Breaking Down the Bittersweet Ending of Netflix's Melodrama Mystery Dear Hongrang

Time​ Magazine

16-05-2025

Hong-rang, the beloved child of a wealthy Joseon merchant family, vanishes into thin air, leaving half-sister Jae-yi (Cho Bo-ah), mother Min Yeon-ui (Uhm Ji-won), and father Sim Yeol-guk (Park Byung-eun) bereft and the future of the guild unclear. Twelve years later, a man (Lee Jae-wook) suspected to be the long-lost Hong-rang wanders back into the Min family's life. Such is the Anastasia -like setup for Dear Hongrang, Netflix's Korean-language mystery melodrama.
With Dear Hongrang, actor Lee Jae-wook steps into another sword-wielding, hanbok-wearing role following his turn as Jang Uk across two seasons of Netflix's hit fantasy romance Alchemy of Souls. 'If you compare the characters as their grown selves, there could be some similarities,' Lee tells TIME about Jang Uk and Sim Hong-rang. 'But in Alchemy of Souls, it was really more about the growth arc of the character. In Dear Hongrang, he is someone who has already grown and who returns to the scene after that growth arc.'
Min Yeon-ui is desperate to believe the man, who claims to have no memory of his childhood, is her missing son. She has spent the years since Hong-rang's disappearance in a deep depression and drug-induced fog. Not only would this mean reuniting with her beloved son, but it would bolster her position in the Min family guild. Follow's Hong-rang's disappearance, Sim Yeol-guk (Park Byung-eun), adopted Mu-jin (Jung Ga-ram) against Yeon-ui's wishes, and has been training to take over the role as guild grandmaster.
For Jae-yi, the return of her younger half-brother is only worth celebrating if it is true. 'She grew up being completely neglected and oppressed, and Hong-rang was the only person within her family or around her that treated her in a humane way and also with love,' explains Cho. 'And so, after he goes missing, it really becomes her sole goal to find that hope [for living and] that brother once again.'
In Hong-rang's absence, Jae-yi has dedicated her life to finding her missing brother, employing a network of peasant friends to put up missing person portraits and follow leads alongside her. When Lee's character surfaces in Episode 1, she is positive he is an imposter. Mu-jin, who stands to lose everything if Hong-rang is reinstated as guild heir, teams up with his adoptive younger sister Jae-yi to prove Lee's character is not the Hong-rang.
Is Lee Jae-wook actually Hongrang, Jae-yi's brother?
By the end of Episode 3, it is revealed that Lee Jae-wook's character is not Jae-yi's missing brother, but rather an imposter sent to infiltrate and take over the Min family guild. Later, we learn his true history: He was born as 'a lowly and insignificant slave' to a noble family, in which he was forced to be the 'talisman' for the son of a noble family. He endured consistent abuse until he managed to escape, with the help of his friend, the non-verbal In-hoe.
Unfortunately, the two boys are captured by the entities known as 'The Snow Man' and 'The Painter.' Kept captive by the Painter, both Hong-rang and In-hoe were subjected to horrific abuses. A decade later, they still suffer from the aftermath of this trauma, and seek to take down the men who hurt them.
Note: While Lee Jae-wook's character was not born as Hong-rang, he is called Hong-rang throughout the series. Because of this, we will refer to his character as 'Hong-rang' and the actual Hong-rang as 'the real Hong-rang.'
Who sent Hong-rang to take the Min family down?
Hong-rang was sent by Kkot-nim, the leader of a mysterious, deadly organization known as Geomgyedan. She is also Sim Yeol-guk's former mistress, disappeared by a jealous Min Yeon-ui while Min was pregnant with Yeol-guk's child. Kkot-nim came upon Hong-rang and In-hoe as boys, after they managed to escape the Painter as children. She took them in, and began training Hong-rang to infiltrate the Min family guild.
Initially, Kkot-nim and Hong-rang's goals are aligned: Kkot-nim wants revenge on Yeol-guk and Yeon-ui for leaving her for dead all those years ago, and Hong-rang wants to take down the people who kidnapped and tortured him as a child. (The Min family guild deals mostly in art, and seems to have some connection to the Painter.) However, when Hong-rang begins to fall for Jae-yi, things get complicated.
When Kkot-nim tasks Hong-rang with killing Jae-yi in Episode 4, he cannot go through with it. 'The one thing [Hong-rang] feared the most was being alone,' Lee says of his character's confused motivations. 'I think he was always drawn to [Jae-yi]. She was on his mind all along. But that emotion turned into compassion, and that almost became explosive in Episode 4, where he realizes it.'
Similarly, Jae-yi quickly comes to care for Hong-rang. 'There's a line that Jae-yi says, 'whether or not you are indeed you are, in fact, my brother. I just don't want you to get hurt,'' Cho tells TIME. 'And I think that's a point in time when she feels that it doesn't really matter what the character dynamics are. She really cares for this character as another human being.'
After Hong-rang reveals his true identity to Jae-yi in Episode 8, the two admit their attraction to one another. They run away together, and lead a simple, happy life for a short while. While Hong-rang and Jae-yi do not have a ceremony, they consider themselves to be married to one another, and consummate their love.
Who is the Snow Man?
Tall and lithe with long white hair, pale skin, and blue eyes, the Snow Man has become a boogeyman of sorts for the people living in and around the Min family guild. He is often sighted alongside the mysterious abduction or return of a young boy.
While we never learn the true identity of the Snow Man, we know he is mortal. Hong-rang kills him in Episode 10, slitting his throat after they battle. With this death, the Painter loses a strong fighter.
Who is the Painter?
The Painter is eventually revealed to be Crown Prince Han-pyeong, who we see throughout the series as a benefactor of Jae-yi's father, Sim Yeol-guk. The Crown Prince's favor comes at a high price. For years, Yeol-guk has been helping the Crown Prince abduct boys; bleach their skin using a mixture of toxic chemicals; and cut, ink, and burn 'art' into the flesh of their backs. Hong-rang was one of those boys.
Han-pyeong sees Hong-rang as one of his seven living 'talismans.' He plans to use the now grown men in a ritual that he thinks will make him holy. "My search for greatness is not driven by selfish aspirations or avarice,' he claims, in Episode 10. 'Rather, it is my fervent zeal for all people. I must become a deity. Only then will this country and the entire world achieve serenity.'
Hong-rang and the Geomgyedan are able to stop the ritual. In the final episode, Hong-rang kills the Crown Prince. "So you are just an idiot,' Hong-rang tells Han-pyeong, before cutting off the hands that caused innocent people so much pain. 'You were simply a grotesque madman. A mere nobody, bound by a vain delusion in hopes of becoming someone.' He sees the man behind the masks of royalty and cruelty, and strips them of their power in the process.
Is the real Hongrang dead?
The real Hong-rang did, in fact, die, after falling and hitting his head on a rock. The young boy overheard his mother and shaman Madame Gwigokja talking about a talisman that marked Jae-yi for death. The real Hong-rang climbed a hanok wall in an attempt to remove the talisman, but slipped and fell.
A servant found the injured boy, and hid the young master, fearing she would be punished for his injuries. When she decided to seek help, she left the real Hong-rang. Upon her return, the boy had vanished.
Though the servant convinced herself that the real Hong-rang could have been taken by the Snow Man, he was actually found by Madame Gwigokja. She ordered her servant to throw the boy into a nearby well. It is unclear if he was dead or not at the time. Either way, the result was the same.
Do Hong-rang and Jae-yi end up together?
Though Hong-rang and Jae-yi love one another, their time together is cut short. When Hong-rang was held by the Crown Prince as a child, Sim Yeol-guk treated his skin with alum and arsenic. The chemicals were used to make a young Hong-rang's skin whiter in preparation for the Crown Prince's 'art.' Years later, the toxic chemicals have poisoned Hong-rang's body. His organs begin to shut down.
After Hong-rang kills the Crown Prince, he returns to Jae-yi's side, as promised. The two vow to meet again one day, in whatever form that may take. Hong-rang dies in Jae-yi's arms.
Does Dear Hongrang have a happy ending?
This is a complicated question. While Hong-rang dies, many characters are able to find the peace and justice they deserve. Jae-yi finally discovers the truth about her brother's disappearance. In discovering the truth, she is able to stand up to her stepmother. Jae-yi turns the Min family guild's ledger, which includes ample evidence of years of corruption, over to the authorities.
Kkot-nim kills Yeol-guk, the man who betrayed her all those years ago and who helped the Crown Prince hurt innocent children. After trying to force Jae-yi to marry him and siding with the Crown Prince, Mu-jin dies protecting his adoptive sister. "I am relieved,' he tells her, after sustaining fatal injuries fending off the Crown Prince's men. 'Now, at last, I can stop. Truthfully, I feared that you would never forgive me." Jae-yi uses her time and energy to start an orphanage. She is able to give countless children something that neither she nor Hong-rang had: a safe home.
'I think that, in a way, you can say that Dear Hongrang has a tragic ending,' Cho tells TIME, 'but I hope that that can serve as an opportunity for those who have followed the story to really look into the character's journey and into all of [the feelings that were] expressed by each character that have to do with human desires, human greed, forbidden love, and deep, truly-felt compassion or empathy. And I hope that, because of the nature of the ending, it almost lets you really sit with those emotions in a more grave way. I hope that can be a common viewing experience.'
After all of the suffering Hong-rang and Jae-yi have endured, it doesn't seem fair that they are so quickly parted by death. However, both characters are able to reach a sort of peace in their short time together—a peace that seems to stay with Jae-yi even after she loses her love. 'I think that the love that is felt between these two characters, it is something that should not be looked upon lightly,' adds Lee. 'So I hope that's something that the audience can truly feel.'