The Tyrant is a gripping drama series that plunges viewers into a world where an unauthorized serum program loses its last sample, and many people are after it. The program is led by Director Choi, who is unwilling to let the sample go to the wrong hands. However, the NIS (National Intelligence Service) is sponsored by Paul, another man running a similar program in the Philippines who wants the last serum sample.
The sample, however, gets transported, and Choi hires Mo-yong, who, in turn, hires Ja-gyeong to break the lock for Choi. In the process, the serum is lost. Now, fights break out within the groups, and many are killed. In the end, the serum is released and takes over someone strong, and to protect the tyrant, Choi makes a dangerous move.
This article contains spoilers.
The Tyrant (Season 1) Episode 1 Recap:
The episode begins with a narration about NIS carrying an ambush at the factory. Dr. Jones and the other researchers are detained. The team has kept one sample from the unauthorized serum program, and the NIS team has taken it from the office. After hearing this, Director Choi retrieves the sample and visits the spy he works with.
Sadly, the spies working for Choi are beheaded. The spy has the last Intel to provide to Choi before they bid farewell. The spy gives Choi a blueprint of a portable vault that will carry the sample. From that, Choi can retrieve the last remaining serum sample. Furthermore, the spy tells Choi that the vault can only be cracked open by Mr. Chae’s daughter. However, she has Dissociative Identity Disorder and an alter ego, which is of her twin brother.
Will Ja-gyeong agree to do the job?
As they converse, there is a commotion outside as Tom beheads the spy’s guards, so Choi escapes. Now, Ja-gyeong has a funeral for her father while thinking about how she retrieved his body. In a flashback, we see the safecracking goes wrong on one job. Ja-gyeong’s father is cut into pieces. After getting this information, Ja-gyeong arrives at the location and kills the men who killed her father.
At the funeral, Yeon Mo-yong asks Ja-gyeong to meet him at his shop to talk about business. Choi gives the job to Mo-yong, and he urges Ja-gyeong to crack the vault as she is the only person who can do it. At first, Ja-gyeong refuses but later accepts as Mo-yong promises to fulfill Mr. Chae and Ja-gyeong’s dream to open a pub in Southeast Asia. The money for the job can help Ja-gyeong achieve that dream.
What happens to Mo-yong and his men?
It’s time to steal the vault, and Ja-gyeong and Mo-yong’s men successfully crack it. But Mo-yong pushes Ja-gyeong off the dam to cover his tracks. Luckily, Ja-gyeong survives and has the sample in the vault with her as she takes the sample sneakily. Elsewhere, some loan sharks are ready to kill a woman after she finishes paying off her debts. But Ja-gyeong arrives in time, saves the girl, and kills the loan sharks.
Meanwhile, the NIS officers are worried about the missing sample and what Paul might say. So, Director Sa is asked to meet Choi to understand what has happened. Meanwhile, Choi asks his middleman to kill Mo-yong and his men so that there’s no evidence. However, Mo-yong anticipated this and asked his men to go into hiding.
Who is Paul?
Choi updates a professor, saying Dr. Jones and his men are unharmed. He takes the professor to a safe house. Somewhere in the Philippines, a similar serum project is ongoing. However, in this project, the serum needs to be administered directly to the brain, unlike the ones in South Korea, where contact with the serum can have an effect. The one running the program in the Philippines is none other than Director Paul. The Director watches footage of Korean test subjects exploding as their body rejects the serum. Now, Paul asks Tom to behead the people they are torturing and prepares to leave for South Korea.
The Tyrant (Season 1) Episode 2 Recap:
The episode begins with a villager entering a forest and coming across a human-like giant creature. As the creature approaches the man, he starts running. But when the sun’s rays fall on the beast, it explodes, and the blood from the creature enters the man’s body through his eyes. Later, Lim Sang visits the villager and talks to his wife. She tells Lim Sang that the story her husband is telling is unbelievable. However, Lim Sang pretends to be a reporter. When he shows a video of a similar creature to the old man, he starts acting up. Taking the opportunity, Lim Sang kills both of them. Next, he sets out to get rid of Mo-yong and his men.
Meanwhile, Ja-gyeong wounds are treated in an underground clinic. The doctor calls someone he knows and finds out there is a bounty on Ja-gyeong. Both Choi and NIS intercept the calls and send their men to get rid of Ja-gyeong. When the thugs arrive, they kill the doctor. Now, through the thugs, Ja-gyeong realizes these men are the same ones who had killed her father, and she kills all of them. In a flashback, we see Mo-yong shooting at Ja-gyeong before dumping her in a dam. Now Choi puts Ja-gyeong on Lim Sang’s list of people to eliminate.
Will Choi tell Director Sa about the serum’s location?
Finally, Choi and Director Sa meet, and Director Sa tries to be intimidating and asks to return the sample. However, Choi pretends not to know anything Director Sa discusses and realizes that Head One is sponsoring NIS. The NIS wants to eliminate Choi and his group and give the project to Paul. When confronted, Director Sa threatens to take down black ops as they have made good progress in collecting evidence. However, Choi is not fazed by Director Sa’s threats and comes outside and kills a man seated in the car.
The Tyrant (Season 1) Episode 3 Recap:
The episode begins with Lim Sang torturing one of Mo-yong’s men, asking for Mo-yong’s location. Once Lim Sang gets the confirmation, he kills Mo-yong’s men and heads out. On the other hand, Choi’s men try to open the vault but realize that the last few digits have been changed manually. Meanwhile, Ja-gyeong visits Mo-yong’s shop, realizes nobody is there, steals a few bucks, and takes a knife with her.
As Ja-gyeong gets out, she sees police cars, starts walking away, and loses her stolen car. Soon enough, Ja-gyeong sees an innocent man at a gas station and steals his car. Now Paul is in Seoul, and the Vice Minister meets with him. Paul is annoyed at the Vice Minister for underestimating Choi and decides to deal with Choi himself. After stealing the car, Ja-gyeong arrives at Hangom’s (arms dealer) hideout. A Russian man opens the door and is rude to Ja-gyeong, so she kills him.
How does Paul blackmail Choi?
After finding Hangmon, Ja-gyeong asks for weapons and bullets. However, the other Russian men want to sleep with her before killing her. Judging by their behavior, Ja-gyeong understands what is happening, kills all the goons there, and asks Hangmon about Mo-yong’s whereabouts. Ja-gyeong gets to know that Mr. Seong from Paradise is the one who put a bounty on Ja-gyeong and not Mo-yong and also tells Mo-yong maybe in Busan.
The next day, Paul meets Choi, and they have known each other for a decade since they met in college. When Paul asks about the sample, Choi feigns ignorance and decides to grab a meal and discuss the matter. Meanwhile, Lim Sang arrives at Mo-yong’s hideout but does not find him, so he kills the others. At the same time, Ja-gyeong arrives at the location and crosses paths with Lim Sang.
At first, Lim Sang is unsure if Ja-gyeong is the next person he needs to kill. However, after seeing the photo again, he is sure it is her. As Ja-gyeong walks out of the building, some young men drag Lim Sang away. Later, we see Lim Sang has killed them all. A conversation between Vice Minister and Director Sa reveals that the program is meant to develop an army of superhumans, and the Chinese and American governments are also interested in it.
Meanwhile, Paul tells Choi to give the sample, and if he does not, Paul will kill all of Choi’s men. Choi is unwilling to cooperate as he does not understand why other nations like Russia, China, and North Korea are creating bioweapons, but South Koreans cannot. At that moment, one of Paul’s men says that Mo-yong has been found. It turns out Mo-yong is in the NIS office and ready to cooperate with them.
The Tyrant (Season 1) Episode 4 Recap:
The episode opens with Ja-gyeong at Mr. Seong’s office, taking him aback to find her there. Through Ja-gyeong’s interrogation, she learns it was an order to put a bounty on Ja-gyeong and Mo-young. When Ja-gyeong asks questions further, Mr. Seong starts to talk about government business. But Ja-gyeong realizes someone is outside, and just in time, Ja-gyeong ducks as bullets come flying, killing Mr. Seong and his bodyguard.
As Ja-gyeong gets out, Lim Sang holds her at gunpoint and also calls Ja-gyeong impressive for her skills. Lim Sang does not know that Ja-gyeong also has a gun, and they both fire simultaneously yet dodge each other’s bullets. The gunfight between the two begins. Ja-gyeong bruises Lim Sang’s foot, and Lim Sang bruises Ja-gyeong’s hand.
Why do Ja-gyeong and Lim Sang team up?
As they take a minute to tend to their wounds, Lim Sang gets a message that Mo-yong is found, so they team up to kill Mo-yong before they resume their duel. Now, Director Sa is taking Mo-yong with him to Paul and Choi. However, they stop mid-way as Paul takes Mo-yong with him and promises to bring Choi’s head to Director Sa. In the car, Choi is annoyed with Mo-yong as he is the reason the serum, aka tyrant, will be in the hands of Paul.
Meanwhile, Ja-gyeong and Lim Sang catch up and take down the first car. When they try to attack the men in the second car, one is superhuman, and he pushes the car into the fields. Furthermore, Paul realizes the one fighting his men is Lim Sang, the ace assassin. In the building, Paul’s men kill all the men except four who are handling the vault.
However, Paul finds the vault empty and does not believe Choi when he says he has no idea where the tyrant is. Meanwhile, Paul’s superhuman and Ja-gyeong fight. In the process, the serum Ja-gyeong has is broken and comes into contact with Ja-gyeong. When Ja-gyeong asks about it, Lim Sang says it’s a government secret and apologizes before shooting her.
In the building, Paul is angry and starts to kill the remaining four people one after the other, and Mo-yong tells them about Ja-gyeong. At that moment, Lim Sang and Ja-gyeong enter the building and Ja-gyeong fights with another of Paul’s best superhumans. Meanwhile, Lim Sang is inside the building and kills everyone and also kills Paul. After that, Lim Sang only shoots at Mo-yong’s leg to keep his promise to Ja-gyeong.
The Tyrant (Season 1) Episode 4 Ending Explained:
The fight between Ja-gyeong and the superhuman continues. As they keep throwing at each other, they enter the place where Choi and Lim Sang are. Seeing Ja-gyeong, Choi is shocked, and Lim Sang confirms it is the tyrant. Eventually, Ja-gyeong defeats the superhuman and kills Mo-yong. As soon as Ja-gyeong does that, Lim Sang shoots at Ja-gyeong, and she remembers their duel. In a flashback, we see the field Ja-gyeong stopping Lim Sang from shooting her and making a deal first to kill Mo-young.
Before they continue, Choi asks Ja-gyeong how she feels and becomes relaxed after seeing that Ja-gyeong has adapted to the creature within. Then, Choi turns the bright lights on, and it starts to affect Ja-gyeong. Taking the chance, Lim Sang starts shooting at Ja-gyeong while explaining that nobody else can control the creature within as the beast cannot deal with bright light.
When Lim Sang is not attentive, Ja-gyeong shoots at the lights and pushes Lim Sang to the ground. Later, Choi asks Ja-gyeong to find a place with darkness as it will soon be dawn, and it will be difficult for Ja-gyeong to deal with brightness. As soon as Ja-gyeong leaves, Director Sa and his men arrive, and Choi asks him to clean up the mess. Furthermore, Choi tells Director Sa that he should be glad he got rid of Paul, but seeing Director Sa’s reaction, he realizes Director Sa is with Head One.
For the tyrant’s safety, Choi then kills himself. Lim Sang jumps out the window and falls into the water, where Ja-gyeong drags him underwater. As Ja-gyeong drags Lim Sang, we hear Ja-gyeong conversing with her two other personalities. In the epilogue, we go back to 15 years ago when a blood-soaked Ja-gyeong knocked at Mr. Chae’s door, and he helped her clean up.
In the end, nobody gets a hold of the last sample as the serum accidentally comes into contact with Ja-gyeong, and she becomes a powerful tyrant. It also turns out Director Sa, through NIS, was looking for the serum as well, but his hope is lost when Choi decides to kill himself. Since Ja-gyeong already has a dissociative identity disorder, it became easy for her to control the creature, which no other test subject could do.
The epilogue also suggests that there is a chance that Ja-gyeong was Mr. Chae’s first test subject and her quick reflexes when fighting can be explained. The series could have another season to explore the tyrant, who is more potent and much more in control, and with Director Sa’s real identity revealed, the story may be explored further.
