In this episode, we recap and analyze Episode 16, the finale, of Hotel Del Luna. In this episode, all of the staff resolve their grudges and move on to the afterlife. Bartender Kim overcomes his shame over being labeled a lewd scholar when Man Wol and Koo Chan Sung convince the author to write a novel about a fictional, but honorable, Kim Si-ik. Guest manager Seo hee learns that the daughter of the eldest grandson in her husband’s family will carry the mother’s name, thus ending the family line. Hyun joong’s sister dies and is reunited with her beloved brother.  

Man Wol and Koo Chan Sung realize that they met nearly 1,300 years ago, when Man Wol became an orphan and Koo Chan Sung and his dad found her and adopted her into their family. Man Wol is able to muster her courage to go into the tunnel to the afterlife, but only after Mago grants their wish of seeing winter together. We see Man Wol, Chan Sung, Bartender Kim, Seo hee and Hyun joong reunite in what might have been a dream or the future. The final scene shows Mago introducing the new owner of the hotel to her sisters; Kim Soo Hyun makes an unforgettable cameo as the owner of Hotel Blue Moon.

We do a short recap of the show, and then we dive deep into the episode. We discuss:

• Another song from the OST - Happy Ending, written and performed by IU herself!
• Bartender Kim’s story and how he might have been the Shakespeare of Joseon.
• How Man Wol showed her love for Bartender Kim in her actions, but not when he was leaving for the afterlife.
• What cranes represent in Korean culture and how Joanna is obsessed with them.
• The scholar Brene Brown and her work on shame.
• Hyeon mi’s death and her reunion with Hyun joong.
• How forlorn Yuna became at the thought of Hyun joong leaving and the hotel .disappeared, but how she overcame her grief to give Hyun joong a proper sendoff and flowers from Mago.
• How Seo hee overcame her grudge when she learned that her husband’s family line would come to an end.  
• How Seo hee came to the rescue of the pregnant woman and her baby in a way that nobody came to her rescue 200 years ago.
• The benefits of curses.
• The dream that let Man Wol and Chan Sung know they had met in the past.
• Man Wol and Chan Sung’s goodbye at the tunnel to the afterlife.
• How Man Wol walked alone into the tunnel, without assistance from the grip reaper or a limousine.
• What we think will happen to Yuna and Chan Sung in the future.
• The ending scene with the entire cast; is it a dream or the future?
• How we learn that there are 12 Magos.
• The ending scene where the new owner of Hotel Blue Moon is revealed.

References:

• Kim Soo Hyun To Make Cameo Appearance In “Hotel Del Luna” Finale
• Ending of Hotel Del Luna Explained
• Hotel Del Luna delivers spellbinding, cathartic ending
• The Ending of Hotel Del Luna Explained
• What do broken-hearted knitters, urinating goalkeepers and the CIA have in common:
• Philadelphia Museum of Art on cranes in Korean culture
• K Drama’s obsession over books and literature