Song of the Bandits – K-drama Episode 5 Recap & Review

Episode 5

Episode 5 of Song of the Bandits starts with a flashback from when Yoon was still working for the Japanese military. Since this was after the death of his family members, Yoon had no loyalty towards his job.

He meets Hee-shin for the first time there when she flees from Gwang-il/Miura and hides in a restaurant. Yoon helps Hee-shin hide from Gwang-il and she promises to repay him the favour in the future.

Yoon tells Hee-shin that he doesn’t owe her anything and goes his way. The episode then moves to the present day where Choraeng-yi and Sang-gun wait for Yoon and the rest of their bandit team to show up with the money.

Once Yoon shows, the two men start apologising to him for failing the task of killing the railway minister. Yoon tells them that they too have failed to steal the money so failure in killing the minister is not serious.

Sang-gun tells Yoon that the railway minister was a woman and adds that she seemed patriotic for Joseon from her speech. Yoon states that they showed no mercy to anyone and adds that she also needed to die.

Meanwhile, Gwang-il learns that Ki-ryeong and his bandit group have to be let go after the higher-ups in the consulate called for them to be freed from prison. He grows angry and asks his team to get ready to go look for the stolen money.

Choraeng-yi finds out that the bank manager was involved in the theft of 200,000 won. Yoon questions the manager and learns that Eon-nyeoni was involved too and that she’s going back home with the money on a train. Yoon and his bandits set out to stop the train and ride on their horses to catch up.

Once they get on the moving train, Yoon goes looking for Eon-nyeoni while Sang-gun finds the railway minister onboard. He goes to tell Yoon all about this and he looks for her. Yoon is shocked to see that Hee-shin is the railway minister. At the same time, Eon-nyeoni enters the boogie and is worried upon seeing Yoon with Hee-shin.

Just then, the train is stopped by Gwang-il and the Japanese military. Inside, Hee-shin takes advantage of the fight between Yoon and Eon-nyeoni. A gunshot alarms the passengers and they all start running here and there. Hee-shin manages to flee from the train while Yoon and Eon-nyeoni’s fight continues.

Yoon manages to attack Eon-nyeoni and runs out of the train as he goes looking for Hee-shin. Meanwhile, Gwang-il is confused by the chaos and spots Eon-nyeoni there. He sends his guards to capture her after recognising her as the person he had paid to kill Yoon.

Yoon, on the other hand, calls Hee-shin by name and asks her to stop. Amid all the chaos, a sandstorm approaches the train which causes the crowd to scurry further.

Yoon covers his face with a mask and tries to look for Hee-shin who manages to escape. Eon-nyeoni uses a mask to protect her from the sandstorm and starts running. Gwang-il starts shooting aimlessly in the dust causing people to start running. When Gwang-il ends up shooting one of his own soldiers, his subordinates ask him to shut down the mission and go back.

Gwang-il refuses to do so and asks his soldiers to kill everyone who comes in the way of them and the person who stole the money. He starts shooting everyone in his way, killing many innocents. Hee-shin witnesses the death of a young girl as well as others from the train and starts fleeing with the money.

Meanwhile, Yoon and Eon-nyeoni continue to kill the Japanese soldiers.

Yoon is accompanied by the bandits who try their best to shoot as the sandstorm continues. He asks the bandits to go see Chung-soo and tells them that he is going to chase the railway minister alone. Gwang-il finds a deceased soldier holding a gun with an aim assist and uses it to kill people. Eon-nyeoni spots Yoon standing across her and deliberates shooting him but Gwang-il ends up shooting her first and knocking her out.

Yoon, who is still not able to see clearly because of the storm, starts looking around. As the storm dies down slowly, Gwang-il spots him and instead of shooting his old friend, lets Yoon run away. After the storm passes, Gwang-il and his soldiers arrest Eon-nyeoni.

Some bandits reach the place where Hee-shin and other people from the train are resting and try to steal the suitcase from her.

Yoon shows up though  and kills all of the bandits. He holds Hee-shin at gunpoint and asks her why she’s stolen the money despite being the railway minister for the Japanese military. More bandits show up but Yoon manages to kill them all. He eventually learns from Hee-shin that she’s a member of the Independence Army and sending money to the insurgents fighting for Joseon in Gando.

Hee-shin tells Yoon that she is already late as it is the destined day to meet the insurgents. Yoon decides to help Hee-shin and keep her safe on the trip to Changchun. Later that evening, Gwang-il and the Japanese military torture Eon-nyeoni and try to figure out who was working for the insurgent army.

Gwang-il’s soldiers tell him that the real thief is still on the run as the bag full of money was not found on any of the deceased passengers from the train. He then asks Eon-nyeoni about their deal from five years ago and gives her a second chance to kill Yoon. Gwang-il threatens to kill Eon-nyeoni if she does not kill Yoon first and sends her away.

On the other hand, Yoon takes the journey to Changchun with Hee-shin. The two talk for a bit and Hee-shin wonders if she recognised him from before. Yoon tells her that they do not need to familiarise each other and asks her to just think about the task at hand. The duo take a break after a while and Yoon asks Hee-shin why she had joined the Independence Army.

Hee-shin tells Yoon that their descendants had the right to live in a free Korea (Joseon) just like she did in the past and wanted to bring Joseon back to its original free form. The next morning, Chang-soo is with the bandits as they look for ways to bring Yoon back when Eon-nyeoni shows up there.

At the same time, Yoon and Hee-shin arrive in Changchun to meet the Independence army members and give them the money.

While Hee-shin talks to the insurgents, Yoon takes a walk around the place and realises that the men he had left Hee-shin with were bandits who had disguised themselves as insurgents. He shoots the bandits, who also shoot back at him.

The bandits are killed in the crossfire but Hee-shin is left injured with a gunshot. The episode ends with Yoon taking a Hee-shin on a horse in order to help her.

The Episode Review

This episode makes me sure that Gwang-il is an insurgent in disguise. There is no way he could be this affected by Yoon upon seeing him that he does not kill his “friend” but instantly sets Eon-nyeoni up to kill him. Aside from Yoon and Gwang-il, another relationship that I am finding hard to understand is that of Yoon and Hee-shin.

How does Hee-shin not remember him after 10 or 11 years? There must be something in the Joseon air because Yoon does not look any different from the time he was a soldier in the Japanese military. The story just took a chaotic turn and I am sure that the bandits feel like Yoon abandoned them for some random girl.

Eon-nyeoni has now been tasked to kill both Yoon and Hee-shin and just like everyone on the show, she too has a soft spot for our main man. I Guess Nam-gil has that effect on people! We will have to see if he eventually dies only in the episodes to come.