When SHINEE released their new music video for “Countless,” all fans agreed that it was perfect! Some fans touted it as a “bop” and others said it was “beautiful,” but regardless of the way people interpreted the vibe of the song, no one could deny that it was amazing.
As with all music videos, people tend to look closely at the meaning behind them. When it comes to SMTOWN especially, I’ve found that they like to openly incorporate a lot of meaning to their music videos and plots, while only hinting at deeper, hidden meanings in other ways.
Despite there not being heavy colors or styles in this MV, I still couldn’t help feeling bittersweet while watching the video. Perhaps it was the clear cinematography combined with the soaring, almost emotional melody of the chorus or perhaps it was just my own heart that is yet unaccustomed to seeing SHINee performing with only four members. Whatever the reason, I knew there had to be more at play in the video that what first met the eye.
As such, I re-watched the video once more and it was then that I noticed the title of the book that Minho was holding. When I did, everything seemed to fall into place. SMTOWN is a company dedicated to thorough research and the most minute details. So, if they show so many scenes of Minho with that book, then you could already assume it was for a good reason. When I finally realized what book he was holding, however, the entire “The Story of Light” series seemed to make sense.
I want to start off by saying that all music videos are open for personal interpretation. SM is famous for not clarifying the meaning behind their videos, and I consider that true art! Because art, after all, is seen through the viewers’ eyes. While a message or picture can certainly be intended by the artist in one way, its meaning becomes different to each of the people who view it. So, while it’s undeniable that SM intended the book to be an important part of the message, how far they wanted that message to be taken is really up to the viewers’ interpretations.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the facts we do know!
The Three-Part Series
In “Countless,” Minho is seen holding a famous novel in his hand. In fact, the book is “The Ruby Knight” by David Eddings. It is the second story (or episode, if you will) in a series entitled the “Elenium” series. In fact, the three-book series also includes some important colors that are worth noting. The books are “The Diamond Throne”, “The Ruby Knight,” and “The Sapphire Rose.”
A three-part story that is built on three distinct colors? Does this sound familiar yet? You can see why this realization made me go back to look at other SHINee videos from their series “The Story of Light,” but we’ll get into that later! From this point on, however, keep in mind those colors.
“The Diamond Throne” – The Problem
In order to understand the hidden meaning of SHINee’s series, let’s get into the actual plot of the book series first. This will be a lenghty post, but I hope you will follow it through to the end.
“The Diamond Throne” tells the story of the brave knight Sparhawk who comes home after an exile to find his queen poisoned and dying. The knights of the time are in service to the church and live set-apart lives in order to serve faithfully. The church is shown as the epitome of what faith should be like: good, just, and a symbol of righteousness. However, a wicked and jealous priest poisons the queen for his own advancement and in an attempt to become the one in control.
The priest is a picture of exactly what is wrong with the kingdom at the time— despite the kingdom’s ideal faith in God, the rest of the world is getting wrapped up in politics, violence, greed, wickedness, gossip, hatred, and more. It’s a dark and nasty place, and the queen is the one who is suffering because of it at the moment.
Thankfully, a beautiful young magician named Sephrenia is able to save the life of the queen— at least temporarily. To ward off the advancement of the powerful poison, the young magician encloses the queen in a diamond. In fact, the original book cover shows the queen sitting upright on her golden (yellow) throne while protected inside a solid diamond that resembles a glass box.
A diamond, as you know, is an extremely important symbol to Shawols.
The diamond isn’t enough to completely overcome the poison, but it is enough that it can slow the damage of the poison down. However, if the queen doesn’t receive healing within 12 months, she will die.
As such, Sparhawk sets off on a journey to find an object he hears is able to cure and heal— a sapphire carved into the shape of a rose. Taking his best friend and fellow knight, along with his dedicated squire and the magician Sephrenia, they set off to find the sapphire rose. Joining Sparhawk on his journey are three additional knights dedicated to the church and the kingdom, therefore bringing the total number of knights to five. Along the way, they are also joined by a mysterious, young girl who will prove to be much more than she seems.
These five knights and their company set off on the seemingly impossible quest to find what can accurately be described as a symbol of hope. Along the way, they must fight against wicked gods, horrible people, and scary situations. In essence, the book is a picture of the wickedness of the world and the problems these brave knights must face as they look for healing.
When you look at the story of the first book, I believe several important things should stand out when comparing this to SHINee’s comeback. Please note these are my opinions only and the parallels I draw from the books and SHINee’s situation are my own.
In the entertainment world, we have already seen what damage can be done by the hurtful and poisonous words of the public. I believe that the picture of the wicked, jealous priest poisoning the queen is a parallel of the way the public seeks to destroy, harm, and injure with their poisonous words.
The queen is the representative of the church— something that stands for an ideal world where love, peace, and hope reign supreme. I think this also represents the world that SHINee (as well as all human beings) dreams of living in.
When the queen is enclosed in the diamond in order to save her life, I have no doubt that draws the perfect picture of how Shawols’ love for SHINee can help ward off the wicked poison of a jealous world. While it’s not a permanent cure, it is definitely a valuable asset. With the diamond being offered for help by the beautiful, young magician, I like to imagine Shawol filling this role.
Despite the large group of people who set off to find a cure, the fact that there are a total of five knights on the journey is not possible to ignore. However, you will see that the others (the squire and the mysterious young girl) also have important parts to play in the future. It is sweet to see that Sephrenia (or Shawol in my eyes) is going along with them for the entire journey, keeping them company at their side. Meanwhile, all five knights are dedicated to eradicating the wickedness of the world and therefore saving the queen, who represents their ideal world where happiness can be found. I also feel like a further parallel can be found in the darkness of depression and anxiety that was threatening the entire kingdom and even the life of the queen.
“The Ruby Knight” – The Hope
If the first book is a picture of a wicked world that has gone mad, the second book can be viewed through another prevalent theme: hope.
For the entire book, the knights and their friends solve problems and continue their journey to find the mysterious sapphire rose. After they hear the last known location of the rose, they immediately set off with excitement. When they arrive, however, they discover it has already been taken by the troll who originally carved the rose into the sapphire. After centuries of looking for it, the troll has finally recovered the sapphire rose himself. Despite it being a symbol of hope for mankind as a healing object that can bring about a cure for the queen and peace for the rest for the world, his own desire to possess the precious rose leads him to hide it away in a cave, selfishly keeping it for his own benefit alone.
The knights hurry on to claim the prize— their battle against time seems distant now as the symbol of hope looms large in front of them. They follow the troll to a cave at the top of a large cliff where they engage in a battle. Our hero Sparhawk must kill the troll in an attempt to possess the rose, but the troll rolls away, falling to his death with the sapphire rose still clutched against his chest in selfishness.
At the very moment when all hope seems lost, the mysterious young girl who had joined the knights on their journey dives down into the chasm as well. A moment later, she emerges into the sky, transformed and showing her true self as the child-goddess of the magicians. She is holding the sapphire rose in her hand and there on top of the cliff, she gifts it to the knights in order to heal the queen and ultimately bring happiness into their world.
While this book has some obvious parallels that fans can draw to SHINee, I like to think that although the knights’ journey seemed so difficult and hard, they were unaware that hope had been with them all the entire time. In fact, they were never alone! I feel like the child-goddess is the symbol of God or even an angel who is looking out for us. Even when we don’t know they are there, they remain by our side to help us. For some people, this could symbolize a real-life faith, a loved one who has passed away, or even the memories of those people who gave you hope in the first place.
When the child-goddess extends to the knights the healing gift of the rose, it’s also an important life lesson. The wickedness of the world could never keep hope away from the knights as it didn’t belong to the world in the first place. That’s why hope in and of itself was present on their journey all along, despite the knights being unaware of it themselves.
In the music video, SHINee is seen holding a bouquet of flowers— all a deep shade of blue like a sapphire. Although other meanings can also be attributed to the bouquet due to the various flowers used, I think that the flowers are a definite parallel of the sapphire rose in the series. The bouquet is seen throughout the MV. To me, that shows that hope of a better future and healing is also readily available to us— we just have to accept the gift being offered. In one scene, we also see the flowers being passed from one person’s hands to another. I think this is a straight reference to the child-goddess passing the rose to the knights and entrusting them to do right with it and use it for the benefit of others.
I personally view this character as a symbol of love, something that guides us along and motivates us to do the right thing. In fact, the character of the child-goddess is described as a young, small, quiet, and mysterious being. A description not unlike a fox, wouldn’t you say?
In my opinion, this symbol of God and love is the thing that guides us to a better tomorrow by offering us the answer to hope and a peaceful future. And even when things seem so dark, we will find that love was the answer all along.
The book ends with the knights standing on the cliff, a cure finally in their hands, and hope starting to truly settle in their hearts. With their eyes raised thankfully towards the sky where the child-goddess appeared, they begin to look to the future as the beginnings of peace seem to dawn on the horizon.
“The Sapphire Rose” – The Future
The knights return victorious to their kingdom and offer the curative to their queen. The main knight Sparhawk and the queen become engaged, symbolizing the reward for the hard-working young knight who has now joined hands with the future of their kingdom. Although I don’t think this is an important part of the story, it does bring a smile to my face as I contemplate how this could just symbolize the true moment of healing for SHINee as well.
All seems well and in fact, the kingdom’s future seem truly secure. However, the ugly demon god Azash raises his head in a final attempt to destroy the good and peace in the world.
As darkness begins to infiltrate the kingdom’s borders, the followers of the demon grow more wicked and frenzied in their quest for blood. Using horrible means, they even torture and eat other humans alive, feasting on their broken bodies and celebrating and laughing at their demise (netizens, anyone?).
Sparhawk must face down the true enemy one final time- the person who has motivated all the wickedness and greed in the world until now. The demon god does not just symbolize the actual wicked behavior of the world, but he symbolizes the true, deep source of the problem.
Sparhawk takes his faithful squire along with him as they seek to destroy the problem once and for all. They know it will be a hard, bloody job but someone must do it for the benefit of all others. Cornering the demon inside his own temple, Sparhawk and his squire— a seemingly unassuming friend who has silently supported him and accompanied him the entire time while just trying to do the right thing himself— manage to defeat the enemy once and for all. But not without great loss, for the faithful squire loses his life in the process. However, his sacrifice was not in vain.
This portion of the book needs no explanation, of course.
Sparhawk returns to his queen once more. Although victorious, the loss was great and Sparhawk has been changed. With the sacrifice of his squire, victory was finally able to be attained. Our knight doesn’t know what the future holds and in fact, he realizes that more trials, adventures and problems will likely happen again. However, he does know that the evil demon gold has been vanquished, the priest who originally poisoned the queen has been silenced, and along the way, they found healing and peace through love and hope.
Although I don’t necessarily think this part was intended, I still like to draw my own conclusion at this matter. While Jonghyun’s loss was horrendously tragic, I hope that his loss will somehow influence the world to be a better place. In some ways, we have seen the first steps being taken to accomplish this as Korea begins to do a better job at addressing mental health issues and netizens with their hateful comments begin to be held accountable for their actions.
The book comes to an end when the queen and Sparhawk have a daughter. When she is born, they are surprised to find the appearance of the mysterious child-goddess in their daughter. It seems their sacrifices and efforts weren’t in vain at all. In fact, they have given birth to the very symbol of love— the one that can offer the world peace and hope again in the future.
“Good Evening”
I know this has been lengthy and if you have made it to the end of this long explanation, then I congratulate you! But I firmly believe that the entire three-book series was a parallel for SHINee’s full “The Story of Light” comeback.
When looking back at their first comeback MV with “Good Evening,” there has already been a lot of explanation about the video itself— why a fox was used, what the glass house meant, the use of video in the background, the feeling of them being trapped, etc. I sincerely believe all of that still remains true. However, I think now that the key to the mystery has been revealed by the appearance of Minho’s book in the “Countless” MV, we can look back with even greater clarity on the other music videos as well.
“Good Evening” showed the members locked away in a glass house, underneath clear plastic, and in a beautiful, yet suffocating body of water. All transparent things that provided a means of protection— from the rain, from the colorful paints being dripped on them, and more. Yet despite being trapped in their own “Diamond Thrones,” they long to be out in the real world.
The video goes from deep, moody colors (the wickedness and poison that exists in the first novel) to brighter colors in scenes where they are able to dance freely without being enclosed (the hope of an ideal world also referenced in the first book).
“I Want You”
Watch this music video again now that you know the story of the mysterious, fox-like girl who accompanied the knights on their journey. The second book had many lighthearted moments where the knights and friends just enjoyed each other’s company. One particular knight had a deep love of jokes and funny stories. Despite facing the difficult quest ahead of them, they still had bright days with laughter. Notice how the members of SHINee look confused at the beginning of this video, almost as if they know someone is with them in the forest, but they don’t know who.
As they continue their journey through the woods, they begin to smile and feel more lighthearted. The entire time, the wise and knowing fox is just quietly accompanying them and leading them along. Instead of cautiously making their way on the journey as in the beginning, SHINee now runs eagerly and with more excitement.
The video also shows multiple scenes of falling, crashing, glass breaking, etc. But when you look at it closely, you notice it almost acts in reverse— glass breaks but it turns into pretty shining pieces. They fall through space only to find themselves soaring high with confidence.
I feel like all these beautiful symbols are supposed to show the entire ending of the second book when the sapphire rose fell into the deep chasm, only for it to be rescued and held high once more. What felt like their darkest moment, quickly turned into one of joy because what had fallen was high once again.
In my opinion, the sapphire rose can stand for the individual things in which they find hope and love. Presumably for Jonghyun, it was his muse of music. For others, it may be relationships, family, friends, or more. Regardless, the symbol of hope is able to turn a bad situation into something light and extraordinary.
“Our Page”
This music video truly needs no explanation, but I do feel like it is inspired from the third book. The music video itself is self-explanatory and is a beautiful, moving tribute to Jonghyun. There is so much symbolism in the video and I won’t ruin it with my very inadequate choice of words. I will say, however, that I feel that just as though the video was a tribute to Jonghyun’s life, it was also a tribute to the unsung hero in the book— the squire who just faithfully continued his journey, trying to be a good person and helping to make a better tomorrow for his kingdom. This one tragic instance doesn’t sum up the entire friendship and time of the knight and his squire— it is just one important page of one particular book. At the same time, this beautiful MV doesn’t tell the full story of SHINee, but it does tell one important, life-changing part as they sing of “Our Page.”
Regardless of the much larger story at play, the tribute to the squire who sacrificed his life in the fight is important. And just as though the rest of the SHINee members have a long future ahead of them, it was important and necessary to give this tribute to their brother, friend, and member who accompanied them on their journey.
“Countless”
With the final video, we have reached the conclusion of both “The Story of Light” and the tribute to this fantasy series of books.
With the story of the books explained to you, I hope you can see that there is much symbolism to be drawn from these videos and songs. While some of you may think I reached for too many details, as I said at the beginning, I believe that is what is beautiful about art. A painter will paint something he wants to share, but you are left to discover your own personal meaning in the painting as well. Some people may see less than I did, others may see even more. But regardless, these are my thoughts on the series and what the meaning is to me.
I truly believe after watching “Countless” and then going back to re-watch the other videos, it is obvious that whoever designed the flow of this comeback project was very familiar with “The Ruby Knight” and drew heavily on it for inspiration and extra meaning for the entire “The Story of Light” series. Even if they just wanted to give a general nod to the story of five knights who lived and lost, I think it’s very apparent that the “Elenium” series is what inspired them.
Also, note that everything in the “Countless” MV is shown in the colors of both the books and the episodes for SHINee’s “The Story of Light” project. From the shades of red, yellow, and blue (or ruby, diamond, and sapphire) in their outfits to the various colors around the set, everything reflects the story that has just been told. Yet, through it all, one color seems brighter and happier than the rest— the distinct aqua. As the almost garish, bold colors of the past story fades away, a new color of their own has been introduced. I also believe that the various methods that are used in the video (records, viewfinders, etc) are all just symbols of their own “books” that tell their story. SHINee’s story might not be written down on paper, but it still exists in sound, recordings, photos, videos, and memories. I believe this is part of what they wanted to imply.
In doing so, I believe this final music video for “The Story of Light” series is SHINee bidding goodbye to the past and pain and looking forward to a brighter future. They’ll never forget the past, but they know they must carry on.
When I think about these books, one image stands out to me in particular… when the knights were standing at the top of the high cliff, their hopes restored from the child-goddesses’ gift of the sapphire rose. They had just been through an emotional upheaval and felt immense pain and grief when they thought all hope was lost. But right when everything seemed set to crumble, they were offered the gift of hope once more. The contrast of two such extremes could perhaps be no sharper than in this scene— previously brokenhearted, they were now holding hope in their hearts concerning the future and trusting that everything would work out ok for them in the end.
It was such an important and poignant scene in my mind that I feel like that is why SHINee’ “Countless” closed with their own similar scene… high on a bridge, looking at the sky, the members stand with memories in their hearts, faces turned upwards as if looking to the future. They have been through loss and despair, but they have hope in a better tomorrow. Their story seems endless and the precious memories until now are truly countless, but they will look forward bravely and with peace concerning the future.
Despite being such a lengthy explanation (though I’m sure other people much smarter could find even more significance in these videos!), I hope this helps you all as you look back at the message that I feel like SHINee and their team wanted us to hear through this project.
To me, this is their story of hurt, loss, and healing, but it is also their story of closure and hope for a brighter future. And in analyzing this and sharing it with readers, I found I was able to find my own piece of healing as well.
There are more theories and explanation about these music videos— not just about the previous releases, but about “Countless” as well. However, I wanted to focus solely on the parallels that the project draws from this series of books. They could have started their comeback by letting us know straight away that the story was based on this series of books, but I feel like they waited to show Minho holding “The Ruby Knight” book in the final video in order to encourage us to look back with a clearer vision of the past.
To me, that is what I feel they wanted to tell us all along. The videos were connected and so were the stories…a lengthy, important, inspiring, and moving story in honor of five brave knights who faced the world together.
Media: SMTOWN
*These opinions in this article reflect that of the author and may not necessarily reflect that of WTK as a whole.