You Can't Change the Past
Finally! Finally a tiny piece of the truth came to light. Finally we might stop hearing Miran scream uncontrollably at the top of his lungs, "HAZAR SHADOGLU KILLED MY MOTHER AND MY FATHER!!!!". At least that's what I hope. And maybe that's what Akin hopes so as to save his voice. And finally, just finally maybe Miran will start to use his head and trust his heart. This episode was pivotal in a couple different ways. It foreshadowed Miran's complete separation from Azize and it directed a shift in plot from here on out. The former was acheived through a beautifully filmed funeral dream sequence and the latter through Harun. I'll elaborate a bit later, but first the recap.
Episode 30 begins with Filippos's confession on behalf of his father, the master jeweler Gabriel. "This ring (Dilshah's ring) was not ordered by Mehmet Aslanbey, but by Hazar Shadoglu". He explains that under threat the master jeweler was forced to lie about the truth of the ring's owner but his son was directed to tell the truth after his death. Azize is taken off guard but puts on a brilliant show casting the jeweler's son as a liar and a minion of the Shadoglus. Miran, much to the exasperation of Reyyan (and the audience), is hesitant to believe Filippos immediately and goes to Azize for answers. Fast talking Azize deflects the questions he puts before her by pulling out the notes that she has received from the mysterious third party. She tells Miran that one of the notes was delivered by Anneanne (Dilshah's mother).
Miran questions Shukran (Dilshah's mother) about the note and is told that the note was delivered to her by a young boy with a message; that her grandson would return to her but she would need to deliver the note. Miran believes that the boy who delivered the note to Shukran was likely the same boy who had misled Hazar and him when Reyyan was briefly kidnapped by the mysterious third party several episodes back.
Hearing that Filippos has confessed about the ring, Hazar calls Firat for a meeting and tells him to tell Esma that he will not wait any longer. We are not sure what exactly Hazar means by this, but we can only assume that he plans to tell Miran that Esma was witness to he and Dilshah's love. In the process Hazar tells Firat his suspicion that the shooting of Miran's car a while back was orchestrated by Azize herself.
Harun, Yaren's fiance and Hanife's liberator, talks on the phone with someone who has knowledge of Sultan's hospitalization, the confession made by Filippos and the blue notes. We can only assume that the person on the other end of the phone must be part of the mysterious third party who is sending the blue notes. Harun then instructs Hanife to find the letter from Dilshah that is in Yaren's possession.
As you may recall there are two letters from Dilshah floating around. One that Esma gave to Zehra which discloses Miran's paternity and which is currently "hidden" in Gul's doll, and another which is Dilshah's plea to Hazar to help save her from the Aslanbeys. The latter, we discovered, was taken by Yaren from the hospital during the chaos of Hazar's fall. Much to Yaren's chagrin Hanife is successful in finding this letter and gives it to its rightful owner.
The next day, Sultan confesses to Miran that she did not go to Kars but rather was forcefully taken to a mental hospital by Azize. Miran and Reyyan go with Sultan to the mental hospital only to find that there is no record of Sultan being hospitalized. While at the hospital, Miran sees a suspicious looking hospital employee and follows him only to lose him at the last minute.
The tension between Shukran and Azize reaches a boiling point when Azize tells Shukran to pack her things and leave the mansion. Miran enters the courtyard at the climax of the argument between his grandmothers and is confronted by Shukran who tells him the truth about his mother's past. In a briliantly written scene, Shukran recounts the daily beatings that Dilshah endured at the hands of her cruel husband and blames everyone who stood by silently, for her death.
Miran is devastated by what he hears and being Miran, refuses to believe the truth.... or so it seems. He once again reverts back to his mantra of "Hazar Shadoglu killed my parents" but is quickly contradicted by Shukran. Shukran in anguish by what has been done to her grandson tells him that days before Dilshah had died she told of her plan to escape with Miran from the Aslanbeys with the help of someone.
Later in the day, seeing Miran disquieted and confused, Reyyan tries to comfort him by making food for him. In one of the sweetest moments of the episode Miran, despite the day's emotional turmoil, shows his appreciation of Reyyan's thoughtfulness. (Scroll down to watch the clip of this scene.)
In case any of us were wondering what these people do for a living... Cihan, Azat and their new "family" member, Harun storm Firat's office and announce that they would be overseeing the hotel. Apparently in one of her weak moments when she was trying to get Azat and Reyyan to leave together, Azize had given the Shadoglus shares in the Aslanbey company business. The Shadoglus had come to exercise their partnership rights.
Nasuh and Yusuf have a very enlightening meeting with Filippos who apparently knows more than just about the history of the ring. We learn that years ago master Gabriel tried to convince Nasuh to take Dilshah to the Shadoglu mansion to await Hazar's return from the military. In a flashback we see Master Gabriel asking Nasuh to take the young girl in to save her from a forced marriage to the Aslanbey son.
Obstinently, Nasuh refuses and condemns Dilshah to a life of torment and ultimately death, and Hazar to a life of slander and regret. As we had seen in a previous episode through a flashback Dilshah was pregnant with Miran during this time though it is unclear whether Nasuh had any knowledge of this.
Miran sees Nasuh and Filippos meeting and deduces that the Shadoglus were behind Filippos's confession. He runs to the Shadoglu mansion to confront Hazar and tells him that no matter what he does, he will never be able to change the past. Truer words were never spoken but while the past can never change it can be hidden.
The episode ends with Hazar and Miran running into each other at the cemetary at Dilshah's grave. Hazar has gone there to pay his respects to Dilshah and promise her that he will clear the stain of vengeance from Miran's heart. Miran is there with his grandmother Shukran who has never been to her daughter's grave.
There, in an incredibly explosive scene, Hazar slaps Miran with his mother's letter written so many years ago, pleading for his help to escape the hell at the Aslanbey mansion. Miran pulls out Dilshah's picture with her handwriting on the back to compare with the letter and slowly, finally the light bulb turns on.
Those were the main events of the episode, now on to the analysis.
After having heard Filippos' confession Miran tries to grasp at anything he can to stay in his comfort zone. He rationalizes that the Shadoglus were the ones who told Filippos to change his story, albeit reluctantly. He remembers the change in Filippos's behavior the day at the jeweler's house but Azize's influence over him is still strong. The childhood stories of the deceptive, insidious and murderous Shadoglus are still in his mind confirmed by Hazar's unfortunate lie about his fall.
He has conflicting stories. One from the woman who raised him and in her own way cared for him, and another from a stranger whom he knows nothing about. True, his Babanne hid his grandmother from him and tried to separate him from Reyyan, but it is more convenient for him to view these as Azize's insecurities. While Miran tries to believe Azize he is hit with another truth which is more difficult to deny. Shukran's detailed recounting of Dilshah's torment destroys Miran emotionally. Shukran is his grandmother... the mother of his beloved mother. Her words have meaning for Miran.
While he denies what he hears outwardly, inwardly he is very affected. For if what Shukran says is true, than everything he believes is a lie... a lie deliberately perpetuated by the woman whom he has trusted all his life.. a woman for whom he committed an unspeakable sin that has engulfed him in flames. But the subconscience mind knows what the conscience mind refuses to believe... that Azize has deceived and manipulated him.
The writers beautifully foreshadow in a dream sequence the death of Azize in Miran's heart. After the emotionally draining day, Miran dreams about Azize's death on a cold and snowy winter day. A simple wooden casket covered with Azize's black scarf and Azize's black boots set outside of the gates of the Aslanbey mansion herald the demise of Azize Aslanbey.
His struggle against the mounds of snow on the stairs as he makes his way to her room show Miran's monumental struggle to keep believing in Azize. Over and over again he's met with her lies and trickery, and over and over again he has reverted to believing her, a little harder to do each time. But this time with his grandmother Shukran's words, the doubts have mounted and the struggle to believe has become insurmountable. In his dream he enters Azize's room, now empty with just her belongings... her shawl, her rosary on her chair. Her belongings are there but she is not.
The room is empty and Azize is dead signifying that Miran has given up the struggle. He wakes up in a sweat and goes to her room. He puts his head on her knees and tells her he doesn't want her to die. This is understandable because she is all he knows. She is his history. She is his past. If she dies in his heart, his past dies along with her. But as Azize is fond of saying there is more than one kind of death. Try as he might, Miran will not be able to save Azize, for it will take just one more truth for her to die in his heart completely. And that truth comes directly from his mother, Dilshah.
When Miran sees his mother's pleas on the aged parchment before him, there can be no more doubt about the truth. And what is the truth? Dilshah was forced to marry Mehmet Aslanbey and suffered at his hands. And in her time of despair she turned to Hazar Shadoglu to save her. The ramification of this truth is sure to be earthshattering. But who will Miran ask for the truth? I certainly hope it will not be from Azize. I suspect we're not done with Azize's manipulations just yet, but at a minimum the target on Hazar's back has started to fade, if not disappeared for good.
When Reyyan sees Miran with his head on his grandmother's knees she becomes discouraged believing that Miran's deep love for his grandmother is so great that separating him from her will be next to impossible. She's only partially right, because while Miran loves his grandmother, he is already separating from her. Miran's embrace of Azize after his nightmare was his last desperate attempt to keep her alive in his heart.
At this point, it will be very difficult for the writers to convince us that Miran does not believe the facts before him unless they wish to portray Miran as a complete imbecile. Assuming they don't, with Azize dead to him, Miran should now be able to make use of his mental faculties to get at the truth. We are a long way from the full truth as we still have no idea why Azize seeks revenge on the Shadoglus. And we have no idea who is seeking vengeance on Azize.
Throughout this season we have been told about a mysterious third party who is familiar with the past and is powerful enough to stand up to Azize. This same third party has been sending threatening notes to Azize and has helped Miran find his grandmother Shukran. While we don't know the identity of the third party it is clear that whoever it is knows that Azize's revenge scheme has destroyed lives. We find out in this episode that Harun is working alongside this third party and that the third party will reveal himself or herself when everyone is present.
In an offhanded clue to the audience, Harun says to Hanife, "Azize Aslanbey... I'm very curious to see what she will do when she finds out that a member of the Aslanbey family is behind these events." Quite possibly Harun could be be referring to himself. There is a theory that Harun is Sultan's son whom she thought she lost at birth though there is no confirmation that this is true. Whether or not this is true, Harun's words do implicate an Aslanbey involvement in the plot to take down Azize.
Let's assume that the third party's intent is to expose the truth and exact vengeance on Azize on behalf of the people she has hurt. A brief survey of the victims of Azize's games reveals Dilshah's family, Esma's family, Sultan's family and Azize's own family, Hanife. Many in Hercai fandom have tried to hone in on one person, but what if the third party is not one person but a group of people who bear a grudge against Azize? We know Harun is part of this group and now Hanife is as well. Is it possible that Esma is also a part of this cabal? or perhaps a member of Dilshah's family as well? The possibilities are endless, but as Miran said, we will not know the full truth until we find the people sending the notes.
We are at the half way point in the season and things will likely shift into high gear. Many secrets are yet to be unveiled including Miran's paternity and the reason for Azize deep seeded resentment. But with this episode the writers have succeeded in breaking the bond between Azize and Miran and in doing so shifted his focus away from revenge and towards the path for truth. A Miran untethered from Azize will be an interesting character to watch. Will he follow his own instincts in his new quest, or turn to Shukran and Reyyan? I know what I hope he does, but let's see what the writers have in mind for him.
In the meantime enjoy this cute video clip from episode 30.
