'Vagabond' finale reveals Samael is Edward Park, Hae-ri's unrealized quest for revenge likely to result in season 2
'Vagabond' Episode 16 saw Cha Dal-geon (Lee Seung-gi) and Go Hae-ri (Bae Suzy) delve into uncharted territories, as the two are on different paths to find out the truth about the brain behind B357 plane crash. At the end up episode 14 in week 8, we saw Jessica Lee (Moon Jeong-Hee) help reveal that it was neither her nor John nor Mark that had planned the crash.
She explained how this was done by Michael alone and the consequences of the same were borne by him when he was killed. In the final week, with further help from Jessica, Dal-geon figures out Prime Minister Hong Sun-Jo (Moon Sung-Geun) had planned the plane crash with the help of a man named Samael.
Jerome, the bomber who worked with Kim Woo-Gi (Jang Hyuk-Jin) works for Samael as well. If we paid close attention to the first few episodes, the identity of Samael is actually crystal clear.
Remember how Miki (Ryu Won) had stopped Jerome from shooting Dal-geon? She is also the same person who helps Dal-geon and Hae-ri escape from Moscow with Woo-gi. Her connection to Dynamics CEO Edward Park (Lee Kyoung-Young) has made it clear he used Dal-geon to remove John and Mark from competing with Dynamics for the government deal.
In the process, Edward also plays kingmaker and essentially orchestrates a plot with many twists to help impeach President Jeong Gook-Pyo (Baek Yoon-Sik). He wants to see a man who could essentially be a puppet and uses Sun-jo to step in.
Dal-geon realizes all of it after getting a hint from O Sang-mi (Kang Kyung-Hun) just seconds before her death. Before he could warn Hae-ri, Gi Tae-ung and other NIS agents though, the investigation into the crash is shut down. The president is impeached for taking bribes in millions to approve deals following which Edward's plan works seamlessly.
Edward, who realizes Dal-geon knows the truth, blackmails him into surrendering by putting the lives of people closest to him at risk and this includes Hae-ri. So he decides to surrender, following which, Edward plans his death.
Dal-geon uses this as an opportunity to cut-off ties with Hae-ri and others, and lets news of his death be spread widely to ensure people around him are not in danger. He finds an unexpected ally in the impeached president who funds his secret operation to bring Samael aka Edward down.
Hae-ri, who learns about Dal-geon's death is on a path of revenge, and when she learns that Edward is, in fact, Samael, she plans her own operation. It seems like she has given up being a NIS agent and has joined hands with Jessica to exact her revenge.
Both of them have been betrayed by Edward and with Jessica's help, Hae-ri becomes a sought after lobbyist. At the end up of episode 16, which concludes the first season, we are taken back to the scene of Dal-geon in the desert of the Kingdom of Kiria ready to take out a target.
He is attempting to embed himself in Edward's team, and this assassination will take him a step closer to Edward. What he doesn't expect is to find out that Hae-ri is his target. He ends up botching his mission and Hae-ri, unaware that Dal-geon is alive and had, in fact, saved her life is spirited away to meet the king of Kiria to sign the deal that is much sought after by the new president and his master Edward.
Who will succeed and what will happen of Dal-geon and Hae-ri is something the show has left answered. This is a great opening for a follow-up season, however, the second season is yet to be officially confirmed. We do, however, hope to see more of 'Vagabond'.