Right off the bad, I want to say this: the first 20-25 episodes or so of this drama are nothing short of spectacular. The story is absolutely riveting and takes no time to draw you in. From the first second, you're immediately plopped into the mesmerizing and eventful world of Seungnyang, a.k.a., Empress Ki. The very beginning of the drama starts out with an immense orchestral piece that shows Empress Ki marrying the Yuan Emperor and Wang Yu, the King of Goryeo (Korea), looking off into the distance with immense disappointment and melancholy. That scene alone is one of the most powerful scenes I have ever witnessed in a drama; what a way to start! The following episodes then revert back several decades to how it all started (how Seungnyang was born, how she became the way she is, how Wang Yu took the Goryeo throne, how the Yuan Emperor fell in love with Seungnyang, etc etc). It's all done tastefully and with excellent pacing.

Then, things start to hit the sh*tter.

I don't know what happened, but somewhere around episodes 20-25, it felt like the writers just gave up on the story. I get it, this is first and foremost a drama and it's not looking for anything "realistic" or "historically accurate"; however, the absurd meter goes beyond the charts in the latter half of this drama. There is just so much stupid stuff that happens in the story that is becomes a parody of itself; beyond comical! It's really sad because all the actors in this drama are just doing an incredible job with their roles, and there was a lot of heavy buildup to the climax, but it all falls apart as the story progresses beyond episode 25. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but just know that some of "schemes" that occur in the latter half are just ridiculous and reach peak melodrama. It's like the writers couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a palace harem drama, a "Mary Sue"-type story, or a "forbidden love" situation. Oh what the hell, just lump them all in together and somehow squeeze it into 50 episodes or so.

The music is godly; easily 10/10. I'm not a fan of K-Pop music, but the melodies and singers are really just out of this world. Don't even get me started on the orchestral pieces; some of the greatest music to come out of a K-Drama, and I really mean it.

Overall, I give it a 6.0/10. It's a drama that you can tell a lot of work was put into, and there's just so much effort that was put from everyone (except the writers lol) that I must rate it above average. However, because of the absurdity of the show in the latter half thanks to the writers simply giving up on making any logical sense, I cannot recommend it anything higher than "above average".

I recommend you watch the drama, but just know what you will be getting yourself into. The first 20-25 episodes alone are worth watching, maybe skip ahead / fast-forward after that.