irmar

It is true that family relationships are mentioned only in passing in this drama, and it takes some effort. For instance, this is not their grandma, it's their ... I don't know, step-grandma? Not even. Because she's not married to any of their grandfathers. She was the young wife of the previous king's old father, thus the step-mother of the previous king. But the previous king (whom she had dethroned) was only a distant relation of the current king.

Yes, a part of my comment was missing, for my reason, I may have deleted the words by mistake while typing and editing it. Now I have corrected it. Thanks for pointing it out!

Yes, he oozes charm, I just saw him in Eye Love You, a Japanese rom-com. Now it seems that all of Japan has fallen in love with him.

I have just written a long post on the family tree, from what we've been told.
She was the step-mother of the previous king (very young bride of his father, as we saw in episode 8), but she held a grudge against him because he killed her young son (his half-brother), and also banished her for 10 years. So she planned his death and had him dethroned, and put the present king in his place. The present king has no direct blood relation to her and of course neither do the king's two sons.

For everyone confused about the family relationship.
The Queen Dowager is NOT related to the current king, the two princes' father, so she is not their grandmother, let alone mother.
Yi Geon's mother is dead, we saw the king visiting her grave when he was about to become king and move to the palace;
Grand Prince Do Seong's mother is the kind young queen, who raised both boys as her own.
The Queen Dowager is the step-mother of the previous king, the one who was dethroned. We were told that the dethroned king killed her other son, his young brother, Prince Gwang Chang who was still a boy. We saw the boy being dragged from his mother's arms in flashback, in episode 5.
Why I'm saying she was a step-mother of the dethroned king and not his mother?
After all, we heard the present king saying, in episode 1:
"The deposed king you served banished his mother and murdered his younger brother. He was a tyrant and a foolish king, who sucked the lives out of his people,"
But I think that he uses "mother" loosely, and in fact the (now)Queen Dowager was his step-mother, not his blood mother. What am I based on?
See this conversation in episode 2, where Left State Councillor (the one with the different eyebrows) lectures his daughter the queen and grandson, Grand Prince Do Seong:
"Why do you think the queen dowager's son, Grand Prince Gwang Chang, died? The deposed king also was opposed to it. However, the southerners ultimately made him into a traitor and killed him. Would he have done so if he were his blood sibling? Just like the deposed king and Prince Gwang Chang, the crown prince and our prince Do Seong... are not of the same blood."
So if they were not of the same blood, it means that the previous king was not her son. She was the queen, so she sort of "served" as his mother, but was not related to him. Just as, now, she is not the mother of the present king.
By the way, our Crown Prince, in episode 4, suggests that the young prince who was killed was not the king's son, but her lover's son.
"As it turns out, Prince Gwang Chang is mixed with the dirty blood of the man you had an affair with"
[UPDATE: In episode 8 we saw that she was the girl forced to be a consort (not queen yet) of a much older king. Thus the king would have already have other sons, one of which probably was the crown prince and became the king who killed her young son, his half-brother, the grand prince.]
Thus she had a grudge against her cruel step-son the king, who banished her for 10 years in a secluded pavillion. She planned his death by poison, and had him dethroned, and put the current king in his place. That's why she tells him "I was the one to take down one king and put you on the throne, so I can do this again, take your throne away".
From episode 2:
"The deposed king. Because of that despicable man who deserves to be chewed up, do you know what I did while I was confined to the back garden palace for those ten years? I made sure everyone in the palace became my people. I kicked out whoever did not follow my order by coming up with whatever excuses and put one of my own people in that position.
With the sole aim to take revenge on the deposed king. And after that, do you know what I did? For a year, through the primary royal chef, I fed the dethroned king... a little bit of opium. And his original madness became even worse. I thought of using poison in case opium did not work on him, but that wasn't necessary after all."
The current king who was happily married for the second time and used to live outside the palace. It is not specified, but he might be a distant relative of the royal family; a cousin or something like that. Be it as it may, with no blood relationship with the current queen dowager.

The original curse was somehow lifted when they spent a night in the same bed. But because of the mistake, a new curse was made, and now if she marries that particular person, not only her husband is at risk but her own life as well - either he or she will die. But if she marries the younger prince, there will be no curse.

It's not that. The writing is a bit nonsensical, with huge plot holes, and the editing choppy.

The king is not the queen dowager's son, so she is not his blood-related grandmother. Her own son was the one killed by the deposed previous king.

Well, for that matter, his own wife the queen looks much younger than him too. In those times, they married girls very very young.

Found it. I edited my previoius post.

I also saw him as second lead in ... what was the title of this drama where the two characters were survivors from a whole building that crashed? A very good drama.
UPDATE: Just Between Lovers. Now renamed Rain or Shine. With Lee Jun Ho and Won Jin Ah.

Ratings are just a start. We know that we are all different people with different tastes, how can one rely on another's tastes? Unless you know a certain user, you have read many of his/her reviews and you have understood that your tastes are similar. Only then you can trust this person and follow his/her recommendation.
At any rate, there is always the 4-episode test. At least in my case, I usually give a grace period of 3-4 episodes before deciding to drop something. There are rare cases where I did that much much sooner - like halfway on ep.1!

Yet he showed great courage, immense loyalty and not indifferent skills in protecting the prince on ep.6.

That's happening now (from episode 6)

One of the mothers? Not at all. One is dead, the other one loves both, she's a sweetie pie. You are confusing with the step-grandmother.

It is true, though, that they wouldn't leave them alone. They would be chased and killed.

Yes but the uncle, instead of only hugging and saying "sorry I left you, I hope we meet again in our next life", could have explained what he was trying to do, what he found out and how he thinks the curse can be lifted. Then he would have been really useful.

The coldness is always explained, and he always ends up to be a softie. Poor guy, he's usually suffering of a childhood trauma (in quite a few instances he was abducted when young), mommy/papa issues (ignored or given the cold shoulder or orphaned, or the son of a mistress) or has very rare disease/allergy/phobia, something that does exist but we had never heard about.
Sometimes it's a combination of all those. Whatever the case, the FL heals him of the traumas/ nightmares, and gives him life.

You cannot have chemistry with that ML, he is likeable, but "Elder cousin" type, very bland. But the writing of that drama was good, and the plot very satisfying.

But it was a memorable role, that stole the show.