Royal Betrothal (2026)

An Enjoyable Show That Lost Itself in the End

I guess I preferred the illusion of the rainbow to the reality of the storm.

I liked this show for what it was. Nothing groundbreaking, no big political shenanigans. Rootable, compelling secondary characters. I was enjoying the ride. I thought the chemistry with the leads was decent. Not earth scorching, but pleasant. I fell in love with several of the supporting characters. I liked the second couple. I liked the plot of the FL trying to prove her worth as a scholar. I liked that the ML was supportive of her without folding into a paper towel like so many modern ML tend to do these days. I enjoyed all of this.

But apparently, I was only looking at the rainbow.

The show in its last run of episodes proceeds to tell me that everything that happened before it was just a lie. All of a sudden political machinations are the name of the game. But they are rushed and not given any of the nuance they deserve. I didn't like how unbothered FL was by her own people. I know she lost her memories, but it felt kind of sad seeing these people willing to die to honor her and she just shrugs and says whatever. I'm glad Yin Qing redeemed himself kind of in the end. But if he was just going to die by her hand and tell her to go back, why not just let her kill you in the hall the first time and spare all of the other unecessary nonesense? Why did she return with her people if she never even cared about their plight? Why did Nian have to die? Seemed needlessly grim. The whole ending left a bad taste in my mouth.

But I still enjoyed looking at the rainbow, even if the result was that I was left standing cold in the rain. I liked this show. It didn't stick the landing. That's where I'll leave it.

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