This analysis contains spoilers for the K-drama ‘Queen Mantis.’ We delve into the psychological depth of one of its most shocking reveals, exploring themes of trauma, memory, and the nature of evil.
This post is perfect for fans seeking a deeper understanding of the characters’ motivations.
In Queen Mantis Episode 3, it pulled Cha Su-yeol into the darkest part of his past. A missing man named Tae-sook was found alive.
This rescue happened only because of Jung Yi-shin. After the case closed, Su-yeol visited her in her locked cell.
He thanked her quietly. “That man was a father of two. Thank you for helping me,” he said. She only watched him without a word.
Su-yeol had recently learned something from Detective Choi Joong-ho. When Yi-shin first confessed her old crimes, she made a strange demand.
She asked Joong-ho to protect Su-yeol from harm. She even requested to change Su-yeol’s surname so his past could not follow him. That truth stayed with him.
Now, standing in front of her, Su-yeol asked, “Were you worried? Did you miss me? You said you’d call me because you missed me, right?” Yi-shin stayed silent.
Su-yeol also started to suspect her again. Another victim had turned up. He had drowned in the same way Yi-shin’s victims once did. Around the crime scene were dozens of mirrors.
The sight unsettled Su-yeol. He left in silence when reporters tried to question him.
His grandfather called him soon after. The man’s voice was sharp, like he knew something.
A Crime That Cuts Too Deep
Meanwhile, Lee Jung-yeon, Su-yeol’s wife, began noticing strange things. She heard his grandfather ask her, “Did you meet your mother again?” He refused to explain. He only said he was worried because of the news.
Jung-yeon felt something was off. She started looking up the old “Yeonpo Bridge Incident.” That crash had killed Su-yeol’s mother. Or so everyone believed.
Her friend Seo A-ra visited. Jung-yeon showed her the articles and said, “They said he died from this incident. But not one article says a woman was among the dead.”
Ara frowned. “Newspapers are not always right. Ask him yourself.”
Jung-yeon shook her head. “He never brings up his family. If I ask, he turns it into a joke.”
A Body in the Well and a Buried Secret
At the same time, Su-yeol and his team tracked the third victim’s phone. It led them to his old hometown. The place felt frozen in time.
He saw a yellow table and froze. His father once brought him here. Hyuk pointed to a pot of water with a ball inside. Su-yeol suddenly remembered playing with a ball near a well.
He walked to the well. He climbed down. There, he found a body with a note. The letter read, “Welcome. Finally, you found it.”
Forensic reports said the body was from 2000. He was a developer who worked on digitizing old police records. The team realized the copycat killer could have stolen information about Yi-shin’s early murders.
That meant Yi-shin had a secret first murder. It was never revealed to the public.
Jung-yeon later told Ara, “I heard my mother’s grave is in the same village where Su-yeol grew up.” The two decided to go there.
Su-yeol also returned to the well. This time, he found pieces of bones. A wedding ring clung to one finger.
Something inside him broke. He knew. The bones were his father’s. His mother had killed him.
He cried and laughed at once. The memory shredded him.
This moment is the shattering of Su-yeol’s foundational identity. His entire life was built on the twin traumas of his father’s abandonment and his mother’s supposed death.
To learn that one trauma was a lie covering a far more horrific truth unravels him completely. The actor’s portrayal of simultaneous crying and laughing is a realistic depiction of a nervous system collapsing under the weight of unbearable cognitive dissonance.
Su-yeol went to see Jung Yi-shin again. He grabbed her cuffed hand. “It’s warm. The hand that killed five people. No… six?” he asked.
Yi-shin smirked. “Ask Jung-ho. I confessed long ago.”
He shouted at her, furious. He finally remembered. She had killed his father—her husband.
I-shin Confesses and Destroys His World
Yi-shin’s voice stayed calm. “It was the best thing I ever did,” she said. She described her husband’s drunken rage. How he hit her. How he humiliated them both.
One night, he accused her of cheating. He beat Su-yeol when the boy tried to protect her. That night, Yi-shin stabbed him with scissors. She dragged him to the well. She tossed her wedding ring into the water.
Rain washed away the blood. No one ever questioned her. Everyone believed her when she said she left after an affair.
Su-yeol yelled, “That’s a lie. He made me a desk. We played ball together.”
Yi-shin looked at him. “Of course. When he wasn’t drunk,” she said.
When he asked why she never confessed, she said, “No one asked. Is this really my problem?”
Her calm tone shattered him.
She added, “Killing is easy. The hard part is cleaning up. That’s the real work.”
Su-yeol snapped. “You killed five more people after him. You enjoyed it, didn’t you?”
Yi-shin laughed. “I can’t deny it.”
“You’re a monster,” he said. “A praying mantis who loves blood.”
She leaned closer. “Do you hate me? Kill me. Kill me here. It would be easier if your mother was dead, my son.”
She wrapped her hand around his neck.
Su-yeol broke down in tears.
Ending
This scene transcends a typical thriller reveal. It’s not just about ‘whodunit’. It’s a brutal exploration of cyclical abuse and the monsters it creates. Yi-shin is a victim who became a perpetrator, and now her trauma has irrevocably infected her son.
Her question, “Is this really my problem?” is the chilling heart of the scene—a refusal of maternal responsibility that completes Su-yeol’s destruction. Her final, violent gesture isn’t a threat; it’s a twisted, horrifying offer of release from the pain she caused.
What do you think? Was i-shin born a monster, or was she created? Could Su-yeol ever recover from this? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Which twist in Queen Mantis shocked you the most?
How Does this Article Make You Feel?
Kavita Mishra is a dynamic writer and passionate Korean entertainment enthusiast, combining her love for K-pop and K-drama with a flair for storytelling. With a keen eye for the latest trends, Kavita crafts articles that capture the pulse of K-pop idols, chart-topping hits, and the most buzz-worthy dramas taking over screens worldwide.
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