On episode 2: One thing I'm confused about is why God (Shin) is a sick patient with a heart condition? What exactly…
She lives in the body of sick / frail people and reincarnates frequently because that is the price she has to pay for humanity's existence. The Deity also makes a comment suggesting that she is also ill / in the hospital because she exists as a result of many humans crying out for a god and hospitals are places with high concentrations of such prayers. The writers don't do a good job of really explaining the nuances of all that.
In terms of her abilities / power, she and Myeol Mang can both travel through time and space. The Deity can also affect memories and change things in the present (moving objects, making things appear or disappear, etc.) and is aware of all things that happen in the present. She doesn't know the future, but can make guesses based on what she knows about the present. She can create immortals but has only done so once with Myeol Mang. She also has access to a separate world / garden that is sort of like her own private heaven (human souls don't seem to go there when they die). Big spoilers ahead: she can also turn an immortal into a human under the right circumstances.
"I have a question, why Tak Dong Kyung didn't die? she should die anyway.. the agreement won't save her..they…
**spoilers for viewers who have not seen episode 2 (note that some plot points that are introduced in episode 2 are affirmed in episode 3)**
The part about the guilt is something the audience has to infer as the reason why that outcome would be a penalty. TDK gets upset when she finds out about the penalty because she realizes she has no option that lets her save the person she loves most. As she says in episode 3, that person will die either way (if she completes her wish or if she fails to complete her wish, which would invoke the contract penalty).
You can rewatch episode 3 starting at minute 25 to see Myeol Mang confirm that she will live if the contract penalty is invoked. In minute 53 the Deity also confirms that she will be responsible for finding the person who will die in Tak Dong Kyung's place if / when Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung break the contract. And in minute 59, after Tak Dong Kyung reveals her plan to Myeol Mang, she notes that her plan will allow her to live without losing anything.
You can also see Meyol Mang explain the penalty for the first time in episode 2 at minute 27.
I have a question, why Tak Dong Kyung didn't die? she should die anyway.. the agreement won't save her..they said…
"I have a question, why Tak Dong Kyung didn't die? she should die anyway.. the agreement won't save her..they said from the beginning that no one can prevent her death.. the agreement was about her promise to wish destroying the world in return for not feeling the pain from cancer...she will die without pain...if she didn't destroy the world ,then the most person she loves will die instead "which was her brother, then became Kim Sa Ram"..did I miss something? can anyone explains why she didn't die?"
The main terms of the contract did not affect the fact that Tak Dong Kyung was destined to die on March 2nd. However, as you noted, the only thing that could affect her destined death was the penalty Tak Dong Kyung would face if she failed to fulfill her obligation under the contract. If Tak Dong Kyung failed to wish for doom to befall the world before her destined death on March 2nd, she would live and her doom / death would transfer to the persons she loved most at that time. That person would die instead of her, and she would have to live on with that knowledge.
It agree that it's counterintuitive that the contract penalty would give her the only outcome where she lives and the writers never explained why Myeol Mang was able to make that the penalty when he and the Deity both were not able to do anything else that would affect TDK's death, but that's always what the penalty was. Myeol Mang talks about the doom transferring / the person she loves dying instead of her in episode 2. In episode 3 he calls TDK a pessimist for focusing on the fact that the person she loves will die if she breaks the contract, rather than focusing on the fact that she would get to live.
He wore his outdoor shoes inside her apartment and didn't kneel / show respect to her aunt even though he was…
No. When she says "Is he an American or what?" in the first episode, it's a comment on his rude behaviour (wearing shoes inside and leaving dirty foot prints in her apartment). She's not assuming he's American, or even speculating that he might be. The point of the comment is to express frustration with his behaviour, which wasn't in line with Korean social norms.
It would be like an adult watching a little kid who is very good at swimming saying something like "Wow is he part fish? He's so quick!" Obviously that person doesn't actually think the kids is part fish. The point of the comment is to emphasize how good the kid is at swimming.
When TDK tells her aunt that he's American later in the drama she does it to explain his behaviour, because she can't very well say that he's a non-human, immortal creation of a Deity / the living embodiment of doom and that's why his behaviour isn't in line with their expected cultural norms. TDK didn't say that because *she* thinks he's American. She's known from episode one that he's neither human nor American. It was just the most plausible lie she could make to explain his behaviour.
Please, correct me if I am wrong…When exactly did Doom ever indicate to her that he was an American?If she carelessly…
He wore his outdoor shoes inside her apartment and didn't kneel / show respect to her aunt even though he was supposedly her boyfriend and her aunt would look at him and see someone who looks half her age. Basically he didn't follow Korean cultural norms / social expectations and instead acted like an American would in those situations.
Another viewer (https://clarawho.tumblr.com/) noted something interesting about the narrative structure that we…
"we found out in ep15 that every time we heard dong kyung’s voiceover throughout the show, it was her recounting the events of her and myul mang’s story in her novel.
and now it turns out that, when we suddenly start hearing myul mang’s thoughts as well in ep 8, it’s because that’s the point in the story when dong kyung starts asking for his input, getting his own pov into her memories of them."
"The contract was if she wants to continue Living she has to ask him to destroy the world." It's the opposite actually.
The contract terms did NOT state that Tak Dong Kyung would only live IF she wished for the world to end. If she wished for the world to end, she and everyone else would have died / disappeared.
The main contract did not change the fact that Tak Dong Kyung was fated to die in 100 days. She promised to complete her wish for the world to end in exchange for: (1) Myeol Mang taking away her pain before she died (as long as she recharged her protection); and (2) getting an extra wish (which she was not allowed to use to cure her cancer / to live longer).
If she breached the contract by FAILING / REFUSING to complete her wish for the world to end before her fated death day, then the penalty would be that Tak Dong Kyung would live but the person she loved most (ultimately Myeol Mang) would die in her place.
Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung recap the terms of the contract in episode 3 (when Tak Dong Kyung writes them out…
The Deity said she would do anything to make sure that Myeol Mang does not make Tak Dong Kyung "resign herself to the world" the way Myeol Mang did.
Remember that Myeol Mang has tried (but failed) to "doom" the world before and he and Tak Dong Kyung both wished for the world to be doomed at the same time. We find out later that "dooming the world" would just mean making all the people in the world permanently disappear btw (not a spoiler about anything that happens, just clarification about what they mean when they use that phrase, because that line always made me picture like... the world ending in fire or something).
So I think the Deity meant that she would do anything to make sure that Myeol Mang doesn't succeed in getting Tak Dong Kyung to complete her wish for doom to befall the world (which, in addition to making all humans die / disappear, would presumably make the Deity and Myeol Mang disappear too). Keep in mind that the Deity is manipulative. Even when she seems like she's trying to convince Myeol Mang to be heartless or trying to force Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung apart, she might really be playing a long game with the opposite intention.
Soft spoilers for later episodes - the Deity seems to want Myeol Mang to have a happy ending and wants him to grow / develop his humanity / do good things with a specific objective, but she believes Myeol Mang (and, to an extent, Tak Dong Kyung) has to suffer and struggle for it all to be meaningful and worthwhile. So often times she does things (pulling Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung apart, making Myeol Mang doubt himself, etc.) to either make them suffer / struggle, to make them fall more deeply in love (which both contributes to Myeol Mang developing his empathy and humanity and contributes to his suffering), or to hide her true intentions (she believes Myeol Mang rebelling against her is an important part of his development).
A bit more spoilery now - the seed in the Deity's flower pot represents Myeol Mang. At certain points the Deity tells Myeol Mang he'll be punished for doing bad things and that he should do good things. We learn that Myeol Mang once longed to be human and asked the Deity to give him a name. There is a scene where the Deity leaves out a children's picture book (a version of Pinocchio) for Myeol Mang to see where a boy puppet (Pinnochio) asks the blue fairy how he can grow up quickly to become a human man. The blue fairy initially tells him he can't (because he's a puppet) and then says he must be good / worthy in order to grow up / become a human man.
The Deity said that Myeol Mang is a butterfly, but think of him as a caterpillar right now. He needs a catalyst (like a caterpillar's cocoon) in order to undergo a metamorphosis in order to become a butterfly. The Deity seems to be pushing and manipulating Myeol Mang in order to get him to grow and ultimately transform, hopefully with a happy ending at the end of it all.
That said, even as of episode 14, the notes above are mostly not fully confirmed. The writers seem to have intentionally written the Deity's lines and scenes to be mysterious, and even now it's not 100% clear what her exact intentions are.
there was no written signed contract. she basically signed it when she took his hand at the end of episode 1.…
***spoilers for episode 1 and 2 only*** Jasper, you're correct that there's no written contract and that TDK initially accepted MM's offer when she took MM's hand at the end of episode 1. She re-accepted in episode 2 after: (i) MM added the condition that TDK need to "recharge" MM's promise to take away her pain on a daily basis; (ii) MM told her about the contract penalty; and (iii) MM put her back in the life-threatening truck scenario in order to prove that she would still accept the contract even when she was aware of all the terms.
However, TDK's life and stopping the truck are NOT consideration for this contract (collateral is not a relevant concept here*). Stopping the truck in order to prevent TDK from immediately dying was a method that MM used to force TDK to accept the contract (which wouldn't work in the human world btw, because TDK's consent was given under duress which would make the contract void).
TDK's consideration was promising to complete her wish for the world to be doomed before she dies (and as of the day MM approaches her, she is destined to die in 100 days - March 2nd). MM's promises did NOT include saving TDK's life, and the main contract terms did not affect the fact that TDK is destined to die on March 2nd. MM's promises / consideration were: (1) taking away TDK's pain as long as she keeps that protection "charged"; and (2) granting her an extra wish, in addition to completing her wish for the world to be doomed.
"...she will die if she doesn't make the wish" - not at all. Everyone (including TDK) will die / disappear if she *does* complete her wish. If she DOESN'T complete her wish for the world to be doomed during the contract period (which ends on the day she is fated to die / March 2nd), then TDK will LIVE as a result of the contract penalty.
The contract penalty (not consideration, but an enforcement mechanism) was first discussed in episode 2 and confirmed in episode 3, so Spukhafte Fernwirkungen's comment was not a spoiler for lovindrama. The contract penalty is that if TDK does not fulfill her promise / consideration under the contract, the person she loves most will die in her place. If that happens, only the person she loves most will die. The world will not be doomed (because she didn't complete her wish) and TDK will also live.
*Collateral is only relevant in loan type agreements. I believe lovindrama meant to refer to consideration - a concept that is necessary for a contract to be complete. Consideration means that both parties to an agreement are getting something from each other. Imagine a loan agreement where person A asks bank B for a loan. Bank B gives person A money - that's one half of the consideration. Person A pays interest to Bank B (in addition to paying the initial loan amount) - that's the second half of the consideration. Bank B may also ask person A to use their car or home as collateral for the loan, meaning that if person A cannot pay back the money they owe, Bank B can take their car or home instead in order to make up the debt.
I was multi-tasking when I was watching this drama so I was kinda distracted by some parts, I just finished 2…
Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung recap the terms of the contract in episode 3 (when Tak Dong Kyung writes them out in her journal). If you pay close attention to that scene hopefully it can clarify any points you missed in the first two episodes. If you still aren't sure about anything, there are notes on the contract terms here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/destruction/62551-notes-to-keep-track-of-plot-points
it's not like people don't understand, it's just too many things were truly not explained:> why can Doom break…
"At this point this explanation is getting way too far fetched for me, with assumptions of possible translation errors and language nuances." Yes that post was a deep dive with the aim of exploring whether Myeol Mang had violated the contract or if the Deity lied when she made her offer to Tak Dong Kyung, as Kate suggested at the top of this thread. Definitely not necessary / intended for general viewers who aren't interested in those very narrow questions.
"I mean "void" (I'm a software engineer myself) in this context should not mean anything else other than a straight nullification of the contract (pun intended)." I agree, that's what void normally means (I'm a contract lawyer specializing in technology-related commercial contracts). When I watched episodes 11 and 12 I thought the contract was gone for good and was quite surprised when that turned out to not be the case. My notes on the Deity's comments in this thread were only intended to explore whether she outright lied to Tak Dong Kyung. I think that point is debatable. But again, not really important outside of responding to Kate's original points / questions.
"I also understand Korean and I don't think translation is at blame here at all." That's good to know. I've been trained to be very wary of translations when it comes to contractual interpretation (when we have a contract in one language that takes precedence and a translation, we rely on the interpretation of a native speaker of the first language whenever possible) but I agree that whether or not the translations create some additional confusion (and it sounds like they don't) the main source of any confusion / inconsistencies is with the original script writing.
"Frankly speaking, people are getting too hung up over the contract. At this point, it's nothing more than a plot device for the leads to get together (and separate) so it's only as useful as the writer deems. Some people consider it poor writing, others who don't mind just need to take a leap of faith to stay with it." For sure it's a plot device. I'm having fun with the extra analysis, but that's just me. I don't normally watch airing dramas so I'm not used to waiting so long in between episodes. The time and energy I normally spend on bingeing completed shows has converted into time and energy spent on overanalyzing the details of this drama instead.
3 
1 
1 
In terms of her abilities / power, she and Myeol Mang can both travel through time and space. The Deity can also affect memories and change things in the present (moving objects, making things appear or disappear, etc.) and is aware of all things that happen in the present. She doesn't know the future, but can make guesses based on what she knows about the present. She can create immortals but has only done so once with Myeol Mang. She also has access to a separate world / garden that is sort of like her own private heaven (human souls don't seem to go there when they die). Big spoilers ahead: she can also turn an immortal into a human under the right circumstances.
The part about the guilt is something the audience has to infer as the reason why that outcome would be a penalty. TDK gets upset when she finds out about the penalty because she realizes she has no option that lets her save the person she loves most. As she says in episode 3, that person will die either way (if she completes her wish or if she fails to complete her wish, which would invoke the contract penalty).
You can rewatch episode 3 starting at minute 25 to see Myeol Mang confirm that she will live if the contract penalty is invoked. In minute 53 the Deity also confirms that she will be responsible for finding the person who will die in Tak Dong Kyung's place if / when Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung break the contract. And in minute 59, after Tak Dong Kyung reveals her plan to Myeol Mang, she notes that her plan will allow her to live without losing anything.
You can also see Meyol Mang explain the penalty for the first time in episode 2 at minute 27.
The main terms of the contract did not affect the fact that Tak Dong Kyung was destined to die on March 2nd. However, as you noted, the only thing that could affect her destined death was the penalty Tak Dong Kyung would face if she failed to fulfill her obligation under the contract. If Tak Dong Kyung failed to wish for doom to befall the world before her destined death on March 2nd, she would live and her doom / death would transfer to the persons she loved most at that time. That person would die instead of her, and she would have to live on with that knowledge.
It agree that it's counterintuitive that the contract penalty would give her the only outcome where she lives and the writers never explained why Myeol Mang was able to make that the penalty when he and the Deity both were not able to do anything else that would affect TDK's death, but that's always what the penalty was. Myeol Mang talks about the doom transferring / the person she loves dying instead of her in episode 2. In episode 3 he calls TDK a pessimist for focusing on the fact that the person she loves will die if she breaks the contract, rather than focusing on the fact that she would get to live.
It would be like an adult watching a little kid who is very good at swimming saying something like "Wow is he part fish? He's so quick!" Obviously that person doesn't actually think the kids is part fish. The point of the comment is to emphasize how good the kid is at swimming.
When TDK tells her aunt that he's American later in the drama she does it to explain his behaviour, because she can't very well say that he's a non-human, immortal creation of a Deity / the living embodiment of doom and that's why his behaviour isn't in line with their expected cultural norms. TDK didn't say that because *she* thinks he's American. She's known from episode one that he's neither human nor American. It was just the most plausible lie she could make to explain his behaviour.
and now it turns out that, when we suddenly start hearing myul mang’s thoughts as well in ep 8, it’s because that’s the point in the story when dong kyung starts asking for his input, getting his own pov into her memories of them."
https://clarawho.tumblr.com/post/655342641262870528/god-this-show-is-so-brilliant-we-found-out-in
The contract terms did NOT state that Tak Dong Kyung would only live IF she wished for the world to end. If she wished for the world to end, she and everyone else would have died / disappeared.
The main contract did not change the fact that Tak Dong Kyung was fated to die in 100 days. She promised to complete her wish for the world to end in exchange for: (1) Myeol Mang taking away her pain before she died (as long as she recharged her protection); and (2) getting an extra wish (which she was not allowed to use to cure her cancer / to live longer).
If she breached the contract by FAILING / REFUSING to complete her wish for the world to end before her fated death day, then the penalty would be that Tak Dong Kyung would live but the person she loved most (ultimately Myeol Mang) would die in her place.
All the contract details are covered here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/destruction/62551-notes-to-keep-track-of-plot-points.
Literally the very first scene! （＾∀＾）ゞ
Remember that Myeol Mang has tried (but failed) to "doom" the world before and he and Tak Dong Kyung both wished for the world to be doomed at the same time. We find out later that "dooming the world" would just mean making all the people in the world permanently disappear btw (not a spoiler about anything that happens, just clarification about what they mean when they use that phrase, because that line always made me picture like... the world ending in fire or something).
So I think the Deity meant that she would do anything to make sure that Myeol Mang doesn't succeed in getting Tak Dong Kyung to complete her wish for doom to befall the world (which, in addition to making all humans die / disappear, would presumably make the Deity and Myeol Mang disappear too). Keep in mind that the Deity is manipulative. Even when she seems like she's trying to convince Myeol Mang to be heartless or trying to force Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung apart, she might really be playing a long game with the opposite intention.
Soft spoilers for later episodes - the Deity seems to want Myeol Mang to have a happy ending and wants him to grow / develop his humanity / do good things with a specific objective, but she believes Myeol Mang (and, to an extent, Tak Dong Kyung) has to suffer and struggle for it all to be meaningful and worthwhile. So often times she does things (pulling Myeol Mang and Tak Dong Kyung apart, making Myeol Mang doubt himself, etc.) to either make them suffer / struggle, to make them fall more deeply in love (which both contributes to Myeol Mang developing his empathy and humanity and contributes to his suffering), or to hide her true intentions (she believes Myeol Mang rebelling against her is an important part of his development).
A bit more spoilery now - the seed in the Deity's flower pot represents Myeol Mang. At certain points the Deity tells Myeol Mang he'll be punished for doing bad things and that he should do good things. We learn that Myeol Mang once longed to be human and asked the Deity to give him a name. There is a scene where the Deity leaves out a children's picture book (a version of Pinocchio) for Myeol Mang to see where a boy puppet (Pinnochio) asks the blue fairy how he can grow up quickly to become a human man. The blue fairy initially tells him he can't (because he's a puppet) and then says he must be good / worthy in order to grow up / become a human man.
The Deity said that Myeol Mang is a butterfly, but think of him as a caterpillar right now. He needs a catalyst (like a caterpillar's cocoon) in order to undergo a metamorphosis in order to become a butterfly. The Deity seems to be pushing and manipulating Myeol Mang in order to get him to grow and ultimately transform, hopefully with a happy ending at the end of it all.
That said, even as of episode 14, the notes above are mostly not fully confirmed. The writers seem to have intentionally written the Deity's lines and scenes to be mysterious, and even now it's not 100% clear what her exact intentions are.
However, TDK's life and stopping the truck are NOT consideration for this contract (collateral is not a relevant concept here*). Stopping the truck in order to prevent TDK from immediately dying was a method that MM used to force TDK to accept the contract (which wouldn't work in the human world btw, because TDK's consent was given under duress which would make the contract void).
TDK's consideration was promising to complete her wish for the world to be doomed before she dies (and as of the day MM approaches her, she is destined to die in 100 days - March 2nd). MM's promises did NOT include saving TDK's life, and the main contract terms did not affect the fact that TDK is destined to die on March 2nd. MM's promises / consideration were: (1) taking away TDK's pain as long as she keeps that protection "charged"; and (2) granting her an extra wish, in addition to completing her wish for the world to be doomed.
"...she will die if she doesn't make the wish" - not at all. Everyone (including TDK) will die / disappear if she *does* complete her wish. If she DOESN'T complete her wish for the world to be doomed during the contract period (which ends on the day she is fated to die / March 2nd), then TDK will LIVE as a result of the contract penalty.
The contract penalty (not consideration, but an enforcement mechanism) was first discussed in episode 2 and confirmed in episode 3, so Spukhafte Fernwirkungen's comment was not a spoiler for lovindrama. The contract penalty is that if TDK does not fulfill her promise / consideration under the contract, the person she loves most will die in her place. If that happens, only the person she loves most will die. The world will not be doomed (because she didn't complete her wish) and TDK will also live.
*Collateral is only relevant in loan type agreements. I believe lovindrama meant to refer to consideration - a concept that is necessary for a contract to be complete. Consideration means that both parties to an agreement are getting something from each other. Imagine a loan agreement where person A asks bank B for a loan. Bank B gives person A money - that's one half of the consideration. Person A pays interest to Bank B (in addition to paying the initial loan amount) - that's the second half of the consideration. Bank B may also ask person A to use their car or home as collateral for the loan, meaning that if person A cannot pay back the money they owe, Bank B can take their car or home instead in order to make up the debt.
I've tried to consolidate my notes on this here: https://mydramalist.com/discussions/destruction/62551-notes-to-keep-track-of-plot-points. Scroll down to "Effect of the Deity's Actions on the Contract" for the most relevant bit.
Yes that post was a deep dive with the aim of exploring whether Myeol Mang had violated the contract or if the Deity lied when she made her offer to Tak Dong Kyung, as Kate suggested at the top of this thread. Definitely not necessary / intended for general viewers who aren't interested in those very narrow questions.
"I mean "void" (I'm a software engineer myself) in this context should not mean anything else other than a straight nullification of the contract (pun intended)."
I agree, that's what void normally means (I'm a contract lawyer specializing in technology-related commercial contracts). When I watched episodes 11 and 12 I thought the contract was gone for good and was quite surprised when that turned out to not be the case. My notes on the Deity's comments in this thread were only intended to explore whether she outright lied to Tak Dong Kyung. I think that point is debatable. But again, not really important outside of responding to Kate's original points / questions.
"I also understand Korean and I don't think translation is at blame here at all."
That's good to know. I've been trained to be very wary of translations when it comes to contractual interpretation (when we have a contract in one language that takes precedence and a translation, we rely on the interpretation of a native speaker of the first language whenever possible) but I agree that whether or not the translations create some additional confusion (and it sounds like they don't) the main source of any confusion / inconsistencies is with the original script writing.
"Frankly speaking, people are getting too hung up over the contract. At this point, it's nothing more than a plot device for the leads to get together (and separate) so it's only as useful as the writer deems. Some people consider it poor writing, others who don't mind just need to take a leap of faith to stay with it."
For sure it's a plot device. I'm having fun with the extra analysis, but that's just me. I don't normally watch airing dramas so I'm not used to waiting so long in between episodes. The time and energy I normally spend on bingeing completed shows has converted into time and energy spent on overanalyzing the details of this drama instead.