The climactic revelation of the film strips away the artificial mystique of the Ming Imperial Seal. After a series of explosive naval skirmishes, Sa-jung and Yeo-wol defeat both the vengeful traitor Soma and the ruthless royal commander Mo Heung-gap. When Sa-jung finally faces the mother whale, he refuses to butcher her to retrieve the foreign relic, recognizing her sacred maternal protection.
Instead, Sa-jung boldly presents himself before King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye). Confronting the newly crowned founder of Joseon, Sa-jung delivers a searing rebuke: a king who requires a foreign jade trinket to justify his rule, sacrificing his own people and wildlife in the process, is unworthy of the throne. Moved by Sa-jung's moral conviction, Yi Seong-gye accepts the founding of Joseon on its own terms without Ming validation, allowing the whale to swim away unharmed and leaving Sa-jung and Yeo-wol free to navigate the open seas together.