I expected a war drama centric to the FL and her journey from a commoner to grow into a general who marshals her troops. The synopsis and first few episodes pointed towards her being smart, savvy, daring and upright and while that remained until the end, somewhere along the line the center piece of the drama shifted from being about her to being about the ML.

*SPOILERS*
The ML who didn’t deserve to be one at all. He either couldn’t make a decision for himself or conveniently looked the other way when evil deeds were conducted in his name. His seemingly first interaction with a woman, one not his mother or masters, had him falling for her in the most shallow way. He laughed when he heard about her tragedy. He knew why she wanted revenge yet bound her to himself despite having being caught up in court politics and a marriage himself. He hid the truth and colluded with people. Despite this, he got everything along with glory and praise. I don’t mind a well-done evil ML or even a weak one but somebody who is praised from the starting to almost the end without lifting a finger or even engaging his brain for anything he achieves is not my cup of tea.
*SPOILERS END*

The under utilisation of the acting prowess this drama had is a travesty. In one scene, the FL walks into the palace to defend her people and that’s one of the only few glimpses in the latter half of the drama (except the last two episodes) of what we deserved to get througout. While we didn’t get a satisfactory journey from commoner to army marshal for the FL, as a marshal she was compelling and demanded respect. Even though most of us have trife with feminine looking leads being passed off as men and nobody expecting anything afoot, here the FL’s body language acted like a man despite looking petite enough to be a woman. She carried her scars like battle armour, prideful and always aware of the power she yield in the army. In my opinion, she had the most reason to misuse that, but she didn’t. Despite being driven by revenge throughout, not once did she hold back from saving somebody in need. Though she did use Zhu and Chang for her needs, she was loyal. She wasn’t without fault but she remained the most endearing and inspiring character in the show that was supposed to be about her.

The SML, relegated to being a support cast, demanded attention in every single glimpse of his on-screen. We deserved so much more of him; this loyal, strong man who was brutal yet willing to go to any lengths for those he considered his own. I don’t understand why it was decided to reduce screen time for a lead that was nuanced and complex from what I have read until now in the novel.

I don’t mind directors and script writers deviating from the source novels as it gives them an opportunity to fill in plot holes and explain anything amiss. However, when a well-loved female centric novel gets adapted into a (at one point) harem drama and her love interest is modified into a support role, surely somebody needs to step in and question things. It’s a double shame as the show had immense potential in the first 2/3rds and had us hooked waiting for the next episode only to disappoint us in such a manner. The first 23 or so episodes are interesting and would hold your attention. Beyond that, I was left scratching my head at anything that transpired on screen. The pointless deaths and loose-ends would probably annoy me for months.