I enjoyed their take on these historical figures - it was very interesting to watch! ********Skip 'Storyline' if you don't want to know the actual History of this drama before you start it *******But it would be better to read up on the history of each character as they appear - so you will be prepared for what is coming & so you can see how their take on the historical characters.************* Storyline: We follow the drama as it takes us through the end of Seonjo's reign to when Gwanghae takes the throne, when Gwanhae get's usurped by Injo, the following rebellion, the 2nd Manchu war, Sohyun's demise & finally to Bongrim taking the throne. We also get a fictionalized version of Princess Jungmyung's disappearance & return after they had thought she had died. I loved watching Cha Seung Won play/portray Gwanghae! <3 My favorite character by far in this drama!!! and he was GREATLY missed after episode 30 :'( I thought he was a really good ruler! Who ended up having a couple of bad subjects that lead to others misunderstanding him. His scenes were the best! I loved watching him give commands & do things in secret! When Kim Jae Won appeared and played Injo - I was pleased by his performance (his first time playing an actual bad guy lol) I pitied his character in this drama a lot - he was such a misguided/mislead king :( He wanted to be a good King but ended up being the opposite - an incompetent King who always listened to the wrong council. I also enjoyed Prince Sohyun's entrance into this drama ^^ He would have been a great ruler! He simply wanted to help his people & his country! I cried when he left us :'( I think he was on from ep.39-44 :) One thing: Seo Kang Joon & Lee Yeon Hee needed to improve their acting - I thought they did pretty much okay during the first 30-35 episodes - but after that they always had the same expressions, same reactions, and were rather poor actors (what happened?) *sigh* SKJ as Joo Won was really innocent and almost nerd-ish in his actions lol - It was cute ^^ I enjoyed his scenes with Gwanghae the most & there were a couple scenes of him with Jungmyung that I really liked as well ;) LYH played Jungmyung - (basically her character was the most fictitious one in the drama b/c the Princess according to Wikipedia stayed out of politics completely - whereas in this drama she is deeply involved in politics - enough to make several enemies - & there is this whole "prophecy" thing surrounding her - that I honestly found annoying in the earlier part of the drama (they had to have some basis for her "revenge" stuff) Her character when she grows up was good for the most part - I started to like her once she let go of her anger towards Gwanghae. She was strong & had a "stronger" part to play in the latter half). Music: I liked the songs by Lena Park & Yesung the most - and I'd laugh whenever they played this instrumental ost that seriously sounded like they were saying "pyeha" lol - every time it came on - I said and again with the "pyeha" song lol If I ever rewatched this it would probably only be Cha Seung Won's scenes as Gwanghae - they were the most impactful and meaningful parts to me :) As someone else said on this page: "the first 30-35 episodes were addictive, after that it went up and down." I remained interested in the story line - up until King Injo dies - Injo lasted until episode 47? I think. After that I started to lose interest in the drama - and kind of pushed myself through the remaining few episodes lol... But, I don't regret watching - if you are interested in Korean History (even if you've read up on it on Wikipedia - like I did lol) and you'd like to see it "come alive" before your eyes (even if parts are fictionalized - like the Princess being involved in politics at all) then you should enjoy this drama overall - despite the poor acting of SKJ & LYH in the latter half...