The 2025 K-drama Nine Puzzles, now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, has kept viewers on the edge of their seats with its intense psychological twists, high-stakes suspense, and complex puzzles. As the series reaches its highly anticipated finale, the shocking truth behind the puzzles and the identity of the Puzzle Killer is finally unveiled. To be honest, the ending isn’t as mind-bending as it should have been. But here’s breaking down the final moments to explain the true mystery behind this intricate drama.
A web of murders and puzzles
At its core, Nine Puzzles follows Han-saem, a skilled detective with a sharp mind, and Ena, a mysterious criminal profiler, with her own set of secrets. The duo is drawn into a series of bizarre murders, each one accompanied by a cryptic puzzle that seems to hold the key to solving the crime.
These puzzles, however, aren’t just clues—they are symbolic, each piece representing something deeper within the characters’ psyches, particularly Ena’s past. As the show progresses, the puzzles become increasingly complex, and the stakes rise as the investigation uncovers dark secrets that threaten to unravel everything.
Nine Puzzles: All deaths explained
Yoon Dong-hoon (Ji Jin-hee)
The series opens with Yoon Ena (Kim Da-mi) arriving at her house on a rainy day. As soon as she enters inside, Ena steps on a puzzle piece and finds the dead body of her uncle Dong-hoon, the former superintendent of the police, lying in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed in the neck with a sharpening tool she bought nearly 6 months ago and the murder weapon has her fingerprint on it.
The scene terrorizes her so badly that her brain completely eradicates the memory of the incident, the only thing she has is a puzzle piece left behind by the killer which has a drawing of a wolf in a rabbit’s costume, holding a gun. Kim Han-saem (Son Suk-ku), a rookie cop investigating the case, names Ena the prime suspect because she – the only eyewitness – claims to have lost all memories of the incident. But Han-saem doesn’t have enough evidence to back his suspicion.
Choi Jun-seo (Go Hyun)
The story takes a 10-year leap with Ena, now a cop and a criminal profiler, solving the murder of Jun-seo, a 10-year-old child. The victim’s brother Jun-woo (Ki Eun-yoo) feigns memory loss during the investigation, but Ena manages to make him confess while playing a game of recounting the events leading up to the murder.
Lee Mi-young (Kim Ye-won)
Ena’s world turns upside down when she receives a courier consisting of a second puzzle piece, a serpentine woman whispering to a girl. Ena rushes to The One City building to reach Han-saem, to let him know about the puzzle piece after he ignores her calls. Strangely while looking for her vehicle at the parking lot, she comes across a car whose headlights are on. When Ena peeks inside, she finds a dead body of a girl, who had been strangled to death.
The identity of the woman is later revealed to be Lee Mi-young, a bar owner and a resident of The One City building. Since Ena discovers her body, Han-saem suspects her once again but Ena brings his attention to the puzzle piece suggesting there is a serial killer on the loose, insisting the person who killed her uncle and Mi-young is the same.
When Mi-young’s records are checked, the last missed call left on her phone belonged to Hyun Ho-geun (Jang Kyug-su), the Chief of Police. Meanwhile, the person she last met was Tae Dong-su (Jeong Man-sik), the Captain of the Police. News reports go wild with rumours of police involvement in the murder and the higher-ups put pressure on Han-saem to solve the murder soon.
Kang Chi-mok (Lee Hee-joon)
A partial fingerprint on the driver’s headrest leads the police to Kang Chi-mok, a restaurant owner, and the boyfriend of the last victim Mi-young. But things take a shocking turn when his butchered body is also found in a suitcase dumped in a lake. Chi-mok’s wife Seo Yang-hui (Ok Ja-yeon) becomes the prime suspect, she eventually confesses to killing her husband with Jae-wook (Nam Yoon-ho), a man she had an affair with.
The truth leads the media to stop condemning the cops and Ena receives the third puzzle, a dismembered man with an armband, surrounded by children. She realizes that the puzzle killer’s target was Chi-mok and they smartly let Yang-hui do their dirty work.
Choi Young-han (Choi Hong II)
The next murder case is of an old factory worker, who was set to return to work after a year-long sabbatical. He partied with his three co-workers and was found dead because of nicotine in his soju. The co-workers become the prime suspect until it is revealed that Choi Young-han killed himself by drinking the poisonous alcohol.
His intention was to frame his co-workers who behaved irresponsibly during a factory tragedy that claimed the life of Young-han’s son. This death isn’t directly connected to the puzzle serial killer but it helps Ena realize that in tough situations some people kill others, while some kill themselves. Ena quickly develops the theory that all victims on the serial killer’s list could be culprits of a crime.
Do Yoon-su (Lee Sung-min)
After the death of Kang Chi-mok, the cops realize Do Yoon-su, the president of DH Construction is the killer’s next target. Why? Because before Chi-mok’s death, he called Yoon-su thrice. Ena shows up at his office to warn Yoon-su about the killer’s intention but he pays no heed and right on cue, he is killed.
Ena receives the fourth puzzle, a clown, and when all the pieces come together the picture shows a doll being shot, cotton candy, dancing children, a sand castle and ferris wheel. Ena theorises the culprits and the killer’s victim might be somehow connected to an amusement park. Ena finds the park on the puzzle is Dream Land, which is about to close down soon.
Another link established between Do Yoon-su, Mi-young, and Chi-mok is an apartment at The One City complex. When the building was constructed Yoon-su received 13 apartments, of which 12 were delegated to his family. But one unit was transferred to Chi-mok 2 months after he got it. A month later Chi-mok transferred the same apartment to his then-fiancée, Mi-young. Meanwhile, a handkerchief marked as evidence in the murder case goes missing.
Lee Gang-hyun (Bake Hyun-jin)
Another lead to crop up during the investigation was the Myungsung Daily defamation suit. Lee Gang-hyun, a reporter, called the last victim in the Jungbu case, an investigation led by Ena’s late uncle, an escort without proof. Though the victim was unable to get justice legally, it was served after the reporter allegedly killed himself.
In his death file, Ena and Han-saem learn that the reporter placed several calls to Oh Cheol-jin and he died 8 months before Ena’s uncle, which means he was the puzzle killer’s first kill. It is also revealed that a puzzle piece, which showed a man holding a camera while his eyes were sewn shut, was also marked as evidence in the case.
Lee Gang-hyun’s murder case leaves Han-saem completely torn on who to trust because his chief Yang Jeong-ho (Kim Sung-kyun), was aware about the reporter’s death case but he stayed silent. Additionally, Ena was also present in the reporter’s building at the time of his death, attending a math study group, but she also kept quiet about it.
Oh Cheol-jin (Hwang Jung-min)
Since the reporter called Oh Cheol-jin, the former Sangjin construction managing director, before his death, Ena goes to Jeju to meet him. But when interrogated about the reporter’s death, Cheol-jin’s behaviour turns threatening. In a shocking twist, Ena is arrested as his murder suspect after a dockyard worker finds her pulling up Cheol-jin’s drowned body.
She refuses to defend herself leaving Han-saem frustrated. Captain Yang Jeong-ho, Chief Hyun Ho-geun, Ena’s psychiatrist Dr Lee Seung-ju (Park Gyu-young) and her colleague Dr Hwang In-chan (Noh Jae-won), show up to help her. Little did they know it was a part of Ena’s elaborate scheme to draw out the perpetrator because she knew the puzzler killer would want her free and alive to continue their game.
Eventually, she produces an alibi and shows Han-saem the latest puzzle piece she received, a picture of a man in a burger-eating competition.
Yang Jeong-ho and Kwon Sang-beom (Park Sung Woong)
Han-seam learns his superior Captain Jeong-ho was the one to steal the handkerchief from the previous crime scene. Shockingly Jeong-ho confesses to killing everyone but keeps the condition he’ll reveal everything only at a press conference. Han-seam realises he isn’t the real killer, instead he is protecting the perpetrator.
The cops set him free and track his movement which leads them to Mayor Kim Mo-il and Kwon Sang-beom, a former prosecutor and consultant, who are hunting on the outskirts of the city. Jeong-ho knocks out the person tailing him and secretly watches Kwon Sang-beom. When the killer takes his aim, Jeong-ho shoots in the air to get Sang-beom’s attention but the latter misinterprets the situation and fires back at Jeong-ho with his hunting gun.
By the time Han-seam reaches the crime scene, Jeong-ho is almost close to death. His last words to Han-seam indicate that the killer is not at fault. He says “Shindonga” and “Seo-jin” before dying. The killer had also almost managed to kill Kwon Sang-beom, who is rushed to the hospital while the Mayor leaves the crime scene unscathed.
Though Han-seam stands guard outside Kwon Sang-beom’s hospital room, the killer manages to cause his death via IV, prompting Ena to deduce the killer has medical knowledge.
Who is the killer?
Ena’s psychiatrist Dr Lee Seung-ju and her colleague Dr Hwang In-chan become major suspect in the end but Ena and Han-saem manage to confirm that Dr Hwang only drew the puzzle pieces for Ena’s psychiatrist. The cops are on a massive manhunt to track down Lee Seung-ju but she manages to claim her last victim Assemblyman Kim Mu-ryoung (Kim Eung-soo), the former minister of infrastructure.
The puzzle killer mystery solved
Turns out Ena’s psychiatrist Dr Lee was lost at the Dream Land amusement park. Her mother, Lee Nam-suk, had been desperately searching for her ever since. Nam-suk was based at the Seo-jin Diner in Shindonga Market—a place where Captain Yang Jeong-ho used to work. The area had been the site of a major incident during its demolition, one that even made headlines.
Shindonga Market was slated for redevelopment, with a massive project called The One City complex to replace it. While some business owners agreed to vacate, others, led by Lee Nam-suk, resisted. Among those who accepted the terms was Mi-young, a shopkeeper whose boyfriend, Chi-mok, happened to be the subcontractor managing the demolition. Yang Jeong-ho saw Mi-young pressuring Nam-suk to leave, even lashing out when the older woman refused. Nam-suk, however, was determined to remain—holding on to the hope that her missing daughter might return.
Tensions escalated. Yoon-su refused to pay Chi-mok unless he cleared the area. One night, Chi-mok and his crew stormed the market, hurling Molotov cocktails to scare out the remaining tenants. Those who didn’t flee were violently evicted—Jeong-ho and Nam-suk among them. When things spiraled out of control, Chi-mok blamed Nam-suk for the delays and assaulted her. As a burning beam collapsed onto them, he fled, leaving her behind.
Cheol-jin, the chief contractor, called in a favor with a police contact to keep law enforcement from intervening. Dong-hoon, a high-ranking officer, made sure no one investigated Nam-suk’s death—thanks to a hefty bribe from Assemblyman Kim, who saw the redevelopment as his ticket to the mayor’s office. Kwon Sang-beom, the chief prosecutor, quietly dismissed the case. Meanwhile, reporter Lee Gang-hyun ran a false story framing Nam-suk as a greedy troublemaker who had started the fire herself.
All those who were behind the death of her mother were killed mercilessly by Ena’s psychiatrist Dr Lee. In a tragic climax, the psychiatrist also set herself on fire in the Dream Land amusement park, the place where it all began. Though Ena tried to talk her out of it, she couldn’t.
What happens to Ena and Han-saem?
Ena refuses to speak about Dr Lee’s death citing memory loss, she also locks herself in the house and resigns from her position as a criminal profiler. But in the final moment, Han-saem is seen solving a new case. Surprisingly, Ena shows up as a profiler to analyse the crime scene but what leaves Han-saem stunned is that Ena receives another puzzle.
Is there another puzzler killer on the loose? Did Ena return as profiler or something more sinister? The questions are left to audience interpretation.
What do you think?
