Season 1 Climax: Cho Suk-bong kidnaps his former bully, Hwang Jang-soo, intending to execute him. When surrounded by military police, Suk-bong realizes that even his extreme action will not force the military to reform. He turns his weapon on himself and shoots himself under the chin. Though he survives, he is left severely incapacitated. In the post-credits scene, his friend Kim Ru-ri, suffering similar torment, opens fire on his entire unit.
Season 2 Plot Turns: Kim Ru-ri takes hostages with a grenade, but Jun-ho and Ho-yeol de-escalate the standoff peacefully. Meanwhile, standard investigators attempt to brand Ru-ri as a lone insane terrorist. Captain Lim Ji-seop and Sergeant Park discover that higher-ups actively covered up a landmine accident that killed a soldier (Na Jung-seok), falsely claiming he died due to personal negligence.
The Classified USB Drive & Finale: Jun-ho steals an encrypted USB drive containing decades of suppressed military cover-ups. Pursued by military investigators, he attempts to deliver it to a civil lawsuit filed by victims' families. Ho-yeol secures his own discharge to intervene, while Sergeant Park Beom-gu takes full responsibility for leaking the drive, accepting arrest and imprisonment to protect Jun-ho.
Courtroom Outcome and Ending: The court orders the state to pay partial compensation to Kim Ru-ri's family, marking a historic acknowledgment of institutional fault, though military leadership escapes direct criminal punishment. Ho-yeol bids an emotional farewell to Jun-ho upon completing his service. In the final scene, Jun-ho continues his military duty with 364 days remaining, watching new recruits arrive. He shares a brief moment of quiet recognition with a recovered Cho Suk-bong, proving that while the struggle goes on, human connection remains.