I've been vocal about my support/love for Sunho from the start, and that's not just because it was Woo Dohwan. as a character Sunho was more layered and deep. I am thankful for the writers that they didn't make the 2nd lead a one dimensional jealous narcissist just so the main lead looks like a hero (as some other historical dramas do).
Sunho was loyal, everything he did was to protect his friend and his sister, and I kinda hated Hwi for not seeing it..

and so I'll stop talking about Sunho and go to my next point. Hwi was such an inconsistent character.. it was like the writers changed him throughout the story just to fit their vision, and that took away my interest for the character.
Hwi from the start, Hwi from the middle and Hwi from the end were different people driven by different objectives. maybe it'd have been better if they added a 3rd friend?

as a "younger" audience I found myself really captivated by the idea of two young friends fighting for their vision of "my country". I'm not not a fan of historical genres, but I am slightly bored of the "fight over the crown" story every drama needs to have, even if it's based on a real story.. maybe my point is, it doesn't have to always be about real events to make a dark intriguing historical drama.
overall I was not happy with the script, and I think the writers/producers hit the jackpot only because of the great cast (and they were ALL great).
I did also dislike the forced romance between the two mains, those 2 side characters, and even Hwi's sister, I feel like they added them just to appeal to the "younger" audience, but it'd have been better off without it..
and the ending could've been better too...

the whole OST was great too, I liked how each kinda had their own background music, like the "main" teams fighting scenes ;)

my rewatch values are either a 1 or 10, and I might just look at WDH's photos so ;p



Edit: I actually did end up rewatching it in 2022 and I appreciated it more, dark historicals are rare