Likes:
1. Jung il woo was terrific at portraying Lee Geum's journey from a young, carefree lowborn prince to a decisive and compassionate King Yeongjo. He must have been an amazing king if the drama depicted him that way!
2. Park Munso was an amazing friend and supporter to the King. I'm used to seeing Kwon Yul as scary so it was refreshing to see him be a nice person.
3. Minister Min and Jo bugged me because they kept putting Lee Geun down when they dont even know him. That he was able to change their minds and became his strongest advisers says a lot. I also loved their 1:1 on politics and the king.
4. Dalmoon!! His messy hair and his team!
5. 24 hours of non stop intense drama showing some of the key highlights/events in King Yeongjo's early term. I think episodes 15-18 were the episodes that really got me so hooked.

Dislikes:
1. Prince Milpung wont die!! He was a great villain at the start but that he kept escaping and getting mentally deranged saying things over and over again that it got boring. I wanted someone to just stab him to death please. And Yeon young and Wi Byeong Ju were annoying characters that should have died earlier.
2. Maybe it was because Go Ara got injured but her character was a badass but became dull and lifeless after her accident and she became a court maid. I loved when she was fighting and being funny but she always has this awkward /pained expression during the serious and romantic scenes. And the romance story with the king was totally unnecessary.

Rating: 8.5/10