Two people with same starting point and aspirations. In the avenue of rose, one walked the path adorned with petals and other walked the path of thorns.The hunger for power and throne of the adults changed the destinies of their innocence. Yet the childhood promise made back then held their strings of fate together. But what is predestined cannot be predicted. No one knows how circumstances can change the choices they promised on, to the choices they made.

✅ Plus points:
- Distinctively eye-catching CGI, beautiful and aesthetic cinematography, stunning costumes, and overall visibly heavily invested project.
- Studded with eye-candies in and out.
- Grand entries of the characters.
- Pacing was good.
- Comedy was serving
- Scenes between the two childhood friends, Baili Dongjun and Ye Dingzhi won it for me.
- Shifu-disciple dynamics >> Li Changsheng and his eight 'interesting' disciples were clown boys at their fullest.
- Li Changsheng's humor was one of the most unserious and wisely savage existences for me. Enjoyed his presence throughout the show.
- He Yu (actor playing Ye Dingzhi) was a surprise to me. Never seen any of his works before. His acting skills impressed me. Will be keeping an eye on his future projects.

❌ Disappointments:
- Most of the major events (especially the fight for throne and Beili-Beique war) were heavily laden by grand CGI or digital arts in pic format.
- Duel action scenes were started with mere face off, then either skipped or covered by fancy poses, flickering sleeves, and random hand swishes here and there. Based on the comment section, it seems all the major fight scenes were cut off despite being shot.
- The timeline and the plot detailing was totally messed up. Some of the events already shown in TBOY (child story released in 2022) were unexplained or did not match, causing confusion in the plot sequences and actual events and hence leading to plot holes.
- The characters were fun, but compared to TBOY, where every single character (including supporting+guest roles) managed to shine and exude their individuality, DY failed to do it for me.

Despite all the disappointments, I would still recommend a watch, cause, yes, if considered as a standalone, I pretty much enjoyed this drama! Have fun watching ^^
Did not find a page for special episode so decided to write it here, "what if we made a different choice?"