Moon River finale recap and ending explained: Dal-i's fate, Lee Gang's sacrifice and the surprising twist

MBC TV's historical fantasy melodrama Moon River, starring Kang Tae-oh and Kim Se-jeong, has finally wrapped up with its finale episode. The finale ends on a cliffhanger, leaving viewers with several unresolved questions.

This drama follows the life of Lee Gang, the Joseon crown prince, who, after losing his crown princess, leads a sad life until he meets Park Dal-i, a peddler who has seemingly lost her childhood memories. Interestingly, she looks strikingly similar to the dead crown princess. The story unravels into a tale of heartbreak, fateful reunion, body swap, romance, political betrayal, and tragedy.

The finale, "A Fleeting Memory," begins with Han-chul and his men kidnapping Dal-i, but Dal-i frees herself and fights with the men until she's knocked down, and she gets a cut on her palm. But what's even more interesting is that, back in the royal palace, Lee Gang feels the same cut while he dips his hand in water. Both Lee Gang and Dal-i lose consciousness, and the soul utters,

"Your Highness. I must put an end to this charade."

This states that Lee Gang and Dal-i's body swap was never random; instead, it carried significance. After Lee Gang gained consciousness, he ordered the arrest of Kim Han-chul. He said,

"Your Majesty, the killer of the former King, the Crown Prince, as well as Queen Dowager, is the traitor Kim Han-chul."

Also read: Moon River cast and character guide

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Lee Gang orders Han-chul's arrest, and he reveals where Han-chul has abducted and kept the former Queen Jangjeong. He also revealed that he had raised his own army and is involved in counterfeiting coins, loan sharking, human trafficking, and more. Unfortunately, Han-chul escapes with his men, killing the royal guards one by one.

Meanwhile, the guards arrest Kim Han-chul's daughter, Kim Woo-hee. When the guards bring Queen Dowager to the Majesty, she reveals that the Left state Councillor, aka Han-chul, saved her. Turns out, in the past, they were lovers. And Han-chul was truly protective towards her. He understood her trauma, and his love for her never faded. Elsewhere, Je Un urges the majesty to release Kim Han-chul since it was for her help that they discovered the pact and Han-chul's wrongdoings.

Read: Moon River Episode 11 recap

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Meanwhile, Han-chul's men plan to take Dal-i to a different location. Han-chul returns, and he slams one of his guards for not protecting the Queen. Meanwhile, the royal guards look for Dal-i in the forest, and Lee Gang worries about her safety.

He smashes his hand on a rock and dips it into the river to connect her via soul swapping, but it does not work. He soon learns that Han-chul has taken Dal-i. Han-chul uses Dal-i as leverage; he wants Jang-jeong, aka the Queen. Han-chul's actions were never driven by only power but by his love for Jang-jeong. What follows is utter chaos and destruction as the royal guards and Han-chul's forces face off.

Moon River finale recap and ending explained: Does Han-chul die?

Han-chul stabs Dal-i right in front of Lee Gang. He orders him to bring Queen Jangjeong within fifteen minutes. Dal-i bleeds profusely, and her blood mixes with the rainwater. Lee Gang removes his bandage, and he sacrifices himself. He cuts himself, and as his blood mixes with the rainwater, their souls swap again, and they collapse. However, Lee Gang wakes up. He breaks down as he watches Dal-i collapse in his lap. He carries her to safety. Meanwhile, Queen Jangjeong watches Han-chul as he freezes after seeing her. He continues fighting till his last breath, but a few arrows take him down, and he collapses. An arrow hits his chest, and he takes out Jangjeong's pin and dies with that in his hand.

What happens to Dal-i in the Moon River finale episode?

After Han-chul stabs Dal-i, she collapses, but Lee Gang sacrifices himself. He cuts himself and performs the soul-swapping ritual. Thus, in the end, when the royal doctors declare Dal-i is dead, Lee Gang breaks down. To simplify it, it's Dal-i's soul that gets trapped in Lee Gang's body due to his ultimate sacrifice. But in the end, when Lee Gang's tears fall on Dal-i's dead body, the soul swap happens all over again, and mysteriously, both Lee Gang and Dal-i regain their consciousness.

In an interesting turn of events, we see Lee Gang waking up in the midst of a magical forest (afterlife) where a wise man tells him that during the last seven minutes before his soul left his body, he replayed his moments with Dal-i and that he wished for one thing, that he wanted to stay longer with her. Their love and longing for each other revived his fate's flower, and we get to learn that it's related to the red thread of fate that entangles their destiny.

Han-chul might be a traitor to all for JangJeong; he was her protector and lover, and he did everything to keep her safe. But his love turned him into a revenge-seeking traitor. Je Un goes to see Woo-hee in prison, but she refuses to run away with him.

Years later, Dal-i gives birth to a son who becomes the Crown Prince. And Woo-hee accepts Je Un's proposal. In short, it's a happy and hopeful ending.

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