#mc recap

Low-key I was very worried that Mahi would try to say "oh, Hürrem is hurting my child" to frame her.

It's also quite funny that here they also faint when they are pregnant. So it is really a trope in harem dramas.

"I hope it dies" Calm down, Huafei...

GIRL, SHE WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU, WHY DID YOU THROW THE DRINK AT HER AND START A FIGHT? You know, my girl is definitely a classic harem villain at this point, very Huafei-esque (or how I imagine Huafei was when she entered the harem) but I kinda like that???. You never see this kind of character. It's usually a good girl turned bad. Hürrem is being an ass from the get-go, which is refreshing tbf.

ATP I can't help but being in Mahi's side. She seems to really love the Sultan (big mistake, as we know, but alright) and Hürrem is genuinely coming for her out of nowhere, wishing to take her place and wishing her baby would die. Now she had to see the Sultan giving her that ring and that made her (deservedly) crash out. Yeah girl, I cannot in good conscience fault you for that. The classic story of the ex-favored consort being cast aside for a young, new, fresh girl. It's sad.

Someone control this child though. I'm surprised the Sultan hasn't punished his son or something for being way too spoiled. I mean, it's to be expected, I guess. He is literally a prince and kids can be mean. I'm not hard on him, more on Mahi and specially the Sultan, because if this child is to be the next in line, he can't be acting like that. At least, again, making comparisons with my cdramas, the emperors there would have crashed out at the first insolence. Which is fair considering the future of the empire is at stake.

The sultan's sister's longing for Ibrahim is rather sweet. Let them be happy. Why is Ibrahim taking his frustrations out with Hürrem though?

Nigar is at least saying to Hürrem all I want to say. Yes, act dumb, girl, that's ironically the smartest thing. Don't pick fights, go along with those more in power.

I love a "I will win" monologue. Yes, I know you will, and I love it.

Also, idk what she expected. The others are gonna leave you to eat alone, yes, because you are mean. Be happy they are not sucking up to you for being favored only to stab you in the back later.

I was just about to say "finally, you're acting cool." Oh, but she just had to really let Mahi take in the ring for a minute before bowing. You just had to really push the knife in. Atp I wouldn't be surprised if Mahi is plotting her murder.

Oh, real smooth Ibrahim. Real smooth.

YES, NIGAR BEING THE VOICE OF REASON ONCE AGAIN.

Hürrem: Only the sultan gets along with me :c

Nigar: Girl, you're always fighting them. You never make the effort. Of course they don't like you. Get you shit together or they'll have your ass in a plate.

Oh, she's getting her own scheming eunuch. Very basic and very very important. You cannot be an evil concubine without a scheming eunuch.

Hate to say it. I expected the Sultan to be an ass, but he is a nice dude. He... is being a good ruler?

Personal anecdote; I also lost a very important ring once in the showers. In this case it's because I was stupid and left it there accidentally.

I've been justifying Mahi all the episode, but she really pissed me off now. I know it's not the worst thing ever, but her stupid smirk annoyed me. Is the gift gonna be the head?

CALLED IT. (Then again, it was obvious).

That smirk better be some plotting on your part, Hürrem. I'm gonna need you to use your situation to your advantage.

Oh, these lovebirds. I was going to say "this subplot is going fast" since it's the third episode, but considering these are movie length, it's not as fast.

Be grateful you're his mom's favorite, Mahi. Someone else is going to get the stick in your place. And Hürrem should also feel lucky that they didn't use it to frame her for hiding it to cause chaos. I thought that's what was gonna happen. I'm also quite glad Mahi got scolded like that. In another note: I gotta glaze Maria once more. She does nothing yet I love her. Such a sweetie.

Also, to me her deciding to become muslim in order to climb up and become the Sultana, I think that's a powerful scene. It's the last thing she had of her identity as "Alexandra" and, knowing she has to go on, decides to renounce it in order to make her wish come true. She's already lost everything, but decided to go forward and get power for herself. I mean, yeah, I guess I don't see anything wrong with it because I'm agnostic.

I don't feel bad for what just happened to Mahi. Not because I believe she deserved it, because atp she didn't. I don't feel bad for her because she created problems and stress for herself instead of thinking clearly. Lock in. You act like a child way too much.

Oh, the disheveled Mahi meeting in the hall with the triumphant, put together Hürrem. Cinema. Absolute cinema.

Chef's kiss.

Ibrahim, be as angry as you want, but you know damn well she is RIGHT.

Did Victoria get in drag to avenge her husband? That's surely Louis's daughter.

Believe me, I'm not turning on my number 1 girl Hürrem, it's just that yes, I do like Gülnihal despite her being too nice, and I also can't help but feel bad for her. More than that, call me evil, but I'm worried about how being so ruthless is gonna impact Hürrem. This just can't go without consequences, right?

I also love that while she clearly feels bad about it, she doesn't show it too much. She knows she did something awful and is going along with it. She's not begging Gülnihal for forgiveness, she knows what's done has been done and she's not a hypocrite.

I'm kinda invested in the Victor arc.

"I wan't money, love, power, etc. etc."

"Hey, uh, this girl is wounded, don't you want a prayer for her?"

"Nope."

THE HATUN WHO MAKES THE CHARMS REALLY HARD TO TAKE IN HER AUDACITY. But seeing how I think this will play out... I kinda need her contact info. No, but it was really funny how Gülnihal rolled her eyes at Hürrem plotting to use the charms to conquer Süleyman's attention. Btw, where is Ibrahim originally from? It's clear that he is western, but is he Italian or something? He seems to be the court interpreter for Italian and was reading La Divina Commedia if I recall correctly. Well, what would now be Italy, because back then there was no Italy.

I'm so in love with her evil, sneaky face. Also, again, the dress is beautiful.

"It's not as if she's in love and it's hurting her" Uh.... how do I put this...

(I've noticed it's a writing trend here. To say something that for the viewer has an obvious answer)

WHY IS HIS SMILE SO FUNNY

"Got ya, you sneaky bastard." The "oh, so you aren't maidenless" smile.

I will hold my comments regarding this whole Victoria arc right now. I feel like I need more to say anything.

But will Süleyman accept her apology?

I guess not.

Back to Hatice. Yeah, the love story might be done here.

Did she poison herself? Oh, girl.

Oh, my girl is pregnant again! One after the other.

THE CHARM HATUN EATING THE SNACKS COMPLETELY UNBOTHERED, ICONIC.

Ibrahim having to write the edict for Hatice's marriage has *similar* vibes to Yunli having to escort Zhen Huan back to the palace. Although, obviously, Yunli was the GOAT and a beautiful soul.

This one's gonna be a girl, right?

Or, it would be really funny is everyone plotted to make her think she was pregnant to get back at her.

Gulsah literally just came back and she's already malding over Hürrem's second pregnancy

Oh, her fiancé is going to die lol

Even Nigar is worried about what to do with Hürrem since she is so... her.

Ok, it actually worries me way more that the Valide went "yeah, there's something I need regarding this WELL-BEHAVED, VERY NICE, ABSOLUTELY NOT EVIL CONCUBINE THAT I DO NOT HATE"

Omg. Lady school fastforward with our Sümbül

Lowkey valid that she scolded Ayse for entering her room like that. I'd be annoyed too.

Neither am I gonna complain about her continuing to rewrite that damn letter. This is a girl with a plan and she's calculating calculations.

The cook (GOATed comic relief. I enjoy whenever he comes on screen) Oh, there's a banquet.

Sümbül: wdym?????? I didn't know tho... oh wait... hm.... (he immediatly noticed something was fishy).

NO YOU DUMB IDIOT, THE VALIDE DOESN'T LOVE YOU. THINK WITH YOUR LITTLE BRAIN.

Oh, Nigar is shoooooort. Either that or Hürrem is really tall.

You should be pissing yourself. You should be pissing yourself. Atp I'm just waiting for the scheme to play out.

Ibrahim... smooth. Yeah, just burn the letter in front to the Sultan. It doesn't look suspicious at all. Brother, you were flirting with his sister, but now it looks like you were planning to kill him.

Ok, I actually do wonder how Hürrem is getting out of this one. But Mahi's stupid smirk is disgusting me. I want to throw up. I hate her so much.

"I'm Hürrem... Hürrem Sultan" In her face... oh, that had to hurt. Also, my girl was manifesting to no end. she was CONVINCED. There is a lesson to be learned here since she obviously does get there.

Oh, alright. But they are going to check if that's true tho.

Told ya.

I want to say she is dumb dumb dumb for falling in love with the Sultan, but a part of me think, what is she supposed to do? She has no one else in the world and maybe at some point in planning to be favored she found it so comfortable that she fell in love.

Meanwhile Süleyman was on this type of shit with that wedding in Hungary (It was Hungary, right?):

The thousand ottomans stare

Back to the 15 minute long obstetric examination: I've been speaking this language for most of my life as a second language and it is the basis of my job, yet I can't express this in english, so I'll do it in spanish, I'm so sorry.

Ese pinche guionazo qué we xDDDDD Por el poder de la trama está embarazada.

Yeah, I knew, I knew this was gonna turn out like that. She was gonna be pregnant because there was no way to save the plot at this point. She didn't find a way to escape, even if she did she wouldn't have been able to travel and find Süleyman, the Valide wanted her married ASAP. Her being pregnant by the magic of the plot was the last resort to write her out of that situation.

MAHI FAINTING OMG WHY WAS IT SO FUNNY.

Okey, my love, Hürrem. See, when you told them as a lie that you didn't tell anyone you were pregnant because you feared someone would get you, that was a good advice, that was a smart advice. In think you should take it instead of, well, holding it in everyone's face.

Is Mahi going to poison Mustafa to pin it on Hürrem? I... I know I'm hating on her too much, and I'll always be the first to say to not blame the players, blame the game. But, see, there's something about her.

Look what they did to my girl. Low-key deserved, but still sad for our main character.

Oh you got caught, Mahi. Of course. I know it had to be on purpose, letting yourself get beaten like that. Hopefully it works. I'm just rooting for a nice scheme.

Annnnd they are sweeping it under the rug. Got it. Well, even if it was reported or something, I guess Mahi would have gotten away with it since she had a miscarriage and she is the Valide's favorite.

Oh, she's scolding her again. Thank you. Like, as I've been saying for the past three episodes, while I understand Mahi and feel for her, she is just so... unlikeable. OH NOW YOU ARE FRAMING HER. Yeah, fuck you, Mahi. You annoy me to no end.

Also, Nigar interceding for her to get treatment from a doctor. Because she actually does something because our EUNUCH IS TOO AFRAID. I need Mahi to get in trouble, please.

Noooooooooooooo. I knew it was way WAY too fast to make them be happy. Back to the longing and now worse.

U da real leatherface bbg

Pause... "leave the meat until it goes bad" I see the logic, but that's gonna leave a stench and she might get an infection since it's touching open wounds?? Antibiotics weren't a thing yet, please.

God, I so want this cover up to get found out.

My sweet, amazing, virtuous, lovely, could never do wrong, sweetheart, beloved Maria trying her best to see Hürrem and find out what happened to her <3 That's a friend.

LOCK IN HÜRREM. LOCK IN. SHE TRIED TO KILL YOU AND WANTS TO FRAME YOU, GIRL. GET HER ASS.

Also, I lost the opportunity to make the "Inshallah they find it" joke about the ring the last episode. Oh well.

Oh please, I hope this makes him go to her and see what happened for himself. Please, please. I need Mahi to get in trouble. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. ACT SWEET GIRL. PLAY THE VICTIM (You actually are in this case tbf)

BUT YOU DID IT. WHAT LIES? YOU HIT HER. YOU WERE AND ARE THE ONE LYING.

I love the Sultan's quiet anger. He actually hit her where it hurts. Oh, good. And, actually, this is way more satisfying than my Cdramas in a sense, because there it was almost impossible for the emperor to punish a consort, let alone the empress. Here, he didn't give a fuck, he said "Nah, get tf away from me". That would have taken the whole show. That means we're absolutely not done with her, I know she's coming back. It's literally episode 4.

Also, a nice touch that he didn't say "you hurt my Hürrem", but he said that she laid a hand on the harem. It makes him avoid making her even more of a target.

Now, the downside: he did not investigate. He just said "yeah, seems true" and punished Mahi. Like, yeah, as viewers we know it's true. But it's weird that he just... believed her like that. That's actually a good thing about the emperors of the cdramas, they usually do investigate (now, the problem is when they have the facts and still go "yeah, I can't punish her).

Oh, she's so prouuuuuudddddd of Hürrem. Look at her smirk. Like "oh yeah, you did that". (I'm proud of her too. Finally. Something smart)

Oh, and you still have not learnt to be less of an ass with the other girls... The WILL try to get you eventually.

At least she's being kind to Maria now. That's literally been her one true friend in all of this.

There's always someone conveniently eavesdropping, huh.

Oh, and now you will get in trouble because you can't. stop. running. your. damn. mouth. And I can't fault de Valide for doing anything against you because what you said was actually concerning.

Girl, with that evil stare Ibrahim will just trust you even less. You have a real talent for making people around hate you because you just don't know your place. And now you hate him too, of course.

Sorry I don't have more comments about Ibrahim x the Sultan's sister. I'm just in shock from all the audacity displayed in every scene Hürrem is in. They are cute though and I'm afraid it's going to go bad. Something about this relationships advancing so quickly just doesn't sit right with me.

Alright, so now I get it, she got to care for the prince herself. Good for her.

At least Hatice, being the kind-hearted girl she is, lowkey just lets her be.

No, girl, don't use this to backstab her. She's actually nice.

Oh, she's not waiting, she really said: well, I've given birth, let's get down and dirty again...

IS THAT THE EMPRESSES IN THE PALACE MUSIC THAT PLAYS WHEN SOMETHING BAD IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN?

AJHDSJHSAJSJASJASOSJS DUDE

IT'S LIKE THAT ONE TIME I HEARD A SONG FROM THE FIESTA ONLINE SOUNDTRACK ON RUPAULS DRAG RACE

No, I absolutely love that Gülnihal does want for herself. I want for her the best. I'm just afraid.

Aaaand Hürrem knows.

We need a term contrary to walk of shame. That was a walk of honor. And my lovely, precious, amazing Gülnihal looked beautiful.

Not for long, she's been caught. I imagine this is like a girl coming back to a dorm and her roomie catching her coming back after a night with her bf or something.

Soh, uh, she said she doesn't want other sleeping with Süleyman because she's afraid of ending up like Mahidevran... but she's gonna end up also being hated like her if she hurts the new fave.

I love you girl, but you do need to calm down. So that slap the Valide gave her was lowkey satisfying.

Also, if the Sultan does hear about this and is angry with her, she could play her cards right and get out of this situation by saying "oh, Sultan, I was angry because I needed my best friend by my side when I gave birth." since we've been this man does lean towards sentimentality.

Oh, so the love story ends here. Wouldn't Ibrahim, the emperor's right hand man, be a better suitor than a tutor? Idk

I don't like Hürrem suddenly being "nice". There's something more to this.

I would have fallen to my knees if I was Süleyman. There's something about her, the lighting, the dress, the framing, that makes her look so alluring.

Oh, this is bad. Oh this is bad. Oh Hürrem they're gonna know it's you. How the fuck are you getting out of this? OH THIS IS BAD.

Oh, well, right now they think it's an illness. But connecting the dots, they're gonna know it came from the fur that Hürrem gave her back.

Yeah, there it is. And they're gonna question Nigar, thay're gonna know it's Hürrem.

Oh, btw, Hatice fainted in the snow.

OH SHE DOES FEEL GUILTY. But you need to either stop doing this shit because now it's going to be awful for you, or you need to be smart about it. And the Valide is going to punish you and, you know what? She isn't wrong. The one time she was wrong was when she tried to marry you off, aside from that, you're generally starting shit.

Oh, Nigar is finally done with her. Who wouldn't. This time she actually did do something awful.

Now, more than ever, it's like everyone in the harem had one of the sims negative interaction pop-ups over their heads when Hürrem walked in. Specially with that "Oh, my poor friend."

Mahidevran officially knows about Hatice and Ibrahim too.

Lock in, my love. Lock in. I know, but acting on behalf of your feeling is just bringing you down.

No, but I feel bad for Mustafa. He is just a lil kid who wants to see his dad and has to experience some of the fallout of his parents fights/ Genuinely thinks he is the cause of his sibling not surviving. Lately he's been a bit less spoiled, and you know what? He is a really sweet kid.

I was going yippee!!! When I saw Maria again (now Gülnihal). But Hürrem crashed out at her for turning muslim because she thought she was doing it to fight for favor </3. 1. She did it because she just wanted to. 2. This isn't her scheme, unfortunately, it's other people's scheme.

Ok, so this is your moment. Hatice is is a sweetie, please be good to her, at least win her over to have one less person hate you </3

OH OH SHE'S CONNECTING THE DOTS. Hürrem is like "hmmm hmmm giiiiirl, you are glazing him a bit too much, hmmmmm"

She knows

Finally, thanks for standing up for yourself Gülnihal. You've been nothing but nice and a sincere, loving friend and she's been treating you like shit. Now she wants you to be her tester. What the hell.

Dude, just. Ah. I know it isn't that simple, but just let Ibrahim and Hatice get married. Please, I need this. These little lovebirds have been pining so much for the other it physically hurts me.

"You look like you saw the Angel of Death. of course I won't kill you." Not until you know what he's been up to with your sis (gentle, sad pining).

Ohhhhh, Süleyman finally found out about the Valide trying to marry her off. And I think there's again a good thing about Hürrem not saying anything, because she can go "Oh, my Sultan, I was so afraid and I was being bullied, please, protect me" (not untrue). (He confronted the Valide but it kinda led to nothing, maybe he just started distrusting her more.)

"Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy, watcha doin there"

I mean, she could have used that opportunity to use say "I'm not saying shit" and he would have had the opposite reaction of wanting to get rid of her. My girl likes to live life in Challenge Mode.

Oh, ooooooh, I like how Hürrem is thinking. She realized from the get-go Ibrahim wouldn't be on her side, so she decided to not even try to butter-up to him and just go to the offensive. I love this girl.

What I don't love so much si GÜLNIHAL BEING USED AS A PAWN. LEAVE MY BABY GIRL ALONE. SHE IS SWEET, AND HAPPY AND CONTENT WHERE SHE IS.

She knows it's so over.

Funny that whenever something happens there's no one that should have been around. Last time was Ibrahim, this time it's Gülnihal. Now Hürrem is wandering around, pregnant and about to burst, and I'm afraid about what could happen.

Exactly, she's about to give birth. At least she's literally in front of the concubine hall. And I was worried that kid was not gonna make it, but here we are and she got the grand prize. A healthy baby boy.

...which was taken away, and I guess concubines cannot raise their sons, it seems logical. Oh, but they let her keep him? alright.

And Gülnihal is back and the big coverup begins. Not like she did anything wrong, but it's still to save her ass.

I don't like the music and whatever Mahidevran is doing. Stop right now.

Get away from the child, you psychotic woman.

Oh, it was a nightmare.

But now she's on a mission to find him. And, as it turns out, she obviously won't raise him as I said before. And tbf I'd trust more the Valide with the baby than Hürrem. I feel like she wouldn't hurt him and there would be more protection than if Hürrem alone raised him.

Rewind that one more time for me.

So she gets to care for him sometimes?

Oh, now Süleyman retired Lala over the matter with the Valide giving away Hürrem to marry his son. Poor guy, another pawn.

Ah, the gifts, the gifts. maybe it's not the best idea to give known "I explode over anything" Hürrem a knife. But to each their own.