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Review: The Advisors Alliance Part 1: The Military Strategists' Alliance (大軍師司馬懿之軍師聯盟) (2017)
I've been binging this show and enjoying it!
I would recommend it for people who are fans of the Three Kingdoms period. The story moves pretty quickly (which makes it bingeable) and the acting is pretty good. In addition, I like that the show has a humorous tone, which totally fits with Wu Xiubo's style.
I do think that this show is geared towards a slightly older audience (i.e. not geared towards teens) as many of the characters are played by older actors, but I personally didn't mind the more mature angle at all.
Spoilers.
I apologize in advance for sloppy writing!
I can't help but compare this show to the 2010 Three Kingdoms drama because that was my first Three Kingdoms related drama. Throughout this review, I'll refer to Three Kingdoms 2010 as 3K, and I will refer to the Advisors Alliance as AA.
Story
I think one of the reasons that this show was so bingeable was because I already knew the main gist of the story. Sima Yi became known to Cao Cao, then helped Cao Pi to the height of his power, and eventually his family took over which led to the Jin Dynasty. Most of the characters are already familiar to most Chinese viewers.
Part 1 of the show ended with Cao Pi at the height of his power. He just named Cao Rui his Crown Prince. He had the new law which probably yielded some talented officials for his regime. As for Sima Yi, he was punished for attempting to interfere with Zhen Fu's forced suicide and was stripped of his position. He also went back to his ancestral home to observe the three years' mourning period that he couldn't take right after Sima Fang died.
In terms of the actual court politics, it was not the most thrilling that I've seen. Because most of the show was based on history (or interpretations of it), there was limited wiggle room. It wasn't bad though. Audience members don't tend to watch Three Kingdoms stories for the shock value because most people already know what happens anyway. It's about the delivery and I think the writers did a reasonable job.
Like the Rise of Phoenixes, I found that AA had its own "brand" of political maneuvers. In the Rise of Phoenixes, the main male character would always take poison knowingly and deal with it later. In AA, there were several times in which our protagonists had to plead for mercy on an enemy or else it would come back to bite them.
The story reinterpreted some historical facts to make them more interesting. For example, Guo Nvwang was not known to be related to the Sima family at all, and her relationship to Zhang Chunhua was likely only added to create another opportunity for tension between the Cao and Sima families. In addition, Zhang Chunhua and Sima Yi were shown to have a rather modern and non-conventional relationship.
It was fun seeing how 3K and AA interpreted the historical stories differently. After all, we only have a skeleton of what happened, and it was cool to see how the writers filled in the blanks in their own ways.
Writing
The script was very fast-moving. While there were situations that were stretched out a bit (as is the norm in Chinese dramas), I felt that every scene advanced the story, whether it was moving the plot, developing a character, or advancing a relationship. I appreciated that very few scenes seemed unnecessary.
The writing in this show felt more like a traditional Chinese drama. I say that because I of course compared it to 3K. 3K was written like a series of tales, in which the focus was the event, and characters were there to fulfill roles. For instance, there was an episode in 3K where Zhang Song wanted to serve Cao Cao but was ignored, and so he joined Liu Bei. In that episode, Cao Cao played kind of a douchebag; this was a little "off brand" because Cao Cao was known to be a pretty attentive man. However, these slightly mundane and out of character actions actually made the characters feel more mellow.
I think that the characters felt more exaggerated than in 3K because the writing of AA was more character driven. For example, Cao Cao felt more evil than he did in 3K (but more on that later). I felt that the point of 3K was the story, whereas the point of AA was the development of characters. In AA, we see characters express or show their strengths, weaknesses, motivations, etc.
That is not to say 3K is worse than AA or vice versa. I like them both! I'm just pointing out the differences I felt while watching this show.
Production
Cinematography
The cinematography was average. There were some scenes in which the camera angles were very inconvenient. For example, there were some conversations that were shot super far away, or some scenes when a ton of things were blocking the view. I think some of the weird angles are due to the fact that rooms only have so much space. But it was noticeable in a show that was otherwise supposed to be pretty high budget.
Costumes
The costumes weren't the glitziest or glamorous, but they were still good. I think that most characters only had a few outfits throughout the show. However, I still got the feeling that the costumes were sturdy and well-cared for. I've seen some costume dramas with some pretty flimsy looking costumes and those were pretty distracting.
In terms of the hair, the men had a habit of having their hair bunched up on the top. I don't know if that was on purpose, or if it was just what happened to the wigs after a while. It did get distracting, but this isn't an idol drama, so the looks aren't the top priority.
By the way, Sima Yi has this outer robe that looks a bit like a cardigan and it amused me. It looked a bit like sweater material, and I think it suited him.
Casting and Acting
Like in 3K, a lot of the characters in this show were older men. AA did have a lot more female characters than 3K though, including Zhang Chunhua, Bai Lingyun, Guo Zhao, Zhen Fu, Madame Bian, etc. I like that they were introduced and used appropriately. As we know, most women were not recorded in history, and for those who were, we know very little about them. The fact is most women were only recorded in history in relation to their husbands, and that still is the case for AA, but I like that the female characters still tried to exert their own agency in the confines of the patriarch.
I loved Wu Xiubo as Sima Yi, but I have to say that the age mismatch was distracting. I think at the beginning of the show, Sima Yi was probably in his twenties or thirties. Sima Zhao had just been born, and he was supposed to be a nobody in the eyes of the authorities.
On the other end of the spectrum, Wang Jinsong was supposed to be playing a very old Xun Yu. This was because many of the other officials would refer to him as uncle. I think we can confirm that Xun Yu was at least one generation older than Sima Yi (but I think he was two generations older than Sima Yi). The thing is, Wu Xiubo and Wang Jinsong were actually the same age. Plus, the officials who were calling Xun Yu "uncle" looked to be of a similar age.
Wu Xiubo was probably the outlier though. I think that Sima Yi was portrayed as a contemporary of Yang Xiu and Zhao Tianlin looked to be in his 30s. In addition, Cao Pi was probably around 30 or 40 as well. What I'm saying is, I'd be less confused if Sima Yi's actor for Part 1 was a tad bit younger.
That being said, no other actor would've portrayed Sima Yi as charmingly as Wu Xiubo did. Wu Xiubo portrayed Sima Yi as this bumbling nerd but also a mastermind in his own right. So I will forgive the age differences because Wu Xiubo's acting is worth it.
Music
I can't think of a single scene that does not have background music. I think the constant background music is also one of the reasons that made this show easier to binge. The background music did some of the emotional processing on behalf of the audience. It did get a little noisy at times, but overall, it's not a huge distraction.
CGI
There was a bit of CGI when it came to overhead shots, or animals. But they are few, and not a huge problem. I just thought I'd bring it up.
Characters
Sima Yi
When I watched 3K, I did not like Ni Dahong's Sima Yi. He had the presence that you'd expect of a mastermind, but I didn't feel like he was a particularly likeable character. This is why I was looking forward to Wu Xiubo's Sima Yi. I haven't actually seen Wu Xiubo in anything, but I know he was known for comedic roles, and I wanted to see his take on a more sympathetic and relatable Sima Yi.
Wu Xiubo delivered on a Sima Yi who appeared weak and frail, but was always working behind the scenes. He also had the "adorable uncle" vibe down pat and I am here for that. That being said, I think Part 1 was the easy part. Sima Yi was in a place of power up until he was stripped of his title, but he was still an employee of the state.
In the next season, we will definitely see struggles of higher stakes take place between the Cao and Sima families. As we know, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan eventually establishes the Jin Dynasty, and that is not so far off from where we are in the story now. So it will be interesting to see how Wu Xiubo may exert himself as a more scheming and authoritative Sima Yi.
Zhang Chunhua
I liked Liu Tao's portrayal of Chunhua. While Chunhua was a frustrating character because of her temper and stubbornness, those were also signs of a realistic character. Chunhua and Zhongda had a loving relationship but it was never all sunshine and rainbows. Chunhua was authoritative, but she unfortunately still lives in a patriarchal society, and Bai Lingyun entering the Sima family was a huge hit to her ego and the life she'd fallen into so comfortably for 20 years.
History dictated that Sima Yi would fall out of love with Zhang Chunhua. While I wouldn't tell off the writers if they followed this story line, I secretly hope that they won't go down this path because I want to see Chunhua and Zhongda live happily ever after. Chunhua is already starting to accept Bai Lingyun at the end of Part 1 though, so it's possible that the writers will write an amicable ending for all three characters.
Anyway, while I found Chunhua's character frustrating, I also like that she was authoritative on her own. When Sima Yi was out of the house, she had to step in as the head of the household, and she was not afraid to protect her family with the tools she has. I appreciate that about her.
We had some melodrama between Chunhua and Zhongda in Part 1. They went through a lot, and their relationship grew as their encountered the events of the story and grew themselves. In particular Chunhua learned that she had to sacrifice some things if she wanted to protect her family, which was super unfair, but it also gave her a new perspective on what she could do to protect her family.
In conclusion, I really liked Liu Tao as Zhang Chunhua. She was a character with strengths and weaknesses. Sima Yi is a nerd and she is his jock wife, and their relationship is something that I loved so much about this show.
Sima Shi
We didn't see Sima Shi's personality too much in this part. Chunhua said that Sima Shi had a personality like hers, straightforward and simple. I agree with that. Unfortunately, I think this attitude will cost him, especially when it comes to dealing with his brother :(
Towards the end of this part, Sima Shi got married to Xiahou Hui, and we saw that they had a daughter when they returned to their ancestral home with Sima Yi.
Sima Zhao
Sima Zhao, on the other hand, is the conniving one. We already saw him thinking about tactics and strategies in this part, even though he was supposed to be pretty young. I think he was probably a teenager by the of this part.
Anyway, we saw him talking about how his father could use Bai Lingyun against Cao Pi. He was also discussing "strategy" with his father about how he could convince his mother to come around on Bai Lingyun. The thing is, the way Sima Zhao was speaking about sounded so...cold? He asked his dad if his goal was for his mother to starve to death and for a second I was like ???? that's your mom bro!!!!! Sima Yi didn't seem to think anything of it, so perhaps it was a bit of an inside joke for them to talk about strategies like this, or Sima Yi straight up couldn't see that his son was a psychopath.
I was curious about why Sima Zhao seemed so unpleased on Sima Shi's wedding date. At first, I thought it was maybe because he was jealous of Sima Shi, and that history would repeat itself (i.e. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi over Zhen Fu). When Xiahou Hui saw Cao Rui in their house, Sima Zhao caught her, and cautioned her against telling anyone. So after that encounter, I thought that maybe Sima Zhao was just paranoid about Xiahou Hui being a spy. I still haven't made up my mind about this one, but we'll definitely find out in the next part.
Bai Lingyun
Bai Lingyun was pretty much the opposite of Chunhua. She was a learned woman, and more even tempered than Chunhua. What attracted Sima Yi to Bai Lingyun was that she was someone that he could talk to about intellectual pursuits such as history and strategies. That was something that Sima Yi couldn't speak about at all with Chunhua.
In the show, Bai Lingyun was supposed to be a concubine for Cao Cao, but she showed up after he'd died. Cao Pi gave her a few options. I think they were either to be a part of the Imperial Harem, or to be a worker/servant. The third option was to be a spy. I mentioned this in one of my Tumblr posts, but 3K had a similar spy character who was created for the show, whereas Madame Bai actually existed. In both cases, Sima Yi came to love this spy character.
In the show, we saw that Bai Lingyun seemed to really respect Sima Yi for his wisdom and his devotion to his wife, and I think she kind of fell in love with him because of his virtue.
At the end of the season, Sima Yi and Bai Lingyun hugged, which I was probably to assume would be the begining of a romantic relationship. We know from history that Sima Yi came to favour Madame Bai over Zhang Chunhua. I do hope the show does not include this love triangle, and I think the writers will instead opt for them to stay as one big happy family until the very end.
At the end of the season, Bai Lingyun said she would stay in the city to act as Sima Yi's eyes and ears while he was back in his ancestral home.
Sima Fang
A difference between 3K and AA was that in the former, Sima Yi was recruited by Cao Cao directly, whereas in AA, Sima Yi was known to the authorities as the son of Sima Fang, who was an official under Cao Cao.
Sima Fang was always kind of a difficult dad. He had a lot of kids to worry about, and he was definitely worried about each and every one of them. He was always scared of them taking risks.
By the time of his death, I was pretty attached to him. He'd stepped down from his official duties long ago, seeing as how he was so old. Chunhua said that he woke up early and took walks all the time because he didn't want Zhongda to worry about his health while he was out.
At the end of the day, Sima Fang was just a worrisome dad, and his personality really came through when he was interacting with his family members. Goodbye Wengweng ;_;
Sima Lang
He was Sima Yi's only older brother. In AA, he was recruited by Yang Xiu to work for Cao Zhi, but really, he was holding him hostage to tame Sima Yi.
Sima Lang was put into prison after the incident in which Cao Zhi had used the gate that was only allowed for the Emperor. Yang Xiu and Ding Yi had blamed it all on Sima Lang. Sima Lang only got out of jail after Sima Yi pleaded with Cao Pi to plead with Cao Cao to forgive Cao Zhi. After he left prison, Sima Lang had contracted a very infectious diseas and died. I believe his wife had died early on, and had left behind a daughter, but we never really saw her after the kids grew up.
Sima Fu
I'm going to be honest here. Wang Dong is pretty handsome.
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Sima Fu. He was Sima Yi's younger brother, and was also sort of in love with Guo Zhao, but saw that she loved Cao Pi, and so he helped her elope.
Eventually, he joined Cao Pi's support squad as an official as part of the plea to Cao Pi to plead with Cao Cao to forgive Cao Zhi.
I read that Sima Fu also had a pretty brilliant career, but he was just massively overshadowed by Sima Yi.
Xiahou Hui
Xiahou Hui joined the Sima family near the end of part 1 by marrying Sima Shi, and he had a daughter with him by the time they were back in their ancestral home.
Although she had pled with Empress Guo for Cao Hong's life on behalf of the Sima family, I'm not sure if she's out of the clear just yet. As mentioned before, Sima Zhao was a bit displeased on her wedding day (maybe due to jealousy) but he was definitely suspicious of her when she saw something fishy in their house.
I think Xiahou Hui is still young, but perhaps in the next season, we might see her having some more agency and making some of her own decisions in terms of who she wants to support.
Hou Ji
He was a household servant of the Sima family. Also a very nice man :) He had no ulterior motives, and was bros with the entire fam. A good dude.
Xiaoyuan
Xiaoyuan was Bai Lingyun's personal servant. It seems that they had a pretty close relationship. The thing is, Xiaoyuan was not subtle with her expressions, so she always made it super clear that she was suspicious of the entire Sima family.
Xiaoyuan was actively spying on the family and wanting to report it to the Emperor. I wonder if she was also reporting to someone else though. It was never really cleared up in this season. Nevertheless, Bai Lingyun put her foot down about the fact that they were now supporting the Sima family.
Ji Bu
Ji Bu was a friend of Chunhua's that we met early on. Apparently they'd met when he protected Chunhua while on a journey. The thing is, they had a pretty close relationship in which Ji Bu called Chunhua by her given name which made Sima Yi SUPER SUSPICIOUS?
I think Ji Bu and Chunhua's relationship was that of a very close friendship, almost like siblings. Ji Bu had asked Chunhua whether Sima Yi could protect her, and she assured him that even though he was just a scholar, that he was extremely capable.
Ji Bu came up from time to time to save Sima Yi when he was in mortal danger.
Cao Cao
I admit that I was a BIG FAN of Chen Jianbin's Cao Cao in 3K. He was just the right amount of suspicious, ambitious, and cunning, and he delivered it in a way that was charming and just a bit intimidating. On the other hand. Yu Hewei's Cao Cao had a bigger personality, and I felt that he was more emotional of a person than Chen Jianbin's Cao Cao. I'll call them YHWCC and CJBCC
YHWCC showed clear favouritism towards Cao Zhi, whereas CJBCC was a lot more subtle about his favouritism. Actually, in 3K, I only remembered CJBCC's favouritism towards Cao Chong, so actually the fact that Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were dueling was a bit surprising. After all, Cao Zhi was always known as a poet and a drunk, so there's no way someone as smart as Cao Cao would've thought he'd make a good sovereign.
YHWCC's loathing against Cao Pi was also more pronounced in AA. I know that many parents in the world single out kids to hate for no reason of their own doing, and that's how I felt about YHWCC's attitude towards Cao Pi.
YHWCC in general was a character that was more emotionally open, whereas CJBCC kept all of his feelings hidden. We always saw it on his face when YHWCC was pleased, angry, sad, etc. He never hid anything, and that definitely gave a different vibe to Cao Cao.
If I hadn't seen 3K, I might've enjoyed Yu Hewei's performance more, but as of now, no one can top Chen Jianbin's performance in my mind. That being said, I can't say that Yu Hewei did a bad job. He just interpreted the character differently.
Madame Bian
Madame Bian was shown to be the kind of character who was overly sentimental. She was always about maintaining the peace among her sons, but obviously that wasn't so easy because of who she married.
The first time I felt that she really carried out political duty was when Cao Cao had died, and the sons were fighting for the position. Cao Pi refused to ascend to the throne because he had to pay respects to his father's recent death. However, his refusal to become the King of Wei was creating an opportunity for Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi to intercept.
Sima Fu, Guo Zhao, and Zhang Chunhua, along with many other officials, pleaded with Madame Bian to order Cao Pi to ascend to the throne. If Cao Pi did not observe funeral traditions, he felt he'd be unpious, but if Madame Bian ordered him to ascend the throne, then not ascending would actually be unpious of him. I thought it was an interesting political maneuver.
However, in the aftermath, Madame Bian continued to be a sentimental person. Cao Pi had sent Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi away. Cao Pi was also freezing out his uncles and cousins, so they went to Madame Bian to try to get her to knock some sense into Cao Pi. However, at this time, Cao Pi was no longer the man that he was, and he stood his ground on freezing out his family.
Madame Bian had also asked Cao Pi when he was going to make Zhen Fu empress and Cao Rui crown prince. She likely didn't know that Cao Pi loved Guo Zhao, but I think all of this stems from the fact that she felt like her son wasn't taking care of his family properly. It's like when parents ask their kids why they haven't married. This is just the Imperial Chinese royalty version.
Cao Pi
At the beginning of the show, I thought that Cao Pi was painted more sympathetically. He was simple and naive, and sometimes even childish. His way of thinking was very straightforward. A part of him always craved his father's love, and that was probably where some of the childishness and rashness came from.
With the help of Sima Yi, we saw him get out of several messes with his father. Cao Cao also started to see what Cao Pi could achieve since he had the loyalty of Sima Yi.
After the death of Cao Cao, Cao Zhen had said that Cao Pi was becoming a lot like his father and I totally agree. I honestly can't pinpoint when it happened, but Cao Pi at the end of the season felt just as calculating and cold as Cao Cao.
The sticking point for Cao Pi was that he was constantly hurt by his family, and that was why he was so on board with Sima Yi and Chun Qun's new law about allowing commoners to join the official ranks.
Another sticking point for Cao Pi was his wives. He first met Zhen Fu after infiltrating Yuan Shao's home. She was previously married to Yuan Shao's son, if I remember correctly. She was quite beautiful, so of course she drew the attention of both Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Anyway, Cao Cao granted Zhen Fu to Cao Pi, but at that time, Zhen Fu had already fallen in love with Cao Zhi because of his poetry and music. This made Cao Pi pretty angry because he was already being passed over by his father. He was willing to be nice to Zhen Fu but he couldn't when she so clearly longed for Cao Zhi.
As for Guo Zhao, in AA, she was written to be related to the Sima family as her godsister was Zhang Chunhua, and it seems she spent many years with the Sima family (she mentioned that Sima Fang even treated her like a daughter). Every time Guo Zhao asked Cao Pi to help the Sima family, he would bring up the fact that they don't even have the same last names. I felt this was a bit hypocritical of Cao Pi. He and his own blood family couldn't even get along, so perhaps it wasn't fair that Guo Zhao could love a family with whom she didn't even share a family name.
Speaking of Guo Zhao, Cao Pi becomes blinded at the end of part 1 when it came to her and their child. Guo Zhao was repeatedly under fire from the elder Princess Liu who wanted to wreak havoc. The thing was, while Cao Pi didn't believe any of the lies against Guo Zhao, he directed all of his hate towards Zhen Fu.
Cao Pi made it clear that Zhen Fu was betrothed to him specifically because Cao Zhi liked her, and Cao Cao wanted Cao Zhi to grow aggressive and combatant. This was obviously messed up, and it messed Cao Pi up too. Zhen Fu tried to clear things up with Cao Pi at the end of season 1, but he wouldn't listen to reason anymore. Her supposed slight against Guo Zhao by causing her miscarriage could be forgiven if Guo Zhao herself forgave Zhen Fu. But Zhen Fu having Cao Zhi's child was a slight against himself, and that was something that he would have the last word about.
Obviously Cao Pi was a much bigger character in AA than in 3K. In 3K, I felt that Cao Pi was kind of a weaselly character? The actor's presence wasn't very imposing or impactful, but he still had his cunning. But soon after ascending the throne, Cao Pi had died, and we never even got to the matters of succession and whether Cao Rui was really Cao Pi's son. At the end of part 1, Cao Pi already started spitting blood, so I think this was foreboding of his illness.
In terms of his relationship with Sima Yi, Cao Cao outlined it clearly. Once he became the ruler of his state, Cao Pi and Sima Yi were no longer friends, but now ruler and subject. Cao Pi used Sima Yi as a shield for his new law, but Cao Pi also hated that Sima Yi was interfering with his family business (which, as Sima Yi reasoned, was political business if the family was the royal family). So this new type of relationship was both good and bad for Cao Pi.
I wouldn't say that I like Cao Pi, especially near the end when he becomes laser focused on his goals. But I think it's cool that we saw him evolve from ally to villain so convincingly throughout the show. I don't know that Cao Pi had a "fall from grace," because he died from illness, but I think instead, we will start to see more weaknesses in his regime.
Zhen Fu
Zhen Fu was married into the Yuan family, but was kept alive. She fell in love with Cao Zhi because of his poetry and music, and for that reason, Cao Cao betrothed her to Cao Pi. Again, I acknowledge that this was Messed Up.
Near the beginning of their marriage, Cao Pi tried to make nice to Zhen Fu, but he could see that she loved Cao Zhi, and that grinded her gears. Zhen Fu in return tried to be cordial to Cao Pi, but he'd already turned all of his affection to Guo Zhao.
Throughout the years, it appeared that Cao Zhi continued to write her poetry, and that was the only solace that Zhen Fu had in an unhappy marriage. I can appreciate that.
I was sympathetic to Zhen Fu but I got a little confused near the end. She had asked Guo Zhao that if she had a son, that she ask her son to have mercy on Cao Rui. Guo Zhao had a miscarriage, but Cao Pi later wanted her to adopt Cao Li. Zhen Fu didn't know that Guo Zhao had declined the adoption, and she'd gone to Sima Yi and explicitly asked him for help to make Cao Rui the crown prince. This seemed to go against what she'd agreed on with Guo Zhao. My interpretation was that she was firmly in Cao Pi's bad books, and Cao Pi seriously questioned Cao Rui's parentage, so unless Cao Rui was made crown prince, Cao Pi had no reason to keep him alive. The other possibility was that she knew that the crown prince had to be a child of Guo Zhao, so she was indirectly asking Sima Yi to make sure that Guo Zhao adopted Cao Rui.
I did feel really bad for Zhen Fu :( She truly lived a life that was not her own.
Guo Zhao
Guo Zhao was based on Guo Nvwang. Her ties to the Sima family were written for this story. As I mentioned, it would've created more opportunities for ~drama~ between Cao Pi and Sima Yi.
Throughout the years, Cao Pi's love for Guo Zhao never faded. She was spunky and feisty, and that was what Cao Pi loved about her.
I read that historically, Guo Nvwang was a lot more conniving when it came to gaining power as Cao Pi's favourite concubine. So in history, she was definitely less cordial towards Zhen Fu (but didn't really bear any resentment for her kids). In AA, Guo Zhao and Zhen Fu have a very close relationship. She saw that Zhen Fu wasn't out there to get her, and she accepted the friendship. Over the years, these two women supported each other, and I'd argue that their relationship was even stronger than Guo Zhao's relationship with Cao Pi. After all, Cao Pi was changing right before their eyes into a ruthless leader, but Guo Zhao and Zhen Fu's relationship never changed much.
Guo Zhao was made Empress. Many officials had choice words to say about it, but Cao Pi wasn't having any of it. He was always very firm in his love for Guo Zhao. However, that also became a double edged sword.
Immediately after Zhen Fu was forced to commit suicide, Sima Yi and Shi Chun carried Cao Rui over to Guo Zhao so that she would adopt him. By doing so, she would protect Cao Rui. She'd promised Zhen Fu that if anything happened to her, she would treat her kids as her own.
I read that historically, Guo Zhao and Cao Rui had a good relationship, but he got wind of her role in his mother's death and forced her to commit suicide because of it. In AA, Guo Zhao wasn't the direct cause of Zhen Fu's death, so I wonder if the writers will stick with this story or reinterpret it.
Despite Guo Nvwang's actual character in history, I can't imagine the writers turning Guo Zhao into an "evil" character. She and Cao Pi started off with a love story, and I think it'll end a love story.
Cao Rui
Cao Rui was the son of Cao Pi and Zhen Fu. His parentage was called into question based on some rumours. The Cao clan seemed to be counting on him being removed as a prince. I wasn't really sure why they were counting on it, because at that point, Cao Rui was still a young kid that they could influence.
In any case, the plan backfired. Guo Zhao adopted Cao Rui, and as the child of the Empress, he was allowed to ascend to Crown Prince status. He was given the title Prince of Pingyuan. I'm not sure if that is the title given to the Crown Prince, or whether it's just implied that he was now the Prince with the most clout.
During Part 1, there was some hatred from Cao Rui towards Guo Zhao. He saw Cao Pi's love for Guo Zhao as a slight against his own mother. At the end of part 1, Guo Zhao adopted Cao Rui, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still harboured some of that hatred deep down inside, and forced her to commit suicide as history said he did.
From 3K, I recall that Sima Yi was on his radar, but he was convinced by his uncles to keep him far away. He called for him when he needed his help.
At the end of AA, Cao Rui and Sima Yi already had a relationship, as Sima Yi had saved his mother the first time, and saved his life after his mother truly died. He will definitely ascend to the throne in the next season, but that is when the Cao clan's power gets shaky and the Sima clan moves in. I think it'll be fun to watch. Not because I like watching kids fail, because of the politics lol.
Cao Dongxiang
She was the daughter of Cao Pi and Zhen Fu. Probably a fictional character? After all, women were not recorded in history unless they were bad or evil -_-
Shi Chun
He was Cao Pi's servant. I'm not sure if he was a eunuch, but when Cao Pi became the emperor, Shi Chun assume eunuch garb, so I assume he probably was.
At times, Shi Chun was a kindly man, and other times, he was more shrewd, when delivering edicts on behalf of Cao Pi. He was also shown to be a more level-headed man compared to Cao Pi, begging him to have mercy on Zhen Fu when Cao Pi believed that she'd' caused Guo Zhao's miscarriage.
I'll be honest, I think that Shi Chun was more of a placeholder character. I didn't think he was that well written because of how his character varied wildly depending on the situation.
Cao Zhen
Cao Zhen was believed to either be an adopted son of Cao Cao, or a distant cousin of the Cao family. In AA, he was shown to be an ally of Cao Pi. He was kind of a frat bro, and had no time for Sima Yi's nerd laws. At first, Cao Pi was able to keep things under control because Sima Yi didn't have that much official power.
However, towards the end of part 1, the hate between Cao Zhen and Sima Yi got real because Sima Yi's new law was going to undermine the power that the Cao and Xiahou clans had accumulated. At first, Cao Zhen kept trying ways to get Sima Yi to stop, including indirectly killing Sima Fang so that Sima Yi would have observe the three year mourning period and temporarily leave office.
Cao Zhen eventually came to understand that Cao Pi himself wanted the law, because he'd been burned by his family members. That's what made Cao Zhen realize that they weren't going to win against Sima Yi, and could only hope to win if they backed Cao Rui.
I didn't expect that Cao Zhen would be so nonchalant when Cao Hong was sentenced to death. He said that there was no changing Cao Pi's mind, so the only thing he could think about was getting revenge on Sima Yi. But then Cao Pi changed his mind, spared Cao Hong, and sent Sima Yi away, which took away Cao Zhen's opportunity for revenge.
I don't like his character as a person, but I think he was definitely interesting. He was a staunch ally and as Cao Pi changed into a more cruel person, he stopped siding with him, but it's not like he was siding with Sima Yi either. Cao Zhen represented the "family" side of the power struggle between Cao Pi, Sima Yi, and the Cao clan. In the next part, I'm sure we'll see him move in and try to influence Cao Rui to get rid of the Sima family.
Cao Zhang
Cao Zhang was Cao Pi's younger brother. He was known to be more of a fighting man than a political one. When Cao Cao died, Cao Zhang wanted Cao Zhi to usurp the throne, and he would back Cao Zhi. However, as we know, Cao Pi ascended to the throne on his mother's orders, and Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi were sent far away.
I do think that Cao Zhang's writing was a bit flimsy. I couldn't really tell why he hated Cao Pi, but I guess it was just that he had chosen Cao Zhi because Cao Zhi would be easier to control.
Cao Zhi
In AA, Cao Zhi was given a bigger role in Cao Pi's struggle to the top. In 3K, Cao Zhi was just kind of side character, and Cao Pi's struggle was really just establishing legitimacy in Cao Cao's eyes. So I think this show took the easy way out and made Cao Zhi a reluctant villain.
That being said, I think AA wanted to portray Cao Zhi more sympathetically. In 3K, he was kind of cocky, but in AA, he was just misguided. When Cao Pi ascended to take on the Weiwang position, Cao Zhi even helped to protect Jia Kui and Sima Yi because he didn't want to be part of a power struggle anymore.
In 3K, Cao Zhi was given an official position, but he never rose higher than that. In AA, Cao Zhi was portrayed as the favourite, and everybody believed he was going to be the crown prince. I thought this was out of character for Cao Cao (yes, Cao Cao), because someone as smart as him should've known right from the get go that his son was not going to be a good sovereign. In AA, Cao Cao only realized this at his death, but I thought it wasn't well written for Cao Cao to believe in a son that clearly had no interest.
Cao Zhi's most famous moment is when he created the "7 steps poem." Cao Pi was going to kill Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhi had to create a poem after taking 7 steps that would convince Cao Pi not to kill him. The poem moved Cao Pi, so he spared Cao Zhi and sent him far away. This scene happened close to the end of part 1, and so I'm 99% sure we won't be seeing him part 2.
Yang Xiu
Yang Xiu had a much bigger role in AA than in 3K. In 3K, Yang Xiu was just a geek who didn't know how to read the atmosphere. He was trying to be smart, but him doing so led to his misinterpretation of Cao Cao's command.
In AA, Yang Xiu's story started way earlier. He was supposed to be Sima Yi's contemporary, and sided with Cao Zhi while Sima Yi sided with Cao Pi. I think Yang Xiu was historically a supporter of Cao Zhi, but that obviously isn't what he was famous for.
Yang Xiu was pretty conniving in AA. He did a lot of things to take down Cao Zhi's opponents, even if Cao Zhi himself wasn't really on board with it.
I think Yang Xiu's rise and fall are pretty well known, seeing as how 3K and AA showed the same events. Yang Xiu first caught the eye of Cao Cao when he read "one box" as "one treat for each person." And his fall was when he misunderstood Cao Cao's command of "chicken rib." But of course, AA portrayed these scenes to be more serious.
Ding Yi
Ding Yi was Cao Zhi's other advisor. Apparently he was supposed to marry a daughter of Cao Cao, but he only had one good eye and that apparently made him less of a good candidate.
Ding Yi was just as conniving and cruel as Yang Xiu. When Cao Pi was accused of treason, Ding Yi was responsible for questioning. Cao Pi purposely riled him up by attacking the fact that he only had one working eye, so Ding Yi was extra harsh when torturing Cao Pi.
Ding Yi was also supportive of Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi usurping the throne when Cao Pi had not ascended yet. After Cao Pi successful became Weiwang, he had Ding Yi put to death. This shocked a lot of his officials, but it was appropriate for Cao Pi as he was now a sovereign in his own right.
Cao Chong
In 3K, Cao Chong was actually a pretty important character despite just being a kid with few lines. It was well known that Cao Chong was Cao Cao's favourite son. He was widely acknowledged to be a child prodigy.
In 3K, Cao Cao wanted Sima Yi to tutor Cao Chong. Cao Chong eventually died after getting poisoned. It was suspected that Cao Pi had planted the poison, but Cao Pi himself had also contracted the illness. And that is how Sima Yi eventually came to back Cao Pi. I think that Cao Pi contracting the illness was made up for the story, but I thought that was a super interesting way of showing how Cao Cao was super suspicious of even his own kids.
In AA, Cao Chong didn't have any role other than just being there. Cao Cao had said that had Cao Chong grown up, he definitely would've been his successor. But that never happened, so we'll never know.
Qinghe Princess
She was Cao Cao's daughter and a sister of Cao Pi. She married into the Xiahou family. She didn't really have a big role, but I still wanted to plug her in.
Xiahou Dun
Xiahou Dun was a well known character because he was a big source of support for Cao Cao. Also because of the eyepatch.
In AA, we saw Xiahou Dun as an old man. I believe he was related to Cao Pi through marriage, but he was the only one of Cao Pi's relatives who was understanding of Sima Yi and the need for the new law.
Unfortunately Sima Yi and Xiahou Dun could not come to an agreement in their last talk (I forgot what the talk was about) and Xiahou Dun dropped dead in Sima Yi's house. However, the Cao and Xiahou clan obviously felt that Sima Yi had purposely riled up Xiahou Dun and meant to kill him. This added even more tention to the relationship between Sima Yi and the Cao and Xiahou clans. This is part of why the Cao clan wanted to force Sima Fang to drink himself to death as well.
Xiahou Mao
I think he was Xiahou Dun's son. He chased after Sima Yi and stabbed him once to get revenge for his father's death. He didn't kill him because Sima Yi was technically supposed to be family afterwards. He then gave Sima Yi a tip that Deng Ai was in danger.
Xiahou Shang
He was part of the Xiahou clan, but he was one of the more mellow ones who didn't have a violent hatred of Sima Yi. Both he and his son always seemed to be a little calmer when it came to analyzing the new law, and they were less douchey about their family's relations to the Emperor.
Deyang Xiang Zhu
Xiahou Shang's wife. She only had a minor role when Cao Pi came over to announce the betrothal.
Xiahou Xuan
Ever since he came up, Xiahou Xuan was very mindful of Sima Yi. He understood that Sima Yi was smarter and more dangerous than he seemed. Whenever Sima Yi came up with something, Xiahou Xuan would take the time to read it and understand how new regulations would affect him and his family.
Cao Hong
I believe Cao Hong was a cousin of Cao Cao's. He was pretty rash and did not hide his hatred of Sima Yi at all. He was a constant thorn in Cao Pi's side, even from the very beginning, when Cao Cao wasn't even Weiwang yet.
He was nearly put to death after stealing some rations (I think) and saying treasonous things about how Cao Pi was running the country. Deng Ai specifically hated Cao Hong because his wife Ziye died under his hand, so he had it out for Cao Hong. The issue was that Sima Yi was also in prison, and if Cao Hong died, the entire Cao and Xiahou clans would be after the Sima family.
The Sima family sent Xiahou Hui to speak to Guo Zhao, who spoke with the Empress Dowager, who spoke with Cao Pi. At that time, Deng Ai had already retracted some of what he said too. Anyway, it basically only because of Sima Yi that Cao Hong got to stay alive. That being said, I think it was probably the end of his political career.
Xu Chu
He seemed to be a general of Cao Cao's, and also kind of acted in a bodyguard capacity for Cao Cao. He didn't have a big role, but he around Cao Cao quite often.
Guo Jia
He was an advisor of Cao Cao's, but in AA, he died super early. His parting words to Cao Cao was that if he couldn't use Sima Yi, then he had to kill him (because he'd be a force to be reckoned with).
Xun Yu
Ah, my favourite figure in the Three Kingdoms story. I was super pumped that he was being played by Wang Jinsong, who has a knack for the kindly uncle characters. Again, the only thing that bothered me about Xun Yu was the lack of a clear age difference between him and the other junior characters. Otherwise, I loved Xun Yu in AA.
Xun Yu is almost always portrayed as Cao Cao's closest advisor. In AA, they had a very close friendship, where Cao Cao told him that they had to have a relationship more trusting than that of a marriage. AA also expressed that Cao Cao and Xun Yu's friendship was based on their shared loyalty to the Han Dynasty. That was why it was such a big deal to not only Xun Yu, but their shared friendship, that Cao Cao was deviating from this promise. In 3K, I felt that Cao Cao and Xun Yu's relationship was more of a very trusting business relationship. Cao Cao valued Xun Yu's advice always, but when Xun Yu expessed disagreement with Cao Cao becoming a royal, Cao Cao knew that their run was over, and it was implied that he directly forced Xun Yu to commit suicide.
Xun Yu was also shown as a kind man. He was nice to Cao Pi because he saw the potential in him. To Cao Cao, that was probably the only reason that Cao Pi had any legitimacy. Xun Yu was also kind to Sima Yi, helping him time and time again to save his family members. When Sima Yi went to Xun Yu for help in having Sima Lang released, Xun Yu was trying to be all hard and tough, but he gave up and gave Sima Yi fatherly advice.
In AA, Xun Yu's death was shown as a combination of his loyalty for the Han Dynasty, and also a political move to show support for Cao Pi. Apparently Xun Yu and Cui Yan had an agreement made long ago that if Cao Cao no longer seemed to support the Han Dynasty, they'd both commit suicide. Kind of extreme and and only kind of solves the problem, but I'll still accept it.
Xun Yu and Cui Yan's deaths are powerful in their own way, as Cao Cao realized that two powerful advisors gave their lives to make a point that Cao Pi was the best choice of successor.
I preferred Xun Yu's circumstances of death in 3K, maybe because it was my first exposure to Xun Yu, and also because I didn't really feel that much kinship between Xun Yu and Cao Pi. I accept that Xun Yu supported Cao Pi, but his means to an end seemed a bit extreme. That being said, I still enjoyed Wang Jinsong's performance mightily (y)
Xun You
Xun You was a nephew of Xun Yu. He hasn't had much of a role in part 1 but I just plugged him in so I wouldn't forget him.
Zhong Yao
Zhong Yao was an official under Cao Cao. He replaced Ding Yi in investigating Cao Pi's treason. Zhong Yao was shown to be an ally of Sima Yi's, but also the kind of guy who was paranoid about his self preservation. He always preferred to take the easy route for him and his family. Which isn't bad, just a bit annoying for people like Sima Yi who are willing to put their life on the line for politics.
Zhong Hui
Zhong Hui was Zhong Yao's son, and an admirer of Sima Yi's. In AA, he was shown as a very chipper and bright young man, who also had a strong sense of righteousness. He became an official through Sima Yi's new law, and was also shown to be a friend to Deng Ai. I think we'll see more of him in the next season since he's one of Sima Yi's trustworthy students.
Cui Yan
He was an official under Cao Cao. His daughter was betrothed to Cao Zhi so that Cao Zhi would have powerful political backing. However, Cui Yan still favoured Cao Pi as the successor over Cao Zhi.
Cui Yan took the blame for forging treasonous documents that would frame Cao Pi. It was supposedly an agreed-upon ploy between him and Xun Yu, that their deaths were supposed to prove a point to Cao Cao. I did think this was a bit weak. I know Xun Yu and Cui Yan did have some on-screen correspondences, but I just didn't feel that they were up to something.
Cui Shen
Cui Shen was the guard of the gate that could only be used by the Emperor. Cao Zhi had broken the rules by going through the gate, and if he was just a commoner, he would've been put to death.
Ding Yi visited Cui Yan and bribed him and Cui Shen to push all the blame onto Sima Lang. Unfortuantely, Sima Yi came a step too late, and Cui Shen did just that.
Xu Shu
Xu Shu appeared very briefly in this show. In 3K, Xu Shu was helping Liu Bei, but returned to the Kingdom of Wei because Cao Cao was holding his mother hostage. However, before he left, he recommended Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei as a great advisor.
In AA, Xu Shu wanted to return home to take care of his mother. Ji Bu was sent to kill Xu Shu or bring him back, but he let him go, and Xu Shu returned home.
Cheng Yu
He was an advisor, but didn't have much of a role.
Jia Kui
Jia Kui and Sima Yi were holding down the fort in Luoyang when Cao Pi had not become the King of Wei. Jia Kui had given the imperial seal to Sima Yi, and asked him to secretly leave to give it to Cao Pi. Instead, Sima Yi handed it to Zhang Chunhua, and Sima Yi stayed to help Jia Kui.
Cao Zhang had Jia Kui and Sima Yi sent to prison and tortured, but they were later smuggled out by Cao Zhi.
Chen Qun
He was an advisor of Cao Pi's. I had no idea that he was responsible for the 9pin system of officials, so it was cool that that was made a huge aspect of the story.
Chen Qun was basically Sima Yi's bro. They were in everything together. Chen Qun also tried to convince Zhang Chunhua when she didn't want Bai Lingyun coming into their house. Unfortunately, he brought up the obedience of a woman to her husband and that definitely didn't sit well with her lol.
Deng Ai
Deng Ai was a farmer and a stutterer, but had some great ideas for agricultural reform. I thought it was cool that all of these aspects were historical.
In AA, Sima Yi was fond of Deng Ai because of his humble roots, and even came to Deng Ai's wedding to enjoy the festivities. After Ziye died, Sima Yi had to convince him that he had to control his grief.
The problem was that Deng Ai took his revenge at specifically the wrong time. He caused Cao Hong to be sentenced to death just at the time that Sima Yi was in jail, even though Bai Lingyun had specifically advised him to be careful around the royal family. He later pled with the Emperor, but luckily there were other forces in motion.
Like Zhong Hui, Deng Ai will probably stick around in the next part as one of Sima Yi's henchmen.
Ziye
Ziye was likely a fictional character. She was Deng Ai's wife, and was always very supportive of him. She died when she tried to stop him from being executed because she knew he was innocent.
Liu Xie (Emperor Xian)
Oh man. Liu Xie in AA had a much different vibe than Liu Xie in 3K. Liu Xie in AA was much more emotionally unstable. At times he was ready to throw down with Cao Cao, but then he'd back off immediately due to fear.
On the other hand, 3K Liu Xie seemed more pensive and understanding of his position. I had a discussion with my mom about Liu Xie, and she felt that Liu Xie went through all the suffering that he did because his main goal was to continue the Han Dynasty. I think this came across in 3K Liu Xie, but not so much with AA Liu Xie.
In AA, Liu Xie truly wanted to give up the throne so that he could live for himself for once. However, in 3K, Liu Xie was forced in a very humiliating way to offer the throne to Cao Pi, and then committed suicide after.
I felt that AA Liu Xie was more scared for his own life, whereas 3K Liu felt more shame than fear for the fact that the Han Dynasty would end with him. In addition, we all know Luo Jin is great at characters who are suffering, so I will give the win to 3K Liu Xie.
Elder Princess Liu
She was the daughter of Liu Xie. Cao Zhen used her to influence Cao Pi. Right off the bat, the princess was a pretty snooty person, and was causing a ruckus from day one.
Younger Princess Liu
Also a daughter of Liu Xie, but the difference was that the younger princess was a literal child. She bonded with Cao Pi by playing games. She didn't quite understand what her older sister was up to, but begged for help from Cao Pi when she was being punished by Guo Zhao for creating rumours among the harem.
Sun Quan
He only briefly appeared in part 1. I felt he was a little more authoritative than 3K Sun Quan, but that was probably because we literally saw 3K Sun Quan grow up from childhood.
Lu Xun
By the time Sima Yi went to Wuguo, I believe Zhou Yu was already dead. Anyway, Sun Quan looked to Lu Xun for advice despite his young age.
Overall
I have been enjoying this series mightily. It is very bingeable, and the acting is mostly enjoyable. The story isn't watertight, but that's fine by me. I think this show is geared towards an older audience, so there's less of the "idol drama characteristics" that usually annoy me.
I would recommend it for people who are fans of the Three Kingdoms period. The story moves pretty quickly (which makes it bingeable) and the acting is pretty good. In addition, I like that the show has a humorous tone, which totally fits with Wu Xiubo's style.
I do think that this show is geared towards a slightly older audience (i.e. not geared towards teens) as many of the characters are played by older actors, but I personally didn't mind the more mature angle at all.
Spoilers.
I apologize in advance for sloppy writing!
I can't help but compare this show to the 2010 Three Kingdoms drama because that was my first Three Kingdoms related drama. Throughout this review, I'll refer to Three Kingdoms 2010 as 3K, and I will refer to the Advisors Alliance as AA.
Story
I think one of the reasons that this show was so bingeable was because I already knew the main gist of the story. Sima Yi became known to Cao Cao, then helped Cao Pi to the height of his power, and eventually his family took over which led to the Jin Dynasty. Most of the characters are already familiar to most Chinese viewers.
Part 1 of the show ended with Cao Pi at the height of his power. He just named Cao Rui his Crown Prince. He had the new law which probably yielded some talented officials for his regime. As for Sima Yi, he was punished for attempting to interfere with Zhen Fu's forced suicide and was stripped of his position. He also went back to his ancestral home to observe the three years' mourning period that he couldn't take right after Sima Fang died.
In terms of the actual court politics, it was not the most thrilling that I've seen. Because most of the show was based on history (or interpretations of it), there was limited wiggle room. It wasn't bad though. Audience members don't tend to watch Three Kingdoms stories for the shock value because most people already know what happens anyway. It's about the delivery and I think the writers did a reasonable job.
Like the Rise of Phoenixes, I found that AA had its own "brand" of political maneuvers. In the Rise of Phoenixes, the main male character would always take poison knowingly and deal with it later. In AA, there were several times in which our protagonists had to plead for mercy on an enemy or else it would come back to bite them.
The story reinterpreted some historical facts to make them more interesting. For example, Guo Nvwang was not known to be related to the Sima family at all, and her relationship to Zhang Chunhua was likely only added to create another opportunity for tension between the Cao and Sima families. In addition, Zhang Chunhua and Sima Yi were shown to have a rather modern and non-conventional relationship.
It was fun seeing how 3K and AA interpreted the historical stories differently. After all, we only have a skeleton of what happened, and it was cool to see how the writers filled in the blanks in their own ways.
Writing
The script was very fast-moving. While there were situations that were stretched out a bit (as is the norm in Chinese dramas), I felt that every scene advanced the story, whether it was moving the plot, developing a character, or advancing a relationship. I appreciated that very few scenes seemed unnecessary.
The writing in this show felt more like a traditional Chinese drama. I say that because I of course compared it to 3K. 3K was written like a series of tales, in which the focus was the event, and characters were there to fulfill roles. For instance, there was an episode in 3K where Zhang Song wanted to serve Cao Cao but was ignored, and so he joined Liu Bei. In that episode, Cao Cao played kind of a douchebag; this was a little "off brand" because Cao Cao was known to be a pretty attentive man. However, these slightly mundane and out of character actions actually made the characters feel more mellow.
I think that the characters felt more exaggerated than in 3K because the writing of AA was more character driven. For example, Cao Cao felt more evil than he did in 3K (but more on that later). I felt that the point of 3K was the story, whereas the point of AA was the development of characters. In AA, we see characters express or show their strengths, weaknesses, motivations, etc.
That is not to say 3K is worse than AA or vice versa. I like them both! I'm just pointing out the differences I felt while watching this show.
Production
Cinematography
The cinematography was average. There were some scenes in which the camera angles were very inconvenient. For example, there were some conversations that were shot super far away, or some scenes when a ton of things were blocking the view. I think some of the weird angles are due to the fact that rooms only have so much space. But it was noticeable in a show that was otherwise supposed to be pretty high budget.
Costumes
The costumes weren't the glitziest or glamorous, but they were still good. I think that most characters only had a few outfits throughout the show. However, I still got the feeling that the costumes were sturdy and well-cared for. I've seen some costume dramas with some pretty flimsy looking costumes and those were pretty distracting.
In terms of the hair, the men had a habit of having their hair bunched up on the top. I don't know if that was on purpose, or if it was just what happened to the wigs after a while. It did get distracting, but this isn't an idol drama, so the looks aren't the top priority.
By the way, Sima Yi has this outer robe that looks a bit like a cardigan and it amused me. It looked a bit like sweater material, and I think it suited him.
Casting and Acting
Like in 3K, a lot of the characters in this show were older men. AA did have a lot more female characters than 3K though, including Zhang Chunhua, Bai Lingyun, Guo Zhao, Zhen Fu, Madame Bian, etc. I like that they were introduced and used appropriately. As we know, most women were not recorded in history, and for those who were, we know very little about them. The fact is most women were only recorded in history in relation to their husbands, and that still is the case for AA, but I like that the female characters still tried to exert their own agency in the confines of the patriarch.
I loved Wu Xiubo as Sima Yi, but I have to say that the age mismatch was distracting. I think at the beginning of the show, Sima Yi was probably in his twenties or thirties. Sima Zhao had just been born, and he was supposed to be a nobody in the eyes of the authorities.
On the other end of the spectrum, Wang Jinsong was supposed to be playing a very old Xun Yu. This was because many of the other officials would refer to him as uncle. I think we can confirm that Xun Yu was at least one generation older than Sima Yi (but I think he was two generations older than Sima Yi). The thing is, Wu Xiubo and Wang Jinsong were actually the same age. Plus, the officials who were calling Xun Yu "uncle" looked to be of a similar age.
Wu Xiubo was probably the outlier though. I think that Sima Yi was portrayed as a contemporary of Yang Xiu and Zhao Tianlin looked to be in his 30s. In addition, Cao Pi was probably around 30 or 40 as well. What I'm saying is, I'd be less confused if Sima Yi's actor for Part 1 was a tad bit younger.
That being said, no other actor would've portrayed Sima Yi as charmingly as Wu Xiubo did. Wu Xiubo portrayed Sima Yi as this bumbling nerd but also a mastermind in his own right. So I will forgive the age differences because Wu Xiubo's acting is worth it.
Music
I can't think of a single scene that does not have background music. I think the constant background music is also one of the reasons that made this show easier to binge. The background music did some of the emotional processing on behalf of the audience. It did get a little noisy at times, but overall, it's not a huge distraction.
CGI
There was a bit of CGI when it came to overhead shots, or animals. But they are few, and not a huge problem. I just thought I'd bring it up.
Characters
Sima Yi
When I watched 3K, I did not like Ni Dahong's Sima Yi. He had the presence that you'd expect of a mastermind, but I didn't feel like he was a particularly likeable character. This is why I was looking forward to Wu Xiubo's Sima Yi. I haven't actually seen Wu Xiubo in anything, but I know he was known for comedic roles, and I wanted to see his take on a more sympathetic and relatable Sima Yi.
Wu Xiubo delivered on a Sima Yi who appeared weak and frail, but was always working behind the scenes. He also had the "adorable uncle" vibe down pat and I am here for that. That being said, I think Part 1 was the easy part. Sima Yi was in a place of power up until he was stripped of his title, but he was still an employee of the state.
In the next season, we will definitely see struggles of higher stakes take place between the Cao and Sima families. As we know, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan eventually establishes the Jin Dynasty, and that is not so far off from where we are in the story now. So it will be interesting to see how Wu Xiubo may exert himself as a more scheming and authoritative Sima Yi.
Zhang Chunhua
I liked Liu Tao's portrayal of Chunhua. While Chunhua was a frustrating character because of her temper and stubbornness, those were also signs of a realistic character. Chunhua and Zhongda had a loving relationship but it was never all sunshine and rainbows. Chunhua was authoritative, but she unfortunately still lives in a patriarchal society, and Bai Lingyun entering the Sima family was a huge hit to her ego and the life she'd fallen into so comfortably for 20 years.
History dictated that Sima Yi would fall out of love with Zhang Chunhua. While I wouldn't tell off the writers if they followed this story line, I secretly hope that they won't go down this path because I want to see Chunhua and Zhongda live happily ever after. Chunhua is already starting to accept Bai Lingyun at the end of Part 1 though, so it's possible that the writers will write an amicable ending for all three characters.
Anyway, while I found Chunhua's character frustrating, I also like that she was authoritative on her own. When Sima Yi was out of the house, she had to step in as the head of the household, and she was not afraid to protect her family with the tools she has. I appreciate that about her.
We had some melodrama between Chunhua and Zhongda in Part 1. They went through a lot, and their relationship grew as their encountered the events of the story and grew themselves. In particular Chunhua learned that she had to sacrifice some things if she wanted to protect her family, which was super unfair, but it also gave her a new perspective on what she could do to protect her family.
In conclusion, I really liked Liu Tao as Zhang Chunhua. She was a character with strengths and weaknesses. Sima Yi is a nerd and she is his jock wife, and their relationship is something that I loved so much about this show.
Sima Shi
We didn't see Sima Shi's personality too much in this part. Chunhua said that Sima Shi had a personality like hers, straightforward and simple. I agree with that. Unfortunately, I think this attitude will cost him, especially when it comes to dealing with his brother :(
Towards the end of this part, Sima Shi got married to Xiahou Hui, and we saw that they had a daughter when they returned to their ancestral home with Sima Yi.
Sima Zhao
Sima Zhao, on the other hand, is the conniving one. We already saw him thinking about tactics and strategies in this part, even though he was supposed to be pretty young. I think he was probably a teenager by the of this part.
Anyway, we saw him talking about how his father could use Bai Lingyun against Cao Pi. He was also discussing "strategy" with his father about how he could convince his mother to come around on Bai Lingyun. The thing is, the way Sima Zhao was speaking about sounded so...cold? He asked his dad if his goal was for his mother to starve to death and for a second I was like ???? that's your mom bro!!!!! Sima Yi didn't seem to think anything of it, so perhaps it was a bit of an inside joke for them to talk about strategies like this, or Sima Yi straight up couldn't see that his son was a psychopath.
I was curious about why Sima Zhao seemed so unpleased on Sima Shi's wedding date. At first, I thought it was maybe because he was jealous of Sima Shi, and that history would repeat itself (i.e. Cao Pi and Cao Zhi over Zhen Fu). When Xiahou Hui saw Cao Rui in their house, Sima Zhao caught her, and cautioned her against telling anyone. So after that encounter, I thought that maybe Sima Zhao was just paranoid about Xiahou Hui being a spy. I still haven't made up my mind about this one, but we'll definitely find out in the next part.
Bai Lingyun
Bai Lingyun was pretty much the opposite of Chunhua. She was a learned woman, and more even tempered than Chunhua. What attracted Sima Yi to Bai Lingyun was that she was someone that he could talk to about intellectual pursuits such as history and strategies. That was something that Sima Yi couldn't speak about at all with Chunhua.
In the show, Bai Lingyun was supposed to be a concubine for Cao Cao, but she showed up after he'd died. Cao Pi gave her a few options. I think they were either to be a part of the Imperial Harem, or to be a worker/servant. The third option was to be a spy. I mentioned this in one of my Tumblr posts, but 3K had a similar spy character who was created for the show, whereas Madame Bai actually existed. In both cases, Sima Yi came to love this spy character.
In the show, we saw that Bai Lingyun seemed to really respect Sima Yi for his wisdom and his devotion to his wife, and I think she kind of fell in love with him because of his virtue.
At the end of the season, Sima Yi and Bai Lingyun hugged, which I was probably to assume would be the begining of a romantic relationship. We know from history that Sima Yi came to favour Madame Bai over Zhang Chunhua. I do hope the show does not include this love triangle, and I think the writers will instead opt for them to stay as one big happy family until the very end.
At the end of the season, Bai Lingyun said she would stay in the city to act as Sima Yi's eyes and ears while he was back in his ancestral home.
Sima Fang
A difference between 3K and AA was that in the former, Sima Yi was recruited by Cao Cao directly, whereas in AA, Sima Yi was known to the authorities as the son of Sima Fang, who was an official under Cao Cao.
Sima Fang was always kind of a difficult dad. He had a lot of kids to worry about, and he was definitely worried about each and every one of them. He was always scared of them taking risks.
By the time of his death, I was pretty attached to him. He'd stepped down from his official duties long ago, seeing as how he was so old. Chunhua said that he woke up early and took walks all the time because he didn't want Zhongda to worry about his health while he was out.
At the end of the day, Sima Fang was just a worrisome dad, and his personality really came through when he was interacting with his family members. Goodbye Wengweng ;_;
Sima Lang
He was Sima Yi's only older brother. In AA, he was recruited by Yang Xiu to work for Cao Zhi, but really, he was holding him hostage to tame Sima Yi.
Sima Lang was put into prison after the incident in which Cao Zhi had used the gate that was only allowed for the Emperor. Yang Xiu and Ding Yi had blamed it all on Sima Lang. Sima Lang only got out of jail after Sima Yi pleaded with Cao Pi to plead with Cao Cao to forgive Cao Zhi. After he left prison, Sima Lang had contracted a very infectious diseas and died. I believe his wife had died early on, and had left behind a daughter, but we never really saw her after the kids grew up.
Sima Fu
I'm going to be honest here. Wang Dong is pretty handsome.
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Sima Fu. He was Sima Yi's younger brother, and was also sort of in love with Guo Zhao, but saw that she loved Cao Pi, and so he helped her elope.
Eventually, he joined Cao Pi's support squad as an official as part of the plea to Cao Pi to plead with Cao Cao to forgive Cao Zhi.
I read that Sima Fu also had a pretty brilliant career, but he was just massively overshadowed by Sima Yi.
Xiahou Hui
Xiahou Hui joined the Sima family near the end of part 1 by marrying Sima Shi, and he had a daughter with him by the time they were back in their ancestral home.
Although she had pled with Empress Guo for Cao Hong's life on behalf of the Sima family, I'm not sure if she's out of the clear just yet. As mentioned before, Sima Zhao was a bit displeased on her wedding day (maybe due to jealousy) but he was definitely suspicious of her when she saw something fishy in their house.
I think Xiahou Hui is still young, but perhaps in the next season, we might see her having some more agency and making some of her own decisions in terms of who she wants to support.
Hou Ji
He was a household servant of the Sima family. Also a very nice man :) He had no ulterior motives, and was bros with the entire fam. A good dude.
Xiaoyuan
Xiaoyuan was Bai Lingyun's personal servant. It seems that they had a pretty close relationship. The thing is, Xiaoyuan was not subtle with her expressions, so she always made it super clear that she was suspicious of the entire Sima family.
Xiaoyuan was actively spying on the family and wanting to report it to the Emperor. I wonder if she was also reporting to someone else though. It was never really cleared up in this season. Nevertheless, Bai Lingyun put her foot down about the fact that they were now supporting the Sima family.
Ji Bu
Ji Bu was a friend of Chunhua's that we met early on. Apparently they'd met when he protected Chunhua while on a journey. The thing is, they had a pretty close relationship in which Ji Bu called Chunhua by her given name which made Sima Yi SUPER SUSPICIOUS?
I think Ji Bu and Chunhua's relationship was that of a very close friendship, almost like siblings. Ji Bu had asked Chunhua whether Sima Yi could protect her, and she assured him that even though he was just a scholar, that he was extremely capable.
Ji Bu came up from time to time to save Sima Yi when he was in mortal danger.
Cao Cao
I admit that I was a BIG FAN of Chen Jianbin's Cao Cao in 3K. He was just the right amount of suspicious, ambitious, and cunning, and he delivered it in a way that was charming and just a bit intimidating. On the other hand. Yu Hewei's Cao Cao had a bigger personality, and I felt that he was more emotional of a person than Chen Jianbin's Cao Cao. I'll call them YHWCC and CJBCC
YHWCC showed clear favouritism towards Cao Zhi, whereas CJBCC was a lot more subtle about his favouritism. Actually, in 3K, I only remembered CJBCC's favouritism towards Cao Chong, so actually the fact that Cao Pi and Cao Zhi were dueling was a bit surprising. After all, Cao Zhi was always known as a poet and a drunk, so there's no way someone as smart as Cao Cao would've thought he'd make a good sovereign.
YHWCC's loathing against Cao Pi was also more pronounced in AA. I know that many parents in the world single out kids to hate for no reason of their own doing, and that's how I felt about YHWCC's attitude towards Cao Pi.
YHWCC in general was a character that was more emotionally open, whereas CJBCC kept all of his feelings hidden. We always saw it on his face when YHWCC was pleased, angry, sad, etc. He never hid anything, and that definitely gave a different vibe to Cao Cao.
If I hadn't seen 3K, I might've enjoyed Yu Hewei's performance more, but as of now, no one can top Chen Jianbin's performance in my mind. That being said, I can't say that Yu Hewei did a bad job. He just interpreted the character differently.
Madame Bian
Madame Bian was shown to be the kind of character who was overly sentimental. She was always about maintaining the peace among her sons, but obviously that wasn't so easy because of who she married.
The first time I felt that she really carried out political duty was when Cao Cao had died, and the sons were fighting for the position. Cao Pi refused to ascend to the throne because he had to pay respects to his father's recent death. However, his refusal to become the King of Wei was creating an opportunity for Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi to intercept.
Sima Fu, Guo Zhao, and Zhang Chunhua, along with many other officials, pleaded with Madame Bian to order Cao Pi to ascend to the throne. If Cao Pi did not observe funeral traditions, he felt he'd be unpious, but if Madame Bian ordered him to ascend the throne, then not ascending would actually be unpious of him. I thought it was an interesting political maneuver.
However, in the aftermath, Madame Bian continued to be a sentimental person. Cao Pi had sent Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi away. Cao Pi was also freezing out his uncles and cousins, so they went to Madame Bian to try to get her to knock some sense into Cao Pi. However, at this time, Cao Pi was no longer the man that he was, and he stood his ground on freezing out his family.
Madame Bian had also asked Cao Pi when he was going to make Zhen Fu empress and Cao Rui crown prince. She likely didn't know that Cao Pi loved Guo Zhao, but I think all of this stems from the fact that she felt like her son wasn't taking care of his family properly. It's like when parents ask their kids why they haven't married. This is just the Imperial Chinese royalty version.
Cao Pi
At the beginning of the show, I thought that Cao Pi was painted more sympathetically. He was simple and naive, and sometimes even childish. His way of thinking was very straightforward. A part of him always craved his father's love, and that was probably where some of the childishness and rashness came from.
With the help of Sima Yi, we saw him get out of several messes with his father. Cao Cao also started to see what Cao Pi could achieve since he had the loyalty of Sima Yi.
After the death of Cao Cao, Cao Zhen had said that Cao Pi was becoming a lot like his father and I totally agree. I honestly can't pinpoint when it happened, but Cao Pi at the end of the season felt just as calculating and cold as Cao Cao.
The sticking point for Cao Pi was that he was constantly hurt by his family, and that was why he was so on board with Sima Yi and Chun Qun's new law about allowing commoners to join the official ranks.
Another sticking point for Cao Pi was his wives. He first met Zhen Fu after infiltrating Yuan Shao's home. She was previously married to Yuan Shao's son, if I remember correctly. She was quite beautiful, so of course she drew the attention of both Cao Pi and Cao Zhi. Anyway, Cao Cao granted Zhen Fu to Cao Pi, but at that time, Zhen Fu had already fallen in love with Cao Zhi because of his poetry and music. This made Cao Pi pretty angry because he was already being passed over by his father. He was willing to be nice to Zhen Fu but he couldn't when she so clearly longed for Cao Zhi.
As for Guo Zhao, in AA, she was written to be related to the Sima family as her godsister was Zhang Chunhua, and it seems she spent many years with the Sima family (she mentioned that Sima Fang even treated her like a daughter). Every time Guo Zhao asked Cao Pi to help the Sima family, he would bring up the fact that they don't even have the same last names. I felt this was a bit hypocritical of Cao Pi. He and his own blood family couldn't even get along, so perhaps it wasn't fair that Guo Zhao could love a family with whom she didn't even share a family name.
Speaking of Guo Zhao, Cao Pi becomes blinded at the end of part 1 when it came to her and their child. Guo Zhao was repeatedly under fire from the elder Princess Liu who wanted to wreak havoc. The thing was, while Cao Pi didn't believe any of the lies against Guo Zhao, he directed all of his hate towards Zhen Fu.
Cao Pi made it clear that Zhen Fu was betrothed to him specifically because Cao Zhi liked her, and Cao Cao wanted Cao Zhi to grow aggressive and combatant. This was obviously messed up, and it messed Cao Pi up too. Zhen Fu tried to clear things up with Cao Pi at the end of season 1, but he wouldn't listen to reason anymore. Her supposed slight against Guo Zhao by causing her miscarriage could be forgiven if Guo Zhao herself forgave Zhen Fu. But Zhen Fu having Cao Zhi's child was a slight against himself, and that was something that he would have the last word about.
Obviously Cao Pi was a much bigger character in AA than in 3K. In 3K, I felt that Cao Pi was kind of a weaselly character? The actor's presence wasn't very imposing or impactful, but he still had his cunning. But soon after ascending the throne, Cao Pi had died, and we never even got to the matters of succession and whether Cao Rui was really Cao Pi's son. At the end of part 1, Cao Pi already started spitting blood, so I think this was foreboding of his illness.
In terms of his relationship with Sima Yi, Cao Cao outlined it clearly. Once he became the ruler of his state, Cao Pi and Sima Yi were no longer friends, but now ruler and subject. Cao Pi used Sima Yi as a shield for his new law, but Cao Pi also hated that Sima Yi was interfering with his family business (which, as Sima Yi reasoned, was political business if the family was the royal family). So this new type of relationship was both good and bad for Cao Pi.
I wouldn't say that I like Cao Pi, especially near the end when he becomes laser focused on his goals. But I think it's cool that we saw him evolve from ally to villain so convincingly throughout the show. I don't know that Cao Pi had a "fall from grace," because he died from illness, but I think instead, we will start to see more weaknesses in his regime.
Zhen Fu
Zhen Fu was married into the Yuan family, but was kept alive. She fell in love with Cao Zhi because of his poetry and music, and for that reason, Cao Cao betrothed her to Cao Pi. Again, I acknowledge that this was Messed Up.
Near the beginning of their marriage, Cao Pi tried to make nice to Zhen Fu, but he could see that she loved Cao Zhi, and that grinded her gears. Zhen Fu in return tried to be cordial to Cao Pi, but he'd already turned all of his affection to Guo Zhao.
Throughout the years, it appeared that Cao Zhi continued to write her poetry, and that was the only solace that Zhen Fu had in an unhappy marriage. I can appreciate that.
I was sympathetic to Zhen Fu but I got a little confused near the end. She had asked Guo Zhao that if she had a son, that she ask her son to have mercy on Cao Rui. Guo Zhao had a miscarriage, but Cao Pi later wanted her to adopt Cao Li. Zhen Fu didn't know that Guo Zhao had declined the adoption, and she'd gone to Sima Yi and explicitly asked him for help to make Cao Rui the crown prince. This seemed to go against what she'd agreed on with Guo Zhao. My interpretation was that she was firmly in Cao Pi's bad books, and Cao Pi seriously questioned Cao Rui's parentage, so unless Cao Rui was made crown prince, Cao Pi had no reason to keep him alive. The other possibility was that she knew that the crown prince had to be a child of Guo Zhao, so she was indirectly asking Sima Yi to make sure that Guo Zhao adopted Cao Rui.
I did feel really bad for Zhen Fu :( She truly lived a life that was not her own.
Guo Zhao
Guo Zhao was based on Guo Nvwang. Her ties to the Sima family were written for this story. As I mentioned, it would've created more opportunities for ~drama~ between Cao Pi and Sima Yi.
Throughout the years, Cao Pi's love for Guo Zhao never faded. She was spunky and feisty, and that was what Cao Pi loved about her.
I read that historically, Guo Nvwang was a lot more conniving when it came to gaining power as Cao Pi's favourite concubine. So in history, she was definitely less cordial towards Zhen Fu (but didn't really bear any resentment for her kids). In AA, Guo Zhao and Zhen Fu have a very close relationship. She saw that Zhen Fu wasn't out there to get her, and she accepted the friendship. Over the years, these two women supported each other, and I'd argue that their relationship was even stronger than Guo Zhao's relationship with Cao Pi. After all, Cao Pi was changing right before their eyes into a ruthless leader, but Guo Zhao and Zhen Fu's relationship never changed much.
Guo Zhao was made Empress. Many officials had choice words to say about it, but Cao Pi wasn't having any of it. He was always very firm in his love for Guo Zhao. However, that also became a double edged sword.
Immediately after Zhen Fu was forced to commit suicide, Sima Yi and Shi Chun carried Cao Rui over to Guo Zhao so that she would adopt him. By doing so, she would protect Cao Rui. She'd promised Zhen Fu that if anything happened to her, she would treat her kids as her own.
I read that historically, Guo Zhao and Cao Rui had a good relationship, but he got wind of her role in his mother's death and forced her to commit suicide because of it. In AA, Guo Zhao wasn't the direct cause of Zhen Fu's death, so I wonder if the writers will stick with this story or reinterpret it.
Despite Guo Nvwang's actual character in history, I can't imagine the writers turning Guo Zhao into an "evil" character. She and Cao Pi started off with a love story, and I think it'll end a love story.
Cao Rui
Cao Rui was the son of Cao Pi and Zhen Fu. His parentage was called into question based on some rumours. The Cao clan seemed to be counting on him being removed as a prince. I wasn't really sure why they were counting on it, because at that point, Cao Rui was still a young kid that they could influence.
In any case, the plan backfired. Guo Zhao adopted Cao Rui, and as the child of the Empress, he was allowed to ascend to Crown Prince status. He was given the title Prince of Pingyuan. I'm not sure if that is the title given to the Crown Prince, or whether it's just implied that he was now the Prince with the most clout.
During Part 1, there was some hatred from Cao Rui towards Guo Zhao. He saw Cao Pi's love for Guo Zhao as a slight against his own mother. At the end of part 1, Guo Zhao adopted Cao Rui, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still harboured some of that hatred deep down inside, and forced her to commit suicide as history said he did.
From 3K, I recall that Sima Yi was on his radar, but he was convinced by his uncles to keep him far away. He called for him when he needed his help.
At the end of AA, Cao Rui and Sima Yi already had a relationship, as Sima Yi had saved his mother the first time, and saved his life after his mother truly died. He will definitely ascend to the throne in the next season, but that is when the Cao clan's power gets shaky and the Sima clan moves in. I think it'll be fun to watch. Not because I like watching kids fail, because of the politics lol.
Cao Dongxiang
She was the daughter of Cao Pi and Zhen Fu. Probably a fictional character? After all, women were not recorded in history unless they were bad or evil -_-
Shi Chun
He was Cao Pi's servant. I'm not sure if he was a eunuch, but when Cao Pi became the emperor, Shi Chun assume eunuch garb, so I assume he probably was.
At times, Shi Chun was a kindly man, and other times, he was more shrewd, when delivering edicts on behalf of Cao Pi. He was also shown to be a more level-headed man compared to Cao Pi, begging him to have mercy on Zhen Fu when Cao Pi believed that she'd' caused Guo Zhao's miscarriage.
I'll be honest, I think that Shi Chun was more of a placeholder character. I didn't think he was that well written because of how his character varied wildly depending on the situation.
Cao Zhen
Cao Zhen was believed to either be an adopted son of Cao Cao, or a distant cousin of the Cao family. In AA, he was shown to be an ally of Cao Pi. He was kind of a frat bro, and had no time for Sima Yi's nerd laws. At first, Cao Pi was able to keep things under control because Sima Yi didn't have that much official power.
However, towards the end of part 1, the hate between Cao Zhen and Sima Yi got real because Sima Yi's new law was going to undermine the power that the Cao and Xiahou clans had accumulated. At first, Cao Zhen kept trying ways to get Sima Yi to stop, including indirectly killing Sima Fang so that Sima Yi would have observe the three year mourning period and temporarily leave office.
Cao Zhen eventually came to understand that Cao Pi himself wanted the law, because he'd been burned by his family members. That's what made Cao Zhen realize that they weren't going to win against Sima Yi, and could only hope to win if they backed Cao Rui.
I didn't expect that Cao Zhen would be so nonchalant when Cao Hong was sentenced to death. He said that there was no changing Cao Pi's mind, so the only thing he could think about was getting revenge on Sima Yi. But then Cao Pi changed his mind, spared Cao Hong, and sent Sima Yi away, which took away Cao Zhen's opportunity for revenge.
I don't like his character as a person, but I think he was definitely interesting. He was a staunch ally and as Cao Pi changed into a more cruel person, he stopped siding with him, but it's not like he was siding with Sima Yi either. Cao Zhen represented the "family" side of the power struggle between Cao Pi, Sima Yi, and the Cao clan. In the next part, I'm sure we'll see him move in and try to influence Cao Rui to get rid of the Sima family.
Cao Zhang
Cao Zhang was Cao Pi's younger brother. He was known to be more of a fighting man than a political one. When Cao Cao died, Cao Zhang wanted Cao Zhi to usurp the throne, and he would back Cao Zhi. However, as we know, Cao Pi ascended to the throne on his mother's orders, and Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi were sent far away.
I do think that Cao Zhang's writing was a bit flimsy. I couldn't really tell why he hated Cao Pi, but I guess it was just that he had chosen Cao Zhi because Cao Zhi would be easier to control.
Cao Zhi
In AA, Cao Zhi was given a bigger role in Cao Pi's struggle to the top. In 3K, Cao Zhi was just kind of side character, and Cao Pi's struggle was really just establishing legitimacy in Cao Cao's eyes. So I think this show took the easy way out and made Cao Zhi a reluctant villain.
That being said, I think AA wanted to portray Cao Zhi more sympathetically. In 3K, he was kind of cocky, but in AA, he was just misguided. When Cao Pi ascended to take on the Weiwang position, Cao Zhi even helped to protect Jia Kui and Sima Yi because he didn't want to be part of a power struggle anymore.
In 3K, Cao Zhi was given an official position, but he never rose higher than that. In AA, Cao Zhi was portrayed as the favourite, and everybody believed he was going to be the crown prince. I thought this was out of character for Cao Cao (yes, Cao Cao), because someone as smart as him should've known right from the get go that his son was not going to be a good sovereign. In AA, Cao Cao only realized this at his death, but I thought it wasn't well written for Cao Cao to believe in a son that clearly had no interest.
Cao Zhi's most famous moment is when he created the "7 steps poem." Cao Pi was going to kill Cao Zhi, and Cao Zhi had to create a poem after taking 7 steps that would convince Cao Pi not to kill him. The poem moved Cao Pi, so he spared Cao Zhi and sent him far away. This scene happened close to the end of part 1, and so I'm 99% sure we won't be seeing him part 2.
Yang Xiu
Yang Xiu had a much bigger role in AA than in 3K. In 3K, Yang Xiu was just a geek who didn't know how to read the atmosphere. He was trying to be smart, but him doing so led to his misinterpretation of Cao Cao's command.
In AA, Yang Xiu's story started way earlier. He was supposed to be Sima Yi's contemporary, and sided with Cao Zhi while Sima Yi sided with Cao Pi. I think Yang Xiu was historically a supporter of Cao Zhi, but that obviously isn't what he was famous for.
Yang Xiu was pretty conniving in AA. He did a lot of things to take down Cao Zhi's opponents, even if Cao Zhi himself wasn't really on board with it.
I think Yang Xiu's rise and fall are pretty well known, seeing as how 3K and AA showed the same events. Yang Xiu first caught the eye of Cao Cao when he read "one box" as "one treat for each person." And his fall was when he misunderstood Cao Cao's command of "chicken rib." But of course, AA portrayed these scenes to be more serious.
Ding Yi
Ding Yi was Cao Zhi's other advisor. Apparently he was supposed to marry a daughter of Cao Cao, but he only had one good eye and that apparently made him less of a good candidate.
Ding Yi was just as conniving and cruel as Yang Xiu. When Cao Pi was accused of treason, Ding Yi was responsible for questioning. Cao Pi purposely riled him up by attacking the fact that he only had one working eye, so Ding Yi was extra harsh when torturing Cao Pi.
Ding Yi was also supportive of Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi usurping the throne when Cao Pi had not ascended yet. After Cao Pi successful became Weiwang, he had Ding Yi put to death. This shocked a lot of his officials, but it was appropriate for Cao Pi as he was now a sovereign in his own right.
Cao Chong
In 3K, Cao Chong was actually a pretty important character despite just being a kid with few lines. It was well known that Cao Chong was Cao Cao's favourite son. He was widely acknowledged to be a child prodigy.
In 3K, Cao Cao wanted Sima Yi to tutor Cao Chong. Cao Chong eventually died after getting poisoned. It was suspected that Cao Pi had planted the poison, but Cao Pi himself had also contracted the illness. And that is how Sima Yi eventually came to back Cao Pi. I think that Cao Pi contracting the illness was made up for the story, but I thought that was a super interesting way of showing how Cao Cao was super suspicious of even his own kids.
In AA, Cao Chong didn't have any role other than just being there. Cao Cao had said that had Cao Chong grown up, he definitely would've been his successor. But that never happened, so we'll never know.
Qinghe Princess
She was Cao Cao's daughter and a sister of Cao Pi. She married into the Xiahou family. She didn't really have a big role, but I still wanted to plug her in.
Xiahou Dun
Xiahou Dun was a well known character because he was a big source of support for Cao Cao. Also because of the eyepatch.
In AA, we saw Xiahou Dun as an old man. I believe he was related to Cao Pi through marriage, but he was the only one of Cao Pi's relatives who was understanding of Sima Yi and the need for the new law.
Unfortunately Sima Yi and Xiahou Dun could not come to an agreement in their last talk (I forgot what the talk was about) and Xiahou Dun dropped dead in Sima Yi's house. However, the Cao and Xiahou clan obviously felt that Sima Yi had purposely riled up Xiahou Dun and meant to kill him. This added even more tention to the relationship between Sima Yi and the Cao and Xiahou clans. This is part of why the Cao clan wanted to force Sima Fang to drink himself to death as well.
Xiahou Mao
I think he was Xiahou Dun's son. He chased after Sima Yi and stabbed him once to get revenge for his father's death. He didn't kill him because Sima Yi was technically supposed to be family afterwards. He then gave Sima Yi a tip that Deng Ai was in danger.
Xiahou Shang
He was part of the Xiahou clan, but he was one of the more mellow ones who didn't have a violent hatred of Sima Yi. Both he and his son always seemed to be a little calmer when it came to analyzing the new law, and they were less douchey about their family's relations to the Emperor.
Deyang Xiang Zhu
Xiahou Shang's wife. She only had a minor role when Cao Pi came over to announce the betrothal.
Xiahou Xuan
Ever since he came up, Xiahou Xuan was very mindful of Sima Yi. He understood that Sima Yi was smarter and more dangerous than he seemed. Whenever Sima Yi came up with something, Xiahou Xuan would take the time to read it and understand how new regulations would affect him and his family.
Cao Hong
I believe Cao Hong was a cousin of Cao Cao's. He was pretty rash and did not hide his hatred of Sima Yi at all. He was a constant thorn in Cao Pi's side, even from the very beginning, when Cao Cao wasn't even Weiwang yet.
He was nearly put to death after stealing some rations (I think) and saying treasonous things about how Cao Pi was running the country. Deng Ai specifically hated Cao Hong because his wife Ziye died under his hand, so he had it out for Cao Hong. The issue was that Sima Yi was also in prison, and if Cao Hong died, the entire Cao and Xiahou clans would be after the Sima family.
The Sima family sent Xiahou Hui to speak to Guo Zhao, who spoke with the Empress Dowager, who spoke with Cao Pi. At that time, Deng Ai had already retracted some of what he said too. Anyway, it basically only because of Sima Yi that Cao Hong got to stay alive. That being said, I think it was probably the end of his political career.
Xu Chu
He seemed to be a general of Cao Cao's, and also kind of acted in a bodyguard capacity for Cao Cao. He didn't have a big role, but he around Cao Cao quite often.
Guo Jia
He was an advisor of Cao Cao's, but in AA, he died super early. His parting words to Cao Cao was that if he couldn't use Sima Yi, then he had to kill him (because he'd be a force to be reckoned with).
Xun Yu
Ah, my favourite figure in the Three Kingdoms story. I was super pumped that he was being played by Wang Jinsong, who has a knack for the kindly uncle characters. Again, the only thing that bothered me about Xun Yu was the lack of a clear age difference between him and the other junior characters. Otherwise, I loved Xun Yu in AA.
Xun Yu is almost always portrayed as Cao Cao's closest advisor. In AA, they had a very close friendship, where Cao Cao told him that they had to have a relationship more trusting than that of a marriage. AA also expressed that Cao Cao and Xun Yu's friendship was based on their shared loyalty to the Han Dynasty. That was why it was such a big deal to not only Xun Yu, but their shared friendship, that Cao Cao was deviating from this promise. In 3K, I felt that Cao Cao and Xun Yu's relationship was more of a very trusting business relationship. Cao Cao valued Xun Yu's advice always, but when Xun Yu expessed disagreement with Cao Cao becoming a royal, Cao Cao knew that their run was over, and it was implied that he directly forced Xun Yu to commit suicide.
Xun Yu was also shown as a kind man. He was nice to Cao Pi because he saw the potential in him. To Cao Cao, that was probably the only reason that Cao Pi had any legitimacy. Xun Yu was also kind to Sima Yi, helping him time and time again to save his family members. When Sima Yi went to Xun Yu for help in having Sima Lang released, Xun Yu was trying to be all hard and tough, but he gave up and gave Sima Yi fatherly advice.
In AA, Xun Yu's death was shown as a combination of his loyalty for the Han Dynasty, and also a political move to show support for Cao Pi. Apparently Xun Yu and Cui Yan had an agreement made long ago that if Cao Cao no longer seemed to support the Han Dynasty, they'd both commit suicide. Kind of extreme and and only kind of solves the problem, but I'll still accept it.
Xun Yu and Cui Yan's deaths are powerful in their own way, as Cao Cao realized that two powerful advisors gave their lives to make a point that Cao Pi was the best choice of successor.
I preferred Xun Yu's circumstances of death in 3K, maybe because it was my first exposure to Xun Yu, and also because I didn't really feel that much kinship between Xun Yu and Cao Pi. I accept that Xun Yu supported Cao Pi, but his means to an end seemed a bit extreme. That being said, I still enjoyed Wang Jinsong's performance mightily (y)
Xun You
Xun You was a nephew of Xun Yu. He hasn't had much of a role in part 1 but I just plugged him in so I wouldn't forget him.
Zhong Yao
Zhong Yao was an official under Cao Cao. He replaced Ding Yi in investigating Cao Pi's treason. Zhong Yao was shown to be an ally of Sima Yi's, but also the kind of guy who was paranoid about his self preservation. He always preferred to take the easy route for him and his family. Which isn't bad, just a bit annoying for people like Sima Yi who are willing to put their life on the line for politics.
Zhong Hui
Zhong Hui was Zhong Yao's son, and an admirer of Sima Yi's. In AA, he was shown as a very chipper and bright young man, who also had a strong sense of righteousness. He became an official through Sima Yi's new law, and was also shown to be a friend to Deng Ai. I think we'll see more of him in the next season since he's one of Sima Yi's trustworthy students.
Cui Yan
He was an official under Cao Cao. His daughter was betrothed to Cao Zhi so that Cao Zhi would have powerful political backing. However, Cui Yan still favoured Cao Pi as the successor over Cao Zhi.
Cui Yan took the blame for forging treasonous documents that would frame Cao Pi. It was supposedly an agreed-upon ploy between him and Xun Yu, that their deaths were supposed to prove a point to Cao Cao. I did think this was a bit weak. I know Xun Yu and Cui Yan did have some on-screen correspondences, but I just didn't feel that they were up to something.
Cui Shen
Cui Shen was the guard of the gate that could only be used by the Emperor. Cao Zhi had broken the rules by going through the gate, and if he was just a commoner, he would've been put to death.
Ding Yi visited Cui Yan and bribed him and Cui Shen to push all the blame onto Sima Lang. Unfortuantely, Sima Yi came a step too late, and Cui Shen did just that.
Xu Shu
Xu Shu appeared very briefly in this show. In 3K, Xu Shu was helping Liu Bei, but returned to the Kingdom of Wei because Cao Cao was holding his mother hostage. However, before he left, he recommended Zhuge Liang to Liu Bei as a great advisor.
In AA, Xu Shu wanted to return home to take care of his mother. Ji Bu was sent to kill Xu Shu or bring him back, but he let him go, and Xu Shu returned home.
Cheng Yu
He was an advisor, but didn't have much of a role.
Jia Kui
Jia Kui and Sima Yi were holding down the fort in Luoyang when Cao Pi had not become the King of Wei. Jia Kui had given the imperial seal to Sima Yi, and asked him to secretly leave to give it to Cao Pi. Instead, Sima Yi handed it to Zhang Chunhua, and Sima Yi stayed to help Jia Kui.
Cao Zhang had Jia Kui and Sima Yi sent to prison and tortured, but they were later smuggled out by Cao Zhi.
Chen Qun
He was an advisor of Cao Pi's. I had no idea that he was responsible for the 9pin system of officials, so it was cool that that was made a huge aspect of the story.
Chen Qun was basically Sima Yi's bro. They were in everything together. Chen Qun also tried to convince Zhang Chunhua when she didn't want Bai Lingyun coming into their house. Unfortunately, he brought up the obedience of a woman to her husband and that definitely didn't sit well with her lol.
Deng Ai
Deng Ai was a farmer and a stutterer, but had some great ideas for agricultural reform. I thought it was cool that all of these aspects were historical.
In AA, Sima Yi was fond of Deng Ai because of his humble roots, and even came to Deng Ai's wedding to enjoy the festivities. After Ziye died, Sima Yi had to convince him that he had to control his grief.
The problem was that Deng Ai took his revenge at specifically the wrong time. He caused Cao Hong to be sentenced to death just at the time that Sima Yi was in jail, even though Bai Lingyun had specifically advised him to be careful around the royal family. He later pled with the Emperor, but luckily there were other forces in motion.
Like Zhong Hui, Deng Ai will probably stick around in the next part as one of Sima Yi's henchmen.
Ziye
Ziye was likely a fictional character. She was Deng Ai's wife, and was always very supportive of him. She died when she tried to stop him from being executed because she knew he was innocent.
Liu Xie (Emperor Xian)
Oh man. Liu Xie in AA had a much different vibe than Liu Xie in 3K. Liu Xie in AA was much more emotionally unstable. At times he was ready to throw down with Cao Cao, but then he'd back off immediately due to fear.
On the other hand, 3K Liu Xie seemed more pensive and understanding of his position. I had a discussion with my mom about Liu Xie, and she felt that Liu Xie went through all the suffering that he did because his main goal was to continue the Han Dynasty. I think this came across in 3K Liu Xie, but not so much with AA Liu Xie.
In AA, Liu Xie truly wanted to give up the throne so that he could live for himself for once. However, in 3K, Liu Xie was forced in a very humiliating way to offer the throne to Cao Pi, and then committed suicide after.
I felt that AA Liu Xie was more scared for his own life, whereas 3K Liu felt more shame than fear for the fact that the Han Dynasty would end with him. In addition, we all know Luo Jin is great at characters who are suffering, so I will give the win to 3K Liu Xie.
Elder Princess Liu
She was the daughter of Liu Xie. Cao Zhen used her to influence Cao Pi. Right off the bat, the princess was a pretty snooty person, and was causing a ruckus from day one.
Younger Princess Liu
Also a daughter of Liu Xie, but the difference was that the younger princess was a literal child. She bonded with Cao Pi by playing games. She didn't quite understand what her older sister was up to, but begged for help from Cao Pi when she was being punished by Guo Zhao for creating rumours among the harem.
Sun Quan
He only briefly appeared in part 1. I felt he was a little more authoritative than 3K Sun Quan, but that was probably because we literally saw 3K Sun Quan grow up from childhood.
Lu Xun
By the time Sima Yi went to Wuguo, I believe Zhou Yu was already dead. Anyway, Sun Quan looked to Lu Xun for advice despite his young age.
Overall
I have been enjoying this series mightily. It is very bingeable, and the acting is mostly enjoyable. The story isn't watertight, but that's fine by me. I think this show is geared towards an older audience, so there's less of the "idol drama characteristics" that usually annoy me.