WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Kingdom: Ashin of the North, now streaming on Netflix.
Netflix's Korean zombie drama, Kingdom, has brilliantly detailed how the undead were used in the Joseon period as a political too. Now, Kingdom: Ashin of the North acts as a prequel to the highly anticipated third season. However, as the movie unravels, it becomes clear the dark archer, Ashin, isn't a villain after all, but instead a pawn.
With that in mind, let's break down why she turns on the Korean army after initially becoming their spy against the Pajeowi Jurchen tribe.
Ashin Enacts a Genocide
After infiltrating the Pajeowi camp and offering her father, Ta-hab, a mercy killing, Ashin realizes the Joseon lied to her. Her village was framed for killing Jurchen soldiers, leading to the retaliation that wiped out her family and friends. She heads back to base, discovering documents that reveal her commander, Chi-rok, orchestrated everything, selling her village out as a scapegoat to protect Joseon Haewon Cho clan for killing trespassing Jurchens in an act of war.
As such, she slaughters Joseon soldiers in the dead of night and uses the resurrection flower to turn them into zombies. The camp is ravaged, with Ashin on the rooftops using her arrows to kill people and box in soldiers. She puts an arrow through Chi-rok's head as she guides the zombies to take out everyone, including the Haewon Cho clan, which played a part in her losing everything she ever loved.
Ashin Holds a Horrific Family Secret
When a young Ashin found her village burned, and friends and family hanged, near the beginning of Kingdom: Ashin of the North, it was believed she buried them before heading to Chi-rok to train as a soldier wanting revenge. She now returns home, older and covered in blood, but shockingly, there are bright scenes of her lush lands and the farming village thriving. She even sees her mother and sisters again, but it's all a hallucination. Ashin actually used the resurrection flower on them and kept them as zombies in a hut, chained up and hungry.
She worked in Chi-rok's stables to steal meat and bring it to them from time to time, but now, she realizes they need something more. After decimating the Joseon army, she's dragged one of the soldiers that used to sexually assault her to the village in a wheelbarrow. She then offers him up for her loved ones to feed upon, promising once her revenge is done, she'll join them too. This informs Season 2's ending, when former Prince Lee Chang and his medical aide, Seo Bi, found Ashin's lair with these reanimated souls seemingly under her control.
Ashin Goes After the Jurchens
Kingdom: Ashin of the North ends with Ashin, cloaked and with her bow and arrow, obstructing the Jurchens from the Pajeowi lands. The horsemen murdered her village after Chi-rok's lies, but they also tortured her dad, so no matter what, in her eyes they are culpable. She's especially bitter because her village was Jurchen as well, but opted to remain in Korea as farmers rather than move to the borders or into China as warlords.
Their leader, Ai-da-gan, loves murder and enjoyed slaughtering her tribe, becoming a legend across the lands. Now, she's ready to fulfil her vow to kill everyone, but the group stands amused that one person would oppose a gang this big. It concludes with her taking aim at Ai-da-gan first while he smiles. Audiences don't see the firing shot after she lined the arrow up from her quiver, which leaves it up to the imagination how she went about killing so many warriors, who have a reputation as being Asia's deadliest.
Kingdom: Ashin of the North and both seasons of Kingdom are now available to stream on Netflix.