Home > Feature

The life lessons of ‘Guardian’

  • Published : Jan 22, 2017 - 16:13
  • Updated : Jan 22, 2017 - 16:50

image
(tvN)
TvN’s hit “Guardian: the Lonely and Great God” completed its 16-episode run Saturday.

The romantic comedy began with a goblin cursed to an eternal life, but beneath the fantasy plot were several life lessons.

God doesn’t have all the answers



In the 12th episode of the series, God takes over the body of Yoo Deok-hwa (Yook Sung-jae) to answer the main characters who had been questioning and blaming god for the challenges in their lives.

“God is just a questioner; destiny is a question I give. Find the answers yourselves,” god said through Yoo.

In the drama, the main characters struggled to find out the divine will behind their hardship. They sometimes made choices in unexpected ways.

image
(tvN)
In the final episode, the “Dokkaebi bride,” Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun) died soon after she finally married her destined husband Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), sacrificing herself to save several young children from an accident.

“God cannot calculate or predict the sacrifices of humans,” said the grim reaper Wang Yeo (Lee Dong-wook) upon the destiny-changing accident. “It is instinct that comes out in the moment and a choice made by humans (not God).”

Reaping what you sow

In the drama, every person has four lives: one that sows, one that waters, one that reaps and one that consumes. From a king to a handmaiden, the rewards and punishments for their previous lives all took place in their next lives.

Meanwhile, the drama depicts grim reapers as those being punished for deadly sins in their previous lives. The sin turns out to be suicide, which ends up being forgiven after they finally learn to appreciate life.

In the series, virtue is rewarded and evil is punished, but the drama also touches on the themes of mercy and hope.

“Everyone has a moment when God stays in their life. If someone pushes you back to life when you are drifting away from it, then that is the moment when God stays with you” the drama repeatedly says through its main characters.

image
(tvN)
Although Ji dies at the peak of her happiness, she begins her second life with the memories from her previous life preserved, ending up with her lover again.

By Kim So-yeon (syk19372@heraldcorp.com)

Most Read Stories : Week