The Fae King Is My Shadow Daddy Review: A Fantasy Vertical Worth Watching
By Amber Boudreau
Watch on: DramaBox
Starring: Kateryna Belinska and Logai Arthur
Genres: Enemies to Lovers, Fantasy, Romance
Episodes: 51
As a long-time lover of fantasy and romance, I enjoy the takes vertical dramas have on the genres. I’ve watched countless verticals about werewolves, but few dealing with the Fae.
My favourite is The Fae King Is My Shadow Daddy on DramaBox.
It had me at fae.
I ascribe my feelings about all things faerie to author Terry Pratchett, who wrote in his novel Lords and Ladies, “Elves are terrific. They beget terror.”
Don’t get me started on the intrinsic safety concerns around unicorns.
Welcome to the Fae Realm
The world-building in this vertical is immediate and intense.
The Fae are a powerful race who only put up with humans because they’re so prolific. If it were up to some of the strongest magic users amongst them, they would enslave humanity and be done with it.
To ensure peace between the two races, a marriage is arranged between Matthias, a Duke of the Fae, and Eliana, daughter of the human Regent.
At the wedding in the Fae court, however, the Duke refuses to marry his intended bride.
Unwilling to see the treaty between the two realms fall apart, High King Caspian steps in to take Matthias’s place — and marries the human woman himself.
It’s important to note that so few Fae remain, they are forbidden from killing each other; a crime punishable by death, ironically, or eternal imprisonment — it’s unclear which.
The weakest link, therefore, becomes the new High Queen Eliana.
She can’t even make it through the wedding banquet without an attempt on her life.
The first of many.
Magic, Marriage and a Bog Witch
The Queen is convinced that the treaty between humans and Fae can only truly be solidified by having a child.
Led to believe she’ll need a love potion to seduce her husband and conceive an heir, Eliana is encouraged to seek out a bog witch who can foresee the future.
While the Queen gets good news, it comes at a price, leading to a showdown between two magical heavy hitters.
And this brings us to something this vertical does particularly well.
Fantasy Special Effects That Actually Work
The special effects for the subsequent duel — and throughout the series — are well done, which has to be noted.
If there is one area where AI-generated content might (and that’s an awful big might) excel, it would be in the special effects for fantasy verticals because of the elements related to the genre.
I’m talking about dragons, faeries, werewolves and shifters of all kinds.
Possibly even unicorns.
The interface between fantastical aspects of a story and real-life actors is often underwhelming, despite the efforts of the people with beating hearts involved.
That being said, I always prefer human-written stories performed by real actors as opposed to the generated content we’re seeing so much of.
Special effects are there to enhance the story. They shouldn’t overshadow it or become the story itself.
There must be a way to better fuse the two moving forward.
As a viewer, I’ve already suspended my disbelief. I know what I’m getting into, and I want to see the elements woven together effectively.
I don’t mind the seams, but I don’t want to pick out the individual stitches, if you know what I mean.
Sometimes Less Is More
In The Fae King Is My Shadow Daddy, much is acted or performed with relatively few special effects interfering with what the audience interprets.
Makeup, wardrobe, lighting and camera angles do the heavy lifting.
High King Caspian can control shadows, and the roiling black mists used for this effect are well done and judiciously executed.
The bog witch’s powers are similar, but the attention to detail makes it clear that hers are different.
There’s another clever touch: the High King’s power is only visible in the faerie realm. When he uses it in human territory, it is invisible.
Whether this choice was made to keep production costs down or not, the outcome gives the Fae a more menacing feel, and we get a sense of why the humans fear them so much.
Fated Mates — But Make Them Fae
At this point in the narrative, we encounter some crossover between the Fae and other fantasy stories — in particular, werewolf verticals.
The Gods, as opposed to the Moon Goddess often associated with werewolves, have decided that the High King and Queen are mates.
Which has never happened before.
The two are bonded, and there is no question of their affection or desire for each other.
That ship has sailed, and I’m on it, along for the ride and the trials that follow.
And there are several.
The High Queen comes up against challenges both tragic and transformative — and all of this takes place within 51 episodes.
Kateryna Belinska and Logai Arthur Bring the Chemistry
There is humour to be found where the story doesn’t take itself so seriously that it’s not willing to poke a little fun at itself.
The performances by leads Kateryna Belinska and Logai Arthur are engaging, and they have wonderful chemistry.
Together with a terrific supporting cast, strong world-building and the fantasy elements already mentioned, this is a vertical I have visited again and again.
And, for me, that’s one of the best recommendations I can give.
About That Love Triangle...
I do have one quibble.
The promotional poster for the show seems to allude to a love triangle between Matthias, Eliana and Caspian.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The notion is dispensed with within the first few episodes.
I applaud whoever makes those decisions for wanting to try something different, but it’s somewhat misleading.
There is way more interest and intrigue going on in the story than any love triangle could bring — although I understand how that could be hard to portray with a single image.
Should You Watch The Fae King Is My Shadow Daddy?
If you enjoy fantasy and romance, I think The Fae King Is My Shadow Daddy is well worth a watch on DramaBox.
Then come back and tell me what you think.
And, more importantly, is there another vertical with the Fae that I should watch?
What’s your favourite fantasy vertical?
About the Author
Amber Boudreau is an author of fantasy novels for young adults and urban fantasy.
You can find out more about Amber and her books on her official website, subscribe to her free Substack newsletter, or follow her on social media at @AnAmberAuthor.
Goodreads/books: Amber Boudreau on Goodreads
This article is an opinion piece. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and are based on the author's own observations and interpretation of publicly available content.
Publication by Vertical Drama Love does not constitute endorsement of every opinion expressed. Vertical Drama Love remains committed to encouraging thoughtful discussion on issues affecting the vertical drama industry while maintaining editorial independence.
