porridge

This is an update of a theory comment I left below. Sorry for spamming and repeating myself. It helps me organise my thoughts.

SH's first trip was when she married TS.
She left herself the diary to save him.
The SH who we see with TS in the present/past has memories of her first trip.
Interestingly, the SH we see in the future has memories of her second trip (the one we're watching) when she touches her own corpse. That suggests that when we're with SH in the future we're not witnessing the events leading up to her second trip, but rather the events leading up to what will be her third.

2.b. The problem is she doesn't see her first trip. She sees her second trip (the one that we're seeing). But also in the trip that we're seeing she has flashbacks to what was probably her first trip. That's why I think the SH from the future is a different SH (different timeline) to the one we're seeing in the present/past. Present SH sees her first trip, but future SH sees her second trip.

It would actually be very much in keeping with the myth if SH created that loop herself on her first trip by trying to help TS escape death. The thing is, up until now I've been assuming that the second trip was her only trip, and that it's a perfect time loop. The fact that she had a different first trip makes it a little less tidy.

Edit: Also, I don't think that explains how she can see her future. If the future scenes are after the present scenes, then I can understand how she has flashbacks. She's just seeing what she's lived in another timeline. If it's a perfect time loop, and she's stuck in a single timeline, then how does she see her future?

I actually just realised there's a scene played for comedy in the first episode that may be foreshadowing a sad(ish) ending, but I'm not really following your train of thought, so I don't know if we've got the same sad ending in mind. Would you mind elaborating?

To sum up again:

Beginning of episode 1- SH goes back for the first time. She marries HTS, they die, and she leaves herself the diary in order to save him (and the world). Edit: I'm no longer sure where the first scene fits in. I explain this a little in the next edit.

All present/past scenes with her are her second trip. She has flashbacks of her first trip.

All future scenes apart from the first one are either leading up to her second trip or her third. My money's on third because she has flashbacks of her second trip. If it turns out to be her second I'll be annoyed unless we get a good explanation for how she sees things that haven't happened to her yet. Edit: If the future scenes are leading up to her third trip then the scene at the beginning could've been her second trip.

Edit: If the future scenes are leading up to her third trip then she must've left herself the diary twice. First when she married HTS, and then again at the end of her second trip that we're watching now.

I'm assuming after the latest episode that the first scene in episode 1 is part of a different timeline. I'm pretty sure I've seen others comment this theory already, but I'm just going to sum up my understanding of it. SH went back there already, and that's probably when she married TS, but then she died and left herself the diary to tell herself to save him. That means she didn't have the diary with her in the first scene of episode 1. When we see her again it's her second trip. Is that right?

If that's correct then although that explains why she keeps getting nightmares of things that haven't happened (like the wedding), that doesn't explain how she sees her future when she finds the diary. When she dreams about the wedding she's seeing her previous trip to the past, but why does she see her future trip to the past when she finds the diary? Is there a third timeline? Maybe the scene in which she finds the diary is actually after her second trip. Any ideas?

I think I prefer the new opening theme. I hope there'll be more background music going forward. So far they've overused the OST.

So far I've been assuming that SH and her father got to the the future the normal way. I don't think they time travelled. Maybe they did, but if that's the case I don't think it's been revealed yet.

I don't think she travelled to the future with her father. Did I miss something?

I knew that scene vaguely reminded me of something!

I actually do have a theory for how they could both survive without contradicting what we've been shown, but I'm by no means confident in it. If my theory doesn't pan out then I don't see how else we can get a happy ending unless they force feed us one that doesn't make sense. K-dramas have given happy endings that make no sense before so...I'm 50/50 at the moment.

The problems with this drama aren't things that can be smoothed over with more information.

1) The Control Bureau is pretty lacklustre. They're an over the top evil organisation armed with an odd combination of advanced weaponry and children's toys. When you think about it the bureau's existence is actually justifiable, and there's no need for them to be so evil.

2) Some of the side characters either have poor characterisation, or are just totally unnecessary. The girl President Park employs has inappropriate characterisation for someone handling advanced technology. She comes across as an airhead. The boys are just totally unnecessary. Why does he rely on those fools to handle the weaponry?

3) The investor's motive was desperation, as was his daughter's, but that wasn't portrayed properly. His daughter especially acts like a total villain. They should've been portrayed more cowardly and less bold, or they should've had a more sinister motive.

4) Sun suffers from typical second lead personality change. Why is he suddenly so obnoxious and bold?

5) The direction isn't good, and it's not just the action scenes.

It's possible that some of the above will be explained or cancelled out, but I think some people are being a bit too optimistic about that. I'm enjoying this drama for the mysteries, the premise, and the male lead. The female lead is growing on me more and more. I also really appreciate the grey character we have in President Park. Some people may enjoy it for much more than that, but personally I think there are a lot of aspects letting the drama down. It's strange for me to say that because I am really enjoying it and looking forward to it each week, but I can't help thinking it could've been better.

I've never seen a messier drama, but I'm also really enjoying it. I agree with you that there isn't a lot of chemistry between the leads, but for some reason I'm shipping them anyway. I don't like the script or the direction, but I do like the setting and the male lead. I don't dislike the female lead. I think in my case it mainly comes down to CSW.

Edit: It's funny because I've watched behind the scenes clips, and for some reason CSW and PSH seem to have more chemistry in those. I think the script and direction is letting them down.

I've seen some comments downplaying the romance, but it's increasingly looking like a love story to me. The SF world that it's set in is the basis for the plot, so it's only natural that most scenes are centred around the SF aspect of the drama. However, I don't get the feeling that the romance is superfluous. I get the feeling it's the point.

My favourite romances are ones that take place in high stakes situations, but I hate it when one aspect (either the romance or the high stakes) is irrelevant. In a non-romance drama what makes romance relevant? Take a drama like Healer. Technically it's an action drama, but the romance is by no means irrelevant. The connection between the main leads is one of the driving forces of the plot. Now take superhero films. I find most of them fail where dramas like Healer succeed. The romance never seems to have much impact on the plot, and it's just there for the sake of it.

If the romance in Sisyphus ends up having no impact on the plot then I'll be disappointed. So far, I really like the balance between the romance and the SF. I consider this drama a love story in a science fiction setting. The combination of the two is what makes it exactly my cup of tea. I hope the romance won't ultimately feel superfluous.

Thanks!

Yes happy ending is the wrong description. It's more of a bitter sweet ending.

Another theory. I wonder if it's relevant that the villain drew the Sisyphus painting. He had that line in which he referred to a moment between SH and TS as his favourite part which obviously implied that he knew about it already. Sisyphus remembers pushing the rock up the mountain and watching it fall down again. That's part of his punishment. Maybe the villain (were we told his name?) will get sent back to the railway at the end of his journey. He might do things differently each time, but he'll always end up back on the railway. Eventually he'd age and die right? Let's say he's on his 3rd try. Each time he gets older, but everyone else would be the same age as they were the last two times he went through the loop. If the villain is stuck in this type of loop, how did he end up there in the first place? That may be where Sun comes into it. Or perhaps another character. A character from the present may eventually end up getting sent back to the past (specifically the railway), and then he'll just keep ending up there until he dies. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I don't want to think about it anymore because it's giving me a headache.

I agree that the perfect time loop is looking like the most likely scenario right now. My main worry is not so much an unhappy ending, but a happy ending that doesn't make sense.

SH would still need to send the diary back to the past so as to let her past self know what to do. Otherwise, SH would never save TS. The only reason SH found the diary is because she came across the grave, so maybe the grave was sent back to grab her attention. I'm guessing SH would organise this herself prior to her death. That's the only way I can think of for the ending to both be happy and make sense. The alternatives are that we'll get a sad ending, or we'll get a happy ending that doesn't make sense.

Adult SH is from the future, but she's also alive in the present only younger. SH must come from over 10 years into the future because she's only 9 in the present. So let's say she's in her 20s in the future, and then she goes back in time to when she's only 9. TS is in his 30s in the present, and SH is from a time in which she's aged into her 20s (or older). I hope that explains it. I deleted my original response to you because I got confused myself.