IM YourOnlyOne

Episode 16, season finale explanation.

First of all, you need to read my Episode 15 explanation here: https://mydramalist.com/43827-sisyphus-the-myth#comment-5794471

After that, continue reading below.

It was actually an open ending. ;)

A new time bubble was created when Seo Hae traveled back into the past to meet Tae Sul. Whatever happened in "Season 1" is over, the new time bubble is a different story. I wouldn't be surprised if Seo Hae once again got her diary, remember, they never showed what happened to that new diary she was writing.

Also, since the war never happened, 2035 is different. Maybe there was a deadly virus or something (yeah, 12 Monkeys reference). The uploader was still developed. Tae Sul did leave the code into that laptop but probably time locked it (meaning can only be unlocked in the future to allow Seo Hae to travel back). It was why he was so confident to kill himself because he knew he'll be back.

That is a potential "Season 2". There is a new reason why Seo Hae had to travel back again. Yes, as usual her top reason is Tae Sul but there is another world-ending event.

You can check my comment (after yours).

It's hard to explain with words only, a diagram is better.

Basically, the show only have one timeline and they're using the theory on "time bubble" to solve the grandfather paradox.

"Time bubble" is a theory that when a time change happens because of a time traveler, a bubble is created from the source time period (A = future) and the target time period (B = past). Time Point A to Time Point B is inside a time bubble, nothing is set in stone, everything is in flux or subject to change [freely].

The time before Point A is fixed. The time after Point B is fixed too.

So … there was once a reality wherein there was no time bubble. The uploader was developed. There was no war. But Sigma still got the technology from Tae Sul and sent the bomb to 2020. Once he did this, a time bubble was created. From Point B (2020) to Point A (2035) everything is fluid.

Then Sigma and his advance team traveled back farther into the past, in 2010 (I can't remember the exact year, but you get the idea). This forced the time bubble to become larger. Now Point B is 2010 and Point A is 2035). The time in this time bubble is fluid. Nothing is fixed. Everything changes constantly.

How come then Seo Hae used the uploader when there never was a diary and a dead Seo Hae originally?

The answer to that is again, time bubble. Since the time period trapped inside the time bubble is fluid, what would otherwise should not have happened (like Seo Hae's diary existing) suddenly happened. The moment Sigma went back to 2010 (again I can't remember the exact year), the reality of Seo Hae traveling to 2020 because of her diary just appeared. There is no chicken-and-egg scenario in Seo Hae's case. It just is.

All the possible realities inside a time bubble is all happening simultaneously. This was used in "TIMES" and "Alice" too. Nothing is past nor future inside the time bubble. Everything is "present", changeable. All the possibilities exists.

However, as with any other use of the "time bubble" theory in solving the grandfather paradox, there is always a way out of it (they hinted at this in the ending of "TIMES" and they tackled this in the ending of "Alice"). Like all bubbles, a time bubble can also be popped. When a time bubble is popped, whatever is the dominant reality at the point it was popped will become the "new" single timeline.

In Sisyphus: The Myth this is what will happen:
* Before the time bubble: Jae Sun never died because he never met a future Seo Hae.
* During the existing of the time bubble: Jae Sun always died.
* Once they pop the time bubble in episode 16: Jae Sun will forever be dead. -- (The only way to save him is not to pop the time bubble and have another go from the beginning (Seo Hae must write in her diary something like "call the Aliens if you have to make sure Jae Sun does not fall in love with you"), then proceed as planned.

Is this how episode 16 will end? We don't know. But so far, what was revealed in episode 15 is leading towards this ending. They will be able to stop the sending of the bomb but anything before that will be set in stone because they ended the time loop. Seo Hae should not disappear either because she is already part of the current reality, maybe once the time bubble is popped and the reality is once again set in stone (i.e. "past is past" and "future is future") then it is also possible that Seo Hae won't disappear even if she meets her young self.

Lastly, this is all conjecture because time travel is fiction. Although time travel by sending information was already observed in quantum physics, that's very very very very very very small, we still can't send any information ourselves, only nature can do it currently. So … you know … it still all comes down to how the writer views time travel in his universe.

I just remembered … there was another major change that Sigma is currently not aware of … Hyun Ki did not kill Hyun Seung of Control Bureau. Hyun Seung even attempted to kill himself because that is what's written in the report from the previous attempt.

These changes that Sigma is not aware of is what will be his downfall. If these changes keep on happening without the intervention of Seo Hae (and Tae Sul), then the timeloop is starting to unravel. The more there are, the faster the time loop will break.

Though I'm still expecting some major twist later tonight for the finale episode. The writer was successful in keeping us guessing and then surprising with another twist.

I can't stop thinking that if this is all the answer, then they wouldn't have revealed these things in episode 15. There's something else in ep 16 for sure. They need something major to break out from the loop.

I can't believe this is actually ending tonight. This show is simply, fun, and full of lessons in life. Series like this should have at least 50 episodes.

Based on the revelations in Episode 15:

1. There is only one timeline.
1.1: Everytime the story repeats, they are traveling back to the exact same timeline.
1.2: Also, the Sispyhus myth was a single man who kept rolling up the stone that returned to the bottom. There never was a new timeline or a location change. Sigma is Sisyphus.

2. The Seo Hae and Tae Sul buried in the future was exactly them in the previous attempt. Same timeline just a different attempt.
2.1: Everytime the story restarts, Seo Hae changes something small that Sigma is not noticing. Seo Hae kept these in her memories as well as diary so when the young Seo Hae finds her diary and ashes (again), she'll have advance knowledge

3. All of them traveled from 2035. Sigma, advance team, and Seo Hae.
3.1: The uploader was first used in 2035. But they set different time destinations for each upload.
3.2: The bomb was uploaded from 2035 and sent to 2020.
3.3: Sigma and the advance team uploaded from 2035 but were sent in 2001 (thanks to W for the update -- https://mydramalist.com/profile/7647047 )
3.4: Seo Hae uploaded from 2035 and was sent to 2020.
3.5: Sigma already gave instructions, before he left, what to do with Seo Hae's father and which time period and location to send his hand and gun (in 2020).

4. Sigma knows the future because they've been writing down reports.
4.1: For every repeat, they update the report to record changes they noticed so the next Sigma can adjust.
4.2: This was why they kept saying "the future can not be changed" because Sigma is controlling the narrative and they can not figure out how to get out of it.

5. The future versions are not literal copies, they are originals too.
5.1: They are being called "copies" because they are in the past.
5.2: The universe of Sisyphus: The Myth is using the theory that there can not be an exact copy of the same thing existing in the same time period. Since they came from the future, they are a "copy" for all intents and purposes. If they ever meet their past versions, it is the "future" version that will disappear. Not because they are a "copy" per se but because they are not supposed to be in the past, not supposed to meet with their past versions.
5.3 This further proves that there is only one timeline (see item #1 above). If they are in a different timeline, the "future" version should not disappear at all because the past version they would have met would be a different timeline version, not their own actual/direct past version.


In this version that we are watching, this will be the first time that they will be able to actually get out of Sigma's narrative and end the time loop. What they really need to do is to prevent Sigma from transporting a future bomb into 2020.

I now have such respect to the writer. Time travel stories retaining a single timeline is not easy to write. There are very few authors who can pull this off (one of them is Christopher L. Bennett of Star Trek and Marvel fame). In Sisyphus: The Myth, as someone mentioned before, they appear to be in a time bubble (similar to the previous drama "TIMES"). For as long as they can not figure out how to escape this time bubble, they will keep on looping. They need to break out from it and it begins with preventing Sigma the ability to send that bomb. Then they'll be able to reset time from that moment (present).

P.S. It's so hard to explain without a diagram. Haha.

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Follow-up comment/analysis after Episode 16 season finale.

--> https://mydramalist.com/43827-sisyphus-the-myth#comment-5802889

Episode 15

I figured it out after watching the special episode.

The real killer is …

…

…

…

the writer.

;P

Episode 20 - The real killer is …

Based on most comments here, it would appear that the majority of the low ratings came from those who were trying to unravel the different timelines and got confused. The thing is, the different timelines does not matter in this show, what matters is the present (2020) not the "past timelines" nor whichever future version.

The way I understood it is it's a grandfather paradox.

He took a team to build the bunker right after learning about the story of the bunker, and this team just built it without him having to oversee it since he already explained everything that must be done.

Then when D-Day came, young Seo Hae and her family arrived, they had no idea who built the bunker so Seo Hae never knew until Tae Sul showed it to her.

Secondly, Tae Sul also upgraded the bunker in this new timeline. Remember he explained that he installed a backup system for the door so her mother won't have to sacrifice herself. It's a sign that proves that things are indeed changing.

Third, we know that her father knew about the bunker because it was Seo Hae (or the Seo Hae from an earlier timeline) that told him where to find it. In this new timeline, it was Seo Hae again who told her father where to find the bunker, and it was also Seo Hae who hid the gun from the future which her father would find later.

Tae Sul is a wealthy and influential person, he can get the best team (he probably have his own anyway), explain what he wants and all his plans, and they'll execute it all for him without him overwatching them. He doesn't need the time, his team did it for him.

^_^

The episodes are so packed, the 30 minutes run time is too short! The writer and director are so good because they're leaving us wanting more. I mean, there are other 30 minutes episodic series but usually doesn't make us waiting for the next episode. In "Be My Dream Family", it's always "that's it? WHAT?! Where's the next episode!!!1"

Good thing is, it's airing from Monday to Friday. We don't have to wait that long.

Yeah, it's really sad. Based on MDL comments in Alice, the low ratings seem to be because most were confused, which resulted in misunderstanding a certain relationship (I don't want spoil :p )

It's hard to say how much of the show was about physics. For example, whenever they are trying to explain the concept of parallel worlds and time travel, they used the proper terms, flashed a short explanation on the screen, and in some cases the characters explained it in layman's terms. Also, in the latter half of the series, there were a lot of time travels.

The series is like an attempt to make a story out of different theories about quantum physics and time travel / multiple worlds. For me it was fun and I am glad to see writers are no longer afraid to try hard sci-fi.

I think it will depend if one understood what's happening in the show, especially that misunderstood relationship I hinted earlier. ^_^

Yeah, I'm having a problem reconciling why Sigma doesn't appear old in that 2035 scene. I hope it was only because he had long hair which made him look younger, LOLs.

True that. I read a theory about how there is only one timeline and what we're thinking as different timelines are only the states between 0 and 1. I imagine it as a "time bubble" between the exact time incursion in the past and the exact time the time traveller came from. So anything between these two points of time is where all the different versions exist, but outside, it's as-usual. (I think that's what the writer of "TIMES" used.)

Thanks for asking and apologies, I think I misread an article, instead of reading "web series", I read "webtoon series". I checked the other sources again and, yes, definitely "web series" since it was released on Kakao TV and Netflix only.

Updated the earlier comment to reflect the corrected information. ^_^

The random scenes like a music video in episode 1? I was thinking those were part of her reminiscing in reverse, like traveling through memories from the present (beginning of ep1) to the day they met. (Though the scenes itself weren't 'playing in reverse'. It felt like spoilers.

But if it was a memory from before the four them met at the bar, hmm… they probably couldn't remember?

Speaking of Sigma, in episode 14 (or was it 13?), when they showed that Seo Hae and her father happened to discover the hideout of Sigma in 2035, Sigma-2035 was recalling how he let Tae Sul choose between the girl and the world. That does not make any sense.

If Sigma was the first to use the uploader, then:
1: he shouldn't be in 2035;
2: that Sigma-2035 should not remember that "choosing" encounter

So… does it mean Sigma-2035 returned from the past? It's not possible either because that Sigma-2035 looks younger (or maybe his long hair made him look younger).

However, there is another possibility here.

The earlier theory that when they upload, the original stays and only a copy is sent to the past, hence the "copies" refer to themselves as "copies".

That means, the Sigma-2035 they saw in that bar is the original Sigma.

The next question is, why does he remember something the Sigma-copy did? Could it be that what a copy does, the original also remembers?

The next question then, if our Seo Hae-copy received the hand of her 2035-father, does it mean they were caught by Sigma-2035? It looks like it, considering how they accidentally saw Sigma-2035 in his hideout. He probably tried to catch them after they left but was only successful after Seo Hae-2035 already sent a copy of herself in 2020.

The copies knowing what's going to happen points to the possibility that they have some sort of communication with the future. For example, their downloader can detect if there's an incoming download (or an upload from the future). It means that the originals are sending information to change the past.

Then again … when Tae Sul first demonstrated his teleportation device, the original sugar cube disappeared and new sugar cube was created in a new location (the copy).

Did Tae Sul somehow changed the technology? Instead of removing the original, the original stays? Could that very well explain why there is a Sigma-2035 when he's supposedly was the first to time travel? Could that be the reason why Sigma-2020/copy knows a lot of information, like the hand delivery because Sigma-2025/original is informing him?

I really want to untangle the "how many timelines are there" question in this series but it is so hard.

All throughout the series, they kept showing an ever-changing "future" and it is also hard to determine if our Seo Hae was remembering "her future" or the future the other Seo Hae came from. There were also "future" scenes which were not memories of either Seo Hae (ours or the other version) but rather the "new future" because of the changes currently happening.

I don't know if I can call that good writing because I can't tell either if it was intentional. I mean, there are writers who do want to keep things "muddied" or "confusing" because the story is not about it but rather the characters. Such as in this case, this is not about the future, this is not about alternate timelines, this is about the present and the relationship of Seo Hae, Tae Sul, and Sigma.

Thoughts and what not. (Just sharing, feel free to join the discussion if you like.)