Warning: Long Post. Keep scrolling if you don’t like reading long posts!🚨
Season 4 Review As We Wait For The Finale!!!!🔥
Apart from being periodically impatient, & at times, even outraged, that we ‘still’ don’t have a ‘state’ and that this season didn’t introduce/ reintroduce/ retain as many historical characters as I thought, supposed, wished, it would….this season, with its wide canvas, ambient background score, meaningful themes and intense action was as brilliant as the ones before it and actually a notch above in tempo & intensity 🔥
A world class production that kept us hooked (purported haters even 😄) from the first episode to the last.
In today’s fast paced world where attention spans are fickle, lives busy, and a typical TV watcher leaves a long trail of abandoned shows behind him, this is a feat indeed ❤️
Loved the way it plodded on determinedly, unfurling well thought out sub plots, slowly peeling back layers, developing characters & arcs and…exploring some timely themes, some common threads, that ran and wove through the entire season.
Opening with Constantinople intrigues and Byzantine internal politics & steadily working toward not only a brief but impactful exploration of neighboring principalities – Germiyanids, Karadsids, Cobanids – but also, toward closure of the Mongol & the Selcuk angles in ways that not only kept us entertained but also developed around interesting historically sound kernels.
A brilliant overview of the intricate politics of the 14th century south west Anatolian borderlands with its constantly shifting matrix of moves, counter moves, power play and opportunistic alliances.
Osman Gazi wasn’t the biggest fish in the pond but by virtue of his unshakable Faith, formidable mind, indomitability of vision, steadfastness of purpose – he prevailed.
And this was very effectively showcased in this season. How with his military genius and his intuitive ability to be able to get into the minds of his enemies, he was able to predict their moves and topple them all – kings, queens, rooks, bishops, pawns – one after another, to ultimately realize his dream.
The wind blew one way, then, the other – but Osman Gazi, with his indomitable will, tamed all that chaos, harnessed all that storm for an order – a divinely ordained order- to burst forth out of the disorder.
With all events, subplots, themes and character arcs cohesively crescendoing toward the Battle Of Bapheus, the victory of a force unified under Osman Gazi, which, according to Halil Inalcik, was THE event that led to, in its immediate aftermath, not only the formation of a state, its evolution from a concept to an entity, but also, the beginning of the 23 year reign of Sultan Osman I – a reign in which the foundation of the eponymous Empire was laid.
The foundation that was cemented with Faith – the five pillars, the six articles, ihsan, & probably even eschatology derived from prophetic narrations – the conviction that Constantinople was destined to be conquered one day.
SubhanAllah, life has been busy & it’s been a while since I collected my thoughts on this season’s themes and motifs in general & this episode’s in particular but here are just a few of them in no particular order…
🌙Levels Of Faith: The Heterogeneity In A Body Of Believers…
Not All Believers Are The Same & any given believer is not necessarily always the same..
In terms of the level of their iman, in terms of where they stand with respect to their struggle against their nafs, struggle against their own unique set of shortcomings.
This theme, the way it was explored, through several, often intersecting, character arcs was truly sublime and one of my favorite things about this season.
Bayinder, Oktem, Bengi, Valide Sultan, Sultan Alaeddin, Aktimur, Alcikek and many others…
They were all Muslims, they all prayed, they all fasted…
And, like most of us, they all struggled against, were tested by, a unique set of flaws, character traits.
Flaws like greed, cowardice, pride, jealousy, lust for power, heedlessness, hard heartedness, anger….etc etc
Some, over a period of time, experiences and positive growth in Iman, acknowledged, struggled against, vanquished these flaws…like Bayinder, Oktem, Bengi.
(Even mostly positive characters like Turgut, Aktimur, Alcicek in this season and many others like Gunduz in previous seasons, even the protagonists themselves were shown multidimensional, flawed and human in their constant struggle to become the best versions of themselves)
Then, some others, over a period of time, experiences and negative growth, were vanquished by theirs…
Some like Valide Sultan completely silencing her conscience and remorselessly giving in to evil.
A brilliantly realistic – deeply insightful – showcasing of what can be seen in the Muslim world even today.
Another effective showcasing that throws in sharp relief the portrait of our hero Osman Gazi, who was given the title Pride Of Faith, and who has, in this stage of his life in the show, for most parts, learnt how to keep his mind focused and his nafs thwarted, who wakes up & sleeps every day with the sole purpose of gaining Allah’s pleasure & to spread His word. 🤍🤍
AND who is forgiving & compassionate, just like Allah Himself is forgiving & compassionate to those who turn to Him…
Who doesn’t turn away a person who seems to be remorseful of his past actions & doesn’t hold his past actions against him.
Reminded me of what Osman Gazi said to Yavkak Arslan in S2 (after he realizes Osman’s worth & decides to join him instead of opposing him all the time) – “It doesn’t befit a Muslim to give up on a Muslim”.
🌙The Antagonists:
– Olof, The Rogue Varangian.
– Neyman, Gazan Han’s Disgruntled Commander.
– Valide Sultan, The Machiavellian Queen Of Smoke & Mirrors.
Olof, Viking descendant, Varangian commander, hankering after the lost glory of his descendants, who, on account of being historically used not honored by the Byzantines, he strongly believed, deserved, he was convinced, their own separate army, their own separate homeland.
He was a great actor & his story story arc, was interesting as well.
From conniving with Kantacuzenos to dethrone Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus, to trying to frame Oktem Bey, and by extension Osman Bey, to turning 360 degree and pledging allegiance, as a new baptized Christian, to Andronikos, to joining hands with Valide sultan, to joining hands with Nayman, crazily obsessed with taking revenge from Osman Bey.
Love how Osman Bey drives all his enemies crazy?!! Who remembers Nikola’s famous meltdown in S3 – “Why don’t you die, Osman, why don’t you ever die? 😂
Similarly, Neymar’s role was well fleshed out and enacted – short but impactful – and I loved how the writers, while drawing up his story arc, took the opportunity to touch upon a particularly fascinating facet in Mongol history – their mass conversion to Islam.
The oppressors or their descendants choosing the religion of the oppressed. Indeed, God moves in mysterious ways…
Also loved how the writers further explored how this could have possibly caused a division in Mongol society, with those still holding on to their ancient religion, Tengrism, viewing the converts unfavorably as unworthy inheritors of Cengiz Han’s (or Gengiz Khan’s) legacy.
🌙 Aşık Paşazade & Bacian-i Rum.
Aşık Paşazade, in his work titled “Tevarih-i Ali Osman”, talks about the great contribution of four groups in the Ottomans becoming a world state. These;
1. Gaziyan-ı Rum
2. Ahiyan-i Rum
3. Abdalan-i Rum
4. Bacıyan-ı Rum – these were the women’s branch of the Ahis & besides picking up swords to participate in Gaza when necessary, they were also involved in social work like feeding the poor, taking care of orphans etc (which I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of in S5)
🌙Ibn Battuta, the famous I4th century traveller, besides praising the Turkish people in general & Ahis in particular, wrote the following about Turkish women.
“A remarkable thing which I saw in this country was the respect shown to women by the Turks, for they hold a more dignified position than the men. … I saw also the wives of the merchants and common [men]. [Their faces are] visible because the Turkish women do not veil (Niqab) themselves. Sometimes a woman will be accompanied by her husband and anyone seeing him would take him for one of her servants (😂)”[Source: pp. 425-426, Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354
The last line cracked me up – especially because Turkish men were known to be such fierce warriors 🤍🤍
🌙 The Book of Dede Korkut:
A lot of the tribal lifestyle, Oghuz customs, that we see in KO (& DE) can be found in this book.
First published in Turkish in 1916, The Book of Dede Korkut is considered by many to be a national epic of the Turkish people. The work is accepted worldwide as a masterpiece of folklore and as a repository of ethnic history and foundational values and customs of the Turkish people.
In these tales, the Oghuz are shown as monogamous, and Oghuz women very active in all walks of life including riding and taking part in battles.
In one of the stories, here is the kind of wife the protagonist is looking for!!
“Before I rise to my feet she must rise; before I mount my well-trained horse she must be on horseback; before I reach the *y infidels’ land she must already have got there and brought back a few heads”
In another story, Burla Hatun and her 40 women soldiers ride out to help free her son Uruz by joining her husband Salur Kazan in the battle. Burla Hatun strikes down the enemy standard and Salur Kazan’s army defeats 15,000 infidels in a huge battle. Uruz is freed; husband, wife, and son embrace; and the Oghuz go home with their plunder. Salur Kazan holds a huge feast where Dede Korkut sings a tale of these heroes.
Sounds familiar? 😄
🌙 Women Warriors.
In light of all the above, while the way women – specifically our very own Burla Hatun, Bala Hatun – are shown might be a culture shock to some of you, the show makers did NOT conjure this portrayal out of thin air to boost ratings or to promote ‘Feminism’ 😂
Women in a tribal society picking up swords is shown as a necessity – not a luxury – several times on this show.
If you remember a conversation Osman Bey & Bala Hatun had in S2 – where Osman is reassuring Bala. Words to this effect. “One day we’ll have a state, a well protected state and our women, and our elderly won’t need to pick up swords, we will be able to live, celebrate weddings & festivals without fear of being attacked”
And of course, even in Islamic history we have the example of Nusaiba bint Ka’ab, the woman warrior who was praised by our beloved prophet (pbuh) himself 🤍🤍
🌙 Osmancık by Tarık Buğra:
The earlier TRT series on Osman Gazi & parts of KO S1 were loosely based on this novel and it was only after reading it that I understood what Osman Gazi calling Bala Hatun Zumruduanka in S3 actually meant.
For those who’re interested, I will elaborate upon this point & upon Osman Bey’s two wives in general in a separate post soon.
🌙Osman Bey as Baba & Devlet Baba:
This has to be one of my most favorite things about the show!
The way he loves, teaches, guides trains his children, the way he loves, interacts with, feels responsible for every child he meets! 🤍
Can’t wait to see the kids all grown up in S5!!!
🌙 Iltutan:
Finally, I’m warming up to Iltutan & he’s finally showing a personality – finally coming close to filling the void left by Karayel 🥲
🌙Burak Ozcivit’s Portrayal Of Osman Gazi!!!
🔥🔥🔥😎😎😎
The passion, the dedication, the understanding, the respect, the professionalism – with which he’s portraying this historical character, he’s doing 💯 justice to him & his multifaceted complex portrayal in KO. Now I fully understand what living & breathing a role actually means🤍🤍
All in all, it has been a phenomenal season & I can hardly wait for the Finale today!!!
After 9 LONG seasons the moment we’ve all been waiting for – the declaration of an independent State, beginning of Sultan Osman the First’s reign – is finally here!!! 🔥
