‘Tale Of The Nine Tailed 1938’ Episode 2 Recap & Ending, Explained: Who Is The Red-And-White Masked Man?

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And the Lee Yeon fandom grows stronger with the second episode of “Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938.” Ryu Hong Ju would agree, but we doubt she is just a harmless mountain god crushing on Lee Yeon. Then there is Lee Rang, who has left us confused for a bit. His abandonment issues were a lot more severe in “The Tale of the Nine-Tailed” than they seem to be in this series set 80 years prior. He is a lot more cool with his brother here. But the best part about Episode 2 was the reunion between Shin Ju and Lee Yeon. It happened towards the end of the episode and had us shedding real tears of joy. Did this scene remind anyone else of the reunion between Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok and his team when they were looking for him in South Korea in “Crash Landing on You”? Either way, Episode 2 has Lee Yeon fighting and investigating more mythical creatures while hunting for the red-and-white masked man so that he can take his revenge as a Gumiho. Following is a recap of the second episode of “Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938.”

Spoilers Alert


What Happens On The Train?

Since the gates of time closed in Episode 1, Lee Yeon meets Taluipa of 1938 and asks her to help him go back. True to her nature, she tells him to run an errand. Yeon must get the legendary pipe that is currently being held by the Japanese. The Japanese have their fair share of magical creatures working in the force, and that is how they were able to steal the pipe, to begin with. We couldn’t find anything related to a pipe in Korean folklore, but we are assuming that this pipe is from the phrase “when tigers smoked pipes,” which is similar to “once upon a time.” When the train goes through an overpass, Rang’s bandits steal from the passengers on the train and one of the items in the pipe. But Ryu Hong Ju nicks it from them. She is not interested in the pipe but in Lee Yeon, and this is her way of bringing him to her. She comes across as slightly insane, not taking no for an answer from Yeon and ready to fight with him to the death unless he accepts her proposal. Luckily, Yeon escapes from the train with the pipe. However, he cannot go back to his time immediately since the gate of time opens only on the lunar eclipse, which is a month away. Therefore, he decides to spend that time with his brother.


Who Is Ginko Tawara?

She seems to be one of the good guys, but is undoubtedly ruthless, and we know this since we saw how casually she ordered her would-be torturer’s tendons to be cut off. Since Cheon Moo Young treated her wounds, she keeps visiting him, undoubtedly finding him fascinating. When she visits him in this episode, she opens up about her unhappy home life. Ginko had an older sister who was married to the Chief Commissioner, so Ginko wouldn’t have to marry him. But she killed herself soon after. Currently, she secretly takes part in the Korean resistance movement, either for her sister or because she herself is a believer in their freedom. Her brother-in-law, the chief commissioner, is a demon in the Japanese forces, and he was the one who ordered the pipe stolen. We are not sure if his motives are centered around Japan’s continued dominance or if they are something else. We will probably find that out in the upcoming episodes.


How Does Lee Yeon Find The “Three Worms”?

The Lee brothers go back to Myoyeongeok and discover that Ryu Hong Ju is the owner of it. She threatens Yeon to stay there, or she will burn down anyplace he chooses to take residence. Yeon agrees, also because Hong Ju is said to be the controller of information in that area. He asks for her help in tracing the masked man, and just like everyone else, she gives him an errand to run. Hong Ju wants him to judge a pageant on her behalf. A woman who planned on participating in the pageant seriously harmed a guest, and this abnormal hunger and carnal desires are the work of the Three Worms: “creatures controlling desires.” Yeon does as she says, and the winner of the pageant is Yang Young Ae, a woman he met on the train. But true to his suspicions, Young Ae is infested with the three worms and becomes feral. Luckily, she is captured by Moo Young without anyone seeing him. When Yeon speaks to Ginko about it, she tells him that the women affected were all customers of a particular hair salon. That is where Yeon heads next with Rang, and they both join as employees. Before long, they find that the person infecting the women with the worms is the cleaning lady. She is an indigenous deity, that of wooden stoves, and she is not able to handle her loss of importance. She lashed out her revenge with the help of the three worms, which had been given to her by a masked man. The woman goes up in flames as soon as she reveals this, as she was told to do once she gives away the secret. Basically, it is becoming clearer to Yeon and Rang that the masked man is out to get them. It will take some time before they discover why.


Who Is The Red-And-White Masked Man?

It became rather clear in the second episode that Cheon Moo Young was the masked man. We came to know his backstory when he told it to Ginko. He is the younger brother of Lee Yeon’s best friend. Yeon had killed Moo Young’s brother, and since then, he has wanted revenge on him. But we wonder whether there is more to it. After all, Moo Young mentions how he does not remember his brother very clearly. Additionally, he is on a bit of a rampage. Moo Young had to have known that Yeon could easily deal with the three worms. Then why is he letting them lose this way? But his objective is probably not Yeon in doing so. Young Ae is still alive after being attacked by the three worms, and at the end of Episode 2 of “Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938,” Moo Young says he wants to make her a Yacha, “a demon that desires human flesh and blood,” so basically a zombie. But what use does a mountain god have for a zombie? Meanwhile, Hong Ju is aware of his identity. She also seems to know that he went to the future. We suspect Moo Young went there on a mission, only a part of which was to lure Lee Yeon to 1938. He and Hong Ju are in on something, and we need to know that soon.


Final Thoughts

“Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938” is pure fun, and our knowledge of Korean folklore increases with every episode. However, from the preview of Episode 3, we suspect that things are going to get a lot more intense. Additionally, it remains to be seen how things change when Rang discovers that Yeon is from the future. Will he also come to know his own fate? It is a long wait for these answers.


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Divya Malladi
Divya Malladi
Divya spends way more time on Netflix and regrets most of what she watches. Hence she has too many opinions that she tries to put to productive spin through her writings. Her New Year resolution is to know that her opinions are validated.

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