‘Island’ Ending Explained
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Title: Island
Hangul: 아일랜드
Writer: Jang Yoon-mi, Oh Bo-hyun
Director: Bae Jong
Network: TVING
Episodes: 12
Finale Grade: C
Series Grade: C
Island Ending: Happy or Sad?
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Island part 2 has a sad / open ending that sets up the drama for a potential part 3.
Breaking Down the End of Island
What Happened to Johan?
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At the start of the finale, Johan (Cha Eun-woo) is gravely injured and on life support.
But he joins the final battle, fully-healed and amped-up powers.
Johan removed his earrings so now his full powers are unleashed.
Johan’s earrings: not just a Fashion Statement.
After the battle is won, Johan returns to Vatican City and resumes his life as an exorcist. He is still mourning the loss of his brother and Van.
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What Happened to Goong Tan?
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Goong-tan and Van face off for the final time. This time they fight with swords with Goong-tan ultimately emerging victorious, impaling Van on his sword.
But he is then stabbed by a dying Van who uses his remaining strength to stab Goong-tan with his broken sword.
The two brothers die together.
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What Happened to Mi-ho?
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Mi-ho has a magical marble inside her body that gives her the power to successfully create a barrier to protect the world from lust demons. But in her previous life, a fragment of the broken marble entered Van’s eye when he stabbed her.
Without the marble intact, Mi-ho does not have enough power to create the barrier without killing herself.
But the marble fragment in Van is the only thing that is keeping him human.
Mi-ho decides to create the barrier without the missing fragment so Van can remain human.
But during the barrier ritual, Van convinces Mi-ho to take the fragment from him so she can complete the barrier and survive.
Mi-ho successfully creates the barrier and saves the world from being terrorized by lust demons.
1 year later, Mi-ho is back in Seoul and is now the president of Daehan Group.
She is still mourning the loss of Van and keeps his dagger displayed in her office.
Mi-ho feels an energy disturbance with the retrieval of the dagger and Van’s dagger begins to shake seems to confirm that something threatens the world once again.
Mi-ho calls Johan and the two realize the world will need saving once again.
What Happened to Van?
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Van begs Mi-ho to retrieve the missing fragment so she can complete the barrier ritual without sacrificing herself. Van tells Mi-ho how exhausted he has been living and fighting for centuries and he’s ready to rest.
Mi-ho removes the fragment from Van’s eye and his demon side takes over.
Van jumps back into his fight against Goong-tan.
Goong-tan gains the upper hand and stabs Van.
With his remaining strength, Van stabs Goong-tan back with his broken sword.
The two brothers die together.
Do Van and Miho kiss?
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No, despite clearly loving each other, Van and Mi-ho never kiss.
Do Van and Mi-ho end up together?
No, Van and Mi-ho don’t end up together.
They do embrace right before Van sacrifices himself to save the world.
Will There Be a Third Season of Island?
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The ending leaves the door wide open for Island part 3 but TVNing and Amazon have yet to confirm one.
Island Ending Review
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The Island finale is action-packed with much-improved CGI compared to the rest of the series. The action scenes unfortunately are still unimpressive.
The highlight of the Island finale was the relationships between Van and Miho and Van and Goong-tan.
Van’s tired plea to Mi-ho to let him go is one of the most emotional moments of the entire series and easily Van’s most memorable scene. Van’s pain and exhaustion as he pleads to Mi-ho to let him go is beautifully played by Kim Nam Gil.
Despite not really caring for Van and Mi-ho’s relationship, I really loved this scene.
The other highlight is the final battle between Van and Goong-tan.
I loved watching the brothers fight to the death, stabbing each other with their swords, and dying together.
That being said, the moment wasn’t as epic as it should’ve been. It all fell flat because Van and Goong-tan’s relationship was not fully developed in earlier episodes.
I was invested in the amazing potential of their relationship instead of what was actually presented of them on-screen.
Other big moments in the Island finale like Johan’s big power upgrade and the Avengers-style tease at the end of the episode left me confused because I’ve never read the webtoon. If I had read the webtoon and known the context, I would have enjoyed these moments more
What did you think of Island?