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Review: Magnificent Century, Season 1 (Muhteşem Yüzyıl 1) (2011)
The first season of Magnificent Century was pretty good. It was engaging. I'd say the only downside is how long the episodes are. I wish they broke them down; even 1 hr episodes would be nice.
This season ended on a huge cliffhanger.
Spoilers.
Story
The first season covered Hurrem's rise to power. Born Alexandra, Hurrem was captured when her home was attacked by Tatars, and she became a slave of the Ottoman Empire. She thought her family was all dead and didn't want to live, but in a dream she got the motivation to rise to the top.
Hurrem was very aggressive in attracting Sultan Suleyman's attention but she succeeded. I think what helped her was that she naturally had a flair for the dramatic and that charmed Suleyman when all the other women in his harem were timid.
As Hurrem rose in power, she also had to maintain relations with the other people in the palace, which frankly she did not do very well. For a long time, she flew by with the love of Suleyman, and the tolerance of Hatice, Sumbul, Nigar, and Gulnihal. She was not well liked by the Valide and of course not by Mahidevran, and by extension Ibrahim who for some reason was on Mahidevran's side.
Hurrem was sent away for a period of time after being framed for murder. When she returned, she realized she had to build good relations, and so she worked on that, behaving better so Valide would like her, trying to get along with Mahidevran (at least in public), getting the other concubines to like her, and also taking care of all of the kids, whether they were hers or not.
During the first season, Leo, Hurrem's previously presumed dead lover came into the picture. He was looking for her and ended up being commissioned to paint Suleyman and Hurrem. Taking note of their past relationship, Ibrahim threatened them.
The season ends with two cliffhangers. One is that Sadika, a Hungarian countess who wanted to exact revenge on Suleyman, got a knife at his throat. The other was that Ibrahim has blackmailed Hurrem and Leo so that one of them must consume poison.
I generally liked that this show stuck to a more realistic depiction of royalty. Suleyman is a brave and fearsome leader, yes, but the harem is his plaything and it makes sense that he would not give a hoot about the politics, only caring about what he gets out of it.
I did find Hurrem's behaviour a little unrealistic and too girlboss at times, but at least it prompted realistic results. She was girlbossing it up but it had consequences in that nobody liked her. As well, this show ramped up on the "romance" between Suleyman and Hurrem, which I found odd at first, as harem dramas I'm used to will tend to move away from that soon and turn it into a political game. However, I realized that Hurrem has to turn up the romance because that was how she won Suleyman and that is how she will keep him. She has to stimulate him romantically so that he will keep supporting her.
But overall, this style of storytelling was quite familiar to me and it was easy to settle in with it.
Production
The show was generally very well produced. The clothes and sets were all very detailed.
I did think that this show had somewhat of a soap opera lighting at first, but it was really easy to get over it.
Characters
I'll try to keep it short because there are a lot of characters and also there are four seasons of this show.
Alexandra/Hurrem
Our main character, dramatic and bold. That was her personality, and that was how she won over Suleyman, with her dramatics. Her main motivation (which came to her in a dream) was ambition. She wanted to rise to the top, rather than living a slave.
At first, Hurrem was too bold. Yes, Suleyman loved her, but no one else did. She pissed off every single person possible. And she really only realized that when she was framed for murder. That time away was her quiet time and when she returned, she decided to be on better behaviour.
Having Suleyman's love had many perks, and one of them was having lots of children. Hurrem had Mehmet, Mihrimah, Selim, and another baby on the way by the time this season ended. No one could compete with her.
Hurrem had thought that Leo was dead and that was probably why she threw herself into this life of being a woman of the harem. I do believe that she is fully devoted to Suleyman though. What she feels for Leo now is a little more familial. She'll never not love him, but she'd given up long ago and she's going to walk the path that she's on now.
My prediction for Hurrem is that next season, she may have to get more cutthroat in politics, against Ibrahim. Before, as a concubine, her reach should really only branch to the women in the palace, but Ibrahim has forced her hand and he's getting involved in the harem, so she will need a way to get rid of him. I don't think it'll happen any time soon. Ibrahim is an important character. But I think she won't be as passive anymore when it comes to Ibrahim.
Suleyman
Suleyman was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. I believe he was considered a great ruler and I believe that.
However, this drama did what it needed to do, and portrayed him as a man. Suleyman clearly had blind spots. They didn't make him any worse of a ruler, but it did make him realistically frustrating at times.
His first example of a blind spot was probably Ibrahim. Ibrahim was his falconer, and when he became Sultan, Suleyman promoted him to an administrative position. That being said, Suleyman does become harder on Ibrahim, particularly when he was surprised by any bit of news.
His other more obvious blind spots came from the harem. The fact of the matter was that the women were just his playthings, so he ruled them without logic and only with feeling. Whomever had his interest had his power. So the women had to fight for his interest. The problem was keeping it.
Though Suleyman claimed to love Hurrem, we saw that he still saw other concubines, which threatened Hurrem's power.
By the end of the season, Suleyman was being threatened at knifepoint by Sadika, a countess who had been a victim of one of his military campaigns.
Valide Sultan/Hafsa
The Valide was the dowager, Suleyman's mother. She showed her power in two ways. One was exerting her power over the harem. The second, was that she was second-in-command to her son. We saw that sometimes she would make decisions for the harem that would be superceded by Suleyman. But during that time that the palace was under attack, the Valide became the de facto leader as the next highest authority.
Like many queen dowagers, Valide wanted the harem to be peaceful and without problem. And actually, the Valide did have her favourite, which in this case was Mahidevran. I'm guessing it's because she knew Mahidevran the longest and Mahidevran outwardly had a more calm appearance. She did start to like Hurrem more when she started to behave better. Valide did love all her grandchildren though.
Mahidevran
Mahidevran was initially the chief consort of the harem, and the mother of Suleyman's first son. As such, she did hold some power over the rest of the concubines.
What was interesting about Mahidevran was that she was deeply insecure. I think it was partially because there was a time when it was just her and Suleyman. There was a time when they really thought that they were in love, and her reality is shattering now that Suleyman is making jewels for other people.
At first, Mahidevran's insecurity showed itself in very ugly and apparent ways. It was only later in the season that Mahidevran learned that she needed to be subtle, that she couldn't just straight up kill Hurrem because it would bring much more trouble to her and her son.
Hatice
Hatice was one of Suleyman's sisters. At the beginning of the show, she was widowed and that was why she was still living at the palace. She was also in love with Ibrahim.
She was to be wed to the son of Grand Vizier, but it was determined that he was quite sick. As well, there was a major plotline in which her love with Ibrahim became known to Suleyman. However, instead of punishing them, Suleyman broke off Hatice's engagement and allowed her to marry Ibrahim (after promoting him to Grand Vizier).
Hatice generally maintained friendships with most of the women of the harem. They did sometimes try to use her to get to Suleyman but it never got too far. Occasionally, Hatice would exert her political power over the concubines, and it had happened once when she was upset and the concubines were getting into fights.
Hatice showed an interest in European culture as well. She didn't mind her manor being decorated in the European style, and she was interested in the European lady who would be visiting with Gritti (his sister).
Hatice did fall pregnant but lost the baby during the attack of the soldiers and of course was very upset over it. Thankfully, Ibrahim helped her heal. She remained deeply in love with Ibrahim by the end of the season.
Beyhan
Beyhan was Suleyman and Hatice's sister. She was Ferhad Pasha's wife.
There was a story line in which Ferhad kept overstepping his authority. Even after being punished with demotion, he continued to infringe. Suleyman and Ibrahim had no choice but to execute him.
On that day, Valide and Hatice took Beyhan away so that she wouldn't know about the execution. When she returned, she was understandably very distraught at the death of the father of her children. She was extremely upset with Suleyman. And Beyhan said to Hatice that she would not understand her pain unless Suleyman executed Ibrahim himself. I think since she was widowed, she would be living in the palace as Hatice used to.
Mustafa
Mustafa was Suleyman's eldest son and Mahidevran's only son. I won't lie, the younger actor who played Mustafa was pretty cute lol.
Mustafa's first struggle was when Mahidevran became pregnant. He didn't want a younger brother, and he pointed out that Suleyman didn't have any, so what was so good about them. Mahidevran later miscarried. On the other hand, Hurrem had three children by the end of the season.
For most of the season, Mustafa was on good terms with Mehmet. They played and hugged and Mustafa was always very proud of being able to protect Mehmet. They did have one big argument though when they fought over who would be the sovereign. Of course, each of their mothers told them different things.
From then on, Mustafa kind of went through an angst phase where he started ordering people around, including Ibrahim. Suleyman was really upset with how impolite and improper his son was acting and had a stern talking to with him. Afterward, Mustafa seemed to learn from his mistakes.
Mustafa was wary of Hurrem because he knew his mother didn't like her. But I think he did feel appreciative during the attack from the soldiers, when Hurrem protected him.
Mehmet
Mehmet was Hurrem's oldest son. He was a baby for much of the season, but Mustafa grew to love him :3
As mentioned, there was one big argument between Mustafa and Mehmet. He was being pretty bratty, wanting Mustafa to play with him and knocking ink all over his work when Mustafa was busy with his homework. Then they argued about who would be the sovereign. To be honest it wasn't really resolved, but it'll definitely come back when they grow older.
But when Gulsah walked Mehmet back to the harem, he blabbed about Gulsah yelling at him and that caused Hurrem to yell at Gulsah in front of the whole harem which put into motion the events towards the end of the season.
Mihrimah
Mihrimah was Hurrem's second child, a daughter. When Mihrimah was born, Hurrem was pretty disappointed. Everybody was saying how beautiful she was but Hurrem clearly didn't want to be around her.
It was Nigar, who reminded Hurrem that Mihrimah was a child who needed a mother's love. Hurrem was reminded that as a daughter, the only one who would love her would be her own mother.
I'm interested to see how Mihrimah grows up. It's clear that a woman like Hatice or Beyhan who grow up as royalty are different from women like the Valide, Hurrem, or Mahidevran who were part of the harem.
Ibrahim
Ibrahim was Suleyman's Grand Vizier. At first, he was his falconer, but Suleyman promoted him to an administrative position, a concierge, and so he started helping Suleyman with his everyday work.
When Piri Pasha removed himself from office, Ahmet Pasha was so sure that he was going to be the Grand Vizier and was pretty pissed with Suleyman promoted Ibrahim. It probably looked like favouritism, but Suleyman did trust Ibrahim a lot.
Though men were not allowed in the harem, Suleyman required that Ibrahim know what was going on, because Ibrahim was supposed to be his eyes and ears.
Ibrahim was very much in love with Hatice, to the point that he'd resigned as Grand Vizier to return home because he couldn't handle it. But he was brought back and allowed to marry Hatice.
Ibrahim had an alliance with Mahidevran, and I'm really curious about where it came from. Suleyman was aware that Ibrahim was always protecting Mahidevran and Mustafa and I wonder if he ever became suspicious.
Ibrahim's alliance with Mahidevran was one of the reasons he needed to get rid of Hurrem. He did once, but after he found out she was innocent, he let her come back but on his terms. That did limited good as Hurrem made her way back to the top. By the end of the season, Ibrahim tried to blackmail Hurrem and Leo.
Daye
Daye was Valide's main servant, and sort of acted as the most senior servant, though her authority was mostly just in the harem and domestic realms.
Sumbul
Sumbul was a eunuch in the harem. He was responsible for training the concubines. He was generally nice to all of the concubines, only caring about doing his job and making the Sultan happy. He did also seem to have a soft spot for Gulnihal.
Nigar
Nigar was an attendant at the harem. Like Sumbul, she was responsible for managing the concubines.
Nigar became an ally of Hurrem's. At first, she advised Hurrem on her poor behaviour and why she had no friends, but she later did become a real ally.
Unfortunately, that position made her a target. Mahidevran wanted her to spy on Hurrem for her, which Nigar did to a limiting degree.
However, Nigar's weakness was that she had a crush on Ibrahim. And Ibrahim, as cruel as he was, would threaten her to do his bidding. And it was because of her that Ibrahim found out about the correspondences between Leo and Hurrem.
Gulfem
Gulfem was Hatice's maid, and a close confidant. She was generally very caring of Hatice and helped her sneak out to meet Ibrahim, being their lookout person.
What was unexpected was that Gulfem and Suleyman used to be in love. I hadn't realized that Gulfem was part of the harem but I guess all women who were not kin were part of the harem. Apparently she and Suleyman had once had children but they died, and afterward, Gulfem had kind of removed herself from the equation. As such, Mahidevran saw Gulfem as a bit of a threat, but Gulfem truly had no interest in vying for power.
After Hatice married Ibrahim, Gulfem remained at the palace and I think she served Valide.
Gulsah
Gulsah was a concubine who served Mahidevran and had been with her for ten years. Mahidevran was insecure, but she learned that she had to keep it in. On the other hand, Gulsah found it difficult to suppress her emotions and would lash out in anger at times.
Early on, Mahidevran had asked Gulsah to poison Hurrem. Gulsah had enlisted a concubine to do so and when the concubine realized what she'd done (brought poison to the Sultan's table), she wanted to confess and Gulsah killed her. But later on, when Hurrem became more powerful, Gulsah would offer to kill her so that Mahidevran would be rid of her, but Mahidevran knew there would be consequences.
Because Hurrem humiliated her in front of the harem, Gulsah rashly took a knife and stabbed Hurrem in her bed, only who she thought was Hurrem was actually Gulnihal. Mahidevran beat Gulsah for doing something that would definitely be traced back to her. Gulsah was recovering in the infirmary by the end of the season.
Maria/Gulnihal
Gulnihal was a woman who was captured together with Hurrem. Initially, Gulnihal, then called Maria, was the one who was always calming her down and keeping her from doing something rash.
Gulnihal followed in Hurrem's footsteps, which made Hurrem wary of her for a while. In particular, like Hurrem, Gulnihal had sought out Sumbul's help in attaining a better position for herself in the harem, and like Hurrem, Gulnihal converted to Islam.
There was conflict between Gulnihal and Hurrem when it was revealed that while Hurrem was pregnant, Suleyman had called for Gulnihal. When Hurrem found out, she poisoned Gulnihal so that rashes broke out across her face. But afterward, they made up, and Gulnihal became quite loyal to Hurrem, even going with her when she was sent away.
Gulnihal was stabbed in Hurrem's place by Gulsah. Thankfully, she was saved and did not die.
Esma
Esma was one of the concubines who was enlisted to take care of Hurrem's children.
Viktoria/Sadika
Viktoria was a countess who had been a victim of Suleyman's military conquests. She vowed to take revenge on him and she did so by making her way into the harem.
Viktoria caught the eye of Valide, who gave her the name Sadika. Sadika tried to get Suleyman's attention and did so successfully (partially with the help of Valide), but every time she got close, her plans would be thwarted. She had made her way to Suleyman's bed, where she had planned to take out the knife strapped to her thigh and kill Suleyman, but was interrupted when Mehmet fell in the water.
Sadika had stabbed Ayse after a while of conflict, and that murder was pinned on Hurrem, which forced her to be sent away. Sadika also had an ally within the palace, an attendant, but that attendant later tried to rape her and she killed him instead.
Later, Sadika was sent to serve Hatice. One day, Suleyman had gone to Ibrahim and Hatice's manor, and he slept with her then. Sadika was quite upset by the experience. She had no choice but to let Suleyman have her and obviously she was very distraught by having to sleep with her enemy. As well, she was caught unprepared so she couldn't have stabbed him at the time.
Because the attendant that was her ally was gone, Sadika had to rely on the help of Matrakci. Matrakci was in love with her and did all that she asked, including sending her messages for her. Meanwhile, Hatice and Ibrahim believed that the love went both ways and planned to marry them off.
At the end of the season, Sadika finally got a knife at Suleyman's throat.
Matrakci Nasuh
Matrakci was introduced to us as an artist, but Wikipedia tells me he was an all-around intellectual mind. In this show he was somewhat of a friend of Ibrahim's, and hung around him.
He had saved Viktoria and fell in love with her. He continued to hang around Ibrahim and Hatice's manor to see her and also to pass on her messages.
Leo
Leo was Hurrem's former lover, whom she thought was dead. He was a painter and was brought in to paint Suleyman and Hurrem's picture, at which point she found out he was not dead.
Leo understood that they were in a tough position and he asked that Hurrem see him one more time. Unfortunately, Ibrahim had gotten a hold of his letters through Nigar and captured him. At the end of the season, Hurrem and Leo were blackmailed, though I have read spoilers about what will happen.
Themes
All good harem shows highlight just how unfair the harem is. As I mentioned a few times, the harem is the Sultan's plaything. All of the women in the harem live only to serve the Sultan. So they must fight and claw at each other only for the right to survive, only to live their lives freely. The women must learn to become manipulative, because that is the only way they can live.
Overall
Pretty strong show. The harem genre is so specific and it's pretty cool to see similarities between this genre and typical harem cdramas. Looking forward to season 2 (y)
This season ended on a huge cliffhanger.
Spoilers.
Story
The first season covered Hurrem's rise to power. Born Alexandra, Hurrem was captured when her home was attacked by Tatars, and she became a slave of the Ottoman Empire. She thought her family was all dead and didn't want to live, but in a dream she got the motivation to rise to the top.
Hurrem was very aggressive in attracting Sultan Suleyman's attention but she succeeded. I think what helped her was that she naturally had a flair for the dramatic and that charmed Suleyman when all the other women in his harem were timid.
As Hurrem rose in power, she also had to maintain relations with the other people in the palace, which frankly she did not do very well. For a long time, she flew by with the love of Suleyman, and the tolerance of Hatice, Sumbul, Nigar, and Gulnihal. She was not well liked by the Valide and of course not by Mahidevran, and by extension Ibrahim who for some reason was on Mahidevran's side.
Hurrem was sent away for a period of time after being framed for murder. When she returned, she realized she had to build good relations, and so she worked on that, behaving better so Valide would like her, trying to get along with Mahidevran (at least in public), getting the other concubines to like her, and also taking care of all of the kids, whether they were hers or not.
During the first season, Leo, Hurrem's previously presumed dead lover came into the picture. He was looking for her and ended up being commissioned to paint Suleyman and Hurrem. Taking note of their past relationship, Ibrahim threatened them.
The season ends with two cliffhangers. One is that Sadika, a Hungarian countess who wanted to exact revenge on Suleyman, got a knife at his throat. The other was that Ibrahim has blackmailed Hurrem and Leo so that one of them must consume poison.
I generally liked that this show stuck to a more realistic depiction of royalty. Suleyman is a brave and fearsome leader, yes, but the harem is his plaything and it makes sense that he would not give a hoot about the politics, only caring about what he gets out of it.
I did find Hurrem's behaviour a little unrealistic and too girlboss at times, but at least it prompted realistic results. She was girlbossing it up but it had consequences in that nobody liked her. As well, this show ramped up on the "romance" between Suleyman and Hurrem, which I found odd at first, as harem dramas I'm used to will tend to move away from that soon and turn it into a political game. However, I realized that Hurrem has to turn up the romance because that was how she won Suleyman and that is how she will keep him. She has to stimulate him romantically so that he will keep supporting her.
But overall, this style of storytelling was quite familiar to me and it was easy to settle in with it.
Production
The show was generally very well produced. The clothes and sets were all very detailed.
I did think that this show had somewhat of a soap opera lighting at first, but it was really easy to get over it.
Characters
I'll try to keep it short because there are a lot of characters and also there are four seasons of this show.
Alexandra/Hurrem
Our main character, dramatic and bold. That was her personality, and that was how she won over Suleyman, with her dramatics. Her main motivation (which came to her in a dream) was ambition. She wanted to rise to the top, rather than living a slave.
At first, Hurrem was too bold. Yes, Suleyman loved her, but no one else did. She pissed off every single person possible. And she really only realized that when she was framed for murder. That time away was her quiet time and when she returned, she decided to be on better behaviour.
Having Suleyman's love had many perks, and one of them was having lots of children. Hurrem had Mehmet, Mihrimah, Selim, and another baby on the way by the time this season ended. No one could compete with her.
Hurrem had thought that Leo was dead and that was probably why she threw herself into this life of being a woman of the harem. I do believe that she is fully devoted to Suleyman though. What she feels for Leo now is a little more familial. She'll never not love him, but she'd given up long ago and she's going to walk the path that she's on now.
My prediction for Hurrem is that next season, she may have to get more cutthroat in politics, against Ibrahim. Before, as a concubine, her reach should really only branch to the women in the palace, but Ibrahim has forced her hand and he's getting involved in the harem, so she will need a way to get rid of him. I don't think it'll happen any time soon. Ibrahim is an important character. But I think she won't be as passive anymore when it comes to Ibrahim.
Suleyman
Suleyman was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. I believe he was considered a great ruler and I believe that.
However, this drama did what it needed to do, and portrayed him as a man. Suleyman clearly had blind spots. They didn't make him any worse of a ruler, but it did make him realistically frustrating at times.
His first example of a blind spot was probably Ibrahim. Ibrahim was his falconer, and when he became Sultan, Suleyman promoted him to an administrative position. That being said, Suleyman does become harder on Ibrahim, particularly when he was surprised by any bit of news.
His other more obvious blind spots came from the harem. The fact of the matter was that the women were just his playthings, so he ruled them without logic and only with feeling. Whomever had his interest had his power. So the women had to fight for his interest. The problem was keeping it.
Though Suleyman claimed to love Hurrem, we saw that he still saw other concubines, which threatened Hurrem's power.
By the end of the season, Suleyman was being threatened at knifepoint by Sadika, a countess who had been a victim of one of his military campaigns.
Valide Sultan/Hafsa
The Valide was the dowager, Suleyman's mother. She showed her power in two ways. One was exerting her power over the harem. The second, was that she was second-in-command to her son. We saw that sometimes she would make decisions for the harem that would be superceded by Suleyman. But during that time that the palace was under attack, the Valide became the de facto leader as the next highest authority.
Like many queen dowagers, Valide wanted the harem to be peaceful and without problem. And actually, the Valide did have her favourite, which in this case was Mahidevran. I'm guessing it's because she knew Mahidevran the longest and Mahidevran outwardly had a more calm appearance. She did start to like Hurrem more when she started to behave better. Valide did love all her grandchildren though.
Mahidevran
Mahidevran was initially the chief consort of the harem, and the mother of Suleyman's first son. As such, she did hold some power over the rest of the concubines.
What was interesting about Mahidevran was that she was deeply insecure. I think it was partially because there was a time when it was just her and Suleyman. There was a time when they really thought that they were in love, and her reality is shattering now that Suleyman is making jewels for other people.
At first, Mahidevran's insecurity showed itself in very ugly and apparent ways. It was only later in the season that Mahidevran learned that she needed to be subtle, that she couldn't just straight up kill Hurrem because it would bring much more trouble to her and her son.
Hatice
Hatice was one of Suleyman's sisters. At the beginning of the show, she was widowed and that was why she was still living at the palace. She was also in love with Ibrahim.
She was to be wed to the son of Grand Vizier, but it was determined that he was quite sick. As well, there was a major plotline in which her love with Ibrahim became known to Suleyman. However, instead of punishing them, Suleyman broke off Hatice's engagement and allowed her to marry Ibrahim (after promoting him to Grand Vizier).
Hatice generally maintained friendships with most of the women of the harem. They did sometimes try to use her to get to Suleyman but it never got too far. Occasionally, Hatice would exert her political power over the concubines, and it had happened once when she was upset and the concubines were getting into fights.
Hatice showed an interest in European culture as well. She didn't mind her manor being decorated in the European style, and she was interested in the European lady who would be visiting with Gritti (his sister).
Hatice did fall pregnant but lost the baby during the attack of the soldiers and of course was very upset over it. Thankfully, Ibrahim helped her heal. She remained deeply in love with Ibrahim by the end of the season.
Beyhan
Beyhan was Suleyman and Hatice's sister. She was Ferhad Pasha's wife.
There was a story line in which Ferhad kept overstepping his authority. Even after being punished with demotion, he continued to infringe. Suleyman and Ibrahim had no choice but to execute him.
On that day, Valide and Hatice took Beyhan away so that she wouldn't know about the execution. When she returned, she was understandably very distraught at the death of the father of her children. She was extremely upset with Suleyman. And Beyhan said to Hatice that she would not understand her pain unless Suleyman executed Ibrahim himself. I think since she was widowed, she would be living in the palace as Hatice used to.
Mustafa
Mustafa was Suleyman's eldest son and Mahidevran's only son. I won't lie, the younger actor who played Mustafa was pretty cute lol.
Mustafa's first struggle was when Mahidevran became pregnant. He didn't want a younger brother, and he pointed out that Suleyman didn't have any, so what was so good about them. Mahidevran later miscarried. On the other hand, Hurrem had three children by the end of the season.
For most of the season, Mustafa was on good terms with Mehmet. They played and hugged and Mustafa was always very proud of being able to protect Mehmet. They did have one big argument though when they fought over who would be the sovereign. Of course, each of their mothers told them different things.
From then on, Mustafa kind of went through an angst phase where he started ordering people around, including Ibrahim. Suleyman was really upset with how impolite and improper his son was acting and had a stern talking to with him. Afterward, Mustafa seemed to learn from his mistakes.
Mustafa was wary of Hurrem because he knew his mother didn't like her. But I think he did feel appreciative during the attack from the soldiers, when Hurrem protected him.
Mehmet
Mehmet was Hurrem's oldest son. He was a baby for much of the season, but Mustafa grew to love him :3
As mentioned, there was one big argument between Mustafa and Mehmet. He was being pretty bratty, wanting Mustafa to play with him and knocking ink all over his work when Mustafa was busy with his homework. Then they argued about who would be the sovereign. To be honest it wasn't really resolved, but it'll definitely come back when they grow older.
But when Gulsah walked Mehmet back to the harem, he blabbed about Gulsah yelling at him and that caused Hurrem to yell at Gulsah in front of the whole harem which put into motion the events towards the end of the season.
Mihrimah
Mihrimah was Hurrem's second child, a daughter. When Mihrimah was born, Hurrem was pretty disappointed. Everybody was saying how beautiful she was but Hurrem clearly didn't want to be around her.
It was Nigar, who reminded Hurrem that Mihrimah was a child who needed a mother's love. Hurrem was reminded that as a daughter, the only one who would love her would be her own mother.
I'm interested to see how Mihrimah grows up. It's clear that a woman like Hatice or Beyhan who grow up as royalty are different from women like the Valide, Hurrem, or Mahidevran who were part of the harem.
Ibrahim
Ibrahim was Suleyman's Grand Vizier. At first, he was his falconer, but Suleyman promoted him to an administrative position, a concierge, and so he started helping Suleyman with his everyday work.
When Piri Pasha removed himself from office, Ahmet Pasha was so sure that he was going to be the Grand Vizier and was pretty pissed with Suleyman promoted Ibrahim. It probably looked like favouritism, but Suleyman did trust Ibrahim a lot.
Though men were not allowed in the harem, Suleyman required that Ibrahim know what was going on, because Ibrahim was supposed to be his eyes and ears.
Ibrahim was very much in love with Hatice, to the point that he'd resigned as Grand Vizier to return home because he couldn't handle it. But he was brought back and allowed to marry Hatice.
Ibrahim had an alliance with Mahidevran, and I'm really curious about where it came from. Suleyman was aware that Ibrahim was always protecting Mahidevran and Mustafa and I wonder if he ever became suspicious.
Ibrahim's alliance with Mahidevran was one of the reasons he needed to get rid of Hurrem. He did once, but after he found out she was innocent, he let her come back but on his terms. That did limited good as Hurrem made her way back to the top. By the end of the season, Ibrahim tried to blackmail Hurrem and Leo.
Daye
Daye was Valide's main servant, and sort of acted as the most senior servant, though her authority was mostly just in the harem and domestic realms.
Sumbul
Sumbul was a eunuch in the harem. He was responsible for training the concubines. He was generally nice to all of the concubines, only caring about doing his job and making the Sultan happy. He did also seem to have a soft spot for Gulnihal.
Nigar
Nigar was an attendant at the harem. Like Sumbul, she was responsible for managing the concubines.
Nigar became an ally of Hurrem's. At first, she advised Hurrem on her poor behaviour and why she had no friends, but she later did become a real ally.
Unfortunately, that position made her a target. Mahidevran wanted her to spy on Hurrem for her, which Nigar did to a limiting degree.
However, Nigar's weakness was that she had a crush on Ibrahim. And Ibrahim, as cruel as he was, would threaten her to do his bidding. And it was because of her that Ibrahim found out about the correspondences between Leo and Hurrem.
Gulfem
Gulfem was Hatice's maid, and a close confidant. She was generally very caring of Hatice and helped her sneak out to meet Ibrahim, being their lookout person.
What was unexpected was that Gulfem and Suleyman used to be in love. I hadn't realized that Gulfem was part of the harem but I guess all women who were not kin were part of the harem. Apparently she and Suleyman had once had children but they died, and afterward, Gulfem had kind of removed herself from the equation. As such, Mahidevran saw Gulfem as a bit of a threat, but Gulfem truly had no interest in vying for power.
After Hatice married Ibrahim, Gulfem remained at the palace and I think she served Valide.
Gulsah
Gulsah was a concubine who served Mahidevran and had been with her for ten years. Mahidevran was insecure, but she learned that she had to keep it in. On the other hand, Gulsah found it difficult to suppress her emotions and would lash out in anger at times.
Early on, Mahidevran had asked Gulsah to poison Hurrem. Gulsah had enlisted a concubine to do so and when the concubine realized what she'd done (brought poison to the Sultan's table), she wanted to confess and Gulsah killed her. But later on, when Hurrem became more powerful, Gulsah would offer to kill her so that Mahidevran would be rid of her, but Mahidevran knew there would be consequences.
Because Hurrem humiliated her in front of the harem, Gulsah rashly took a knife and stabbed Hurrem in her bed, only who she thought was Hurrem was actually Gulnihal. Mahidevran beat Gulsah for doing something that would definitely be traced back to her. Gulsah was recovering in the infirmary by the end of the season.
Maria/Gulnihal
Gulnihal was a woman who was captured together with Hurrem. Initially, Gulnihal, then called Maria, was the one who was always calming her down and keeping her from doing something rash.
Gulnihal followed in Hurrem's footsteps, which made Hurrem wary of her for a while. In particular, like Hurrem, Gulnihal had sought out Sumbul's help in attaining a better position for herself in the harem, and like Hurrem, Gulnihal converted to Islam.
There was conflict between Gulnihal and Hurrem when it was revealed that while Hurrem was pregnant, Suleyman had called for Gulnihal. When Hurrem found out, she poisoned Gulnihal so that rashes broke out across her face. But afterward, they made up, and Gulnihal became quite loyal to Hurrem, even going with her when she was sent away.
Gulnihal was stabbed in Hurrem's place by Gulsah. Thankfully, she was saved and did not die.
Esma
Esma was one of the concubines who was enlisted to take care of Hurrem's children.
Viktoria/Sadika
Viktoria was a countess who had been a victim of Suleyman's military conquests. She vowed to take revenge on him and she did so by making her way into the harem.
Viktoria caught the eye of Valide, who gave her the name Sadika. Sadika tried to get Suleyman's attention and did so successfully (partially with the help of Valide), but every time she got close, her plans would be thwarted. She had made her way to Suleyman's bed, where she had planned to take out the knife strapped to her thigh and kill Suleyman, but was interrupted when Mehmet fell in the water.
Sadika had stabbed Ayse after a while of conflict, and that murder was pinned on Hurrem, which forced her to be sent away. Sadika also had an ally within the palace, an attendant, but that attendant later tried to rape her and she killed him instead.
Later, Sadika was sent to serve Hatice. One day, Suleyman had gone to Ibrahim and Hatice's manor, and he slept with her then. Sadika was quite upset by the experience. She had no choice but to let Suleyman have her and obviously she was very distraught by having to sleep with her enemy. As well, she was caught unprepared so she couldn't have stabbed him at the time.
Because the attendant that was her ally was gone, Sadika had to rely on the help of Matrakci. Matrakci was in love with her and did all that she asked, including sending her messages for her. Meanwhile, Hatice and Ibrahim believed that the love went both ways and planned to marry them off.
At the end of the season, Sadika finally got a knife at Suleyman's throat.
Matrakci Nasuh
Matrakci was introduced to us as an artist, but Wikipedia tells me he was an all-around intellectual mind. In this show he was somewhat of a friend of Ibrahim's, and hung around him.
He had saved Viktoria and fell in love with her. He continued to hang around Ibrahim and Hatice's manor to see her and also to pass on her messages.
Leo
Leo was Hurrem's former lover, whom she thought was dead. He was a painter and was brought in to paint Suleyman and Hurrem's picture, at which point she found out he was not dead.
Leo understood that they were in a tough position and he asked that Hurrem see him one more time. Unfortunately, Ibrahim had gotten a hold of his letters through Nigar and captured him. At the end of the season, Hurrem and Leo were blackmailed, though I have read spoilers about what will happen.
Themes
All good harem shows highlight just how unfair the harem is. As I mentioned a few times, the harem is the Sultan's plaything. All of the women in the harem live only to serve the Sultan. So they must fight and claw at each other only for the right to survive, only to live their lives freely. The women must learn to become manipulative, because that is the only way they can live.
Overall
Pretty strong show. The harem genre is so specific and it's pretty cool to see similarities between this genre and typical harem cdramas. Looking forward to season 2 (y)