Nine Puzzles ending explained: Revelation of the puzzle killer and the final puzzle piece

Disney+’s Nine Puzzles is the latest addition to the popular psychological crime K-dramas. It centers on the story of Kim Da-mi’s I-na, who is determined to find her uncle’s killer, linked to a series of new murders where the murderer leaves a puzzle piece for I-na.

In episode 9, following Yang’s tragic death, I-na becomes suspicious of the two psychiatrists, Dr. Hwang and Dr. Lee. In the final two episodes, I-na investigates both doctors and discovers that one of them is, in fact, the puzzle killer. She also uncovers how the deaths are connected to the tragic night when the Shindonga Market residents were attacked.

Here’s what happened in the finale of Nine Puzzles.

Disclaimer: The article contains spoilers for the final episodes of Nine Puzzles. Reader discretion is advised.

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Nine Puzzles ending explained: Dr. Hwang made the puzzle pieces for Dr. Lee

After visiting Dr. Hwang’s house filled with paintings, I-na notices the signature H, similar to the one in the puzzle pieces she received, raising her suspicions. After trying to make an anonymous call about the puzzle killer, Hwang is brought to the police station, where he reveals Dr. Lee asked him to make the puzzle pieces. I-na is now certain that Dr. Lee Seung-joo is the puzzle killer, but she is missing and might have kidnapped Assemblyman Kim Muryong.

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Nine Puzzles ending explained: All the murder victims' connection to Seung-joo is revealed

Aside from I-na, the female cop, Na-ri knew about Seung-joo and said she once hated amusement parks because her mother abandoned her at Dream Land. However, a flashback shows that her mother was actually waiting. When everyone was asked to evacuate Shindonga Market to build One City, she refused to move, hoping her daughter would return.

This resulted in her being tortured and later killed in the fire. Everyone involved in the crime ultimately became Seung-joo’s victims. Some assisted in her murder, while others helped to conceal the case entirely. Muyong led the One City project in his bid to become the next mayor, making him Seung-joo’s next victim.

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Nine Puzzles ending explained: How did Seung-joo become the puzzle killer?

While I-na searches for Seung-joo, the psychiatrist approaches her and takes her to The One City building to save her last victim. It is revealed that Yang searched for Seung-joo and may have disclosed how her mother died, which led her to kill those responsible. However, she had given up killing because she believed no one was interested in her story until I-na appeared and expressed her obsession with uncovering who killed her uncle. This drove Seung-joo to start killing again and to expose the injustice done to her family, which left her orphaned.

While I-na went with her to stop her from killing the assemblyman, Seung-joo still pushed the man off the building, and he fell near Han-saem, who was frantically looking for I-na.

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Nine Puzzles ending explained: The puzzle piece revealed

Before fleeing the crime scene, Seung-joo hands the last puzzle piece to I-na, which happens to be the center of the puzzle. As they try to figure out who the last victim will be, they track Seung-joo near Yang’s funeral home before leaving. I-na suspects that Seung-joo might be going to the Dream Land where she went missing 20 years ago, and she is correct. Seung-joo reveals to I-na that she is the final puzzle piece and takes her own life in the fire she started, dying just like her mother.

The horror left I-na shaken, prompting her to leave her profiler job temporarily. Later, during a news show, she reveals her obsession with finding her uncle’s killer, suspecting herself responsible for the murder. In the end of Nine Puzzles, Han-saem faces another murder as I-na returns to work. The show concludes with her discovering another puzzle piece, indicating that the injustice against common people continues, a cycle Seung-joo couldn't end.

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