Hürrem Sultan

**Hürrem Sultan** is the main female character of *Magnificent Century*. Originally a slave of Ruthenian origin born Alexandra La Rosa, she gradually became the favorite of Sultan Suleiman I, then his legal wife and therefore a Haseki Sultan. She was the mother of five of his children, Sehzade Mehmed, Mihrimah Sultan, Selim II, Sehzade Bayezid and Sehzade Cihangir. She was the woman who began the reign of the Sultanate of Women in the Ottoman Empire.

## Biography

Before Muhtesem Yuzyil

Before becoming Hürrem, her name was Alexandra La Rosa and lived with her parents and sister in Ruthenia (now Ukraine). Her father was the village priest, and she herself was engaged to her childhood sweetheart, Leo. However, one day when they were celebrating mass, the village was attacked by the Tatars and Alex, helplessly, witnessed the massacre of her family. She also sees Leo fighting against several Tatars, and believed that he lost his life trying to rescue her.

Alex is reduced to slavery and sold to the Crimean Palace, as a servant, where she will be rejected, for having a strong head, which will earn her to be bought by the Ottoman navy under the orders of the Topkapi Palace. It was during her journey across the Black Sea on an Ottoman ship that Hürrem met Gülnihal.

In Muhtesem Yuzyil

Season 1

She finally arrives in Constantinople on the night of Sultan Suleiman's accession to the throne, and is therefore sold at night and accepted into the Sultan's Harem. She must then face the harsh reality that she is a slave and confronts with violence Daye Hatun, the Grand Treasurer of the Harem and Sumbul Aga, the Grand Chief Eunuch. Faced with her stubbornness, the Valide Sultan summons her insignifiance, and insists that she can easily be replaced by any other concubine (that she can therefore be executed at any time).

Nigar Kalfa (one of the main leaders of the Harem, the mistress of the Kalfa) explains to Alexandra that if she behaves well with everyone and on the contrary is pious, calm and attractive, she will surely be called upon to do a Halvet ("union") with the Sultan. And best of all, if she gives him a son, she will rule the world as Sultana. After capturing the Sultan's attention with a daring ploy, she is chosen by the Grand Chamberlain, Ibrahim Aga, to participate in a dance in honor of the Sultan. During this famous dance, she attracts the gaze of Suleiman even more, who then throws her a purple silk handkerchief, a sign that she is the chosen one.

At the same time, Mahidevran Gülbahar, the Sultan's current companion and mother of his only son, Sehzade Mustafa, worries when she notices that Suleiman is no longer spending time with her. When she learns that another woman is about to spend the night with the Sultan, she enters the Sultan's apartments, and spend the night by his side instead of Alex, much to the latter's dismay. The very next day, however, the Sultan still calls Alex back and spend the night with her, as well as the following night, which is a Thursday, the evening when the Sultan traditionally spends the night with his favorite, therefore with Mahidevran. During these two days spent with the Sultan, the latter, who begins to appreciate the young concubine, decides to rename her Hürrem ("the one who gives joy to the face"). Seeing this as proof of his newfound power, Hürrem brags to all the women of the Harem, unsuspecting the danger of his business. Mahidevran is warned by Gulsah Hatun, her servant. The same evening, during a celebration given in honor of the Valide Sultan, Hürrem is humiliated by Mahidevran who calls her by her old first name, and is even thrown in a dungeon when she answers the sultana. However, when Suleiman find out about the keepers of the story, he frees Hürrem and even ends up giving her an emerald ring he originally made for Mahidevran. The latter also converted to Islam.

Upon seeing the ring on the young woman's finger, Mahidevran fainted, we learn that her faiting was mainly due to the fact that she was pregnant. However, this pregnancy will not last as Mahidevran miscarries. Unable to bear it, she blames Hürrem and hits her violently until the latter loses consciousness and thus leaves her in sorry state. Finding her in this state, Daye Hatun and Sumbul Aga decide to keep the secret of this accident and inform only the Valide Sultan who forbids anyone to enter Hürrem's room. However, when the Sultan summons Hürrem a few days later, she refuses to go to the apartments. Enraged, Suleiman rushes into the Harem for explanations and discovers his favorite in a sorry state. He then learns of Mahidevran's implication and decides to drive her away, but the Valide Sultan dissuades him, claiming a better balance in Mustafa's life.

Having become the favorite of the sultan, Hürrem has a lot of rivals, especially Ayse Hatun, who shares her room. She is not safe, however, as the Valide Sultan plots with Mahidevran to get rid of her. When Suleiman leaves for his military campaign in Belgrade, she is promised to the son of a vizier. However, in order not to get married, Hürrem pretends to be pregnant and after examination, it turns out that she is truly expecting a child, which gives her even more importance in the Harem. As soon as Suleiman returns, the young woman is covered with gifts. And the more Hürrem acquires importance, the more it makes Mahidevran jealous, who decides to get rid of her rival by poisoning her. However, her attempt once again fails, as there is no evidence to charge her, she nevertheless manages to pull through, although the Sultan understood the ins and outs of the story. Hürrem is also increasingly confronted with Ibrahim aga, who made a name for himself during the military campaign, and this one in revenge and trying to make her fall, forces Sumbul Aga to send in halvet Gulnihal, the best friend and the servant of Hürrem. However, on the famous evening of halvet, Hürrem gives birth to a son, Sehzade Mehmet, which adds nothing to Mahidevran's disgrace. A few months later, she fell pregnant again, gaining more and more power. She also befriends Hatice Sultan, Suleiman's younger sister. In the meantime, Ibrahim is raised to the rank of Grand Vizier and becomes a powerful man of the Empire.

She then finds out the truth about Gulnihal and banishes her maid. She also poisons her with sulfur, which burns the skin of his face. Nevertheless, this affair reaches the ears of the Sultan, who detaches himself from her for a time and leaves for his military campaign on the Island of Rhodes without saying goodbye to her. A year later, before Suleiman returns, Hürrem gives birth and only daughter, Mihrimah Sultan, which makes her ashmamed, as she could not give the Sultan another son, but upon her return, Suleiman falls in love with his beloved. It was then that a terrible event occured in the Harem. Ayse Hatun is murdered and Hürrem is accused of the murder. Having no other choice than that, Suleiman decides to banish her to Eski Saray with her daughter Mihrimah, but keeping her son Mehmed with him. However, thanks to the intervention of one of the concubines, Ruhsar Hatun, Hürrem is cleared and finds the way to the palace and the heart of Suleiman. She ends up giving him another son, Sehzade Selim, which ends up burying Mahidevran's case.

However, something that Hürrrem had absolutely not expected was about to happen. Leo, her Ruthenian fiancé whom she believed to be long dead, resurfaces in a desperate attempt to find her alive and ends up discovering that she had become Hürrem Sultan. When she discovers that he is alive and that he wishes to recover her, Hürrem decides to hide the truth, but that is without counting Ibrahim Pasha whose goal is to bring down his opponent and tries to use the information that he has against Hürrem Sultan. After many intrigues, he ends up cornering them with a impossible and tragic choice: a bowl, filled with poisonous goodies, and one of them will have to leave that room alive, while that the other will die. and if one does not comply with this choice, he would go and tell their "betrayal" to the Sultan. In order to save her, she who is pregnant, Leo decides to eat the threats and dies killed by the poison.

Season 2

Following Leo's death and the discredit fallen on Ibrahim Pasha after the abortive murder attempt of Sadika on the sultan, Hürrem struggles to find a normal life while a deep trauma handicaps her. She, later, ends up giving birth to another son, Sehzade Bayezid. She also arranges for Gül Aga, a eunuch from Edirne Palace, who is entirely faithful to her, to join them in Topkapi. She also takes on a new maid, as she has completely disowned Nigar Kalfa for her betrayal of Ibrahim Pasha, that her current servant, Esma, is looking after her children and that Gulnihal, weary of the intrigues of the harem, has asked to be sent to Eski Saray. She therefore chooses a teenage girl, Nilüfer, who soon becomes her eyes and ears within the harem.

At the same time, the Spanish princess Isabella Fortuna and her maid are kidnapped by Turkish pirate and sold to Suleiman. Suleiman then decides to use them as a bargaining chip in his negociations with the sovereign of Europe. Isabella wants to escape, but fails several times. Hürrem, who has heard of Isabella, becomes jealous and later threatens the princess. She also maintains a fragile friendship with Hatice Sultan since she openly accused Ibrahim Pasha of threatening her with death and threatening the Sultan with death. The Sultan gradually begins to fall in love with Isabella and Hürrem's jealousy begins to bother him. He pulls away from her again. In addition, Hürrem's very free behavior within the Harem owes her the wrath of the Valide Sultan who once again joins forces against her and leads Princess Isabella to be part of the harem.

Eventually, Hürrem, with the help of Gül Aga, Nigar Kalfa who has regained her favors and Nilüfer, succeeds in sending her to Vienna, where she returns to the monastery. It also finds its place with the sultan. This does not please the Valide who decides, out of revenge, to kill her favorite horse and Suleiman's gift, Isk. Devoured by grief and rage, Hürrem accuses the Valide of ordering this horrific accident, but discovers that she actually made Nilüfer kill the horse and to prevent her from speaking out in favor of her mistress, has her strangled. Following these events, the situation calmed down somewhat, with Hürrem keeping a low profile.

Hürrem later decides to perform charitable works under Islamic law. However, being a slave, she cannot accomplish her will. She then asks Suleiman to release her, as proof of his love for her. The Sultan therefore agreed to free her. The consequences of this liberation are terrible because Hürrem, nos a free woman, is logically and legally more powerful than Mahidevran, who is the mother of the heir. However, at night when the Sultan goes to his room, Hürrem tells him that she cannot share a bed with him because she is a free woman. Indeed, it is forbidden by their religion to share a bed with a man to whom one is not married, and therefore, he must marry her in order to to be able to share her bed again. Seeing that he has been manipulated, the Sultan refuses to give in to blackmail, and following his mother's advice, decides to sent her into exile in Eski Saray. Moreover, the Valide, wishing to get rid of Hürrem, decides to have her killed by assassins. However, thanks to the intervention of Daye Hatun who sends Bali Bey to rescue her, Hürrem is saved in extremis which opens the eyes of the Sultan to the true feelings he feels for her. Going against the centuries of Ottoman traditions, Suleiman married Hürrem, making her the Sultana.

For his part, Hürrem Sultan, who had sent an assassin to kill Ibrahim, change her mind and cancels the attack after seeing the sadness of Hatice Sultan, to whom she has become very close. Ibrahim, however, is shot during the wedding ceremony with a poisoned arrow, shot by an archer under the orders of Behram Pasha. Ibrahim falls seriously ill and Nigar, Matrakci and Sumbul bring him to one of the hot springs to heal him. Hürrem is then the only one able to comfort Hatice Sultan, which further increases the admiration that Suleiman has for her and the resentment felt by the Valide Sultan and Mahidevran. The latter, who has had enough, asks Suleiman to free her, but Suleiman refuses and decides to ban her, this time for good. This is without counting Mustafa who asks his father to go with his mother to Edirne, so that he can improve his skills and make Mahidevran smile, which the sultan cannot refuse his son. Years go by and Hürrem's position and marriage is still not accepted. The latter also gave birth to another son, Sehzade Cihangir.

The sultan then decides to start a new military campaign against the kings of Europe. For this, he then summons Mustafa, who has become a solid young man, who returns accompagnied by his mother Mahidevran. At the same time, Valide Sultan welcomes her niece Aybige Hatun to Topkapi, who quickly becomes one of Hürrem's closest friends. The sultanas' resentment against the sultan's legal wife is made even more terrible when, during the marriage of Nigar Kalfa, Hürrem parades with an ornate golden crown and which further accentuates her new status. She also takes into her service a new servant, Nora Hatun. When the Sultan goes to war, the Valide Sultan and Mahidevran conspire against Hürrem. The Valide places among other things a spy, Fatma Hatun, within the harem for a while. Following a series of Harem-related intrigues, one of the slaves, Mustafa's favorite, is accused of stealing gold and the innocent burns herself to death. the concubines, enraged by Fatma Hatun's words, take torches and walk towards Hürrem's apartments. Despite the efforts of Daye Hatun, Aybige and Nora, Fatma Hatun burns the face of Hürrem, who is nevertheless rescued and sent to recover in Hatice Sultan's palace. In revenge, Hürrem uses Daye Hatun, the Valide's most faithful servant, to send a letter to the Sultan exposing the whole situation to him.

After his return, the sultan discovers the horror of plots and seems determined to believe Hürrem. Seeing herself in danger, the Valide then decides to compromise her integrity and her fidelity and blackmail her thanks to a notebook belonging to Leo and detailing his feelings for Alex. However, thanks to two interventions of Daye Hatun, she succeeds in stealing the notebook, then to discredit the word of the Valide in front of a Suleiman hidden behind a screen. The sultan then announces to his mother that she is no longer able to lead the harem. Believing that she has found her strenght, Hürrem humiliates Mahidevran several times in public, which causes her to confront Mustafa, giving rise to recent enmity between them. She then decides to act and places in the greatest secrecy her servant Nora among the concubines of the prince. This latter is literally bewitched by the young girl and makes her his favorite, against his mother's advice. Hürrem then sees an oppotunity to kill the prince, and asks Nora, now Efsun, to kill Mustafa by making him eat poisoned food. But having feelings for the prince, Nora cannot bring herself to do so. Hürrem's position is strained despite everything when Suleiman suddenly falls into a coma after a heart attack, and expects to have to kill herself and her children at any time. However, the Sultan's recovery saves her life and better yet, for the first time she established friendly ties with the Valide. Meanwhile, Efsun realizes that she is pregnant and talks about it to Mustafa, who, helped bu his mother, decides to make her run away. It is without counting Hürrem and her spies who give the alert and warn the Valide. Efsun is immediately aborted. However, the abortion did not go as planned and Efsun blew out. On her deathbed, the young concubine reveals to Mustafa her failed poisoning attempt. When Mustafa then accuses Hürrem of having performed this act, a most dangerous staging is immediately perform by Suleiman in order to find out who is telling the truth. He forces Hürrem to drink a vial of poison to prove her honestly, and the latter does not hesitate. This vial later turns out to be a powerful sleeping pill and Hürrem is immediately acquitted.

The Valide, after Daye Hatun's departure, appoints Nigar Kalfa as Grand Treasurer. However, the same day she discovers the truth about the adulterous story between Ibrahim and Nigar. Unable to bring herself to be silent, she tries to talk to her son about it but suddenly suffers a stroke that leaves her speechless and paralyzed. Faced with the handicap of the Valide, a new leader must be appointed at the Harem. However, the story of the poison having shaken the bond of trust between the Sultan and his wife, Suleiman decides to name Mahidevran instead of Hürrem. The latter then sets up a daring ploy to discredit Mahidevran, but this ploy ultimately turns against her and she suddenly loses Hatice Sultan's friendship. However, she learns in the meantime thanks to Gulsah Hatun, the story between Ibrahim and Nigar, and decides to tell the Valide about it, who suddenly has a heart attack and dies.

The death of the Valide will further strengthen the rivalry between Hürrem and Mahidevran for the direction of the harem. Mahidevran does not manage to take away her maids Esma and Nazli but nevertheless succeeds in banishing Gül Aga. For her part, Hürrem succeeds in capturing Nigar, who has fallen pregnant, and hides her in the greatest secrecy in an isolated house, guarded by Percem Aga and Gülsah Hatun. She also sends an anonymous message to Hatice Sultan, informing her of her husband's infidelity. She then revelas the whole truth to her in person, taking Gülsah as a witness. Hürrem is also plotting against Mahidevran. The latter has indeed spent a huge amount of money in sissies and refuses to reimburses her creditor, Rakel Hatun, who will complain to Gülfem Hatun, who has become the Harem's great treasurer. A quick rivalry between Gülfem and Mahidevran begins, leaving Hürrem free to intrigues. Among other things, she hires a maid to strangle Gülfem, and pretends to obey Mahidevran. Suleiman, faced with such blatant evidence, cannot stand idly by and suspends Mahidevran from her duties. He then gave Hürrem Sultan the direction of the harem.

Season 3

Following the previous events, everyone hears about the adultery of Ibrahim Pasha, which does not please Hatice Sultan who tries, at first to divorce, but it would it would mean the death of Ibrahim Pasha, that she still in love with. Suleiman decides to give Hatice a choice, to remain married or to order the death of Ibrahim, which only accentuates the dilemma posed to her.

Hürrem, satisfied with the current situation of the Harem and its all-powerful position, wishes to consolidate her power by integrating the apartments of the late Valide Sultan, which infurates Hatice Sultan, who has chosen to blame Hürrem for all her misfortunes. A violent altercation breaks out between the two women, which begins the war that will be waged between the two women. This altercation also leads Hatice to give up her desire for divorce. Hürrem, thanks to a clever ploy, finally succeeds in taking of the premises. Following this story, Hatice Sultan, to also consolidate her alliances within the Harem, joins forces against Hürrem with Mahidevran and Gülfem and asks the Sultan to bring to the harem Afife Hatun, their nanny during their childhood and a woman recognized for her hardness and her severity. The return of Afife Hatun coincides with the arrival at the harem of Firuze, a new concubine who quickly catches the eye of the Sultan during a feast given in his honor, to the chagrin of Hürrem. Moreover, Afife, in agreement with Hatice, Mahidevran and Gülfem, conceals the identity of the new favorite.

Suleiman, living a new romance with a complete stranger, and Hürrem ignoring her identity, the latter is gradually removed from the sultan's apartments, to the great joy of Mahidevran who declares that like her, she will experience the horror of indifference. Hürrem also decides to take a new maid for her daughter Mihrimah and for her youngest child Cihangir and suddenly hires Firuze without knowing that she is the new favorite. The sultan then went on military campaign, leaving Mustafa to rule the crown, which Hürrem was impatiently awaiting to take her revenge. In revenge, Hürrem saves Nigar Kalfa from certain death thanks to Percem Aga and Rustem Aga, a new groom under her orders, and puts her back in the harem, which infuriates Hatice Sultan, who complains to Mustafa. The latter summons Hürrem and points out to him the irregulary of the thing, to which the sultana explains to to them that if Nigar must be judged for adultery, Ibrahim Pasha will be too. Hürrem then blackmails them, implying that she could send a letter to the Sultan about this story and asking Mustafa to delay the trial. She also takes Nigar back to her service, although the latter secretly plots to regain the favor of Hatice Sultan, with the aim of taking her child.

Hatice Sultan then catches Gülsah Hatun listening to a conversation about Firuze and decides to throw her in jail. Gülsah then decides to warn Hürrem, via Nigar and runs away from her cell to put Hatice to death, but she ends up murdered by Nigar before she could say anything.

Hürrem regains the favors of the Sultan upon his returns and it seems that he no longer sees Hürrem as another of these concubines when the latter is much more. The return of Suleiman also indicates the official departure of Mustafa for the province of Manisa in the company of his mother Mahidevran who delegates the rest of the plan to Hatice and Gülfem. Hürrem ends up finally discovering the secret of Firuze which makes Hürrem enraged to have kept a traitor by her side for so many years and orders Sumbul to send her by boat to another country, in the greatest secrecy, however Firuze is saved thanks to Ibrahim and finds the way of the harem. Firuze, realizing her importance, challenged Hürrem. If Firuze succeeded in taking the Thursday night reserved for her, she would have to kill herself with poison, which Hürrem accepts. The following Thursday, the sultan does not want to let Hürrem in for the night, which makes her think that she has finally lost the fight and tries to kill herself, but she is saved in extremis by Afife Hatun, who admits to having Hürrem was badly juged on her arrival, that she had been painted a vile and cruel portrait when she was in fact a woman like the others, prisoner of her desires. She then tells her that Firuze cheated on her and that she was not spending the night with the sultan. Hürrem then decides to kill Firuze and orders Rustem to do so, but when he is about to delete her, he notices a tattoo on the neck of the young woman with the shape of the coat of arms of the Safavid dynasty. He warns Hürrem, who then informs Suleiman that the harem has housed a spy for the Persians for several years. The sultan, feeling betrayed, decides to send Firuze to live in a distant province, but Hürrem prefers to send her back to her homeland and arranges for Firuze to be found by men of the Safavid dynasty.

Having lost this game, Hatice decides to call back her older sister Sah Sultan to fight Hürrem, however Sah advises her sister to be patient, because no one at this time only the Sultan can knock Hürrem off his pedestral. She also decides to integrate Lütfi Pasha, her husband, into the Divan in order to gradually take power. She therefore begins a false friendship with Hürrem, the better to stab her in the back.

For his part, Suleiman becomes increasingly suspicious of Ibrahim as a result of Hürrem's intrigues and ultimately executes his childhood friend after inviting him to dinner. He then sends the corpse to Hatice who, mad with rage, denies her brother Suleiman. Hatice then decides, with the help of Mahidevran, to assassinate Hürrem by sending Diana, Mahidevran's maid, to assassinate her. Diana is integrated into the harem under the name of Fahriye Kalfa and the latter tries to kill Hürrem but at the last moment, she claims to want to save the sultana from another servant who wanted to kill her. Hürrem then chooses Fahriye as her servant without knowing what she really is.

Sah Sultan finally begins to intrigues against Hürrem and thanks to a clever ploy and by buying the Kira of Hürrem, Rakel Hatun, discredits the sultana and take her place as steward of the Harem. Having lost her power over others, Hürrem is now more fragile than ever. Hatice, having been married against her will to Divan Hüsruv Pasha, takes as a servant a witch who casts a curse on Hürrem, who falls ill. Understanding that her condition is due to her great enemy, Hürrem beat Hatice Sultan and orders the seriously injured Sultana to be thrown into the forest from which she finally emerges. She then accuses Hürrem of having hit her, but the latter turns her illness against Hatice, which is sufficient proof of her innocence.

Hürrem then tries to convice Mihrimah to marry Rustem to form an alliance against Sah and Hatice. Lüfti Pasha, who becomes Grand Vizier after Ayas Pasha's death thanks to the intrigues of Sah Sultan, continues his crusade against prostitution by punishing a prostitute without waiting for the verdict of the court. Learning the truth from her servants, Sah decides to divorce, but she is slapped by him before the servants can stop him from going any further. This act resulted in Lüfti being banned. After a few years, Mihrimah, who eventually marries Rustem, gives birth to a daughter named Ayse Hümasah. As she cannot breastfeed the child, a nanny is hired by Hürrem. It turns out that in really the latter is a spy under Sah's orders. Nigar also returns to Istanbul and contracts an alliance with Sah Sultan and Hatice Sultan to take revenge on Rustem. They help Nigar enter Rustem and Hürrem during the night. However, when she sees Mihrimah's daughter, she remembers her own daughter and takes the child away. After a long run, Nigar finally returns the child before taking her own life to keep her secret, but Hürrem is sure that Hatice and Sah are behind it all.

Meanwhile, Mustafa meets the Austrian Ambassador and this leads to a conflict between him and Suleiman. He punishes Mustafa by not allowing him to join the next campaign and after the end of the war, Mustafa loses the government of Manisa. He is therefore sent to rule Amasya while Mehmed, the eldest son of Hürrem, wins the province of Manisa and becomes the apparent heir to the throne.

A little later, a letter is sent to Hürrem informing her that Selim, then governor of a Sanjak Beyi, had fallen seriously ill. Hürrem decides to go to Konya to visit her son. However, this letter turns out to be a fake and Hürrem is captured and imprisoned in a secret location. Hatice Sultan, having reconciled with her brother, commits suicide however when Suleiman learns that she is the cause of his wife's disappearance. She therefore dies thinking that she had avenged the death of her husband Ibrahim by taking Hürrem from Suleiman. However, Malkocoglu Bali Bey captures Ali Aga, Hatice's servant and responsible for the kidnapping of Hürrem and subjects him to question. This then gives him a lead to follow to find Hürrem. Mihrimah also discovers that her aunt Sah had sent a spy to her palace. She confronts her and threatens her to inform the Sultan, her father, unless she leaves the city and cedes all her wealth to the charitable institution of Hürrem. During this time, Mehmed, is assassinated by his youngest janisier, Ilyas, a servant in the pay of Mahidevran, who transmits his a contagious disease by injuring him supposedly by accident. The news reaches the ears of Suleiman, who falls into deep grief. However, Bali Bey manages to find Hürrem's trace after a few months and brings Hürrem back to the palace, safe and sound.

Season 4

Several years have passed since Hürrem Sultan returned to the palace, and the latter has resumed her place as steward of the Harem, but also resident sultana in the palace. Among other things, she intends to ensure that the throne will pass to one of her own sons. Meanwhile, Rustem Pasha was chosen as the new Grand Vizier. The death of Mehmed having changed the whole order of succession, Mustafa is again restored to the rank of heir. It is for this purpose that Hürrem has been consolidating her power for several years and thanks to a ruse of Rustem Pasha, who bought the silence of Mimar Sinan, a secret room is built behind the room of the Divan to allow Hürrem to hear all that is said.

Upon the investiture of Prince Cihangir to the rank of the jannissary army, the princes are recalled from their provinces to the capital so that Suleiman can choose the next governor of Manisa. This suddenly leads most of the heirs to see their mother again. On the other hand, this event is also an opportunity for Mahidevran, who we had not seen for several years, to return to Topkapi.

Selim is ultimately chosen to become Prince of Manisa. Having to go there as possible, a harem was specially constituted on Hürrem's orders by Fahriye and Afife Hatun. However, a new arrival of slaves at the palace brought into the harem a young Venetian from the noble family of Baffo, Cecilia. First aside for being a strong head, she is ultimately chosen by Hürrem, who recognized herself in this young girl. The latter then swears loyalty to her and changes her name, she becomes Nurbanu.

Fatma Sultan, Suleiman's last sister, arrives in the capital with her niece Hurichian, the daughter of Ibrahim Pasha and Hatice Sultan. A totally unexpected return that greatly changes Hürrem's life. Not only, Fatma Sultan, whose flamboyant reputation and strong character make her a formidable opponent, begins to take more and more ease in the palace but above all the presence of Hurichian largely bewitches Bayezid and Cihangir, which is not good, sign for Hürrem. When Hürrem falls ill, and that the latter learns that she can no longer have children (that she is in menopause), Fatma Sultan decides to reveal this information to the whole harem, which infuriates the sultana. She then decides to separate them and send Hurichian to Beyhan Sultan, but the latter goes in the direction of Konya in the greatest secrecy and marries Bayezid without anyone knowing it.

A little later, as Hürrem continues to listen to Divan decisions and meetings in her secret living room, Fatma learns Hürrem's secret and informs Suleiman of her actions, who decides to ban her to Eski Saray and makes Fatma the new steward of the Harem. She will need the pleas of Mihrimah and also the support of a Fatma Sultan whom she blackmailed in relation to her divorce and her sulphurous adventures for Suleiman to agree to let Hürrem return, without however bringing her closer to new.

Following her return, she must get used to the idea that her power has diminished, that Fatma Sultan not only controls the Harem but now has a spy within the Divan in the person of her lover Kara Ahmet Pasha, but above all Suleiman has took a new concubine, Nazenin Hatun, who is pregnant. However, the latter gives birth to a daughter, Raziye Sultan. Not having as much power as she would like, Nazenin attempts to threaten Hürrem but, with Nurbanu's help , has her killed. She then makes her husband believe that it was an accident.

After this incident, Suleiman decides to send Mustafa a gift, a caftan, as a sign of respect for his son. Hürrem, however, orders her minions to secretly poison him. After receiving the gift, Mustafa, who believes his father intends to kill him, prepares a campaign and marches on the capital. The Janissaries prevent Mustafa's army from entering the capital, so he and his father meet in the castle courtyard and he explains to Suleiman the events that have happened before. Suleiman, who has reconcilied with his son, suddenly falls seriously ill (he does indeed have gout) and only a few people know the truth. For his part, Mustafa, having learned of Hürrem's involvement in his attempted poisoning and in the attempted murder against him which resulted in the death of his concubine and their unborn child, decides to take revenge and sends assassins to kill Hürrem as she leaves to visit her son Mehmed's grave with Afife Hatun. The assassins then let fall on them a rain of rocks but Hürrem survives in extremis. Afife Hatun is mortally wounded and dies of her wounds within the harem not without revealing that the Sultan's illness was more serious than it seemed. After the death of Afife Hatun, Gülfem is again appointed Grand Treasurer.

Hürrem later learns that these two sons Bayezid and Cihangir believe in Mustafa's right to ascend the throne after their father's death, which would endanger everything she had built for years. When Hürrem inquires about the intentions of her two younger sons, she decides to support her son Selim while Rustem and Mihrimah continue to support Bayezid. Hürrem, with the help of Rustem and Mihrimah, sends a fake letter to Shah Tahmasp. In this forgery, which was sent without Mustafa's knowledge, he seems to urge the Shah to support him in his desire to rebel against the empire and eliminate Suleiman. The Sultan then believes Mustafa betrayed him when he sees his son's seal on the letter and decides to execute Mustafa, ordering him to come and fight alongside him in the military campaign against Safavid Persia. Although warned, Mustafa, who does believe that his father intends to kill him, enters his father's tent and is murdered by executioners.

Mustafa's death does not have the desired effect. Not only Suleiman regrets after discovering the innocence of his son, but especially the janissaries and the people rebel against the state. They want the head of Rustem Pasha, whom they consider responsible for the death of the prince. Rustem was then dismissed from his post and Hürrem, whom people did not necessarily like, became the subject of fierce hatred. More so, when her youngest son Cihangir, who loved his older brother deeply, ,learns the news of his death, he gradually gives way to illness and dies of grief. The death of his son changes Hürrem. Indeed, the latter finds what made her the sultana that she is today, but above all she finds the strength to fight against her enemies. Among other things, she succeeded in discrediting Kara Ahmet Pasha, who had become Grand Vizier, and he ended up executed. The death of her husband provokes the anger of Fatma Sultan who decides to raise the crowd against Hürrem in order to kill her, but the latter is saved again, this time by the intervention in person of Süleyman. Confessing her plot, Fatma leaves the capital without regret.

## Behind the scenes

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