I posted earlier about my theory that the third psychic has the power to possess other people and is hijacking other bodies to kill. Takyuubin asked me what then would be the motive for the killing, and I have a few divergent theories, which I didn’t include in the post due to length. Here are some of them:
The Political Theory This is the most logical one and the least twisty. The first half of the show had a lot of political aspects and ties back to Seoul. We know that Baek (the gang leader who Jang Yeol is after) has political connections that allow him to avoid prison. Baek also has ties to drugs and prostitution. Chairman Cha’s original boss is now a powerful Seoul politician. We know that there was something fishy and important about Chairman Cha’s donor list. So how does this intrigue tie into each murder:
1) The Streamer—Recall that she was paid an exorbitant fee to appear in Chairman Cha’s video. The chairman’s assistant specifically grouses about this. That could be a disguised blackmail payoff. Perhaps she was propositioned by/sent dirty videos from/had an affair with either the Chairman or the Chairman’s original boss. 2) Jang Yeol’s brother—If Baek is connected the Chairman’s boss, then Jang Yeol’s brother might have witnessed Chairman Cha or his assistant in a compromising situation. Recall that the brother rode up in the hospital elevator with both Cha and his assistant. Either the Chairman or his assistant realized that the brother could identify them and thus he posed a risk to them. 3) Coffee Delivery Woman—Her boss is very suspect and could have ties to Baek. The coffee shop could be a front for both drugs and sex work. Coffee Delivery Woman could have also observed illegal behavior from Chairman Cha or the assistant or their Big Boss, the Seoul politician. 4) Chairman Cha—He became a liability as his crime of killing Ye Bun’s mother was about to be exposed. He either was offed by his co-conspirators or, based on the theory I discuss in more depth in my original post, he is the third physic. He decided to shed his original body and plans to take control of his Big Boss’s body and assume his more powerful position in Seoul. 5) Grandfather— Either because he’d figured out the political conspiracy or because he was a witness of Chairman Cha’s death, or both. 6) Gwang Shik—He figured out who the killer was and how the blackout works. (My previous post discusses this in more detail.) 7) Attempted murder of Ye Bun—She’s a physic too. If Gwang Shik figured it out, so could she. 8) Seon Woo—Either he’d unearthed some of the political secrets, figured out how the killing was happening, or he was defending Ye Bun, or a combination of any of the foregoing.
The biggest candidate would be the assistant. Also, any of the police could be on the payroll of Baek/the Seoul politician, which includes our three hometown detectives and the knee-kicking chief of police. There is also the owner of the coffee shop. Baek (who likely knows Ye Bun is psychic after Jang Yeol had her keep touching his butt) and the Seoul political boss are also possibilities, but lesser ones because why would they have been at the farm during the meteor shower? They could have been there as a twist, or could be pressuring/ordering the third psychic to kill. There is also my wild Chairman Cha theory.
The Most Twisty Theory of Mine It’s Seon Woo’s mom. Her body was buried at the farm and the cow’s essence awoke her ghost and gave her the power of possession. Alternatively, perhaps she had lost her previous memories and/or had a psychotic break. She was either living as a recluse in Mujin (perhaps helped by Gwang Shik’s father) or is actually the Shaman’s wife who was in town for the meteor shower. The essence of cow gave her both her powers and perhaps restored some of her memories.
Taking Jang Yeol’s theory of betrayal, she originally started killing those who are two-faced or who betrayed someone—streamer, Jang Yeol’s brother, coffee delivery woman, and Chairman Cha (especially when it became clear that he’d betrayed her late best friend, Ye Bun’s mom). This could arise from her own sense of betrayal with the property fraud and Chairman Cha’s duplicitousness. Grandpa, Gwang Shik, and Seon Woo were killed as she desperately worked to cover up her identity. She might not have realized Seon Woo was her son or perhaps Seon Woo isn’t actually dead or she found his actions to unmask her a betrayal.
If she’s had a psychotic break, she might think that the Shaman’s son is Seon Woo. While possessing the shaman, she might have had him bring his son back to Mujin (if she isn’t actually his wife). If she is the ghost, perhaps she’s possessing a woman when she’s not possessing people in Mujin. Then she is who the son is with when he isn’t with the Shaman. (Recall the Shaman says someone is watching his son, but the person is mysteriously never shown.) This child-watching theory also applies if she was the hermit or the Shaman’s wife.
I have other theories, but these are my main ones. A lot of other posters have really good ones as well.
What if the third psychic’s power is the ability to possess people and control their bodies after the third psychic was infused with the essence of cow during the meteor shower? Here is my reasoning:
(A) Everyone has blackouts. (If it was just the killer creating blackouts, the dark blanks would be unique to them. However, both Ye Bun and Kwang Shik report everyone having them. The reason could be that the killer has possessed multiple people, perhaps not just for the purpose of murder, but also for other reasons to further their agenda.) (B) All residents in Mujin apparently possess a green rain poncho and a blue flower knife, and the murders generally happen during the rain. (Therefore, it would be easy for the killer to possess multiple people wearing the same attire.) (C) The killer originally walked in a stumbling pattern. (This could be the killer struggling with learning how to control a possessed body.) (D) The killer’s stabbing is improving. (The killer is getting better with their possession powers.) (E) The killer isn’t closing their eyes. (If the killer is possessing bodies and suppressing their owner’s subconscious into a sleep-like state, the possessed people would have no memories, just the blackouts. The killer can freely use the eyes of the possessed.) (F) The shaman’s confusion, fear, and signs of guilt—even his relief when Ye Bun says that he isn’t the killer. (The shaman has likely been possessed multiple times. I conjecture he was originally being used by the killer to murder Chairman Cha, but Ye Bun broke the trance.) (G) Kwang Shik’s guilt at the grandfather’s funeral, his furtive actions, and his reaction to when Ye Bun was about to read his girlfriend’s butt. (Either Kwang Shik or his GF were possessed and their body used to kill Chairman Cha and the grandfather. This is how Kwang Shik ultimately figured out the blackouts. He or his GF were on their way to deliver milk to the Chairman that night, and the killer took over his or her body. Kwang Shik or his GF came home with blood on his or her finger, which is why Kwang Shik had a strong reaction to the bloodied light switch when he saw it the night after Chairman Cha’s death. It may have triggered a latent memory. Kwang Shik may have realized his gaps in memories coincided with the murder, and someone was controlling his body and causing the blackouts.) (H) The blood on Seon Woo’s hand, his possession of the bloody knife, the fact he washed his hands before Jang Yeol burst into the house to search it, Seon Woo’s proximity to the fight with Jang Yeol, Seon Woo’s questioning of what powers the third psychic might have. (Seon Woo was possessed to kill Kwang Shik. That is why he didn’t know why blood was on his hand. He also found the bloody knife but was afraid to tell anyone since he was already a suspect. He might have also figured out the blackouts and was about to tell Ye Bun.) (I) The killer was able to find the coffee delivery woman so easily. (Either Ye Bun was possessed and the killer saw the location or Ye Bun’s body was used to kill the victim, which will be hard on Ye Bun if that is the case.)
So who is the killer? Well, anyone. They no longer need to be a Mujin resident since they can kill from afar, opening the door to Baek and the original Chairman (Chairman Cha’s old boss). It could be someone frail like Kwang Shik’s dad who might be reluctant to sell his land because a body is buried there—like Seon Woo’s mom. If the essence of cow went down into the ground where a body is buried, perhaps it is Seon Woo’s mom’s ghost. (Also, alternatively, what if the shaman’s unseen wife is Seon Woo’s mom, who had lost her memories and somehow regained them if she was visiting from Australia and was at the meteor shower.) The killer could even be someone who died like Chairman Cha, who’d figured they’d sacrifice their original corporal body and just take over a rich, powerful person’s body when the killing was done (like the body of Chairman Cha’s boss).
The Political Theory
This is the most logical one and the least twisty. The first half of the show had a lot of political aspects and ties back to Seoul. We know that Baek (the gang leader who Jang Yeol is after) has political connections that allow him to avoid prison. Baek also has ties to drugs and prostitution. Chairman Cha’s original boss is now a powerful Seoul politician. We know that there was something fishy and important about Chairman Cha’s donor list. So how does this intrigue tie into each murder:
1) The Streamer—Recall that she was paid an exorbitant fee to appear in Chairman Cha’s video. The chairman’s assistant specifically grouses about this. That could be a disguised blackmail payoff. Perhaps she was propositioned by/sent dirty videos from/had an affair with either the Chairman or the Chairman’s original boss.
2) Jang Yeol’s brother—If Baek is connected the Chairman’s boss, then Jang Yeol’s brother might have witnessed Chairman Cha or his assistant in a compromising situation. Recall that the brother rode up in the hospital elevator with both Cha and his assistant. Either the Chairman or his assistant realized that the brother could identify them and thus he posed a risk to them.
3) Coffee Delivery Woman—Her boss is very suspect and could have ties to Baek. The coffee shop could be a front for both drugs and sex work. Coffee Delivery Woman could have also observed illegal behavior from Chairman Cha or the assistant or their Big Boss, the Seoul politician.
4) Chairman Cha—He became a liability as his crime of killing Ye Bun’s mother was about to be exposed. He either was offed by his co-conspirators or, based on the theory I discuss in more depth in my original post, he is the third physic. He decided to shed his original body and plans to take control of his Big Boss’s body and assume his more powerful position in Seoul.
5) Grandfather— Either because he’d figured out the political conspiracy or because he was a witness of Chairman Cha’s death, or both.
6) Gwang Shik—He figured out who the killer was and how the blackout works. (My previous post discusses this in more detail.)
7) Attempted murder of Ye Bun—She’s a physic too. If Gwang Shik figured it out, so could she.
8) Seon Woo—Either he’d unearthed some of the political secrets, figured out how the killing was happening, or he was defending Ye Bun, or a combination of any of the foregoing.
The biggest candidate would be the assistant. Also, any of the police could be on the payroll of Baek/the Seoul politician, which includes our three hometown detectives and the knee-kicking chief of police. There is also the owner of the coffee shop. Baek (who likely knows Ye Bun is psychic after Jang Yeol had her keep touching his butt) and the Seoul political boss are also possibilities, but lesser ones because why would they have been at the farm during the meteor shower? They could have been there as a twist, or could be pressuring/ordering the third psychic to kill. There is also my wild Chairman Cha theory.
The Most Twisty Theory of Mine
It’s Seon Woo’s mom. Her body was buried at the farm and the cow’s essence awoke her ghost and gave her the power of possession. Alternatively, perhaps she had lost her previous memories and/or had a psychotic break. She was either living as a recluse in Mujin (perhaps helped by Gwang Shik’s father) or is actually the Shaman’s wife who was in town for the meteor shower. The essence of cow gave her both her powers and perhaps restored some of her memories.
Taking Jang Yeol’s theory of betrayal, she originally started killing those who are two-faced or who betrayed someone—streamer, Jang Yeol’s brother, coffee delivery woman, and Chairman Cha (especially when it became clear that he’d betrayed her late best friend, Ye Bun’s mom). This could arise from her own sense of betrayal with the property fraud and Chairman Cha’s duplicitousness. Grandpa, Gwang Shik, and Seon Woo were killed as she desperately worked to cover up her identity. She might not have realized Seon Woo was her son or perhaps Seon Woo isn’t actually dead or she found his actions to unmask her a betrayal.
If she’s had a psychotic break, she might think that the Shaman’s son is Seon Woo. While possessing the shaman, she might have had him bring his son back to Mujin (if she isn’t actually his wife). If she is the ghost, perhaps she’s possessing a woman when she’s not possessing people in Mujin. Then she is who the son is with when he isn’t with the Shaman. (Recall the Shaman says someone is watching his son, but the person is mysteriously never shown.) This child-watching theory also applies if she was the hermit or the Shaman’s wife.
I have other theories, but these are my main ones. A lot of other posters have really good ones as well.
(A) Everyone has blackouts. (If it was just the killer creating blackouts, the dark blanks would be unique to them. However, both Ye Bun and Kwang Shik report everyone having them. The reason could be that the killer has possessed multiple people, perhaps not just for the purpose of murder, but also for other reasons to further their agenda.)
(B) All residents in Mujin apparently possess a green rain poncho and a blue flower knife, and the murders generally happen during the rain. (Therefore, it would be easy for the killer to possess multiple people wearing the same attire.)
(C) The killer originally walked in a stumbling pattern. (This could be the killer struggling with learning how to control a possessed body.)
(D) The killer’s stabbing is improving. (The killer is getting better with their possession powers.)
(E) The killer isn’t closing their eyes. (If the killer is possessing bodies and suppressing their owner’s subconscious into a sleep-like state, the possessed people would have no memories, just the blackouts. The killer can freely use the eyes of the possessed.)
(F) The shaman’s confusion, fear, and signs of guilt—even his relief when Ye Bun says that he isn’t the killer. (The shaman has likely been possessed multiple times. I conjecture he was originally being used by the killer to murder Chairman Cha, but Ye Bun broke the trance.)
(G) Kwang Shik’s guilt at the grandfather’s funeral, his furtive actions, and his reaction to when Ye Bun was about to read his girlfriend’s butt. (Either Kwang Shik or his GF were possessed and their body used to kill Chairman Cha and the grandfather. This is how Kwang Shik ultimately figured out the blackouts. He or his GF were on their way to deliver milk to the Chairman that night, and the killer took over his or her body. Kwang Shik or his GF came home with blood on his or her finger, which is why Kwang Shik had a strong reaction to the bloodied light switch when he saw it the night after Chairman Cha’s death. It may have triggered a latent memory. Kwang Shik may have realized his gaps in memories coincided with the murder, and someone was controlling his body and causing the blackouts.)
(H) The blood on Seon Woo’s hand, his possession of the bloody knife, the fact he washed his hands before Jang Yeol burst into the house to search it, Seon Woo’s proximity to the fight with Jang Yeol, Seon Woo’s questioning of what powers the third psychic might have. (Seon Woo was possessed to kill Kwang Shik. That is why he didn’t know why blood was on his hand. He also found the bloody knife but was afraid to tell anyone since he was already a suspect. He might have also figured out the blackouts and was about to tell Ye Bun.)
(I) The killer was able to find the coffee delivery woman so easily. (Either Ye Bun was possessed and the killer saw the location or Ye Bun’s body was used to kill the victim, which will be hard on Ye Bun if that is the case.)
So who is the killer? Well, anyone. They no longer need to be a Mujin resident since they can kill from afar, opening the door to Baek and the original Chairman (Chairman Cha’s old boss). It could be someone frail like Kwang Shik’s dad who might be reluctant to sell his land because a body is buried there—like Seon Woo’s mom. If the essence of cow went down into the ground where a body is buried, perhaps it is Seon Woo’s mom’s ghost. (Also, alternatively, what if the shaman’s unseen wife is Seon Woo’s mom, who had lost her memories and somehow regained them if she was visiting from Australia and was at the meteor shower.) The killer could even be someone who died like Chairman Cha, who’d figured they’d sacrifice their original corporal body and just take over a rich, powerful person’s body when the killing was done (like the body of Chairman Cha’s boss).