This drama has been one of the best I’ve seen so far. Kept me interested during the whole story and had so many plot twists even I was content. From the very beginning it was obvious that there couldn’t be a perfect solution for everybody; the main character’s ever forgiveness had to bring trouble over his friends’ or someone else’s heads. Still, the cruel way to fight for the throne and power shown in the very first episodes would also be meaningless if one really strives to save and unite the people of the suffering and crumbling country. The dark times consist of many doomed destinies and the whole story has this scent of finality.

Still, the creators of this series did manage to confuse the audience (and when I say it, I really mean we’re good at predicting plot twists and making up ‘oh, these motivations are surely way better’ solutions). True, I guessed how it all would end but it was closer to the final episodes. In the progress of the story, I just kept praying the emperor would survive and did not hold much hope for anyone else due to the plot’s violence. Still, the script writers were a bit more generous and spared more than one character, what I’m really grateful for.

The events in-betweens of the series aren’t that predictable. The obvious mistakes not always result in a defeat. Not all schemes are welcomed even by one’s supporters. You can see more than just two parties or sides fighting; that’s the conflict of interests of many-many people with different mindsets. Only those who are wise and able to see the broader picture or who are close enough to try and understand the reasons that initially differ from their ‘best strategy’ can gain the real grandeur and – suffer all the same. Moreover, even the best ones are tied by the limitations their time dictates: the way one should act, be or not be trusting and humane. Only the emperor himself seems to cut away these limitations being ahead of his time, which is so true for the stark reality of life; even provided that people have the chance for salvation they are likely to misinterpret it and set the new chain of historical mistakes because of their greed or fear.

I was really lucky to find this series since not only the main leads are interesting to watch. The story looks multi-faceted and yet holistic. When you finally learn to tell one face from the other (I have to admit I’m really bad at doing so – especially when watching Chinese dramas), the story gets really intriguing. The characters are alive and able to change. You learn to sympathize those you initially didn’t like or vice versa. You really see how the main character matures and how the empress gradually progresses (although she may also be seen as gaining vulnerability). Ma Tian Yu is really great in a role of Liu Xie as we see a really different emperor here; he’s smart but not violent, independent but as gentle and meek as a lamb. I felt like he would break or learn to be cruel; however, he is true to himself but his image is still believable. He’s is easily understandable as the people of the twenty-first century have different standards but he strikingly differs from the people of the other epoch portrayed in the series. I really enjoyed his slowly developing relationship with the empress – he’s so cute when he always apologizes without having made a mistake and gets embarrassed when he shows his love to the empress. This romance isn’t lighthearted at all; it’s really touching and fascinating to watch how they struggle to survive and protect their love. Liu Xie is definitely stronger than he looks; not crushing under the pressure of pretending to be another man, participating in a war while believing any life is untouchable, following his beliefs when others set a more obvious path for him. In fact, he’s the only main character for a long time of watching different series who hasn’t even fainted or got ill. How come he’s so strong? I really admire him. The empress gives the feeling of an ice queen at first; so dedicated to the previous emperor, so cunning and ruthless… and yet starting to develop a feeling towards a human being, for the first time in forever. She’s the one who changes a lot, and this is one of Liu Xie’s victories nobody except few ones would ever know.

Zhong Da is a great hero, too; you can feel how delusive the balance of good and evil in him is. The outstanding mind he has, the great will to reach power and yet some principles and affections which can be seen as both weakness and salvation. It’s really a pleasure to see him plotting and untangling someone else’s plots. If I were him, I would feel awful at this ‘you’re clever, settle this or that dreadful situation for us’. But his only problem is his family that could suffer; he is generally eager to outsmart everybody and seems so mischievous and boyish and cunning at the same time! The side that claims him probably wins (and he knows it oh so well). As he says, he joins the side of the winners but it is clear that he is the one who creates the right conditions for one side to thrive.

The most intriguing one is Cao Pi, who seems trapped between the powers of light and darkness. It’s been funny when he took up his training as a Sith (sorry, I can’t unsee this parallel). His emotions are so boiling, twisting and turning that he’s probably unaware of where and why he’s supposed to come in the end. I was watching with the certain impression he would die having committed a crime and regretting this but I was only partly right. He’s the most ill-fated character who would be hurt, emotionally and physically, almost killed and spared by almost everybody, friends and foes. And he also gave me the impression he would harm either his friends (are they really?) or his father he is devoted to (is he?). His relationship is bittersweet since he was deprived of unconditional love and never seen as a person with his own perspective of life. He paid with his vitality for the opportunity to prove his father that he was a worthy son – was it really beneficial? Did he even want to follow this course in the end? As many others, he created (due to his deeds and the flow of merciless dark epoch) a certain future he had to reach no matter what. The moment when he – for once – feels his father’s (maybe even misinterpreted) concern is so emotional! This is when you understand how broken and lost this character is. Actually, he is a kind of a villain that would be awful in reality but inspires sympathy within the fictional work.

Some other characters also arose my interest and I felt sorry for them. They mostly were on the opposite side – how ironical, many clever and talented people could be emperor’s supporters but the sides were decided before he even had a chance to step into the palace (not to say to free himself out of it and gain the chance to act on his own will). At the same time, many supporters appear certain fools and give their lives for nothing. The emperor is left alone – such an impossible scene for the watcher who is used to mostly European tales when the mighty king decides everything and doesn’t have to fight for his life and a bit of respect towards him.

I really enjoyed the setting, the costumes, music (especially the ending song) and the way the story flows. I feel that the few years the story skips could also be interesting but it’s the character development we’re interested in, so it’s been probably right to shorten the narrative. I just mean the whole story is very engaging and I would watch on if there were more episodes.
The end of the story is tragic at least for one of the characters I liked (actually more than one, but they died sooner) and yet it’s influential. I also like the circular composition of the series; we compare the first and the last chapter and see that somehow life is very logical. We could feel the echoes of their future when we met the characters for the first time. I think the emperor has made the best decision in order to prevent the darkest times of chaos and the characters got what they were destined to. I really liked the line about how differently historical records would save that story - future generations would learn the sadder one. If only in reality it happened in the same way!