'Tempest' Finale Episodes 8-9 Recap: Who Is The Big Villain? 

The final two episodes of the K-drama Tempest will definitely leave viewers in a storm. There’s no denying that the show goes into full swing in the last two episodes, which have a lot packed into their shared runtime. The final episode is stuffed with thrills, while episode 8 is like a setup for what’s to come. We finally learn the truth about why Okseon killed her son, what peaches meant to Junik and Munju, and where Sanho is truly from. Of course, in truth, there’s more than one villain in the show, and you feel a sense of pity for some characters, too, but ultimately, in this gray power struggle, one must emerge victorious at any cost, and for that, they need to work hard, even if it means killing people, falsely accusing them of murder, and even wanting to destroy entire nations. With that said, though, let’s jump straight into the final two episodes.

Spoiler Alert

In Tempest episode 8, Sanho and Munju foil Yu’s plan to arrest them by escaping. On the other hand, President Chae is disappointed to hear about Munju being suspected of espionage and the murder of Junik. The backstory is a petty romance between her and her North Korean bodyguard, Sanho. Meanwhile, Im Dujin is killed because his work is done, and he admitted to being a spy. But this is also blamed on Munju, because he ingested the same drug that the guy who killed Junik did. Yu really wants Munju arrested because he believes that just because she’s the daughter of a spy, she’s one too. Meanwhile, Sanho tells Munju that the first time he saw her was when he was in Iraq and she made a speech about peace between the warring nations, North Korea and South Korea. He tells her that she was a beacon of hope to him, especially in the grim situation he was in. Munju also admits to being the reason their secret romance was revealed to the world after her mother-in-law hacked into her computer. 

Later, she’s reminded of how her husband told her that they needed to go see the peaches, just before he died in her arms. She decides to do so now, and when she gets there, it’s the ashes of their child that they lost. Munju finds a letter from her husband and a pen drive hidden in the lid of the urn that holds the ashes. In the letter, Junik revealed he had a son named Eunseong and also admitted to her that their marriage had sort of ended a long time ago. He wanted to tell her the truth the night he died. Additionally, the pen drive contains all of his mother’s ledgers and details that could get her imprisoned. 

Meanwhile, Hanna and Eunseong are safe with Munju, but Okseon has Mi-Ji attacked by a car, and she’s severely injured. The ambulance that comes to save her is also sent by Okseon, and if Munju doesn’t hand over Eunseong to Okseon, then Miji loses her legs, otherwise she gets emergency treatment. Munju sticks to her plan, though; she helps Hanna and Eunseong escape the country so they can go be happy somewhere, and then drives off herself to see Okseon, while Sanho goes to find Yu. They’ve learned that the US ambassador is selling US weapons to other countries, and the money is flowing from Idisha to the US to North Korea. On the other hand, Junseong realizes the call to North Korea from within his own house was not from Junik but his own mother, but she tells him that everything she’s doing is for him. 

At the same time, the king of Idisha claims that if America kills one of their people, they will kill 10 Americans. He’s basically instigating a war, because he’s just bought the nuclear submarine from North Korea. Finally, Munju reaches Okseon and tells her that Eunseong’s mother has dropped the paternity lawsuit. She doesn’t want the money anymore, and she’ll never return to Korea again. Additionally, Munju tells Okseon that Junsang and she can get the money in Junik’s secret account because she’s got Munju now. 

In episode 9, we get the backstory on Okseon. We learn that she was abandoned as a child and that she wanted power because she hated living in a war-torn land. When her mother-in-law found her, Okseon finally got the opportunity to live the life of her dreams. She used the death of her husband to build a business of her own as a spy for North Korea, and then finally became the primary force behind the submarine. Okseon basically wants to use Idisha as bait to destroy America so that Korea is left alone, but she gets to have the ultimate power. 

On the other hand, the president sides with Munju and Sanho and gets rid of Yu by having him arrested for fraud and fake espionage claims. Meanwhile, Anderson learns that the payments from Idisha haven’t reached North Korea yet, and he hopes to make his own government trust him and stop the money from being transferred, which would also stop the launch of the missiles, or so he thinks. Also, Munju tells Okseon that Junik knew everything about her and had gathered all the evidence against her; somehow, she got lucky, killing him before he exposed her to the public. Later, Junsang shows up with a warrant to arrest his mother because he always wanted to be as good as his brother, but he also gets shot while trying to help Munju escape. At this point, Sanho, who was with the president, makes it back to Munju to keep her safe. Somehow, even Kim Hansang, the North Korean, ends up helping Munju, telling her that Okseon may have already set up the missiles to target America. 

There’s nothing Sanho and Munju can do to stop the missiles from launching, especially because Okseon’s final power move is killing herself as well as getting rid of the one key that can stop the launch. However, it’s the king of Idisha who helps save the day; it seems everyone is working together to stop a war that everyone assumed was imminent. But, they only have 10 minutes before a bomb on the ship they’re on right now would go off, which means Sanho and Munju are in danger. 

Sanho, being the soldier that he is, tries to stop the bomb from going off and locks himself in with it. Meanwhile, the rescue teams come to save Munju. She’s devastated to see the bomb go off, but we have reason to believe Sanho’s still alive. Munju is then made to sit through an ethics committee with her own party. They decide to get rid of her because she’s the daughter of a spy, and she was caught up in a romance with Sanho; however, she tells the press that she thinks Sanho is a much more ethical man than the whole committee put together. 

At the end of Tempest episode 9, the president tells Munju that she’s going to Beijing, but she wants Munju to replace her. She promises to support her in her campaign once she’s back. Additionally, Munju believes Sanho is still alive, though she’s very heartbroken, which the president thinks is a strength for her. We see Sanho bury the necklace in sand, and it seems the two of them are still connected, despite their distance, which means he’ll likely come back for her sometime. Anderson reveals that Sanho is an American citizen and is going to be honored for his work. He also tells Munju that she’s the reason he can go to Korea now, because he’s got her, and he never had anyone before. She truly became the beacon of hope Sanho claimed her to be. The show ends with Munju starting her campaign to become the 22nd President of the Republic of Korea.