Hong sisters are back again with fantasy-historical genre (on steroids, I would say). The world of mages; And magic was seen as a normal and high-praised status in their social standard. However, I'm having a hard time engaging with such world. Why? Because so far, it felt so alien and puzzling to be honest. The reason why I'm still giving this show a chance is because I am still curious about Mu-deok's origin. But if the story chose to neglect and pro-long its development, I'm considering to drop it anytime soon. Why? Because the story is set to a potentially biased or misleading outcome; Particularly the arc of Mu-deok, the blind girl (I hate what the writer did to her so far).

Story
The story is actually inviting and has a strong attraction, however its introduction fell flat. I think it's a mess and were all over the place. I was having a hard time to comfortably settle in and digest its grand-other-wordly setup. The mystery of each plot/ characters were briefly shown (but poorly) then jumped from one another almost incoherently. And as the story keeps progressing, I was left-behind feeling more puzzled than with awe. It's too overwhelming to keep me from moving forward, to move along with the story as it was being developed. As it keep on building and building, somehow my curiosity is shrinking and deflated at some level.

So far, I'm not invested with the characters at all except for Mu-deok (the blind girl not Naksu). Why? Because the story chose to neglect the blind girl's existence from the get go. The story focused solely on Naksu entirely. Nobody cared for that poor girl soul and I find it to be disturbing and intentionally biased and misleading. The 'Four Seasons' didn't affect/ amaze me in a way as it should be. And when that happen, I know that the story is flawed in my book. In the beginning, there are too much puzzles (questions) in the back of my mind to let me focus and sink in for whatever it is that being presented. It prevented me from engaging with the character development; It didn't make me curious. Actually it is doing the opposite; It's discouraging me from being interested in discovering it. And fuelled with the overdosed fantasy-historical aspect in the centre, the puzzles becomes bigger and harder for me to comprehend. I even had to go back to rewatch some scenes so that I could understand it better and it's getting annoying rather than enjoying.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of supernatural, fantasy and historical genre. But somehow I still didn't connect with this show. So far judging from how big scale/ grandeur the whole setup is, it was design to prevent me from really care about them. I was distracted with yet another and another puzzle thrown in. I'm somewhere lost in this huge beautiful-amazing-but-confusing maze. Yes, it has everything, the well-executed and crafted exterior are no doubt mesmerizing; As it should but I'm having a hard time to connect, understand and explore its depth. I'm left with this unnerving struggle; Either to quit or power through the journey till the end. And right now, I feel like I'm out of gas.

I'm not hating it entirely as there are some interesting dynamics especially the leader of Songrim and the maid servant, but sadly its not enough to carry the show and I'm struggling. For those who love the show, I'm jealous actually. I wish that I could feel the same way. Probably I will continue to watch for the sake of the blind girl that nobody in the story seems to care.

Cast
I love Jung So-min. I think that she is a wonderful actress. As Mu-deok/ Naksu, she is convincingly being portrayed as this strong-willful shadow assassin who you don't want to mess with. However I was having a hard time to fully engaging with her as I was more curious about the blind girl's origin. The unknown is more intriguing than what was being presented. So, is it a an advantage? Maybe coz I still stick to the show.

Lee Jae-wook as the trouble-maker Jang-uk is commendable. He is the pretty boy with clever-wits-smooth-talker that always manage to get out from any troubles comes his way. His origin is vaguely misleading and purposedly crafted to engage but it fell short at certain level, I'm not drawn or care much about his character. His drive to be the greatest mage didn't resonate much to me.

The rest of the casts are pretty good. Few are just eye-candy and few are better and well portrayed as mages and villains. No wow performances yet.

Music
Pretty good and well suited for fantasy-historical genres. No memorable piece yet.

As always; Would I rewatch it all again?
Probably but not for the pleasure, just to understand the story better. It's pretty annoying to rewatch a story so that you get a clear picture not because you actually care.