All about the identity of the mysterious woman at the end of Kingdom Season 2

Kingdom Season 2 left fans with an exciting cliffhanger. In Season 2, Episode 6 (the final episode) we meet a mysterious young woman. If you’re wondering who she is just like me, then you’re at the right place.

So just for some context: In Season 2, it is revealed that the infection is not caused by the resurrection plant itself but from worms that grow in the leaves of the plant. Ex-Crown Prince Lee Chang (played by Ju Ji-hoon) and Seo Bi (played by Bae Doona) travels to the north to find out the origins of the Resurrection plant.

It turns out that the mysterious girl seen in the end of Season 2 is Ashin and Kingdom: Ashin of the North answers all the questions we had about her.

The special episode, which is a prequel to Kingdom Season 1 and 2 premiered on Netflix on 23rd July, 2021 and all our zombie questions were answered, more or less. 

1. What Happens In The End Of Season 2?

A lot of important revelations took place in the second season of Kingdom. Here’s a quick recap which we need to keep in mind to understand the even bigger revelations made in Kingdom: Ashin of the North.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

By the final episode, when almost all hope is lost and the zombies have taken over, Prince Lee Chang cleverly leads the infected zombies towards a frozen lake. During the final face-off, our hero Lee Chang slams one of the not-yet-dead zombies into the lake, which shatters the ice.

This leads the zombies and humans underneath the ice into the water. As we know, water is able to cure the infection if their bodies are dipped into it before they’re dead. Lee Chang manages to do so and hence, his troop is saved.

After that, Lee Chang technically fakes his death as per historical records because he wanted to leave with Seo Bi to find out the actual truth about the zombie epidemic and the origin of the resurrection plant.

Jump to seven years later: we see Lee Chang and Seo Bi in a village teeming with zombies. Rumors say that someone has been selling the resurrection flowers to commoners in the village.

Soon after, we are introduced to the mysterious woman who is allegedly the mastermind behind the whole epidemic and has been selling the resurrection flowers.

This mysterious woman, named Ashin is played by Jun Ji Hyun. Ashin’s background story is explained to us in the special episode and we realize why she did what she did.

2. Who Is The Mysterious Woman At The End?

To say it with one phrase, Kingdom: Ashin of the North explains “the beginning of everything, the root of it all” as described by Kingdom writer Kim Eun-ee.

The mysterious girl from Season 2 is Ashin, a member of the Jurchen tribe, who vows to kill every living thing after her family and tribe is brutally attacked and killed by the Pajeowi tribe. She is responsible for the spread of the zombie epidemic, but she had her reasons.

Ashin wants to avenge the death of her family and people and is determined to go any lengths to achieve her goals. In her way, she makes startling discoveries and it is betrayal which turns her into this bloodthirstly avenger.

Ashin is a powerful character and goes well with the main theme of Kingdom: the consequences of the misuse of power, the fatal consequences of preservation of the status-quo and discrimination against perceived outcastes and the sharp critique of power dynamics.

She is complicated and the development of her emotions is what stood out for me in this 93 minute long episode. Ashin’s horrific actions are actually of the same intensity as what was done to her tribe and like every other victim turned monster, she is a consequence of the inherently flawed system of power structure.

3. Everything About Ashin’s Background

Time for a bit of a history lesson. Ashin’s tribe, the Jurchen tribe settled in Joseon era Korea. Originally from northeast China, the tribe migrated to Korea and promised to remain loyal to Korea for letting them settle there.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

But the tribe was always treated as outcastes and discriminated against despite their loyalty.

Now, there is this mysterious place called Pyesa Gun, a forest situated at the northern border. The catch about this place is that the entrance here is forbidden for 100 years. And as we know now, forbidden means it’s the place which our protagonists will enter!

Ashin’s mother is terminally ill and to save her life, the young girl is in a quest to find ginseng for her mother. In this process, Ashin comes across an inscription that describes a blue resurrection flower which has the power to bring the dead back to life.

Ashin is now determined to find the mentioned flower, though the inscription warns that the resurrection will have a price to pay. Despite her father’s warnings, she ventures into the forbidden Pyesa Gun when her father is not present, in search of the resurrection flower.

But fate had different things planned for Ashin. When she returns home, she finds that her family and tribe has been ruthlessly murdered by the rival Pajeowi tribe. This angers her and she vows to kill “every living thing” who ruined her life and killed her family.

4. Why Does Ashin Want Revenge?

Ashin is determined to take revenge from those who killed her family and massacered her tribe.

Aidagan, the head of the Pajeowi tribe has attacked her village and killed everyone in her tribe mercilessly. Ashin helplessly seeks help from Chi-rok to avenge her father and her people, but the leader refuses to help her.

Ashin’s strength of character intrigued me, considering the amount of emotional and psychological abuse her character went through. Slowly, she learns it the harder way that it is only her who can help herself.

All of this takes place before the events of Kingdom Season 1 and 2. It is Ashin’s determination which changes the course of Joseon’s history forever. Kingdom: Ashin of the North has a strong message: if a woman is wronged, it can lead to fatal consequences, including an epidemic that can destroy a whole kingdom.

Ashin is cruel and brutal, but she is the product of what life offered her. One of the most significant lines from the episode that remained with me is that “humans are more evil than zombies.” Indeed it is so.

The zombies kill because they are driven by their natural instinct. They are built that way and do not understand the value of life because they do not have a functioning brain or feelings. But humans? They kill knowing the value of human life.

The humans around Ashin know how pain feels like and how emotions affect someone. Yet, they are ruthless and bloodthirsty and don’t think twice before ending someone’s life. Who is the evil one here then?

5. Who Is Responsible for the Zombie Epidemic?

So where does all of this about Ashin’s background leave us on the zombie pandemic that is the whole point of Kingdom?

It seems that our assumptions were right all along, Ashin is the reason for the epidemic of the zombies. She is responsible for infecting a soldier and turning him into a zombie for the first time, leading to the epidemic.

If you watch the episode, I bet it will be hard for you to blame her. I could not, TBH.

Basically, Ashin later finds out that it was Chi-rok who is the reason for her tribe being murdered.

She finds Chi-rok’s notes and realizes that back then, Joseon’s men actually killed some people from the Pajeowi tribe but to prevent an inevitable war, Chi-rok lied to the Pajeowi Jurchens that the Seongjeoyain Jurchens (the tribe Ashin belonged to) killed their men.

As a result, Aishidan the Pajeowi leader killed everyone in Ashin’s tribe and her father Ta Hab was declared a traitor.

Realizing the truth left Ashin burning with rage and vengeance. So to take revenge, she infected a soldier (who, FYI was sexually abusing her) with the resurrection plant flowers. It is also revealed that she turned her loved ones into zombies as well.

She kept them hidden inside a barn. She promised to bring them more human flesh and it is clear that she is determined to bring down Joseon and the Jurchen kingdom.

At the end of the episode, we get to know that it was Ashin who handed over the resurrection plant flowers to Seong-Hui, the king’s physician. He in turn, later used it in the Battle of Unpo Wetland, mentioned in Kingdom Season 1.

Kingdom Season 2 left fans with an exciting cliffhanger. In Season 2, Episode 6 (the final episode) we meet a mysterious young woman. If you’re wondering who she is just like me, then you’re at the right place.

So just for some context: In Season 2, it is revealed that the infection is not caused by the resurrection plant itself but from worms that grow in the leaves of the plant. Ex-Crown Prince Lee Chang (played by Ju Ji-hoon) and Seo Bi (played by Bae Doona) travels to the north to find out the origins of the Resurrection plant.

It turns out that the mysterious girl seen in the end of Season 2 is Ashin and Kingdom: Ashin of the North answers all the questions we had about her.

The special episode, which is a prequel to Kingdom Season 1 and 2 premiered on Netflix on 23rd July, 2021 and all our zombie questions were answered, more or less. 

1. What Happens In The End Of Season 2?

A lot of important revelations took place in the second season of Kingdom. Here’s a quick recap which we need to keep in mind to understand the even bigger revelations made in Kingdom: Ashin of the North.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

By the final episode, when almost all hope is lost and the zombies have taken over, Prince Lee Chang cleverly leads the infected zombies towards a frozen lake. During the final face-off, our hero Lee Chang slams one of the not-yet-dead zombies into the lake, which shatters the ice.

This leads the zombies and humans underneath the ice into the water. As we know, water is able to cure the infection if their bodies are dipped into it before they’re dead. Lee Chang manages to do so and hence, his troop is saved.

After that, Lee Chang technically fakes his death as per historical records because he wanted to leave with Seo Bi to find out the actual truth about the zombie epidemic and the origin of the resurrection plant.

Jump to seven years later: we see Lee Chang and Seo Bi in a village teeming with zombies. Rumors say that someone has been selling the resurrection flowers to commoners in the village.

Soon after, we are introduced to the mysterious woman who is allegedly the mastermind behind the whole epidemic and has been selling the resurrection flowers.

This mysterious woman, named Ashin is played by Jun Ji Hyun. Ashin’s background story is explained to us in the special episode and we realize why she did what she did.

2. Who Is The Mysterious Woman At The End?

To say it with one phrase, Kingdom: Ashin of the North explains “the beginning of everything, the root of it all” as described by Kingdom writer Kim Eun-ee.

The mysterious girl from Season 2 is Ashin, a member of the Jurchen tribe, who vows to kill every living thing after her family and tribe is brutally attacked and killed by the Pajeowi tribe. She is responsible for the spread of the zombie epidemic, but she had her reasons.

Ashin wants to avenge the death of her family and people and is determined to go any lengths to achieve her goals. In her way, she makes startling discoveries and it is betrayal which turns her into this bloodthirstly avenger.

Ashin is a powerful character and goes well with the main theme of Kingdom: the consequences of the misuse of power, the fatal consequences of preservation of the status-quo and discrimination against perceived outcastes and the sharp critique of power dynamics.

She is complicated and the development of her emotions is what stood out for me in this 93 minute long episode. Ashin’s horrific actions are actually of the same intensity as what was done to her tribe and like every other victim turned monster, she is a consequence of the inherently flawed system of power structure.

3. Everything About Ashin’s Background

Time for a bit of a history lesson. Ashin’s tribe, the Jurchen tribe settled in Joseon era Korea. Originally from northeast China, the tribe migrated to Korea and promised to remain loyal to Korea for letting them settle there.

Kingdom: Ashin of the North | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

But the tribe was always treated as outcastes and discriminated against despite their loyalty.

Now, there is this mysterious place called Pyesa Gun, a forest situated at the northern border. The catch about this place is that the entrance here is forbidden for 100 years. And as we know now, forbidden means it’s the place which our protagonists will enter!

Ashin’s mother is terminally ill and to save her life, the young girl is in a quest to find ginseng for her mother. In this process, Ashin comes across an inscription that describes a blue resurrection flower which has the power to bring the dead back to life.

Ashin is now determined to find the mentioned flower, though the inscription warns that the resurrection will have a price to pay. Despite her father’s warnings, she ventures into the forbidden Pyesa Gun when her father is not present, in search of the resurrection flower.

But fate had different things planned for Ashin. When she returns home, she finds that her family and tribe has been ruthlessly murdered by the rival Pajeowi tribe. This angers her and she vows to kill “every living thing” who ruined her life and killed her family.

4. Why Does Ashin Want Revenge?

Ashin is determined to take revenge from those who killed her family and massacered her tribe.

Aidagan, the head of the Pajeowi tribe has attacked her village and killed everyone in her tribe mercilessly. Ashin helplessly seeks help from Chi-rok to avenge her father and her people, but the leader refuses to help her.

Ashin’s strength of character intrigued me, considering the amount of emotional and psychological abuse her character went through. Slowly, she learns it the harder way that it is only her who can help herself.

All of this takes place before the events of Kingdom Season 1 and 2. It is Ashin’s determination which changes the course of Joseon’s history forever. Kingdom: Ashin of the North has a strong message: if a woman is wronged, it can lead to fatal consequences, including an epidemic that can destroy a whole kingdom.

Ashin is cruel and brutal, but she is the product of what life offered her. One of the most significant lines from the episode that remained with me is that “humans are more evil than zombies.” Indeed it is so.

The zombies kill because they are driven by their natural instinct. They are built that way and do not understand the value of life because they do not have a functioning brain or feelings. But humans? They kill knowing the value of human life.

The humans around Ashin know how pain feels like and how emotions affect someone. Yet, they are ruthless and bloodthirsty and don’t think twice before ending someone’s life. Who is the evil one here then?

5. Who Is Responsible for the Zombie Epidemic?

So where does all of this about Ashin’s background leave us on the zombie pandemic that is the whole point of Kingdom?

It seems that our assumptions were right all along, Ashin is the reason for the epidemic of the zombies. She is responsible for infecting a soldier and turning him into a zombie for the first time, leading to the epidemic.

If you watch the episode, I bet it will be hard for you to blame her. I could not, TBH.

Basically, Ashin later finds out that it was Chi-rok who is the reason for her tribe being murdered.

She finds Chi-rok’s notes and realizes that back then, Joseon’s men actually killed some people from the Pajeowi tribe but to prevent an inevitable war, Chi-rok lied to the Pajeowi Jurchens that the Seongjeoyain Jurchens (the tribe Ashin belonged to) killed their men.

As a result, Aishidan the Pajeowi leader killed everyone in Ashin’s tribe and her father Ta Hab was declared a traitor.

Realizing the truth left Ashin burning with rage and vengeance. So to take revenge, she infected a soldier (who, FYI was sexually abusing her) with the resurrection plant flowers. It is also revealed that she turned her loved ones into zombies as well.

She kept them hidden inside a barn. She promised to bring them more human flesh and it is clear that she is determined to bring down Joseon and the Jurchen kingdom.

At the end of the episode, we get to know that it was Ashin who handed over the resurrection plant flowers to Seong-Hui, the king’s physician. He in turn, later used it in the Battle of Unpo Wetland, mentioned in Kingdom Season 1.

6. About Kingdom (2019)

Kingdom is a 2019 South Korean political fantasy drama thriller series written by Kim Eun-hee and directed by Kim Seong-hun. It is Netflix’s first Korean original. The series is based on the webcomic series The Kingdom of the Gods by Kim Eun-hee.

As of now, the series has two seasons. A special episode of the series, titled “Kingdom: Ashin of the North” is set to release on 23rd July, 2021 and will be centered around the supporting character Ashin played by Jun Ji-hyun.