Spoiler-free Review (as much as possible)

I think this is sort of a love-it-or-hate-it kind of show, in particular because there is a difference in tone between the first and second half that can make it frustrating for people who like a little magical realism rather than a full-on Taoist cultivation magic/gods are real/demonic creatures abound sort of fantasy.

Make no mistake though, despite the weirdly (and great!) "Steam Punk Sherlock Holmes in the Tang Dynasty" vibe of the first half, it is a full-on fantasy NOT a period piece with some "unexplainable-maybe-magic, acupuncture-just-works-for-some-reason, sure-people-can-jump-that-high, handwave handwave" sort of fantasy. It has all those elements, but they are grounded in the full mytho-religious scope of Chinese historical lore--akin to how Lord of the Rings is grounded in the full scope of European lore. In this show, magic and cultivation are real, are understood by people in this world to various degrees, and immortal cultivation is possible. If you are expecting this kind of world, the plot is perfectly comprehensible, and the choices characters make lead reasonably logically to the next scenario. If you are expecting minimal fantasy in a mostly "period" setting, it's going to throw you for about a million loops, especially after the magical quest picks up.

The romantic arc is, I think, explained well by a comment the Tang Empress makes maybe about a third of the way in: that a lasting relationship requires that couples have equality. She's not strictly speaking about a political kind of equality (like, it's not a feminist statement nor is she *exactly* talking about status). She is somewhat talking about feelings, somewhat about status, and somewhat about how they see each other--which encompasses feelings and status and respect. This, for me, was the reason the MC couldn't be together in the first half: they were unequal; and it drove many of the plot progressions in the second half.

Overall, if you hang in to the end *most* of the stuff that makes you go "huh?" is explained, and it's a really entertaining ride full of great acting. I recommend it to people who like fairly fluffy high fantasy with good characters and enjoy plots that take them for a ride.

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Spoiler-light review of the ending: was it happy or sad?

I have no particular issue with the ending in terms of *what happened*... but I did find the last scene weirdly abrupt and it took a while to interpret it. Key to understanding the ending is noting that the main characters are experiencing a calamity/tribulation (which is stated near the end by the character with the best grasp of what's going on). In Western romance, happy endings are required and are defined as the couple together. However, I find that in Chinese romances, when a couple's love is entwined with "the fate of the world," it usually requires some kind of significant sacrifice and they usually do not end up both alive and together. Just like Western romantic endings, these can be done well or poorly. In my opinion, the ending fit the story and the world-building, and it was increasingly clearly inevitable--as an ending largely should be. It does not fit the standard Western "happy ending" but at the same time, I wouldn't call it tragic or bad.

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Spolierish review of ending: what the heck was that last scene?

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Is Mu Le alive or dead? Well, the best interpretation I've seen (it is supported but subtle in the show; I read that this it is how the book explains it but I can't find an English translation of the book to confirm) is that he is the son of the goddess who made the beads. We see that the one egg shaped bead, which is the center one, survives. This is the bead in which Mu Le's spirit is sealed. So, basically Mu Le is a god. His mortal self perished, but he can't die. You can view the entire series as the "mortal tribulations" portion of a show like _Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms_ or _Ashes of Love_.

My personal take is that Ye Yuan An is also experiencing a mortal trial. Just a bit of head cannon; but based on the "equality" idea; that their love for each other is one that spans mortal and immortal status.

Anyway, because Mu Le is the god that seals the egg bead, him appearing at the end isn't just a sop to a happy ending after the inevitable sacrifice. It's actually him fulfilling his promise that if he has an afterlife, he'll spend it with her. So I would count it as a happy ending but presented in a not-very-satisfactory way.


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Full of details and random spoilers analysis of what I liked and disliked. Read at own risk :)


Things I liked:

The Second Lead Couple: fully developed characters and a reason to be together besides just 'cause

A lot of time second lead couples in stories where one or both was originally in a love triangle with the lead/leads feel like they were given to each other by the author as a consolation prize for everyone with second lead syndrome. Not so in this case. First of all, their relationship is rocky *at best* for most of the series. Second of all, they're actually perfect for each other, if they can make it through all the rockiness--which is the essence of a true OTP.

Ming hui, the princess, is initially an antagonist. She has an unlikable personality, although she shows a different side in a few moments of vulnerability. When we later learn of her good motives, her personality doesn't change, but our perspective of her has a chance to. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that her personality stays difficult. It's easy to hate Ming Hui, and the writer *could* have gone for the stereotype that equates difficult personalities with being a bad person. She *could* have had Ming Hui turn out to be a sweet person and her undercover personality a mere persona . And that would have been super boring.

Instead she challenged us to find the good in Ming Hui, to find what was likable and consider what was forgivable. And she showed up what growth looks like in a person who isn't exactly bad, but is kind of selfish and prickly. Ming Hui, although not having much redemption from the stuff she did under cover (it's kind of excused as "what she had to do"), does experience real growth as she first tries to brute-force her romance and then realizes that she was wrong, and finally starts to figure out how to be a genuine person to the one she loves.

Despite Ming Hui's unilateral initiation of their relationship, the pairing between her and Lan Zhi actually makes sense. She seems very cold and calculating, but while she is extremely pragmatic about her duty and what she has to do to achieve her goals, she's actually very impulsive and emotional in her relationships. This leads to her initially hating Lan Zhi and Ye Yuan An. In my opinion, hating Ye Yuan An didn't make much sense, other than that Mu Le rescued everyone and her servant was the only one that died. But as the series went on, it became more and more obvious that Ming Hui and Ye Yuan An had these parallel experiences with loving a slave and being unable to do anything about that love (including admitting it to themselves). So I think that Ming Hui hated Ye Yuan An so much because Ye Yuan An still had Mu Le, whereas Ming Hui's love was dead.

But as time goes on and Ming Hui keeps encountering Lan Zhi, she has unsettling experiences with him that make her feel valued and seen, something she hasn't had much of in her life. He has also been the only person to see the potential goodness in her when she was undercover, and believe that she could do the right thing.

She feels strongly but has no confidants and isn't at ease being vulnerable, which means that she tends to repress her emotions to the point where they bubble out into irrational decisions. This means that when she takes such drastic actions to force Lan Zhi to marry her, he isn't able to take her claim to love him seriously. He believes her demand is about the rivalry with Ye Yuan An, not about any actual feelings for him.

Some people felt disappointed that he wasn't the ML. But I think the writer established that he wasn't right for her very early and in repeated ways. Whereas he sees the goodness in Ming Hui when she's putting up a front, he doesn't see the suffering or vulnerability of Ye Yuan An when SHE's putting up a front, nor does he recognize her as someone who has as strong a moral code and as much a need to act on it as he does. In short, he never actually recognizes their equality (in the sense the Queen talked about). In fact, he much more recognizes his equality with Ming Hui, as when he relates his childhood story of becoming a good person to her difficulties and potential for doing the same.

Lan Zhi's arc actually parallels hers a bit. His personality is also difficult. He tends to hide behind the letter of the law whenever faced with complexity. He is very judgmental and while he is fair, he is not kind. He can be selfish: although he said he wanted Mu Le in the army so Mu Le could gain some merits, he really wanted Mu Le away from Ye Yuan An. It was obviously going to end terribly (a supernaturally strong man who ignores propriety and will only somewhat take orders from one person who is not in the army is supposed to do well in the army??? No. Lan Zhi. You did not actually think that was how it was going to go.). He does not express his feelings to the people he cares about and his bearing is so rigidly law-abiding that it's easy for the people he loves to believe his feelings for them are not deep.

With Ming Hui, he has to learn a bit about forgiveness, and how to let go of the past. He learns to be more flexible, more vulnerable, and more expressive--but none of this to the extent that feels like a personality rewrite. I also like that he never comes to hate or distance himself from Ye Yuan An. Like, we get the definite feeling he's stopped pining for her and started loving his wife. But she's still his friend, she's still important to him. And it's still a difficulty in their relationship, which just read as really true.

You can totally imagine how them as a main couple would make for a sort of typical "arranged marriage, enemies to lovers" story, but enjoy it as a less developed side story because it's elements are in so many ways done to death.

.... okay.... this is crazy long. To be continued, maybe :D