Tamal Kundu
Netflix’s ‘The Glory’ is a South Korean revenge drama series. The plot revolves around Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), who was viciously bullied in her high school by fellow students. Although she reached out to the teachers and police, her tormenters avoided punishment as the families of some of them were rich and powerful. Eventually, Dong-eun left school and devoted her life to pursuing revenge. She spent years preparing for the inevitable confrontation, acquiring wealth, influence, and education. If you are wondering whether Dong-eun succeeds in getting her revenge, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Moon Dong-eun’s Triumph in Vengeance
Yes, Moon Dong-eun gets revenge in ‘The Glory.’ Her main target, Park Yeon-jin (Im Ji-yeon), made her life a living hell when they were all young in 2004. Yeon-jin and her friends beat up Dong-eun and burned her with curling irons, leaving permanent scars on her skin. She tried speaking to her mother about what was happening to her, but the older woman took money from Yeon-jin’s family and vanished, leaving Dong-eun to fend for herself. Her dream was to become an architect, but she sacrificed her personal desire and made vengeance the sole purpose of her life. It is for revenge that she becomes the homeroom teacher of the daughter of her enemy.
When Dong-eun returns to their lives, Yeon-jin and her friends have almost forgotten about her. Yeon-jin works as a weather presenter and is married to Ha Do-yeong, the CEO of Jaepyeong Construction. Lee Sa-ra, who was always a gifted artist, has found fame because of her paintings, though she struggles with her addiction issues. Jeon Jae-joon runs a high-end boutique and is the heir to his parents’ country club. And then, there are Son Myeong-o and Choi Hye-jeong — two friends from modest backgrounds. Myeong-o works for Jae-joon and is virtually his errand boy and Sa-ra’s drug dealer, whereas Hye-jeong is a flight attendant.
The revenge that Dong-eun seeks is all-encompassing and includes the teacher who ignored her allegations and abused her, Kim Jong-moon, and the police officer who refused to investigate her claims because Yeon-jin’s mother was his childhood friend, Mr. Shin. Jong-moon’s son, Soo-han, is Dong-eun’s senior at the university. She tells Soo-han what his father did, adding that she intends to approach the education department and tell them everything. This prompts Soo-han to kill his father by triggering his asthma and denying him his medicines.
Dong-eun isn’t the only one to be viciously bullied by Yeon-jin and her friends. Before her, it was Yoon So-hee, and after her, it was Kim Kyung-ran. In season 2, we learn that Myeong-o first tried to extort money from Yeon-jin by revealing that he knew her daughter Ha Ye-sol’s biological father was for Jae-joon. When that didn’t work, he brought up the death of So-hee, who fell several floors below after being bullied by Yeon-jin and died. An enraged Yeon-jin hit him multiple times with a wine bottle and believed that she killed him, even going to jail because of it. In reality, Myeong-o was killed by Kim Kyung-ran, who was hiding in the closet when Yeon-jin was there. As Myeong-o demanded for her to save him, she panicked, remembering the sexual abuse she suffered in his hands, and hit him with the same wine bottle, killing him. Toward the end of the season, Dong-eun visits Yeon-jin in prison and leaves her with hints that the latter might not be the killer, knowing that it will only add to the torment.
Yeon-jin’s mother also goes to jail for killing Kang Hyeon-nam’s abusive husband, who had been blackmailing her for the cover-ups she had done at her daughter’s behest. Mr. Shin is killed by his own thugs after Dong-eun lets them know the amount of money the man has made out of Yeon-jin’s family.
Dong-eun ensures that Sa-ra’s pastor father and his wife go to jail for tax evasion. She also makes sure that people know about Sa-ra’s drug problem. Sa-ra attacks Hye-jeong after the two women have a bitter argument, stabbing the flight attendant through the neck. Although Hye-jeong survives, her vocal cord is permanently damaged, and Sa-ra is sent to prison.
Later, Dong-eun visits Hye-jeong at the hospital and convinces her to help her take down Jae-joon. Hye-jeong goes to Jae-joon’s apartment under the pretext of picking up her things and replaces his eye drop with something that turns Jae-joon temporarily blind. After Jae-joon applies it to his eyes, he gets into an accident. It is later revealed that he survived the collision, but Do-yeong found him. An important subplot in ‘The Glory’ revolves around Jae-joon, Do-yeong, and Ye-sol. Jae-joon has been in love with Yeon-jin for a long time. After learning that he is Ye-sol’s biological father, he tries but fails to get the young girl’s custody. Do-yeong killed him and put a permanent stop to this. He also visits his wife one last time to have her sign the divorce papers and informs her that he is moving to London with Ye-sol.
Yeon-jin asks whether he will give Ye-sol letters if she writes them. Although Do-yeong doesn’t answer this, it’s clear that he has no intention to do so. Ironically, in prison, Yeon-jin faces the same treatment she meted out to her victims. One time, she spots her mother among the inmates and tries to call out to her, but the other woman doesn’t even turn, indicating that Yeon-jin is all alone.
