Tale Of The Nine Tailed – Episode 13 Recap & Review

Chapter 13: The Two Imoogi

We’re back after a week hiatus with episode 13 of Tale of the Nine Tailed. Yeon looks on in shock as he realizes the one he loves has been consumed by the demon Imoogi that lay dormant inside.

Grinning, she asks whether he’ll save himself or Ji-A. Before he gets a chance to answer, the two trade blows but Imoogi is weak, unable to fully control the vessel given Ji-A’s mental strength. Thankfully she comes around and collapses on the floor crying.

Yeon takes Ji-A back to his to get patched up. He talks to Shin-Joo about the Imoogi inside her and pays particular reference to the fact this demon is closer to the one he faced in the past.

With Ji-A’s time inevitably coming to a close, Yeon takes her out to the coast where they comment on the past and their turbulent time together until this point. In a touching scene, the two decide to act as if Yeon is a house-husband. And for a brief moment, they forget all about the worries and woes befalling them.

To top off a magical evening, Yeon lays Ji-A down and they begin kissing. As night turns to day, “Terry” rings and tells her that the party is about to begin. When Ji-A rejects him, he reminds her that her body is a ticking time bomb and when the time comes, she herself will be the one to kill Yeon.

Meanwhile, Hae-Ryong drives with his ground cherry plant until Ui-Ong shows up in his car. Despite shooting him several times, the undying guardian simply comments on the smell of gunpowder and taunts the President.

With the ground cherry plant in their possession, Ui-Ong double checks with Taluipa whether they should turn those into human again or not. However, she has bigger issues right now as she writes out Ji-A’s details on the computer, deliberating over what date to select for her death date.

Sensing she’s up to something, Ui-Ong confronts Taluipa and warns that if she changes the death date on the computer then he will not stand for it.

Hae-Ryong however is forced to face the wrath of the Imoogi who wants him and everyone else around to die miserable. Running a hand over his head, Hae-Ryong suddenly becomes possessed and heads into the police station to turn himself in.

Knowing what she faces, Ji-A leaves a message for Yeon and tells him she’s leaving to head back to Seoul. For now though, she’s on the beach waiting, wanting to walk with him to the end.

Meanwhile, Yu-Ri calls on Imoogi’s help and offers up her own life as a sacrifice for saving Rang. Watching from the cupboard however, happens to be Soo-Oh who sees all of this take place. Imoogi takes Yu-Ri away but turns toward Soo-Oh, commenting on how the darkness could consume him if he’s not careful.

With Yu-Ri’s fate sealed, she heads over to Shin-Joo’s house and kisses him. She breaks up with him and claims that she’s bored and not happy. However, she struggles to deal with Shin-Joo’s reaction which sees him break down crying.

Yeon drops off Ji-A at her house and heads in to visit The Snail Bride. After receiving some sound advice from the owner, he heads back home where a tearful Shin-Joo and a very-much-alive Rang happen to be. The latter reveals the truth of what happened, prompting Yeon to promise to get her back no matter what.

Before that though, Yeon gathers all the troops – 3 foxes and 3 humans to be precise – to discuss their plan. Yeon’s part-timers Jae-Hwan and Sae-Rom are with Ji-A, while Rang, Yeon and Shin-Joo make up the fox numbers.

Yeon warns them not to face Imoogi one on one if they can help it before echoing what Imoogi told Ji-A earlier in the episode. He’s going to kill everyone, releasing a virus and making sure no one will ever be happy again.

It turns out Yeon has found a way to free Ji-A from the Imoogi trapped within. The Snail Bride has just picked up the Sin Slayer, a mythical sword which can be used to slay that which cannot be slain by normal means.

On the back of this, Rang and Yeon discuss their upcoming fight but it’s clear that our fox has been weakened. As they sit together and talk, Yeon asks his brother for help in this upcoming fight.

Back at the police station, it now becomes clear that Hae-Ryong is patient zero as he begins scratching his neck and arms, with numerous red spots covering his body. As the camera pans across the police station, other officers begin to scratch too. That scratch appears to be the beginning of the end as judgment day approaches.

All of our characters prepare for the upcoming fight as everyone convenes at The Snail Bride. Yeon discusses her plan – Ji-A is going to cut herself, drawing out the demon and then stabbing it with Sin Slayer. Given this is a different sort of Imoogi to the one they’ve been facing thus far, Yeon warns them that this could be a tricky fight.

If it flees, the only spirit form it will take is a snake – which they bring along in a pet travel box.

Together, Ji-A and Yeon walk inside the room, surrounded by rope and ready for the final fight. Ji-A tells him not to hesitate. Given the sword can slay him too, Ji-A’s face suddenly contorts and changes as she grabs the dagger and slashes Yeon across the back.

As he falls to the ground motionless, Imoogi believes its won and triumphantly takes a scale off its neck (at least it looks like a scale) and places it inside Yeon’s mouth. This is how the demon jumps from body to body.

Yeon senses this too and quickly awakens to spit it out. It turns out there never was a Sin Slayer sword as they were unable to find the dagger. Instead, all of this was a ploy to figure out this demon’s weakness and draw the soul out, Realizing this is the key to jumping between bodies, Imoogi vows not to leave Ji-A’s body without a fight.

As we cut across to Taluipa, we see her change the death date on her computer to today. True to his word, Ui-Ong turns and looks set to walk away from the gatekeeper.

With the end nigh, Imoogi walks purposefully down the street killing all in his wake. Everything is looking bleak as the final fight approaches. Is Ji-A destined to die or can Yeon save her before it’s too late?

The Episode Review

So for anyone who stuck around and checked out the preview for tomorrow’s episode, it seems likely that Imoogi and Yeon are going to team up together and go after Taluipa in a bid to bring Ji-A back from certain doom.

With a good episode of drama, half of this hour was of course dedicated to Ji-A and Yeon spending time together and coming to terms with what’s going to happen in their doomed romance. In a way, I’d imagine this will take a heartbreaking turn at the end – after all how can a fox and a human be together?

The romance between Ji-A and Yeon hasn’t always been as strong as it could be but in recent episodes it’s definitely improved and I can understand why people are liking this couple together.

The fantasy elements are great though and finding out more about the Imoogi in my free-time has definitely been thanks to this K-drama – before which I’d never heard of this legend!

Quite what the last part of this drama has in store for us remains a mystery but with writing now finished (hence the week delay), all eyes turn to the final act for the conclusion to this fantasy drama.