Becoming an adult
Ah-Yi is shocked and unsure of what to do about her predicament. The Dean decides to talk to her parents, but they’re not around so it just makes it all the more awkward for her.
After school, Il-Deung is picked up by Ah-Yi while So-Hee starts to put her trust in magic. Unfortunately, this has the knock-on effect of Ha-Na and So-Hee bullying her. Interestingly, the letterbox she places in the letterbox (and saying Annara sumanara after) disappears.
Ha-Na is frustrated with Ah-yi for skipping home and decides to set up hidden cameras in the theme park to catch Ri-Eul in the act. However, she’s caught red-handed by the returning magician and confronted. In her hand happens to be his locket, which he menacingly tells her to put back. He also points out she’s being disrespectful toward magic.
Ha-Na drops a camera, which is still recording. Ri-Eul unaware. ..
Ah-Yi’s father returns home after an extended absence. He’s there with her sister, and eventually they head inside for something to eat. Whilst there, Ah-Yi asks him to drop by her school in the morning.
The woman’s father was called out of the blue to ask for money in the middle of the night, and he didn’t return home until morning. Turns out he only took the money she had on hand - not the notes she had.
With Ah-Yi’s life hanging in the balance, she eventually snaps and opens up to the Dean, admitting the truth about the deal she made with Il-Deung. On her way home, she receives a call from her dad who promises to pay her back for the money he’s stolen. He tells her she’s going to make it through fine but Ah-Yi calls him a coward and admits she’s sick of all this.
Il-Deung, who had received a special award for good conduct at school the day before, was seething with anger in the auditorium. Ah-Yi, who had been revealed to be poor and also saw Il-Deung realize that he had been betrayed, was clenching her fists tightly as she commented on how immature and awful these grown ups had been. ..
After class, Ah-yi admits to Il-Deung that she told the truth to the dean and this is how they’ve spun it. She’s embarrassed and angry but glad she didn’t get expelled.
Ah-yi admits that if she doesn’t graduate, her life is over. It’s not like that for Il-Deung, who obviously has rich parents and a lot more influence than she does. Eventually she walks away, having spoken enough about this.
After Ah-Yi leaves, Ri-Eul hands over a pack of cards to his apprentice. The cards were used when he first started learning, but on his white sleeve is blood stains. Ah-Yi points this out and asks if he’s been practicing with the sword again. ..
He rushes inside, quickly pulling his hand back and hurrying inside. Interestingly, just prior to this he spoke about magic and misdirection, which is an interesting and somewhat foreshadowed feel the second half of the series to come.
Il-Deung’s mother is angry with him for not being happy with the choices that have been made for him. She tells him that he will never be able to be happy if he doesn’t have magic. Il-Deung is not happy with this and eventually leaves.
Ha-Na heads back to pick up her camera but finds the parrot there. The parrot scolds her for being a thief, but Ha-Na scrambles away before Ri-Eul can show up. Back home, she checks over the footage and is shocked by what she finds. On the footage spots someone running from Ri-Eul. All will be revealed, dear readers! ..
Ah-yi heads home, but her sister has gone. Yoo-Yi is nowhere to be found. It turns out she’s just over a friend’s house and hasn’t run away, which was Ah-yi’s initial thought. Her mini heart attack is over… at least for now. When she speaks to Ri-Eul about this, she reveals she was saying those magic words the whole time – annara sumanara.
After Ri-Eul inexplicably cart Ah-Yi back to her past, she tells her younger self not to give up and to keep trying to excel. Ah-Yi then tells her younger self that it is okay to be afraid and that she can always find a way to overcome any obstacle.
The next day, Ah-Yi is practicing with her ping pong ball when a police officer shows her footage of the magician. Ah-Yi becomes spooked and runs away, claiming she doesn’t know him. However, her fears are only compounded by Ha-Na who speaks to her and Il-Deung at school. She hands over the flash drive and suggests the pair watch it together. ..
That night, the two students watched footage of Ri-Eul stabbing someone in the chest, right in view of the camera. “I’m a real magician.” He rasped. ..
The Episode Review
The show’s creators have been caught up in a web of deceit and mystery, and it seems that the fraud is their own man. If this is true, it’ll be a deliciously sinister and dark misdirection for the show as a whole, that will have fooled many people.
The Sound of Magic has been teasing the question of whether Ri-Eul is really magic or not, and it looks like we’re about to get some answers. ..
The show manages to add some pretty deep character work for Ah-Yi and Il-Deung, with the latter standing up to his mother while Ah-Yi grapples with her familial issues.
The main point of this episode is that there is less magic in the world, despite the presence of a few somber musical numbers. This theme continues throughout the episode, as we see characters struggling with their relationships and their lack of trust in the world.
While some may be turned off by the lack of fantastical elements in the show, I think it does a great job of almost feeling like a lifting of the veil. There must be more to Ri-Eul than first meets the eye, and I can’t wait to find out what secrets he’s hiding. ..
