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Did The White Olive Tree’s Ending Go Too Far?
From the start, The White Olive Tree faced backlash for its uncanny similarities to Descendants of the Sun, despite being based on a novel.
The stepping-on-a-mine scene?
Yeah, that didn’t help.
But while people were nitpicking the production and direction, something else stole the spotlight—Benjamin and Saxin’s bromance.
Wang Tianchen and Gu Zicheng’s characters sparked unexpected BL fan theories, though the show never went there.
Still, Benjamin's tragic fate left a deep impact—dying without reuniting with his love, but at least managing to say goodbye to Saxin, his “younger brother.”
Heartbreaking much?
Tragedy Strikes Hard
If you were expecting a happy ending, joke’s on you.
Death loomed over the show from start to finish, and when Benjamin and Jiang Lin died, it became clear—no one was safe.
Our main guy, Ah Zan, wasn’t spared either, though in a different way.
War left him shattered, battling PTSD so severe that even Song Ran couldn’t save him.
The final scenes?
Pure poetry or pure pain, depending on who you ask.
Ah Zan and Song Ran, desperate to escape, eloped and disappeared under a glowing white olive tree—an artistic way of saying they both died.
Beautiful, tragic, and controversial all at once.
The Novel Was Even Harsher
If you thought the drama was gut-wrenching, the novel said, “Hold my beer.”
Li Zan suffered for ten years before ultimately taking his own life.
Song Ran, ever the fearless correspondent, was later killed by a stray bullet while saving a child.
No soft, dreamlike exit—just brutal reality.
Despite the despair, some fans see the ending as poignant rather than just tragic.
But was it too much?
Or was it the only way The White Olive Tree could stay true to its themes? Either way, this finale isn’t fading from memory anytime soon.