I haven’t seen the last 2 episodes but have been reading here. This article made a lot of sense to me. I’m living the series and am anxiously awaiting English subs on last 2 episodes. While many here have disparaged the ending I think the writers left a lot to our attention to the details of each episode which to me had hints of things to come.

Lee Dong Wook and Kim Bum were outstanding!

https://meaww.com/tale-of-the-nine-tailed-fox-episode-16-ending-explained-lee-rang-sacrifice-gives-lee-yeon-happy-end