Every few months, even after finishing the series as it aired years ago and so many other dramas that came after; I'll always end up going back to this drama and rewatch it from the very beginning. This drama, really continued to be one of my most favourite sageuk drama I've ever watched.

As much as the series was supposed to be inspired by the Game of Thrones, being unfamiliar of the series I can't quite relate to it. But I guess all the political in-fighting in this drama kinda mirror the same scenario. The whole scenario of the crown prince having to hide his face behind a mask and ended up being switched with a fake did remind me of Alexander Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask novel. And that kinda setting being reworked into a sageuk story was what attracted me to watching this drama.

Lee Seon was quite a charming character, and Yoo Seungho really manage to bring out his innocence and strength of character as the crown prince attempts to investigate the reason why he had to hide his face. It was heartwarming to see how much the crown prince grow as he attempts to overcome his trials and tribulations and strive to retain his kind heart. That said, Kim Sohyun who played as Han Gaeun did very well to portray the noblewoman who fell from grace due to the manipulation of the evil Pyeonsoo group. As much as the character did seemed to be just a damsel in distress character, Gaeun turn out to display a different kind of strength as compared to the crown prince.

This drama was the first time I'm seeing Kim Myungsoo playing in a sageuk drama and he did quite well in playing the character of a peasant boy who happened to have a similar sounding name as the crown prince and ended up being forced to become a puppet king. Yoon Sohee as the granddaughter of the leader of Pyeonsoo group, Kim Hwagun was also a great character. It was nice to see how much Hwagun had grown from being just a selfish girl from an evil group into a much more courageous person who decided to oppose her own family in order to protect the person they love. It was really intriguing to see how the dynamics and relationship between the four start changing as the four were being dragged into the political situation.

This drama truly felt so special to me. Having known both Yoo Seungho and Kim Sohyun from their earlier child actor works, it really felt wonderful to see them both playing the leading characters of the drama. Not to mention the amount of other child actors involved in this drama as supporting and background characters, Ruler really felt like a drama series that intend to shine light to the many great acting talents of child actors and former child actors.