According to the opinion of Yasuhiro NAKANISHI and others in recent years, Dokyo's plot to ascend the Imperial Throne might have been 'added' by people in the later generations from the reasons that the exile to Shimotsuke was too light if Dokyo really aimed at ascending the Imperial Throne since it is a serious crime falling under the maximum penalty, and that people related to Dokyo including Kiyohito were not punished by the capital punishment.
近年の中西康裕らの説では、道鏡が実際に皇位を狙ったとすれば極刑に該当する重罪であるにも関わらず称徳天皇崩御後の下野への流刑は罰としてはあまりにも軽く、浄人ら一族関係者にも死罪が出ていないことから、皇位継承を企てたという説は「後付」ではないかとされる。