What do you think about Kosem and Kemankes? For me they are perhaps my favorite couple in the entire franchise and he proved to be the best for Kosem.
I totally agree. I loved Kösem and Kemankeş and their dynamic was both heartfelt and refreshing. I'm usually not into ships in shows that much, I mean, when they are well-written and organic I have nothing against them and can even love them, but no characters have I shipped as strongly as Kösem and Kemankeş.
What I love the most about them is that they don't have some big contrived love story that takes so much time of the show it becomes boring and stale or just ends abruptly or happens without any build-up or chemistry between the characters whatsoever, solely for plot convenience. Most of the love stories in the franchise are pretty fine (i.e I love Hatice and Ibrahim!), but their repetitiveness shows so much after a while, given that they're.... far too many. Kösem and Kemankeş aren't even a love story in their foundation - their development is mostly through their interactions that are running organically in the background and don't become a separate plot-line. Kemankeş is so neatly woven into Kösem's relationships that it doesn't seem odd at all when they both first meet each other.
Their evolution is primarily shown through the situation Murat put Kemankeş into. By following Kösem everywhere around, by him questioning her decisions, by each interaction they share, he gets to truly know Kösem and get a grasp of her inner world much more than anyone else ever has. Kösem doesn't have to play a role in front of him, by this point she's unapologetically herself, because she already knows her power, strengths and weaknesses. Kemankeş has gotten the chance to carefully observe her ruling process, realize Murat's own flaws and decide for himself that she is the one he would follow.
He cares for her a lot and loves her tremendously, but in a respectful way. He knows that she doesn't share his feelings the way he does and that they can't live happily together in a circumstance like this, he perfectly understands that and still follows her on this path. Kösem herself loves him in her own way, acknowledging that he understands her much better than anyone ever could. She values him a lot and it's symbolic that he is the last person she "says goodbye to" in the finale the day before the massive slander.
The most important aspect of their relationship to me, is the loyalty. Kösem starts to see more in Kemankeş after he saved her life, which is a sign of loyalty to not only the dynasty and country Kösem represents, but also to Kösem herself, because despite of all the hardships, despite of the possibility for her to not come back alive, he didn't give up on her. The betrayal by that child left a scar of Kösem's own beliefs in its unexpected blow (how could she expect that the child she helped and saved in desparate need would betray her?), so finding a new place of loyalty in the face of Kemankeş, the person she expected to monitor and oppose her decisions first and foremost, was something precious to her. (or maybe I'm reading too much into it hehe) But Kemankeş isn't blindly loyal to Kösem: when he saw that she lost her path, he was willing to give up, because what Kösem prepared to do next (the poisoning of Mehmet) would be everything both of them fought against, far beyond the lines they could cross for the stability of the country (and they have crossed many lines - E60: "We have faced many deaths..."). He also says that she lost her soul after the death of Ibrahim, that she's a whole other person now and he's right: after the death of Ibrahim, Kösem became a new person, a different person, a more ruthless Kösem that is truly capable of anything for the country's stability. Because she can now sacrifice her grandson much more easily after she lost her children, isn't that right?
In these scenes Kemankeş acts as her own conscience and while a fallout was certainly hinted at (similarly to the historical line of their dynamic), it wasn't forced, nor overdramatic - it was the logical outcome of their relationship then. And still, Kemankeş didn't leave her behind. He spoke with the pashas and went to say one final goodbye. E60 presented every aspect of how is Kösem going to be remembered by people and Kemankeş, a person who has seen her every facet, still remembers her fondly, as shown by his last monologue:
"The ground she steps on...is (a) piece to my heart. The ground she walks on is covered with roses for her, covered with jasmine. Oh, my sultana, wherever you step, it gives you fruits, while it grows flowers and grass. How can I ignore the soil you step on then? Look carefully at every speck that is in the air or the ground, they, too, are in love with a power like ours. Happy, unhappy, good, evil - every speck revolves around you. Because oh, my sultana, your face's sun can't fit in the sky. It doesn't fit at no one's heart or the world. When it's like that, it's surprising, it fits in my heart. It took my heart as its home."
😍😍😍😍😍
