Episode 7 of Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 brings all the facts to light, be it that of Moo Young’s betrayal, Lee Rang’s future, or even his true feelings for a girl. But the biggest takeaway is that Lee Yeon, Cheon Moo Young, and Ryu Hong Joo are a messy trio of friends. Yeon is in love with Ji Ah, Hong Joo likes Yeon, and Moo Young is pining for her. Even humans with barely three decades on them can tell that these three should stay apart, but these immortals with over 3000 years of wisdom between them cannot grasp this fact, hence the mess. Either way, here is the recap of Episode 7.
Spoilers Alert
Did Moo Young And Lee Yeon Save Hong Joo?
In episode 6, Lee Yeon and Moo Yeong found themselves on the set of a series titled “Jangsan Tiger’s Bride.” The myth of the Jangsan tiger is that he is a shapeshifting demon who can imitate literally everyone, from humans to gods to situations to just about everything. Currently, he is imitating film sets to put the three friends to the test. The Jangsan tiger once desired to be a mountain god, but since that ambition failed, he has just been envious of the others. He says that he wanted to be like Lee Yeon, but not getting what he wanted means he has hated him since.
The Jangsan tiger is creating the TV sets in a way that resembles the friends’ memories. That is how he is using it against them. On one particular set, Hong Joo is the lead actress, while Lee Yeon and Moo Young are supporting actors. The tiger was having fun with this one because he made Hong Joo slap Yeon multiple times. But Moo Young finds out who the tiger is soon enough when he sees a girl eating the same rice puffs that Hong Joo was eating when she got kidnapped. His guess is right, but the real kicker is that when Yeon tries to stab him with the Duduri (a wooden weapon), it doesn’t work. The Tiger changes sets easily, and this time, it is a talk show where two “best friends” are being interviewed. It is here that we finally come to know that Yeon killed He Young because he was about to kill Moo Young.
Though Moo Young was aware of what his brother was about to do, he had asked Yeon to spare his life. When he hadn’t done that, Moo Young had set out on a path of destruction, which has carried forward to this day. In the current illusion, the talk show host has the face of Moo Young’s brother, and he has adapted this ruse to raise the tensions between the friends and get them to fight. But Yeon sees right through it and wastes no time in provoking the tiger, calling out his inferiority complex. The tiger takes this chance to change the settings again, and this time, Yeon is on alert as he has started realizing that Moo Young might have a hand in all this. The TV show set they were in previously couldn’t have been from Yeon’s memories since he doesn’t watch it. That leaves only Moo Young. Yeon is right in his doubt, and Moo Young doesn’t deny that, but he proves that he wants the well-being of Hong Joo, and that is why he is an ally to Yeon right now. They set off looking for Hong Joo again, but they are a tad too late since the tiger has already married her.
Do Yeon And Moo Young Get Back To The Real World?
Back in 1938, Lee Rang is struggling to keep hold of the string that connected him to Yeon and was the latter’s way back. But this just means that there is a path open between the real world and that created by the Jangsan tiger. The tiger tricks Rang by talking to him in the voice of Shin Joo and telling him to apply some of his blood to the string. Rang acts accordingly, and that proves a mistake as the ghosts come to haunt and attack him. Rang is holding on to the string for dear life when, finally, help comes for him. Yeo Hee is there to visit, and she has brought some snacks. When she senses that Rang is in trouble, she immediately comes to his rescue. She puts her hand over his ears and lets out her shrill mermaid scream, making the ghosts go away and clearing the thread of blood. Yeo Hee and Rang finally kiss, and we suppose that if these two could find love across time and in life-and-death situations, then there is no excuse for anybody not finding their soulmate other than their laziness.
Back in the illusion, Yeon and Moo Young find Hong Joo, who is still under the hypnosis of the tiger. She is ruthless in her attacks, but eventually, she comes back to her senses when Moo Young hands her the piece of the comb that the friends had kept as a mark of their friendship. A few things that they say also bring back memories of the bond they once shared. Hong Joo is back to herself, and the three of them take down the tiger, incapacitating him. Hong Joo finds Ginko, and they escape back to their time while Yeon was held back with Moo Young. Rang sees that only Hong Joo and Ginko are back and deduces that Yeon must be in trouble. True to his doubts, Moo Young stayed back so that he could kill the tiger with his Duduri, which worked this time because he was the one to summon him.
Moo Young needed the demon’s essence to repair his body, and he achieved his goal. Yeon realizes that Moo Young was the one to bring him to 1938, and he is the masked man. He doesn’t deny any of it and proceeds to attack Yeon who he is saved by Rang. He reached there by following the black cat. In Episode 6, the old woman said that she got out of the tiger’s illusion by following a cat, so Rang must have used the same trick to get into the illusion. Rang wins the fight, but Moo Young tells him that he will die in 2020 for the sake of his brother. At the end of Episode 7 of Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938, Rang has not yet decided whether he believes Moo Young or not, but this stays on his mind as he goes back to 1938 with his brother. Moo Young is also alive and back, and he tells Hong Joo that he never intended for her to be harmed, but he is now trying to revive his brother from the dead. Hong Joo knows that their group of friends is going to battle it out in the near future, and she is ready to face the challenge.
Final Thoughts
We are glad that Shin Joo has finally found his thief, and the comedy of the coming episodes is going to be those two fighting with Jae Yoo for room space. This would be a nice break from the serious conspiracies of the independence movement, which are going to dominate the storylines. We believe that though General Ryuhei’s target is Yeon, he might join hands with Moo Young for the war. This would destroy any sympathy we have for Moo Young’s situation and set him firmly as a bad villain. What if Ryuhei also discovers that Lee Yeon is from the future and that Korea becomes an independent country? That would raise his temper. We can expect this narrative in the coming weeks.
