Warning: This article contains spoilers forThe Silent Sea.
Netflix’sThe Silent Seawas released in the last week of 2021, and while it didn’t make as big a splash as its unofficial predecessorSquid Gamedid, the show deservesmore attention. In an apocalyptic world without water, a team is sent to an abandoned research station on the moon to retrieve the samples left behind. This research station, Balhae, is the site of a tragic incident where all the researchers on the base died, including the sister of the protagonist Song Ji-an (Doona Bae). The show mixestranquility with moments of danger, creating an electrifying ambiance.
What awaits them at the station is more sinister than expected: all the researchers' bodies seem to have been infected with a strange disease, one later discovered as lunar water. When living tissue comes into contact with lunar water, the water rapidly multiplies, so when coming into contact with a living human, the water multiplies to the point where the individual drowns internally. The show only has eight episodes, anda lot goes downin the last couple of episodes. As such, here’s an explanation ofThe Silent Sea’s ending.
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Balhae Station Was a Site for Human Experimentation
At the very beginning of the show, viewers almost immediately know that Balhae was the site of the tragedy and that Song Ji-an’s sister was the head researcher at the facility. However, we don’t know what exactly happened until the very end of the show. Song’s sister, Won-kyung, led a research experiment where genetically-modified clone children were purposely exposed to lunar water. Every single child, except for Luna 073, drowned because of this. Luna 073, the girl discovered at the base, is the sole survivor of the Balhae accident.
However, knowing that it would look bad if the government revealed that this happened, everyone on the base was killed. Ryu Tae-suk was the last person to see Ji-an’s sister alive, as he was one of the men who locked her into the hallway in which she died. No one knows the truth of what happened at Balhae, and even as the team is sent into space to retrieve the samples, none of them understand what lunar water is.
Song Ji-an explicitly states that she believes she was selected for this mission because the director believed Ji-an wouldn’t tell the truth if she discovered it. The director thought that because Won-kyung led an experiment that killed seventy-two children, Ji-an wouldn’t tell anyone to save her sister’s name.
Did Gong Yoo Actually Die?
Unless a miracle happens in Season 2, it seems like Gong Yoo’s character, Han Yoon-jae, has died on the moon. As the final four members of the team prepare to escape the flooding base, Han realizes the decompression chamber cannot be activated from the inside. Han believes that Luna is the key to saving their planet and, ultimately, his daughter, so he chooses to sacrifice his life to allow the remaining three women the chance to make it out alive.
Onscreen, Han came into contact with the lunar water as it floods the station, and while it freezes on the surface of the moon, he’s propelled across the landscape and onto the ground. Luna 073 approaches him with his badge, the badge his daughter had put a sticker on.
He can be seen still breathing at this point, although he doesn’t take the badge, and his fate is left unknown. It’s ambiguous whether he died or not. Han came into contact with the lunar water, but, earlier, it was shown that Luna 073 has the power to save someone affected by the water. If there’s a season two, perhaps he will appear again with thatneck tattoo.
Ryu Tae-suk Was a Mercenary Sent to Sabotage the Mission
Ryu Tae-suk betrays his teammates to serve his agenda: he’s working for a company known as RX. He was supposed to steal the lunar water for the company, and he wasn’t working alone. Park Gi-su, the co-pilot, also was working with him to try and steal the water for the company. RX is mentioned in passing once by one of the other team members. They say that it is the Resource Exploration for Space Mining and Planetary Development and that most countries are having issues with this organization.
While Park’s reasoning for being involved with the RX is more financial-based, Ryu’s backstory is more complicated than that. He shows genuine remorse for what he’s doing to his teammates, even though he’s killed two of them directly and plans to flood the base with everyone in it. To do this, he traps everyone in the halls and sets a timer to open the plant room full of water.
Ryu joined the RX because he first worked for the government and was one of the men who had to trap the dying scientists inside the base. He had enough guilt and shame to turn on the government and work for an opposing organization. This manifests when he keeps apologizing to Ji-an for what he did because her sister was at the front of the crowd trapped in the hallways to die.
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The Rescue of Luna, Song Ji-an, and Hong Ga-young
While Han Yoon-jae may or may not be dead, Luna, Song Ji-an, and Hong Ga-young made it out of the station alive. Luna, surprisingly enough, doesn’t even need a suit to wander on the moon. She somehow doesn’t combust with a helmet or oxygen—perhaps this is the lunar water in her. After the camera moves away from the dying Han, it shows the three women rescued. However, it is ambiguous about who saved them. Song wanted to take Luna to a neutral territory because she thought their government would experiment on her. But what if it was the government who picked them up?
Another threat could be RX coming to rescue Ryu and Park, who should have completed their mission by now and texted them that they’re finished. There are a few moments earlier in the show where Ryu texts someone in English about the mission; he says that the entire crew knows the truth behind the lunar water. This implies that no one can be left alive, so RX would have to come and retrieve its members.
There are many questions left unanswered with the ending of the show. What connection does the director have with Luna—or does she even know about Luna’s existence? What did Ryu mean when he says that they’ve only uncovered the beginning of the lunar water’s secrets? Who sent the ship: RX or the government? How does lunar water even scientifically happen, or where does it come from? Netflix has set the show up for a season two with these questions, even if it means that this season has left some pretty big plot holes if it isn’t renewed.
