The Twelfth Lantern – Season 2 Episode 12: Mother Tongue

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Episode summary

Haneul listens as Mi-rae says what she has held back. A small lantern lights, but their homecoming brings a new warning.

Transcript

The Twelfth Lantern
The Thirteenth Lantern
Episode 12: Mother Tongue
By Hush Lantern

Accessible transcript

S02E12-P01
In the snowy storehouse, Haneul sits with open palms on her knees. Mi-rae stands opposite. Go waits beside the doorway with a faint brass cage lantern, and little Bit stays near her. The suspended brass bell and slack blue cord remain untouched.
(Silent.)

S02E12-P02
Seated Haneul looks up at Mi-rae, her hands relaxed on her lap.
Haneul: I'm here. You can say it.

S02E12-P03
Mi-rae faces seated Haneul in the storehouse, with the intact bell behind her.
Mi-rae: Everyone told me how much she gave.

S02E12-P04
Mi-rae speaks with both hands in her coat pockets. Seated Haneul listens at the left of the scene.
Mi-rae: No one asked what it cost to be the one she left waiting.

S02E12-P05
Haneul quietly asks her next question, her gaze steady.
Haneul: What did you want to tell her?

S02E12-P06
Mi-rae speaks into the empty space before her, grieving and angry. No apparition appears.
Mi-rae: I needed my mother. I was ten. I was so angry with you.

S02E12-P07
A fine crack runs up from the brass bell rim. The whole bell stays on its fixed support; its clapper and loose blue cord remain still.
SFX: Crick.

S02E12-P08
Go places an unlit small cream oval lantern on the bench beside seated Mi-rae. The pale brass cage lantern rests safely on the floor.
(Silent.)

S02E12-P09
Seated Mi-rae looks towards her own small cream lantern as it lights beside her.
Mi-rae: I want to be here without making you stay.

S02E12-P10
Haneul and Mi-rae sit on the same bench with the newly lit lantern between them. Both keep their hands on their laps.
(Silent.)

S02E12-P11
In April daylight, Haneul and Mi-rae ride a bus home together. Awake Bit rests in Haneul's open bag. Go sits across the aisle; two lanterns and the wrapped bell are secured near her feet.
Caption: April. They went home together.

S02E12-P12
At dusk in April, Haneul, Mi-rae, Go and awake Bit arrive at the teahouse. Twelve pale lanterns hang along the eaves. Go holds her brass cage lantern; the small cream lantern and a closed travel case rest on a stone step. The printed plaque reads 청산찻집, Cheongsan Tea House.
Sign reading: Sign: Cheongsan Tea House

S02E12-P13
Inside, Mi-rae sits on the left and Haneul on the right at a low tea table with two cups and a teapot. The brass cage lantern stands on the left; the cream oval lantern stands on the right. Awake Bit rests on a round woven mat near Haneul.
Mi-rae: I don't know where to begin.
Haneul: The tea will take a minute.

S02E12-P14
Bit sits awake but tired on the round mat beside Haneul. Haneul looks towards the open frontage. Her teacup is already on the table.
(Silent.)

S02E12-P15
The great White Tiger stands calmly at the left threshold and delivers a warning. Mi-rae looks towards the Tiger. Haneul looks down at Bit, who is still standing with his eyes open but weakening.
White Tiger: The First Quiet is waking.
Haneul: Bit?

S02E12-P16
Bit has collapsed on the round mat, his eyes closed. His body remains solid, with a faint glow and small breathing marks. Haneul bends beside him with an empty hand supported on the floor. Mi-rae leans close, and the White Tiger watches from the threshold.
(Silent.)