Oooh, this looks expensive. And long. Episodes seem to run around an hour and forty minutes. This is my first Turkish drama so I don't know anything about anybody. If there's a DramaWiki out there for Turks, I haven't found it.
The year is 1520. Prince Suleiman and his homeboyz are out hunting a tiny defenseless deer. (I have no idea who this actor is but he has piercing eyes. The kind of eyes that can stare right into your soul.) The hunting party is intercepted by a messenger bearing the news that all princes dread to hear/eagerly await: the khan is dead. Long live the khan.
Elsewhere, on the Black Sea, a ship is transporting a gaggle of slave women. One lass called Alexandra has to be cajoled into eating something. She mouths off and one of the guards slaps her around. She manages to grab hold of a knife and threatens to kill the man. Behind her, another man comes in and disarms her, ordering that Alexandra be tied to a post and given no food or water. Alexandra yells at them to throw her into the sea. Second Man tells her she is a slave of the sultan and will not die unless the sultan orders it.
Suleiman meets with his mother (who looks the same age as he does) and his sister Hatice. Mom presents her son with some new robes. As he gets dressed for his official presentation, Suleiman's voiceover fills the audience in on just who he is and what he's done so far in his life. Outside, some courtiers wearing major hat gear talk amongst themselves. (I'm trying to be culturally sensitive here, but those hats look like waste paper baskets.) Cafer Agha, head of the Ottoman navy, dares to bring up the name of Suleiman's exiled brother: Uveys, a potential rival for the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
Over at the Vatican, the Pope (quick Google check - Leo X) is informed of Suleiman's ascension. The Pope doesn't seem worried about the new guy.
Back to the Black Sea. As the ship plows through heavy weather, Alexandra (still tied up) flashes back to her day of capture. She was at church with her family when the Tartars attacked. Before her eyes she watched as her family and boyfriend were slaughtered. She was carried off and sold to the Crimeans, who in turn sold her to the Ottomans.
As Suleiman and his faithful right hand man, Ibrahim, enjoy fireworks, they are joined by the elderly Grand Vizier Piri Pasha. Piri served in this position under Suleiman's father, and now Suleiman asks that he continue as Grand Vizier. Piri gratefully accepts. However, when Suleiman makes known his intention to raise Ibrahim to master of his privy chamber, Piri looks unhappy.
Alexandra's ship has come in to port and all the slave girls are taken to the palace to be looked over. Alexandra still continues to mouth off and fight back.
While Suleiman beds a girl from the harem, Ibrahim gets a chance to do his own voiceover and tell us a little bit about his life. He was born a Christian in Greece and abducted at an early age to be sold into slavery and forced to convert.
Alexandra dreams of her slain family. She begs to die and go with them, but Dead Mom orders her to stay alive, become powerful and avenge them. After the dream, Alexandra becomes better behaved. (I'm sorry, but the woman playing Alexandra is neither very pretty nor very talented.)
Suleiman's wife, Mahidevran, and their son Mustafa are traveling to Istanbul.
Alexandra and the girls are being taken down a hallway when suddenly it's announced the sultan will be passing this same way. Everyone gets into a tizzy. The girls are ordered to line up against the wall and keep their heads down and mouths shut. As Suleiman walks by, Alexandra defies orders and boldly calls out his name. He's just curious enough to come over and stand in front of her. Alexandra dramatically faints into his arms. (To be honest this is kind of a silly scene.) Suleiman hands her off to someone else and is so rattled by this meeting he starts to walk down the wrong hallway.
No one is - ooh, who's that good looking man in the background? Anyway, no one is happy that Ibrahim, a mere convert, has been elevated so high.
A map of the world is spread out on the floor before Suleiman and his courtiers. (The nitpicker in me can't help but notice how complete a map it is for 1520. Magellan's expedition isn't even back yet.) With the empire's coffers in a healthy state, Suleiman lays out his plans for world domination. The Mediterranean will become the Ottoman's lake. First stop will be the island of Rhodes.
At another meeting, Suleiman orders the execution of Cafer Agha for corruption. The other councilors are worried about their own fates.
Suleiman's mother, Hafsa, is planning a big party for her son. Ibrahim goes to the harem to pick out some concubines to entertain the sultan. As the head eunuch discusses the girls with him, Ibrahim's interest seems to be captured when he hears that Alexandra is of the Orthodox faith. He chooses her to be part of the party.
At the same time Suleiman's wife and son arrive at the palace. While he's ecstatic to be reunited with his young son, when Mahidevran enters the room you can feel the temperature drop. It's her first night back and Mahidevran is spending it alone, only now learning about the party being thrown and she's not invited.
Mahidevran, you're not missing much. Alexandra and the girls do a really, really bad dance routine for the sultan. Seriously, my dead grandmother can dance better than this. Still, it seems to be enough to get Suleiman all excited. He tosses Alexandra a handkerchief, a sign that she's to join him in bed tomorrow night.
As Cafer Agha is taken out and beheaded, here comes the Venetian ambassador and his snazzy chapeau. (Is the Mad Hatter part of the costume department of this show? These are some of the craziest hats I've ever seen.) Sadly, he has to take off his feathered creation before being dragged before the sultan. There is a translator in the room to handle the negotiations, but Ibrahim jumps in and shows that he can also speak Italian as his mother was from Venice. The Grand Vizier is outraged that a) Ibrahim is even in the room, and b) he's taken over as translator.
Alexandra gets ready for her night with the sultan. Before leaving the harem, she takes a private moment to say a Christian prayer and hide a little cross she's managed to keep in her slavery.
Suleiman eagerly waits in his bedroom for Alexandra. Yet when the doors open, the woman who walks in is Mahidevran.
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