This is my own interpretation of the MV as I see and understand it.^^ Though to some, it may sound like over interpretation of what we see in the MV, but we all know that it has a hidden meaning. I see two faces in this MV, one pertaining to the norms of the entertainment industry and the other being GD’s personal life. I based the entertainment industry view not only on the MV but from what the song’s lyrics say while the personal life view from the MV itself.

coup d’etat (/ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/) - a sudden decisive exercise of force in politics; especially : the violent overthrow or alteration of an existing government by a small group

A fortress enclosing GD which is being destroyed by a wrecking ball:

[Entertainment Industry] The fortress symbolizes the norms of the entertainment industry. 

[Personal] The fortress symbolizes his heart which was slowly being crushed.

A kid holding his heart while looking up at a pedestal:

[Entertainment Industry] Since he was young, GD had received a lot of criticism and hate and this had hurt him. The kid looks above the pedestal where GD was standing seeing how successful GD had become. And when the focus returns to the kid, it becomes GD still clutching at his heart because he’s still being criticized and hated on no matter how successful he had become.

[Personal] The kid represents the young Jiyong who had been hurt so many times in the past and is now looking up at the older and wiser him, realizing how far he had come. And when the focus returns to the kid, it becomes Jiyong still clutching at his heart because he’s still experiencing hurt as he grew older.

Women wearing all red outfits and GD appearing with bloodstain located over his heart: This signifies that a lot of women have hurt him.

GD in a ticket booth: 

[Entertainment Industry] He had no more tickets to sell because it was sold out meaning a lot of people still appreciates him and his work and still see him as one of the best artists.

[Personal] He’s selling tickets to his heart. But he doesn’t give them out that easily thus, the stern look.

Shadows outside the ticket booth: 

[Entertainment Industry] Whenever he releases a song or an album, spotlight’s all on him. And the others become mere shadows.

[Personal] A lot of women have been vying for his attention but nobody had caught his eye.

GD lying beside a dead tree: 

[Entertainment Industry] The dead tree in this aspect symbolizes change. GD’s aim is to bring change to the way Korean music has been perceived, to get out of the box it was enclosed in. 

[Personal] The tree symbolizes love. But, the fact that it’s dead means he doesn’t believe in love anymore or it may also mean that the love he had for someone in his past had faded completely.

GD cooking money in pots: 

[Entertainment Industry] Because of his success not only in Korea but on other parts of the world as well, he became in demand. But all these commitments made him well off (read: filthy rich). He got more than what he expected thus it overflows from the pot. 

[Personal] No more second chances. All these money symbolizes the love he had received from past relationships which started to fill his heart with hate thus, the black ink flowing from the pots.

GD sitting in an electric chair: 

[Entertainment Industry] The more he became famous, the more he was persecuted. The lines in the lyrics (Eng Trans via Bigbang Worldwide: I’m the best at self admiration and being cocky/I’m shameless/I’m so fresh so clean/I compete with the laundry house) enumerates some of the things they label him -arrogant, cocky, shameless, acting like he’s perfect when he had some scandals up his sleeves and then washes his hands of them. 

[Personal] All the hate has eaten him up. He has started to change into someone he doesn’t know.

GD standing blindfolded while being gunned down: 

[Entertainment Industry] This form of execution was used before on rebel leaders to stop the heart of a revolution. He stands for change and for some who don’t like the idea, he had to be brought down. GD having a blindfold on means showing innocence of what was happening but the art behind him says otherwise, he knows and they can’t bring him down.

[Personal] His rebellion against himself has earned him a public execution, with haters firing at him, trying to bring him down. GD having a blindfold on means showing innocence of what was happening but the art behind him says otherwise, he knows and they can’t bring him down.

GD standing with cover on his face: 

[Entertainment Industry] The art may symbolize his critics always watching him and criticizing everything that he does, may it be his choice of music, his live performances, or the way he acts. But it may also symbolize his allies for change. They are also wearing masks like GD for anonymity. This is to show unity, to have only one face, the face of change.

[Personal] The art behind him symbolizes the general public. When you look at them closely, they were all looking at him with doubtful eyes, judging him, watching his every move. His fame has brought this along with it, so he had to conceal what he has become and just adhere to the norm, to what they want him to be.

GD surrounded by blindfolded press people: Clearly, press people are hungry for new information, for news. And some of them gather information based only on what they heard, not from what they saw, that is why they are blindfolded. They failed to see him for who he really is.

GD surrounded by crows: A crow is usually known as an omen of death. Notice that the GD lying down in this scene was the same GD who was trapped inside a fortress at the start of the MV. 

[Entertainment Industry] This is the conformist GD, following the norm. Seeing that this GD wears a crow’s beak, it clearly says, he is a crow himself. Though it is known as an omen of death, I’ve read somewhere that it could also symbolize change. But seeing that he was lying down, with the white paint serving as his blood, it means that change seems to be not possible until he opened his eyes. Change is inevitable.

[Personal] He is the weak Jiyong, the one who had been hurt as a kid up until now. Jiyong was slowly dying inside of him because he became stronger yet colder. But with him opening his eyes, it signified that he is still capable of feeling pain, that Jiyong is still alive.

GD’s similar looking faces crying black tears:

[Entertainment Industry] Black was said to symbolize an end but, we all know that with every ending comes a new beginning. The black tears spilling over the white faces signal the end of a monotonous era of music and that change is coming. The pure and untouched side of music is being tapped at by GD.

[Personal] The black tears are tears of hatred. With the black spilling over the white, hatred has taken over him. It may also symbolize that the new GD is starting to take over the old.

GD removing his white mask revealing a dark, evil looking face:

[Entertainment Industry] This simply means revelation of his power, how one force could bring a radical change in the music scene with just his presence.

[Personal] When we look deeper inside of him, we will see that hatred has completely eaten him up, leaving no trace of the Jiyong who get hurt easily. Love seemed to have gotten lost in his vocabulary, it’s not his priority as of now. It may also mean that the new version of GD has completely taken over the old.

Black GD standing amidst numerous white faces of himself and GD crushing half of his white face to pieces:

[Entertainment Industry] GD stands out from the rest because he believed in change. He aimed to be unique. His goal will always be to outshine and outperform the norm, including himself. Because once he comes up with something fresh, it becomes a trend, thus turning into a norm.

[Personal] He had turned his back on his old self and embraced the new. He’s trying to erase any remnants of Jiyong but he can’t thus, the half face.

GD walking towards a half-faced statue:

[Entertainment Industry] He watched as things started to change, as some of his colleagues start to break through the norms.

[Personal] It was Jiyong watching as he destroys himself but still finds that this new person still tries to hold on to him, his sanity.

An old looking GD throwing a stone, which was part of the half-faced statue, at the fortress:

[Entertainment Industry] The old looking GD represents the monotonous Korean music scene surrendering to GD’s power, to start a change that will bring them to another direction. 

[Personal] He is a big remnant of the old Jiyong who was slowly dying. He is lurking around his heart, which was represented by the fortress as I have said earlier, just waiting to comeback and preserve his old self. He chose to throw a piece of stone from the statue so as to bring back his sanity, the person that he lost because of the unbearable pain he felt when love hurt him.

GD removing his old skin: This means rebirth.

[Entertainment Industry] Rebirth of the new era of Korean music.

[Personal] Rebirth of Jiyong.

Last scene of the MV: This scene emphasizes the use of the red and white colors. As I have researched, the combination of red and white is called Kohaku in Japanese. ‘Ko’ means red and ‘haku’ means white. When combined they symbolize happiness and celebration. It depicts GD’s success on both revolutions.