Arthdal Chronicles Part 3: The Prelude to All Legends (2019)

An Epic Fantasy that deserves more recognition

What a watch. I'm absolutely amazed at the intricate yet amazing world that has come about, the plot twists and characters. Part 3 didn't disappoint and even exceeded my expectations.

I loved every episode and am so excited for the storylines that will come together for the Second season coming September 2023.

And were you looking for strong female characters? Then voila. I am impressed with the range of women in this show, be it those that learn as they go or those that persist with their strong personas.

There's quite a chunk unanswered at the end that might disappoint you, but I'm excited to find out.

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Nothing like other dramas

Definitely one of the best dramas I've ever watched. I'm not talking about just the k-dramas. This is far better than any of them. First of all, this is nothing like game of thrones. The story line is totally different and I think far better. In this one, there are different tribes and a union leader. Not all the tribes fight to be the leader so this one doesn't have "game of thrones." This is more like the war between the religions and the leader.

So the spoiler part. Don't read this if you didn't watch it.

I loved the idea of two different human kind and one inbetween. (igutu) The best part of the show is an unimportant event or sentence of an episode can be the key of the next one. I mean script is a really good written one. I also loved how Wahans changed and loved being a citizen and let's say embracing capitalism.

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"And the winner is... " -> watch Arthdal Chronicles 2: The Sword of Aramun

Two tribes live in a mythical land called Arth; the red-blooded humans who can't dream and the blue-blooded humanoids who can dream, and who are also faster and stronger than humans. A war for resources breaks out between the two and the humans end up winning the war through some trickery. Years later, the struggles and greed of power continues...

This drama is unique, it brings you to the bronze age. There's a lot of knowledge on anthropology, evolutionary biology, politics, civilization stages, farming, domestication, religion/mysticism. More than just entertainment, they kept me occupied intellectually. I appreciate them to realize this daring concept into a drama. The story itself is using the common fantasy trope; like a prophecy, a mysterious barrier between two tribes, and it's very plot-driven.

The characters are a lot of fun, especially Tagon, the human leader, he's morally ambiguous and dignified, at the same time he hides a dark secret which is a real high stake. I have to say his younger self gave me chills more than the adult version, he had a very cool charisma; great job Moon Woojin, I always admire you, also in It's Okay to Not be Okay, The Devil Judge, yeah). This is also my only favorite Song Jong Ki drama so far, he's magical in his dual twin roles, together with the irreplaceable Kim Ji Won. There's a lot to enjoy within their relationships and dynamics.

Overall, I think it's a really darn good fantasy. I wanted to know more, the characters surprisingly got stuck with me personally, like I think about them when i'm not watching. The first season is laying a wonderful groundwork for the 2nd season.

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Please help bring Arthdal back if you enjoyed it

http://chng.it/v8FDMDtn5d

I 100% loved this show. Great and compelling acting. Yes, the CGI could use some work but honestly its some of the best I have seen compared to other Kdramas. The plot of twisting and had enough time to build into it and not just jumping from twist to twist, plot idea to plot idea. I know there have been complaints that it was 'slow' but I think that is based on how fast typically Kdramas run especially being only 1 season when this was obviously meant to run much longer. I actually enjoyed the slower pace and built of anticipation.

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One of the best drama. The ending was the next level and i seriously wish season 2 comes soon. The story is really amazing and it is totally worth watching, i loved main roles everyone was amazing. Dont hesitate if you feel they are many characters once you start watching, you will understand each and every character and its very clear and easy watch.. the suspense and the thrill in each episode was breath taking. SONG JOONG KI seriously was amazing in this drama and he is always best with his acting in any drama or movie . And i respect him for his acting. He was the best and hope you release season 2 sooner, even though it takes time

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Anticipating slow paced drama about politics

I recommend this series to those who can watch a long and slow paced story. I actually watched this series without knowing that it was divided into three parts and that it will be a major cliffhanger because it has season two.

First, I will talk about what I liked about the series.
1. The visual effects and cinematography. It's gory but with just enough gore unlike Game of Thrones. 2. It's refreshing to see ethnic tribal cultures in a korean drama. While watching it, I can't help but hope that Local TV in my country can make something like this, maybe in the future? Lol I'm from Philippines btw.

One thing that I'm not really fond with this drama is its pacing. I get what the writers, producers and directors are trying to do here. They need to build and show every character relationships, arcs and developments and that's okay. I'd love to see all that and I don't want it look rushed like *ehem* Game of thrones *ehem* If you've already watched GoT, you'll know where I'm coming from lol. But I think there are scenes that's too long and needs to be cut. There's too many fillers. Maybe its intended because they needed to make it 1 hour and 19 minutes long, I understand that too. Personally, I've watched similar dramas like this in the past and with more seasons or episodes (Game of Thrones and Queen Seon Deok) and I'm only teenager that time. I have more patience and time in the past maybe that's why I finished those series and it didn't bore me idk hahaha but now I don't think I can do that anymore. So I'm hoping that netflix won't drag the story for too long and we get the climax and ending on season two.

Overall its a really good series! If you have a knack for politics, history (not really) and a bit of gore, watch this.

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Humanity's Mirror

(Review for all of 2019 parts, aka "Season 1")
This isn't a romance. It's not about the ancient setting, the fantasy or the CGI. This tells the story of how different temperaments behave when confronted with adversity, power, wealth, technology, friendship, loss, honour. And it tells it all.

For that to work, you have to have 80 minutes per episode and keep you on its toes throughout. Every episode is much better paced than other Asian drama's where you can easily cut out and ditch a fifth because of repeats and lengthy slow motion zooms.

It's not the case here. Where things are going slow and focus on facial expressions of the characters, you have plenty to think about. You wonder what got this person to that point. How could they have been saved. Was it always in them? You start wondering because you know that the world we live in now, was built on the same foundation of deceit, greed and power. And that the basic fault we still and soon have to correct is the notion of ownership. How many of us think about how odd it case that man can own land, air, animals. And who looks at what that notion of ownership did to our morals, our habitats and our kin. Arthdal Chronicles is humanity's mirror.

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Absolute best and layered characters I have seen in a while

I am too lazy so I am going to review this drama as a whole but also talking about the third part
I seriously believe this was the best part out of three because we could finally see eun seom rising from the rock bottom and yes Tanya rising to power.
There are two types of people watching this drama. One who believes this is the shittiest drama ever made and the other believes it's a masterpiece.
I do think this drama is really great. Some moments would def give you goosebumps. and people hating on tagon because he got most of the screen time. but I did really enjoy his screen presence. He pulled off his character well. and it was really great to see him go from a determined ambitious and admired leader to almost like a mad man. I feel like this drama showcased the rise of Tagon. Tagon is def the villain here. and most of the time, the back stories of the villains are told in a small 15 minute scene or so. but this drama def felt like tagon's glorious rise to power and madness. and the next would probably be the fall of tagon and probably eun seom as a leader and his rise to power. I honestly loved all the characters here. Good or bad.
The performances:
IT WAS GREAT!
thats it. SJK really shined. Tagon too. and Tealha my god, she was great. I can;t explain but she really does act well. and finally Tanya. Girl stole the show for me. Esp in the mid to late arc. Her finding her powers. Her curses and he determination. In the last episodes, her character does seemed to have dulled a little but still I fell in love with her.

P.S:
I sincerely wished Tagon's younger character had more screentime. This is just me being a thirsty a**. but yeah I enjoyed him while he was there.
also i feel like this review is all over the place. I should probably start to structure my reviews but I just wrote this when my emotions were on a real spike.

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Captivating & EPIC!!!

Brilliant story, fantastic production, stellar acting and seamless CGI brought this fantasy drama to life and I can’t wait for Season 2!

Thank goodness Part 1, 2 and 3 were all together as one drama so I could binge continuously. The way the characters evolved were nicely written and Episode 1 made so much more sense watching it a second time right after finishing Episode 18.

Kudos to the actor who pulled off playing the naive twin and savvy twin - so well done you’d think they were two different actors! However, what impressed me more was the King - so many conflicting and complex emotions as he made his way to the top. I found myself empathising more with him and wished he didn’t have to suffer so much.

I loved all the twists and turns the story took. Some took me by surprise and some didn’t. It was sad to see so much similarity to real life - fear of the unknown, greed of capitalism, exploitation, slavery, supremacy, sacrifice and more…

A good end for Season 1 that juxtaposes the 2 different worlds that will soon have their showdown in Season 2.

* Unfortunately some change in cast members and I’m personally not a fan of the actor who will play the twins for Season 2 so I hope his acting will change my mind. I do wish they would cast someone more similar looking for continuity purposes.

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New Arthdal

If you like historical fantasies, this show is for you. The cinematography was fantastic, and the entire season is quite promising. This season's ending was such a cliffhanging situation —no idea what will happen next. This part of season 1 was a visual treat with action-packed episodes.
Eun seum, Tae el ha, Xabara and Momo tribe were the main MVPs.
Tagon and Tae al ha, man, what characters fueled with a hunger for power and control over people. Their dynamics between then are completely shaken and shifted up. Saya is weak and a monster with an angel's smile, but because of Tagon, he is powerful.
Eun seum united two clans of the Ago tribe and has a long way to go.
Song Joong Ki did a phenomenal job as Eun seum and Saya.
Tanya realised that she should not trust anyone and had to gain more support from the commoners to protect her people.
I like Chaueen and Nunbyeol's characters. They lost a great deal due to Tagon and Tae el ha.
Asa Ron dug his own grave. Xabara and Momo tribe people are so damn cool and could have got more screen time. I really hope to see them in next season.

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The plot so far has been pretty good. The premise was great to epic proportions, it's something very unique and on a scale that is absolute grandiose but all in a good way. The cinematography and the casting are absolutely on point. The SFX for a 2019 drama could've been somewhat better but not going to complain.

The characterizations have a decent amount of depth and some very engagingly so, but some characters are purely one dimensional with nothing to explain their behavior from their arrival to the show and to their departure.

Delivery of the story has been great so far, but one could only wish to see the protagonist more often and sometimes the political campaigns feel a bit blown out of proportion and at times very dragged out. But I understand world building is very important, but the problem is that unless they go for another full season or in other words 3 chapters, it would be very hard to wrap this up in a satisfying and convincing way.

The action scenes are great but sometimes not very well coordinated. It's almost as if there was a perfectionist on set sometimes and other times they just leave it at good enough.

All in all, from the way it expands the story to developing it's characters it has been doing a good job. It's very political although it's not modern politics, so I can't say everyone would've enjoyed this, and perhaps some feel it's tedious but stick to it for the great performances of the actors/actresses.

Hopefully there will be more of this and there will be more dramas like this in the future that break from the norm.

Edit: They wrapped this up pretty well and declared another season. Really excited to see where they go with this and when they'll start airing.

Only gripe is that they kind of spoiled a little too much at the preview of what's to come, at the end of the last episode.

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