My Name — Ending Explained

The Undercover Father Twist: Yoon Dong-hoon was never a drug dealer; he was an undercover cop named Song Joon-soo planted into Dongcheon by Cha Gi-ho years prior.

The Killer Revealed: Choi Mu-jin personally shot Dong-hoon outside Ji-woo's apartment after discovering Dong-hoon's police badge and radio.

The Stolen Gun Trap: Mu-jin planted Dong-hoon's police service weapon as the murder weapon to trick Ji-woo into believing a cop killed her father, manipulating her into infiltrating the Narcotics unit to kill Cha Gi-ho.

Pil-do’s Sudden Death: Just as Ji-woo agrees to lay down her weapons and pursue legal trial alongside Pil-do, Mu-jin assassinates Pil-do in a drive-by shooting. This destroys her last chance at happiness and forces her to complete her murderous transformation.

The Finale Showdown: Ji-woo single-handedly invades Dongcheon’s headquarters, slays Mu-jin in a knife fight, and disappears into the night, visiting the grave under her real name, Song Ji-woo.

• The "Twisted Fatherly Attachment" Reading: Some viewers and critics interpret Choi Mu-jin's relationship with Ji-woo as genuinely affection-driven, albeit through a sociopathic lens. In this view, Mu-jin killed her father for betraying their gang brotherhood, but trained Ji-woo because he wanted her to become a "monster like him," ensuring he would no longer be alone in the dark.
• The "Empty Victory / Pyrrhic Vengeance" Reading: Another reading emphasizes the complete failure of revenge. Though Ji-woo kills Mu-jin and completes her mission, she loses her lover (Pil-do), her career, her peace of mind, and her standing in society, ending up a ghost on the run with nothing left.
• The "Reclamation of Autonomy" Reading: Alternatively, the narrative can be viewed as a story of female liberation from patriarchal control. Ji-woo spends years being manipulated by male authority figures (Mu-jin, Cha Gi-ho). By executing Mu-jin and rejecting police authority, she frees herself from all male control, adopting her true name on her own terms.