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Warning: Spoilers for the ending of part 2 of The Glory
The Glory kept up the precedent that Squid Game set in proving that non-English speaking shows, namely South Korean, can rake in as much viewership and attention as the English language series, making it into the streaming service’s Most Popular List.
But The Glory had little to do with Squid Game regarding plot – other than pertinently highlighting and offering a unique perspective into some latent socio-cultural and socio-economical issues in the country. Dong-Eun was never looking for money as an end in itself, but only as a means to the end she wanted to bring upon those who bullied her to the cruelest and most traumatic extents during high school.
The series was divided into two parts. Part 1 arrived in late December 2022, and Part 2 came out a couple of months later in Mar. 2023. Part 2 brought Dong-eun’s revenge to its conclusion. Every single one of her bullies met the appropriate divine judgment she set into motion by Dong-eun’s clever planning, each suffering to differing degrees according to how much suffering they had imposed onto her all those years back.
Dong-eun’s quest for revenge is completed. However, her loyal accomplice and now-lover, Yeo-Jeong, has yet to realize his revenge for the killing of his selfless father, even though, as we can see at the end of the last episode, the power couple is well on their way to once again enact justice with their hands.
The ending wraps things up neatly while leaving it open-ended enough for fans to fill in the gaps as they wish. Or, perhaps, the ending serves another purpose: that of setting up for a second season.
Can we hope to see more of Dong-Eun and Yeo-Jeong’s story?
A second season or part 3 of The Glory has not yet been confirmed by Netflix.
It seems to me that if they wanted to renew it they already would have. And I’d go further to say that perhaps it’s not Netflix executives who are not willing to do it, as they would surely be happy to capitalize on the show’s huge success, but maybe the creator, Kim Eun-sook, isn’t willing to sacrifice quality for profit. She seems satisfied with the answer she got to with the end of Part 2, which lays out the most important payoffs and gives closure where it’s due, while still leaving some room for the viewers’ imagination to pave the rest of Dong-eun and Yeo-jeong’s path for them.
According to Forbes, the writer said:
“When I was writing the script, I was trying to find an answer to that question. And if my daughter is beaten to death, there might be a solution and that solution would be pulling all the perpetrators to hell, because I have the money to do so. So my conclusion was that it would be better for me if you’re beaten. But in The Glory, this can’t happen to Dong-eun, right? And I think most of the victims can’t solve the problem like this because they don’t have wealthy parents like me.
They don’t live in an environment where my daughter is raised. So I wanted to cheer for them because reality is harsh. And I hope Dong-eun’s vengeance is successful. So that’s how I tried to lead my storyline toward. And how it ends, you should watch it yourselves.”
Nevertheless, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s impossible. The series renewal status is still pending. But as a viewer and Redditor wrote: “I think it would be hard to bring a season 2. A spin-off that covers Yeo-Jeong’s revenge seems more appropriate.”
For now at least, whether there’s going to be a part 3 or a shorter spin-off, remains undetermined, neither possibility being fully off the table.