Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020): Season 1, Episode 1 - The New Sultan - full transcript

Your city is ours!

Constantinople.

Either I conquer you...

or you conquer me.

Come... my son.

Father?

Constantinople.

Why didn't you believe in me?

- They betrayed you.
- My son.

...believe in me?

- This is madness!
- No!



- Constantinople...
- Mehmed!

Am I to take Constantinople?

No!

Constantinople.

Every empire has a beginning

forged of blood, steel,
fortune and conquest.

In 1453, Roman Emperor Constantine XI

and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II

wage an epic battle for Constantinople.

Twenty-three armies have tried
to take the legendary city.

All have failed.

Out of the carnage,
one ruler will emerge victorious

and change the course of history
for the next 300 years.

For one empire to rise,
another must fall.



Constantinople is a city...

just destined to be
the center of the world.

It's the hinge: Asia, Europe,

Black Sea, the Mediterranean,

the Balkan world, Italian city-states...

It's like there's a butterfly,

and Constantinople is the body
of the butterfly.

Constantinople is a concept.

It's more than just a strategic place.

It represents layers of empire,

it represents layers of civilizations

that have been embedded in it.

In the Mediterranean,

the largest city
has always been Constantinople.

This was always cited
as the Promised Land.

Whoever holds Constantinople,
he will be the ruler of the world.

In 1451,

Constantinople's protector and ruler
is Emperor Constantine XI.

There were few people more autocratic

and absolutist
than Eastern Roman emperors.

They literally stood halfway to heaven,
between God and man,

they were God's sword-arm on Earth.

Constantine XI, he's very brave,

and the principle for which he will
sacrifice literally everything else

is the preservation of Constantinople.

Twenty-three enemy armies

have tried to take
the legendary walled city and failed.

The biggest threat to the Romans'
1100-year reign

are their longtime foes, the Ottomans.

Former Anatolian warlords and nomads

who've built a burgeoning empire

reaching all the way
to Eastern Europe...

The death of Ottoman Sultan Murad II
in 1451

unleashes a chain of events

that will soon bring the Ottomans
and Romans

to the brink of war.

Two hundred miles away,
Sultan Murad's son, Mehmed II,

has been serving as governor of Manisa

in the Aegean Province.

The Crown Prince has been living
in semi-exile for several years

after a falling out
with his father's court.

Prince!

I'm rotting out here in the provinces.

My prince...

By the time Alexander the Great was
my age, he'd conquered all of this land.

My prince.

Yes, Zaganos Pasha. What is it?

Your father.

There are some whispers

that the grand vizier and the others
in the sultan's court

are discussing plans
for a successor.

Of course they are.

Deceitful scum.

They'd want nothing more
than for me to disappear.

Ready the horses.

We must leave for the capital.

Mehmed sets out for Adrianople

to claim the throne,

uncertain whether he'll be named
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire

or have to take the throne by force.

In the Ottoman throne,
any member of the dynasty

has an equal right to the throne.

There is no established
line of succession.

They had to fight it out,

or be the one
who could establish leadership.

It was survival of the fittest.

Mehmed is met
by his father's grand vizier,

Candarli Halil Pasha,

the sultan's right hand.

The grand vizier
is the prime minister of the empire.

When there is a new sultan
inheriting his father's grand vizier,

there's always a clash,

and that grand vizier
has to be controlled.

If you lose that game,
you become a puppet sultan.

Halil Pasha...

it's been a couple years
since I last saw you.

I wish...

it was under better circumstances.

Grand Vizier.

My sultan.

After living
in his father's shadow for years,

expectations for the 19-year-old ruler
are crushing.

You have grown since I last saw you.

Father?

I've asked too much of you.

The throne will be yours, my son,
when you are ready.

Don't test me, boy!

He's a very young guy.

People didn't know
was he up to the job?

Maybe he wasn't gonna be able
to follow his father,

who was a good warrior.

I promised you your time would come.

Mother Mara.

Mehmed's stepmother,
Mara Brankovic,

is among his closest allies

in a capital anxious to see
how the young sultan will rule.

Do you know what Alexander the Great
said when he took the throne?

"In the end, when it's over...

all that matters is what you have done."

It's yours.

When he does come to the throne,

he realizes that he's got a signal

that he's everything
that his father wished him to be.

So, what would this kid do?

He says,
"I need a crowning achievement..."

...and what will that be?

Take Constantinople.

The dream of everybody!

They will try and shame you
as the boy they remembered, Sultan.

Yes, they will try.

Mehmed's court is divided

between the young advisors
he brings from Manisa,

led by Zaganos Pasha,

and his father's older viziers
who harbor doubts about his leadership.

Those doubts extend beyond the capital
to the Ottoman's many enemies.

A rival Turkish warlord
tests the 19-year-old sultan,

raiding Ottoman lands in Anatolia.

Mehmed and his army
crush the rebellion.

The gravest threat to Mehmed's rule
comes in late 1451

from the Ottoman's old enemy,
the Romans.

Hasan Pasha,

what news from Constantinople?

What do our spies say?

The Romans have...

sent a request.

What sort of request?

They've threatened
to release your Uncle Orhan

if we don't triple our payments

for his continued safety and upkeep.

Prince Orhan represents this long
Byzantine tradition of diplomacy.

Prince Orhan has a claim
to Mehmed's throne,

but the Romans keep him safely tucked away
inside Constantinople

in exchange for a yearly payment
from the Ottomans.

Prince Orhan is an interesting case.

He was kept a prisoner.

The Romans wanted to use him
against the Ottomans.

When Mehmed comes to the throne,

he's only 19 years old,

no one really knows, uh...
what kind of a ruler he would be,

so Constantine tries to...

uh, tries to threaten him.

It was always a threat that

"If you do something aggressive,
we can send Orhan back

with a little money,
a little support,

and maybe overthrow your throne."

The Romans offset

their weakness
in terms of military strength,

land, and power,

in their ability to stir up civil war

within the Ottoman Empire.

The question becomes:

"What do you do
in a situation like this?"

This is one of the rare moments

where Constantine
badly miscalculates.

This turns out to be
a pretty bad mistake.

I will build my fort right here.

Sultan, this is not diplomacy.

It's an act of war.

We will control the Bosphorus
and every ship that travels through it.

In response to the Roman threat,

Mehmed reveals his plan
for Rumeli Hisari,

literally translated:

"Fortress in the land of the Romans."

Strategically located on the European side
of the Bosphorus Strait,

the fort cuts off all supplies
and military aid

from Roman allies in the Black Sea.

The fortress is ominously nicknamed
"The Throat Cutter."

Sultan, I urge you to reconsider.

Building a fort on the Roman side
will provoke them...

Anything inside the walls
of Constantinople

belongs to the Romans.

Anything outside those walls

belongs to me.

Candarli didn't like the idea

because he said, "Look, Your Majesty,"

he said,
"Europeans could unite against us.

The pope could send an army
against us.

And while trying to get Constantinople,
we might lose everything."

And Mehmed said, "Piss off."

Yeah...

The Throat Cutter is completed
in an astonishing four-and-a-half months,

bringing the Ottomans and Romans
a step closer to war.

Emperor Constantine sends emissaries
to Mehmed's court

to protest construction of the fort.

Some emissary would say,
"This is Roman land.

Your father at least had the grace
to ask permission

before he did something like this."

He sends them away,
he won't even hear them.

So Constantine sends back
more messengers,

this time loaded down with gifts,
and say,

"Can we at least be assured

that this does not herald
an attack on Constantinople?"

Mehmed decapitates the advisors

and let's Constantine
draw his own conclusion.

This cannot go unanswered!

We must teach the child a lesson!

Then he will taste the Roman slap.

And who will deliver that slap, pray tell?

You?

Mehmed is a menace,
but force is not the answer.

We must avoid confrontation
until Catholic help arrives from Europe.

If the Catholics are our only hope,

we are doomed.

The right-hand man of Constantine

was Loukas Notaras.

He held the position of grand duke,

which was the equivalent
of the Ottoman vizier

or a prime minister.

I'd rather see a sultan's turban

than a cardinal's cap
inside these walls.

Constantinople is the center

of Orthodox Christianity.

Like most of the city
and the emperor's court,

Notaras is Greek
and Orthodox Christian,

and distrusts
the European Catholic Church,

a schism dating back four centuries.

Faced with the Ottoman threat,

the city desperately needs soldiers
and ships from the pope.

We are all brothers
in the eyes of God.

At this moment,
we have emissaries sent to the Vatican

and all the courts of Europe
securing aid for our defense.

Already, there are generous troops
bound for the city...

the first of many.

With God's Grace,

the pope will be sending troops
in the coming weeks.

- Long live the emperor.
- Long live the emperor!

Notaras is the wealthiest man
in Constantinople,

with business interests ranging
from Anatolia to Italy.

No one has more to lose
in a war with the Ottomans.

Send this to our Turkish friend.

You slippery Greek goat fucker.

Halil Pasha.

Candarli Halil was the grand vizier

and an experienced older statesman.

Also known as Halil the Greek...

because he didn't really want Mehmed
to conquer Constantinople,

he didn't think
it was a useful thing to do.

Or maybe he'd been bribed by the Greeks
to kind of divert Mehmed.

I'm glad you could make it, Pasha.

Though by the look on your face,

it's not with good tidings.

The sultan won't be swayed.

A war is bad for all of us.

And your interests in the city.

Peace is much more profitable.

He is arrogant, young,

convinced he'll conquer the West,

just as Alexander conquered the East.

Loukas was probably

the richest man in all of the Balkans.

He tried to play every side.

There's more talk of the emperor
releasing Prince Orhan.

- The emperor is willing to arm him.
- With a wine flask?

Tell your sultan the emperor prefers
peace with the Ottomans.

I'll make sure of this.

And we can come to terms
to avoid a war.

But...

if the sultan is...

hell-bent on taking the city...

I hate to think of you dying by his side

in a war that could have
easily been avoided.

And if it goes the other way,

I'll have a front row seat
for your beheading...

my old friend.

I should have his head for this.

Deceitful dog!

Mehmed, patience.

A commodity of which
I have precious little at the moment.

It's wiser to keep him close for now.

Think about the importance
of continuity for a new sultan

who's relatively untested.

To come in and start firing people
and executing them as soon as you get in,

that's not gonna make you many friends.

So in some ways
it's a tactical decision.

You use him for as long as he's useful,
and if he proves useful, great.

If he doesn't, get rid of him eventually.

Perhaps you can use
his carelessness...

to your advantage.

Where is your master?

Halil Pasha!

Zaganos Pasha...

what is the meaning of this?

The sultan requests your presence
at the palace.

- Now?
- At once, Halil Pasha.

Give me a moment to dress.

Sure.

Sultan.

We brought Halil Pasha.

My sultan.

May I please speak?

What is this?

It's...

It's customary to bring gifts

when summoned by the sultan
in the middle of the night.

I don't need your gold, Pasha.

I need your ear. Get up.

Get up.

I just woke from a dream.

I saw my father,

my ancestors,

Osman.

They showed me the road ahead.

It led me to Constantinople.

The gates of the city flew open.

I walked straight to Hagia Sophia...

and there I saw the Red Apple itself.

It was given to me.

You understand, Pasha...

Allah has sent me a vision.

He has commanded me
to take Constantinople.

I have no choice but to obey his wish.

There's a prophecy that Constantinople's
the Red Apple, and a warrior will come,

he will take this center
of Christian orthodoxy

and wrest it from the Christians

and bring it home
to the Islamic world.

In my vision, you, too,
were by my side, Pasha.

Devoted teacher, my loyal servant,

commander of my fearsome army,

and utterly committed to our destiny.

I am all those things.

Then I have your support
in this endeavor?

Mehmed played it very, very wisely.

He was able to put him at ease,

so he was able to use him.

As grand vizier,
Candarli Halil Pasha

is the second most powerful man
in the Ottoman Empire.

The young sultan must have
his full support

for an attack on Constantinople.

I knew I could rely upon you, Pasha.

Sleep well.

The Ottoman war machine

shifts into high gear.

Within six months,
Mehmed assembles an army of 80,000

ready to march on Constantinople.

Mehmed's troops quickly capture
and destroy

the few remaining Roman outposts
outside of Constantinople,

further isolating the emperor.

The biggest addition
to the Ottoman war machine

is yet to come.

Your reputation precedes you, Orban.

I've heard much about your big guns.

Yes, Sultan. And "guns..."

...doesn't do my latest offerings justice.

You see, you need huge balls

to take down the Theodosian Walls
of Constantinople.

I know them
and I know their weak spots.

Father, it's in here.

Father.

Forgive me, my lord. May I?

This...

this is my new cannon.

It's eight meters long.

The largest ever designed.

And I call it Basilica.

- You can build this?
- Yes.

Yes, Sultan.

She fires a cannon ball
two-and-a-half meters in diameter.

This gun would blast
through the walls of Babylon.

Although I know you have no quarrels
with the Babylonians.

- You're a Hungarian?
- Yes.

- And a Christian?
- Yes.

Why aren't you offering these inventions
to Constantine?

There is a price for my knowledge.

The emperor was unable to pay.

And, of course,

you are the true ruler of these lands.

Who is this young man?

Uh, Jacob.
My son and my apprentice.

The only one who knows these guns
as well as me.

One day he will make a cannon
even bigger than Basilica.

So then, what's your asking price?

Uh, 10,000 ducats.

You got pretty big balls yourself,
my friend.

Firearms on the battlefield

have been around for a few decades
by this point.

But cannons of this size were something

that was completely out
of most people's imagination.

And so Orban goes
to a number of people around the world

offering his services as a cannon maker.

If this gun can bring down
the walls of Constantinople,

as you claim,
I'll pay you four times that.

My only condition is they must be ready
and on the battlefield in three months.

The vision of building a weapon
like that is remarkable,

not least because early firearms
were prone to explode.

So if you think about what it is,

it's a big metal tube
that you shove a load of gunpowder into,

and then light on fire
to put a projectile out.

That's as likely to blow up in your face
as it is to blow up the enemy.

This huge, huge thing,

the biggest cannon
that's ever been made up to that point,

and when they fire it, you know,

animals collapse in the fields and,
you know,

women give birth suddenly,
and it's just kind of like

no one's heard anything like this before,

and the ball flies for a mile,

and, you know, it is an astonishing thing.

Mehmed's super-gun is revolutionary.

But Constantine has a secret weapon
of his own...

Genoese soldier of fortune,
Giovanni Giustiniani Longo.

He's a gallant,
kind of a swashbuckling figure,

and he's well known as

an expert in defending walled cities.

He was a pirate...

...and he was particularly
attacking ships from Egypt,

up to the point
that the Genoese government

had brought charges against him.

And he ran away so he wouldn't be tried.

He offered his services to the emperor.

The chronicles say that the emperor
promised him the island of Lemnos.

Lord Giustiniani,
you and your men are a welcome sight.

So...

you have studied our, uh, situation.

Yes. I have.

What do you think?

By my calculations,

you have just under 7,000 soldiers.

It is certainly not ideal,

but I have faith
that with your allegiance...

Allegiance?

Your...

with your faithful support, we, uh,

will defeat the Ottomans.

I would decree you
head of the land forces.

There are 14 miles of walls
to defend, Emperor.

Yes.

But, uh, I've sent envoys
to every ally in Europe.

Reinforcements from the pope

hopefully should be arriving
any day now.

We will be in better shape then.

Forgive me...

but in my line of work,

hope will get you killed.

If you are to have my trust,

paid or otherwise,
then I must have yours...

Emperor.

Lord Giustiniani...

the fate of the city is in your hands.

Take heart, my lord.

The Ottomans don't like long sieges.

And we have those big, beautiful walls.

My lord, it's as you suspected.

The emperor put the Genoan
in charge of the defenses.

In March of 1453,

the Ottomans set out on the 148-mile march

to Constantinople.

The Ottoman army was a dynamic,

growing entity.

They had a unity of command

which the Europeans didn't have.

When these crusader armies
attacked the Ottomans,

they hardly ever listened
to their supreme commander.

You know, every unit did
whatever they wanted to do.

They were running after the most glory.

But the Ottoman army had
a central command.

Really, there was nobody in the Balkans
who could stop them.

The most feared warriors
in Mehmed's army

are the Janissaries.

Former Christian slaves
taken as children,

converted to Islam,

and trained to be
the sultan's elite special forces.

In the 1300s,

these captives become this standing army

that never disbands, they're always there,

they're always ready to fight.

That's the first standing army in Europe.
This has never happened before.

They become the backbone
of this empire.

The Ottoman army arrives

on the outskirts of Constantinople
at Easter,

the holiest day in the Christian world.

And then you look out across these walls

and you see what must have been
an incredible sight.

There hadn't really been
a professional army wandering around

since the time of the Romans,

so these guys must have been
particularly terrifying to look at.

I can't even imagine
what Constantine must have felt.

I was hoping this day would never come.

This day was always going to come,
Emperor.

It's what we do tomorrow

that will be important.

Mehmed walks the battlefield

where 23 armies, including his father's,

have tried to take the city and failed.

His own destiny remains unknown.

There's a particular hadith
that becomes popular.

A hadith is a saying
of the Prophet Muhammad,

and it says...

"Surely you, the Islamic nation,

will conquer Constantinople."

"And how wonderful
will its commander be,

the commander of that nation."

"And how amazing,
how wonderful will the army be,

the army of that nation."

This particular setting,

that there will one day be
a great commander

who will conquer Constantinople,

starts to become important for Mehmed.

...the Father, the Son, and the Holy...

We are going to need
more than that, Father.

Lady?

You are George Sphrantzes' daughter.

My name is Therma, sir...

should you wish to use it.

I have never seen so many people
in one place.

The sultan appears
determined to make a fight of it.

But they must get
through these walls first.

A lot of people will die.

I have no intention of dying.

On April 6th, Mehmed sends
a final offer of truce

to Emperor Constantine.

So, the siege is governed
by different cultural norms,

and some of those cultural norms
are specific to Islam.

There's several rules of war
set down in the Quran,

um... that dictate the way
that we should treat such people.

So we give them the opportunity
to change their minds,

that we give them the opportunity
to negotiate a new treaty,

we give them the chance
to extricate themselves

from the potential bloodletting ahead.

"Our lord, the merciful Sultan Mehmed,

will spare the citizens of the city,

harming neither their families

nor their belongings,

if you voluntarily surrender.

The people of Constantinople

may keep their possessions;

there will be no looting.

In return,

you will open the gates of the city

and kiss the hands of our sultan."

"Sultan Mehmed will the one ruler
of the Romans."

We'll soon find out if the emperor
loves his city enough to die for it.

They rejected the offer, Sultan.

Prepare the cannons.

Get ready, boys!

- Prepare the cannons!
- Prepare the cannons!

Ready!

Fire!