Oh, I wasn't expecting a review for this drama! I'm happy, thank you @missvictrix !

I liked the first 2 episodes. They made the plot pretty clear and presented a lot of characters.

If Dami won't be able to bound with her mum, I hope she could with her father because their first encounter was nice, she was under his charms.

Dami and Ji-Won's scenes were so beautiful, I loved the place and the colors. The death of the girl surely changed both of them. Dami realized how dangerous it was for her and the persons who knows and Ji-Won learned about his true nature of his father...

I'm very excited to see their reunion in the present.

The little eunuch Hong (Kim Geon) was so cute and lovely, I wanted to pinch his cheeks. I think he's the kid I will miss the most.

Yes yes yes! I was so overwhelmed with the first two episodes I completely forgot to watch the last episode of LLOTRS. Going back to watch it, I continued to be increasingly underwhelmed. I just hope that TKA continues as beautifully and intelligently as it has begun and doesn't turn out to be a disappointment. Sorry, Red Sky, but you get less convincing every week!

Liked the premiere,can't say i was head over heels in love but it added a nice foundation to the story to come...This is based after a manhwa "Yeonmo" and must say it isin't alike as major points were changed yet it's familiar even when it's not the same(that one was more tragic and entagled character & plot wise,mainly with the hero background etc.)...Really liked the little eunuch Hong,he was adorable...
On another note,anyone knows in what other dramas did the young actor playing Lee Hyun is,i know him but can't for the love of me remember the shows he played...The young actors really grown so much,i mean look at once little Ji Woon who now is so tall...

That 13-year-old "prince"/sister Choi Myung-bin sure seems talented. According to Asianwiki I've seen her several times in supporting roles where I didn't really notice her. I could spin that as a good omen for her career because I can say the same about Kim So-hyun and Lee Re.

whew, that’s a lot to take in in 2 eps! the editing and pacing is a bit weird in some scene like the sudden time jump when the crown princess and dam-yi were hugging and then the next she was on her deathbed. if you hadn’t mention it, i wouldn’t have known that the pimply girl wasn’t dam-yi. i was confused since they were in the middle of hunting so why would she go and get meds for her face.

my heart really breaks for little dam-yi :( she has to endured pains and heartbreaks in such young age, one misfortunes after another. it’s not enough that she loses her twin brother, but her mom, her close friend and her crush too! i’m one to never get really emotional over lovers’ heartbreak painful scene but the part where she meets face to face with ji-woon, man, i just lost it (props to the child actress!!!). her restraints, pains and longing, i feel truly sorry for her :’(

you mentioned about her dad, the crown prince, and it made me thinking about the scene where the crown princess asked him to keep the prince safe and i hope that the crown prince would keep his promise. i have a feeling it’ll end tragically cause we have star-crossed lover trope (wonder if ji-woon still keeps in contact with his dad after seeing him murdering i-wol right before his eyes), how everyone wants dam-yi’s dead and the life at stake for knowing dam-yi’s real identity.

I didn't get too excited in the beginning, and I was impatient to get on to the grown-ups, but after the death of the prince, I found their grief and especially her sadness and growing realisation of the danger for everyone who knew, and also for herself, convincing. Like everyone else, I loved her newfound relationship with her mother and also loved to see her step into the shoes that were rightfully hers. Then, as a grown up, I thought her character beautifully balances her assumed male characteristics with her innate feminine qualities. Great acting for a tiny, delicate woman. Loved the way she got on the horse.

Am I the only one wondering how is it possible we have identical twins with different sex? It's just not biologically possible.

Logic aside, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the premiere. Perhaps because I'm a bit tired of the fated childhood love trope. But Park Eun Bin look so cool riding horse, shooting arrow and throwing dagger. For her, I'll keep watching.

Hmmmm I found it jarring to shift from her connecting with her Mother, to immediately the Crown Princess on her death bed. I understand they had to fit in a lot of heavy emotional set up in just an episode and a half, and they did very well in this regard otherwise, especially the extended grief over the Prince's death, but that change stood out like a sore thumb. A fade to lingering black and even a time jump title card would've helped even somewhat.
Not much else to say for now, I don't think.
Kinda glad Red Sky is ending in two weeks so it doesn't clash with this for too long. Love the colours in both.

I was suprised that I was actually emotional during the first two episodes. Choi Myung-bin and Han Chae-ah really pulled out a great performance during these two episodes.

Am I the only one who wants to see the mom's story? I have a feeling this drama will follow the usual annoying saeguk route and he will keep saving her, so I wish they had elongated her mother's story.

It's such a solid premiere week! The last time I was so hooked on a sageuk was My Country even though it was more heavy on the political plot rather than the romance.

First and most important from that premiere, HOW GOOD IS THE CHILD ACTRESS???? The way she plays both the prince and Damyi, and the way she plays with her voice and mannerism to distinct both characters without being comical or exaggerated?? Sadly, other than her.... I really cannot grasp the other child actors (Jiwoon, the nice cousin, etc). It almost like i cannot follow how the young Jiwoon became Rowoon lol

Talking about that, it was so sad that the Crown Princess' message to Damyi was literally the opposite of being nice and kind that she holds those word and ended up being the adult Crown Prince/Damyi EVEN to Eunuch Hong and Lady Kim... Park Eunbin is so awesome and convincing tho! Love it, dig it, gonna comeback for more! The only drawback is that it's a 20 episode sageuk so it's gonna be a loooooong journey lmao

I thought all the child actors were very good -- good enough to make us ignore how implausible the premise is.

But the final scene of ep 2 really was totally implausible. What smart princess, after having her headdress knocked off by an arrow in a forest crawling with hunters, would ride off to a pond and undress? Huh? How does that make any sense? It's just an invitation to be discovered....

I love the premiere week! Also, Park Eun-bin's long, mane hair was great for me and it seemingly her hairstyle transformed from last year's Do You Like Brahms? to this sageuk drama's mane hair. I hope that her mane, long hair will keep some scenes alive in the next coming epic episodes onwards.

Meanwhile, I love all of entire storylines this week and I hope that this show is still the best for me so soon I will give one of my two best sageuks of 2021 (so far) (my other one was Bossam: Steal the Fate)

Also, I want to give a biggest bravo to the crew and cast for this show for a great start and I would like to give @wishfultoki a honorable mention for keeping up as a sageuk fan!

Tbh to me the mother is the villain/bad guy. Why subject your long lost daughter to live a life where she will be bound to get caught? The ‘king’ will never get married? Never have children? How is she going to survive not having a p*** in a palace where she must reproduce? Why subject your daughter to a life that will surely see her get killed?

Nothing of the first 2 eps I haven't seen/read before. However, the well paced and tightly written sequences were amazing. Also, I'm so sad to see the crown princess die so early on. Of all the tragedies happening in eps 1-2, I found hers the most heart-wrenching and relatable. It must have been a nightmare to live with the guilt of not being able to protect both of her children from her own family. Props to the actress who played the crown princess so convincingly, such an elegant and graceful lady. She reminds me of another gorgeous actress Park Joo Mi 🥰

Child actress's performance as either of half of the twins is phenomenal, you can really figure out instantly whenever she plays the Prince or his sister. Reminded me of Megan Lai in Bromance, her body language was THAT good! <3

That said, the Prince dying with the outfit-switch was some serious 'Boy in the Blue Pajamas' level makjang. Joseon's patriarchal views on 'not being a worthy ruler because you shared a womb with a girl' is gag-inducing. Such double-standards when the womb you're being nurtured in belongs to a woman. Sheesh.

Bae Soo-Bin's back again, playing trashy villains. Not sure if I hate him more in Secret or here. The truly tragic character of the show isn't the twins, it's their Mother. Gosh, I feel for that lady. Bonus points, she looks like Lee Da Hee from certain angles! :') Also, Eunuch-friend kid is soo cute with his plump cheeks! <3 <3

PS. Aghhhh, I KNEW it the Mother was dying! Just crush my heart already, you guys, HOW tragic do you want the main lead to be? T__T

More Park Eun-bin on my screen. It’s what I’m here for! I’m a big fan of hers ever since Age of Youth. Well shot, and the acting was pretty solid all around. I’ve seen our ML in a bunch of shows now, and he’s always…fine. I’m hoping this is the show that makes me a fan of his finally.

Didn’t know this was a 20 episode series…we’ll see if that ends up helping or hindering things in the end. Even the other good Sageuk from this year, Bossam, kind of petered out near the end imo. Lovers of the Red Sky also seems to have this problem. Not that I didn’t still enjoy both of those.

"This feels like a gore genderbender version of my sassy girl-sageuk drama edition"

The Kings Affection is on the way to scoring my must watch list every week. Its just well done. That child actor really held her ground as a cameo. With the impressive past cameos, at least we are left with Baek Hyun Joo amongst our quads.
If there's one thing I like about power struggles and politics in sagueks, its the 'survive' speech that is dished out to the characters, and the crown princess's words to Dam-yi when she was acting all kind to that maid was both endearing and heart jarring. Another dialogue I found sad was that between the Crown Prince and Princess. Such a command be the last words he'd hear from his wife. I really felt for him, that conversation will just keep his longing hanging.

I am not sure what is keeping Dam-Yi inside the palace. What is her motivation? Her mother is dead and her father will not accept her.
There is no way this will turn out to be okay for Dam-Yi in future. The best thing for her is to make her subordinate leave the palace and disappear too. No one will look for a girl anyway.

When will “they” realize that transformations, from weak child to powerful adult,can be really interesting drama?

In My Country, ALL the interesting transformations, e.g. young girl to the Queen’s grey eminence, happened off screen, for gods sake.

In this drama, the transformation of an orphan-maid into the Prince we saw in episode 2 - how the blankety blank do you decide to leave that OFF screen? Especially when you have 20 episodes?

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Absolutely loving this. Makes red sky rather tatty by comparison.

Weirdly, I found myself holding out for the prince not to die. I get that it's in the summary of the drama, but the child actress did such a phenomenal job that I wanted the door open for future possibilities of him returning to reclaim the throne. If this happened, she would not be as stuck/condemned to the fate of being Prince, possibly making for an obvious happy ending. Needless to say, I truly felt the loss, saddened when the dead body confirmed the worst.

I don't know why, but the child actor and Ro Woon don't seem like the same person? Ro Woon has a natural impishness about him that was lacking in his younger counterpart's earnest and docile portrayal. Not to say that Ro Woon can't embody these attributes, but the characterization doesn't immediately seem to fit.

Also, I don't see the point in having Da Mi undress to fix her chest binder, in broad daylight. I might have understood, had she quickly undone it to use part of the fabric as a hair tie, but no. She just risks everything while in plain sight as though no one will find her. I'm almost surprised that Ro Woon spotted her and not the skeevy uncle. Eun Bin is phenomenal and truly talented, she has good carriage and is beautiful to watch, I'm looking forward to seeing how she navigates this precarious situation. Gender swapping with stakes like these makes me bite my nails in worry, please no tragic ending!!! Lastly, most of the actors knocked it out of the park, Eun Bin and the younger actress, the Queen/her mother, and Ro Woon. Here's to hoping they have great material to work with going forward!

This drama has a lot of things going for it.

First of all the cinematography is gorgeous, espcially night shots. Even when the going get slow it is still a marvel to look at. The production value is very clear, especially (for me) in regards to costuming (cannot get enough!!!) and lightning.

Second of all I like the direction they take the leads. Our crown prince is "ruthless" and "arrogant" and it's very clear that it is both a defense mechanism as well as a result of her difficult upbringing. I love that they let the female lead be this though and "sharp" character. Physician Jung, on the other hand, seems like a very spunky, gets-by-with-his-wits, talking-it-out kind of character, and he is already great fun. Lets hope they keep this up for both of them.

The story got a bit slow at some points-the childhood set up lasted a tad longer than I would have liked-but now it seems we are in it to win it. I'm glad Dam-yi has a support system (enuch and court lady dream team) and is not alone in this.

This will be an interesting ride.

(really excited about finally watching a drama as it airs and getting to join in on the disscussion! Long time lurker coming to light!)