Responses
I agree with your statement. Also in terms of the one concubine being so protective of her son... the fact is she had to be, because historically in Arabic/Muslim culture the heir was determined by the survivor, not who was first born. You could be the lowest born son with (by normal standards) no chance of attaining the throne. But, if all your other brothers were removed (aka killed); then the crown was yours.
Let me state off the bat that I know that the manga is by no means an accurate portrayal of history regarding the real life Hurrem and her experiences. It's a dramatization in which historical events and occurrences are interpreted in order to be really engaging from an entertainment standpoint. That being said, I'm going to only judge it as it is: a dramatization of history, rather than what actually occurred.
The one thing that I think most people really got hook onto is of course the characters. And in comparison to how they were when we first meet them to how they are now, most of them have gone through a great deal of growth. I think the only character that we see stayed relatively the same is Suileman, at least from my viewpoint. We first see Hurrem who enters the harem as doe eyed, curious, and lovestruck with Ibrahim. But as she continues to live in this environment in which her survival depends on the favor of Suileman, she gets to see just how much she has to fight in order to just live. Because originally, I feel as though she was sort of okay with just existing in the harem, but then her life and the lives of those around her are constantly exposed to danger. So I think that Hurrem realizes that she has to really "toughen up," understand the underlying strategic game of the harem. Has she made mistakes? Yes, but I think that at this point in the story she understands that she'll have to live with her mistakes and make the best of it and her position to gain the power she needs to keep everyone safe without killing people. It's an admirable goal, honestly. Very bold.
I came to really enjoy Gulbahar. At first, we as the reader are made to hate her. Which is understandable considering her actions. But as the story progresses, I came to more or less understand her predicament. After all, she, like many of the other concubines including Hurrem are only trying to survive simply off the favor of the sultan. The only difference is that she took her methodology to the realm of murder and violence. But I don't think she is evil, nor is she cruel. She's been shown moments of semi kindness to her servants, even the other lower tier concubines, acting as a sort of older sister in that one small snippet chapter about a day in her life. She clearly loves her son, and I don't think simply on that he is the reason for her status. I truly do believe that she loves her son and is protective of him because of how easy it would just be to kill a child. Her actions, while cruel and we can hate, are admittedly done out of self preservation, which is something that we can at least understand.
So the thing about Ibrahim and Suileman is that their dynamic is very interesting. Would I say that either character are gay? No. Would I say that they do care for each other, possibly past the point of friendship? Yes. Do they love each other? That's...a hard question to answer. First off, we have to understand that Ibrahim is very, very loyal to the sultan. And I think that loyalty and possibly some twisted form of love possibly trumps his love for Hurrem. It's kind of been building up to this point, if I were to be honest. He clearly cares for her, but I do think there's an extent for it, especially after he witnessed what love did for the princess's lover ( i forgot his name, sorry lol). He might be cautious about it tbh. It's hard to really pinpoint at this time. As for Suileman...he's something lol. No, I find him to be an interesting character. First off, we have to understand that he has other things to worry about than his romantic endeavors. The man's got goals and that trumps whatever romantic aspirations he has with Hurrem, Ibrahim, and any others. I honestly don't know what to make of his relationship with Ibrahim other than that from what I can concur, he treats him as a possession. It's hard to pinpoint as well. As for Hurrem, he does love her, just as much as he was and still is fascinated by her lol.
I'm really curious to see how the story will progress even more, not only in terms of story and political power struggle but also in characterization.