This deserves every star of the 10 stars available and more. It's not a simple romance, or a rom-com, or even simply a sageuk. It's an epic saga, a phenomenally told story filled with intrigue, deep friendship, the realities of the times, overwhelming grief and sadness, and love that will span from this lifetime to the next.
There is so much to this story that is interesting, and I purposely didn't read any MDL comments before I finished the series because I wanted to make up my own mind about it first.