#as Hürrem also symbolically loses her innocence after Leo's death

[mc-critical]

The "past lost love clashing (and coinciding) with a current gained love" symbolism can apply to the pair of birds Hürrem was gifted as well. She got them when her place in Süleiman's heart seemed to be solidifying and she wanted to let that be known both to him and everyone else ("I will also never keep quiet about my love."), but then Süleiman shuts her up - literally because he doesn't want to hear anymore and give himself up to the moment (the birds for Süleiman entail how much he wants to keep Hürrem for himself - "I'll put you in a cage"), symbolically because she'll encounter a challenge to that love in the form of another love she cherishes as much but she can't tell anyone about it. She has to let it go and move on to the other surefire love, but both mean everything to her, so she can't fully reveal her truest feelings to either. She has to suck it up, quickly find a way out and shut up. (And even when the challenge's end comes forth, she still has to shut up. As no one will believe or understand. E72's "Time to stay silent." indeed.)

As by the time Leo has already come and Hürrem met him in Ibrahim's castle, telling him to leave, there's a scene where Hürrem looks at the birds and wonders why one isn't answering while the other is singing. And then of course Hürrem remembers Leo. The one bird is Hürrem, the other is Leo. Leo can't forget Hürrem, wishes to be with her all again in spite of all odds and strongly expresses that wish, while Hürrem doesn't respond, can't respond, of course she can't, acting like she doesn't care and all is well. Then later, in Edirne, the birds could escape (Mehmet wants to open the cage), Leo also seeks ways to leave Istanbul throughout the whole episode. Hürrem puts the birds outside, symbolically getting Leo away from Süleiman, away from them all (and in the scene before she tried to prepare Süleiman for the possibility for Leo to want to return to his homeland). But the birds don't leave, they are killed, just like Leo will be in the future (and Leo's death will symbolically kill Hürrem too: "I'm already dead."). Yes, the death of the birds is supposed to be an omen for the everpresent devastation of the jannisary rebellion, but that's also why this is tied to Leo and in a bigger way: namely due to the jannisary rebellion he lost his chance to leave that day, setting his tragic end even more in stone (cause he gets wounded, likely to die too, then Süleiman constantly finds ways to prevent him from leaving, then right in the next episode Nigar finds out, then Ibrahim finds out later on, and...).

Both Hürrem and Mahidevran turn out tied to Leo in E18: not just through Mahidevran getting suspicious and becoming the first likely person to learn all about Leo (leading to the legendary lesbian dream that we, Hürrevran shippers, will forever simp for), but also through his portrait as namely it incites Mahidevran and Hürrem's dispute over Hatice's chambers. Leo's portrait is fully a symbol of love; a past lost love for Mahidevran as she's bound to witness an even more direct, more official sign of how it's gone, yet another one after the many thrown at her during the last few episodes (Hürrem giving birth to another şehzade; Hürrem and Süleiman going on a trip together and not returning until the dinner at Hatice and Ibrahim's castle) and a current gained love for Hürrem that the portrait ordered out of love as well (Hürrem's inclusion in it, I mean) is officializing, the new family and security she's built that, however, clashes with her own past lost love due to that person doing the officializing's very existence and so sudden appearance - it all only seems like a happy moment, Hürrem has to fake happiness and confidence in order to navigate all the conflicting but mostly sickening feelings inside her while she grapples with how her past love is gone too - or rather, it should be gone, she has to make it be gone... or else. Hatice's chambers are fully a symbol of power; Gülşah explicitly stresses their strategic advantage that both Hürrem and Mahidevran capitalize on in order to try to reassert themselves and gain what little fraction of power (=> safety) is currently available amidst a situation where they feel completely powerless. Mahidevran immediately starts working on redecorating the chambers once she temporarily gets them (which is an interesting parallel to her ruling the harem in the end of S02: setting up bigger, grander, more sumptious stuff like new carpets and furnace here and clothes and furniture there in order to prove dominance and highlight her position is a theme in both cases), while Hürrem clings to them after she permanently gets them, ruminating on what they'll give her: the ability to watch over everything she holds close and is within her reach (and she'll "watch like a hawk" - bird symbolism again!), possessing it or aiming to possess it, and then sharing that real piece of joy with the people she holds close too.

{And this whole matter points at not just who are Mahidevran and Hürrem's supporters that they'll win over for it too (Hafsa and Süleiman respectively) but also at how they'll win them over; not so much their distinct tactics but what they both have: their children, whose safety will be directly threatened by the upcoming jannisary rebellion, as well as the foundation and focus of both the love and power Mahidevran and Hürrem have obtained (linked together by the ring) will be tested.}

[mc-critical]

Pertaining to MYK2, it’s an observation of mine that as Kösem got older she grew more bitter, more angry, and felt overall more resentment towards the overall Ottoman lifestyle and dynasty which was a mere glorified prison for her. I would even go as far to say that her actions toward her children later in life were possibly due to her seeing them as an extension of her trauma and imprisonment in a way? I believe she only clung to power and titles the way she did because she truly believed it would be all she could have going for her and the only thing that could get her to be afforded basic human decency on some level in the enviornment she was trapped in. I especially see it towards the end when she has plans to dethrone her grandson and remarks “when one grandson goes the other comes” and you can see how she’s just..gone. There’s no longer a shred of resemblance to the innocent and life-loving Anastasia. She completely internalized the hatred and the death that surrounded her and became it..I’d even call it a cinematic parallel to Saifye. What do you think?

Overall, I think you hit the nail right on the head.

The loss of innocence is the central theme of the show: we consistently see how it begins to flourish, all the little hints, all the big actions, and Kösem, being the protagonist, will of course be the epitome of it all. It's a given that everything she has experienced would lead to trauma sooner or later, a trauma that really brings hatred, bitterness and then again, misery, because when you look at it, she couldn't take a break even for a second. To me, Safiye killing her father, was namely where it began - Kösem, just like Hürrem, had to completely let go of her past to begin this new life, but unlike her, this character arc was quick and rushed and harder, and she didn't get the fullest time necessary to do it in narrative, for her to actually get used to it. Her past is quite a part of her innocence, of her previous being, and when people (like Safiye and Raihan Aga) tell her to forget about it, she resists so much more, because there is hope that things would be just like before. Say, Hürrem adapted so quickly and so efficiently, because there was a lot to win, but nothing to lose - everyone she knew was perceived as dead, she had nowhere to go, it was lost and it was gone and she had to move forward. (Nigar's advice and the dream with her parents highlight that.) And when Leo appeared, Hürrem had already adapted, already planted seeds in this empire and had found the man she truly loved. Anastasia not only didn't have this chance, she still had nothing to do out there, knowing she could return to her family once again (they didn't kill anyone when they kidnapped her, remember?), was fond of Ahmet, but that was it, and didn't have any heirs yet. What would she do there, why would she forget her home, especially when there was a person just as eager as her to return to his roots (Iskender), and we had someone who was the narrative culmination of her hope to put everything back to normal (her father)? I feel that her refusal to Iskender to escape with him was only an intentionally forced tool for her and Iskender's character arcs, she stayed only out of necessity back then and one could say that, she probably never truly adapted. When her father died, was just when she realized there is no turning back now.

When she symbolically became Kösem, she had fought many fights in her life: she fought because she wanted justice (her exposing Fahriye and Dervish/Handan), because she wanted revenge (against Safiye), she fought for her life. (post-E25 and season 2.) But she did it out of necessity, all the roles she had to take she took out of necessity, she represented the country, acted as a regent even when Murat took that away from her.. only out of sheer necessity. That's what she did in episode 7, she stood up to all these people in need, and when she did that, she was suddenly regarded as a hero, as this blessed angel who saved everyone and could do no wrong, but she obviously couldn't stay so. She perhaps could've gained some kind of a savior complex, to have something to protect out of obligation. And that something had to be connected with her "first act" and with her whole arc in season 1 - that is, the country. She took her whole life to represent the country and protect it. ("The country you talk about wouldn't exist, if it weren't for me!") It turned into the very meaning of her life, she merged herself with it and she had to fight for it. The fights she had throughout the entire show were very exhausting, draining everything out of her, because there were countless times where it was all about to be over. She had to face enemies much stronger, much sneakier and much more experienced than she herself was, and she knew very well that they wouldn't hesitate even for a moment to do what they had to do. They were brutal and they were ruthless, all of them. And they were against this very thing she cherished, the very power she equated to the country. She spent her whole life to fight and protect it, turning her heart into iron and stone, automatically realizing every threat and striving to remove it, no matter what it takes. That goes into her conflict with Murat and into the rest of her children (by that I mean Ibrahim), as well, once she feels they are a threat, she began removing them. But this isn't a facade that can be kept so easily, this isn't some worthy life, so it all bottles up inside of her eventually and she has no time to let it out, because this period, her life, is just so dynamic. All her enemies were tough and persistent, making something happen almost every other day, the revolts, the parental conflicts, the attempts, the traps, the intrigues, the backstabbing... All that including her daily duties and all the meetings she has to attend to to keep things running smoothly. It all takes a toll on her, and it's understandable why when everything falls apart, she just doesn't care. She took the very last strip of her innocence, her humanity, with sealing the pact to kill Ibrahim. And guess what? She did this only for the country, she did this because someone pushed that weakness, that pressure point of hers. All she fought for was doomed the second Murat took things into his own hands, and she realized it. By Murat's death, it was now or never, because the harder she fights for this position of hers, she loses what made her so remarkably human in the first place. It's going hand to hand, really.

There is a point to be made about the parallels S02 Kösem had with Safiye, because while their arcs hit many of the same notes, they divert from one another in quite a bit of ways. Safiye was everything Kösem fought against - she made the darker side of S01 Kösem what it was, because taking revenge on Safiye, what she took away from her, was the primary "shadier" motivator of her character then. Azis Mahmud Hüdai (I hope I'm writing his name right) even warned her to the dangers of power and the similarities with Safiye that slowly grew in her. And there is some irony in this, because Safiye also played her part in the tragic Osman storyline by manipulating him from the get-go that Kösem could act against him because she wasn't his real mother. And the guy she sent to manipulate him was there for a long time. What I mean to say is, Kösem and Safiye had that fight going until the very end, and Safiye openly gave her the thematic ring (тм), perhaps due to the similarities they share. Safiye had this desire for neverending power, she never gave up, even when all odds were against her. She became used to it after so many years and it as well became what defined her. On the surface, the same could be said for Kösem, as well. Both of them did the unthinkable to keep this prestige and these titles. Both loved their power, but in different ways: Safiye wanted power for the sake of power, she loved the very concept of it, to wake up in the castle, to prepare for the day, to issue orders and to eclipse everyone, for Safiye it wasn't something morally right, it was about her and her only. She would lose her life, but never her power. It was already something she had always had and losing it would mean they took something that was rightfully hers, without debate. Kösem had this power for the country she felt obliged to protect, to the point power and country became synonymous to her, whatever she did was for the country, but in her eyes, it was the right thing, for the state to live, for the people to be safe and sound, for everyone to have a tranquil life without imbalance. (in E47 we had this parallel act to E07, where she once again, stood up in front of the people, to calm them down after Murat's unexpected disappearance; we have her show Kasım to the people in E53? etc.) And she would lose her life, as well as her power. (the narrative delivered its own symbolic meaning with her death.) She thought it should be all hers for a long time, but not by right, rather through all she had achieved in her life. At the end, she realized this loss, and accepted it, symbolically giving the thematic ring to nobody, while Safiye did in her death after all, thematically continuing the cycle herself. She no longer gave a damn about the world and all she wanted was to die in piece.

There is also another key difference between Safiye and Kösem - Safiye kept her power through cunning and manipulation from the very beggining, while Kösem consistently reached out: to the people, to the Janissary, to Murat even. Safiye thought they misunderstood her, that you couldn't win this war by peace, while Kösem often tried to find the optimal, peaceable solution - she killed only as a last resort, only when she found out nothing else worked, it took her a whole season-long arc to realize that Murat wasn't worth it (and even in E60, it was hard for her to kill Ibrahim and it all had to come to Turhan's manipulation). Safiye, just like Gülbahar, who was the main enemy to S02 Kösem for a reason, had buried her conscience deep within, while Kösem, even with all she's done, still had the reflection of Anastasia in the mirror and in her head, no matter how much she tried to shut her up. ("Admit it, you liked having power!" - quoting by pure memory here.)

Thing is, what Kösem experienced, truly shaped up who she was, and just like so many, internalized that toxic way of living to a huge extent. And no matter how hard she tried to fight with it, she let it sink in and fully embraced it. And when she finally got out of it, what was done was done, and destruction ensued. But she probably found piece in her death, getting rid of this burden, plaguing her whole life.