I am starting the review with this because some of the cinematography just took my breath away. Playing with the lights, slight hints about what is to come that you may not even catch... The fact that this was filmed in such beautiful places and all of the mountain views by themselves sometimes made my eyes tear up and wish I was there. Thankfully the angles that make it look like you are also a person living in the early 1900s Joseon and are secretly spying on the characters help to stop oneself from buying a plane ticket to see the views in person.

The story was beautiful. I might be a little biased since my country also has a history of independence fighters and a lot of losses against oppressors and so I buy this kind of stories very quickly. Nevertheless it was well-told and I am happy with it.
I loved the cute little friendship between the three main male leads. Even if they stayed in denial about it.

The acting was great. I remember the first time I saw AeShin cry I was really surprised because usually during dramas when people cry you can see that they are sad and you can see the tears coming out of their eyes. But with her there was sadness, self control, helplessness... You could actually see from the way that she cried that she was a noble girl who grew up with everything but wants to be more than just a pretty decoration for her husband, so she becomes strong. And thus when something bad happens she tries to keep her composure and yet that darn lower lip just keeps twitching and doesn't listen to her!
All of the other actors did a great job as well. I think the acting was superb for the most part(except for maybe a couple of scenes where dead people's eyes were moving a little but I guess it's really hard to stop them so I'll let it slide). You could see each characters whole life story written on their faces.
I loved it that the characters changed a little throughout the drama but they didn't change their key character details, it was very well done.
Also I just want to mention the casting. The characters really looked A LOT like their parents and the younger versions looked like the older ones. I don't see it done that often and I was really happy to see it. Even the adult gunner Jang looked so much like his father, even though as a kid he didn't look that much like him. That's what happens in the real world as well.

The music was really good but maybe because I recently watched a drama with soundtrack that is still echoing in my heart I can't bring myself to give this one a ten.

I would gladly rewatch it sometime because I fell in love with a lot of characters as well as the wonderful directing.

Overall a great drama. A must watch.