7 *Heart-Stopping* Moments We Can't Wait To See In Episode 16 Of 'The King: Eternal Monarch'

WARNING: *Major* spoilers ahead for Episodes 16 of The King: Eternal Monarch! Don't read if you haven't seen the latest episodes yet!

D-Day has finally come: We are now down to the very last episode of The King: Eternal Monarch. Having followed the epic fantasy and sci-fi drama these past few months has been overwhelming and intense but oh-so-totally satisfying! By now, we have our guesses and theories (I mean, is there anyone who watches this show who doesn't? LOL) on how the show will wrap up, but before we get into them, here's a quick recap of the *crucial* moments from Episodes 14 and 15:

• Lee Gon (Lee Min Ho) successfully saved his younger self when he went back to the ~night of treason~ in 1994. But he found out that Prince Buyeong's son helped Lee Lim escape from the palace.
• Lee Lim (Lee Jung Jin) also went back to 1994 and tried to convince his younger self to kill eight-year-old Lee Gon instead. True to his character, he didn't give in, and he (1994 Lee Lim) ended up killing his future self (2020 Lee Lim).
• Shin Jae (Kim Kyung Nam) found out that his "father" had some shady dealings with Lee Lim, which resulted in Shin Jae being brought from the Kingdom of Corea to the Republic of Korea when he was a child.
• Since the Manpasikjeok (the magical flute) was split in half, Lee Gon couldn't jump from the year 1994 straight to 2020. So Lee Gon actually had to go through those 26 years (or around four months using the ~in-between~) to make it back to Tae Eul (Kim Go Eun) in 2020. During that time, he visited five-year-old and 27-year-old Tae Eul.
• Lee Gon also went back to the day he won the boat race and asked Jo Young (Woo Do Hwan) for an access card and planted the bunny sweater for Luna to grab—with the access card in the pocket. TL;DR: He basically had to do things ~according to plan~ so his future (and everyone else's) would be the same.
• Back in 2020, Luna ended up stabbing Tae Eun in the stomach. BUT she lived 'cause for some strange reason, Luna decided to ~spare Tae Eul's life~ and gave her a wound that wasn't deep enough to kill her.
• Lee Lim met up with Shin Jae and gave him the mission to kill Lee Gon.
• Tae Eul and co. caught Luna and kept her in custody so she wouldn't do any other shady things...BUT Tae Eul ended up freeing Luna. For what reason? We don't know yet!
• Lee Gon and Tae Eul reunite!!! They do so many love-dovey couple-y things—which only means one thing: Lee Gon will have to leave her again. This time, it might be for good.
• We all weren't ready for this one: The most heartbreaking goodbye happened between Jo Young and Eun Seob! But they promised each other to meet each other again someday.
• In the Kingdom, Shin Jae met his real mom and had some closure about his painful past.
• Lee Lim got poisoned—albeit not enough to kill him—by Lee Ji Hun's mother. On her part, she also poisoned herself and finally got the "freedom" she always wanted.
• Prime Minister Gu (Jung Eun Chae) called up her mom and asked for their ~secret code~ to verify her identity. Her mom didn't give the correct answer which only means one thing: Her real mom was replaced by her doppelganger.
• Lee Gon, along with Jo Young and Shin Jae, captured Lee Lim! Yes!!! But after going to the bamboo forest, Lee Gon soon realized that having two separate halves of the Manpasikjeok wasn't gonna fix their parallel worlds. He came to the conclusion that he had to go back again to 1994, and instead of saving his younger self, he must kill Lee Lim in order to stop the Manpasikjeok from ever being split in half. If he's successful, it only means Lee Gon won't exist past 1994...
• Surprise, surprise: Lee Gon wasn't alone when he traveled back to 1994—his Unbreakable Sword Jo Young went with him!!!

Yup, I'm still as shell-shocked as you all are. So, for the very last time (*cries*), let's dissect the very short but very loaded Episode 16 teaser:

1. Someone who looks like Lee Gon crosses paths with someone who looks like Tae Eul. But here's the big reveal: The man is actually Lee Ji Hun, Lee Gon's Republic doppelganger.

2. The Manpasikjeok is whole! Were Lee Gon and Jo Young successful in killing Lee Lim?!

3. But Jo Young is all bloody—why, what, how?

4. And Shin Jae is hiding from someone or something. Things are looking real bleak right now…

5. Lee Gon races through the palace to meet…

6. ...a crying Tae Eul?

7. And finally, it looks like we'll get the answers to that mysterious Episode 10 scene between Lee Gon and Tae Eul. Yup, everything's coming full circle.

The King: Eternal Monarch is available for streaming on Netflix.

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