All Saeguks start well and then they suffer with Idiotic Oraboni , A Villian that manages to not die a million times with cunning tricks and the Main leads that never learn from previous mistakes .

Nothing has been different for this show. It starts well with an interesting use of Black Magic ( copied from Disney courtesy Tangle , Frozen, Sleeping Princess and Once upon a Time) and badass FL & ML but slowly the position called writes block sets in where they have over committed to 20 episodes for a 12 episode series and we repetitive captures of ML/FL or the Villians and betrayals.

It was a marathon to complete the second half of the show courtesy to a stagnant story.

While there were faults in the plot ; the cast has been almost perfect . Shi-yoon in the first on his first Saeguk as he brings both lightness and also emotions. Kim Sae-ron was 16 yrs [spoiler] don't expect intimacy or passionate kiss as the FL is a minor but you could still feel their love [/spoiler] when she was cast to this show and she performed the best after the dreadful shamaness Hong-Joo. Special mention for Moon Ga-Young [spoiler] as the red robes assasin[/spoiler]. Poong-yeon is the most dreadful character after his father and the king.

Overall this show is strictly for Saeguk lovers although the first half might be entertaining for everyoneelse.