The show starts off strong, and it just goes a bit downhill from there. In all fairness, I did truly enjoy all the scenes I watched. Problem is, every week there were more and more scenes I started skipping. Though the final few episodes were more intriguing again. I don’t know whether it is because I’m just burned out on palace politics or what, but I couldn’t have cared less about whatever was going on with the king.

I just wished the writers had stuck more with the plot of the first couple of episodes - the family dynamics between Bawu, Cha Dol and Hwa In, and Dae Yeop and his inner struggles with his family. The first few episodes almost felt slice-of-life-y, something we don’t see often in sageuks. But then, of course, the characters can’t just be regular people. No, they have to be either in some way related to the king or of value for the king. I know Hwa In being the princess was part of the plot from the very beginning, it’s even in the summary, but Bawu and Dae Yeop ended up being way too involved imo.

The whole “ML becomes the king’s ‘sword’ for literally no reason”? I’m tired of it. Even more so when the ML doesn’t seem all that trained to begin with.

As for the romance aspect, personally, I didn’t mind the main couple not even sharing a kiss, but if you’re looking for something primarily romance this might not be for you. Though I will say, I do feel like FL and ML genuinely loved each other.

Also, it almost felt like Bawu forgot about Cha Dol about halfway through. Hell, it felt like the writers forgot about Cha Dol altogether, besides a handful of scenes.

But there are plenty of good things as well. I tend to drop shows pretty easily, and I didn’t feel like dropping this at all, despite all the scenes I started skipping.

Firstly, the main characters.

Bawu had many flaws, and he annoyed me a lot in the first few episodes, but I feel like he did go through quite a bit of growth. I liked his loyalty, and the way he genuinely cares for people (even if he is terrible at showing it sometimes).

I wouldn’t call Hwa In a strong female lead by any means, but I still liked how calm she was. She had the patience of a saint though, and I wish she would’ve stood up for herself more, because she truly didn’t deserve most of the things that happened to her. Nevertheless, I enjoyed her calmness and how caring she was.

Dae Yeop was probably my favourite. To me, he often had the most difficult decisions to make. And he didn’t always make the right one, but he seemed like a good guy. All the dude wanted was to be friends with Bawu in episode 1, give him a break ffs.

I also liked the relationships between the characters, and the bond that formed between them (both romantic and platonic ones).

The first half or so was very good as well, and even if the plot got less interesting during the second half, I was still excited to see how the characters handled everything that happened with them.

Besides how the FL and ML got to know each other, I wouldn’t say this show isn’t revolutionary in its plot. A lot of what happened was very predictable, especially if you’ve seen a couple of sageuks before, but that didn’t really bother me that much.

And besides the plot: the soundtrack slaps and is one of the best I’ve heard. The acting is also great, and the whole set and costumes are very aesthetically pleasing as well.

I’m giving it “only” a 7.5 because I have the same feeling now as what I had when I finished The Crowned Clown: the scenes I watched were overall pretty great, and the soundtrack, acting and clothes are great, but there are way too many skippable scenes that just drag the show out, with palace politics where you end up thinking “well, once you’ve seen it in one saguek, you’ve seen them all”. Still, I can see myself rewatching (parts of) this. 7.5 is not a bad score to me, and this show is worth a try if you like any of the main actors, or if you like sageuks in general.