang. That would put her against them all because, frankly, she does not share Chong Soo’s forgiving and logical spirit. Additionally, Nyeoni and Lee Yoon’s stories are quite similar, which is why she hesitated to kill him. That makes us think that their culprit is likely the same person. From what we have seen, Nyeoni has not spoken to Lee Yoon about it so far, but once she does, they may hunt down the man together. Their relationship feels very sibling-ish, and we wouldn’t be surprised if they have a shared past.
Finally, while we cannot predict how else the bandits will be involved in the fight for independence, we are very curious about Gwang Il. He is introduced as a ruthless general who doesn’t care for anything except power. But the sentiment of others towards him seems to be that he is a kind man who has just been blinded by certain things. This is precisely why Lee Yoon did not kill him when he had the chance. Song of the Bandits season 2 may have to answer whether there really is no hope for Gwang Il or if he finally turns over a new leaf. We are leaning towards the former because he has come too far and done too much for him to be able to think differently at this juncture. Season 2 seems highly likely, and we will get these answers then.
