I cried so much throughout this mind-blowing, fantastic finale!
I have so much to say about the show, but at the moment right now, I’m super intrigued by the portrayal of religion in Goblin.Take note of spoilers in the last two episodes and please feel free to share with me your thoughts. I would love your clarifications should I have gotten anything wrong! (I wonder if anyone else has written on this?)
I have the privilege of being surrounded with multiple religions and with people who are open to sharing about their religions. I think Goblin has dealt with the issue of religion in an elegant and thought-provoking manner. If anyone has been offended by the way it offers some of its propositions, let me know. Otherwise, I felt that the melding of religious ideas together is remarkable.
For example, in Episode 16, Wang Yeo reflects that people become grim reapers because they have committed a great sin in their lives. While we were led to think that his sin was because he turned on his wife, his nation and his warrior, he points out that his ultimate sin was because he took his own life. This is why grim reapers become grim reapers – because they killed themselves – and if I’m not wrong, taking your own life is considered one of the sins in Christianity.
I was also confused throughout the series as to why some people reincarnate and why some people ascend to heaven/go to hell. In the last episode, my conclusion is that a human has four lives, and when you finish your last, that’s when you go to heaven or hell (or straight to hell if you are already horrid and immoral). This is so creative and looks at a harmonisation of ideas between heaven and reincarnation (probably inspired by Christianity and Buddhism/Hinduism) which most people would usually think as being contradictory.
The fact that goblins are considered as deities is also a cool concept that I’ve never read before. There is a sense of hierarchy in the deities-world, where the goblin is obviously subject to the power of The One, which is also unique because of the mix between monotheism and polytheism. Here, there are deities with different purposes, such as the Red Lady who aims to protect children (this was revealed in the special episode).
Lastly, The One is at once everywhere and nowhere. He is represented by a butterfly (which represents resurrection in Christianity), but sometimes he listens through the eyes and ears of the humans. He is merciful but strict and firm. I also love that till the end, we don’t have a clue how The One actually looks like. This is the same, although to a lesser degree, for the Red Lady (because she alternates her appearance to suit the circumstances), and serves as a nice contrast with Kim Shin.
This is all I have for now, but I will be sure to add on if I have further thoughts!
<3thoughtsramble
THOUGHTSRAMBLE 
I love you thoughts on this. I never really delved deep into the One or the Red Lady, but it’s beautiful nonetheless how the writer simplified, yet it had depth.
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Thank you hehe, i’m glad you enjoyed this! Yeah, I really admire how aspects of different religion were merged together – it should have been messy, but it was done very elegantly and deep.
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I’m a Christian and so Goblin contradicts my belief. But I watched it perceiving it as a fiction and so I’m not bothered by the religious aspect at all.
I LOVE ❤️❤️❤️ the show. The bromance and the romance, even Eun Tak’s friendship with ghosts.
The last few episodes had my heart hurting so so bad for the different characters : For Reaper & Sunny, their past lives & tragic love that didn’t end well, the love the couldn’t be in this life. For Goblin, it hurt so much to see him struggling alone in that 9 years, and so torn & broken when Eun Tak died. And also whenever pple around him slowly died one by one.
Though Eun Tak reincarnated, what will happen to him after her 4th life? So sad…. 😢😢😢😢
But I’m a bit sad that they didn’t really give us explanation abt what happened to Deok Hwa in the end.
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Thank you for your comment! I loved everything too, especially the bromance. Yes, the last episode was a tear-jerker for me; I cried so much! I felt so bad that the goblin was alone once more. As for your question, I believe that when Eun Tak finishes her 4th life, he will ask the almighty to let him move on too with her (into the heavens?). I’m sure the almighty would agree, especially since he allowed him to rest in peace after the sword was pulled out, just that Kim Shin himself chose not to move on. And you are right! He was the only we didn’t get to see an ending – I did wonder if the old man at the end with him in Quebec was Deok Hwa (since he would be around 70 by then), but they didn’t make it very obvious.
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I’ve never really looked at it in a religious perspective. This is really an eye-opener! Thanks 🙂
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Thank you for your comment, am glad that the post was interesting!^^
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There is also a goddess in hinduism …her purpose of existence is same as red lady..(jog Maya)
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