S02.E08: Chapter Sixteen

[AnimeMania]

(Season Finale)

Noa uncovers a devastating truth. Solomon learns of an old enemy’s fate. Sunja must decide between her past and her future.

Premiere Date: October 11, 2024      Apple TV+

[Spartan Girl]

As much as it sucks that Sunja is alone again, breaking up with Cato might have been the right call. The last time she fell for a guy with a dark past, it cost her dearly for years to come.

Wow, Hansu, is it any wonder why Noa didn’t want anything to do with you when he found out you were his father? And yes, you DID take advantage of Sunja, you didn’t tell her you were married!

This better not get cancelled, we need to see what happens next!

[aghst]

So Noa just ghosts his mother and his family after discovering Hansu is his father?

In the 1989 timeline, Noa has been gone for almost 40 years?

Noa being crushed that Hansu told him the truth is understandable but he must have at least suspected it?

It was obvious to his gf who Hansu was, why he was paying for Noa, treating him to lavish dinners, introducing him to politicians, etc.

Not to mention talking to him about the grand plans he had for his future.

That is probably why he reacted so violently to what his gf said, choking her.

Sunja raised him to be hard-working and honest, to be a good human being.  But during war time, when people were in desperate straights, the strictest morality seems a luxury.  Plenty of people probably stole to feed their families, though apparently Sunja didn't, but Hansu always made sure they weren't going to go hungry or homeless.

In contrast, Moazu is a screwup as a teen, willing to cheat at pachinko, which may be why he opened his own pachinko palace, since he learned how to run one?

It's interesting that he's studying Tolstoi and Dostoevsky, which are heavy on morality.  In the ivory tower of an elite university, he develops this strong morality?

Though he dismisses the Tolstoi book because all the characters are nobility,  not real people.

 

With Noa gone, looks like Hansu spirals and maybe that's what happens to him, instead of being a power broker for Japanese politics behind the scenes, he just gives up?

 

Turns out Solomon's business partner is the grandson of the guy who killed Hansu's father in law in the previous episode.  Moazu knows him and distrusts him, believes he will get Solomon involved in dubious businesses.

But Solomon lies to investors about Japanese real estate being a bubble.  At that time it was, there was going to be a big crash and obviously Solomon and his partner Jimmi both know it.

Then he learns that Abe committed suicide.

They don't show all the things Hansu has done to gain his wealth and power but they've showed plenty of bad things Solomon has done to attain his wealth -- enough that he pays off the loan on Moazu's pachinko palace.

 

[Haleth]

Ok, tear my heart out and stomp all over it please.  Poor Noa, his whole world crumbled, everything he believed was a lie.  Hansu could have softened the blow by telling Noa it was a different time, they were in love, they made a mistake but always wanted the best for him..., but no, he basically said "your mom's a slut."  Jerk.

Was the name Noa made up for himself something that should ring a bell in the 80s timeline?  Hopefully Noa ended up becoming a teacher as he dreamed.

Oh, Solomon.  He learned actions have consequences.  Now carry the thought that he drove a man to such despair he took his own life.  That is a heavy burden.

Poor Sunja.  Her beloved elder son disappeared years ago, seemingly without a trace (as far as we know).  And her chance for happiness in her senior years with a lovely gentleman is quashed because of another secret.

17 hours ago, aghst said:

Turns out Solomon's business partner is the grandson of the guy who killed Hansu's father in law in the previous episode.  Moazu knows him and distrusts him, believes he will get Solomon involved in dubious businesses.

Thank you for that.  I wasn't understanding the connection.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Hansu could have softened the blow by telling Noa it was a different time, they were in love, they made a mistake but always wanted the best for him..., but no, he basically said "your mom's a slut."  Jerk.

And then had the audacity to insult Isak to Noa’s face. My only solace is knowing Hansu is probably dead in the future, and if we get another season my hope is that it’s kind of end he so richly deserves.

Edited October 12 by Spartan Girl

[cardigirl]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:27 PM, aghst said:

It's interesting that he's studying Tolstoi and Dostoevsky, which are heavy on morality.  In the ivory tower of an elite university, he develops this strong morality?

Though he dismisses the Tolstoi book because all the characters are nobility,  not real people

 

Noa's sense of morality was deeply influenced by his father Isak. He adored Isak (and Isak adored him) and wanted to be like him. Losing Isak the way he did had to have been a crushing blow. And Noa's mother seemed so selfless and innocent to him. To find out that someone like Hansu is his biological father must have been devastating. He had seen him beat a man almost to death. And it altered his idea of his mother (sex outside of marriage etc.) He loves her but cannot face her knowing her secret.

I was devastated for him, and honestly could not stand his girlfriend. Not that I advocate violence against women, but I think I might have raised a hand to her myself, just to knock that stupid grin off her face. 

[aghst]

Yeah Isak was a standup guy, marrying Sunja pregnant with another man’s child.

Noa didn’t know that of course.

Isak was religious but Noa didn’t seem to be.  Moazu isn’t.

Looked like he wasn’t having a chaste relationship with the gf either.

In any event, Sunja and Moazu suffer since he cuts all of them out of his life.
 

Spoiler

Though in the book, he sends them money for years but apparently that’s stopped by the 1989 timeline.