Whether it is a romance drama, a horror thriller, or a superhero fantasy, mythical legends have always been a useful source of inspiration. One of the most well-known legends of star-crossed lovers in Turkey was the Shahmaran story. Shahmaran, the queen (Shah) of the snakes (Maran), was betrayed by Camasb, the only human she had ever encountered. Based on this legend, the Turkish fantasy series “Shahmaran” has just been released on Netflix. “Shahmaran,” tells the romantic yet tense tale of Sahsu, who traveled to Adana for a seminar at the school. However, before she arrived, she met her grandfather, who had abandoned his child, Sahsu’s mother. As the plot unfolds, we meet another character named Maran, who is destined to meet Sahsu. But why is this so? Let us explore.
The story tightens its seatbelt, as we see in “Shahmaran” Episode 1, where a man was perched on a ledge when a gloomy voiceover spoke and claimed that this world had never belonged to humans. The humans had always betrayed love, as they did with Shahmaran. The man leaped off the cliff, and when his body hit a large stone, blood spilled from his head. The man struggled to get up, but he realized it was too late. The voiceover went on to state that because of something the humans had done in the past, it was made clear that they didn’t belong to the world.
Spoilers Ahead
How Did Sahsu Meet Maran?
The scene turns to Sahsu, a psychology professor who boarded a train to Adana for a lecture. She traveled to a village as soon as she got to Adana to meet an old man, who turned out to be her grandfather, Davut. She addressed him while harboring resentment and said that her mother, Davut’s child, had never forgotten her father. Before leaving her, Davut had given her some seeds, which she’d planted and had developed into lovely blooms in the hopes that one day her father would visit and they could garden together. Her father never arrived, and she spent the rest of her life suffering from that trauma that had caused her mental illness. Even when she died, she clutched those seeds to her chest. Sahsu had taken one of those seeds for her grandfather. She exited the hut and went to the School to give her lecture. Meanwhile, in the village, a man named Maran noticed Shadsu had arrived. He and his entire family appeared to recognize her and were anticipating her arrival. But Maran tried to hide his interest in her. His sisters were more excited than he was, and one of them, Diba, discovered Sahsu in her school giving a lecture on the Messiah Complex, a sort of thinking process that drove people to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Sahsu checked into a nearby hotel and settled into a room that wasn’t exactly her style. She requested a room with a bathtub, but the only room that had one was already occupied by someone who couldn’t decide when he or she would leave. Davut approached Sahsu as she returned to the hotel after work, saying that her mother had confronted him by sending him a slew of letters.
Sahsu read all of those letters and became even more attached to her mother’s sufferings. She decided to swim at a nearby lake the next day because the bathtub-attached room was still occupied. The hotel receptionist directed her to a location where Sahsu could unwind. She jumped into the water, attempting to drown her soul. She also had some mental discomfort, just like her mother. She felt refreshed under the water, but not for long, as she raised her face from the water and saw a storm begin, blowing her clothes away on the shore. She discovered a man reading a book on the tree’s roots. He was Maran, and he pretended he hadn’t noticed her. Sahsu asked Maran to assist her in fetching her clothes, which he did. They didn’t communicate after Sahsu got out of the water. They both went their separate ways. Maran began to suspect that his family had sent Sahsu to that location, but they did nothing. Maran’s family tried to persuade him that he had been chosen for some godly tasks and that meeting with Sahsu was his destiny, but Maran refused. That evening, Sahsu attended a festival where a fortune teller was selling Shahmaran necklaces, which Sahsu felt obligated to purchase. She wore one, and the psychic predicted that the necklace would attract her true love. After wearing the necklace, she discovered that Maran had arrived. Her grandfather had also spotted her, though he did not want to meet with her. However, his two devoted followers approached Sahsu and warned her to stay away from his life.
Maran had also noticed Sahsu over there, but they had not exchanged greetings. Sahsu suddenly felt something ominous was going to happen while wearing that necklace around her neck, and it did. A fire broke out on the ground, and the necklace began to irritate Sahsu’s neck. She passed out after throwing it on the fire. Maran picked her up and took her to Davut’s hut. The next morning, Sahsu awoke, surprised to discover that she had ended up in her grandfather’s house. She inquired with Davut and discovered that Maran lived nearby. She confronted Maran and asked him if he was the one who saved her the night before, but Maran kept denying it. She didn’t believe Maran was telling the truth, so she asked her grandfather for a room. She moved into Davut’s house to keep an eye on Maran and find out what had happened the night before. Maran joined his family for lunch and told her sister not to tell Sahsu that he was the one who saved her. At the end of “Shahmaran” Episode 1, we see Maran transform into his true form, a snake, implying that he may be the king of the snakes and Sahsu, his queen. The reason why Sahsu and Maran were destined to be together is still unclear from “Shahmaran” Episode 1, so we think we will have to go further into the upcoming episodes to find out why.
