Queen Woo, who became the target of five tribes seeking power, struggles to establish a new king within 24 hours.

[10] The clothing, hairstyles, and accessories of the main characters have been criticized as anachronistic and historically inaccurate for resembling styles from the Chinese Qin dynasty and Warring States period.

[17] Viewers have also criticized the gratuitous use of intimate scenes, claiming that they often feel out of place and interrupt the storyline.

An often cited scene is when the king's younger brother, Go Bal-ki, bends his wife over a table and, while having intercourse, impales her in the back with his sword.

A few minutes later, he stabs a wall in frustration, accidentally killing a woman on the other side, and orders his guards to chop off the heads of all the remaining maids in the palace.