Rise of Empires: Ottoman (2020) s02e02 Episode Script

1
It looks like two units
of Janissaries. Maybe three.
Hamza Bey!
How many Ottoman soldiers at Giurgiu?
The sultan should have
killed you years ago.
Traitorous dog!
Our Ottoman friend isn't happy with me,
but at least his men were kind enough
to give us their nice, warm uniforms.
My prince,
I will be with you until the end
but once we cross the Danube,
there is no turning back.
Are you sure you want to do this?
With our new uniforms,
the Turks will welcome us with open arms!
In the winter of 1462,
along a remote stretch of the Danube,
death comes calling.
Who goes there?
Open the gates.
We are being pursued
by a unit of Wallachian mercenaries!
Open the gates. That's an order.
Open the gates.
Kill them all!
As the long-simmering
blood feud between Mehmed the Conqueror
and Vlad Dracula intensifies,
the tentacles of the coming war
reach all the way to the inner sanctum
of the sultan's harem.
- We have an artist in our midst.
- Princess Mara.
Mehmed has promised to bring artists
from Florence to teach me.
Perhaps you will teach
the Florentines something.
I've come to say goodbye.
I leave for the court
of Matthias Corvinus tomorrow.
I heard the Hungarian king
is as slippery as his late father,
but lacks the old man's valor
on the battlefield.
We'll soon see if he has the stomach
for a war with Mehmed.
But there's another matter.
While I'm away, I want you to sleep
with this under a pillow.
I don't understand.
Vlad Dracula lived
in the imperial palace for years.
He may have friends here
who are a threat to you.
- But I
- One day, you will be queen mother,
the most powerful woman in the empire.
I'll wager our enemies
have not seen the likes of you before.
Stand strong, dear Gulbahar,
and remain vigilant.
Some 340 miles north,
Sultan Mehmed II's massive army
continues its march to Wallachia,
where they find themselves
surrounded by the carnage
of Vlad Dracula's earlier rampage
across the Danube,
but see no sign
of their missing general, Hamza Bey.
The Impaler Lord's message
to his childhood friend
is written in the blood of thousands,
"Come and get me."
Mind you,
that kind of disrespect was something
that a ruler like Mehmed II
could never forgive
because in this kind of world,
reputation is everything.
So from that point onward, it became
quite personal between Mehmed and Vlad.
What Vlad Dracula should have done
with Mehmed was seek a limited peace.
Maybe a reduction in tribute.
But the problem with Vlad Dracula is
that everything to him is about a duel.
Perhaps, again,
this does come from his youth,
this very hard upbringing,
this idea that he would never give way.
That it was down to me-versus-him,
black and white.
Vlad massacred these poor souls
to impress his masters
in Buda and the Vatican,
and to draw me out.
I could never do this.
Which is why
you will be a better ruler than Vlad.
Yet, Mahmud Pasha doesn't trust me.
Trust is hard-earned with Mahmud Pasha.
One of the reasons
I chose him as my grand vizier.
But have I not been
a loyal friend and adviser?
Yes, but you have the misfortune
of sharing the last name
of the man every soldier
in this army is here to kill.
The Danube was supposed to be a bridge
between our kingdoms, not a wall.
There's no shame in second place, Vlad.
I win!
You cheated, Mehmed!
No, I won.
Do you miss Wallachia?
More than anything.
But you have a life here now.
This isn't my life. It's yours.
One day, the world will be ours,
brother Vlad.
Your battles, they will be my battles.
"Fire is the test of gold,
adversity of friendship."
Vlad,
growing up at this court,
met young Mehmed, the future Mehmed II,
because the princes present
at the Ottoman court grew up
along the heirs to the Ottoman throne.
And they grew
like a band of brothers.
One wonders
if during this invasion
that the two might not have reflected
on their childhood and thought of this.
You know, maybe they'd joked or fought
with each other in that palace in Edirne.
"One day when I'm the sultan,
I'm going to come after you."
"One day when I'm the prince,
I'm going to come after you."
Prince, the troops are ready.
We'll meet General Gales' company
outside the city.
Good, and the sultan's army?
Have we eyes on them yet?
Still south of the Danube,
marching north.
At least 100,000 men
and 100 cannons.
He has brought the entire might
of his empire.
Now he takes me seriously.
Have our spies send hourly reports.
We must find their crossing point
and strike while they are exposed.
Yes, Prince.
After years
of threats and provocations,
the allies-turned-enemies
will finally face each other
in a battle
on the banks of the Danube River.
Each man is hell-bent
on the other's destruction.
Mehmed is finally coming for me.
- He underestimates you.
- No.
He still sees me as his prisoner
but once the Hungarians join us,
it is Mehmed who will be on his knees,
begging for mercy.
If I fall in battle Listen to me.
If I fall in battle,
the Turks will come for you.
No.
I will throw myself in the Argeş
and let the fish pick my bones clean
before I become the sultan's slave.
The only bodies in the river
will be those of Mehmed and his army.
Vlad Dracula sets out
for the Danube River,
110 miles to the south,
where he'll mount
his defense of Wallachia.
His army is made up of
his personal bodyguards,
loyal boyars, and mercenaries.
They number less than 30,000,
but Vlad has the advantage
of fighting on his home terrain
against an enemy he knows
almost as well as he knows himself.
When he was a kid
at the Ottoman court,
he learned a lot about the Ottomans.
He knew everything about them.
He knew how they were thinking,
he knew how their armies would gather,
how they were fighting, and maybe
this drove him to wage war against them,
but he knew what was coming,
and he knew that that army would be huge.
As the invasion
of Wallachia nears,
Mehmed II now faces the challenge
of transporting 100,000 men, 100 cannons,
and thousands of horses
across the perilous waters of the Danube,
where Vlad Dracula has destroyed
most of the ports and his army is waiting.
Vlad knew when the main core of the army
would cross the Danube
and be in his country
because, as military commander,
he was very good.
He knew how to wage war.
It proves
to be a logistical nightmare.
When you are crossing a river
like the Danube,
it proves so hard to carry
all these troops to the other side.
And also, most importantly,
it reduces your maneuverability.
How do you get across the Danube?
I mean, the river is getting wider
and more impassable,
particularly at this part.
We also have the issue
that on the northern banks,
there are fortifications.
So what we have to do is, the Ottoman army
is to plan a naval mission
to ensure that the soldiers can be ferried
across the river by boats.
And so it's now down
to Mehmed and his commanders
to find the right place along the river,
all the while plotting their route
towards the Wallachian capital.
So, Bogdan Bey,
Mahmud Pasha tells me
you can help us in that
you can guarantee me 70 boats
and safe passage to the other side. Hmm?
Yes, Sultan, I will gladly help.
Provided you pay me
One thousand ducats.
Upfront.
Are you a fisherman or a robber?
Mahmud Pasha, my family has lived
on these waters for 200 years.
Nobody knows them better than me.
Five-hundred now, 500 when we cross.
We have a deal.
If you betray me, Bogdan Bey,
I will have your head.
Sultan
if I don't come home with 1,000 ducats,
my wife will have my head.
As Mehmed prepares
to cross into Wallachia,
he sends his stepmother to Buda
to ferret out the true intentions
of Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus,
who has allegedly allied himself
with Vlad Dracula in the coming war.
It's not often I meet
with a princess on a diplomatic mission,
let alone the stepmother
of the great Turk.
I prefer "mother."
Mehmed has many different weapons
in his arsenal.
Well,
I pray we're not on war footing just yet.
While my father was victorious
over the sultan at Belgrade,
no one is eager for another conflict.
There are whispers
that the Pope has paid you
to lead a crusade against the sultan,
and that Vlad Dracula
will lead that fight.
If true,
that would be very distressing to Mehmed.
That would be an act of war.
Any rumors that we are encouraging
Vlad Dracula's adventures are just that.
Rumors.
Mehmed considers this a family affair
to be settled between the two of them.
I have no desire to intrude
in a brotherly spat.
Still, that must hurt the sultan.
They were so close as boys,
and now they are
rivals.
"Rivals"?
Vlad is a desperate prince,
struggling to rule a vassal state.
Mehmed will one day rule the world.
Mehmed respected his stepmother very much
and used her, uh, as a diplomat,
because we should always remember,
Mara Branković was coming from
a true imperial royal background.
She never turned, uh, into, uh,
a secondary woman in the court.
On the contrary,
she was a political power broker.
Do you want to hear something curious
about the conquest?
After all the fighting,
when the city had fallen,
they never found
Emperor Constantine's body.
Just his purple slippers.
A 2,000-year-old empire gone.
Just like that.
God be with you.
With the clock ticking
on his invasion of Wallachia,
Mehmed and his army reached the legendary
port of Nicopolis in early June of 1462.
Prince Radu, what are you doing?
There's a clearing
that might be perfect for our landing.
Just over there.
Prince. Prince, please.
Let me come with you.
No. Stay out of sight
until I return tonight.
Meanwhile,
in the Ottoman capital,
the name Vlad Dracula echoes
throughout the palace corridors,
as rumors of his spies and assassins
reach the imperial harem.
Who are you?
I'm Elena.
Forgive me, Sultana.
I brought fresh linens.
Where's Fatima?
Fatima fell ill,
so I'm taking over her duties
just for today.
I won't be needing any linens.
That will be all, Elena.
Yes, lady.
It is possible
Vlad had spies in the Ottoman palace
from his time as a hostage.
Let's not forget
that at the Ottoman court,
there were not only Ottomans or Turks,
there were people
from all over the empire,
or even from beyond the empire.
When there is power, there are people
trying to take advantage of it.
There were women who were punished
by death for being spies in the harem.
370 miles north
on the Wallachian side of the Danube,
Vlad Dracula prepares his army
for the coming Ottoman invasion.
Prince, the scout is here.
My prince, I bring you the heads
of Ottoman scouts we ambushed.
Put these on pikes
and mount them along the riverbank.
I want Mehmed to see some familiar faces.
Any news?
The sultan's army is on the move again
towards Nicopolis.
The entire army?
This could be a diversion.
Keep the main force at Nicopolis
and spread the other units
along the north bank of the river.
Okay.
I am looking forward
to seeing the sultan beg for his life!
I would love to kill him for you!
Have you fought against Mehmed?
No, Prince.
Mehmed is relentless.
When he comes for you,
you will beg for your own death,
just to end the suffering!
Defeating him
will take everything we have
and the will of God!
I will never be Mehmed's prisoner again.
Unhand me! I'm a prince!
Şemsi Pasha!
Where are you taking them?
Where are you taking them?
This is no concern of yours,
Prince Mehmed.
- Go back to sleep!
- Mehmed! Stop them, please!
Let me go!
Get your hands off!
Let me go!
You are in the sultan's court.
You will control yourself.
Let me go!
Enough!
Your father
has betrayed the oath
he swore on your lives here in this court.
He has joined the Hungarians
and taken up arms against me at Varna.
Prince Vlad!
Prince Radu.
You are to be executed.
Kill me if you must, Sultan,
but please spare my brother.
So there is still some honor left
in the House Drăculeşti, huh?
Şemsi Pasha tells me you are arrogant,
and willful
but that you already show
great skill with a sword.
So what am I to do with you?
The price of my mercy is loyalty.
You will be vassals
of the Ottoman court for life.
When called upon,
you will take up your sword
against our enemies.
Now swear this,
and I will spare you.
I swear it, Sultan.
And you, Vlad?
Do it, Vlad! Please!
Choose your next words carefully, boy.
You have my loyalty, Sultan.
What's happened?
My father
has abandoned us.
We are a family now.
We are brothers.
No, I'm your prisoner.
The two sons are essentially abandoned
and forgotten about completely by Vlad II.
The problem
that Vlad Dracula gets from this
is that he essentially begins
to trust no one.
The Ottomans did not kill
Vlad the son and his brother, Radu,
because they believed that they would be
more useful when they're alive.
If the Ottomans wanted to put
somebody else on the throne,
and they have two candidates
right under their nose, why kill them?
They're cold-blooded people.
They've been playing this game
for quite some time now.
Vlad's army is encamped somewhere
in the woods near here. 3,000, 4,000 men,
with several thousand more
all along the river.
They do not have great numbers,
but they are dangerous.
We have signaled
that we will be crossing here,
where it's shallower
and the river narrows.
They will be expecting us there,
laying in wait,
but this is where we'll land
5,000 Janissaries and artillery
as the first wave of our attack
led by Mahmud Pasha.
Mahmud Pasha comes from the ranks
of the Janissaries,
and he is someone
that Mehmed trusts an awful lot.
He's a very successful general.
Mahmud Pasha was also
a very capable, uh, commander
and a military man.
And how do you know
that this location is secure?
I went ashore there yesterday.
The riverbank is flat,
and there's tall grass,
which will give us cover
to set up our artillery.
I saw no sign of Vlad's men.
We have 70 barges
to get our troops across.
First, Mahmud Pasha and the Janissaries,
with half of our cannons,
then the barges will return
for the rest of our soldiers and guns.
Stealth and speed is of the essence.
Shouldn't we deploy
all of our cannons and mortars
across the river as quickly as possible?
Mahmud Pasha, I can assure you
all of our firepower
will be ready when needed.
Sultan, this will leave us open to attack
while we wait there for the others.
You and the Janissaries
will hold the landing spot.
I hope to kill that traitorous bastard
before you set foot in Wallachia.
Sultan.
On the evening of June 4, 1462,
Mehmed launches the invasion of Wallachia.
Let's go.
The first Ottoman boats set out
for the Wallachian side of the Danube,
uncertain of what awaits them
in the vast darkness ahead.
If the currents are favorable,
they should be across in one hour.
Good.
The crossing of the Danube
almost feels like something
out of Omaha Beach in D-Day.
Seventy barges of infantry that cross,
like landing craft landing on the beach.
They bring light artillery
across with them as well.
Now, it takes every man
to know what he's supposed to do.
This is not some blood or glory charge.
This is well-organized maneuvers
to take out an enemy
who has the advantage of the terrain,
has the advantage of being dug in,
and has also got very heavy firepower.
They really are modern in the application
of the science of warfare.
The engineering genius of Mehmed
does show at every level.
As Mehmed's shock troops
stealthily approach,
the Wallachian shore comes into view.
You better get ready, boys.
Release!
Shields!
They were waiting for us.
Brother Vlad has shown his hand too early.
Now he will lose it.
Keep going! Keep going!
Keep going! Faster!
- Ready the cannons.
- Yes, Sultan.
Ready the cannons!
Fire!