This review may contain spoilers
An Engaging (even though long) Show
This show was good, and I was thoroughly entertained even though it ran pretty long. I thought I would drop it because most of the synopsis had already happened by episode 15, and I still had more than double that number of episodes left to watch, but I had 0 idea what the plot would be. I am shocked that I made it all the way through, but I don't regret committing.
I liked the creativity around the show. That said, because it was so long, even though it was creative, it also occasionally felt tedious and repetitive. They insisted on killing a lot of characters, which plot-wise made sense, but of course, I never like it when they kill characters that are good. I'm still not over the fact that they killed the little boy sidekick Dou. He was so cute, and he deserved so much better, but I mean, he got to be a general in the end, I guess.
It was doubly ridiculous that an unprecedented number of characters committed suicide by knife to the throat, as if they didn't have poison or something they could use. I don't know why everyone had to take a knife to their throat, including her mother, which was a decent plot twist except for the fact that, once again, someone had taken a knife to their throat to kill themselves as opposed to something different.
I did enjoy that the Great Khan's wife was the real villain, but I hated that her story was pretty similar to every evil empress in that she wanted her son to become a ruler. Honestly, if she had just left Ashile She Er be, he probably would have been the ruler regardless. She actually just wanted power like every other person who is evil, and I'm not convinced about the reason why she did what she did. The Great Khan did suck, and he wasn't a great husband. It sounded like she literally had a better husband before him, and she still killed him, too. To say that her villain origin story started with this guy isn't true because she literally killed the original husband (the father of her son) she had. So, I don't know. It's like I low-key get her point of view, but they made her so black and white that it was a bit ridiculous.
I will say that the uncle killed Li Chang Ge’s dad, and I was trying to figure out how we would come back from that. Of course, they made it so that Li Shi Min literally killed Li Jian Cheng, not to become the crown prince, but because Li Jian Cheng was gonna kill Li Shi Min first, and so to survive, Li Shi Min killed Li Jian Cheng instead. Then it's crazy to know that low-key Li Shi Min was gonna be with Lady Jin if he hadn't come back from war to find out that Li Jian Cheng, the late crown prince, basically raped her???? I feel like they glossed over that a little too much because I'm like, wait, I don't understand how this was allowed and how this even happened. It was insane, but it did work to the plot's advantage. It was one of those points that was, for lack of a better word, “creative”, because normally in these shows where the character needs to get revenge, she succeeds, and it's literally the peak climax – she got her revenge, her parents are satisfied in their graves, and she feels like she's committed proper retribution – but in this show, they kind of turn that on its head and really push that idea of not everything is as it seems. Sometimes you have to think of the greater good as opposed to just revenge, which was this show's strongest point.
The romance was more of a slow burn secondary part of the plot, but I loved:
- Ashile Sun’s three reasons and letter of proposal 😭🥹
- omg omg she found Falcon’s letter of proposal ahhhh so cute i will die
- Their ride or die attitude for each other
Other parts of the show I liked:
- The godfather to father scene between Du Ru Hui and Hao Du was super cute
- Hao Du and Li Le Yan’s romance was nice and pretty decent overall
- Li Le Yan’s “side quest” as a princess learning about the people
- I actually enjoyed Ashile She Er’s character arc and how they explored his brotherhood with Ashile Sun
I liked the creativity around the show. That said, because it was so long, even though it was creative, it also occasionally felt tedious and repetitive. They insisted on killing a lot of characters, which plot-wise made sense, but of course, I never like it when they kill characters that are good. I'm still not over the fact that they killed the little boy sidekick Dou. He was so cute, and he deserved so much better, but I mean, he got to be a general in the end, I guess.
It was doubly ridiculous that an unprecedented number of characters committed suicide by knife to the throat, as if they didn't have poison or something they could use. I don't know why everyone had to take a knife to their throat, including her mother, which was a decent plot twist except for the fact that, once again, someone had taken a knife to their throat to kill themselves as opposed to something different.
I did enjoy that the Great Khan's wife was the real villain, but I hated that her story was pretty similar to every evil empress in that she wanted her son to become a ruler. Honestly, if she had just left Ashile She Er be, he probably would have been the ruler regardless. She actually just wanted power like every other person who is evil, and I'm not convinced about the reason why she did what she did. The Great Khan did suck, and he wasn't a great husband. It sounded like she literally had a better husband before him, and she still killed him, too. To say that her villain origin story started with this guy isn't true because she literally killed the original husband (the father of her son) she had. So, I don't know. It's like I low-key get her point of view, but they made her so black and white that it was a bit ridiculous.
I will say that the uncle killed Li Chang Ge’s dad, and I was trying to figure out how we would come back from that. Of course, they made it so that Li Shi Min literally killed Li Jian Cheng, not to become the crown prince, but because Li Jian Cheng was gonna kill Li Shi Min first, and so to survive, Li Shi Min killed Li Jian Cheng instead. Then it's crazy to know that low-key Li Shi Min was gonna be with Lady Jin if he hadn't come back from war to find out that Li Jian Cheng, the late crown prince, basically raped her???? I feel like they glossed over that a little too much because I'm like, wait, I don't understand how this was allowed and how this even happened. It was insane, but it did work to the plot's advantage. It was one of those points that was, for lack of a better word, “creative”, because normally in these shows where the character needs to get revenge, she succeeds, and it's literally the peak climax – she got her revenge, her parents are satisfied in their graves, and she feels like she's committed proper retribution – but in this show, they kind of turn that on its head and really push that idea of not everything is as it seems. Sometimes you have to think of the greater good as opposed to just revenge, which was this show's strongest point.
The romance was more of a slow burn secondary part of the plot, but I loved:
- Ashile Sun’s three reasons and letter of proposal 😭🥹
- omg omg she found Falcon’s letter of proposal ahhhh so cute i will die
- Their ride or die attitude for each other
Other parts of the show I liked:
- The godfather to father scene between Du Ru Hui and Hao Du was super cute
- Hao Du and Li Le Yan’s romance was nice and pretty decent overall
- Li Le Yan’s “side quest” as a princess learning about the people
- I actually enjoyed Ashile She Er’s character arc and how they explored his brotherhood with Ashile Sun
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