EP 14 - 15 an explanation of how parallel worlds/timelines work in KTEM (Discussion)

Episode 14 - 15

First of, you have to shut off the left portion of your brain. Forget all logic, forget all plot holes, forget in everything you've read up to this point in time travel and parallel universe. AND please believe in the power of love.

First some ground rules on the Manpashikjeok:

1. When the flute is whole, the owner has the power to travel to any point in time, has the power to make time stand still, has the power to achieve immortality(never aging) and basically become a god. Also when the flute is together, you are able to travel at the approximate time when you are suppose to save yourself. The word save yourself here is very ambigious as it can mean saving from dying, saving from failing and etc...
   
   
2. When the flute is halved, both users cannot control the time stops. The reason time stops is simple. Imagine being in an air conditioned room, and when you open the door to leave, some of the cold air escapes. When you use the flute, you end up in time space world, where everything as you can see is stopped, the balloons the coin LG flips, so when they leave to enter a world, whether Korea or Corea, some of that time freeze seeps out into the world.
    
3. There are two bamboo forest. One for LG, and one for LR. Only LR can open his gate, and only LG can open his gate.
   
   
4. The two halves of the flute yearn for each other call for the other half. Thus LG and LR hear the so called song. And they only hear it when both flutes are close to each other and near one of the gates. And only the owner of the flute will hear it. That is why when LG captures LR, eventhough the flute is together, LG can't hear it, because they are at LR's gate. Once both flutes enter the time space world, the owners of the flute can then time travel.
   
   
5. When the two halves cannot sense each other, the flutes power is diminished and the owners can only travel from Corea to Korea. And each time they travel the time stops get longer and longer. Technically, time should already be at a stand still, but you know romance would not allow it. There will be a point in time when time will just completely stop, but ofc it won't happen here.
   
   
6. When time is stopped, the physics become contradictory. You are not affected if you are LG. For example, remember the scene of LR henchmen where the waves just stop? So we know in this time space, liquid also stops. We see that LR is unable to take out the liquid from the injection to save LG fake mom, and unable to fire the gun. But, we see LG able to write a note to JY. How is the pen suppose to write if the liquid in the pen is supposed to be in suspended animation? We will never know. But basically time stops only benefit LG and harms LR.

Now that we know about the ground rules, on to the explanation of wtf happened in 14-15

So basically, let us agree that there is a main timeline, that we'll call Alpha for now. Ep 1-14 are all on Alpha Timeline.

When LR and LG went back to 1994 with the flute, different things happened, 1994 LR killed 2020 LR, LG shows his face to Lady Noh, he shoots Prince Buyeong's Son, and other things. Point being, he created an alternative timeline which we will call Beta. 

LG only has half the flute, so he can only travel lateral, like he says. Meaning he can go side to side from Corea to Korea. But that is not all, here can also travel side by side between the different timelines, PROVIDING, they are still parallel. Also When the two different timeline lines up, they merge.

But with all the changes he has done in timeline alpha, there is no way it won't diverge into timeline B and be a completely different future.  So to ensure both timelines Alpha and Beta are parallel, thus enabling him to travel across them, he needed to change things about timeline A to match time line B, and thus begin him leaving clues, seeing baby TE, and etc... And probably more things behind the scenes.

Also he needed to make sure he doesn't age, otherwise TE might be grossed out if LG is 60 years old when they meet. So he spends majority of his time in time space world, where he doesn't age.

When TE meets LG on a horse in end of ep 14, LG in black suit gets confirmation that both Timeline Alpha and Beta are parallel. So he bides his time, until we reach the present time of TImeline Alpha where TE get's stabbed by Luna.

When the time came, where we reach the right time, where TE gets stabbed by luna, LG is able to use the flute to rejoin TE in timeline alpha.

LG sees that LR has done many bad things, and although they capture LR, LG realizes that he cannot leave the present the way it is. So eventhough he could live happily ever after with TE, he becomes an noble idiot who will travel back in time again to make sure nobody dies to LR. So he plans to go back in time to before the coup happened, but instead of saving himself, he will kill LR instead. JY came with him, so JY will most likely save baby LG.

This will effectively create Timeline Charlie, where there is no guarantee if TE and LG will be able to meet. So TE plans to travel back to timeline charlie also to be with LG.

Haha yeah, i'm gna spend some time on it so it's clear for everyone.

There’s many things that I’m contemplating in my head but here is one thought:

If they succeed in killing LR, won’t everything else be reset and erased from that point on? But also if his 1994 self doesn’t get rescue and dies, won’t 2020 him also die? 

Yes, if they succeed in killing LR, they create a new reality, Timeline Charlie, where a lot of people don't die. And unfortunately, there is a good chance SJ is dead in this timeline, since the mom was trying to kill him in the River but "LR" saves them.

That is probably why JY is there, he will most likely save baby LG, otherwise if baby LG dies, 2020 LG also dies.

 Baek In Ho:

Okay let's pretend i understand the timelines fully LOL but why is it in your comments you say that the show follows MAGIC instead of establishing proper rules for the time travel and different timelines?

I poke fun at the show, because it really has so many buttons to push. But when given time, I can come up with plausible explanations for most plot holes. 

But in reality, my explanations make several leaps of logic, and I ignore a lot of logical things to make it stick.

The reality of things the show is just not well explained, but this is what I understood of the last few episodes.

So my question is what happened before Alpha timeline?  Because in  1994  Alpha timeline LG came to save himself.

 Baek In Ho:

I think calling them timelines Alpha, Beta and Gamma would be more coherent to physics :)

Also, why do people say since 2020 LR was killed by 1994 LR, 1994 LR can never live past 2020 so he'll always be in a time loop. I don't get that reasoning.

It's beacuse 1994 LR after the coup will go back again in 2020 to fix the coup (a loop). Also the thing that doesn't make sense is the 2020 LR while going back to 1994 would have known that 1994 LR would try to slice his throat.

If let's say the new LR decides not to go back and live past 2020 then LG would never be able to go to 1994 to save himself.

 Kimsamsoom:

LG only has half the flute, so he can only travel lateral, like he says. Meaning he can go side to side from Corea to Korea, and he can only travel side by side between the different timelines, PROVIDING, they are still parallel. 

i don't get this part. that's not what happened in ep. 15 though? he finally get reunited with TE at the hospital in Korea, and then he went back to Corea where he spoke to Lady Noh to let him go once again (also heard the news about his cousin, Sejin who he wanted to place in the throne as his replacement but died in USA).