Sumith Prasad
Netflix’s drama series ‘Shards of Her’ follows Lin Chen-hsi, a renowned headhunter working for a reputed company in Taipei. When she gets into an accident, she gets transported back to her past, without little to no memory of her childhood days. From her parents, Chen-hsi comes to know that one of her school teachers, Hsieh Chih-chung, was killed, possibly by her classmate Yen Sheng-hua. Hsiao-liu, who investigates the murder, finds out that Hsieh was killed by a man. Chen-hsi teams up with the police officer to find the murderer. So, who killed the physics teacher? How is he still alive at the end of the show? Let us explain! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Tragedy of Hsieh Chih-chung
Lin Chen-hsi’s brother, Lin Chen-ye, killed Hsieh Chih-chung. When Hsieh raped Chen-hsi, her parents made sure that Chen-ye is separated from the horrifying predicament. After losing her daughter, they didn’t want to lose their son as well. After Chen-hsi moved to Taipei, Sheng-hua’s only relative, her grandmother, died. Chen-hsi and Chen-ye’s father Yung-sheng offered his home as a shelter for Sheng-hua. Chen-ye, who had been missing his sister, found another sister in Sheng-hua. From her, he must have realized that Hsieh is nothing but a rapist who had destroyed the lives of both of his “sisters.”
When Hsieh got admitted to a care center, where Sheng-hua worked, Yung-sheng considered the same as an opportunity to kill him. The distress of witnessing his daughter Chen-hsi and Sheng-hua’s lives crumble apart led him to kill the school teacher. But before he could commit the murder, Sheng-hua interrupted his plan and forced him to run away from the center. However, she couldn’t stop Chen-ye, who got into Hsieh’s room and strangled him to death. Chen-ye was exacting his vengeance on the school teacher who preyed upon his vulnerable sister and her classmate, which led Chen-hsi to abandon him to leave for Taipei.
How is Hsieh Chih-chung Still Alive?
Even after Hsieh Chih-chung’s murder, the school teacher is seen alive at the end of the show with his wife, Mrs. Hsieh. Hsieh’s murder really happens in Chen-hsi’s imagination after she gets into an accident. As an aftermath of the accident, her mind creates an imaginary reality where her rapist is killed by her brother Chen-ye. When Chen-hsi got raped, not even her parents believed or supported her. Mrs. Hsieh, to help her husband, created a narrative that Chen-hsi seduced her husband and she was lying about the rape. As a vulnerable schoolgirl, Chen-hsi wasn’t able to do anything against Hsieh.
As Chen-hsi grew up, she had been forced to repress her anger toward Hsieh. Her inability to exact vengeance on her rapist started to haunt her. She thought that a successful career and opulent lifestyle would help her forget her past but she failed to do so. After the accident, her repressed anger and sadness come out from the hidden corners of her soul as the imaginary reality she creates. In the same imaginary reality, Hsieh was murdered for raping her. The revenge she couldn’t fulfill was exacted by her brother Chen-ye.
While growing up, Chen-hsi and Chen-ye shared two physical bodies and one soul. As a brother and sister, they were extremely close. But their relationship was affected when Chen-hsi got raped by Hsieh. She expected her brother to stand up for her but as a powerless boy himself, he couldn’t do it. Chen-ye failed to protect his sister, which created immense disappointment in the latter. By imagining that Chen-ye killed Hsien for raping her, Chen-hsi tries to regain her relationship with her dead brother.
Read More: Shards of Her Ending, Explained: Does Hsiao-liu Really Exist?
