Going into this, I didn't know this would be a chronicle of the life of Gwanghae, and wasn't prepared for all the time skips, but I got used to it pretty quickly.
For it being his first historical drama, Seo In Guk did a fantastic job. Of course, he's a popular actor and it makes sense, but even at the time of this drama, it's very clear how good he is.
Overall, I did like this drama. I came in expecting more romance, though. I wondered throughout most of the drama how the main two were going to end up together, and what actually happened in the end was not it. It was tragic that he had to get married to another woman, and his father claimed Gahee, but I was still surprised when there as a sudden child that must be Gwanghae's, because that meant he really gave up on her. It was silly of me to keep hope, but they had no children for the longest time because Gwanghae still loved Gahee and their marriage was a political one, anyway. But seeing that child had a lot of different meanings on the relationships. Plus how she saved his life would mean they had no future, and that killed it.
I can't decide how this makes me feel on the drama as a whole. There is SO many politics. Don't get me wrong, I like some political game to spice things up, but that was really the main focus.
What was really interesting for me, was none of the characters stayed in their lane. What I mean by that is a lot of the characters aren't "the bad guys" and "the good guys." Everyone is complex, and at one point a character might be an enemy, then an ally, but also the reverse happens. It was really fun to watch which side someone was on at a given time.
One character I didn't like was Imhae, because he was the only one that seemed so one note. I understood his character in the beginning and liked him, but after a while, he just became embarrassing as a royal. Both Gwanghae and King Seonjo kept asking him "Where have you been?" What have you been doing?" Because really, he wasn't doing ANYTHING. He just got mad and got drunk. Like, he's a smart man (I think), at some point, you have to realize when you are beaten and to take it in stride. We don't even know what became of him in the end because it's not shown, but I imagine he was stripped of everything, if not beheaded because of what he tried to pull. I know Kim Dochi was influencing him, but the man should have known it was a suicide mission.
So, this drama is great if you like history, action, and politics, but not so much for the romance. It's there, but not the way you hope.