Nine Time Travels is a fascinating story and also rather confusing, some of it intentional. There are several ways you could designate different timelines, but except for the prologue and epilogue, which are problematic, I have come up with 6 present timelines and 7 past ones. You could argue for a new timeline being created for every time travel with the incense sticks, but that isn't by itself what causes the changes. It is when someone makes a decision that will change things from the original timeline, that we get a new one. The present timelines are easy to distinguish by the smoke that dissolves something that is being changed - you could call them smoke changes. The past timelines are identified by the incident that causes the smoke changes.
Abbreviations-- SW: Sun-woo YJ: Yoo-jin TT: Timetravel
JW: Jung-woo BF: Boyfriend E: Episode
MY: Min-young EM: Evil Minion
The events that cause the time changes are underlined.
| PAST | TIME TRAVELS | PRESENT |
|---|---|---|
| Past1: the original past- JW and YJ break up, Dad dies, Choi takes the hospital, mom alone on Christmas, YJ goes to Am and marries, JW aimless | E1-Present1: the original present. SW and JW meet at cafe, SW flippant to MY, JW dies in Nepal, SW goes to get his effects, accuses Choi of graft | |
| 1: snowy waste | SW thinks it's a dream | |
| E2- Past2: intruder, pager stolen; JW breaks aquarium, SW gets cut and pager | 2: own room, sees past family | SW has a cut and the pager from his high school study hall |
| E3- SW and Han talk about missing pager, Dad disapproves of YJ | 3: in green room talks to self on phone | SW thinks it is a hallucination, but reads notebook and learns of incense |
| Intruder at Maruna Lodge (SW) takes record and incense | 4: retrieve incense sticks | SW decides he might live, marries, MY writes on record cover |
| E4- Choi sees SW, JW is unhappy and drunk over breaking up with YJ | 5: reconnoiter the hospital | SW decides to make JW happy |
| Han, SW confused about card | 6: takes Christmas card | Han is convinced about incense and runs through halls |
| SW takes YJ to hospital, gives phone number to MY | 7: goes to see YJ | SW wants JW and YJ to get back together |
| SW takes Mom to get new glasses, CCTV pix taken at optic shop. Past3: MY makes call to JW; JW decides to marry YJ |
8: takes Mom a Christmas necklace | Care center calls SW, he remembers Mom had been alone for Christmas. Present2: MY disappears from cafe |
| E5- JW has been in America and become doctor | JW is head surgeon at hospital, Han and SW get new memories, MY has BF | |
| E6- SW plans train trip, Choi tries to get Dad to invest in his research | 9: visits teen self, takes minicams | JW is depressed and taking drugs, Choi claims he didn't kill Dad. |
| E7- Past4: SW asks younger self for help, they fight, SW drops pills, plants camcorders in office; Dad visits home and dies later than originally | Present3: news article about the fire and the date on Dad's urn are changed | |
| SW sees Dad dead on floor, Mom and Choi see him, SW chases JW and disappears | 10: goes back to hospital | |
| E8- SW sees Mom-Dad-JW fight on tape; EM sets fire, SW leaves incense | 11: retrieves tapes | SW beats up JW at restaurant, gives Choi the USB, collapses at home |
| E9- At funeral Mom tells Choi about witness; young SW has burns and is in hospital; Past5: young Han finds cancer pills, decides on early checks | MY and JW meet BF's family, SW gets two surgeries and dies; Present4: SW alive because of early cancer treatments | |
| E10- Young SW in hospital with burns; writes messages on guitar and railings | SW becomes main anchor, BF finds the record, MY remembers writing on it and kisses SW. | |
| E11- EM brings the CCTV picture to Choi, he remembers same guy at hospital | Choi has court hearings, gets new memory of that picture; MY and SW meet at playground | |
| E12- Incense is delivered to young SW, Choi shows pix to JW | MY is sick, SW finds incense, Han explains to MY, SW explains to JW | |
| E13- Adult SW talks to young JW, EM stabs adult SW, JW goes to police | 12: to talk JW into confessing | SW is taken to hospital; Choi finds CCTV pix in storage |
| E14- Choi bribes police, destroys the tape, and threatens JW | BF slugs SW; SW and MY quit their jobs | |
| E15- | JW OD's, EM is arrested, Choi visits JW in ICU | |
| E16- Past6: housekeeper gives incense to cop, Choi calls EM, EM attacks young SW | 13: Choi uses last incense in hospital | Present5: incense disappears from Han; JW's funeral; Choi in court, gets incense from storage; SW swipes it |
| E17- Teen and adult SW fight EM; Past7 young SW gives Reporter Oh another tape, | 14: SW rescues young self | Present6: Choi's aides and car disappear, JW's funeral disappears, MY appears in wedding dress |
| E18- JW leaves wedding and confesses; Choi rams phone booth; JW and Choi sentenced | MY at wedding, Choi in shop, JW at China clinic, SW stuck in phone booth; Scene from Past7: SW meets parents | |
| E19- SW in crumpled phone booth sees young MY; he dies. | Present6 again: Han hears phone messages from SW; JW comes to Korea, visits Choi; Choi dies in crash | |
| E20- YJ and MY go to America, JW goes to jail, Reporter Oh helps SW | From Past7: SW becomes reporter, meets MY at work; SW and JW meet at cafe, MY, JW, and SW all go to Nepal. |
