Queen Mantis Episode 2 Recap: A Past That Never Sleeps

In Queen Mantis Episode 2, moves between the past and present. It begins with Su Yeol’s school days. Back then, he was bullied and beaten.

Just when things looked grim, Jung-ho stepped in and saved him. Su Yeol, embarrassed and defensive, told Jung-ho not to come around anymore.

But Jung-ho gave him advice that would stay with him for life. He told Su Yeol he should become a cop.

Inside a Disturbed Mind

Back in the present, Su Yeol and his team are stuck in a tough case. They are trying to figure out who had access to the investigation records. The psychiatrist said she only saw the image on paper.

The judge who was part of the case has already died. The defense attorney admitted he once had the file, but it was missing now. He also shared a strange memory about a man named Gu-wan.

He had once called about a mistake, and the attorney later recalled that Gu-wan lived close to the orphanage they supported. That was enough for Su Yeol’s team to start watching him.

But Gu-wan noticed the surveillance. He jumped on his bike and tried to escape. In the chase, he ran into Hyuk before speeding away. When the team searched his house, they uncovered something worse.

Gu-wan was obsessed with collecting people’s data. He had personal files on the whole team, even registration records of Su Yeol and his wife.

He also had i-shin’s court records and prison letters. A cupboard inside his home was covered with “Welcome Mantis World.” The “Mantis World” shrine is a brilliant visual cue.

It transforms Gu-wan from a simple stalker into a full-blown fanatic, a member of a “fandom” dedicated to a killer.

This modernizes the trope of the obsessed villain, making it eerily relevant in the age of digital obsession and online echo chambers. A 3D printer for making guns sat next to it.

The Obsession of Gu-wan

Su Yeol realized that i-shin might not be helping them at all but using them instead. He confronted her in prison, accusing her of sending Gu-wan letters that encouraged killings.

She denied it, saying she never sent him anything and warned him not to speak without proof. The truth soon came out. Gu-wan had written the letters himself.

His version was full of typos, proving they were fake. He had copied her handwriting and convinced himself they were real.

Gu-wan’s mental instability was laid bare. He had tied up a woman and two children, acting like he was their husband and father. On his computer, the team found family photos where he replaced the father’s face with his own.

This showed how deep his illness went. This is more than just creepy; it’s a heartbreaking portrayal of delusional disorder.

Gu-wan isn’t merely evil; he’s desperately trying to construct the family he was denied, warping reality to fit his profound loneliness and abandonment trauma.

Tracing the car plates in the pictures, they found the apartment where the victims were kept. The team managed to arrest him, but the husband, Tae-seok, was missing.

Dark Truths Revealed

The investigation revealed a twisted family tie. Tae-seok and Gu-wan were half-brothers. They shared the same mother, but she had abandoned Gu-wan and later gave birth to Tae-seok with another man.

During questioning, Gu-wan only laughed. He taunted detective Na-hui by touching on her personal life until she lost her cool. Su Yeol tried to push through, asking about Tae-seok’s whereabouts.

Instead of answering, Gu-wan kept rambling about i-shin, saying she once killed a father to save a child and insisting she was no criminal.

With no progress, Jung-ho suggested they take Gu-wan to see i-shin. Maybe she could make him talk. The moment he saw her, Gu-wan lit up with excitement.

He claimed he wanted the world to know what the Queen Mantis had done. But when she grilled him, asking why he used an axe for the second killing, his confidence cracked.

She caught him lying. The murders did not belong to him. He was only copying her.

Her laughter cut him down. She told him he was nothing. Gu-wan snapped and threatened to expose that she was alive. That was the breaking point.

I-shin reached through the bars, choking him with his tie, laughing like a predator. Su Yeol and Jung-ho pulled her away, but she told Su Yeol the only way out was to kill Gu-wan because he knew too much.

Gu-wan escaped with a gun. Tormented by voices in his head, he shot himself. On the way to the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest, but doctors managed to bring him back. i-shin, meanwhile, was disturbingly fascinated.

She smelled her hands, lost in her mania, while the team pressed on.

Aftermath and What’s Next

Su Yeol understood Gu-wan’s jealousy. He had always believed Tae-seok stole his life. He wanted to switch places with him. This led the team to the hospital where Gu-wan had once been abandoned.

Su Yeol searched every corner. In the laundry room, his worst fear came true. Tae-seok was locked inside a washing machine. Su Yeol fought to revive him as the screen cut to black.

The episode closed with i-shin alone on the rooftop. She picked two leaves, placed them inside her mouth, and kept them like trophies.

Conclusion

This episode masterfully explored the danger of living through someone else’s narrative. Gu-wan didn’t want to be himself; he wanted to be Tae-seok, and failing that, he wanted to be the Queen Mantis’s most prized disciple.

In the end, he was nothing in her eyes, and that was the most devastating truth he could face.

Only six episodes are left for Queen Mantis after tonight’s release! It’s a gripping ride as we delve deeper into the psychological crime world of our characters.

You can catch new episodes every Friday and Saturday on SBS in Korea. For our international viewers, Queen Mantis is available for streaming on Viki, Netflix, and Kocowa+ in select regions. Make sure to check your local availability!

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What did you think? Was Gu-wan a terrifying villain or a tragic figure? What do you think i-shin’s endgame is after her display of power on the rooftop? How will finding Tae-seok impact Su Yeol’s psyche?

Let us know your theories and analysis in the comments below!

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