BTS's "EGO" Comeback Trailer: What Can We Expect?

BTS‘s “SHADOW” trailer left fans with many burning questions, including this: What’s next?

At midnight on January 10 (KST), BTS dropped their first comeback trailer for their upcoming album, MAP OF THE SOUL: 7. The video features Suga‘s dark solo, “Interlude: Shadow”.

Like the comeback trailer for MAP OF THE SOUL: Persona, “Intro: Persona”, “Interlude: Shadow” explores human psychology, specifically Carl Jung‘s archetypes.

The Persona is the social face that an individual presents to the world. It’s designed to give a certain impression while concealing one’s true nature. It’s who we present ourselves as to society. In the lyrics for “Intro: Persona”, RM asks himself, “Who am I?” while rapping about society’s impression of him.

The “Shadow” is, in some ways, the complete opposite of the Persona. It’s an unconscious, primal, and irrational part of the self that is essentially a person’s “dark side”, where unconscious fears and doubts live without inhibitions. Suga raps honestly about his raw desires, fears, and struggles with his dark side in “Interlude: Shadow”.

“EGO” will almost certainly continue this theme. In Jungian psychology, the Ego represents the conscious mind, comprised of feelings, thoughts, and memories. The Ego, largely responsible for a person’s feelings of identity, is an individual’s self-importance or self-esteem. The lyrics for “EGO” will most likely draw on these themes.

As of “SHADOW”, each BTS member has now starred in his own comeback video: J-Hope (“Boy Meets Evil”), Jimin (“Serendipity”), Jungkook (“Euphoria : Theme of LOVE YOURSELF 起 Wonder”), V (“Singularity), Jin (“Epiphany”), RM (“Intro: Persona”), Suga (“Interlude: Shadow”). So, who will star in “EGO”?

Will it be Jungkook? Unlike the other videos listed, “Euphoria : Theme of LOVE YOURSELF 起 Wonder” features all seven members, and it’s categorized as a theme/short film, not a comeback trailer. This means Jungkook technically hasn’t had his own comeback trailer yet.

Another popular choice is J-Hope. He’s the other half of “SOPE”, and he hasn’t starred in a comeback trailer since 2016. The previous MAP OF THE SOUL trailers starred rap line members, so J-Hope might continue this tradition. Or, perhaps Jungkook will return to his rookie-era rap roots?

What will the video look like? The trailer for “EGO” may continue the trend of adding street art graphics, as seen in previous comeback trailers for this series. It may also reference an older BTS album, like Dark & Wild, in its music and video.

“EGO” may also have Easter Egg text for fans to discover in the background or on the member’s clothes. Here, RM is wearing a patch with a Wizard of Oz quote.

Suga is wearing a jacket with “YD250”, a motorcycle model number that may be hinting at his predebut accident). He’s also wearing a necklace that says “AMBUSH” as he is swarmed by shadows.

So, will “EGO” be the end of the Jungian cycle? Some fans predict that the song’s full title is “Outro: EGO”, and that it will be the conclusion of comeback trailers named for Jung’s archetypes. If so, will MAP OF THE SOUL be a duology rather than a series?