Post by ajk on Jul 25, 2021 23:38:41 GMT -5
It starts with a long narration:
We see a large doe walking through the forest. She spots an appetizing-looking plant and goes over and munches on it. We recognize the little blue flowers, don’t we, and on the underside of the leaves, those tiny eggs...and very shortly the doe is shrieking and has fallen into a shallow puddle of water, apparently dying.
Oh wait, not exactly dying. We know better. Her eyes open...but now they’re pupil-less zombie eyes and the doe is now a hyper-aggressive zombie doe! But in her amped-up state she’s not being attentive, and suddenly she’s pounced on by a tiger. The cat kills her and settles down to a big meal.
“This plant brings the dead back to life...but you must pay the price.” So says an inscription on a stone. It’s in what looks to be some sort of tunnel (maybe a cave in a mountainside?), some kind of shrine, and it’s being studied by a young girl. The inscription also includes drawings of the flower.
Two soldiers are walking through a forest—a forest that appears to have some sort of cordoned-off boundary area, from the ropes and noisemakers stretched between trees. They come across a shocking sight: what looks to be a pile of dead bodies.
Citadel of Manpo, obviously nearby: In a marketplace outside of the citadel itself, villagers are talking about a rumor that Jurchens who went into a restricted area nearby called Pyesa-gun in search of wild ginseng were all killed. “I heard that something scary lives in the woods,” one says. “No one has been allowed to enter [there] for the past 100 years.”
We’re back in the forest again and yeah it’s dead bodies. But weird—it looks like they’ve all been dumped there, and they all have spears sticking out of them, so they must have been murdered. The guards are able to identify them as Pajeowi Jurchens. They’re understandably concerned about what will happen if and when the Pajeowi find out about this (so we know we’re near the Amnok River border).
In the village, we watch a man named Tahab butchering a fine-looking pig. A young woman and her mother, and their servant, are buying the meat. The three of them are dressed in much nicer clothes than anyone else there, and the mother calls Tahab and the rest “lowborns” and clearly looks down on them all. Ugh. But she tosses some of the butchered meat back at him as they leave, and the free meat turns into a village party. As they all gather to eat we get a glimpse of Ashin, a girl of maybe 11 or so. Tahab is her father, and we learn that she’s been to Pyesa-gun against her father’s instructions. She was the girl reading the inscription. “Are we just gonna let mom die? They say the wild ginseng there can even bring back the dead.” And inside the small home nearby we can see her mother, lying in bed and apparently very sick.
Just then a squad of soldiers enters the village. Everyone bows in subservience. Chi-rok is their leader—he’s addressed as “Lord” and we eventually learn that he’s the deputy commander at Manpo. (We've seen him before. His name was never given but he was the royal commandery officer in Season 2 who did a lot of the investigating for the minister of military. It isn't clear how he got from here to there.) He and Tahab go into a building where he tells Tahab about the dead Pajeowi. There were fifteen of them. He wants Tahab to cross the river into Pajeowi territory and tell the Pajeowi that the fifteen were killed by a tiger. Really—a spear-wielding tiger? It’s a lie, of course, but Tahab dutifully agrees to do it, apparently in anticipation of his getting some sort of official position from the Joseon government and his village getting official recognition...
Joseon military camp, Chupajin (obviously near Manpo): The fifteen dead bodies have been brought here for examination. More concern expressed about what will happen if the Pajeowi find out...and of course eventually they will...
...and suddenly were at the scene of a Pajeowi cavalry regiment invading a village somewhere and killing everyone in sight. “Hold out a hand and you shall receive help. Pull out the knife and you shall be slain.” Well apparently this village made the wrong choice. One of the invaders is named Aidagan and is identified as the Pajeowi leader.
Rumors are that another Japanese attack in the south may be in the works. What happens if the Pajeowi should take advantage of the situation and attack from the north? Yikes!
Inside the citadel, Chi-rok has come to the commander’s residence to deliver a report—and it’s to a familiar face. It’s Cho Beom-il, the only son of that terrible minister Cho Hak-ju from Episodes 1-10. (Beom-il was the royal army commander who turned into a zombie and nearly killed the crown prince in that dark storage barn in Episode 2. His head was later put in a box and delivered to his father in Episode 4.) Beom-il seems like kind of a jerk, which is how we remember him. Chi-rok knows that Beom-il went hunting with some of his elite soldiers very recently, and believes that the only explanation for those fifteen Pajeowi deaths is that Beom-il and his men killed them. And guess what, he’s right. “They all deserved to die,” Beom-il says nonchalantly, because they were trying to steal his clan’s wild ginseng. Chi-rok shoots that down—it’s not your clan’s ginseng, it’s the king’s—and even if it were, you bring them in and try them according to the law. That enrages Beom-il, who grabs a sword and swings it menacingly, insulted and frustrated because he’s “stuck here in the boondocks”. Turns out he’s here because he abandoned his post during the Japanese invasion and fled. Wonderful. Chi-rok doesn’t even flinch, and warns Beom-il not to screw up again or the consequences for him will be unavoidable. He has obvious contempt for Beom-il.
Back at the Chupajin camp, we see soldiers burning the fifteen bodies.
Evening at the border village: “They all got killed by one tiger?” Even Ashin finds this hard to believe, and worries about her father trying to pitch the story to the Pajeowi. But Tahab feels a sense of loyalty to Joseon because of events involving their ancestors, and believes that a government appointment will be his soon. So he’s been doing jobs like this to communicate with the Jurchen for the government. And has agreed to do this one too.
Next morning: Ashin’s mom has worsened. But no doctor will come to this border village. We see that Ashin has two younger brothers. Stay here with mom, she tells him, and she runs out....
Jurchen border village, just north of the Amnok River. Tahab is telling a gathered crowd a story about a tiger who lives by Mt. Baekdu. Looks like he’s working as an entertainer, or at least that’s his cover. The tiger can even take on human form, he says. “Thousands of men have gone into the mountains and met their death trying to catch the tiger. Haven’t you heard of the Pajeowi Jurchens who climbed the Birch Pass recently? They all got eaten by that tiger.” The crowd seems skeptical. That includes one man who takes a particular interest in his story. “If you’re lying to us,” he tells Tahab with a menacing smile, “you will die.” You sort of get the impression that these two are familiar with each other, possibly from previous scenes like this one.
We figured as much, Ashin has gone to get the plant. And to study the inscription that tells its story and instructs on its use.
Chi-rok and his soldiers have organized a tiger hunt. Seems odd, but whatever...Villagers are being escorted into the mountainous Birch Pass area, banging all kinds of noisy things to stir up any tigers that may be there. Apparently this kind of thing is a big deal for the enthusiastic villagers, but we learn that it’s all being done as a cover for something else...Eventually a tiger turns up. But this isn’t any ordinary tiger. It has freakishly unnatural speed and seems to simply want to kill for the sake of killing, not just for food. This has to be the tiger that ate the doe—it’s now a zombie. As everyone flees, the tiger starts in on them, killing one after another. The retreat horn is sounded and the villagers and soldiers fall back out of the woods. But as the soldiers retreat back into a clearing, suddenly we realize what the point of all this was: there are four Pajeowi soldiers in the clearing, obviously investigating the area to find out what happened to those fifteen Pajeowi. The tiger makes quick work of two of them, and nearly a third—despite stabbing its midsection repeatedly with a dagger--before a well-placed spear strike in the head by Chi-rok kills the tiger and saves him. The Pajeowi examines the tiger and is baffled to find so much dead tissue inside its abdomen...”It was already dead?”...but more to the point, what was NOT inside the tiger was any sign of having eaten humans. Concluding it was all a lie, he tells Chi-rok, “Prepare yourselves for a bloody revenge.” And they turn and start to walk away. Huh? Is Chi-rok really going to let them leave?
It’s nighttime and Ashin has made it back to her village...just after it’s been set on fire with flaming arrows and invaded by Pajeowi who kill everyone. Everyone. Goodness what a terrible sight. Ashin is left to screaming and crying, completely alone.
Next day, or possibly several more days afterwards, we’re not sure: With nowhere else to go, Ashin goes to the Chupajin camp to talk to Chi-rok. Asks him about her father’s fate, and he has to tell her he’s heard that “the Pajeowi have executed a spy from Joseon.” She doesn’t understand anything about what happened or why. “I beg you,” she says, “avenge my father. “A lowborn weakling can’t do it, but Joseon can.” You never gave him the official post he deserved, she bravely says, but you can do this much. And I’ll do whatever you like to help you. She’s very poised and mature for her age, which impresses Chi-rok. We’ll take care of you, he offers.
It’s not much, she gets to sleep in a barn, but at least she can stay warm and dry. And she gets a job as a laborer, tending to pigs and doing laundry for the soldiers. Tough work, especially in the chilly spell they’re having. Villagers whisper about her—"I heard she buried all the bodies herself”--as she goes about her labors. We also see her crossing the river at night to spy on Pajeowi military camps and bring information back to Chi-rok. And in her spare time she practices archery, and gets darned good at it. In one sequence she’s in the woods hunting...
...and then suddenly in the middle of the hunt, ten years has passed and the girl has become a young woman. She’s attractive, but you can see the pain and bitterness all through her. She looks almost numb, and it’s heartbreaking. And she’s still doing the same labors, and sleeping in the same barn.
Bad news: peace talks with Japan have faltered and every spare soldier has been called to the south. Chi-rok has to send most of his own men down there too, so he asks Ashin to cross the river again and check on the Pajeowi. Oh and when he goes to see her he discovers a soldier coming out of the barn with his clothes half off. So apparently Ashin has been raped, at least once, who knows how many times.
She dutifully crosses the river under cover of darkness, and what she finds when she gets there isn’t good. There’s a ton of activity, like they seem to be preparing for something. She actually runs into the camp and sneaks around a bit. And by what can only be described as a preposterous coincidence, finds her father, being held prisoner and in a terrible state, barely clinging to life in some sort of prison building. Around his neck is a yoke with writing on it accusing him of betraying his people. Looks like he’s being kept alive to set an example for everyone else. And it's hard to see in the dark setting but it looks like his arms and legs may have been cut off. She’s overcome with emotion, understandably, and pulls desperately at the chains that hold him. But he begs her to kill him and end his suffering. And eventually, she does. With a quick stab to the heart.
As she leaves the camp we can see that she exacted some revenge—two fairly significant fires are burning and the camp is in a panic.
She returns home—it’s morning now—and sees soldiers leaving the camp. She spots a distinctive feather pattern on arrows being carried by one of the soldiers. It’s another wild coincidence because she recognizes the pattern from long ago—from coming across one of the dead Pajeowi ginseng-searchers as a young girl. Did Joseon soldiers kill those Pajeowi? The possibility impels her to break into the commander’s office and search through the military logs. And pretty quickly she finds this entry:
...now a flashback to the rest of that scene in the clearing with those two surviving Pajeowi soldiers, and now we learn why Chi-rok didn’t kill them on the spot. You’re right, he tells them, it wasn’t a tiger. Someone attacked and killed them. And we found this at the site, he says, tossing them something. It’s a small, round tanned-hide box. We saw a glimpse of a stack of these little boxes long ago, just briefly. They were a product of Ashin’s village, possibly made by her father. In other words, Chi-rok framed Tahab and his village, sacrificing them to prevent a larger war.
...The log falls from Ashin’s hand.
She goes back to her barn, finds a soldier there looking for her—we can guess why. He’s examining some small flowers he’s found in her bed. She sneaks up behind him and slits his throat. We don’t see what happens next, but then suddenly the soldier is a zombie. The zombie runs wild through the camp and kills two fellow soldiers. And apparently has killed others, because now zombies are popping up inside a barracks. Another zombie has been created inside Chi-rok’s office, the flower stuck into his forehead. Chi-rok barely escapes it and flees outside. But outside, the entire citadel has become zombiepalooza. And on top of everything else, Ashin is standing on the camp walls firing arrows. And kills Chi-rok and a bunch of the others. On the ground, zombies and soldiers are killing each other; until eventually only a few scattered zombies are left. And one soldier, who recognizes her (we probably know how) and begs for help getting up on the wall. She shoots an arrow into his hand, pinning him at the edge of the wall, and the dripping blood attracts all of the remaining zombies who devour him. Then she tosses some sort of accelerant onto the zombies and lights it with a flaming arrow. And stands there with a cold, satisfied look on her face as the zombies die.
Wait, she left one soldier alive and somehow has hung him on some sort of metal hanger inside her barn. From his apologetic tone he took advantage of her plenty. He begs for his life...
Now she’s pulling a heavy cloth bag along behind her as she heads towards a village. We see flashbacks that tell us it’s her home village. But the Jurchens killed everyone so why is she here?
...Now a flashback to that party meal the village had with that pig meat. Remember? They all ate the pig meat...maybe that fine-looking pig wasn’t so fine after all?
...And what we see in front of us is now a barn full of zombie villagers! Chained to the barn somehow to prevent escape. And on a cart she’s now pushing, is that soldier from before. His arms and legs have been cut off and obviously the rest of him was in the bag she was pulling. And he’s still alive, still begging for mercy—until she pushes the cart into the mass of chained zombies and they eat him alive. I’ve been feeding you wild game, she tells them all, but from now on “I’ll provide you with only delicious meals.”
(So those whispers about “She buried all the bodies herself”...well it looks more like she went and got plenty of the resurrection plant and tried to revive everyone after the Jurchen killed them. And this is what happened. Oopsie.)
We are together, she tells the zombie villagers in her thoughts as she leaves. “When my job here is done, after I kill every living thing on Joseon and Jurchen soil, I will join you.”
Uiju, at the northern border: Joseon envoys are stopping here temporarily, on a journey to China. Their purpose is to ask for help defending against Japan. Ashin is there and watches the envoy party pass through the streets. With the envoys is someone who looks familiar to us...
...It’s Lee Seung-hui, the physician we know from the south. After the party has stopped and settled into their lodgings, she visits him and she shows him the plant. And as she explains its use, we see glimpses of her as the younger girl we first encountered, using the plant on her villagers. So now we know how Lee the physician learned of the plant, and we also get confirmation about those villagers.
In the final scene, Ashin is standing alone in the middle of a broad plain, as men on horseback approach. It’s Aidagan and a squad of Pajeowi Jurchen. They pull up and stop, maybe twenty yards in front of her. What’s she trying to do? There are a dozen of them and she has only five arrows in her quiver...but she reaches for an arrow, loads it up and aims...and fires.
The Japanese invasions left the southern lands of Joseon in ruins. And now another storm was looming in the northern lands of Joseon. The Jurchens across the Manchurian Plain north of the Amnok River started gathering at the basin of the Pajeo River under the flag of the vicious, powerful Pajeowi. When 10,000 Jurchens gather, no army in the world can defeat them. Feeling threatened by the Pajeowi’s suspicious move, warriors of Joseon scouted another group of the Jurchens in order to keep them in check. They were Jurchens living in Joseon called Seongjeoyain. Since they had lived in Joseon for over a century, they were neither considered Jurchens nor accepted by the people of Joseon as their own and were shunned by all.
We see a large doe walking through the forest. She spots an appetizing-looking plant and goes over and munches on it. We recognize the little blue flowers, don’t we, and on the underside of the leaves, those tiny eggs...and very shortly the doe is shrieking and has fallen into a shallow puddle of water, apparently dying.
Oh wait, not exactly dying. We know better. Her eyes open...but now they’re pupil-less zombie eyes and the doe is now a hyper-aggressive zombie doe! But in her amped-up state she’s not being attentive, and suddenly she’s pounced on by a tiger. The cat kills her and settles down to a big meal.
“This plant brings the dead back to life...but you must pay the price.” So says an inscription on a stone. It’s in what looks to be some sort of tunnel (maybe a cave in a mountainside?), some kind of shrine, and it’s being studied by a young girl. The inscription also includes drawings of the flower.
Two soldiers are walking through a forest—a forest that appears to have some sort of cordoned-off boundary area, from the ropes and noisemakers stretched between trees. They come across a shocking sight: what looks to be a pile of dead bodies.
Citadel of Manpo, obviously nearby: In a marketplace outside of the citadel itself, villagers are talking about a rumor that Jurchens who went into a restricted area nearby called Pyesa-gun in search of wild ginseng were all killed. “I heard that something scary lives in the woods,” one says. “No one has been allowed to enter [there] for the past 100 years.”
We’re back in the forest again and yeah it’s dead bodies. But weird—it looks like they’ve all been dumped there, and they all have spears sticking out of them, so they must have been murdered. The guards are able to identify them as Pajeowi Jurchens. They’re understandably concerned about what will happen if and when the Pajeowi find out about this (so we know we’re near the Amnok River border).
In the village, we watch a man named Tahab butchering a fine-looking pig. A young woman and her mother, and their servant, are buying the meat. The three of them are dressed in much nicer clothes than anyone else there, and the mother calls Tahab and the rest “lowborns” and clearly looks down on them all. Ugh. But she tosses some of the butchered meat back at him as they leave, and the free meat turns into a village party. As they all gather to eat we get a glimpse of Ashin, a girl of maybe 11 or so. Tahab is her father, and we learn that she’s been to Pyesa-gun against her father’s instructions. She was the girl reading the inscription. “Are we just gonna let mom die? They say the wild ginseng there can even bring back the dead.” And inside the small home nearby we can see her mother, lying in bed and apparently very sick.
Just then a squad of soldiers enters the village. Everyone bows in subservience. Chi-rok is their leader—he’s addressed as “Lord” and we eventually learn that he’s the deputy commander at Manpo. (We've seen him before. His name was never given but he was the royal commandery officer in Season 2 who did a lot of the investigating for the minister of military. It isn't clear how he got from here to there.) He and Tahab go into a building where he tells Tahab about the dead Pajeowi. There were fifteen of them. He wants Tahab to cross the river into Pajeowi territory and tell the Pajeowi that the fifteen were killed by a tiger. Really—a spear-wielding tiger? It’s a lie, of course, but Tahab dutifully agrees to do it, apparently in anticipation of his getting some sort of official position from the Joseon government and his village getting official recognition...
Joseon military camp, Chupajin (obviously near Manpo): The fifteen dead bodies have been brought here for examination. More concern expressed about what will happen if the Pajeowi find out...and of course eventually they will...
...and suddenly were at the scene of a Pajeowi cavalry regiment invading a village somewhere and killing everyone in sight. “Hold out a hand and you shall receive help. Pull out the knife and you shall be slain.” Well apparently this village made the wrong choice. One of the invaders is named Aidagan and is identified as the Pajeowi leader.
Rumors are that another Japanese attack in the south may be in the works. What happens if the Pajeowi should take advantage of the situation and attack from the north? Yikes!
Inside the citadel, Chi-rok has come to the commander’s residence to deliver a report—and it’s to a familiar face. It’s Cho Beom-il, the only son of that terrible minister Cho Hak-ju from Episodes 1-10. (Beom-il was the royal army commander who turned into a zombie and nearly killed the crown prince in that dark storage barn in Episode 2. His head was later put in a box and delivered to his father in Episode 4.) Beom-il seems like kind of a jerk, which is how we remember him. Chi-rok knows that Beom-il went hunting with some of his elite soldiers very recently, and believes that the only explanation for those fifteen Pajeowi deaths is that Beom-il and his men killed them. And guess what, he’s right. “They all deserved to die,” Beom-il says nonchalantly, because they were trying to steal his clan’s wild ginseng. Chi-rok shoots that down—it’s not your clan’s ginseng, it’s the king’s—and even if it were, you bring them in and try them according to the law. That enrages Beom-il, who grabs a sword and swings it menacingly, insulted and frustrated because he’s “stuck here in the boondocks”. Turns out he’s here because he abandoned his post during the Japanese invasion and fled. Wonderful. Chi-rok doesn’t even flinch, and warns Beom-il not to screw up again or the consequences for him will be unavoidable. He has obvious contempt for Beom-il.
Back at the Chupajin camp, we see soldiers burning the fifteen bodies.
Evening at the border village: “They all got killed by one tiger?” Even Ashin finds this hard to believe, and worries about her father trying to pitch the story to the Pajeowi. But Tahab feels a sense of loyalty to Joseon because of events involving their ancestors, and believes that a government appointment will be his soon. So he’s been doing jobs like this to communicate with the Jurchen for the government. And has agreed to do this one too.
Next morning: Ashin’s mom has worsened. But no doctor will come to this border village. We see that Ashin has two younger brothers. Stay here with mom, she tells him, and she runs out....
Jurchen border village, just north of the Amnok River. Tahab is telling a gathered crowd a story about a tiger who lives by Mt. Baekdu. Looks like he’s working as an entertainer, or at least that’s his cover. The tiger can even take on human form, he says. “Thousands of men have gone into the mountains and met their death trying to catch the tiger. Haven’t you heard of the Pajeowi Jurchens who climbed the Birch Pass recently? They all got eaten by that tiger.” The crowd seems skeptical. That includes one man who takes a particular interest in his story. “If you’re lying to us,” he tells Tahab with a menacing smile, “you will die.” You sort of get the impression that these two are familiar with each other, possibly from previous scenes like this one.
We figured as much, Ashin has gone to get the plant. And to study the inscription that tells its story and instructs on its use.
Chi-rok and his soldiers have organized a tiger hunt. Seems odd, but whatever...Villagers are being escorted into the mountainous Birch Pass area, banging all kinds of noisy things to stir up any tigers that may be there. Apparently this kind of thing is a big deal for the enthusiastic villagers, but we learn that it’s all being done as a cover for something else...Eventually a tiger turns up. But this isn’t any ordinary tiger. It has freakishly unnatural speed and seems to simply want to kill for the sake of killing, not just for food. This has to be the tiger that ate the doe—it’s now a zombie. As everyone flees, the tiger starts in on them, killing one after another. The retreat horn is sounded and the villagers and soldiers fall back out of the woods. But as the soldiers retreat back into a clearing, suddenly we realize what the point of all this was: there are four Pajeowi soldiers in the clearing, obviously investigating the area to find out what happened to those fifteen Pajeowi. The tiger makes quick work of two of them, and nearly a third—despite stabbing its midsection repeatedly with a dagger--before a well-placed spear strike in the head by Chi-rok kills the tiger and saves him. The Pajeowi examines the tiger and is baffled to find so much dead tissue inside its abdomen...”It was already dead?”...but more to the point, what was NOT inside the tiger was any sign of having eaten humans. Concluding it was all a lie, he tells Chi-rok, “Prepare yourselves for a bloody revenge.” And they turn and start to walk away. Huh? Is Chi-rok really going to let them leave?
It’s nighttime and Ashin has made it back to her village...just after it’s been set on fire with flaming arrows and invaded by Pajeowi who kill everyone. Everyone. Goodness what a terrible sight. Ashin is left to screaming and crying, completely alone.
Next day, or possibly several more days afterwards, we’re not sure: With nowhere else to go, Ashin goes to the Chupajin camp to talk to Chi-rok. Asks him about her father’s fate, and he has to tell her he’s heard that “the Pajeowi have executed a spy from Joseon.” She doesn’t understand anything about what happened or why. “I beg you,” she says, “avenge my father. “A lowborn weakling can’t do it, but Joseon can.” You never gave him the official post he deserved, she bravely says, but you can do this much. And I’ll do whatever you like to help you. She’s very poised and mature for her age, which impresses Chi-rok. We’ll take care of you, he offers.
It’s not much, she gets to sleep in a barn, but at least she can stay warm and dry. And she gets a job as a laborer, tending to pigs and doing laundry for the soldiers. Tough work, especially in the chilly spell they’re having. Villagers whisper about her—"I heard she buried all the bodies herself”--as she goes about her labors. We also see her crossing the river at night to spy on Pajeowi military camps and bring information back to Chi-rok. And in her spare time she practices archery, and gets darned good at it. In one sequence she’s in the woods hunting...
...and then suddenly in the middle of the hunt, ten years has passed and the girl has become a young woman. She’s attractive, but you can see the pain and bitterness all through her. She looks almost numb, and it’s heartbreaking. And she’s still doing the same labors, and sleeping in the same barn.
Bad news: peace talks with Japan have faltered and every spare soldier has been called to the south. Chi-rok has to send most of his own men down there too, so he asks Ashin to cross the river again and check on the Pajeowi. Oh and when he goes to see her he discovers a soldier coming out of the barn with his clothes half off. So apparently Ashin has been raped, at least once, who knows how many times.
She dutifully crosses the river under cover of darkness, and what she finds when she gets there isn’t good. There’s a ton of activity, like they seem to be preparing for something. She actually runs into the camp and sneaks around a bit. And by what can only be described as a preposterous coincidence, finds her father, being held prisoner and in a terrible state, barely clinging to life in some sort of prison building. Around his neck is a yoke with writing on it accusing him of betraying his people. Looks like he’s being kept alive to set an example for everyone else. And it's hard to see in the dark setting but it looks like his arms and legs may have been cut off. She’s overcome with emotion, understandably, and pulls desperately at the chains that hold him. But he begs her to kill him and end his suffering. And eventually, she does. With a quick stab to the heart.
As she leaves the camp we can see that she exacted some revenge—two fairly significant fires are burning and the camp is in a panic.
She returns home—it’s morning now—and sees soldiers leaving the camp. She spots a distinctive feather pattern on arrows being carried by one of the soldiers. It’s another wild coincidence because she recognizes the pattern from long ago—from coming across one of the dead Pajeowi ginseng-searchers as a young girl. Did Joseon soldiers kill those Pajeowi? The possibility impels her to break into the commander’s office and search through the military logs. And pretty quickly she finds this entry:
“Some Pajeowi Jurchens sneaked into Pyesa-gun to steal ginseng. All of them were ambushed and killed. A war with Pajeowi seemed imminent due to growing tensions, but we wiped out a Seongjeoyain village and managed to prevent such a disaster.”
...now a flashback to the rest of that scene in the clearing with those two surviving Pajeowi soldiers, and now we learn why Chi-rok didn’t kill them on the spot. You’re right, he tells them, it wasn’t a tiger. Someone attacked and killed them. And we found this at the site, he says, tossing them something. It’s a small, round tanned-hide box. We saw a glimpse of a stack of these little boxes long ago, just briefly. They were a product of Ashin’s village, possibly made by her father. In other words, Chi-rok framed Tahab and his village, sacrificing them to prevent a larger war.
...The log falls from Ashin’s hand.
She goes back to her barn, finds a soldier there looking for her—we can guess why. He’s examining some small flowers he’s found in her bed. She sneaks up behind him and slits his throat. We don’t see what happens next, but then suddenly the soldier is a zombie. The zombie runs wild through the camp and kills two fellow soldiers. And apparently has killed others, because now zombies are popping up inside a barracks. Another zombie has been created inside Chi-rok’s office, the flower stuck into his forehead. Chi-rok barely escapes it and flees outside. But outside, the entire citadel has become zombiepalooza. And on top of everything else, Ashin is standing on the camp walls firing arrows. And kills Chi-rok and a bunch of the others. On the ground, zombies and soldiers are killing each other; until eventually only a few scattered zombies are left. And one soldier, who recognizes her (we probably know how) and begs for help getting up on the wall. She shoots an arrow into his hand, pinning him at the edge of the wall, and the dripping blood attracts all of the remaining zombies who devour him. Then she tosses some sort of accelerant onto the zombies and lights it with a flaming arrow. And stands there with a cold, satisfied look on her face as the zombies die.
Wait, she left one soldier alive and somehow has hung him on some sort of metal hanger inside her barn. From his apologetic tone he took advantage of her plenty. He begs for his life...
Now she’s pulling a heavy cloth bag along behind her as she heads towards a village. We see flashbacks that tell us it’s her home village. But the Jurchens killed everyone so why is she here?
...Now a flashback to that party meal the village had with that pig meat. Remember? They all ate the pig meat...maybe that fine-looking pig wasn’t so fine after all?
...And what we see in front of us is now a barn full of zombie villagers! Chained to the barn somehow to prevent escape. And on a cart she’s now pushing, is that soldier from before. His arms and legs have been cut off and obviously the rest of him was in the bag she was pulling. And he’s still alive, still begging for mercy—until she pushes the cart into the mass of chained zombies and they eat him alive. I’ve been feeding you wild game, she tells them all, but from now on “I’ll provide you with only delicious meals.”
(So those whispers about “She buried all the bodies herself”...well it looks more like she went and got plenty of the resurrection plant and tried to revive everyone after the Jurchen killed them. And this is what happened. Oopsie.)
We are together, she tells the zombie villagers in her thoughts as she leaves. “When my job here is done, after I kill every living thing on Joseon and Jurchen soil, I will join you.”
Uiju, at the northern border: Joseon envoys are stopping here temporarily, on a journey to China. Their purpose is to ask for help defending against Japan. Ashin is there and watches the envoy party pass through the streets. With the envoys is someone who looks familiar to us...
...It’s Lee Seung-hui, the physician we know from the south. After the party has stopped and settled into their lodgings, she visits him and she shows him the plant. And as she explains its use, we see glimpses of her as the younger girl we first encountered, using the plant on her villagers. So now we know how Lee the physician learned of the plant, and we also get confirmation about those villagers.
In the final scene, Ashin is standing alone in the middle of a broad plain, as men on horseback approach. It’s Aidagan and a squad of Pajeowi Jurchen. They pull up and stop, maybe twenty yards in front of her. What’s she trying to do? There are a dozen of them and she has only five arrows in her quiver...but she reaches for an arrow, loads it up and aims...and fires.
