- Hui yeon is alive, rejects the pressure to die for her reputation and chooses to live.
- Cho won betrays Hui yeon by revealing that their romance began as a wager, breaking her trust.
- Lady Cho’s fabricated report is exposed by the King, who banishes Cho won from court.
- Cho won jumps into a river while travelling to Yanjing. His body is never found, leaving his fate uncertain.
Netflix’s historical romance The Scandal closes with heartbreak, betrayal and a disappearance that leaves viewers wondering whether Cho won survives. The drama begins with a dangerous wager involving seduction and manipulation, but its final episodes reveal how easily a game can spiral beyond anyone’s control.
Set in 18th century Joseon, the series follows Lady Cho, a noblewoman frustrated by the restrictions placed on her, and her cousin Cho won, a notorious womaniser who agrees to seduce the widowed Hui yeon. What starts as a calculated attempt to manipulate another woman’s life becomes something far more complicated when Cho won develops genuine feelings for Hui yeon.
Directed by Jung Ji woo, the series draws on Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the 2003 Korean adaptation Untold Scandal. Its finale brings the central characters to a crossroads, forcing each of them to confront the consequences of their choices.
Spoilers ahead!
The biggest question left hanging over the ending is whether Cho won dies after jumping into the river. The series never provides a definitive answer. His disappearance is presented as a tragic possibility rather than a confirmed death, leaving the audience to decide how to interpret his final moments.
What happens to Hui yeon? The truth behind her supposed death
For much of the final stretch, the court believes Hui yeon has taken her own life. Her supposed suicide is treated as an act of virtue, and influential members of the royal court push for a memorial gate to honour her.
But Hui yeon is alive.
The revelation changes the meaning of everything that has happened. Her supposed death was supposed to satisfy the expectations of Joseon society, where a widow’s reputation and virtue could become matters of public importance. Instead, Hui yeon begins to question whether she should sacrifice her life to preserve an image that was never truly hers.
Her growing understanding of Catholic teachings also influences her outlook. Rather than accepting suicide as an inevitable conclusion, she decides that she wants to live.
Meanwhile, Cho won faces pressure from the King, who orders him to find Hui yeon’s body. The discovery is important because the court needs to establish whether the supposed death justifies the memorial gate.
The situation becomes even more complicated when Hui yeon learns the truth about the wager. She realises that the relationship she believed was built on love began as a calculated scheme. Fearing that Cho won could face punishment for deceiving the King, she goes to Lady Cho’s home and asks him to escape with her.
Lady Cho then forces Cho won to make a choice between them.
Despite his genuine feelings for Hui yeon, Cho won refuses to leave Lady Cho behind. His decision devastates Hui yeon, who finally understands how deeply she has been betrayed.
Later, Cho won finds her and gives her his gat. He also reveals the truth about their courtship, making it impossible for her to continue believing in the romance they once shared.
Hui yeon responds by telling him that she will live with the resentment she now feels towards him.
It is a painful moment, but it also marks a turning point. Hui yeon no longer feels obligated to die to protect Cho won or uphold the false story surrounding her supposed death. Her anger gives her a reason to choose her own future.
Why does Cho won betray Hui yeon?
Cho won’s final betrayal is one of the most complicated decisions in the series. On the surface, it looks like another act of selfishness. However, the circumstances suggest that he is trying to prevent Hui yeon from sacrificing herself.
Lady Cho’s plan depends on the court accepting Hui yeon’s death as genuine. If the widow continues living while everyone believes she is dead, Cho won risks facing serious consequences for misleading the King.
Cho won understands that Hui yeon may be willing to die to protect him. Rather than allowing her to make that sacrifice, he deliberately destroys the trust between them.
By admitting that their courtship began as a wager, he gives Hui yeon a reason to reject him. He knows the revelation will hurt her, but it also means she no longer has to preserve their relationship or protect the reputation built around her supposed death.
That does not make his actions harmless. Cho won has helped create the very situation he is now trying to escape, and his decision leaves Hui yeon with the emotional consequences.
The tragedy lies in the fact that his feelings for her have become genuine, but the relationship is already poisoned by the deception that brought them together.
His betrayal also exposes the failure of Lady Cho’s original scheme. What began as a game of manipulation has become a situation in which love, loyalty and survival are impossible to separate.
What happens to Lady Cho? The cost of controlling everyone
Lady Cho appears to regain control when she produces a false report claiming that a woman resembling Hui yeon was seen jumping from a cliff into a river.
Cho won presents the report to the King, who initially accepts the account. The court then grants the memorial gate in honour of Hui yeon’s supposed virtue.
However, Lady Cho’s victory does not last.
The King notices an inconsistency in the report. It describes torrential rain on the night of Hui yeon’s supposed death, but other records from the same period do not support that account.
Realising that something is wrong, the King privately confronts Cho won and discovers that the report is fabricated.
Rather than ordering Cho won’s execution, the King ends their relationship and bans him from appearing before him again. The punishment effectively removes Cho won from the privileged world in which he has lived.
Cho won protects Lady Cho by telling her that the report succeeded. She believes that her plan has worked, unaware that the King has already uncovered the deception.
Her apparent victory is therefore deeply ironic. She has spent much of the story trying to control the people around her, but she cannot prevent Cho won from leaving her behind.
Lady Cho remains within the privileged society she once sought to manipulate, yet the emotional security she wanted has slipped away. Her position may remain intact, but the relationship at the centre of her scheme has been destroyed.
Does Cho won die? What the final river scene really means
After his banishment, Cho won travels to Mapo port. A ferry is waiting to take him to Yanjing, where he had originally planned to escape with Hui yeon, Chil seong and Eun sil.
But he boards the boat alone.
During the journey, Cho won suddenly jumps into the river and disappears into the darkness. The ferryman searches for him, but the only thing left behind is his gat floating on the water.
The series does not show his body, nor does it confirm whether he survives.
That distinction matters. Cho won’s disappearance can be interpreted as a possible suicide, a final act of despair or an attempt to leave his old life behind. The scene offers no definitive explanation, allowing viewers to decide what they believe happened.
The circumstances certainly give the moment a tragic weight. Cho won has lost his place at court, his relationship with Hui yeon and the emotional bond that once connected him to Lady Cho. His journey to Yanjing, once imagined as a fresh start, becomes a lonely passage into uncertainty.
Yet the absence of a body leaves a small possibility that he survives.
The ending also brings the series’ central themes into focus. Hui yeon chooses to live despite the expectations imposed on her. Lady Cho is left with the consequences of trying to control other people’s lives. Cho won, meanwhile, disappears after discovering that neither love nor loyalty can undo the damage caused by his deception.
Ultimately, Cho won’s death is not confirmed. The finale deliberately leaves his fate unresolved, making his disappearance one of the most haunting parts of The Scandal.
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