One of the mysteries in See You in My 19th Life is the reason why Ji-eum can remember her past lives.
Ban Ji-eum has gone through painful experiences from her past lives and remembers them all. She was once a warrior, someone’s uncle, and many more.
Now in her nineteenth life, Ji-eum wants to reconnect with a man she fell for in her eighteenth life. But in the first place, why can Ji-eum remember what happened in her past lives?
This has been one of the revolving questions throughout the series, but towards the end, we finally get our answers as to why Ji-eum remembers her past lives.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for See You in My 19th Life. Read at your own risk!
Why Can Ji-eum Remember Her Past Lives?
The reason why Ji-eum can remember her past lives has something to do with what happened in her first life.
In her first life, which was a thousand years ago, Ji-eum was named “Su”, and she had a sister named “Seol” (Cho-won).
Seol was sick and dying. The palace had medicine that could cure her. But in order for Su to obtain such medicine, she would have to give a sacred item to the palace.
Su decides to steal shaman bells for Master Cheon-un’s (Kang Min-gi) ritual. After Su steals the shaman bells, Cheon-un and his men go after her.
Cheon-un kills Seol, and Su swears to get her revenge on him. Later on, Su tries to kill Cheon-un, but Master Han-ya (Seo-ha) gets in the way.
Su ends up stabbing Han-ya instead, and before she could proceed to stab Cheon-un, she gets hit by an arrow in her back.
Before dying, Su holds the shaman bells and tells Cheon-un that she would never forget that day and that she would forever remember that rage.
“Be it hundreds or thousands of years, I shall remember this and be born again. And I will get my revenge no matter what,” Su says.
So, the one responsible for making Ji-eum remember her past lives is herself.
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Does Ji-eum Stop Remembering Her Past Lives?
Ji-eum ultimately chooses to become normal and stop remembering her past lives, but this comes with consequences.
“Putting an end to remembering your past lives means you’ll lose the memories of the people from them,” Min-gi explains to Ji-eum.
So, choosing to stop remembering her past lives would mean losing her memories of the people from her past lives – including Ae-gyeong, Cho-won, and Seo-ha.
While Ji-Eum wants to lose her ability to remember her past lives, she also doesn’t want to forget her memories.
However, Seo-ha talks to Ji-eum and assures her that he wouldn’t leave her alone even after she forgets everything.
Seo-ha tells Ji-eum that he would go to her, just like how she (Ju-won) came back to him. He also believes that Ji-eum would still love him even if she no longer recognized him.
And so, Ji-eum chooses to stop remembering her past lives. She goes to the bridge carrying the shaman bells. With “a carefree heart that’s ready to forget everything and four words”, Ji-eum breaks the curse.
What Happens After Ji-eum Loses Her Memories?
Seo-ha, Cho-won, and Ae-gyong are now strangers to Ji-eum, but as the three of them still have their memories of Ji-eum, they look for ways to be in her life.
Cho-won “finds” Ji-eum at a shopping mall and befriends her. She then recommends a braised kimchi place which happens to be Ae-gyeong’s restaurant.
When Ji-eum goes to the restaurant, we now see that Ae-gyeong has regained her health.
Choosing to stop remembering her past lives also saved Ae-gyeong. Throughout the series, we learn that there are consequences whenever Ji-eum chooses to reconnect with someone from her past lives.
Because she reconnected with Ae-gyeong, who was her niece in her seventeenth life, Ae-gyeong’s health began to deteriorate. Min-gi warns Ji-eum that Cho-won and Seo-ha would be next.
So, as Ji-eum no longer has memories of her past lives, this, in turn, saved Ae-gyeong’s life.
After Ji-eum loses her memories, she goes back to her job before she started working at the MI Hotel.
Seo-ha tries to recruit her back to the hotel marketing team, but Ji-eum finds this strange considering that she’s an engineer with no experience in marketing.
Seo-ha then uses the same lines Ji-eum once used on him and tells her that if she’s unsure, she should just try dating him instead. He also tells Ji-eum that he would ask her out three times (again, exactly like what Ji-eum told him before).
So, even though Ji-eum lost her memories, she didn’t lose her loved ones. Even though she no longer remembers them, they are clearly still there for her.
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