phanero ([personal profile] phanero) wrote2023-06-09 10:14 pm

Review: Magnificent Century, Season 2 (Muhteşem Yüzyıl 2) (2011-2012)

A very eventful season of Magnificent Century! There were some lulls in this show but I wouldn't say it dragged the show down too much. This was a really long season so apologies if my memory of events isn't quite accurate.

Spoilers.



Story

This season began immediately after Leo ate the poisoned Turkish Delights to save Hurrem. Meanwhile, Suleyman was being threatened by Victoria/Sadika. A LOT happened so I'm going to try to mention as many things as I can remember, with the help of Wikipedia.

There was a story line relating to Princess Isabella, an Italian princess who had been kidnapped by pirates. Suleyman took her in to use as a political pawn but in the process, she fell in love with him. Obviously Hurrem was very worried about the new player in the harem, but she ultimately threatened Isabella enough to get her to leave. This story line did drag a bit in my opinion. A lot of time was spent on the women being curious about Isabella, and the actual time she spent in the harem was very minimal and not explored particularly well. As Isabella was a princess, she naturally held power over all the other women in the harem, but that was not explored.

There was a story line in which Hurrem wanted to do charity work but could not do so because she was a slave. Suleyman freed her so that she would be able to do such work, but a side effect of that was that as a Muslim woman, Hurrem would not lie with a man who was not her husband. This did cause a rift with Suleyman and his mother as they obviously felt she was overstepping. Suleyman sent Hurrem away, though he missed her dearly. Valide Sultan ordered Hurrem to be brought back, using the excuse that her sons missed her, but it was an opportunity for Hurrem to be assassinated. However, Hurrem survived the assassination attempt, and Suleyman was so moved by the ordeal that he did eventually marry Hurrem and they became a legal husband and wife.

Mahidevran also wanted to be freed, but Suleyman denied her request. As as result of the rift, she and Mustafa were sent away, and when they returned, Mustafa was a grown man.

There was a story line relating to Ibrahim. He and Hatice went through tough times as they had a baby but Hatice had accidentally smothered him to death and she obviously took it very hard. During the Isabella story line, Hatice was suspicious of Isabella and she used her status to pressure Ibrahim into telling her the truth even though it was a state secret (as Hatice was afraid that Ibrahim was cheating on her). Ibrahim was offended by Hatice using her power.

Throughout the season, Nigar was ordered to serve at Ibrahim's household. At this point he knew that Nigar was in love with him but he was very mean to her. At one point when Hatice was cold to Ibrahim and had left their palace, Ibrahim had taken advantage of Nigar and had sex with her, but then ignored her immediately again. Nigar was very saddened by this hot-and-cold treatment and eventually attempted suicide but was stopped by Ibrahim.

Nigar was ordered to marry Matrakci Nasuh, but on her wedding day, Matrakci divorced her. Then Ibrahim appeared and told Nigar that she was his. Matrakci owed Ibrahim a favour as Ibrahim had protected him when Sadika was ordered to be killed. Thus began Nigar's fantasy but also her major troubles.

Suleyman and Ibrahim went to war and at that point Valide Sultan and Mahidevran tried to start a riot and blamed it on Hurrem. Though Hurrem was burned badly she survived. Hurrem had written to Suleyman about it but Ibrahim had hidden the letter. When Suleyman returned, he expressed that he was aware of his mother and Mahidevran's framing of Hurrem, though he did not act upon it.

Cihangir, Hurrem's fifth child and fourth son was born, but kept crying. It was revealed that he had a back problem and would grow up a hunchback. The doctors put him through a procedure that would take away the pain and it clearly hurt Hurrem and Suleyman a lot to see their baby put through such a scary procedure. It seemed Cihangir made it out okay, though by the end of the season he was still a baby.

Back to Ibrahim and Hatice. Daye found out about Nigar's relationship with Ibrahim and kept warning her to stay away but Nigar kept refusing as she was madly in love with Ibrahim. At one point it really seemed like Ibrahim returned her feelings too. However, he later cooled off and broke things off with Nigar to return to Hatice. At this point, Hatice was having Ibrahim followed to look for signs of infidelity. When Ibrahim broke things off with Nigar, she had just found out she was pregnant. He wanted to send her away, but fearing that he might have wanted to off her, Nigar stayed at the harem, where she hid her pregnancy for as long as she could.

Valide Sultan found out about Ibrahim's affair with Nigar and before she could tell Suleyman, she had a stroke from the stress and became paralyzed. Through some maneuvers by Gulsah, Daye had been banished from the palace, but due to her close relationship with Valide Sultan, she was called back to take care of her. During her period of illness, Mahidevran was called upon to rule the harem, at which point she began to spent excessively. Gulfem was appointed the treasurer and she tried to curb Mahidevran's spending as she knew it would look bad ahead of Suleyman's planned campaign.

At one point Hurrem tried to frame Mahidevren for trying to kill Valide. Ibrahim and Hatice uncovered her lies and Gul was dismissed for his part in the plot.

Valide Sultan eventually died. Suleyman had gone to his foster brother, a fortune teller, who did not have good news regarding the dream he had about his mother. Daye had also had a questionable dream about Valide Sultan. Suleyman, Hatice, and even Beyhan grieved. Daye left the harem once again and donated all of the wealth she'd accumulated to the Valide Sultan's foundation, working as a cleaner. But she was riddled with guilt as she knew about Nigar's affair with Ibrahim and she knew that was what brought upon the Valide Sultan's stroke. Daye eventually committed suicide.

At this point, Mustafa was ordered to go to the provinces, as grown princes were meant to. However, Mahidevran was allowed to stay back though usually women had to go with their sons. After Valide Sultan's death, she was assigned permanently to rule the harem, where she continued to run into money problems.

Gulsah was previously dismissed by Mahidevran for always causing trouble, and Gulsah finally turned to Hurrem, offering the information about Ibrahim and Nigar's affair. Hurrem finally communicated Ibrahim's affair to Hatice. Hatice wanted to believe Nigar and Matrakci but after she met with Gulsah, she believed that Ibrahim had the affair, and Ibrahim did not deny it. By the end of the season, Hatice told Ibrahim that she wanted a divorce, and she said that she would punish Nigar after the baby was born.

In the harem, Gulfem finally tried to stop Mahidevran and told her to solve her money problems or else she would tell Suleyman. Mahidevran was of course very angry about it. However, Hurrem hatched a plot in which someone would attempt to kill Gulfem in the name of Mahidevran. Suleyman believed that Mahidevran was behind the attack. However, it was true that Mahidevran had overspent terribly. Suleyman told Mahidevran that he had given her leadership of the harem as a second chance, but since she could not handle it well, he finally dismissed her, sending her to the Manisa province where Mustafa was. It also seemed that at this point, Ibrahim was done with Mahidevran as well; he told her that he was done with covering up for her and Mustafa.

With Gulfem's recommendation, Suleyman assigned the running of the harem to Hurrem at the end of the season.

Production

Production was great as always. I am starting to find some of the outfits really charming and cute :3 Especially for the ladies like Nigar and Gulsah who wear clothes that are more practical for moving around in.

Characters

Hurrem

Hurrem went through a lot of changes during this season. Leo being forcibly poisoned to death by Ibrahim pushed Hurrem to be more cutthroat towards Ibrahim. She definitely took a lot of steps and hatched a lot of schemes that were a bit too bold, but I think Hurrem is meant to be a little dramatic.

A big change for Hurrem this season was her being freed by Suleyman and becoming his legal wife. She attained a status that no other woman in the harem was able to do, and it gave her special rights.

Hurrem and Suleyman did also go through some tribulations in their love. During the Isabella story line, Hurrem conveyed to Suleyman how hurt she was by him having another love. But after that, over the course of the season, their love seemed to only become stronger. Even Ibrahim commented on how Suleyman never lost his love for Hurrem.

When Valide Sultan was paralyzed, Hurrem said that she'd always wanted to have an allyship with the Valide Sultan. Honestly the words felt a little hollow considering how openly hostile Valide Sultan was to her (going so far as to have her assassinated). I think Hurrem was just saying that to get Valide on her side, though Valide was already starting to side with her after she heard Mahidevran talking about overthrowing her.

As for Hatice, I think Hatice remained neutral to Hurrem, putting her own interests first. But that also made Hatice a bit easy to manipulate for Hurrem, as Hatice was always a little more easily swayed.

Hurrem became more openly combative against Mahidevran, going so far as to hatching a couple of plots against Mahidevran to get her out of the harem. She finally succeeded with the framing of the attack on Gulfem.

The final scene of this season showed Hurrem triumphantly being coronated as the head of the harem. During this scene, Hurrem monologued about her life, about how she was captured as a slave and lost everything, but that she had made a promise to rise to the top, and she finally did. She ended by saying that she would rule the world, and I think that in the next season, we'll see her do that through her children who will be her extensions.

Suleyman

Suleyman is Suleyman lol. I think Suleyman is a little simpler than other Emperor/King type characters that I've seen in other harem shows, mostly because he is very much in love with Hurrem, and he cuts her a lot of slack. There were only a handful of times he was truly angry with her I think.

He acted on his anger when Hurrem asked for marriage, because he probably felt that he'd been manipulated into freeing Hurrem. But he soon gave in, as he missed Hurrem, and then the attempt on Hurrem's life made him realize how important she was to him.

There was also that time when Hurrem got angry at Mahidevran and Mustafa defended her. After Hurrem complained to Suleyman, he made her apologize as he felt she was in the wrong. That was one of the very few times Suleyman didn't back Hurrem up but it was rare and there weren't any long lasting effects from that.

After Hurrem was attacked by the riot in the harem, she of course complained to Suleyman but Suleyman calmly told her that he knew all that had happened, he knew the injustices that happened to her. Despite the man in harem shows often being accomplished rulers, they can be surprisingly ignorant about their own harems. So this was an uncommon occurrence in which Suleyman expressed to Hurrem that he was in the know, and I guess it was assurance that he would be fair to her.

At one point, Mahidevran demanded that Suleyman free her as he did with Hurrem, but he refused. That moment really did show his favouritism towards Hurrem. He then sent Mahidevran away. Though he recognized Mahidevran's political ambitions, he's blind to Hurrem's. But I think the difference is that Mahidevran puts Mustafa first, whereas Hurrem always puts Suleyman first.

When sending Mahidevran away to Manisa, Suleyman told her that he had put her in charge of the harem as a second chance for her to prove herself, but she did not carry out the work well, and for that, he sent her away. I do think this was fair. Though he didn't love Mahidevran as he loved Hurrem, he respected her as the mother of his eldest son Mustafa, and so he wanted to give her a second chance. But she did not do a good job and only incited more problems in the harem, so he sent her away with Mustafa, as most mothers of sons tend to be.

There was also political tension between Suleyman and Ibrahim during the show. Ibrahim portrayed himself as the ruler at times, like when he had a bust of himself made, or when he had a throne in his house, or when he told the diplomats that he was the one who made the rules. Though Suleyman did bestow upon him a lot of powers, he warned Ibrahim to conduct himself more appropriately and not above Suleyman.

There was a small story line about Suleyman and fatherhood. When he became sick, he had dreams about his father, and I guess they gave him ideas for how he wanted to be a father. But I think they also reminded him of what he wanted from his sons.

Valide Sultan

At the beginning of the season, Valide continued to side heavily with Mahidevran. I think she favoured Mahidevran as she believed that Mahidevran was on her side and respected her position. On the other hand, Hurrem always made a big fuss in the harem and so Valide didn't like that she didn't live by her rules.

Such occasions included when Hurrem wanted to be Suleyman's legal wife, and when Hurrem wanted a crown that was even grander than the Valide's.

Valide went so far as to launch an assassination on Hurrem with the help of Ibrahim. However, Daye sent Bali Bey to protect Hurrem. It made sense on Daye's end, because she did agree to help Hurrem, but it would also be bad if the assassination was successful and led back to Valide. However, Valide saw it as a betrayal and she dismissed Daye. Gulsah, who later became Valide's attendant, launch a plot to get Daye kicked out of the harem, though at that point, Valide had softened towards Daye.

When Suleyman became sick, Valide overheard Mahidevran talking about how she would be the new Valide. From then on, Valide sided with Mahidevran less, feeling Mahidevran only focused on dethroning her.

I think the introduction of Aybige showed us a slightly different view of Valide. Valide's life revolved around Suleyman and Hatice (and to a much lesser extent Beyhan, if only because she was a minor character). Aybige was her brother's child, a child she didn't know too well, but still one she loved. It was interesting seeing her protect Aybige without knowing her personality too well, but trusting that she was good, particularly when it came to accusations against her and Bali Bey. I think this interested me because even with Suleyman, Hatice, and Beyhan, Valide had to move strategically, but that was not the case with Aybige. With Aybige, she just acted with her heart.

Things took a turn for Valide when she found out about Nigar's affair with Ibrahim. She was going to reveal the infidelity to Suleyman, but she thought of all of the fallout from the truth and she had a stroke from the stress. Daye was recalled back to take care of Valide. However, both Suleyman and Daye had forboding dreams about Valide, and she later died.

Hatice

Hatice went through a lot of tough situations this season. However, I also think Hatice as a person was more susceptible to being frazzled with tough situations.

Hatice had a baby, Mehmet, but he was weak from birth, probably because of the poison Hurrem had planted on Ibrahim. Hatice accidentally smothered Mehmet to death and she grieved heavily, blaming herself for his death.

Later, Hatice recovered and wanted to try again for kids. She gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. However, at this time, Ibrahim had begun his affair with Nigar, and Hatice had given birth while he was with Nigar on her wedding night.

During the Isabella story line, Ibrahim was charged with taking care of Isabella. Hatice was worried that Ibrahim was having an affair and made him divulge the secret about Isabella. Her reasoning was that she was his sovereign so Ibrahim had to serve her. That hit Ibrahim really hard and that was what began his rift with Hatice.

At one point, Hurrem had suggested that Ibrahim could take some women into his harem and Hatice blew up at her. Hatice was already angry with Hurrem because Hatice wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret while Ibrahim was away at war, but Hurrem had told Suleyman who would inevitably tell Ibrahim. When Hurrem blew up, she told Hurrem that she was no one, because Hatice was born a Sultana and she would be a Sultana until the day she died. That is a claim that no other woman could say, not even Valide. I really liked that this show explores the differences between the women in the harem and the princesses, because the princesses are in a very unique position where they don't have to compete, and are the sovereigns in their relationships with their husbands. Hurrem had taken the rant pretty hard and she had gone home and told Mihrimah that when she grew up, she had to do the things that Hurrem could not do as a Sultana.

Hatice became suspicious of Ibrahim during his affair, and she had him followed. However, as Ibrahim found out about Hatice following him, he decided to break things off with Nigar. Maybe he truly grew tired of Nigar, maybe he remembered his love for Hatice, maybe he recognized the benefits of being attached to Hatice. So Ibrahim went back to Hatice lovingly and she dropped everything.

However, Valide asked the eunuch who followed Ibrahim to report to her and so she found out about the affair. But the affair made its way to Hatice from Gulsah, who had overheard a conversation between Ibrahim and Nigar, to Hurrem, who purposely told it to Hatice.

Even when Nigar and Matrakci denied the affair and said that the bab ywas Matrakci's, Hatice was hesitant to believe it. But hearing the testimony from Gulsah herself pushed Hatice to accept it fully.

When Hatice confronted Ibrahim, she said that she was glad that at least he owned up to it. But Ibrahim also turned it back on her, saying that she was not without fault. After time spent alone (and with Beyhan), Hatice decided that she wanted a divorce from Ibrahim. I wonder if this divorce will go through. Ibrahim was Suleyman's close confidant, so the divorce would have a lot of implications. Would Ibrahim lose his position as Grand Vizier? What about the kids?

Other than when it came to her relationship with Ibrahim, I think Hatice tried to act as neutrally as possible. In the affairs of the harem, she tended to side with whomever she felt was reasonable. But again, I felt she was easily manipulated, particularly when it came to her mother or her relationship with Ibrahim.

Mahidevran

Mahidevran went through a lot of ups and downs during this season.

When Isabella came into the story, Mahidevran was pleased because she wanted to see Hurrem fall out of favour as Mahidevran had. It pleased her to see Hurrem fall, as opposed to receiving any personal benefits.

Mahidevran was awarded money to do charity work which prompted Hurrem to ask for the same privileges, and that set in motion the events for Hurrem to be freed and married to Suleyman. Mahidevran wanted to be freed but Suleyman refused. I think he denied her request because he felt that she did not act in his interests, whereas Hurrem did always yield to him. Then Suleyman sent Mahidevran away. Though Mustafa was supposed to stay, he offered to go with his mother because he loved her, and Suleyman allowed it.

Mahidevran and an adult Mustafa returned to the harem later on. Things were different now that Mustafa was an adult. She helped him set up a harem. Mustafa became obsessed with Efsun, which displeased Mahidevran when she found out that Efsun was Hurrem's spy. When it was revealed that Efsun was pregnant, Mahidevran helped hide it because she knew that Mustafa would want the child. However, Mahidevran got in trouble with Valide because it was against the rules.

The rift between Mahidevran and Valide began after Suleyman became sick and Mahidevran dreamed of becoming the new Valide. When Valide fell sick, Suleyman assigned her to rule the harem in place of the Valide, as it was tradition (presumably because she was the mother of the oldest prince?). This position was solidified after Valide died.

As Mustafa grew older, he was to be sent to the provinces to learn governance. Mahidevran was supposed to go with him, but Suleyman allowed her to stay, which angered Hurrem and pleased Mahidevran.

As mentioned, Mahidevran ran the harem very poorly. She wanted to move into Valide's old room soon after her death, and spent a lot of money on fancy renovations. Gulfem warned Mahidevran that it was a bad look to spend so extravagantly ahead of a campaign. Plus, Mahidevran was running into so many money problems that she had to take out loans. But where Valide always paid off her loans on time, Mahidevran never paid off her loans and it became a problem. Gulfem warned Mahidevran that she would tell Suleyman about her spending and Hurrem took the opportunity to frame Mahidevran for an attack on Gulfem. The combination of the attack on Gulfem, plus the cost overruns convinced Suleyman to send her away to live with Mustafa in Manisa.

What's odd is that I think Mahidevran's downfall towards the end of the season was her lack of tact, when in fact it used to be Hurrem who had no tact. Mahidevran did not disguise when she was pleased about bad things happening. Mahidevran said that she stopped loving Suleyman when he refused to free her and married Hurrem, and from then on, Mahidevran focused all of her efforts on raising Mustafa. But she was too obvious about it, not even trying to cozy up to Suleyman. She saw an opportunity when Suleyman fell sick and was pleased that Mustafa might be the next Sultan. And when Valide fell sick, Mahidevran fully abused her power. She did not appreciate when Gulfem challenged her on her spending although Gulfem was the treasurer. Mahidevran spent money on renovations and such and she claimed that they were for Mustafa, but everybody could see that was a lie.

So I think Mahidevran's downfall was that she wanted power, but the scope of it was very short sighted. At the end of season 2, Hurrem said that she would want to rule the world. And actually, during season 2, I think she learned the importance of making friends, whereas she really struggled at first. So I think Hurrem understood the importance of making friends and keeping them. When she did charity work, she wanted to do it in the name of religion. Daye later suggested she improved waterways and other such structures because those were what the people needed. And Hurrem took her up on those suggestions. I think Hurrem understood public good. She understood that you have to earn people's love. But Mahidevran wanted power so that she could live lavishly. I don't think she ever thought about what kind of ruler Mustafa should be, only that he should be a powerful one.

I suspect Mahidevran will come back again next season. I would expect Mustafa would be a more powerful prince by then and that would prop her up. But it's hard to say where she would stand with Suleyman.

Mustafa

Mustafa was Suleyman's eldest prince. He was generally a reasonable guy.

When Mahidevran was sent away after asking to be freed, Mustafa was supposed to stay with Suleyman. However, he loved his mother and he asked his father to go with her as a show of his love, which Suleyman allowed. I think Suleyman was impressed too.

As an adult, Mustafa was relatively calm. And of course he was protective of his mother. When Hurrem got angry at Mahidevran, Mustafa used his status to subdue her, to ask for respect as he had always extended to her.

I think Mustafa saw the ways in which his mother stepped too far as well. When Suleyman was sick, I think Mustafa was a little disgusted that his mother was telling him to prepare to be a ruler.

Mustafa fell madly in love with Efsun, who had been sent by Hurrem to lure Mustafa and to control him. However, Efsun fell in love with Mustafa which made her spying difficult. Efsun fell pregnant and despite it being against the rules, Mustafa had her pregnancy hidden. Valide found out and forced Efsun to have an abortion. However, Efsun died from the operation and on her deathbed she confessed to Mustafa that Hurrem had wanted her to kill him. That was kind of the beginning of Mustafa finally recognizing the lengths that Hurrem would go to.

He knew that Hurrem's weak spots were her kids, so he would taunt her by taking out her sons to hang out. Being little kids, they didn't suspect a thing, but he sent a loud message to Hurrem.

There was a story line about Aybige and Mustafa being betrothed. They both didn't like each other that way, seeing each other as family. However, Mustafa eventually agreed as he saw the political benefits to such a marriage. What surprised him was when Aybige agreed (as a reaction to Bali Bey's rejection). But he did eventually want to help Aybige leave so that the wouldn't have to marry. When Aybige was accused of adultery with Bali Bey, he didn't think it was true. But his father let him decide what to do with Bali Bey. Mustafa originally wanted to execute Bali Bey but at the last minute he stopped it. His reasoning was that he didn't feel his father's equal, to act as he felt his father would. I think that reasoning didn't really make sense. I think it would have made more sense if he just felt that he didn't want to be the kind of sovereign who executed people flippantly. His mother was rooting for him to execute Bali Bey to show his dominance though.

Mustafa eventually grew old enough to go to the provinces by himself. As mentioned, Mahidevran at first didn't have to go with him. But his departure was a happy one, in which all of the adults in his life wished him well.

There was a mini story line with Mustafa and Fatma, who served Mahidevran. Now that Efsun was dead, Fatma wanted to be Mustafa's love. It took time for him to warm up to her, as he still grieved for Efsun. But eventually her pushiness reaped rewards. That being said, Mahidevran did not let Fatma go with Mustafa. I think she saw that Fatma was more enamoured with becoming a Sultana, and might possibly go against her later. Instead, Mahidevran arranged for other concubines, including Fidun, to accompany Mustafa.

Mustafa in the next season will only grow stronger, as the oldest and thus most experienced of Suleyman's sons. He is also the biggest obstacle to Hurrem gaining more power.

Mehmet

Mehmet is Hurrem's oldest son. I think he was portrayed as a righteous boy.

His personality is contrasted against Mihrimah's. When Mihrimah broke Hurrem's crown, Mehmet pushed Mihrimah to own up to her mistake, but she never did.

Mehmet and Mustafa generally have a good relationship. I think things will be tough for him as he grows up and he realizes that he and Mustafa must fight to the death.

Mihrimah

I won't lie, Mihrimah kind of got on my nerves. As a younger child, Mihrimah mostly sat with her mother and observed her as she ranted about the injustices that happened to her in the harem. But she absorbed a lot of that and I think she's grown to be a devious young woman.

Mihrimah had a crush on Bali Bey, so she disliked Aybige, telling her that she would be watching her. When Mihrimah told everyone about Aybige and Bali Bey acting close, everybody laughed it off, because they knew that if what Mihrimah said was true, there's be a lot of trouble (as many people wanted the marriage between Aybige and Mustafa to go ahead). But I think Mihrimah would have been ready to do anything to ruin Aybige.

As I mentioned, there was a contrast between Mihrimah and Mehmet. While Mehmet was the righteous one, Mihrimah was devious and acted in her self interest. There was the situation with the crown that she broke. At first, she blamed it on a concubine. When Mehmet confronted her to tell the truth, Mihrimah then blamed Mehmet. She never admitted to the mistake. Hurrem, believing that Mehmet had broken the crown, told Mihrimah she did good to protect her brother (by lying and saying it was the concubine who did it). But she was only protecting herself. And I think if this will be a recurring problem later on, when she does something out of self-interest that will make things difficult for Hurrem or her brothers.

There was a scene in which Gulsah wanted to see Hurrem to tell her about the affair between Nigar and Ibrahim. She had gone to Hurrem's room but only Esma and Mihrimah were there. Mihrimah told Gulsah to tell her and that she would tell her mother, but Gulsah declined. Mihrimah wanted to grab power for herself. I think she's already acting in the way that she sees the women in the harem act. But she walks a dangerous line in that because of her age, she is still short-sighted and doesn't see the bigger implications of her actions.

At one point, Mihrimah asked Mehmet if he could send a letter to Bali Bey on her behalf. I...really hope that her crush on Bali Bey doesn't continue to be a thing. I worry that she'll grow up and then she'll continue yearning for Bali Bey and that they'll get together despite the fact that he was a full grown man and she was a little girl when they first met...

As I mentioned, there was a previous scene in which Hurrem told Mihrimah that she had to do things that Hurrem herself could not do as a woman. I took a quick peek on Wikipedia and I think Mihrimah was probably a powerful figure in her own right, so I'm curious to know how she will wield power.

Selim & Bayezid

Selim and Bayezid were Hurrem's third and fourth children. They weren't given very much screentime, mostly kind of acting as a unit due to their closeness in age.

Cihangir

Cihangir was Hurrem's fifth child. He cried a lot and the doctors determined that he had a problem with his back and would grow to be a hunchback. Despite the reluctance of Hurrem and her kids, Suleyman took him to get a procedure done that I think would straighten his back. But the procedure was very gruelling for Suleyman as obviously Cihangir was crying a lot.

After Cihangir's procedure, Suleyman then fell ill. I think the stress from the procedure was one of the things that pushed him to fall ill.

Ibrahim

Ibrahim accumulated quite a bit of power during this season, as Suleyman basically gave him a lot of power to appoint people and make decisions.

I believe Ibrahim was Italian in origin and the show often show Ibrahim's attachment to European things. It started with his home, in which a lot of the decor was very European. In the first season, Valide was uncomfortable with the furniture and decor. In this season, we saw it once when Ibrahim was escorting Isabella to the church so that she could pray and he was moved by the interior of it. But his attachment to European aesthetics became especially prominent after Suleyman's campaign in Europe, after which he gifted statues to Ibrahim. Ibrahim found them beautiful but Hatice and Valide found them creepy.

As mentioned, Ibrahim first became disillusioned with his love with Hatice during the Isabella arc, when he was forced to reveal what he was doing to Hatice. It was a secret that Suleyman asked him to keep, but Hatice was so insecure, worried that he was cheating on her with another woman. She used her status as a sovereign to force him to speak and he resented her for that, for using her status instead of trusting him.

I'll be honest, I think Ibrahim is a scumbag, because of how he treats Nigar. Nigar kissing Ibrahim was a mistake, but from on, when Ibrahim wasn't using Nigar for her information, he always treated her as if her presence itself was a crime. He only warmed up to her when he realized he could use her, as he first did when getting information about Leo. Later on, Nigar continued to help Ibrahim.

I thought it was really scummy of him to intervene on Nigar and Matrakci's wedding day. He called in his favour from Matrakci (for saving his life after the Sadika situation) and made him divorce Nigar, because Ibrahim said that Nigar was his.

I truly believe that Ibrahim only liked Nigar because she was deathly loyal to him. Whereas he was a slave to Hatice, Nigar was a slave to him, and for once I think Ibrahim enjoyed having the power. For a period of time, I think he even believed that he was in love with Nigar. He liked that their relationship was not related to politics. He even mused the idea of having a child with Nigar because then their child would not be involved in any politics.

I'm not sure how Ibrahim came to break up with Nigar. But I suspect it was a combination of him realizing it was the best situation for him to still be married to Hatice, recognizing the trouble of carrying out an affair, and also recognizing that he still loved Hatice. But since he had been cheating on her for years, it was too much for Hatice. Though Ibrahim accepted that he had hurt Hatice, he expressed his hurt too, that he never expected Hatice to have used her status against him, the man she was supposed to love.

When Mahidevran was stripped of rule of the harem, she went to Ibrahim, and Ibrahim said that he was tired of cleaning up after Mahidevran and Mustafa. I wonder if his partnership with Mahidevran will truly fade away.

I actually have no idea whether Ibrahim and Hatice will truly get divorced. I feel like they wouldn't as Ibrahim is a pretty important character and I just can't really see him losing his political power at this point in the story. I would low key love to see the divorce go through though, if only to see what Ibrahim would go through. How would he maintain his position after the divorce? Would he be demoted? Would he work his way back up?

Gulfem

Gulfem is another concubine in the harem. In season 1, we first met Gulfem as a concubine who was often attending to Hatice. It was later revealed that Gulfem was once Suleyman's beloved, and they had children, but they died. After that, Gulfem gave up and devoted her time to looking after Hatice, while Suleyman then fell in love with Mahidevran.

Gulfem continued to be somewhat of a neutral party in the harem. She was more on the side of rules. I couldn't even really say that Valide acted on the side of the rules as she often injected her own agenda into her actions. But Gulfem just wanted order and peace in the harem and for everyone to get along.

Gulfem had a bigger role towards the end of the season, when she was appointed to be treasurer. Seeing as how she was on the side of rules, she disproved of Mahidevran's extravagant spending, especially since it was so close to a campaign. She threatened to tell Suleyman and then was the victim of a staged attack by Hurrem (though Gulfem did not know this). When Suleyman wanted to appoint a new head of the harem, he consulted Gulfem, who seemed to have agreed on Hurrem being an appropriate person.

I wonder what kind of character Gulfem will be moving forward. I kind of hope she remains this neutral party, one who is always the voice of reason. She might become a rival for Hurrem but not willingly or purposely. For her, she doesn't care for Suleyman's romantic love anymore. I do think that Suleyman still cares for her, but it's not quite the fiery romantic dramatic love he has for Hurrem. It's calmer, almost platonic, but has some potential for romance.

Esma

Esma was basically the nanny to Hurrem's kids. She otherwise doesn't really have a huge role. She never got involved in any of Hurrem's schemes. She truly was just there to take care of the kids.

Nilufer

Nilufer was a concubine who had come to serve Hurrem. However, she was youthful and reckless and often went out of her way to threaten people on Hurrem's behalf, but it would backfire against her.

Nilufer was accused of killing Hurrem's horse, though Hurrem knew she didn't do it, and she had only went to the stable to do something else on Hurrem's behalf. But intervening would cause too much trouble for Hurrem so unfortunately she had to let Nilufer die. Nilufer, hustled too hard for her own good.

Efsun

Efsun, originally Nora, was a concubine that Hurrem had taken under her wing. After the riot in the harem, Hurrem staged a falling out with Efsun so that Mahidevran would believe that Efsun was not with Hurrem anymore.

With Hurrem's guidance, Efsun seduced Mustafa. She went through the same playbook Hurrem did, attracting him with her dancing, and then asking to convert to Islam and receiving a name from him. However, Efsun truly fell in love with Mustafa.

At one point, Hurrem asked Efsun to poison Mustafa but she couldn't go through with it. She kept stalling whenever Hurrem asked her to hurt Mustafa.

Later when Efsun fell pregnant, she kept it a secret and only a few knew, including Sumbul and Mustafa. When Mahidevran found out (through Fatma), she was going to force an abortion but Mustafa intervened. So Mahidevran helped Mustafa send Efsun away with a midwife. But then when Valide found out, she forced the abortion and Efsun bled to death from the operation, but not without revealing to Mustafa and Mahidevran that Hurrem had tried to poison him.

Though Mustafa tried to tell this to his father, he had no other evidence other than Efsun's word. But that word was enough to Mustafa.

Fatma

Fatma was a concubine in the harem. I don't remember how she first came into the story, but she eventually came to be under Mahidevran's protection.

After Efsun's death, Fatma wanted to become the next favourite of Mustafa. She tried really hard that it was a little cringe at first. Mustafa wasn't super receptive at first, and he sometimes hesitated because he was reminded of Efsun. But he eventually gave in.

Mahidevran could tell that Fatma kept wanting to go with Mustafa to Manisa but she did not allow it, saying that she wanted Fatma with her because she was loyal.

Fidun

Fidun was a concubine who first entered the picture because she was enlisted by Gul to get close to Sumbul, because Gul wanted to blackmail Sumbul into giving back his money. Afterwards she was taken under the wing of Mahidevran like Fatma.

However, Fidun was not obsessed with becoming a Sultana. She was sent to be with Mustafa in Manisa (among other concubines).

Daye

Daye was Valide Sultan's long time servant and companion. She was stoic and a rule follower.

The first time we saw her have some agency was when Hurrem asked for Daye's help. I don't remember what the exact situation was, but it might have been related to Leo's notebook. Hurrem basically told Daye that when she came into power, it would be in her interest to be in Hurrem's good graces. Not quite as harsh, but it was basically a reminder that things could be good for Daye if she was agreeable with Hurrem. Hurrem in return gave Daye a ranch, though the riches never meant anything to Daye.

Daye eventually gave in. I believe she took and hid Leo's notebook for Hurrem? But also when Valide wanted to assassinate Hurrem, Daye sent Bali Bey to protect Hurrem, both to protect Hurrem and to protect Valide because it would be big trouble if the assassination was traced back to Valide. Valide took this as a betrayal and dismissed Daye.

I don't remember the sequence of events, but at one point, Gulsah became the head matron and she would order around and bully Daye. Daye accepted the bullying, until Gulsah pushed Nigar, and Daye slapped Gulsah. Nobody dared stand up to Daye because she was well respected in the harem.

Daye was quite motherly to Nigar. When Nigar got cold feet on her wedding day, Daye convinced her to take the opportunity and to not have regrets. And when she found out about Nigar's affair, Daye was really quite angry and disappointed with Nigar for doing something so inappropriate, but she still cared deeply for Nigar. Sumbul, Gul, and Seker respected Daye quite a bit too.

As time went on, Daye fell back into Valide's good graces which obviously irked Gulsah. Gulsah hatched a plot in which Daye accidentally killed a woman. For that, Valide had to dismiss Daye. On her way out, Daye's carriage was robbed and she was beaten. Daye had nowhere to go but to go to Nigar and seek protection, despite Daye still disapproving of Nigar's life choices.

When Valide fell ill, Daye had to go back to the palace to see her, even if it was against the rules. Suleyman allowed her to see Valide because he knew how close they were. And Daye continued to take care of Valide until the day she died.

Daye was wracked with guilt over Valide's death. She knew that she had become paralyzed over the stress from Ibrahim's affair. And Daye had known about this affair. After Valide died, Daye donated all of her riches except for the necklace that Suleyman had gifted her. She took a job as a cleaner and was bullied. Even when Sumbul came to see her she didn't really budget. Daye eventually gave away even Suleyman's necklace, and committed suicide by hanging.

Sumbul

Sumbul was the first eunuch we met in the show. He's one for the rules in the harem. In this season, we got to see a more personal side of him.

Earlier in this season, I wondered if Sumbul was implied to be a pervert as he was seen running into the concubines changing and such lol. But a friend suggested that he was just lonely, and that was why Fidun was able to get to him. She would volunteer to give him massages and such.

Sumbul and Gul had a big rivalry going on. Sumbul knew where Gul had hid some of his money and he had taken some of it. Gul had actually sent Fidun to get close to Sumbul purposely so that he could blackmail Sumbul into returning his money.

Afterwards, however, they kind of had a harmless rivalry going on. They clashed when playing board games, or when advising concubines how to dance.

Though Sumbul was generally neutral for the first part of the season, later on he came over to Hurrem's side as well, helping her in her schemes.

Gul

Gul originally served in another palace and he came to the harem as Hurrem found him to be helpful.

Gul just kind of wanted to be a fat cat living in luxury. He liked collecting money, chilling, and eating snacks. As mentioned, there was a comedic side plot featuring Gul and Sumbul in which Gul finally got Sumbul to return his money. But afterwards they were colleagues.

Gul was more firmly on Hurrem's side for much of the season, especially because Hurrem was the one who had recruited him. However, like Nilufer, he hustled a bit too hard at the end and was busted for his lies. Actually, Nigar had revealed his lies, but she said that she had done it to save him. Presumably she meant that he would have been punished more harshly if his lies turned into something greater. Gul was simply dismissed from the palace, and Sumbul and Seker bid him farewell amicably, even if Gul and Sumbul continued to squabble through it.

Nigar

Oh, Nigar. I quite liked her in season 1 and I had really hoped she didn't get involved in the harem games. Little did I know, she would get into one of the messiest story lines in the show.

From last season, we found out that Nigar had a crush on Ibrahim despite the fact that Ibrahim was so mean to her. This season, Nigar was sent to Ibrahim's house to help Hatice with the pregnancy, which just meant that she was around Ibrahim more, which annoyed him more. After her miscarriage, Hatice was feeling melancholy and at one point left the manor to spend time away. During that time, Ibrahim had slept with Nigar.

Afterwards, Hatice returned, but since Nigar was being ignored, she started to grew more and more sad. Even Hatice noticed her sadness. Nigar had written Ibrahim a letter and attempted suicide but Ibrahim had stopped her, yelling at her for writing the letter because it would have caused trouble for them.

Hatice eventually suggested that Nigar marry Matrakci. Nigar got cold feet as she was still madly in love with Ibrahim, but Daye told her to take the opportunity and I think Nigar was really trying. But on her first night, Matrakci divorced her. Then, out of the blue, Ibrahim popped out and told Nigar that she was his, and from then the began their affair, with Matrakci helping them to cover up their affair.

During the affair, I think Nigar really did feel bad for Matrakci. He was humiliated in the streets as people knew Nigar was sleeping with someone else. And Nigar tried to cook food for him and help him but it mattered little to him. Eventually, they went with the story that Matrakci divorced Nigar because she couldn't have kids, so Nigar became a divorcee, and she went back to work in the harem. Some wanted her to remarry but she was happily unmarried because she was with Ibrahim.

When Daye found out about the affair, she was extremely angry with Nigar. Sleeping with the husband of Hatice was extremely dangerous and also improper. But Nigar didn't stop no matter how much Daye wrangled her.

Around the time that Ibrahim broke up with Nigar, Nigar found out she was pregnant. I don't quite remember the details but I think Ibrahim had wanted to send her away. Daye said it might have been Ibrahim's opportunity to off Nigar, so she instead returned to work at the harem. Later on, Ibrahim found out about the baby (which was the same time that Gulsah found out). And then Ibrahim arranged for Mahidevran to dismiss Nigar, and then Ibrahim would send Nigar to his brother to take care of her.

Hurrem had approached Nigar to see if she would tell her about the pregnancy. If Nigar did tell the truth, I think Hurrem would have protected her. But since Nigar did not reveal the truth, Hurrem went ahead with leaking the affair to Hatice. Hatice captured Nigar before Ibrahim's people could get to her. Ibrahim and Matrakci only found out later that Nigar never made it to Ibrahim's brother's place.

Hatice was obviously shaken but not quite as much as I thought she would be. She was angry, but I think she was angrier at Ibrahim than with Nigar. As well, she told Nigar that she would let her have the baby first, before punishing her.

So Nigar's fate awaits us. I really think Hurrem won't trust her again. She mentioned before that once a traitor, always a traitor, and Nigar had gone against Hurrem twice (once about Leo, the second time about her and Gul's plot to frame Mahidevran and Fidun for the attempted murder of Valide). But I'm really curious about what Hatice's going to do with Nigar :(

Seker

Seker was the cook and kind of the background figure to the servants, particularly to Sumbul and Gul. He often played board games with them, getting involved with their squabbles. He also very much respected Daye. When she was about to be dismissed, he visited her with lots of treats.

Gulsah

Gulsah was Mahidevran's servant, but time and time again, she proved to be trouble. Like Nilufer, she hustled too hard, sometimes doing things that would reflect poorly on Mahidevran.

At one point, Gulsah became Valide's attendant. However, she continued to serve Mahidevran closely so I think that part of the story wasn't quite as convincing. During that time, Gulsah also went on a huge power trip, as she was the head matron. She expected obedience, though she hadn't really earned it. She ordered Daye to scrub the floors, and when Nigar tried to stand up for Daye, Gulsah pushed her over, which caused Daye to flip out and slap Gulsah.

Gulsah continued to struggle with Daye. She hatched a plot resulting in Daye accidentally killing a midwife (the one who had aborted Efsun's baby, who had overheard about Nigar's pregnancy). Gulsah also arranged for Daye's carriage to be attacked and robbed as she left the palace.

After news of Daye being attacked made its way through the harem, Mahidevran finally got fed up with Gulsah and dismissed her. Gulsah then found out about Ibrahim and Nigar's affair and tried to tell Hurrem but didn't have much opportunity. When Gulsah was on her way to tell Hurrem, she was attacked by Ibrahim, but she did not die, and lived to tell Hurrem about the affair. Later on, Hurrem took Gulsah under her wing, back in the harem.

Matrakci Nasuh

Matrakci was Ibrahim and Bali Bey's friend. He was recovering from the revelation of Sadika's true background. He was in love with her and did all that she asked of him, not knowing that she planned to kill Suleyman and nearly succeeded. Sadika was ordered to be killed, and Matrakci carried out the deed by rowing her out to the water and throwing her into the ocean. Ibrahim had protected Matrakci during this.

Matrakci remained a bro to Bali Bey during his love troubles. But he didn't become a character again until he was ordered to marry Nigar. However, on their wedding night, he said to Nigar "I divorce you" three times. He didn't seem happy doing it, and we learned that Ibrahim had ordered him to divorce Nigar, cashing in on the favour he had done for Matrakci by protecting him during the Sadika situation.

Matrakci began to be quite miserable. He couldn't cohabit with Nigar in peace. It felt so humiliating when she would cook for him and clean his things and then go lie with another man. Then everyone in town was talking about how he was a cuckold. He later approached Ibrahim, telling him that he couldn't handle it anymore, that it was a matter of his manly pride. Ibrahim allowed him to present the fact that he was divorced, stating that it was Nigar's infertility that was the cause.

Matrakci cheered up a bit, though he was called upon again by Ibrahim to protect Nigar when he found out about her pregnancy. Matrakci instructed Nigar to say that the baby was his if she was questioned. She did so when Hatice questioned her, and Matrakci corroborated, but Hurrem suggested to Hatice that they could have coordinated, which was indeed the case.

I do like Matrakci. I feel bad that he was thrown into this situation. It really felt like on their wedding night, that Matrakci and Nigar were both going to try to live new lives, leaving their old loves behind. But Ibrahim >(

Isabella

Isabella was an Italian princess who had been kidnapped by pirates. Suleyman and Ibrahim had Isabella "bought." At the time, they were negotiating with the Italians and having her with them would have given them a leg up.

The existence of Isabella was trouble, especially because she had to be a secret (for political reasons). For Hurrem she was heartbroken by the fact that Suleyman might already have another love.

At first Isabella hated being in captivity (totally understandable). When she learned that her fiance might be at danger, she tried to seduce Suleyman, but he declined and left her. However, Isabella was slowly falling in love with Suleyman.

At one point, Isabella had asked Ibrahim to take her to a church to pray. There, she had asked the priest for help to escape. But when they arranged an escape, she didn't want to leave as she had fallen in love with Suleyman. She made the excuse that she didn't want Bali Bey to be killed (as he was escorting her to the church that day). She did eventually attempt escape another time, but was stopped by Ibrahim.

Isabella's arc did drag on. A lot of time was spent on not knowing who Isabella was. There was more hype about the mystery of her when it came to the characters in the show. Isabella joining the harem would have brought about quite a big change; as a princess she held higher status than any other woman in the harem. However, that part was not explored much at all. Soon after Isabella joined the harem, Hurrem had launched her plan. She had ordered for Isabella to be poisoned. However, only her maidservant was killed. Instead, Hurrem threatened her, and then had her escape back home.

Malkocoglu Bali Bey

Bali Bey was a military commander.

His first story line had to do with his love with Armin. He fell in love with her and chased her like a romcom male lead despite the fact that she constantly rejected his advances. She did eventually return his affection. However, she contracted the plague and died. She and Bali Bey had a last minute wedding so that they could be married before she died. I vaguely remember Armin's father complaining to Ibrahim about Bali Bey bothering his daughter, and Ibrahim warning Bali Bey. So I think this story was sort of supposed to introduce a rift between Ibrahim and Bali Bey.

Bali Bey's second story line had to do with Aybige, the cousin of Suleyman whom he fell in love with. However, he refrained from returning her affections or being too close with her because she was a princess. He went to the tavern and hung out with the ladies there and that angered Aybige, who then agreed to marry Mustafa.

With some convincing, Bali Bey and Aybige realized that they did love each other, but it was a little too late. Aybige was allowed to visit home one more time before the marriage, though Mustafa told Bali Bey that he would find a way so that Aybige didn't have to return and marry him. However, on their way to Crimea, Aybige and Bali Bey were captured by Suleyman and returned, as he had caught wind of their affair from Mahidevran, who in turn had been leaked information from Hurrem through Efsun that Hurrem was planning on getting them together to stop Aybige from marrying Mustafa.

Bali Bey took his punishment, though he maintained that nothing happened between him and Aybige (they cuddled and kissed a couple of times and I think that was it). Suleyman left the punishment up to Mustafa who eventually decided to spare Bali Bey as he had done good for his father, and sent him away.

Mihrimah always had a crush on Bali Bey. However, she would try to get Aybige in trouble because of the crush. Later in the show, she asked Mehmet if he could send a letter to Bali Bey on her behalf, to which he refused as it was improper. I wonder if Bali Bey will come back later. I fear he might...I hope nothing happens between him and Mihrimah...

Armin

Armin was the daughter of a jewellery shopkeeper. At first she refused Bali Bey's annoying advances, but the romcom thing happened in which after much persistence, she gave in. However, she fell ill with the plague and so they didn't have much time together.

Afterwards, Bali Bey grieved for a while. He went home but completely rejected the advances of a childhood friend who insisted that she would wait for him.

Aybige

Aybige was the cousin of Suleyman and his siblings, the daughter of Valide's brother. Her father and uncles were fighting so she was sent to the palace for protection. She was a bit of a tomboy and she found Bali Bey fun because of his seriousness.

Aybige and Bali Bey fell in love, but he was cold to her advances because he was still grieving for Armin and also because he didn't want to get involved with a princess. When Aybige found out that he was going to taverns and that she was fighting for their love alone, she agreed to marry Mustafa in a rage.

But that was a poorly thought out decision. She later realized that Bali Bey did indeed love her and didn't actually sleep with the ladies at the tavern (not anymore at least).

Aybige and Bali Bey did have a bit of a honeymoon period as he escorted her to Crimea, but they were captured. Aybige denied any allegations that she was unfaithful with Bali Bey. Depends on your definition I guess, but I think they meant sex.

The engagement with Mustafa was broken off and she was sent home to Crimea.

Aybige was special in that she didn't mind getting close to Hurrem. When she first arrived at the harem, Valide and Mahidevran formed a clique and told Hurrem to sit elsewhere. Though they told Aybige to stay away from Hurrem, Aybige found her interesting and fun to talk to. Aybige remained one of Hurrem's few friends. She was a bit surprised when she found out Hurrem had leaked the story about her and Bali Bey, but Hurrem had assured her that she didn't think Bali Bey would be killed, which she was right about in the end.

Because of Aybige's love with Bali Bey, Mihrimah disliked her. It might have been funny at the time, since Mihrimah was a young girl, but I hope that this doesn't become a problem later on, in which Mihrimah will continue to use her power to intimidate others for selfish purposes.

Themes

I really did like the exploration of princesses vs women in the harem. I used to always think of princesses as pawns, and they are still presented this way in the show. Princesses are used as pawns to keep politicians loyal, but their relationships are just as easily broken off per the sultan's decision. Beyhan expressed that she understood that her husband had committed a bad deed, but she didn't think that execution was appropriate. She didn't know how to face her children and tell them that their uncle had killed their father.

But again, I also liked that discussion of how princesses inherently are the most powerful women in the palace, even when they aren't the most powerful. Valide was technically the most powerful woman in the harem, but her power was not quite as pure as Hatice or Beyhan's was. Hatice and Beyhan were born princesses and they would die princesses. Valide's power, as well as Mahidevran or Hurrem's, was dependent on their sons. For example, if Suleyman was deposed of, Valide would not have a position anymore. And Mahidevran and Hurrem of course needed their sons to ascend the throne to secure themselves the most powerful possible position for a woman not of noble birth like them, which was the Valide Sultan position. But even if Suleyman's father did something bad and was overthrown, Hatice and Beyhan would always be the daughters of a Sultan. It's about lineage. And so together with Mihrimah maybe we'll see Hurrem gain the most power a woman can have.

Over the course of the season, we saw Mustafa grow up into a man. Since Hurrem's sons are still young, he is still quite friendly and caring towards them. But Mahidevran had already begun to see them as rivals, even from when Mehmet was very young. In the next season, we're going to see the brothers' relationships fracture, particularly between Mustafa and Mehmet as they were relatively close.

There was a brief mini plot about Suleyman and fatherhood. I don't quite remember, but when he was sick I believe he had a dream about his father talking about when he felt the relationship with his son lost its innocence. And I think it prompted Suleyman to prepare himself for when his sons grow up and begin to take on more politically active roles. At one point, Mustafa was talking with his brothers about the roles of a prince. Mustafa had always been filial, and he was talking about how he wished that their father lived a long long life. Just as Suleyman walked in, Mustafa was talking about how one day, he might have to ascend as ruler should anything befall their father. So perhaps that hints that Suleyman will start to grow suspicious of Mustafa.

Overall

Very eventful and dramatic season! I'm going to take a break and watch another show before I return to season 3 :3