The Long Ballad is one of those stories where the princess who's only known royalty her whole life gets everything changed. She goes from princess to garrison leader to slave to the leader of a coalition. The story is focused on her journey and her romance with a general from the central plains. It's a fine story. The side characters such as the emperor, the crown princess, Haodu, and Sun's captains are all fine. My main problem is that Changge is too OP in this show. Like she literally gets shot in the chest with an arrow and falls off a cliff but we're supposed to believe she survives. Many other times she finds herself in dire situations and she gets out unscathed, either by herself or by getting saved. It's tiring seeing her get out of situations with no real consequence. What was the worst thing that happened to her after she left the capital? A kid she teamed up with for like 2 episodes died. Even when she becomes enslaved it doesn't really matter because she's protected by Sun. Speaking of Sun, the main romance in this show is not convincing in my opinion. Something about it doesn't work for me. The actors have chemistry, but it seems so rushed. They barely get any actual time together. They're always moving from one place to another and we're supposed to believe they develop a romance during that time. Ironically, the side romance between Leyan and Haodu was way more compelling. They get a lot of screen time and we can watch their relationship grow. When Haodu ultimately fights for Leyan's hand in marriage, it feels earned and there was a lot that built up to that moment. One of my favorite moments was when Haodu's adopted father finally made him an official member of the family so that he could marry into the royal bloodline. These are things missing from the main romance. There's just no time when they talk to each other about things that aren't plot related. But it's not all bad though. The plot, although bouncing from place to place too much, is pretty good. Whenever there were action scenes, they were done well. Although I really didn't like it when action scenes would be taken over by artwork and the actors were forced to stand in front of a green screen and shout their lines. I get the intent, but it's not fit for a live-action show. The acting was also really well done by the main actors. I didn't buy the main romance but it wasn't the fault of the actors. They sure did try. One last thing, the music is pretty good aside from one track that is basically completely plagiarized from "Up is Down" by Hans Zimmer. A couple of memorable melodies otherwise. There are still enough positives to make this a fine watch. I doubt I'll ever rewatch the entire series again, but there are definitely scenes that are worth revisiting. Solid drama.