A question to the community here : What is the history for this kind of sageuk for KBS? It has the designation «anniversary edition» and apparently KBS does something like this regularly ...? So not only for the 50th birthday. And they are regarded as very special. Does anyone know?

On the whole I liked what I saw in the first two episodes but did have a quibble with part of the initial battle scene- when the commander comes up to the front lines suddenly everything falls totally silent and people can hear him scarcely more than whispering all up and down the line. A more unrealistic portrayal of a battlefield could not possibly be made- regardless of what time in history you are talking about battlefields are always noisy places on combat is underway. That is true now, it was true a hundred years ago, it was true during the Goryeo-Khitan Wars, just as it had always been true before then.
I admit that this is a quibble on my part, but I actually found it quite jarring.

I will give this a try after I catch up with My Dearest.

I want to watch this sageuk, but unfortunately it is not available on Viki Europe yet. I don't even know if it is supposed to be released in this zone later.

Watched the first 2 episodes in support of ZE:A’s maknae DJ. I actually found it pretty engaging and intriguing enough to google these royalties and their scandals.

The current king is openly having a relationship with his male advisor which I ignorantly found surprising for those times. He seems totally uninterested in fulfilling his filial duties in Confucius time of having an heir and his court hasn’t rioted yet. War is about to erupt and he seems to not care enough to issue any orders. However he does show backbone and some hints of political savvy when it comes to the exiled prince and his named heir. Looking forward to how this all plays out.

It's ok. It didn't make me drop it at episode 2 at least. And it doesn't have any 16th century Japanese swords. Ahem. (Although that opening battle was still, in a word, bad.)

Some parts of 2 (moreso than 1) were genuinely engaging and even funny, I quite like how they've set up all the moving parts and settings, and the different players. I loved the setting of the cave shrine, I hope that is a real location. My attention span is shot at the moment, so at least it's not longer than an hr per EP.

I felt the conflict at the temple got a little circular and lost some of its weight by the end of 2 though, and I fear that this might be a pattern as the show progresses, given how the Goryeo Khitan War itself played out, and given that this is clearly going to be 10 years over 30 episodes. 😂😂
No matter, all I ask of you show, is that you are at least serviceable for at least a third of that.

My mind is a bit blown that this is based off a novel. Still waiting to learn if it’s a historical novel but mostly accurate or historical fiction where a lot of things are embellished/made up.

Binged episode 3 as soon as it dropped to see what would happen to the exiled prince.

Spoiler alert**** or is it if history already said so…. But the coup and assassination of the king happened more quickly and violently than I expected. No long drawn out palace politics but efficient slaughtering. This show sure is quick paced.

Anyone of you Korean history buffs know how this new king dies in real life? It seems like his reign was only 20 years long and he died at 38 which seems young by our standards but may have been more normal then. That dowanger queen lived until 65 and apparently died in her palace so somehow she must come back.

Our big teddy bear Lee Wonjong must have played many bad guys in his hundreds of dramas and movies, but I’ve only ever known him as a good guy, or reformed bad guy. I don’t know what to do with my feelings about his character here. Yes his goal is a noble one, to build a stronger Goryeo, but he’s killing Everyone and he’s bullying uri Dongjunnie! (As of ep3 and previews of ep4.)

At least he’s still mostly a pretty bad actor, which I find adorable. I can’t tolerate even the smallest amount of overacting in others, but when it’s Lee Wonjong doing it, I’m somehow comforted.

Ep3-4 picked up, like a lot. That was super fast and effective house cleaning if I've ever seen one. Queen Dowager having a last second change of heart over finally seeing her lover's true colors was almost as funny as King and concubine dude throwing each other under the bus to survive, not that it helped any of them. Love has no place in game of thrones indeed. Or maybe it will? Incest is relative culture continues with a new Emperor and his sister wives. I actually like this new mother of nation, she seems wise - for now. Emperor Rookie struggles hard to live up to his sky high status, but doesn't exactly know how - or even whether he'll survive such audacity for long. And then there's also Khitans in hilariously tragic half-bald wigs to complicate matters even further...

No idea what to make of KJ yet. Sure, we've been told that his original intentions were noble, but somewhere along the road it started to get murky. Not wanting a 100% unprepared teen to handle governing matters is one thing - to tell said teen to basically shut up, lay low and focus on being a royal family's breeding horse is another. In contrast the new boy in town, royal-adviser-to-be Kang (why Kang again? damn you, real history! should I call them Kang1 and Kang2?) is simply too perfect of a person - selfless, fearless, never breaks any rite or rule, understands situation better than the whole court combined etc. What a great guy to have at your disposal during impending war! Humble border general (Yang?) seems like a Mister Perfection #2, stay tuned to see his inevitable greatness soon.

Not sure if it was a deliberate stylistic choice to have certain people super dramatically overact while everyone else are trying to give a more natural performance. Yelling and vase throwing to create a tension would only work for a while. Right, we'll have messy battles soon for that, how could I forget?

P.S. This does not look high budget at all.
P.P.S. Thanks for letting monks live, I was really worried for them.

Okay, I found Episode 5 a bit more engaging at least, so that's good. The bar is kinda low but I'll take it.

Too bad Mr. Perfect 2 (@gikata) is set to die soon in the second attack. Oh well. RIP in advance, buddy.

Fingers crossed (future) Queen Wonseong gets some decent screen time down the track?

Aaaand 6 was a drop in quality again. Ofc it was. It's just gonna be like 4 episodes of bad battle scenes till we get somewhere with this current arc isn't it.

I think one of the major problems with this show is that, with very few exceptions, almost all the characters just feel very one note, and they don't have the writing or the acting for the most part, to pull the setting or the context into something that could be really interesting and engaging. And the script tells the story in a way that is very "and then this and then this and then this and then this", like a history text book but peppered with bad slow mo, dramatics, and cgi pyrotechnics, and it's just a very bland way of "storytelling", if it can even be called that.

Historic Battles are not actually my forte but you do know arrows can be fired OVER things right? Especially when you have the high ground advantage? That's... kinda a big part of archers' whole deal... 🙄🙄🙄

Positives: Yang Gyu so far has all the cinematic shots this show deigns to attempt, especially in regards to his thumb ring, and there was a sabre with a snake skin scabbard that looked cool, although idk yet how accurate it was. 🤣🤣🤣

Hello! So I binged Episodes 1-4. Entertaining in a familar sageuk sort of way, with familiar faces. The drama is taking its time to set up the war. And I'm happy with that. Will keep watching in 4-episode doses if I can hold out.

P.S.: It's nice to see Ji Seung-Hyun playing a character that I don't have to hate. He looks good in armour.

Just finished episode 6 and OMG the use of the captured villagers as human shields and forcing them to scale the wall. That moral dilemma of shooting your own people to save the people in the fortress was so well acted. I felt that emotionally more so than any other moment in this show. I really don’t want to see that poor fortress fall. How brave to last so long against such a larger enemy. It doesn’t look like any reinforcements are coming though.

The closeups of Jang Gyu showing his struggle at the end of ep6, if I didn’t love Ji Seunghyun, I’d think they were overdone. But I love Ji Seughyun and he’s doing great work here.

This is definitely a more action/battle driven show, but they sure know how to do cliffhangers. The ending for 7 with the captured general hanging there over that fire was amazing. Glad it was only the cliffhanger between Sat/Sun instead of a whole week of waiting.

I still need to watch 8 although I did sneak a peek to make sure he was still alive. A bit surprising... but makes sense that they can't kill him because the justification of the war was supposedly his traitorous killing of the prior king. So if they killed him the Khitan no longer have their excuse to try to wipe out Goryeo.

I don't know this history at all, but did that really happen? What a clever way to completely disband your enemy's army by capturing their general. Of course it is true that they should have followed through and wiped them out rather than let them flee so they can regroup later. A more disciplined army shouldn't have disbanded, but when you just put together conscripted peasants, that is what you get.

I am still waiting to see this newbie king do something impactful although got a glimmer of a true ruler in the scene where he scolded the ministers for sending their families to safety which would demoralize their citizens. However I do believe history says that this king will have to flee the capital too. Eager to see him come into his own and learn to lead instead of follow.

Allll of the generals turned? Every one of them? Not a single one stood with Gang Jo? His right-hand man was always sus, but it was still shocking to see the extent of his betrayal. Just be a coward, why do you have to be a collaborator? Whyyy.

As for the Khitans, with this otherwise amazing cast, why do they give us these clowns. I did like one moment (one) where the main Kh general raged at the other general for his reckless actions.

Lastly, there is so little lightness in this show, I really enjoy the husband-wife scenes when Kang Gamchan is home. Also the Goryeo general whose sole purpose seems to be to make us chuckle, the one who asked the deserters if they were lost, the one who denied playing dead after clearly playing dead.

Someone give me some incentive to click play on 7, I'm struggling over here... *places head on desk*

KDJ (@super_d.j) the actor playing the king just posted a video on his instagram account of him and some chancellors dancing to Wannabe by the Spice Girls. So fun! Reminds me of PBG and his crew from Love in the Moonlight.

I'm sorry y'all, I'm going to have to mark this dropped at Episode 6.
(I don't know if you're still watching @wishfultoki)
But I just can't be bothered clicking play on 7 and the thought of 4+ episodes of bad battles is daunting, and there isn't enough character.
@marcusnyc20 this does indeed mean, alas, that I will not be back, as you feared.

Hopefully I will have better luck on the next Goryeo show, may it come a lot sooner than in 4 years...

On the other hand I uhm... may have decided to start Nokdu Flower... on a whim... despite it being a very heavy and high comittment show to start in December, but if I just quietly keep chipping away at it, hopefully we'll get through it. Wish me luck!

Anyone else still watching? I actually thought the last 2 episodes (9 and 10) were pretty engaging. Tides of war change rapidly but the gutsy plan to fake a surrender and the aftermath of the treasonous mayor of the last fortress standing turning on his own people/soldiers. However history says things will go bad before they get better... so looking forward to both of that. It's nice to have a story with a lot of twists and turns (not due to weird fake outs due to supernatural things or weird Joseon era flashback/history)... but just how war can be... one minute you're high on wins and the next you have generals pretending to fight but fleeing instead.

This hangout is deader than our precious Northern Territory Commander. The most recent episode sure was battle filled and I had to fast forward a lot but what a great warrior. I like when they put commentary at the bottom from historical records of what actually happened in the battle. The fact that those 2 died so valiantly next to each other and looked like hedgehogs due to the number of arrows they received is crazy.

Sounds like some upcoming tension between Kang and the Emperor... should be interesting.

Wow... so political issues/tension are usually quite dull for me... and I do admit that I wouldn't mind if they sprinkled in a small scrimmage or 2 in these last 2 episodes. However for the life of me I can't quite tell with the sparsity of information on the history of this time on the web, which side will prevail.

The emperor's intentions are good- need to get those regional lords under the emperor for a unified nation, but minister Kang is also right that the war is not over and that kind of work (change management on a national scale) takes a long time and can derail the focus of the country from winning the imminent existential threat of being wiped out by the enemy that you barely were able to push back through subterfuge. What an impasse. Surely that work does need to be done and will be done because after this war I think Goryeo has 100 years of prosperity, but will they be able to do it now or does the emperor have to let that dream wait which is really all Minister Kang is asking for.

The only thing we know is that at some point Minister Kang is going to become the General of the army and finally defeat the Khitans... but the road there seems difficult and not obvious. Can they actually do both things at once? It is likely true that if the army is angry at the Emperor for not punishing those who ran away or abused their power during the recent war with lots of casualties that they will have low morale to fight again.

I can't even figure out who I should be siding with right now.

Just finished ep20. Blame the KBS Drama Awards naming them Best Couple, but that last scene was sooo rich-boy-rescues-his-candy-from bullies!

I think the actress playing the Empress did really really well the last few episodes. Very grounded rage, great control of her voice. In less able hands she would have been shrill and annoying.

The Khitans do have to come back I suppose, but couldn’t they, ahdunno, recast all of them? At least get another actor—Any Other Actor—to play the Khitan king? Maybe I shouldn’t blame him, I should blame whoever his acting teacher was who told him punctuate every line with a squint.

Meanwhile the Emperor is getting stronger and smarter (uri Dongjunnie you're doing amazing sweetie), and now his candy I mean his best buddy Kang Gamchan will be back to advise and support him.

Finally a historical period drama that is entertaining and keeps the viewers interest on each episode. Forget the recent fusion Joseon era dramas. They are boring, period. I tend to like the pre-joseon dramas. The costume and the conflict between the external and internal kingdoms/overlords are more interesting.

The show continues to surprise me with how engaging it is despite all the politics. The suspense of the fate of the father-in-law and also the subterfuge from both sides is some great storytelling. I was glad to see the emperor finally showing some true leadership skills. I really thought he would cave given his strong desire to avoid void and protect the people from further suffering, but I am so glad he refused to give up Heunghwagin. Not only was it a symbol of their resistance against the 400,000 but also its strategic location should never be given easily to the enemy. Looking forward to even more action in the episodes ahead.

I was also glad to see that despite the earlier concerns that the writers were straying too far from history, that the audience numbers in Korea are holding steady.

Wow... that was an impressive amount of yelling by that revengeful regional lord and that disgruntled general. I wonder how many takes they had to do and if those actors went hoarse.

It seems in the previews for episode 25 that they may conspire to falsely accuse that good General Choi and try to blame him for the uprising when they are the ones trying to instigate it.

I guess we got some more battle scenes, but yet the tension was less evidence since the Goryeo's are more handily winning now. Seems like the Khitans really are on a downward spiral. I am surprised that Khitan emperor hasn't executed that general yet for doing stuff behind his back "for his own good." I mean he is right about it, but such a previously prideful emperor seems a little too tame now. I thought that FIL was a goner for sure.

So why didn’t this emperor have any training in martial arts when he was at the temple? Is that not something monks do? I seem to remember they did try to fight the assassins in the first episode. The emperor was unable to defend himself against a much older and should be weaker revengeful mastermind. I keep waiting for the emperor to show some mettle and I really wanted him to wrestle away that knife and kill that crazed man. Sigh but it was not to be.

Wait a minute wait a minute, I’m a third into ep28 where the Khitan king finds out that the Goryeo Emperor is being coerced and discarded by the traitors. I think he looked straight into the camera! He’s still a terrible actor (not that he’s the only one, but I dislike him the most), and now they’re letting this mfkr break the 4th wall? What in the what?

Still I love this show so much I can’t believe there are only 4 eps left what am I going to do with myself when this is finished.

I had to come in and comment on an odd term being used by Viki to describe the new Goryeo cavalry: 'Cataphracts'. Cataphracti did exist at the time of this war but not as part of either army. They were then a feature of the Byzantine and Armenian forces and prior to the Arab conquest, the Persian Army as well. It was the Persians who first invented this form of heavy cavalry.

Neither the Khitan nor the Koreans had horses that were big enough for Cataphracti. A cataphract is an armored horse archer- with both the archer and the horse protected by mail armor. It took a big horse- essentially the same sort of warhorse as a medieval knight's charger- to bear the weight. Cataphracts could also fight as lancers but the emphasis was on the bow.

The nomadic type horses ridden by the Khitan (and later Mongols and Tatars) were tough but way too small for any sort of heavy cavalry. Of necessity they were a light cavalry force, although armed with very powerful bows. The primary advantage they had was speed and the ability to strike quickly over long distances thus outmaneuvering their foes.

Ep32 Someone please explain to me the end of the battle. What was that UFO-like thing spinning in the air—which side was it from and what purpose did it serve? Rain would have made a difference at the beginning of the battle to suppress the dust that the Khitans made, but when it came, the two sides were already in full contact. It went from full battle formation, drops of rain, then sudden Goryeo victory. ??

The hall of the dead at the end, I’m baffled and annoyed that Yang Gyu wasn’t there. I suppose it was probably a scheduling thing, but they could have figured something out with green screen wherever he might have been at the time of the filming. I was also reminded that early on I expected the Dowager Empress to come back and pull some strings in court but she never did.

It’s been a struggle for me to finish even 16-ep shows, but Goryeo-Khitan War’s 32 flew by. I didn’t love the first 3 or 4 episodes, but I was never bored and enjoyed it to the end. I would have made it to 50 with this one.

Uri Dongjunnie 수고했어요!