'The Red Sleeve' ending explained: Is it a dream or did Duk Im really die?

The Red Sleeve episodes 16 and 17 leave audiences in shock with the ending that can well be misunderstood. However, if one were to know the ending of the novel that the show is based on, it would be easier to understand what happens towards the end of the show.

San (Lee Jun Ho) manages to consummate his relationship with Duk Im (Lee Se Young), and she becomes the royal consort after this. Her change in position in The Red Sleeve results in Duk Im's loss of her freedom, which really eats away at her. The last two episodes then portray the many years that come after she becomes a consort, where she slowly loses herself to the palace.

She has no choice anymore and is always locked inside the palace. She watches her friends step out during a free day and envies them for it. However, her love for San keeps her by the King's side despite the growing restlessness in her. It is this ever-increasing unhappiness that causes Duk Im's death in the final episodes of The Red Sleeve.

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Sung Duk Im faces multiple losses as a royal consort in 'The Red Sleeve'

In addition to her freedom, Duk Im faces a huge loss when her eldest son, the Crown Prince, dies after being diagnosed with measles. Right after in The Red Sleeve, one of Duk Im's best friends is caught having an affair. As a court maid, it is against the rules for her to have had a relationship with any man other than the King himself. As a result, she is sentenced to death and there is nothing that Duk Im can do.

She knows the rules in The Red Sleeve and she also understands that the King would not give her friend a second chance. She understands that he has to be fair and just as a King, so all she is capable of doing is to lock herself up and stay alone for a while. She seems to be pregnant for the second time when all of this transpires in The Red Sleeve.

These events weighed down on her when the King was diagnosed with a minor eye infection. He passes out, and also has a mild temperature when she checks up on him. She treats him and nurses him back to health. When he attempts to make her leave his side because he is worried for her, she refuses. She seems to know that she doesn't have too much time.

Does San move on from Duk Im's death in 'The Red Sleeve'?

Just then, the King realizes that something is wrong with her and very soon, Duk Im falls sick. She passed away three days later. Just before she does, the King speaks to her in an attempt to give her strength, but he sees her slipping away.

In desperation, he asks her if she ever loved him. Of course, she did. She did not confess her feelings to him because she needed to be in control of at least one aspect of her life.

She also requests that he pass her by in another life and have nothing to do with her. Her last words torment the King until the very end of The Red Sleeve. Year after year, he holds on and works for his people's welfare until he too falls sick. It is at this time that he closes his eyes to wake up in the palace where Duk Im used to stay initially as the royal consort.

It seems as if the years that San had faced alone in Duk Im's absence were just a nightmare. It appears as if he woke up in Duk Im's lap after realizing that the events in his nightmare were not true. However, that is not the case.

The last scene of San waking up in the presence of Duk Im is the afterlife. San gets a chance to return to the palace alive, but somehow, he remembers how heartbroken he had been in Duk Im's absence.

He chooses to stay with her forever, even if it were only possible after their respective deaths. That is why their love is deemed eternal in the novel, and The Red Sleeve has adapted it faithfully.

Note: The article reflects the writer's personal opinion.