This drama is a story about Kim Chun-chu, who led the planning and realization of the unification of three ancient kingdoms - Koguryo, Baekjae and Shilla - and achieved the restoration of Shilla Kingdom. He was the first Shilla king to become king from the "jingol" class at a time when only those from the "songgol (royal family)" class could be king. He was a master of diplomacy endowed with a brilliant diplomatic sense, a fact that was acknowledged by neighboring countries' leaders, such as Taejong of Dang Dynasty, Yeongesomun of Koguryo and Emperor Tenji of Japan. This drama depicts the turbulent success story of a man who was born a ruined royal offspring and was credited with realizing the first-ever united kingdom on the Korean peninsular, as well as the exemplary friendship between him and General Kim Yu-sin, his political rival as well as a lifelong friend. The Shilla people praised Kim Chun-chu as the king who saved the world. However, from the perspective of a nationalist view of history, he is being underestimated harshly. Danjae Shin Chae-ho criticized the unification of three kingdoms led by Shilla as "an event that killed brothers by inducing burglars from outside". Was Shilla's unification a negative event that attracted foreign power to the Korean peninsular and made the unification territorially incomplete? Is Kim Chun-chu a character who betrayed the national independence for the unification of Shilla?