This post contains SPOILERS for Solo Leveling anime and the Manhwa series.
Summary
- Sung II-Hwan returns to Earth to observe his son, Jinwoo, and ensure his survival.
- II-Hwan fights Monarchs to protect Jinwoo and eventually sacrifices himself.
- Jinwoo briefly reunites with his father before II-Hwan’s death, leaving fans emotional.
Solo Leveling has featured several mysterious yet powerful characters — both Hunters and Monsters. While the entire fandom has kept its focus on the growth of Sung Jinwoo, the series has introduced us to another powerful Hunter, who is even stronger than our protagonist, at least at this point in the anime.
We are talking about Sung II-Hwan, the long-lost father of Sung Jinwoo. After being away from the rest of the world for several years, Sung II-Hwan returns to Earth once a mysterious Gate spawns on American soil. For now, Jinwoo has no knowledge of his father’s return, and fans who haven’t read the Manhwa always wonder whether the son will reunite with his father.
Sung II-Hwan Stays In The Shadows To Observe His Son
He Wants To Make Sure That Jinwoo Survives
Ashborn never really attested himself to the Rulers’ side, so the godly entities assumed that Ashborn’s vessel would join the hands of the Monarchs. So, after making Sung II-Hwan their vessel, the Rulers ordered the legendary Hunter to bury Ashborn’s vessel deep in the ground. That is the main reason why Sung II-Hwan has returned to Earth after all these years. Immediately after returning, II-Hwan humiliated Hwang Dongsoo with his mighty powers after the latter showed evil intent towards Jinwoo.
Soon, II-Hwan learns that the person he was ordered to kill by the Rulers is his son. That would have been a death sentence for him, but fortunately, the Rulers started seeing Jinwoo as their ally instead of an enemy. So, they gave new orders to Sung II-Hwan — keep Jinwoo alive at all costs.
Don’t you ever set foot in Korea. I’m not saying this for my son’s sake, I’m saying it for yours. You will never rest in peace, even in death – Sung Il-Hwan to Hwang Dongsoo.
While Jinwoo was busy fighting powerful enemies around the world, II-Hwan was keeping an eye on his son from a distance. Jinwoo was busy creating a name for himself in the world, and II-Hwan was fighting powerful Monarchs like Sillad. The former Hunter put up a great fight, but the Frost Monarch was too much for him to handle alone, so II-Hwan escaped the scene.
II-Hwan didn’t confront his son because of the guilt of leaving him alone for all these years. At the same time, he knew that Jinwoo would get distracted after learning about his existence. Knowing the enemies he (Jinwoo) would face in the future, II-Hwan wanted his son to get stronger as quickly as possible. That being said, the world isn’t big enough for the son to be completely oblivious to his father’s return.
Jinwoo Meets His Father During The Monarchs War Arc In Solo Leveling
The Father-Son Duo Doesn’t Stay United For Long
For a very long time, Jinwoo stays unaware of the fact that his father is alive and has returned to Earth. However, that changes when the Hunters Bureau pits the death of Christopher Reed, an S-Rank Hunter from America, on II-Hwan. Reed was killed by three Monarchs — Tarnak, Rakan, and Querehsha, but the mana traces on the scene were similar to those of II-Hwan. Since the world didn’t know about the Monarchs’ existence at the time, the Bureau made II-Hwan a suspect.
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Sung Jinwoo And Sung II-Hwan’s Reunion in Solo Leveling |
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Manhwa |
Chapter 166 |
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Anime |
Season 3 (Expected) |
The murder of a National Hunter wasn’t a small ordeal, so the news spread like wildfire, and the flames eventually caught Jinwoo’s attention. That’s when Jinwoo learned that his father was, in fact, alive. However, he doesn’t reunite with his father until the Monarchs War Arc, when Sillad, Rakan, and Querehsha attempt to kill Jinwoo. Despite being weaker than the Monarchs, Jinwoo puts down Querehsha on his own, but Rakan kills him. Ashborn then decides to bring Jinwoo back to life by rewarding him with the powers of the Shadow Monarch. Before Jinwoo could gain consciousness, though, Rakan prepared to land another killing blow.
Fortunately, II-Hwan arrived at the scene and stopped Rakan and Querehsha. He fought the Monarch duo and sustained several life-threatening injuries; in fact, he was so ruthless in the fight that Rakan had to flee the scene. II-Hwan was prepared to die at the hands of Sillad, but Jinwoo awakens at the right moment and defeats the two Monarchs. Meanwhile, II-Hwan escapes the scene, knowing that his son is now powerful enough to deal with the threat on his own. Unfortunately, though, II-Hwan’s body starts turning into dust because of the injuries. His death was inevitable, and the Hunter was prepared to die alone. However, Jinwoo arrives near II-Hwan after killing the two Monarchs and confronts his father after all these years.
Related
Solo Leveling: The Japanese Hunter Association’s True Intentions, Explained
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Before taking his last breath, II-Hwan tells his son everything about his disappearance. In the end, II-Hwan was apologetic for leaving his family alone while also being proud that his son had become a fearsome warrior of humanity. Every fan of Solo Leveling was waiting for the reunion of father and son, but it was cut short, and we only got a brief moment of them being together. It was heartfelt, for sure, but many fans were expecting more since the reunion was teased a lot earlier in the series. That being said, despite being short, the reunion will definitely break the anime-only fans emotionally when it finally happens in the anime series. However, anime fans will have to wait until the third season to see it happening on their screens.
- Release Date
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January 7, 2024
- Directors
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Shunsuke Nakashige
- Writers
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Noboru Kimura
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Taito Ban
Shun Mizushino (voice)
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Genta Nakamura
Kenta Morobishi (voice)
