#s2e55

"Time for caleb to make a lifedebt to make up for this"

"JUST KILL CALEB DON'T HOLD BACK"

"Nott better not be trying to defend caleb after that"

"If this was my party and we somehow survived the fight I would probably kill Caleb anyway"

Time to set this straight...

Synopsis: After the events of last episode, Sultan Süleiman has fallen ill which puts everybody's intentions into a test while Mustafa learns about Aybige and Bali Bey's relationship. (which... was this even necessary?)

WARNING!: Spoilers! (duh..)

Note: This will probably be my only episode review. I was planning this for so long- I have so many conflicting feelings for this episode and I want to finally set them clear. I warn- there may be many nitpicks and over-exaggerations, heck, I may even sound like a biased Mahidevran fan at some point but I want to finally say what I think and that will probably be the way.

Now to the point.

Make no mistake, I think this episode has lots of strong moments.

The metaphors and the flashbacks are really strong in this one. The episode was basically made of them- all of them are extremely nuanced, have such a meaning and they're just... beautiful. Look at Mahidevran's flashback where she remembered the days in Manisa, so sad and beautiful, her first monologue in the series and especially a moment of vulnerability and sympathy for her, look at Mustafa's supposed ascension to the throne, so dramatic, and it's such a nod for future events..., look at Süleiman's memories- the people that matter to him most (his father, his mother, Ibrahim..), knowing that he's lost them or he'll eventually lose them, that thing about innocence- the same thing he said to Mustafa in episode 46, a neat parallel as usual and all else..

It has many powerful scenes. From the monologues and the flashbacks that reflect all the feelings of the characters (Mahidevran's first monologue in the series, Ibrahim's monologue, Hürrem's heartbreaking one..) to the powerful moments, representing the character arcs to some characters. ("I ripped the love out of my heart...") Episode 55 was full of moments like these that make the show worth the shot in spite of everything.

The direction has no flaw. The Mahidevran and Mustafa scene that had awesome lines and setting and a neat parallel between them, the entire depiction of Hürrem's suffering for Süleiman and her will to poison herself, the dream for Mustafa, the heavenly doors opening in front of SS and Ibrahim getting him out... The direction has overally improved in season 2 and this episode was just the pinnacle of this.

The final scene was a cult. Hürrem coming triumphant with her kids, the powerful Lüli playing in the background and the most impressive thing- the three sides. In this scene there were three sides standing to Süleiman's bed- the left side with Hürrem and her kids (along with H. being a step ahead of everyone else), the middle one with Hatice, Valide and Gülfem, and the right one with Mahidevran, Mustafa and Ibrahim. And these sides set many positions. The left, bound to become the closest, has Hürrem right by Süleiman's side. And she's one step ahead of everyone else. That, is a foreshadowing, that she'll be a haseki sultan and actually rule the world one day with the kids by her side. That is also used to parallelise Mahidevran and Ibrahim to Hürrem and Hürrem to everyone due to that step thing. The middle, actually the closest (their position is the closest to his heart) has Süleiman's relatives (and Gülfem) standing but Hürrem stands a step ahead of them, meaning that SS will disregard them too one day. And finally the right, arguably the most "distant" one, has Mahidevran, who literally ripped the love for him out of her her heart, Mustafa, who suffers in result of this, and Ibrahim, whom Süleiman has started to distrust little by little despite that he still remained loyal then. This also shows that despite of what she did, Mustafa will be with his mother till the end and that they will be the ultimate sacrifices. The parallels were especially strong here- the slowly succeeding Hürrem and the downfalling trinity. The direction and the music just empowered that string of emotions.

Not to mention how emotionally-heavy the entire episode 55 is. No matter what happened and how did it happen, you could feel for these characters. The emotion was probably the reason why this episode stands out so much- yes, there're lots of emotional episodes after this one, too (Ibrahim and Mustafa's deaths *cough*) but no episode did things like this peace here did. Nothing was like it.

And last good thing but not least, this episode actually set clear that this show is more than just a soap opera- from the first two seasons, this episode was the most serious one in terms of the atmosphere. And even if the whole illness thing was just a serial compromise and that the episode kinda lacked tension because of it- Episode 55 took all of the best aspects of the show and threw them in, resulting in an actually powerful culmination of events and future events.

Or... it actually would be.. if THAT didn't happen.

With all these powerful scenes, flashbacks, monologues, lines and direction,

What stopped this episode to be the perfect culmination in my eyes?

What fell flat?

What made me feel like the episode didn't even have to exist in the first place?

Answer: Character Portrayal:

Mahidevran's character derailment. (or rather the impression of it)

As simple as that.

Whether we like it or not, character portrayals can completely empower or downplay an episode. And that's exactly what happened here.

We know that Mahidevran was supposed to have a character arc. An arc where she was supposed to let loose of Süleiman forever. And this episode was supposed to be the culmination to this character arc.

However as I've mentioned before, it had no build up to it whatsoever. Yes, Mahidevran was becoming more inconsiderate, arrogant, demanding and even ruthless in the span of 46-this episode but it was never foreshadowed that Mahi was falling out of love with SS. The opposite actually- episodes 53 and 54 are a proof of that, I'll say this much. It was never even hinted that Mahi has ever even considered doing something like what she did here. And if the writers thought that making a character more arrogant, inconsiderate and ruthless means character development in terms of a main characteristic (I.e Mahi's unconditional love for SS), well, they are honestly wrong. Not to mention that in the first minute this same episode 55, Mahidevran mourned Süleiman and even had a monologue over him (and that was her first and last monologue in the series, you might think it matters) but then all of the sudden, she just.. stands up to him like it was absolutely nothing.

And what is the trope that defines a sudden change of a main characteristic of the character without an organic growth?

Character derailment.

This episode made an impression that Mahidevran was having a well-crafted character derailment that was still logical due to the circumstances and said character arc that despite badly crafted, the character still underwent. The fact all this happened all of the sudden without an organic growth makes literally all of this become very confusing beyond words. It isn't derailment due to the arc but the bad craftsmanship of said arc sets the impression that it is.

And the worse thing than this supposed character derailment is the impression it sets on the fandom. Most of said fandom literally think that Mahidevran has never even loved Süleiman which not only erases a huge part of her character and her motivation but and a huge part of the show's canon. That also antagonizes Mahi on a huge degree and seemingly or not removes the last of her redeeming qualities.

All this also turns the show's Gray and Gray Morality upside down- everyone supports Hürrem here and Mahi is the only one that doesn't. It looks like as if Mahidevran's the only "true one-dimensional antagonist" and the rest are either truly good, either are good but flawed or either bad with redeeming qualities which fully disregards the show's themes and the nuance of the characters. It's not truly like this but that's the impression it makes.

The situation with the derailment becomes even more messed up in the near end of the episode when Mahidevran smiles tenderly after she learns that SS has waken up. That is actually a sign that despite of not loving him anymore, she still has her affection for him left but due to all things said above it makes the impression that this is character rerailment in the last minute.

Let's not mention that the real consequences all this has aren't presented until much later in the game (episode 74, 101 and all of season 4) and even then it simply degenerated SS's personality and no matter how many times Mustafa showed him that he doesn't listen to his mother (along with his looks in episode 46 wayy before this showing that not only episode 55 is the reason), he still remained delusional due to his complex.

With all that said, I think that episode 55 still is a strong culmination but the horrid character portrayals and the bad craft of Mahidevran's character arc made it fall apart.