I have A LOT of grievances with this drama. I was invested in the story and worldbuilding that happened in the previous season, and I was genuinely interested to see what will happen with the trio in this season. But apart from the initial animation that gives a recap of the previous season, it just goes downhill from there on. I understand that there might be budget constraints and shitty set pieces and all of that, but a good story??? A tighter plot? How could the makers skip on those things by giving the excuse of low budget? It was just shit okay, and the viewer did not deserve their patience to be tolerated at this level after giving some 80-odd minutes of their time for each episode. I understand the last season needed to have these long episodes, because they packed a shit ton of stuff in each episode, and because there was so much worldbuilding to do, the long episodes made sense and weren't boring. But this was just torturous to watch, even on 2x speed. Just sad and bad and annoying AF.

First, let's get the acting out of the way. S1 had Song Joong Ki as the ML, and he played both Saaya and Eunseom so well that I could totally believe that they were two different individuals. I'm not saying that Lee Joon Ki is a bad actor or that he can't act or anything. It's just that the transition from the 20-year-old Benetbeot brothers to the older, more mature brothers never felt believable. I blame the shitty writing for this. And then there was Kim Ji Won as Tanya in s1 who was replaced by Shin Sae Kyung. I try really hard to like her, but she's not meant for roles like these, where the actor needs to appear strong. Its just so meh. She was able to portray the kind, softhearted religious leader very nicely (thanks to her features), but that was pretty much all to it. Behind the soft exterior also lies a shrewd politician and that aspect of her character was completely LOST because the actress could just not make it believable. The stars of this season were Tagon and Taealha, HANDS DOWN. From being a revered hero to becoming a Macbeth-ian character to regaining his shrewd and clever self just to protect everything that he built from scratch... Brilliantly played by Jang Dong-gun. And then there was Taealha... she was my favourite character in the whole series, from a fierce warrior to protector to a conniving leader, calm under pressure... she played her part with perfection. There was never a dull moment in watching her. The rest of the characters were just meh; they were as good as cardboard cutouts, so no complaints to the actors who played them. They had nothing to begin with; what else would they do with such shitty characterisation anyway. Speaking of shitty characters, WTF WAS KARAT EVEN? Why was he there? Just because you need to bring the Momo Tribe reference does not mean you introduce the most random character who has no job but to insult people and bring some form of comic relief. It was not even comic. Just shit. Even the Neanthal people were shit.

Second, the story. What story? Where story? The makers just ignored that a fantasy series as this requires a legit story to back it up. Without a story, a fantasy drama is just stupid. And guess which drama falls into the same pitfall? This one, of course! The first episode... the very first episode of the series, and you get to see an Eunseom who is FLYING from a horse to kill enemies. WHY WHY WHYYYYY. This is not the Eunseom that we knew. Yes, it was all scripted that this character is meant for great things in the future and he's going to be the Numero Uno and what not, but FLYING? FROM A HORSE? NO. STOP. And it just goes downhill from there. There's no plot twist, no political intrigue, no nothing. The ML and FL were winning from ep.1, and that was such a letdown, that as an audience, I was rooting for Tagon and Taealha more. They had more motivation to retain their kingdom than Eunseom ever did. We never get to know why Eunseom wanted to capture Arthdal, except that its Tagon's kingdom that's why. I mean, how does this make him any different than Tagon? And while the idea of Tanya's motivation to group the common subjects together to protest against the King was interesting, the way she did it was just shit. Didn't work for me at all.

Third, the music. WHO PUTS ENGLISH SONGS IN A FANTASY DRAMA SET BETWEEN THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES? WHY? Every time the BGM started playing (which was whenever Enuseom did any flying on screen), it literally hurt my ears. I skipped scenes because of the BGM; that bad it was.

Fourth, cinematography. Shit cinematography. I hated the yellowy, sepia toned look of the series. Arthdal means civilisation, so less trees, so more sepia tone. What the... why even.

Last but not least, let's talk about Saaya here. WHAT HAPPENED THERE? The story starts 8 years after Tagon becomes King of Arthdal, and the next thing we know is that Saaya is in cohorts with Tanya and Mubaek and they're all scheming to get rid of the king. How? Why? The last time we knew, Saaya swore himself to be faithful to the King. And now this. And then he's the blandest doormat there could ever exist, who's just yes-manning to every plan that Tanya makes. Saaya was a guy who could think. Where did his brains disappear in this season? I get it, that he's in an identity crisis and that he can't figure out his path and all of that heroic tribulations, but treat him better? He's either running away or getting saved. Like stop already. And then whatever happened to the curse that Tanya put on Saaya in the first couple of episodes in s1? Those details are lost and forgotten. Instead of building a mystery around the whole Neanthal lore, they just IGNORE it. So frustrating. I loved his character in s1, and SJK looked ABSOLUTELY ETHEREAL playing him, but here's LJK playing him, and while he does a good job in his own way, there's just so much lacking. It felt like the only characters who have matured in the series were Tagon and Taealha, and the 3 Children of the Prophecy were just overgrown kids who were just playing Barbie doll roles of their favorite kind.

After all of this rant, I will still go back to watch s3, if there ever appears one (the ending of s2 totally hinted a sequel coming up), because I AM INVESTED IN THIS WORLD. But a sincere request to the makers: please don't ruin our viewing experience just because of your laziness and shoddy writing. The characters of Arthdal deserve more love and care than just copy-pasting the most obvious "Avengers"-like superhero tropes available in pop culture. Please give us a better ending to this saga.
If you're a story buff like me for whom not knowing what happens next is fatal, then watch this season. But frit your teeth and be prepared for some major heartbreaks on the way.