Belated ‘epiphany’: What’s in store for final installment of BTS ‘Love

A year and two full-length albums later, BTS is finally here to give us the key to all the clues.

As the world awaits the third and final chapter of the group’s “Love Yourself” saga, grandly titled “Answer,” Jin signaled at one of summer’s most highly anticipated releases with a trailer that went online on Thursday. 

The septet likes to give fans something to chew on in the form of several-minute-long trailers that sometimes span longer than the music video to the lead track itself, the main dish. The trailers serve as music videos to what is known as the album’s “intro” track.

For those unfamiliar, each “Love Yourself” album is equipped with “intro” and “outro” tracks, which respectively function as the beginning and end to a story that comprises the album’s tracks, peaking with the lead single at the climax.

Delving into the lyrics, it’s evident that BTS isn’t taking any detours this time. Hardly anything gets lost in interpretation.

The first 30 seconds of “Epiphany” is devoted to recapping the theme of the unfortunate end to a relationship sustained in hiding one’s true self, which has already been delineated in May’s “Fake Love”:

“It’s odd. There’s no denying I loved you very much. I changed everything to suit you. I wanted to live for you. But I can no longer stand the storm inside my heart as I carry on. I begin to unveil my true self masked behind a smile.”

Then it doesn’t take long for the song to get to the point: “I’m the one I should love in this world.”

BTS makes sure the message rings loud and clear. “I’ve realized only now,” Jin sings, followed by the refrain, “I’m the one I should love” -- the phrase which is put on repeat, three times to be exact.

A careful listener will note that the refrain of "Epiphany" is a twist on that of "Serendipity," the intro track off "Love Yourself: Her," released in September last year. “Let me love, let me love you,” the refrain of the first intro track to the entire “Love Yourself” series goes.

Such contradictory juxtaposition of the first and last intro tracks’ endings suggest what the “epiphany” may be at the end of the yearlong excursion of love, which begins with falling in love with “her” and ends with loving “me.”

The answer lay in front of us all along and we are back to where we started: “Love yourself.”

As Jin fixes his gaze on the calla lilies, we are invited to recall the scene from “Fake Love” music video where Jin guards a glass-shielded flower amid a raging storm with little regard for himself. Jin’s focus shifts from the flower, a token of his self-betraying love, and to a book, a sign of solitary contemplation. The trailer ends with Jin opening the door and heading out into the world, with a book in hand.

Though belated it may be, the epiphany is lucid and empowering. 
 
For a trailer, “Epiphany” attracted an explosive amount of attention, trending No. 1 on Twitter worldwide with the hashtag #Epiphany immediately upon release, and accruing over 20 million YouTube views (and counting) as of Wednesday.

“Our work is finally approaching the last station,” BTS said in a tweet following the trailer’s release. “The party is about to start. Please enjoy.”

By the look of Jin’s introduction, it looks like we can look forward to BTS’ “Answer,” which will be unveiled in its entirety on Aug. 24.