One of the walls that Hürrem destroyed was Sultan Süleyman’s mother, Valide Sultan. After her death, Ibrahim, Hatice, Mustafa, and the Sultan himself lost some of their security.
She stood guard over the old traditions that maintained the established order of life. As a young woman, she followed her son everywhere when he was shekhzadeh and changed his sanjaks. Her goal was to protect her only son from any misfortune, attempt, illness. Her beloved husband, Selim Khan, was also a threat to him. From a certain point he began to perceive his son as a rival, which created psychologically difficult living conditions for mother and son.
Together with her, Ibrahim stood guard over the life of the shehzadeh. Risking his life, he more than once saved his master. Therefore, guarding her daughter’s family nest also became her task.
One can talk and write about how arrogant she was, or notice moments of disdain for the loyal people around her. But such was the psychology of the ruling class of slave society.
The terrible attack, from which she no longer recovered, came after receiving news of Ibrahim’s betrayal of her beloved daughter. Only her fainting and illness saved Ibrahim from immediate execution that time. But the secret was revealed anyway, as information about it fell into Hürrem’s hands.
It is safe to say that the great vizier’s love and devotion to his wife more than once stopped the doom. Both Hürrem and the Sultan retreated before it, but as soon as word became known of his cooling to her, he opened himself to blows.
It cannot be said that Hürrem was glad of Valide’s illness. She was genuinely saddened as they were just beginning to get along. But gradually it became clear that even after her recovery, the ruler’s mother would no longer be strong. Hürrem kidnaps Nigar and decides to take action.
A very significant detail is that the day before, Suleiman put a multicolored stone in her mother’s hand. According to popular belief, it takes away all a person’s sorrows, losing its original color and becoming darker. Valide Sultan’s greatest sorrow was her daughter, Hatice. After all, she simply could not have survived her spouse’s betrayal by remaining sane. She was too vulnerable.
But for Hürrem, of course, it didn’t matter. She, like a predator who has smelled prey, could no longer stop. And to begin with she went to the Valide to tell her that she was going to tell Khatija the bitter truth about Ibrahim. It is difficult to describe what a blow this was, because Valide had no idea what frenetic activity Hürrem was developing and how closely she was watching Ibrahim. She realized what a beast she had overlooked in her house, and it finished her off. Nebahat Chehre perfectly played this tragic moment, the horror, the realization of her complete powerlessness.
The last episode with Valide Sultan is in episode 61 of the second season. Selim Khan’s beautiful horse came for her, and led her away into the mists of oblivion. Like her honest righteous life, he was beautiful. And below, on the ground, Sultan Suleiman was left with the necklace he never gave her…
After her death the Sultan saw that the stone had turned black. It was symbolic, it took away the mother’s excruciating pain and worry about the fate of her child, thus releasing her soul to a better world.
