Had been so long since i finished a 20 eps Korean drama and I will say it was super worth it? While I won't say the whole drama was perfect (few loops holes & rushed ending) but I thoroughly enjoyed the series during it's run :)

While it explored the dark areas of the political agendas, all the characters provided great comic relief (aka Kim jwa Guen & GQD). It was smart to infuse time travel traits as it means antics and laughter when people from the past can't understand the modern lingos. It was even funnier with the touch of modern food & beauty LOL. What was special was a male soul entering a Queen's body. While it was disturbing at first, I think I was able to get past it with the great directing and stellar acting from the leads.

STORY
Before I touch on the things I liked + my own interpretation of the ending, I probably want to list down some points I did not like/ felt rushed:
- Hwajin x Cheoljong: It felt kinda weird because the King had liked HJ for a long time (though it was because he mistook her for Soyong during the childhood trauma trope) and moved on rather quickly to the Queen suddenly? The story does suggest King's change of heart was of course due to his realization of his childhood sweetheart / peculiar Queen behavior, and the change in HJ due to her jealousy. I get it was for drama development, but I still feel like there should be more screen time between the 2 to justify this change of heart.
-Hwajin's Redemption Arc: While she isn't the main villain in the series, she does have a great redemption at the end. It's good, but it felt kind of abrupt for me? Her sudden change/ realization that she can't be compared to the Queen...
-HY's Love Triangle: So she rejected Kim Hwan, so was there any progress with Inspector Hong? They just dropped this subplot after the rejection LOL
-*Sobong's Soul: I had not finished watched the spinoff which supposedly will help viewers understand the ending better, but I doubt the reason the Bonghwan's soul entered Soyong's body was explained? I think this was also probably a big reason why there are mixed reactions to the ending with Soyong x King. But it was still a satisfying ending for me if I were to intepret it my own way (continue below). Also, they did not explain what triggered this soul entering gimmick as well?
-Bonghwan's life: The ending was too rushed? Obviously BH has feelings for CJ now that he had returned, but he seemingly got over everything at the end? After all he has been through?

*ENDING INTEPRETATION
So in the end, Bonghwan returns to his world, while Soyong had awaken herself in the body. She lives happily with Cheoljong, and others who obviously saw her change from before.

Many felt like BH did most of the job in the romance between the King & Queen. I feel the same, but I will interpret the ending this way:

There is definitely a link between Queen & Bonghwan, and since no explanation were given, I will just take it as reincarnated souls/ parts of the same souls. What linked their souls was maybe the brink of death etc that cause the soul lapse to happen (if anyone watch Love Destiny - thai drama, you are probably more receptive to such explanations).

For Soyong's personality and who the King truly loves, here's my own explanation: Using my soul explanation above, I will say Soyong & Bonghwan are essentially the same soul*, but Soyong & Bonghwan and extreme ends. So at the start with the depress Queen persona, she tried ending her life because of the familial pressure & how she doesn't enter the King's eye even when they felt in love at first sight (from spinoff) just because she is a Kim. So her suicide kinda trigger another persona in her, aka Bonghwan whom happens to be at the brink of death (just think of it like Oh My Ghost! / Kill Me Heal Me). While Soyong's depress persona was triggered, her "defense mechanism" aka BH who happens to leave his body (while its recuperating) and enter her soul since there were linked*. This also explains why SY & BH personalities were like extreme ends? Just think of it like bipolar/ defense mechanism for personality changes. All this while, I believe SY & BH co-existed in Queen's body, just that while SY's soul was trying to recover, BH trait stays dormant. So at the end, BH essentially helped the Queen recover and stayed true the final personality we see in the last episode, as a mix of BH & SY. If any of you watched Oh! My Ghost (Shin Hye Sun was in it too LOL), I think it is not hard to understand that this was what the writer was trying to show at the end. So essentially, King loved SY & BH whom are both a part of the Queen at the end - SY was love at first sight (the spinoff), BH helped him throw aside his Kim stereotypes and embrace SY truly.

ACTING
Actually the whole male soul in female Queen trope felt disturbing to me at first because it is like spiritually BL lol, but i must say SHS X KJH nailed their roles? I did watched SHS in a couple of series, and i really love how natural her acting was??? I only watched KJH in CLOY, but I am so surprised with his acting as the King?? As far as i know, sageuk dialect is so difficult? And he has to master all the emotions & incorporate it in his lines? (okay fyi, i think King's way of speech is more difficult than normal saguek characters) so i am impressed? Plus their chemistry was awesome and the acting was so intense and on point that I could look past everything and enjoyed the series.

All the characters were cute, Court Lady Choi and Royal Head Chef, the bamboo forest couple LMAO.
Grand Queen Dowager was funny too lmao, she can do a Joseon mukbang spinoff man together with her court lady hahhaa
And Kim Hwan was so cute, even though I felt he wasn't much of a value-add to the story until the last episode?
Prince YP, yes i was so worried he will turn evil because he loved HJ, but thank god he did not. It was a open ending for him and HJ, but i think they make a good fit, i will just believe they eventually end up together!

All in all, this series was fun. It will be great to rewatch this some day. It had really been a long time since i completed a Sageuk (probably 2 years ago) so this was really good enough imo!

At last, can we get SHS & KJH in a modern drama??? :)