YMMV / El Cid (2020)

• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • Soon as the series was announced, right-wingers came in droves to claim that any portrayal of El Cid that wasn't a bearded epitome of manliness bashing Muslim heads in would be an insulting woke-fest, and left-wingers also came in droves to claim that any possible show about El Cid would be a far right-fest about a bearded epitome of manliness bashing Muslim heads in. Yet El Cid was never held as a paragon of intolerance against Muslims but of loyalty, which included serving Muslim kings faithfully. As for the beard, El Cid is just a teen in the first season and he begins growing one at the end of the second season.
  • Historical Villain Upgrade aside, Count Flaín really existed, was the most powerful noble in Leon, opposed Fernando I, and was confusingly titled Count of Leon despite the simultaneous existence of a King of Leon.
  • A javelin to the face as regicide tool is surely overkill and inaccurate, right? Well, this one instance is indeed inaccurate... because the real murder was a foot spear to the face.
  • The Zaragozans drink wine and make no secret of it, much to Ruy's surprise. Historically the Iberian Moors were notorious for this, and also eating pork (sometimes limited to wild boar), which earned them the contempt of The Fundamentalist Almoravids.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: Even though the series' political controversy turned out to be more of a case of really bad marketing, the fact that the show was still Very Loosely Based on a True Story and had a lot of questionable deviations ended up killing its interest for many people, especially those who were expecting the producers to capitalize on the chance to make a historically faithful product.
• Bile Fascination: Some history buffs and commentators checked up the series solely due to the reports about its numerous historical inaccuracies.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Gryffindor/Lannister flag^note An infamous promotional tweet for the series mistook a posterior flag of Zaragoza for a (similarly anachronistic) flag of León. Given that Zaragoza's flag, a golden lion on a red crest, happens to resemble the emblem of Gryffindor and the Lannister sigil, people started joking about how Rodrigo now belongs to some or both of those houses.
  • "Que se preparen las derechas"^note "Right-wing be ready". A statement made by actor Jaime Lorente, referring to the series' interpretation of El Cid, with the intention to provoke Spanish right-wingers, as El Cid is a figure that has been subjected to a lot of patriotic revisionism since the Francoist era. The quote started being ironically brought up by detractors as an example of both political sides being not so different at this, noting that the series ended up being just as historically unreliable, only from the opposite side.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Though Jimena was depicted as dark-haired in the Charlton Heston 1961 film, Age of Empires II, and the 2003 animated adaptation, she's been blonde many times in Spanish media and artwork before (for one, it's an easy way to say "northerner" in Spain, and she was from Asturias).
  • Some decried inaccuracies weren't invented by the show but are from the literary cycle and are actually demythified to some degree. For example, Ruy being present at Ferdinand's death and objecting to Sancho attacking Zamora are both in the 15th century Romance of the Siege of Zamora, and the first season's joust and Will They or Won't They? between Ruy and Jimena owe as much to Game of Thrones as the 1961 film and the 1360 Mocedades de Rodrigo.
• Questionable Casting: Jaime Lorente as Rodrigo was a divisive casting choice. Although pundits conceded that he did a good job with what he was given, especially in the second season, the impression that he wasn't the best option for a character with the gravitas and complexity of Rodrigo stood out.
• So Okay, It's Average: Spanish critics and audiences found the series ultimately watchable, yet also mediocre and uninspired, not to talk about the questionable artistic licenses.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Although to what degree is a harder question, Season 2 was universally considered an improvement over the previous.
• Tainted by the Preview: Being a relatively high-budgeted live action about a popular Spanish figure, there was a lot of expectation when the series was announced, but this started going awry when the creators insinuated they had gone deliberately for Politically Correct History in their plot choices, which included some political statements of dubious relevance. The controversy then exploded with the release of the second official trailer, which sidelined the series' plot in favor of a hamfisted montage of anachronistic third wave feminism. The promo was absolutely panned, with the dislikes outnumbering the likes by fifteen to one, and many potential viewers were turned away on the fear the entire series would be loaded with historical insertions of the same kind. Although this turned out to be not the case in reality, by then it was just too late to save the hype.