ilovedramas293

Now, I'm super pleased with the finale and drama as a whole! However, only minor flaw for the ending I'll mention is that after having researched the time period of this drama, I dislike the severe lack of historical context in the finale. There was no time spent mentioning Taejong's accomplishments as King, or the reasons for his tyrannical actions. It only briefly mentions the main accomplishment of his son (Sejong the Great) in developing the alphabet, but Bang-won (Taejong) also promoted press, education, commerce, military reform, new offices for the people's concerns, etc. It's mainly Bang-won's story, so I just wish he got a little more recognition for his feats in the finale. I also feel that the actions he took for the throne are justified. He contributed far and most out of all his other brothers to his father's takeover, as well as supported him from behind the scenes by even agreeing to go to Ming for him where they respected and treated him as a Crown Prince. If he had got the throne from the beginning, like he deserved, none of the horrible things he had to do for it would have had to happen but Sam Bong stood in his way and in reality, Taejo was love-blind towards his second wife and her sons. Taejong (Bang-won) is considered as one of, if not the most, charismatic and powerful kings of all of Joseon history right behind his son (Sejong). He even allowed citizens to write him feedback, which is amazing, and should be seen more in modern politics. Also remained close to Wonkyung until her death, making medicine for her, even though he didn't love her. They had a very interesting deep sense of comaraderie and sense of partnership towards one another that I felt should have been explored further. The main reason he had her brothers killed was because they were close to Taejong's oldest son and setting him up to be a figurehead that supports the Min clan, plus Taejong's wife asked her brothers to throw one of his concubines and her new-born infant out in the frigid winter weather without a blanket for which he decided to not have her deposed, but her brothers punished. It's also said that it's because Taejong took out so much of the opposition, aka his in-laws, and his son's in-laws which is why Sejong (his son) was able to rule so well and focus on other matters to focus on the lives of the people. Taejong even ended the 20-year massacre of the Wang dynasty (previous royals) after he took the throne, claiming it was ridiculous to get rid of all the previous royal descendants including children, and that he'll protect them. The worries he had over his son reading books was also because he wanted to protect his health. Bangwon essentially had the best of intentions, but his ambitions got the best of whatever methods he chose to do to win. The more I read about him, the more I love him..

No problem, thanks for the suggestion. Hope you enjoy the drama if you watch it!

OMG Jae Hyuk (Le-Hoon) is such a piece of trash. Even after Yeong Gul's (Yoo Ah In) matured, turned straight from a criminal and womanizer, and has done his best to make peace with Jae Hyuk, Jae Hyuk keeps on trying to ruin everything for Yeong Gul who's finally having a healthier relationship with Ga Young. "I won't misunderstand you, so don't misunderstand me" made me finally think that Ga Young and Yeong Gul will be happy together and away from all the love triangle misunderstandings and garbage, but Jae Hyuk screws everything up cause he can't stand losing to Yeong Gul after his own relationship with Anna ended. His obsessions are ruining this drama for me. Yeong Gul has done so much to scrap together everything he can get for supporting Ga Young's dream, and now they're finally on a path to success to be happy, but Jae Hyuk THE PETTY TRASH HE IS just can't stand it and has to resort to blackmail to separate the two. I don't know if I can continue anymore..just let Ga Young and Yeong Gul be happy. Anna and Jae Hyuk really do deserve each other cause they're insecure PIECES OF TRASH that need to ruin people they're jealous of to be happy for themselves.

Well I continued and finished. Jae Hyuk is HUMAN GARBAGE, but I love to see Anna's growth. It's really sad to see that Yeong Gul has abandonment issues from his parents, and all that Jae Hyuk did to hurt him has made him into someone seeking revenge, rather than just looking to peacefully be with Ga Young. He's a little too happy about being able to provide everything for Ga Young and the money's gone to his head, so his priorities are messed up, but I still blame Jae Hyuk for everything. "People who grew up in a normal environment like myself don't give pain to others unless they hurt us" What a LYING ASSHOLE, when he was the one who caused Yeong Gul all the pain first for a woman who doesn't even love him. Imagine trying to repeatedly buy someone's love and being told no, to just do it all over again in the most pathetic way....

Just a heads up, but in reality, King Taejong (formerly Lee Bang-won) was never in love with the Queen. It was just a political marriage and she was mainly his political partner from the moment they were married as teenagers and they just shared a sense of camaraderie and companionship. He even attended to her deathbed, doing prayers, making medicine for her, and caring for her till her last breath. Maybe there was some love there, but nothing has been mentioned in the historical records. This is completely fictional about some real historical events, with a lot of bias towards King Taejong. Despite all the killing he is famous for, he was a good king who did so much for the people, and all the killing he did to prevent any opposition to Sejong as his heir paved the way for Sejong to become the greatest Joseon king. Unlike other princes, Sejong never had to fight for the crown, since Taejong did all that for him. Sejong spent all his time as King in improving society and the people around him.

It was alright and I enjoyed it. I first watched it for YJG (the legend that he is), but then I read the webtoon. The drama side characters are hollow shells of their former webtoon counterparts, but I liked the relationship b/w Jae-Min and Ma Ri more here. YJG really makes Jae-Min more interesting and likeable with his acting than his webtoon counterpart, and has a great chemistry with the FL.

There's various different skills in this drama. If you mean the strongest swordsman, it changes between a couple people

Since the writers have taken a lot of liberties with historical accuracy in this drama, I highly recommend not watching this for an accurate history lesson. Even as a fictional series, I only found the first half to be strong where relevance is given to every main character almost equally, but then the second half is poorly planned out, nonsensical, and horribly written.

In the second half, there are horribly-written incidents and murders that ruined my suspension of disbelief. Characters who are previously thought to be dead are repeatedly brought back to life, just to repeat the same plots again or get offed in another way. Only Dae Gil is treated like a main character by the writers. Prince Yeoning loses all hints of his confident, cunning, and admirable self, to become helpless at all times and rely on Dae Gil who suddenly becomes very "tactical" for everything. Yeoning's character is written so inconsistently, that Yeoning's personality shift becoming King seems so abrupt, but YJG does his best to save it with his acting. This is even more disappointing, because Dae Gil's actor is not as captivating as YJG(Yeoning) or CMS (Sukjong) who are legends that manage to express intense emotions and thoughts through their eyes alone. Dae Gil is also not an interesting character on-screen since he's written as a typical, generic hero in this drama overshadowing all of Yeoning's development or accomplishments. There are no grey sides to him, so even though Yeoning's more interesting as a character, the writers decide to not pay attention to his development.

I only ended up finishing this cause I like the music and I wanted to see more of YJG until the very end, but otherwise super disappointing for a saeguk, and I don't recommend it.

There's plenty, but I've found that only older kdramas usually have white people speaking normal english for some reason.

I'm on Episode 11 and I hate this piece of trash Jung so much.

Coming from Six Flying Dragons, my Yoo In Ah streak continues......with some amazing chemistry seen again between him and Shin Sae Kyeong (I really like seeing them acting together)

Unlike other reviews, this will mostly just be a rant. I did enjoy this up until a little more than halfway in, which is when it became unbearable. I still recommend this for the acting performances and chemistry between the four main characters alone (SSK was not as great), but know that this is a melodrama that is very poorly written, and drags the plot out by having Jae Hyuk repeatedly obsess, and try to steal Ga Young from the man she's so openly admitted she loves multiple times. On top of that, with ONE OF THE WORST ENDINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN. Yeong Gul and Ga Young could have just found happiness if this Jae Hyuk HUMAN GARBAGE would have left them alone. The first half was strong, but then the second half is poorly planned-out, nonsensical, and frustratingly derailed by Jae Hyuk's obsessions. I have no idea what the hell were the writers thinking...

Check out my reply for my spoiler rant and main thoughts:

Everything was almost perfect. The cinematography is unlike anything I've seen in a historical series. It's framed to perfection with all the tilts and parallels. The instrumental OST is also brilliantly used to elevate certain scenes, and I can of course, not forget about how perfect the major casting is (even the minor roles are cast perfectly). Yeo Jin Goo is one of my favourite actors for a reason. It's incredible how he's able to portray Haseon and Yi Heon so differently, and also the lingering shade of Haseon when he acts like Yi Heon. You can always tell exactly who it is from his eyes alone, even when it's purposefully meant to be ambiguous. Other than him, Lee Se Young and Kim Sang Kyung are huge standouts too. There's many incredibly well-written morally grey characters in the center of this drama, and it's a shame only Lee Se Young got an award for her acting, as all three of them very much deserved one, but the baeksang competition was very tough that year for actors especially. I also found the screenplay very tightly written with a clear goal in mind at the end of the series, despite some rushed writing near the end. There's a lot of carefully planned plot twists and callbacks that I really loved, and I feel this needed more episodes for how more perfect the story could have been. Overall it's a fantastic drama that is heavily worth watching.

No problem. I highly recommend checking out the "Real events & facts about Joseon and Goryeo" discussion if you are interested in even more information. There's a lot of information in other parts of the web too.

In reality, King Taejong (formerly Lee Bang-won) was never in love with the Queen. It was just a political marriage and she was mainly his political partner from the moment they were married as teenagers and they just shared a sense of camaraderie and companionship. He even attended to her deathbed, doing prayers, making medicine for her, and caring for her till her last breath. Maybe there was some love there, but nothing has been mentioned in the historical records. This is completely fictional about some real historical events, with a lot of bias towards King Taejong. Despite all the killing he is famous for, he was a good king who did so much for the people, and all the killing he did to prevent any opposition to Sejong as his heir paved the way for Sejong to become the greatest Joseon king. Unlike other princes, Sejong never had to fight for the crown, since Taejong did all that for him. Sejong spent all his time as King in improving society and the people around him.

Heard this is as good as Six Flying Dragons, so I really hope it doesn't disappoint me

I'm a little speechless. I tend to write long reviews on dramas I really like, but right now, I don't know what to do. I didn't even want to watch this, since it's 50 episodes long, but I decided to give it a shot a random day. Turns out this drama is like a dream come true for someone like me who's loved watching epic heroic historical tales on tv as a kid, but of course, this is a lot more dirty, complex, and made with a lot more passion. Nobody here is morally straight when it comes to the politics, and many will stick with their ideologies and resolve themselves till the end. The characters you follow learn new things, mature, and change for the worse or better (depending on how you view them). Nobody's ideals are perfect here, and it makes everyone, including all the main and side characters just so damn interesting to watch. Get ready to really love, hate, hype up, and cry for characters all at the same time.

Best screenplay, best cinematography, best costumes, insanely unique sword fight choreography, with an earth-shattering best OST... everything about it was outstanding! This also has some of the coolest and most well-written historical female characters of all time for me, if I haven't mentioned it already. Every episode just gets more exciting as you go along. Plots can run on for a couple episodes, but it never feels like it's dragging it out, and I felt like I had to listen to every single piece of dialogue being said. There is a lot of reading between the lines that does help in understanding the time period much better, but it's not completely necessary. This also has a lot of fictional characters, but it's really hard to even believe they are fictional since they're written and acted so well, that they completely fill the gap in the real historical events mentioned online.

After researching the real history behind Joseon's founding, I was just mind blown at how much the writers cared to research and plan everything out. Everything feels so real in this drama.....that I was stunned. Safe to say, I won't be getting this drama out of my mind anytime soon, and I feel so empty knowing no historical drama will ever give me the same thrills that watching each episode of this did.

I highly recommend checking out the below site for very detailed historical background information episode to episode for higher understanding. After researching, I noticed there are some minor changes in how the drama shows the founding of Joseon compared to how it really happened. It also really upset me that Taejong's achievements, sacrifice, and accomplishments aren't as highlighted in the finale, and it gives a wrong impression of his character in the end. Since the research I've done is spoiler territory for this drama, I'll attach it in a spoiler reply if you want to check it out. It explains a lot more about what his and the Queen's relationship, why he did what he did to her brothers, and how he paved the way for Sejong's prosperous reign as his heir.
(https://bodashiri.tumblr.com/post/137740642551/the-list-of-sfd-historical-info)

The Yoo Ah In streak continues...
Not sure I'll check out TWDR, since a saeguk without Yoo Ah In feels hard for me to now imagine.

Regardless of the reason, the way he dropped the divorce abruptly on SHK is a pretty valid way to identify his shady behaviour.

Excellent movie! This is a really heartfelt and touching portrayal of how Sado came to be scarred by his father's strict and horrible behaviour, although, the atrocities Sado committed as he lost his mind are played down. I ended up researching after watching this, and the tales of Yeongjo and Sado are really interesting to say the least. I feel Yoo Ah In is perfect as always, with how he conveys Sado's transformation so naturally, from his vulnerability and childlike innocence to the moment he starts gradually losing his mind, and eventually breaks altogether. No wonder he won the Daesang award for this. The raw emotions on display are ridiculously well played, and we get such a great glimpse of where, when, why and how it all went wrong . I heard there was a scene where he injured himself for real and the camera kept rolling because he was so engrossed in it, but I'm not sure which scene it is. Nothing seems out of place, but I am really curious. 10/10

The Yoo Ah In streak continues..

Watch "The Throne" award-winning kmovie if you are interested in a more realistic portrayal of what happened in Sado's last days as the King and Sado reflect on their relationship while he's in the rice box. The child actors in the brief flashbacks of the movie are incredible and Sado's vulnerability and raw emotions of madness and innocence are played by one of the best actors of this generation who even won the DaeSang (Grand) award for it. Incredible OST, and it's cinematic and very touching. Had me in tears for Sado by the end.

Watch "The Throne" kmovie, it's very good too! Very accurate, with one of the best actors of this generation and it's incredibly cinematic and touching

Sado did a lot more evil deeds than this movie shows, but this isn't really about the atrocities he committed. It's about how he came to lose his mind after being scarred by his father. Sado's father (the king) is recorded in history to be a major cause of his mental illness, and all the prohibiting freedom, demeaning in public, getting dissatisfied at all his decisions, did happen. Other things also did such as his phobia of clothing, which likely started because of his anxiety towards the King's behaviour towards him as the movie shows. While the results of his mental illness are less shown in the movie, the causes are shown really well.

Plus, the first thing Sado's son did after taking the crown was say "I am the son of Prince Sado" which was prohibited during Sado's father's reign. Obviously, the son loved and respected his father very much, so Sado wasn't born a horrible person until after the King's horrible parenting and the anxiety that ruined him.