Overview
- Disney+ and Hulu released the first four episodes on Tuesday after a Seoul press conference, and the remaining six episodes will arrive two at a time on Wednesdays beginning Nov. 11 and concluding Nov. 25.
- The series stars Shin Min-a as Empress Navier, Ju Ji-hoon as Emperor Sovieshu, Lee Jong-suk as Crown Prince Heinrey and Lee Se-young as Rashta, with scripts by Yeoh Geena and Hyun Choongyeol and direction by Cho Suwon.
- The show adapts a hugely popular Naver Webtoon and web novel that together have drawn roughly 2.97 billion views and centers on palace romance, betrayal and a heroine who seeks to remake her fate without revealing plot outcomes.
- Producers built a European-inspired court by filming at locations including Schleissheim Palace in Germany and Kromeriz Gardens and Kutna Hora in the Czech Republic, a choice that has drawn both praise for scale and debate among fans over visual authenticity.
- The early premiere caps strong pre-release momentum from sold-out Busan festival screenings and a viral trailer and signals a major bet by Disney+ on big-budget Korean drama as part of its global content push.