Memories of the Sword — Ending Explained

The central revelation is that the survivors of the old uprising are tied to Hong-yi by love and guilt. Wol-so has spent eighteen years preparing Hong-yi to kill the man who betrayed them, Yu-baek, who was once the warrior Deok-gi. Wol-so is also the unseen designer of the plan and the link between Hong-yi and Yu-baek. When Hong-yi enters the capital's arena and is noticed by him, the sealed past starts to reopen. The result is a three-way confrontation of the swords, a tragic fight in which revenge is paid for with lives and with lost love. I could not verify specific details of the ending through my research, so this analysis does not describe exactly who dies or how. In general terms, the film closes on the emptiness of vengeance and on a young woman left to carry the memory of the sword.

It can be read as a personal tragedy of unresolved love and guilt among three people. It can also be read as a political allegory about how revolutionary ideals decay into the pursuit of power. A third reading sees it as a female coming-of-age story in which Hong-yi has to untangle her own will from the one her mentor wrote for her.