Netflix’s new K-drama, The Scandal,premiered on September 18, 2026, giving Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ Dangerous Liaisons a Joseon-era makeover. Led by Son Ye Jin, who made her streaming debut with this particular series, she is joined by actors Ji Chang Wook and Nana (Im Jin Ah). The eight-episode drama follows three people caught in a messy game of desire, betrayal and revenge, where a seemingly harmless wager slowly spirals out of control. The drama, who was given A-rating for its intimate nature, saves its biggest question for the finale. So what really happens to the three characters towards the end? [Warning: Spoilers ahead].
What The Scandal is about
At the heart of The Scandal is Lady Cho (Son Ye Jin), a sharp and ambitious noblewoman who is increasingly frustrated by the limited freedom women have in Joseon society. Looking for both control and excitement, she turns to her cousin Cho Won (Ji Chang Wook), who has been in love with her for years, and proposes a wager.
Lady Cho promises to finally accept Cho Won’s advances if he can win over Hui Yeon (Nana), a young widow known for her virtue. Hui Yeon has chosen to remain chaste after losing her husband before their marriage could be consummated, making her an unlikely target for Cho Won’s usual charms.
Cho Won finds himself genuinely falling for Hui Yeon, turning what was supposed to be a simple seduction into something far more complicated. Soon, the three are caught in a dangerous web of love, jealousy and manipulation, with the wager threatening to destroy all of them.
How the story reaches the finale
As Cho Won and Hui Yeon become closer, Lady Cho finds herself losing control of the game she started. Her feelings for Cho Won become harder to hide, and her jealousy eventually pushes her to make a much more dangerous move. She comes up with a story that Hui Yeon died while saving others during a storm at Hwaseong. The lie is designed to help Hui Yeon’s family receive a prestigious Memorial Gate of Chastity. But there is a catch. For Lady Cho’s story to hold up, Hui Yeon has to be believed dead.
{{/usCountry}}As Cho Won and Hui Yeon become closer, Lady Cho finds herself losing control of the game she started. Her feelings for Cho Won become harder to hide, and her jealousy eventually pushes her to make a much more dangerous move. She comes up with a story that Hui Yeon died while saving others during a storm at Hwaseong. The lie is designed to help Hui Yeon’s family receive a prestigious Memorial Gate of Chastity. But there is a catch. For Lady Cho’s story to hold up, Hui Yeon has to be believed dead.
{{/usCountry}}Cho Won learns about the plan and realises that Hui Yeon could end up paying the price for a lie she had nothing to do with. When Hui Yeon asks him to leave with her, Cho Won makes a painful choice. Instead of running away, he tells her how their relationship began and confesses that winning her over was originally part of a wager with Lady Cho.
The truth leaves Hui Yeon devastated. Everything she thought she knew about Cho Won suddenly comes into question. Yet his confession also gives her a way out. She refuses to let Lady Cho’s lie decide her fate and chooses to fight for her own life instead.
What happens to Cho Won?
In the final episodes, Cho Won finally confronts Lady Cho about the relationship they have shared for years. He comes to realise that despite all her promises, she was never truly willing to give up her wealth, position or privileged life for him.
He is then made to present the false memorial for Hui Yeon to the King. But the lie does not last long. The King checks the weather records from Hwaseong and finds that there was no storm on the day Hui Yeon was supposedly killed. There had only been a brief drizzle.
Cho Won’s role in the deception puts his life at risk, with the crime potentially carrying a death sentence. However, his old friendship with the King saves him from execution. Instead, he is banished from court and forced to leave the life he once knew behind.
Before his departure, Cho Won frees his servants and boards a ferry bound for Yanjing. The boatman notices his troubled state and offers to turn the ferry around for half the fare. Cho Won remains silent. Moments later, he jumps into the river and disappears into the darkness, leaving his fate unknown.
Ending explained
Does Cho Won die? The Scandal never gives viewers a clear answer. We see him jump into the river, but the series never shows his body or confirms that he drowned. There is no funeral either, leaving the door open for another possibility.
Lady Cho manages to hold on to the life she fought so hard to protect. She keeps her status, wealth and place in Joseon society, but she loses Cho Won in the process. He was the one person who had known her for years and seen the side of her that she rarely showed anyone else. Now, she is left without him and, more painfully, without knowing what happened to him.
The biggest clue comes later, when Lady Cho visits Cho Won’s old home and is told by an elderly servant that letters are still arriving for him. The show never reveals who is sending them, but their arrival suggests that Cho Won may have survived and chosen to stay away from the life he once knew. If Cho Won is alive, he has clearly chosen a life far away from her. If he is dead, Lady Cho will never know what truly happened to him or whether her own actions played a part in his final decision.
After spending so much of the story trying to control everyone and everything around her, Lady Cho is finally left facing the one thing she cannot control: not knowing.
What happens to Hui Yeon?
Hui Yeon chooses to leave behind the life that had been decided for her. Once she learns the truth about Cho Won and realises how deeply she has been pulled into Lady Cho’s scheme, she refuses to let the lie determine her fate. She walks away from her title and the expectations that came with it. She later joins a Christian community, where she finds a life away from the strict rules and social pressures that once controlled her choices. Unlike Lady Cho and Cho Won, she does not remain caught in the same cycle of manipulation.
The real meaning behind The Scandal ending
The Scandal chooses not to give its characters a clear-cut ending where some are punished and others walk away victorious. Instead, each of them is forced to deal with what their choices have cost them. The show leaves Cho Won’s fate hanging, and that uncertainty is clearly intentional. We never get a body or a confirmation of his death. Instead, the show leaves Lady Cho, and viewers, with the same question: did he really die, or did he finally find a way to disappear from the life that had trapped him?
As of now there is no announcement related to season 2. So far, the opening ending is what viewers will get.
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