At 81 episodes, this is a one time watch drama! 11 days later, I completed this and what was the longest historical based drama that I've seen to date. Jumong's story is every compelling! The writer does a wonderful job in conveying it, especially the fight and military training sequences were amazing! Portraying a master archer, every scene where Jumong picked up a bow was breathtaking! Every battle scene w so realistic, I had to wonder how many animals were hurt during the filming, it was so realistic! The love storiies were interesting but were not the main focus so if you are looking for a romantic drama, you might want to skip this one. All I can say, the portrayal of the two women that love Jumong was one you may never see again. Usually when two women love the me man, you get to see strife and bickering, they left that for Emperor Kumwa's Queen and Lady Yuhwa (Jumong's mother). I can remember each moment I cried because the moments were so sad: the death of Hae Mosu as Jumong watched, the slaughter of the Tamul Army's women, children and seniors at Mt Bonghe, death of Lady Yuhwa and Mugol. There were times where the story was just okay but those periods, thankfully were short! I found with the later episodes with the story of Yuri, Jumong's son to be the only period that I literally could not stop watching. This drama is truly for the historical drama lovers. If you are not completely into the nene, you might want to skip this because it is time consuming to watch.