ALML's ENDING Assumptions

So you're saying that the ending we saw was Yeon Seo's imagination and not real life, like what happened when she was in a coma?

In the back of my head, I think so too, but I want to believe that they had a happy ending, because that's what I want for them.

glad to see someone else doesn't understand the ending of this drama

it started off so well but ended so basically....there's a lot of things that needed to be explained that just weren't at all.

True true!

oops, i'm late to the team but i just finished! 

What if, Yeon Seo actually committed suicide? Before the ending scene, Yeon Seo's butler/helper saw the pill bottle half empty. It could mean that Yeon Seo purposely took all the meds at once in order to see Kim Dan again... Which is why she is able to see him and his cloth disappeared... Because, his mission, which was to watch over & protect her is over since she has passed away? 

Tbh my theory is probs wrong lol but that was the first thought for me when it ended. Imma just assume that he miraculously became human & they are living happily ever after now : ) 

I re-watched this just last night and YES I agree with you. 

In the past when I first watched it I thought she went crazy and it was all in her head and then she killed herself (also noticed the pills ;) but now I think she sensed him there, cos he was really there just invisible like the first time. 

See he was given a mission to guard her and he did but she still sensed him even tho she thought she was crazy.  And he was always there - then on the bench she mentioned that there is never anything on the leaf so she writes her wish and cries he tries to wipe the tear and boom they see and feel each other! 

The handkerchief disappeared meaning his connection to the divine and that world was gone - making him human. It did not go black as in you were punished. He was rewarded and they end up together as a miracle - I mean she even started to believe at the end in god. 

So yeah that's what I think :)

Yeah I'm sure he turned human too, because it just doesn't make sense that it was her hallucination. Why did she randomly all of a sudden see him again after she couldnt before. When they were walking to the bench she couldnt see him and all of a sudden she could see him after sitting down?? It just makes sense that the ending was a miracle, sure its lazy writing but i don't think its an open ended one. And to even really reaffirm that what happened was a miracle, the last couple of sentences Dan says in narration "We will live happily with this miraculous love" atleast thats what the subtitles said, i'm not sure how accurate the translation is, but assuming its correct, he himself calls the ending a god-given miracle. But i just wanna say again though, i really wanted a happy ending but the writer should've done something creative with it, the rest of the show had such a cool concept, so the ending just seemed lazy and random.

I have just finish watching the drama and how I interpret the ending was like this.

The theme of sacrificial love where Yeon Seo was considered dead due to the surgery that causes her to have cardiac arrest because she left the stab wound for too long. She is supposed to die. That was the first death. Note that the handkerchief is still blue so Kim Dan didn't messed up the mission and has completed it successfully. God has forgiven him for his act due to the sacrifice she has made and archangel Hoo. However, the second death happened when Kim Dan gave his final wish and life away to revive Yeon Seo through the tears and kiss during the hospital bed scene. The handkerchief turned dark as he vanished. The Giselle story is applicable here.

"When you give one thing away, you get another thing in return. It's all fairness in the name of Him"
 
What I am trying to say is that when she gave her life away, she grant a life to Kim Dan. But in return, he is willing to also give back the life he gained back to her. This fulfilled the Sacrificial Love that both side has given. Both has died once as compared to Director Ji where Seo Hui dies but not him. Director Ji lost his chance to sacrifice himself (when he abandoned his angel status and Him) but was given a chance to fulfill his original mission that was set by Him (to give inspiration) for redemption.

Interestingly, she started to see him even after she has woken up. The handkerchief disappeared and even Ms. Jung admits that she didn't take it because Kim Dan was the one that has taken it back. The black feathered handkerchief turned blue again right at that moment when he became an angel. He has revived and gained redemption. She assume she was crazy and had mental hallucination since she was seeing him but remember that time she was visually impaired and being the only one seeing (feeling) him. She had a physical condition at the time so the her at the moment is also sick (heart sick to be precise). Kim Dan didn't respond to her at all is because he assumed she can't see him again. He want to embrace her but knows it may be futile. He acknowledge his angel status.  He thought Yeon Seo was just responding to thin air as well.

"John tells us that Jesus appeared to His disciples on 'the first day of the week' "  after his resurrection. A miracle has happened. Him has given Kim Dan his resurrection as Angel Dan after his sacrifice.

So we are now at the end point. Yeon Seo has taken the medicine, convincing herself that the hallucination should no longer exist. She wants to be a better person and lead a better life for Kim Dan, knowing that he is watching somewhere whether it be above or near her. She can't see Kim Dan after taking the medicine because her condition is cured, similar to when she got her cornea (though Kim Dan already had a mission to fulfill as a human).  But right now, Kim Dan's mission is to be an angel monitoring her condition.  Yeon Seo still misses Kim Dan and start writing on the piece of leaf of her own prophecy. There is always this theme fo the "Second Coming of Jesus" where he will be back from heaven to visit earth. Prophecies happened and when she shed her tears, Kim dan couldn't resist wiping it even if he thought it was futile. But that's when the tears he shed on her during the hospital scene bed scene get returned. It formed a complete cycle of him leaving for real but is back again mirroring the fact that she gave her life which in returned he gave it back.

We are now back to the beginning where Kim Dan and Yeon Seo first met on the bench when she was visually impaired. She thought she was hallucinating again and he didn't expect her to see him again after all the ordeal they went through.  Was the deity whom gifted him love but took it away after finally showing us a miracle? In exchange for his angel status, he regained his human form. The prophecy written by Yeon Seo is fulfilled by Him. A definite happy ending that is not open in my opinion. He is human and was finally having a happy ending with Yeon Seo. Even though she could not defeat the yearning she had for Kim Dan, she wished to fulfill her promise of being better in life. That's the karma and goodness rewarded by Him to her.

I didn't think the ending was lazily written as it was possibly the only way they could go about the ending without it ending tragically. A story that ends in tragedy may be impactful but there is always that positive that comes after. We only appreciate Jesus after his passing, not when he was alive.  Him left behind a tragic story only to now have millions of followers asking for forgiveness and praying. We all prayed for Yeon Seo and Kim Dan's love story to blossomed, not to end in tragedy.

That's all for my interpretation. fyi, I am not a Christian but I have always been interested to learn about the history of the world and religions. I could be wrong in my statements but that's the conclusion I have reached for this drama. The screenwriter has put in a lot of effort to emulate the bible stories through a Love Story.  Applaud to them for producing such a great work with messages that I appreciates.