Drama Review: 'Arthdal Chronicles' (2019)
Korean Title: 아스달 연대기
English Title: Arthdal Chronicles
Network: tvN (Korea), Netflix (Global)
Episodes: 18 | 3 Parts
Broadcast Period: June 2019-September 2019
Genre: Period, Fantasy, Drama
Language(s): Korean
Cast: Jang Dong Gun (Suits), Song Joong Ki (Descendants of the Sun, The Innocent Man), Kim Ji Won (Descendants of the Sun, Fight for My Way), Kim Ok Bin (Children of a Lesser God)
Directed by: Kim Won Seok (Misaeng, Signal)
Written by: Kim Young Hyun (Tree with Deep Roots) & Park Sang Yeon (Tree with Deep Roots, The Great Queen Seon Deok)
Summary
Arthdal Chronicles is an ancient period drama set in the mythical land of ‘Arth’ during the Bronze Age. The first season is divided into three main parts with six episodes each:
Part 1: Children of the Prophecy (Episodes 1-6)
Part 2: The Sky Turning Inside Out, Rising Lands (Episodes 6-12)
Part 3: The Prelude to All Legends (Episodes 13-18)
Forged by many tribes, the viewers are taken on a journey through the rise of the great city of ‘Arthdal’ as well as the power and territorial struggles experienced by the characters which lead them.
It was written by veteran duo Kim Young Hyun and Park Sang Yeon (Tree with Deep Roots) and explores ideas around the birth of modern civilizations. It takes us through the first concepts of tribalism, leadership, religion as well as other lessons in humanity pertaining to virtue, power and corruption.
Arthdal Chronicles is Korea’s very first ancient period drama directed by Kim Won Seok (Misaeng) and produced by Studio Dragon (Love Alarm). It is probably one of the most ambitious productions ever in Korean dramaland, with its mega star-studded cast, filmed in Brunei and a whopping estimated $53M US budget ($2.9M US per episode VS. the average $500K US per episode), the highest-ever for any drama that came before it.
Needless to say, this show was hyped-up to the max leading up to its broadcast given all of the points above.
Story & Writing
WARNING: MILD SPOILERS AHEAD
Tanya Niruha once said this: “Your name ties you down”. If no one calls me [by my name] and if I never introduce myself as [my name] to anyone, then [I] simply cease to exist.
- Saya
“Your name ties you down” is the foundation of Arthdal Chronicles. This is the motto of the show and every single theme present in the drama is built on this premise. The characters stay true to this line whether its figuring out who they truly are, what their purpose is, or fighting to protect and uphold their identities.
The storyline is mostly predicated on the human tendency of forming their identities and alliances with others of similar ancestry, physical traits, weaknesses, skills and habits. Ironically, however, once we’ve narrowed them it all down, it shows us how humans can further segregate themselves into even smaller groups and ultimately turn against their own due to variances in experiences, beliefs and practices.
The show starts off by introducing us to two races/species in the fictional land of Arth, the Sarams (translates as ‘people’ into English from Korean) and the Neanthals. On one side, we have the Sarams who bleed red, more intellectual, speaks Korean but cannot dream and are not as physically developed as Neanthals. On the other side, we have Neanthals (derived from ‘neanderthal’), who bleed blue, speaks a different language (Trivia: It’s Korean spoken backwards with added tonality to differentiate) and are more physically developed than Sarams in their strength, speed and ability to see in the dark.
After a deal turned sour, the Sarams decide that they don’t like the Neanthals, so they start a war to hunt Neanthals down until their whole population was reduced to zero. At the end of the war, the Sarams declare their victory and begin to build the city of Arthdal based on their newly founded supremacy.
Some things just can’t be shared, which means you have two choices: Will you give it up? Or take it all? I, Taealha, choose to take it all.
- Taealha (Kim Ok Bin)
Another main theme in the show revolves around the extent of human greed for affirmation and power. Our two main characters, Tagon (Jang Dong Gun) and Eunseom (Song Joong Ki) struggle to be accepted and loved by their families and tribes respectively. Throughout the show, we see the ways they operate in order to navigate their personal struggles, how it changes them, and what they do with the lessons they’ve learned by the end of the Season 1.
There are many reasons one may wish to covet power whether it be for themselves or for their people. For good or for evil. The writing goes on to show by the end of Season 1 that one’s desire for power may not always be in pursuit of evil things - for the most part, it’s a coping mechanism used by our characters to protect themselves (and their people) from danger and harm.
If you’re unable to respond to the aspirations of 30,000 people, you’re dead.
- Ipsaeng
The concept chosen leadership is one of the final major themes in this show and is very closely related to the previous theme mentioned.
In the beginning of the show, Tagon takes over the leadership of the Arthdal Union and wishes to be loved by his people through his leadership, ensuring no blood is shed in pursuit of political aspiration - which is a different approach from the leadership style that came before him (Remember the war against Neanthals? Yeah, he actually didn’t appreciate the war, even though he fought and won it for Arthdal). However, we learn very quickly how his leadership methodology works against his favour and his greed to stay in power ultimately forces him to change by choosing to become a leader of the people not by kindness, but by force instead.
SPOILERS END HERE
The Review
Overall, the storyline is complex and superbly well-written especially given the fact that the writers had no other Korean dramas with the same backdrop as foundation. But I can say that now, looking back as someone who actually finished Season 1 from start to end.
Given all the risks taken, its new and totally fictitious concepts as well as the fact that it does not adhere to stereotypical Korean drama techniques, this show is not exactly easy to follow.
The show has 18 episodes and each episode is an hour and a half long with very little time spent re-capping previous moments - each episode is literally jam-packed with new events, new tribes, new characters, new problems, you name it. I can go on and on about how I wish certain dramas operated in the same way Arthdal did, but when you’re dealing with brand new territory such as this one, you have to ease the viewers into it and let them learn the fictional terms and names before moving on to the next one.
I must admit the contextual subtitles here and there did help remind me of what certain terms meant, but I definitely had to pause and rewind multiple times to understand what is really going on for certain scenes. In the same way, I think they could have found a way to condense the show or make it more concise during Parts 1 & 2 - in my heart, I strongly believe they could’ve shrunk Parts 1 & 2 into Episodes 1-6 and left Part 3 as is for Episodes 7-12.
Of course I appreciate the sheer risk and ambition the directing and writing staff took to make this show. Not to mention the stellar performances from all the actors involved. But I can’t help but feel like they steered way too far from the shore in a way where all familiarity with Korean dramas just went gone with the wind. I would venture to guess that this is one of the main reasons Arthdal ratings didn’t do as well as they hyped it up to be.
On the topic of hype: Arthdal is the highest budgeted Korean drama in history but how is it that I have so much second-hand regret about the set and costume design? I’m not a history expert, but I have a funny feeling the set and costumes used for this show do not exactly align with each other. The props even are a little questionable given the time period they’re in - not to mention the uncanny resemblance with ‘Game of Thrones’.
The show has been renewed for a second season (given the ending we got for Season 1) but has been pushed back to 2022 due to production limitations brought upon by COVID-19 protocols.
Despite the weaknesses I mentioned earlier, I am glad they’re renewing as there’s an even greater potential for Season 2 than its predecessor. I’m saying this given how well-executed Season 1, Part 3 was after the short hiatus they took following the ending of Part 2. It felt like the Arthdal team took note of all the little details that made the first 12 episodes a little taxing to watch and made it up in Part 3.
The Verdict
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Arthdal Chronicles Season 1 is ambitious in the elements of script-writing, special effects, and directing and strives to cross thresholds that no Korean drama has done before. They also have a stellar cast of actors that are able to keep up with portraying the many layers and complexities of each of their characters. Not to mention, it is beautifully shot as well.
However, it will definitely take you a little bit of an effort to get up-to-speed with the story due to how foreign this type of genre is from a Korean drama perspective. But once the unfamiliarity is out of the way and you begin to understand the world the characters are in, IT’S OH SO GOOD. You definitely have to expend the calories to watch the show from start to finish to appreciate the masterpiece that it is - I recommend this show implying you are comfortable with all that.
With the way Season 1 ended, I can’t wait to see what they’re looking to do for Season 2. I know they learned from the mistakes of Part 1 and 2 and with all the resources they have on-hand, I know they will continue to build on the momentum started by Part 3 and use that as a springboard to make the next season even better.
