Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 Episode 11 (2023)

Episode 11 of Tale of the Nine Tailed: 1938 begins with Yeon, whose still disguised as Onyudo, rallying the Mercenaries to his cause and deciding they should find the Fox and track him down. Yeon plays his role well, convincing his two associates to follow. As for Onyudo, who’s in Yeon’s body, he tries groping Hong-joo and getting the stone back. However, she looks close to punching him… until the Mercenaries arrive.

Both Hong-joo and Moo-yeong find themselves in individual fights, as Yuki squares off against the latter and Hong-joo finds herself in a test of strength against our toad demon, Oogama. It soon becomes clear that Yeon is not himself, and as he slashes Hong-joo with his sword. This momentary lapse of concentration is enough for Yuki to freeze Moo-yeong. When Hong-joo learns of this, she’s shocked.

Never one to shy away from a fight, she jumps in and decides to fight them all on her own. Of course, she’s no match as Yuki freezes her. He underestimates Moo-yeong, who uses his fire powers to unfreeze himself and manages to stab the Mercenary.

After stabbing Oogama numerous times, he tries to use his fire skills to unfreeze Hong-joo as well. It happens too slowly for his liking and fails to completely unmelt her though, and even worse, Nyudo decides to switch bodies into Moo-yeong’s.

Yeon jumps in the way and manages to get back in his own body, but a couple of nasty sword wounds put him out of commission for a bit. Thankfully, Yeon conjures his lightning powers and turns Nyudo into dust. As he does, Hong-joo completely unfreezes. They get their trinkets back and, lying down on the grass, there’s a really neat camera rotation that sees the three of them back in the hotel again.

Speaking of which, Satori walks away from the bloody hallway, while Rang and the others return to Yeo-hee just in time. Given they were about to kill her, Rang and the others couldn’t have shown any sooner. Rang reluctantly drinks some of the cocktail himself, but he’s more concerned about his lover, who’s hanging on by a thread.

Yeo-hee does eventually wake up and she whispers “I love you,” to the fox. Rang retorts with a kiss. The Yacha all seem to have gone now too, given the curse has been lifted, but of course this is far from the end of the Mercenaries. At least, the few left anyway.

Hong-joo, Yeon and Moo-yeong inexplicably show up in Myoyeongak but Yeon quickly realizes they’re not there after all; it’s another vision and they’re stuck inside of in Room 404. They never actually left!

When they realize this, the trio are whiplashed back into Room 404 again, where Satori greets them with a wry smile. He introduces himself as the boss and tells them they can’t step outside the room. Naturally, the other two Mercenaries show too and together, demand the treasures. Yeon willingly hands them over too, as Satori reveals that in fact, Yeon has been hypnotized since the very start. He was part of the Hypnotsim Society from Bando Hotel’s atrium, and he charmed all of them with his “one, two, three” phrasing.

However, Yeon is clever and has actually been using the same phrasing himself. This translates to the Mercenaries, who are under Yeon’s spell and grab Satori, freezing him and holding him tight. Yeon takes back the treasures and stabs Satori, who’s then thrown off the roof, alongside the other Mercenaries, all at Yeon’s command.

Moo-yeong, who had been ordered to choke Hong-joo, grabs the bag with the trinkets in and takes off. He manages to get hold of the ruler during the scuffle though, while Yeon is left with the stone.

While Moo-yeong slips away, everyone left finds themselves leaving Bando Hotel and heading back to Myoyeongak. While they do, Eun-ho contemplates another plan, this time involving blowing up her wedding, which is likely to be attended by numerous government officials.

Kato prepares for his wedding but he heads to see the Snail Bride first, pointing out that he knows about her little rebellion and sends a message. He wants Eun-ho to know that there’s absolutely no hope in trying to rebel, as it won’t work. The Snail Bride starts to get cold feet and contemplates whether they should hold off the attack.

The wedding is due to take place in two days’ time, which happens to be the lunar eclipse and also when Yeon has to head back home. When he finds out, he decides to go all-in and help Eun-ho, believing this holds the key to finishing everything.

Before this though, Yeon speaks to his little brother and advises him to live well and whenever he misses Yeon, to think of the ugly things that have happened in their life. In the wake of this, Moo-yeong also lets his emotions show, getting Hong-joo a pair of beautiful green shoes. Yeon though, likens them to watermelons! But then Jae-yoo also likes her too and he’s teased by Shin-joo and our Bandit Boss outside.

Despite losing the ruler to Moo-yeong, Yeon is pretty calm and he suggests Hong-joo help him out in taking down the Chief Commissioner. While they talk, Moo-yeong heads out into the wilderness with the ruler. Although he’s badly hurt, he promises to get the guardian stone when he’s healed up. Moo-yeong wants to live a normal life with his brother when he’s revived, pleading with him to come back.

Yeon speaks to Taluipa before the final fight, who points out that the ruler and the stone should not exist in the same time period. They attract to one another like magnets and want to become one, like they were before. The thing is, what Moo-yeong is trying to revive is not actually his brother. All this time, he’s been played for a fool. Moo-yeong is unaware of all this though. He burns an effigy and stands outside a large circle that begins burning.

The fire goes out suddenly and Ho-gyeong shows up before him, in the flesh. Only, his fingers are demonic and as he hugs Moo-yeong, he reveals that he’s not actually his brother. He thanks the mountain god for his help and touches Moo-yeong’s forehead. As he does, Moo-yeong turns stiff as a board and falls backwards onto the ground. Hong-joo notices something amiss when she drops a vase, as Moo-yeong’s heart stops.

Yeon races to the scene, while Ho-gyeong monologues, revealing how he’s the original mountain god and is about to finish what he started. As he walks away, laughing evilly, Moo-yeong reflects back on his fond memories of times gone by and decides that actually, he does want to live. Yeon makes it in time and urges him to wake up. Only, it’s too late.

Back in town, Rang heads inside a shop to grabs a gift for Yeo-hee but when he does, Yeo-hee finds herself stalked by a scarred woman, who reveals herself in the alleyway to be none other than Yuki! Unfortunately Oogama also shows up before Jae-yoo and smiles evilly, confirming that both Mercenaries are still alive.

It seems Yeo-hee is still alive though, thankfully, as Yeon examines the scene and notices the blood isn’t a fatal amount. He also notices a snowball trinket waiting for him. Rang is beside himself with grief and bemoans how he’s been living as a half-breed. Yeon promises he won’t leave him again and with time running out, sets everything up for a nail-biting finale.

The Episode Review

An action-packed episode rounds out the penultimate chapter of Tale of the Nine Tailed. Who would have known that way back in 2020 we’d be looking at this second season as one of the best K-dramas of the year!

The tone and pacing for this show has been exactly what season 1 lacked, and with less focus on romance and more on action and fantasy, Tale of the Nine Tailed has really shined brightly.

This episode features a fair few shockers too, especially Yeo-hee being stabbed by Yuki at the end and the truth about Ho-gyeong too. Will Yeo-hee be alive at the end? Will Yeon make it back to his time period? And what will happen to the fate of both time periods? The agonizing wait for tomorrow’s finale begins!